Everyone in the arena was frozen in fear. The killing intent and [Soul Aura] wildly pressured each and every person in the arena save for the handful of A-class. Kai's [Soul Aura] can be strong or weak depending on his mental state but killing intent is different. [Soul Aura] can make one feel fear but killing intent can give the others a taste of death. If one's killing intent is strong enough, the one its directed to would even see hallucinations about their death.

Kai's killing intent was that strong, the remaining eight cloaked figures could see their lives flash before their eyes with Kai's each step. The guards that surrounded the arena were frozen and couldn't make their moves despite their strength. Killing intent couldn't be faked, it's slowly accumulated by killing people, good or bad. In a way, it was even stronger than [Soul Aura] because it showed absolute dominance.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

Kai spun the scythe that easily towered over him as he inched closer. He didn't run nor did he attack as he walked close. With his stride, it would only take a bit less than a minute to head to the eight but to everyone, it felt like an hour.

"D-!"

The light swordsman regained himself first because Kai was already a few meters in front of him.

"Don't fuck with me!"

The light swordsman ran towards Kai with his sword glowing white. Kai didn't move and let the sword slash down.

"Kenji!"

Haru yelled first.

But Kai didn't let the sword touch his body, he had gripped the sides of the sword as it slashed down with his hand. Kai placed pressure on the sword, the light swordsman felt like his sword was inside a stone, he couldn't pull it out.

CRACK CRACK

Within a few seconds, the sword cracked and cracked until it broke, only half of the sword was left. The pieces that Kai had gripped hadn't just snapped, they broke into pieces.

"Hiiii!"

The light swordsman fell on his ass and crawled backwards but Kai threw the scythe on the light swordsman's path. Then, he crouched down next to the light swordsman.

"Are you scared? Do you want to live?"

Although the light swordsman was trembling in fear from the killing intent, he saw hope for the first time.

"Y-yes!"

"I see. Then, die."

When his words fell, the light swordsman felt that his vision blurred and his point of view had moved. His head was cut off without his knowledge. At some point, Kai had retrieved the scythe and slashed the light swordsman's head clean off.

"Don't point a weapon at someone unless you have the resolve to die."

When Kai's words fell, everyone shivered. Their view alternated between the beheaded light swordsman and Kai.

The mages regained their calm next, they immediately began chanting and in a few seconds, [Fireballs] and [Earth Spikes] had arrived at Kai's position. But Kai didn't falter and simply swiped once with his scythe, the fireball dispersed and the [Earth Spikes] that grew from the floor were cut down.

"E-Enchanted Gear!"

The fire mage yelled out. That was the natural conclusion, Kai had to use multiple moves to deal with their attacks earlier but the moment he changed his weapon, everything was swept clean.

Kazuki gripped his great sword tightly.

"That's not a normal Enchanted Gear, to be able to destroy all those B-class techniques that easily, it's at least on the level of a national treasure."

Kei who had just recovered was the only one to react to his words.

"Seriously...?"

Kai stepped forward only once, but the moment the earth mage's eye closed, Kai appeared right in front of him. Kai's scythe creeped upon his neck.

"Two."

Like the first one, the earth mage's neck was removed. The earth and water swordsman who had been buried in the floor earlier managed to stand up and intercept Kai before he could attack the fire mage. It was praiseworthy that they could move under the killing intent.

"Four."

Before the two were even killed, Kai's scythe blurred and sliced the two swordsmen in half. Many people from the audience had already vomited from the killing intent on top of the dead bodies.

"H-HAAAA!"

The fire mage roared as if he had already lost his mind and several small fireballs were formed in front of him.

"[Fire Barrage]!"

There were at least three dozen of those attacks, although each one was weaker than a fireball, they were significantly harder to dodge and a barrage of that many would certainly cause more damage.

But Kai walked forward without any fear. He dodged each and every one of the small fireballs with small movements. It was as if he knew where they were all headed to. He didn't need to hit a single one and quickly brushed past the attack. The remnants of the [Fire Barrage] had hit the guards but Kai paid no heed.

"I'll show you true flames."

The passive flame that had been around Kai that didn't burn anyone raged. His black scythe that was already frightening had burst into golden flames. Along with that, Kai raised his left hand's index finger and after a second of silence that felt like an hour for the mage, a pillar of flame rose up from the floor.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A second. It took only a second for the fire mage to turn into charcoal. Only the pitch black corpse was left behind.

"Five."

Three left.

The archer was frozen in fear. The two with daggers were surrounding the archer.

"Wait, stop!"

One of the guards finally regained his calm seeing the cornered face of the three. Killing the culprits was a no seeing as they hadn't killed anyone yet. It was at most, attempted murder which would have them be in the prison for ten years and for poisoning a duke's daughter would make them serve for a lifetime. It was enough of a punishment.

On the other hand, Kai's charges were multiple cases of murder and not self-defense because he had also attacked the ones not involved in poisoning. Though the penalty for him would be a lot lower than normal, he'd still be arrested for at least fifteen years. If it was proven that the other he had killed, then he would be excused with only a few months.

But how could Kai who was blinded by rage stop now?

