Hero’s Downfall Report

115 – Then the devil came in through the front door (9)

The children laughed brightly. Maria raised her hands. She kept her beat, waving her hands up and down like a conductor.

“I don’t know if I know this song. It’s okay if you don’t know. You can just follow along while watching your friend next to you. I’ll call you first.

Let’s go around the roses

Let’s go around the roses

Open the petal pouch

Open the petal pouch

Hitch! Hitch! I’m falling!

Now. I’m calling you again. One by one, let’s start!”

The slightly older children sang the song with a stutter. A short, simple, and easy song to learn. Young children sing along with their older brothers and sisters, or older sisters and older brothers.

Let’s go around the roses

Let’s go around the roses

Maria stood shoulder to shoulder with the children next to her. The children next to her are the children next to her, and the children next to her are the children next to her…

Open the petal pouch

Open the petal pouch

The tip of her halberd, which Lily stabbed, pierced the guard’s body. The guard who fell down grabbed his wound. The thugs with no sense of camaraderie rush down, trampling on his body. Cain stabbed the enemy as fast as he could.

Hitch! Hitch! I’m falling!

Maria is addicted! She leaned forward slightly each time she did it. The children sitting in a circle bent down as if it was fun.

Let’s go around the roses

Let’s go around the roses

Lily struck the foot of a guard holding a shield with the blade of her halberd. She cried, as her man, who wore crude gloves but was still well-dressed, cried out. Forcing her body to roll down the stairs. Her shield missed and her sword fell, but her fat weight pushed Lily back. I gritted my teeth and held on, but the stitched wound on my back opened up again.

Open the petal pouch

Open the petal pouch

The thugs grabbed the backs of the fallen and used them as shields. She used her colleague as a shield and pushed back. But Cain was not left alone. He thrust the sword between her legs, wounding her ankles and knees. Screaming, the bully falls backwards.

Hitch! Hitch! I’m falling!

A thunk, thunk sound is heard from the top of the stairs. It wasn’t the sound of human footsteps. It is the sound of something heavy rolling down.

Hitch! Hitch!

The guards scream and forcefully push Cain and Lily away. A chunk of rock came rolling down the stairs. A huge chunk of rock crashes all over the place and crushes a person on the stairs.

I’m falling!

The blood-covered rock did not easily stop. I knew I shouldn’t do that, I knew it was impossible, but Cain and Lily blocked it with their bodies. Lily let out her pain under her breath. Blood dripped down the sleeve. The top is already soaked in blood.

Let’s go around the rose Let’s go around the rose

The guards rush down, shouting. The sound of the children’s song gets louder. The light that protects the children becomes brighter, and the darkness that Cain and Lily belong to becomes darker.

Now the light burns so brightly that I cannot open my eyes and see it. Maria cries, the children laugh. The guards who look at the light scream and cover their eyes, and Cain and Lily, who turned away from the light, bleed with them.

Hold on. Hold on. Cain promised twice or three times. She thought so too when another soldier came down on the landing. He saw that he had a crossbow in his hand. Even when two soldiers with crossbows stood on the stairs and aimed at Cain and Lily.

“No.”

A spark flashed in Lily’s eyes.

The soldiers pulled the trigger of the crossbow. Lily, holding her halberd like a shield, blocked Cain’s path. One missed and hit the ground. One was hit by the halberd’s ax blade and bounced off. But the last one

Hitch. Hitch. I’m falling.

Digging into Lily. It falls apart.

Let’s go around. Let’s turn. Let’s go around.

Cain ran up the stairs like an animal and swung her sword. Crossbow bolts grazed her ears, blades grazed here and there on her body, but they pierced through again and again like a demon. He cuts, slashes, breaks, and stabs.

The guards, tired of the momentum, fled up the stairs. Cain couldn’t think of anything. Even though his whole body was covered in blood, he was chased up. What you hear is the heartbeat.

Thump. Thud. The sound of the heart.

We beat each other to the beat.

Climb up the stairs. Passing through the prostitutes’ hallway. The hallways are filled with the bodies of servants and maids who have fallen with knives in her hands. As expected from those who fought against the guards, their faces are calm.

The road of corpses led to the resting place of the soldiers who were harassing the playthings.

Swing the sword. Grab and kill any guard on sight. The imperial sword, unable to overcome the momentum, loses its teeth and breaks with a sharp crash. As if trying to catch a mad dog, people with clubs and spears strike Cain’s body.

Thump. Thud. I’m falling.

Cain’s world was turned upside down. That can’t be possible. It shouldn’t be like that. Cain bit the neck of the guy standing next to him. He spat out a piece of flesh and snatched the sword and swung it. From the other side of the cave, the count’s guards, wide-eyed, flocked like a pack of wild dogs.

“Stop it, stop it!”

Someone clapped their hands. Especially good armor. A shiny, greasy, plump face. A mustache grown with great care. This is Count Wördem.

“That’s enough, my friend!”

Cain threw her sword towards the Count. The guard next to her blocks with a shield the size of a door. It bounces in vain with a ting sound. Soldiers holding spears form formation and rush towards Cain.

Poof.

An ear-piercing whistling sound. Glare. Eerie energy. Instinctively, Cain bowed his body. Throwing axes fly into the bodies of the soldiers. Tear off his arm and chop off his leg.

The buzzing sound sounds like tinnitus. Heavy axes fly. The Count’s guards look at the throwing ax stuck in the shield with a weary expression.

People wearing masks are walking from the entrance. Not a word is said. There isn’t even a sound when walking. She just spits, letting the blood from the knife run down her gloved hand.

The guards rush in like wild dogs.

