The Southwest Main Street.
The headquarters of the [Apollo Familia].
——The Hall of the Sun.
The magnificent gates were shut tight.
Outside the gates, more than a dozen members of the [Apollo Familia] in gleaming armor stood in two rows, guarding the entrance.
Their expressions were exceptionally grim.
Because when Haimer, clad in that pitch-black formal attire, appeared at the end of the street leading two short-haired girls and a squad of [Ganesha] Constables into view, all dozen of these men immediately clapped their hands to their weapons.
The crowd retreated to both sides of the street.
Haimer stopped at a spot less than ten meters from the gates.
A deathly silence spread.
At last, a Pallum male adventurer of the Apollo Familia took a step forward.
He gripped his short spear tightly with both hands, veins bulging on his forehead, and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Get lost! Even a Constable can't—"
However.
The moment his voice rose, it was cut off just as abruptly.
"Swish."
Almost no one saw clearly what had happened.
Even Shakti, standing at the rear as a top-tier Lv.5 adventurer, felt her pupils violently dilate at this instant.
Because in her very eyes, all she could capture was a single afterimage.
That girl with the shark teeth and the hollow, hole-like eyes had already crossed the ten-meter distance and appeared right in front of the Pallum man.
The pure-black scabbard tilted up slightly.
Draw.
Horizontal slash.
Sheathe.
Three movements.
Completed in a single instant, linked into one perfectly smooth, unbroken straight line.
The entire process didn't even take the span of a single heartbeat.
——This was the Cloud Radiance.
A normal person's single breath takes roughly three to five seconds.
Take the lower bound of five seconds.
One-eighth of five seconds is 0.625 seconds.
One-tenth of 0.625 seconds is 0.0625 seconds.
Another tenth is 0.00625 seconds.
Another tenth is 0.000625 seconds.
One-tenth of 0.000625 seconds is the scalp-numbing 0.0000625 seconds.
As for the human naked eye, and even the brain's reaction mechanisms, there was simply no way to mount any defense whatsoever.
Even Shakti, a Lv.5, if she had not opened up a distance of dozens of meters in advance and braced her full defenses on high alert, could not have guaranteed she'd be able to block this strike outright if it came at her suddenly.
"Thud."
All anyone saw—
The Pallum man's head slid off his neck without any warning, smashed onto the flagstone road, and rolled far away.
From the severed neck, blood surged violently into the air like a fountain pent up for far too long, then spattered down in a chaotic shower, splashing directly onto the trouser legs of the companion beside him.
There wasn't a single sound on the street.
The bystanders who had retreated to the sides stood with their mouths gaping wide, throats seemingly stuffed with a wad of wet cotton, unable to make a sound.
Narukami Koharu, meanwhile, simply stood there at ease.
She didn't so much as glance at the headless corpse on the ground.
She lowered her head and gently nudged the guard with her thumb, pushing 『Bloodcry』 back until only a sliver of the blade showed.
"So it really did get warmer."
As expected.
Having drunk its fill of this first mouthful of hot blood.
The originally pure-black blade's dark-red veined patterns had, after drinking the blood, turned vivid enough to drip.
Seeing this, the corners of Narukami Koharu's mouth curled up slightly, her mouthful of shark teeth splitting into an even wider grin, baring her teeth in an especially excited smile.
A tool like this, that boiled the instant it drank blood—it really was so very much to her taste.
"You—you actually dare to kill in broad daylight!!!"
At that moment, one of the [Apollo Familia] guards who had come to his senses saw this and hurriedly berated her.
"Yelling and screaming at my god."
"Doesn't he deserve to die?"
Narukami Koharu snapped the long blade completely shut with a clack, cast a glance at that group of [Apollo Familia] people, lifted her chin, and spat out extremely icy words.
The instant she said this—
The remaining guards finally came to their senses one after another.
Watching their companion's head roll to a stop at their feet, fury mixed with terror burned away their reason.
"Kill her!"
Four [Apollo Familia] members with strength close to Lv.2 roared, raised their longswords and heavy axes, and lunged at Narukami Koharu all at once.
Haimer stood where he was, saying nothing.
But Narukami Koharu naturally sensed her patron god's tacit consent.
"Tch—"
And so—
This time there wasn't even the sound of shifting footsteps.
The onlookers merely felt a phantom blur flash before their eyes, the sharp scream of the blade slicing the air like the long whistle of death.
The flash of blood was like fireworks blooming open.
All anyone saw—
The four men who had charged at the very front, intent on putting Koharu to death, stiffened all at once.
Then, as though their upper and lower halves had been neatly knocked out of alignment, they slid to the ground.
Entrails mixed with foul-smelling fluids spilled across the ground.
Another one-strike slaughter.
Both sides of the street erupted completely.