The flames that gathered around his body raged and burned the surrounding area as he walked. Then, he snapped his fingers and an explosion happened right at the three cloaked figure's spot. The three of them were blown away but with the echoing sound of Kai's fingers continuously snapping, the three cloaked figures were forced to dance to Kai's tune.

"Now..."

Kai stopped snapping his fingers for a few seconds and the moment he did, the archer's arm exploded in flames.

"AHHHHH!"

"Don't be such a baby. I've experienced much worse."

Without anyone's knowledge, Kai was already right in front of the archer.

"Bye."

Kai took the man's neck and ignited his golden flames once more. Just a single scream before the archer fell.

"I'm satisfied, you two can leave."

Kai suddenly said to the two who were still cowering in fear. The killing intent in the air disappeared. The two dagger users ran away with his words but Kai brandished his scythe and spun once. The next scene, the two's head were detached from their bodies.

He gave them false hope before killing them.

With that, Kai closed his eyes as his scythe was transported into his pendant. Memento Mori was still frozen and Kai was taken away by the guards.

In a grey room where the only light were the candles hanging around the sides of the room. A table and a chair, those were the only furniture inside the room.

"Spill it! Which kingdom are you working for?!"

Kai was in metal cuffs that covered from his wrist to his hand. It was made from a special type of metal that's almost impossible to break with physical strength alone and runes had been carved into it to prevent the prisoner from using magic.

Kai yawned and began to sleep.

"Oi!"

The guards that were interrogating him shook him awake. They weren't allowed to use violence unless permitted, Kai knew that and took advantage of it.

After nearly an hour of interrogation, the door opened and stepped in was a man with red hair. He looked to be in his thirties and was wearing shiny silver armor. If he was younger, he'd be the perfect knight in shining armor.

"You two, I'll take it from here."

"Y-yes, vice-captain."

The two knights bowed and left the room.

"Very dark, am I right?"

"Ahh, you're here too. This is such a pain in the ass."

Kai sat up normally and faced the vice-captain.

"So, why is the strongest man in the kingdom in handcuffs? I heard that you killed nine people in front of an audience because they poisoned the Mariko Palace's daughter, Mariko Erina. This is a case of excessive self-defense, you know that right?"

The vice-captain said with a sigh.

"Shut up. You and your captain already know my plan, get him here now. I'm going to change some things."

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. The captain is currently busy and is out of the kingdom. He'll be back for the operation on Friday but it looks like we'll have trouble because of this incident."

Kai clicked his tongue.

"Alright, listen. Unfortunately, I can't wait till Friday to attack so I'll be doing the attack a day before, Thursday."

The vice-captain raised his brows.

"Why? The kingdom will only manage to mobilize half the troops at most."

"I'm doing it with or without the kingdom's help. I'm more than enough to take it on."

The vice-captain sighed once more.

"You know that we can't take the risk of letting a demon go. You are the only hope for this kingdom to defeat it because the duke of Mariko Palace can't. If you fall during the battle, then this kingdom is done for. I understand that Miss Amelia needs time and would finish by Friday night at the earliest so you are our only hope."

The vice-captain said; pleading.

"No matter what you do, I'll still go there. In fact, the operation may even happen tomorrow if the worst happens. You know that you can't confine me here, I can destroy this piece of scrap metal anytime I want."

The vice-captain rubbed his temples and stayed silent for a few seconds.

"...Alright, I'll go with you. But it has to be Thursday, not earlier. If you try and do the operation tomorrow, I'll get the aid of the king to stop you. Even if you're strong, you can't possibly defeat the kingdom within a day, can you?"

Kai smirked.

"Want to try me?"

They both stared at each other's eyes for a few seconds but Kai averted his gaze first.

"Fine. You can keep me confined in the dungeon until tomorrow but I'll immediately head out the day after the next."

"That will be good. I'll handle the matter of you killing those nine. Have you extracted the information?"

"Yeah, there's no doubt. Come closer."

The vice-captain heeded his words. A spring of pain caused the vice-captain to close one of his eyes.

"...That's still quite painful."

"You can't stay here for long, after all."

"Alright, the knights will arrange your cell. It won't be one of those shabby cells though."

"I know. "

"Also, please find a different method to make contact next time. We can't have you committing a crime everytime after all."

Kai shook his head.

"I won't need to. This is the last time I'd have to hide my identity in this kingdom after all. Also, make sure that the tournament goes on without any worries, I know two people there who can't be injured after all. And, don't tell anyone at all about the change in plans, especially the third princess."

The vice-captain nodded and left the room.

Even with all that had happened, the tournament still continued. Memento Mori managed to win without Erina and Kenji albeit narrowly. Yoko was strong enough to take on the enemies but in the end, she was a rogue who was specialized in stealth attacks and not team battles.

Even though they had passed through the rest of the day without worries, none of them were in the mood to celebrate and split up. Haru and Yoko went together towards the park. A strangely advanced place for a medieval world.

The two of them sat by the bench.

"...Yoko."

"Hm?"

"You know, don't you?"

"...Nn."

Haru was playing with her hands, she couldn't contain her nervousness.

