Making The Choice

"KILL THIS BASTARD!"

Ogun knew he had neither arm or leg to aid him, so he used the only weapon he had left.

—His words!

"I command you as your leader—as a Head of Destruction—kill him!"

The moment he said this, the scared and hesitant soldiers all grasped their weapons tightly and took battle stances.

Their blank faces showed that they were probably not moving of their volition.

"I see… some kind of mind control activated by command." Ralyks muttered as Ogun grinned with satisfaction.

The masked man wasn't wrong.

This was a special privilege given to every member of the Nine Heads of Destruction.

They could order lower members to do whatever, and they would listen. This wasn't the result of a Skill, but simply the crest that every member of the Mercenary Gang had.

It was imbued with a Magic Spell that bound them to the will of their leaders; hence, giving the latter the ability to control them.

'I can only give them simple instructions like this, but that's more than enough!'

Ogun knew that even a hundred men wouldn't be enough to kill the monster before him, but at the very least they could distract him.

'I'll use that chance to escape!'

During the chaos, he'd command two of the men to carry him out of the battlefield.

He was a battle-hardened warrior, but Ogun was not suicidal.

He would simply live to fight another day. After building his strength to the utmost degree, he would return for a second round.

'Yes! I'll rip him to shreds when that time comes. For now, though, I'll leave it to my subordinates.'

They usually just stood there while he fought all the battles for them, so this wasn't a heartless or wicked decision, right?

He had done so much for them, so the very least they could do was repay him for all his hard work.

That was how Ogun saw it.

"UWOOOAAHHHH!!!"

The army marched forward, all of them raising their blades and rushing towards the single foe.

The earth trembled as the air vibrated as a result of the noisy advance of a hundred men.

Bloodlust gathered around them, and from their blank gazes alone, it was clear they would only aim for the target's vitals.

'I can buy at least seven minutes… no, most likely five minutes with them.'

His men were weak, but they weren't useless.

'They just have to—'

"Hey…" The deep voice that woke him from the depth of his thoughts belonged to none other than Ralyks

Ogun didn't know when he raised his head as he heard the voice.

"… This counts as self-defense, right?"

Ogun did not comprehend what he was hearing at all.

"Self… defense…?"

As soon as he uttered those words, he saw all his subordinates suddenly get crushed by something invisible—as if it fell on them from above.

Their squished bodies caused fountains of blood to erupt from where they stood, and pink meat scattered in various directions.

"E-eh…?"

Just like that, Ogun watched as crimson liquid sprayed in multiple directions and the bones and flesh of his subordinates were ground into a mixed form that barely resembled anything human.

It was appalling—no, beyond appalling.

Ogun didn't think he knew any word that could properly describe the grotesque bloodshed he just witnessed.

This didn't seem like the action of a human at all.

It was the work of a MONSTER!

"W-who… who are you…?" Ogun didn't know how he still found the courage to speak, but he was able to mutter the question.

His well-trained subordinates had perished so easily to this entity before him.

He thought they would last five minutes, but they couldn't even last five seconds.

It was absurd! Too absurd!

As if that wasn't enough, the crimson gaze of the masked one fell on Ogun as he coldly spoke the words that caused the last strand of hope within him to snap.

"Next."

********

'I killed…'

As Rey's thoughts flowed, he absentmindedly stared at the frightened man in front of him.

'For the first time ever… I killed a human.'

There were actually a hundred of them, but there was no use counting at this point.

He had been taught that human life was infinitely precious, so a hundred times infinity still meant the same thing.

'To be honest, this doesn't feel any different from killing Monsters. But…'

Rey had to dismiss that thought.

He had to convince himself that something about what he just did had heavy significance.

Even though these men were scum—criminals who had done worse atrocities—did they have to die?

For what reason had he done this?

Well…

[Skill Details]

[Carnage]

Tier: B

Ability: You grow stronger based on the amount of human lives you take. Additional Stats will be stacked based on this number.

~Current Additional Stats~

Life Force: 10

Mana Level: 10

Combat Ability: 10

[End Of Information]

… It was all for this purpose.

'So, killing a hundred people gave me this amount.'

Was this the value of human life?

Could people be reduced to mere numbers in order to determine their worth?

Rey didn't know the answers.

He only knew one thing for certain, which prompted him to move forward.

'I… grew stronger.'

Just now, by killing these scum, he was able to gain at least seven Levels worth of Stats.

That had to count for something.

'No. This has to be different from Leveling Up. If I do everything for strength, then I'm no different from them.'

Rey knew he was different.

'I only did this because I had no choice. Self-defense.'

'Even Adonis killed Adam in self defense. I wouldn't say he is any less of the person he is because of it.'

By the same logic, he wasn't to blame for this.

Besides, humanity would benefit greatly from these few stats that he gained and the demise of the hundred criminals he had executed to get them.

Yes.

Rey found solace in the fact that right here, right now, he had done the right thing.

Was it good or bad?

It didn't matter to him in the slightest.

"It was necessary…" He whispered, now looking at the leader of the crew.

"And you are NEXT."