Vol. 2 CH. 8 - The 4 Honest Generals...

As the two captives returned to their senses, they saw the figure of a man with deep black hair and eyes. He was wearing a white coat and held a longsword on his waist. The young man's face was like that of a murderous beast yet still retained its human properties. Sweat ran down their bodies as they saw a long needles in between the young man's fingers, it seems that they were caught by someone...

The last memories they had was that they were shot by someone using a bow and arrow. Although the wounds were shallow and could be patched up using bandages and stiches, the wound still stung like hell.

One of the captives tried to move but looked like they were bound down on a chair using a thick rope. There were no trees around and only walls made of dirt. Were they taken to someplace else? Was the young man in front of them was the culprit that shot those arrows? Who is he? Where is this place?

One of the captives tried to raise their voice but they could only groan. They were unable to speak due to some kind of spell or poison. Were they paralyzed? There were no damages except for the arrows lodged on their shoulders.

Just was what happening? Such questions came one after the other as they tried to grasp the situation around them. However, the young man before them gave them no answer...

"!!!?"

The young man just stabbed one of those 12 inch needles in his thigh. The force bore the needle through his muscles and pierced through his bone before exiting through the chair. Extreme pain rushed through his head as he began to thrash around. But there was still no voice, he could only groan...

"Uuugh...aahh...gah...!"

"Humph, looks like the special serum is working well. You can't talk unless you can tell the truth so make sure to speak honestly alright?"

The young man uttered so with a smile. The needle was still in the man's thigh and the young man was still holding the other end. Seeing that this was a no ordinary situation where he could bargain, the man nodded.

The young man, Kyoushiro Kagami, let go of the needle and took a step back.

"It's good to honest. Well, I don't really care whether you lie or not but you'll die if you tell a lie so be careful"

Kyoushiro warned the man before him. The man weakly nodded at Kyoushiro's terrifying warning. The one beside him was already panicking.

"Alright, first question.... What is inside that base of yours?"

Kyoushiro gave the first question. Knowing that lying would just end up killing them the man couldn't give an answer that would mean his death. It was already too late to consider the wrath of his boss, Ernest Vern, right now the man value his own life over a base filled with sick freaks.

"I-It holds captive women that copulate with monsters and bandits all night and day... Increasing the amount of mix breed of monster-human race"

"Eh? I can talk?" The man was surprised that words were able to escape from his mouth. It seems that the serum prevents one from speaking unless questioned. If he lied, he would die. There was no point in thinking about of lying at all. There was no way in hell he would die in a place like this after all.

Kyoushiro nodded and prodded the other man the same question. But as the man showed foamed from his mouth and his whole body convulsed until the veins allover his body showed up and popped one by one, it seems that he lied.

Kyoushiro sighed and simply kicked the corpse and let it fall on the ground. As the body fell on the ground with a heavy impact, the corpse suddenly burst; staining both ceiling and floor with its blood and chunks.

The man who watched all that happening just a few inches away froze up in fear and shock. There was no doubt about it; he would definitely die if he didn't answer correctly. The man he was with until just now was someone he just worked with. There was no need to care about him at all; there was only his life that he needed to protect.

That's right; there was no need to lie at all...

"Now then since you answered me honestly, I guess I can get all I want from you"

While uttering "Well that was a waste..." under his breath, Kyoushiro touched the pile of blood with his hands. As he did so, the blood begun to move closer to his hand as if it had life. But different from forming back into a human shape, what came after was a bright red flash. A huge pile of 12 inch needles were gathered right under Kyoushiro's hand.

Kyoushiro continued to collect the needles and stored in from somewhere in his coat. Once that was done, Kyoushiro returned to the man he was interrogating.

"Next question, where is Ernest Vern?"

"I... I don't know... I've heard he is some old fortress but I don't know the exact location. I'm just a lackey here, they don't tell me much"

"Heh~ that so? Then, care to tell what's this pink powder is?"