However, the masked people defeat the Count’s soldiers with a simple gesture.

He picks up the hatchet between his eyes, wipes off the dirt, and throws it again. Those with crossbows come first, followed by those with bows.

With the weapons cunningly digging in, all of the soldiers are carrying shields, and those without shields are picking up even rolling wooden tables. Only then do those wearing masks take out their real weapons.

Do not make a single sound.

Inhale when stabbing.

When twisting, stop. Exhale when pulling out.

After one breath, he swings the blade, spraying out blood, and breathes again.

It’s simple.

Block, stab and cut. It’s really simple. Block, stab and cut. There is no technique whatsoever. It is exactly the same movement as it appears in the basic swordsmanship textbook. Even complex movements. It is literally authentic, with no tricks to blind your eyes.

Concise. Fast. It was strong.

Stab and cut before the opponent can block. When you need to catch your breath, wait for the attack to come and take advantage. Once I found my breath, I jumped back into execution.

The white-blooded executioners continued to carry out the sentence.

There is no need to talk about what is right and correct. There is nothing to add or subtract from what is clear and straight.

The last guard threw down his weapon and everything and fell to his knees. The bailiffs waited.

The simplest of them all, the white-blooded Grand Executioner, placed his sword against the guard’s chin. He raised his sword and forced himself to stand.

“Execution.”

The executioners thrust their swords in unison. The body of the guard, who had been stabbed while standing, crumbles like rotten fruit.

“Uh… eww… ah… “

The only person alive is Count Wördem. The count tried to run away, but his legs betrayed his master and threw him to the floor. The bailiffs awaited the grand bailiff’s orders.

“Pull it out.”

Four executioners held on to the limbs of Wördem, who had fallen. Two bailiffs trampled on his body.

Wow. His right arm is pulled out. Wördem cries like a pig. His left arm bends backwards, and his left wrist touches his right wrist. Wördem fainted. The bailiff kicked him on the lips and woke him up.

“Pull it out!”

Cruel command. Two more bailiffs join in. Two people each grab Wördem’s legs and pull him back. Like a clown, his torn legs become even more torn. Raise your legs by cracking your joints. Push back until your shins touch your shoulders.

Wördem trembles like a frog thrown on the road on a hot summer day. It was just as easy to pull out each joint. Like moving the limbs of a dying frog. Grabbing and pulling out elbows and knuckles.

Wördem was dragged out with a rope tied around his neck. He was still alive.

“Cain… “

Cain turned back. Lily was standing, supported by members of the White Blood Knights. Blood flowed from her torn side. But it was Lily, not Cain, who stopped her.

“Cain… !”

Cain was covered in her blood all over his body. She almost believed she had crawled out of a pool of blood. Because Cain knew about her physical condition, she couldn’t hastily approach Lily.

“… How pathetic. Really.”

Grand Executor Astrid ripped off her mask and approached. I snatched his handkerchief from his arms and handed it to him. Cain wiped his hands and then picked up Lily.

“… Count. Oh my god… !”

A familiar voice. Cain looked toward the entrance. She was Alvin. And that’s definitely strange. She obviously took the money, but why?

“This…” “This is too bad!”

Alvin was not alone. There were numerous robbers behind him. Untidy serfs. Men who fell short. These strong women walked all the way here even after seeing this scenery. People who get angry with a glass of alcohol and relieve their anger with a glass of water, took the wrong path, but still did not cross the final line.

“Kids.”

Cain cried out with difficulty.

“The kids are down there!”

Alvin quickly ran over. “Uh, hey! Hey!” Others were also there. After waiting for a while, the serfs who had become thieves walked out one by one, crying and carrying their children. A small cloth was placed on the children’s heads to prevent them from seeing anything unsightly.

Finally, Maria came up staggeringly. “Water.” Her White Blood Knights handed her her water. Mary closed her eyes and prayed as she watched what was happening before her eyes.

“… Do you understand, Liliana Brünnhild?”

Astrid asked a question.

“We won today. But I might lose tomorrow. Just as we defeated them, we may be defeated by someone else. “Just like our white blood did in the past.”

Lily, who was in Cain’s arms, just listened in silence.

“Correcting good deeds? It’s a good thing. Correcting evil? It’s a good thing. But that, too, affects someone. Look. What we do to do good things.

We can do it like this. It can tear people alive and cut down unprepared people without shedding a single drop of blood.

Is it only white blood? No. No. Anyone can do that. “Anyone.”

Lily tried to stand up. Cain supported Lily. Although she leaned slightly, Lily still stood straight in front of the Grand Executor. Astrid’s eyes are still cold and harsh. Like the ice caps on the White Blood Mountain.

“This is what it means for Valkyria to move. If you move. We too must move. Following the will of the strongest warrior. Because that’s white blood. Why didn’t previous knight commanders, Berserkir and Valkyria leave Valhalla? You are the rider of blood. “Liliana.”

“… For festering wounds… “You have to use a knife.” Lily chuckled. Cain supported Lily.

“Squeezing out pus is a treatment. Removing the tumor is also treatment. The empire festered. We do not grow by tearing off our raw skin. What’s sick… “It just cuts it off.”

“Who told you that it was sick? Who is that? “Tell me.”

Lily was silent. Astrid’s eyes turned to Cain. Cain answered.

“Here.”

Cain pointed to his head.

“Here.”

Cain pointed to the heart.

“And here. If it was a person, his head and heart said so. So I guess you came here too. Grand Executor.”

Cain pointed to the empty scabbard. A smile crossed the Grand Executor’s face. Even on a winter day, sometimes the sun shines like a spring day. But then he slowly shook his head.