"Grr..."
Suddenly, he heard a growl that made Kayden jump back two steps.
The ancient being's head stirred slowly. There were clacking sounds as it moved, like bones breaking and reforming.
'What a mess.'
'Tsk, tsk.'
Kayden knew it would die any moment, but he couldn't risk it.
He looked around the ground, and finally, his gaze landed on a corpse with blonde hair and shiny white armor like a holy warrior.
'Well, you can meet your god now, anyway.'
'Was it Kaladin? Nah, he's frowned upon nowadays. Must be one of the new ones.'
He walked over to the corpse and crouched down.
This man was the second son of the current king, the second prince of the West Reach, the commander of the 'Gentle Cloaks.'
And here he lies, without any gold to adorn him, without any courtesans to praise him, and without any glory to remember him.
'What a shame.'
Kayden slowly turned the body over and found what he was looking for.
It was a simple silver sword, passed down to the best warriors of the Crown Bloodline, or the Sunblade lineage.
'Radiance. That was the name of this silver sword.'
'A fitting name for a family of people obsessed with the sun.'
And this guy, Marcus Sunblade, was the current wielder of it.
He picked up the sword not because it was special, but because it was the nearest one.
'Who would want a sword that can only be used properly by someone with the Sunblade bloodline?'
'I just want the sharp edge, that's all.'
'Hope this won't bite me in the ass.'
As it is a fantasy novel, the stupid author had thrown down every plot point possible into this story, and Kayden remembered this sword too.
There are so many artifacts like this sword, and there are many celestial artifacts as well.
He didn't mind the blood from his palm tainting the pure silver sword's hilt.
'Ah, it reminds me that the god Kaladin had a sword hidden somewhere in this world.'
'It's a complete mess.'
'Tsk, tsk.'
'I'll finish what you couldn't.'
As a last farewell to the fallen heroes, he promised them the end of the calamity that took their lives and those of the innocent villagers.
Well, he didn't care about this stuff; if he were in his world, he would've quickly looted the bodies without any ounce of remorse.
'I could've saved them, but what's the point?'
'The author only wants them to live up to this point.'
'Who am I to change that?'
Kayden sighed audibly, his crimson eyes still stoic as usual.
"Farewell-- Eek!"
"...Star--cough, cough--Shade kin--"
A hand suddenly shot up and grabbed Kayden's collar, and he was sure he would've pissed himself if the intensity of the scene had been a little more.
It was Marcus's, and he was straining to say something.
His voice was like a ghost screaming in the night, and his bloodshot blue eyes were fixed on Kayden. After a quick second, the hand fell limp.
'Oh, he's dead now.'
'Truly dead now!'
Kayden had thought the guy was dead for sure. His body was cold too, as was his skin.
'What the heck was that?'
'The power of the protagonist!'
'Tsk, tsk.'
He didn't hear the words clearly, and there was no way he could hear them again. He leaned once more and looked into Marcus's eyes.
They were devoid of any life, that was for sure. He sighed and calmed his beating heart down.
He saw the smoke from the Ancient being getting higher and higher.
It was like something was draining from him.
Something like life force.
He stood up.
The sword in his hand felt very heavy.
Even though Kael Ryuu had lifted more weight than a sheet of steel, Kayden hadn't done any heavy lifting at all. He had to strain himself to hold it in one hand.
Slowly, he walked towards the body, circled the black mess, and stood behind it.
He did not want any more surprises, and considering this thing's villainous nature, there could be a chance that it could use a final technique and kill Kayden.
'Tsk, tsk.'
His hands gripped the sword tightly, and he took a deep breath.
'Damn... It's heavy. Really, really heavy.'
He raised the sword above the thing's head with both of his hands, and he could see his hands were trembling like crazy.
"...To a new start."
He said and was about to drop the blade straight onto the thing's head when he heard a sound that seemed to come straight from the volcanic mountains of Sol.
"Voi--w-l-ke-r."
He took a step back again, the second time he was surprised in the span of a minute.
"Dammit!"
"Where are my survival skills?!"
It felt like all the skills he had hard-earned in his last life got stuck on the other side.
"Mus-...repr..it--"
He heard the thing talking again, the words stumbling out like those of a foreigner attempting to learn a native language, but the problem was the guy had only started learning about five days ago.
But this time, he heard the dying voice clearly.
"I don't think you can report anything. Unless you have something magical with you, which you clearly do not possess at all."
He didn't move from his position.
Why should he?
The smoke was getting bigger and bigger.
This thing would die any second now, and before that, he would plunge the sword into its big head.
But it was interesting to hear the thing talk.
In the web novel, this part didn't show at all.
Well, by the time someone noticed the smoke from the burning village, this thing had died.
So its last words were lost.
"Tell me something and do yourself a favor."
He took a step closer to the thing and raised his sword once again.
"Who is the one behind you?"
There was a pause, and Kayden thought the thing was dead. But then he heard the grating noise again, this time clear and subtle, like words from a philosopher.
"---May Chaos rule once more..."
And the voice died down as the smoke increased.
And the voice died down as the smoke increased.
Kayden frowned but quickly plunged the sword into the thing's head.
"..."
There was no resistance. It was like a hot knife through butter.
He even doubted for a moment that the sword must've missed its mark.
But when he pulled the sword out, a black mass was clinging to it.
It was done. He has done it.
But what he didn't see were the pair of black eyes watching him from afar. The black pupils shook, and a tear rolled out of those eyes.
If Kayden had seen the eyes, he would have frowned and clicked his tongue before running away.