­Kyoushiro held out a bag filled with pink colored powder. As the man saw that, he immediately drew his head back as far as possible. Kyoushiro was surprised by the man's reaction. The man instantly replied back with a loud shout.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!! ONCE YOU GOT THAT INSIDE YOUR BODY, YOU'LL START TO LOSE YOURSELF AND YOU'LL TURN INTO A MONSTER!!"

"A monster huh...."

Kyoushiro stared at the bag of pink powder on his hands and used on it. As he did so, Kyoushiro let out a tired smile yet felt more like ridiculing himself. The man was confused at what kind of expression Kyoushiro just showed him...

"I see... the [Crushed scales of the 6th Demon Lord]?"

Item: Crushed scales of the 6th Demon Lord

Has the power to turn anything into a state of arousal. If taken heavily, the copulating partner would end fusing with the victim. It also induces hallucinations and intense urge of sexual arousal regardless of gender or specie.

Kyoushiro heaved a heavy sigh and stored the bag back into his coat pocket.

"Looks like you're lucky. The 6th Demon Lord's grounded scales wasn't used on you"

If used, the powder itself was a deadly drug. Kyoushiro has no idea about the full extent of its effects yet but he was sure enough that such thig should not be used by any being at all. Using the powder itself would cause a mutation in wide variations. There was no telling what might happen if it was used on many people.

"Eh...? D-Demon Lord?"

It seems that the man couldn't comprehend what Kyoushiro just said. In this world, the Demon Lords are beings that are nearly godly. Using the power they gained from the blessing of the Demon God, they created domains of their own and ruled inside them.

In this world, there are 12 Demon Lords left. Kyoushiro and the others have already taken care of the 9th Demon Lord Kakal back in Ambrosia so the numbers have decreased by one. The other Demon Lords were still hiding inside their domains so there was no telling whether they will come out or not.

Judging from how the man reacted, it seems that he had no clue on where and how the powder was procured. If he had known even though he acted like that, he would have died due to the serum inside his body.

"You didn't know huh? Well, no matter. Next, tell me what's inside the base you were guarding"

Once Kyoushiro lost interest in the man, who was trying his best to understand what he just heard, Kyoushiro resumed the interrogation. After a whole while of extracting information from the man, Kyoushiro left the underground room he created using Edsel's skill in magic.

What happened to the man after that was a mystery...

-

"Looks like we'll have to visit the other bases besides this one... What a pain"

Kyoushiro said so in a very irritated tone. The fact that there were other bases besides this one gave Kyoushiro a headache. Even though he already planned to crush the whole group under the man named Ernest Vern, it would be a pain dealing with minions that were exceeding hundreds.

Furthermore, there were four generals working under Ernest. The so called "4 Honest Generals" that the man under the ground had told Kyoushiro about weren't a problem but the part where Ernest Vern was something that Kyoushiro didn't know about.

On top of having a curse stuck on him, he lacks the strength to kill all those minions at once. Kyoushiro felt weaker than ever due to having no power to deal with herds of freaks on his own. Although Kyoushiro could use the power of the cursed artifacts he has on right now, that wouldn't make any difference. He would just get a temporal strength and would probably lose his sanity eventually and go mad.

There were things that Kyoushiro is suited for. But wasn't something like area-of-effect attacks.

"I've got the bases' location. It'll take too long so I'll have you work for me Edsel"

Kyoushiro directed his attention to the woman with blonde hair and amazing beauty that could attract any male in a wide range. Edsel was taking care of her daughter, the black haired and eyed half-elf Dahlia, in her arms. It seems that the young girl had fallen asleep.

"Well that'll take care of the nuisance later" Thought Kyoushiro as he made his way towards Edsel.

"I will help you as much as I can. As long as my daughter stays safe"

"She'll be safe as long as she stays quiet and follows instructions. I'll protect you two as much as my body could do it so don't worry"

Kyoushiro sighed as he wasn't sure how strong his opponents this time. But whatever happens, as long as he has that trump card, he'd survive. Though using a frail young girl as a bargaining chip wasn't something a sane man would do, Kyoushiro has no heart to feel for something so insignificant. As long as he survives, anything doesn't matter.

