Chapter 14: I Still Prefer Your Brutal Side (Part 1)
"You're not joking, are you?"
Fingal forced a dry laugh. Was this horned bastard messing with him?
"Of course I'm not joking. Isn't this your duty anyway? Take them out—that's an order."
Aura replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. This was the very purpose of the Scales of Obedience—to subdue a Warrior and ensure protection.
That was its core meaning, its only meaning. Everything else was just supplementary.
"Hahaha, what's wrong? Did I say something incorrect?"
Aura threw her head back with a loud laugh, theatrically wiping away nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes—finally realizing what had been bothering her.
Ah, it was Fingal's effortless composure, that attitude of having everything under control.
It irritated her immensely.
She watched Fingal with a beaming smile—this flustered look of his... amusing.
"...You're absolutely right."
Fine, fine. Fingal gritted his teeth fiercely. This damned foolish woman.
The hypnosis wasn't complete yet; the revolution still required effort, damn it.
He wasn't going to fight. Just hours ago, he was a country bumpkin college student scrolling through his phone on the highway. Now, they expected him to fight, and against ten opponents at that?
What a joke!
Believe me, I'll saw off those ridiculous, stupid horns of yours!
"Seize him!"
Under the command of Mut, that fat noble, the dozen or so soldiers sprang into action... A noble's orders were absolute, and no one wanted to offend the aristocracy.
Run away?
No, if he ran, Aura might just finish him off herself... Right now, he had only implanted the value of being a "useful subordinate" to make Aura value him more.
But if he resorted to fleeing—a useless, cowardly move—he would become a "worthless" subordinate.
"Die!"
The enemy's face loomed larger in his vision.
Should he go for it?
Should he fight?
Should he fight, right now?
He had no choice but to go!
"Aaaaaah!! Yamakashi! Aaaaaah!!!"
Here I come!
Fingal's face twisted into an extreme grimace as he let out a savage war cry, startling the soldiers into instinctively stepping back—had this guy gone mad? Possessed by some evil god?
[Soldiers feel mild confusion toward you.]
[Aura feels mild confusion toward you.]
[Lord Orden's son, Mut—feels mild confusion toward you...]
[You unleash—War Cry, Intimidation on the enemy.]
[Enemy is briefly stunned.]
It had that kind of effect? Great!
While everyone was momentarily stunned, Fingal closed in, pressing forward. In that moment, he could almost smell the metallic scent of blood in the air.
"Die!"
He delivered a hyena-like, vicious upward kick, accurately striking the groin of the soldier at the front who was wielding a one-handed sword—a sound akin to cracking eggs seemed to echo in the air, turning the faces of every man present pale.
What the hell!
How vicious, you bastard!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
The soldier let out a wild boar-like scream, rendered combat ineffective by the kick—he dropped to his knees on the spot, weeping in agony.
Good!
Fingal felt a surge of triumph, but before he could revel in it, the other soldiers closed in on him. Forced to rely on his height advantage, he fought while retreating, looking utterly disheveled in the process.
"So weak..."
Aura, still sipping her coffee, watched Fingal with disdain as he dodged and weaved under the attacks of a few lowly soldiers. He seemed far weaker than the other soldiers of the human noble.
"Hey, woman—aren't you scared? The man you brought along is about to be beaten to death by my men."
"You'd better behave and agree to be my woman from now on."
The fat noble, completely unaware that she was a Demon, strode directly over to sit opposite Aura, right in Fingal's former spot.
"Fool."
Aura merely cast a sidelong glance at him before a fist-sized soul burning with two mana symbols landed on the scale.
Bang!
In just one second, Aura had taken control of the portly noble. Though Aura appeared to be only a few decades old, she was considered quite powerful among the Demons.
"You..."
Mut's eyes widened in shock. Why can't my body move?
"Kill yourself when this is over."
The terrifying Scales of Obedience instantly subdued Mut. For anyone without resistance—except Fingal—this Magic was nearly fearsome.
"You..."
"Shut up and sit still."
Under the command, the somewhat corpulent noble immediately froze.
Aura paid no attention to this human, silently watching Fingal battle the other humans... She was interested in beautiful vases.
But if they were too fragile, it might become troublesome.
Still, if one truly died... it might be a bit of a pity?
She found her own thoughts absurd—weren't they just expendable? Why regret their deaths?
...
Time passed second by second, yet for Fingal, it had never felt so drawn-out, as if he had entered a domain where time stood still, moving excruciatingly slowly.
Apart from the initial burst that incapacitated one soldier, he now relied solely on the experience from his extra memories to continuously block attacks. After all, he was just an ordinary person who had traveled to another world.
The only reasons he had held out this long were his regular exercise, decent stamina, relatively great strength, and taller stature.
On the other hand, some of his opponents were executioners who had been on real battlefields and had actually killed people before.
"Where are you looking?"
Not good!