"Will you tell me how you met Kai?"

Yoko asked.

"...I suppose I can tell you the truth. Even through all that has happened, you've never shown me the slightest amount of hate. I can tell that you're a good person."

Yoko had question marks floating around her head.

"My name is not Takamiya Haruka."

Yoko raised her brows in surprise but quickly reverted her expression.

"Then, what is it?"

Haru had a smile on her face as she held Yoko's hands.

"I'm the Alteria Kingdom's third princess, Alteria Natsumi. I had come here because I wanted to experience a normal school life and Kai is my personal knight."

Yoko speechlessly looked at Natsumi with an open mouth. Only after a few seconds of silence, did a smile form on Yoko's mouth and she burst into laughter shortly after.

"W-what? You don't believe me?!"

"S-sorry, it's just that... hahaha!"

Yoko was holding her stomach and facing away from Natsumi while laughing.

"Mou! If you're going to be like that, I'll get mad, you know?!"

(A/N: The English equivalent for 'mou' is 'geez' I guess.)

After a good five minutes, Yoko finally calmed down.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"It's not good to laugh at someone's secret, you know?!"

Despite apologizing, Natsumi was still quite mad. But shortly after, her expression fell.

"...Aren't you scared?"

"Of what?"

"I'm the third princess, you know? Although I hate to admit it, I'm one of the most influential people in the kingdom. Even my siblings let me do whatever I want. Just a single word from me and you could even be executed."

"But you won't do that, will you?"

"Never!"

"That's why I'm not afraid of you. Also, you're already my friend, even if you were the queen, that wouldn't change."

"Yoko...!"

Natsumi looked at Yoko with tears in her eyes and hugged her.

"You're the third princess yet you're hugging a commoner, it'll be quite the scandal, you know?"

Yoko said while mocking Natsumi's repeated use of 'you know'.

"Like I care! In the first place, I still have my disguise on."

After a few more embarassing moments, Natsumi stopped her hug and faced Yoko with a flushed face.

"Sheesh. You've always been too emotional. I'm guessing you sympathized with Kai the moment you heard his story. But is it also your first time to be faced with that sort of killing intent?"

"Nn. I was really scared to be honest. I knew that the blood on his hands wasn't a few but I didn't think it was that much."

"Yeah, but that wasn't killing intent he formed on his own. He acquired it from being forced to kill the ten thousand members of the Kuroshi Clan. Even though we were the largest clan in the entire continent, our power was far from strong. Just because of a single demon possessing a boy, we were wiped out. And his body and mind remembered the sensation of those deaths, forming the killing intent that wasn't actually his."

Yoko looked down.

"I don't intend to forgive him yet. But I at least won't kill him for Emi's sake."

Natsumi had a melancholic face but she hugged Yoko nonetheless.

"Thank you, that's all I ask for. Also, please call me by my name."

"T-then, Natsumi."

"Nn!"

Within the silent park, the two friends had their hearts resonated unbeknownst of the storm that had been brewing.

Mariko Palace

Sleeping atop a bed inside a room with only a door and tiny window was a beautiful figure wearing a robe. Her sleeping face was in pain and she continuously writhed in pain.

A few hours ago.

"This poison is one of the most feared poisons because it can't be healed by healing magic and only a special antidote that's impossible to buy with money is the only cure. It also makes the one who contracted the poison suffer slowly and painfully. Normally, even with the antidote you'd still suffer a lot but to think that the poison in your body was reduced enough that it would only make you suffer and not take your life, what an amazing healing power."

Duke Hyosuke faced Erina who was writhing in pain on the bed.

"You'll suffer until tomorrow and you aren't permitted to leave until the day of the engagement. The boy who had killed nine people is probably rotting in jail right now. He's your friend, isn't he? So enraged that he had murdered nine people just because you were poisoned, he must've fallen for you quite badly."

Erina glared at Hyosuke who turned around and left the room.

"Too bad he made the wrong choice."

With those parting words, the door closed.

That man... to think he poisoned me to make sure I wouldn't leave.

Everytime Erina remembered that fact, she was so enraged that she felt her blood boiling and making her condition worse. It was impossible to think of any other fact. Hyosuke had managed to get the antitdote for the poison which Erina had been coincidentally struck with.

Even if Kai didn't kill those nine, Hyosuke certainly would; Erina was sure of that.

"I... have to warn... him."

The chances that Kai is also target isn't zero. Even if they didn't find out Kai's real identity, the fact that he had been around Erina for the past weeks would also make him a potential target. Even if Kai was strong, he wasn't invincible.

The door that was closed hours ago opened and standing there was an old man in a suit.

"Milady."

"Y...as...uo..."

Erina managed to let out his name even under the pain.

"It is confirmed that the one known as Satou Kenji has been imprisoned in the lowest levels of the prison of the kingdom. Though there has been no publicly announced verdict, it appears that he may be imprisoned for a long while."

When Erina heard that, her fears were confirmed. In the prison, the duke could manipulate the verdict and even have him executed. In this case, both their lives were now in Hyosuke's hands.

"I will take my leave now."

Yasuo bowed and left the room.