"Although I did save them, I didn't exactly swear to my heart that I'll keep them safe" Kyoushiro thought as he views his relationship with Edsel as a give and take relationship.

Kyoushiro proceeded to take advantage of the cards he has right no to resolve this current problem.

-

"Now then, flood the entrance of that underground hideout"

Kyoushiro ordered Edsel so as they both stood in front of the cave where Kyoushiro took the two guards before. Dahlia was half awake while Edsel was holding an ominous looking wooden staff with a red gem on its head.

Edsel nodded at Kyoushiro's order, not minding the people inside the cave. Of course, Edsel also felt that flooding an entire cave filled with living people was inhumane but her and Dahlia's safety rides on this operation. As long as she fulfills her part in this mission, Dahlia and her, would be able to live peacefully from now on.

Then, as the chant ends...

"!!"

Large amounts of water gushed out from the tip of the staff that Edsel was using. Although the sudden gushed of water took Edsel by surprise, she still held her ground. The water entered the cave entrance, flooding its inside with water from the top floor.

Kyoushiro already confirmed the base layouts from the men he had interrogated so there were back entrances or secret holes that would need to be filled in. All that was left was to drown the rats inside the cave then sealed the entrance. That way, there was really nothing getting out from this hideout.

Be it monster or other, they'd be dead before they could resurface.

"I-Is this enough?"

"Yes so seal the entrance by collapsing the ceiling"

"Understood"

Edsel replied back at Kyoushiro with a worried face. However, as Edsel was about to use a spell to collapse the ceiling of the entrance of the cave, a huge shadow rushed out. The shadow then continued until it crushed onto a few trees to dampen its momentum.

Explosive noises came after the huge being settled down on one spot. Kyoushiro had Edsel and Dahlia take refuge for a moment while Kyoushiro checks the thing that just flew out of the cave. While a weary face, Kyoushiro drew his sword and held it in his right hand.

"NGuuu.... Damn it, who dared to fill my lair with water?!!"

The shadow... No, the being that shot out from the flooded cave was a large man with pink skin. He had arms growing out from his back with his private part shrunken to the size of a pebble, dangling from his pants-less lower-half.

Clearly, the being was a human but his appearance was that of a hideous monster. Kyoushiro strengthen the grip on his sword and sprang into action without any delay.

"I'll end this before he noticed!!" Kyoushiro kicked the ground as he thought that. Using the leg strength he poured with mana on top of using skill, Kyoushiro instantly close the distance between him and the monster.

With the sword on his shoulder, Kyoushiro swung the sword with a force equivalent to a wrestler's punch. But, before the blade even got close the monster's neck, the arms on its back extended and sent countless heavy blows towards Kyoushiro's face.

Sensing the impending attack, Kyoushiro pulled back his face and used his legs to kick the fists that were heading his way.

"Kh!? His fists are damn heavy!!"

Kyoushiro exclaimed as he was sent flying back to the outside of the forest. Kyoushiro rolled over and over before coming to a stop and sent a hand signal to Edsel to hide themselves within the bushes.

Then, as he heard charging noises coming out from the broken path, Kyoushiro jumped away from the road. A huge ball of muscle crashed through the entrance and collapsed the ceiling there. Kyoushiro sighed in relief but the rumbling noises coming from the debris of the cave gave Kyoushiro chills.

That thing was still alive; Kyoushiro immediately used his skill and looked into the monster's status.

However......

"Ow!?"

Kyoushiro's eyes suddenly felt hurt.

"Was my level too low to see that thing's status? This is the first time that this happened...!"

Kyoushiro had never once encountered a monster that could not be appraised using skill. Although he didn't use the skill against the 9th Demon Lord during their fight, there was never a time that his skill had failed before.

"I guess there's no helping it. I'll gather as much as information from this bastard then" Kyoushiro thought as he sheathed back his sword back to its scabbard.

"Hey, care to tell me who and what you are?"

"Humph! Me... you don't know the 1st General of Commander Ernest!? The one and only Bulsvek Roger?!"

It seems that the Bulsvek was willing enough to announce his name and position in public. Though not as much as he was trying to hide his private part, he was quite honest when it comes to himself, that or he was just another simpleton that wishes to gain attention from the other party.

"The 1st huh? So where is the rest of your gang then?"

"Like I'll answer that easily... You destroyed my lair didn't you!?"

Bulsvek's face burned in rage as he glanced at the closed up entrance of his base. The entirety of its branching corridors was mostly flooded by now and all of its hostages were already dead. Furthermore, there were no paths that could lead the water out of the cave so all of its commodities and freaks of nature were destroyed and trapped within the cave.

Indeed, there was nothing left of the former lair Bulsvek was talking about. Right now it was just a dark aquarium filled with corpses swimming around.

"Ah, there was no other way right? If I step inside that place, the pink powder would have worked on me as well. Like I'll risk myself to a couple of people that holds information about that Ernest guy"

There were still many bases to destroy so there was no point in going inside of them each time they invade. It's not like the men that governs those bases were nice enough to give out information about their commander freely.

That was why; there was no use in keeping a bunch of dead hostages alive. Kyoushiro already thought of them as one of the dead so he had Edsel flooded the entire cave. With that, the guy that has the highest position inside it would die alongside them as well.

It was a win-win situation both sides; for the captive women and their captors.

"Damn you!! I'll kill you for killing my children!!"

Bulsvek attacked. Using the arms behind his back, he attacked Kyoushiro by stretching them like rubber and sent fists to Kyoushiro's direction. Seeing such attack, Kyoushiro clicked his tongue in annoyance as that attack reminded Kyoushiro of the 9th Demon Lord.

"Tsk... I have enough of monsters with one too many hands"

Kyoushiro drew his sword. However, not using any skill that involves the usage of mana, Kyoushiro used the technique he polished during his time in Ambrosia when he was still rebuilding it from scratch. It was a technique that uses only the physical body and not of the skills of this world.

A special technique that was exclusive only to him...

"No-skill Sword style 1st technique "

In an instant, countless slashes flew about and shredded the arms that tried to reach Kyoushiro's face. The world stood still at the first none skill related sword play that cut a monster's skin with high level of density due to its attribute values.

Back in Ambrosia, there was a time where Kyoushiro had to fight monsters without using any skill. Because of his curse, he couldn't level up quickly and he can't gain any skill that could help him in combat. Kyoushiro couldn't use any sort of high level spells as he has only a meager amount of mana inside of him.

Because of that, Kyoushiro's chances of victory during a battle were slim that it could be considered as a miracle that he was still alive.

Fighting monsters that could spew out flames shoot out spikes, spit out acid or poison, use the wind to form some sort of sight and many more. Kyoushiro fought using the strength of a human and not some hero like Taiga and the others.

A technique that was only available to him....

"No-skill Sword style 1st technique "

*GRAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!"

Just like an instant where a glass shatters, several strokes of slashes shredded Bulsvek's arms. Because of that, Bulsvek retreated a few steps back and regenerated its arms on its back. The unbelievable sounds of bones creaking and flesh meshing, made Kyoushiro cringed all over, after all that was disgusting.

However, Kyoushiro dumped the idea of turning back and taking Edsel and Dahlia away, he pursued Bulsvek by taking two steps forward before unleashing another stroke of slashes. It was the second sword play of the No-Skill Sword technique...

""

Kyoushiro's cut through Bulsvek body like butter, severing him in half in just one stroke. Just like how light is refracted in water, Bulsvek's body was cut in half. But despite such severe damaged dealt to his body, Bulsvek pushed his body together to stick both half once more with each other.

Kyoushiro immediately took a step back upon seeing such reaction from Bulsvek's severed body. It seems that a normal cut won't kill him.