"No way!"
"Those few were all Lv.1 experts at the very least—and they're just gone, like that?"
"Who the hell is this woman? I never saw her in the Haimer Familia before!"
"Killed several Lv.1s in a row... but did you see clearly how her blade came out just now? I didn't even catch the motion of her lifting her arm!"
The spectators' faces went ashen.
They couldn't comprehend what kind of monster this speed—too fast to even catch its shadow—could possibly belong to.
But—
To these hushed whispers, Narukami Koharu turned a deaf ear, and gave her scabbard a shake.
Because it was at this moment—
"Creeaak—"
The two great gates of the [Apollo Familia] headquarters were slowly pulled open from the inside.
Apollo had finally appeared.
Only, the sun god who in days past always wore gorgeous silks and a crown of laurel—
At this moment wore nothing but a plain white robe, as unadorned as could be.
His face was pale as paper, even his signature golden hair looked dull and lightless, unkempt, his steps somewhat unsteady.
As he walked out of the gates—
Behind him followed his captain Hyacinthus, along with several dozen Familia members.
Not one of them carried a weapon.
All their longswords, staves, and shields had been piled up into a heap of iron scrap, like a small mountain, in the broad courtyard beyond the gate.
Apollo glanced at the ground covered in blood and corpses.
The corner of his eye twitched, and his lips trembled faintly.
But—
He forced down the dread lodged in his throat, and with quivering pupils lifted his head to face Haimer directly.
"Haimer."
"I concede defeat."
"This morning's matter at the East Gate was my failure to discipline my people; Hyacinthus acted rashly and committed a foolish thing."
"I am willing to surrender everything the Apollo Familia has in Orario."
"Including all the real estate held under the Apollo Familia's name in Orario."
"The eight hundred and seventy million Valis in cash deposited with the Guild."
"And every magic sword, weapon, armor, and material in the treasury."
"I want none of it."
Apollo clenched his teeth.
"I surrender every last bit of the Apollo Familia's foundation in Orario."
"I ask for only one condition—let me take these remaining Familia members of mine and leave Orario this very day, to go to another country."
Having said this.
Then, a "thud."
In front of the whole crowd, Apollo slammed both knees heavily onto the hard bluestone flagstones.
As his words fell, Hyacinthus and the several dozen members behind him also lowered their heads one after another.
The bystanders watching the spectacle were all struck dumb.
Surrendering his entire foundation.
Walking out completely stripped of everything.
For a great faction that had operated in Orario for over a decade, this was essentially like dismantling one's own bones and handing them over as a gift.
Every gaze turned toward Haimer.
Everyone felt that this was an enormous benefit.
No matter how great the grudge, faced with such a huge slab of fatty meat, the average person would choose to yield a step.
After all, no one goes to war with a ready-made mountain of gold.
However.
Instead, Haimer's face turned cold at Apollo's cowardly decision.
"You think handing over all your assets can wipe the slate clean?"
"Apollo, in all these years you've spent in the Lower World, just where exactly did you place the dignity of the Lower World's children?"
Apollo hurriedly lifted his head, his face full of panic: "I don't understand what you mean... I..."
"I—I only want to protect these children of mine..."
"Take them away? Take them away how?"
Haimer cut Apollo off, his gaze passing over Apollo's shoulder to stab straight at that cluster of Familia members huddled tightly together behind him.
"Don't stand there putting on such a devoted act for me, Apollo."
"The disgusting deeds you've done in Orario—do I have to strip them bare and air them out for you here, one by one?"
"No matter which man or woman you took a fancy to, so long as they fit your laughable tastes, you had to drag them under your command no matter what."
"Unwilling?"
"At the lighter end, you'd send this pack of vicious dogs of yours to tail, stake out, and harass them day and night, turning their lives into a pot of rancid slop."
"A bit heavier, you'd pay off other Familias to corner and block them off, even to hunt and kill them in the Dungeon."
"Cutting off every path of survival, trampling their dignity into the muck."
"Until, driven to a dead end, starving and weeping, they threw themselves under your command to seek shelter—becoming your playthings just to preserve themselves."
"Using the most despicable of methods—so foul even the sewer rats would gag at the stench."
"As for what happened this morning, your captain leading men to the East Gate to deliberately overturn the [Demeter Familia]'s supplies is nothing more than a miniature of the tyranny you're so used to, projected onto your Familia."
Hearing Haimer's words.
Apollo opened and closed his mouth, the color draining from his face in an instant.
A complicated look surfaced on Shakti's face as well.
After all, over these years, she and Lord Ganesha had heard tell of how the [Apollo Familia] oppressed other Familias.
But, constrained by the fact that it was one of Orario's large Familias, she had always been willing but powerless to act.
Not only that.
As these words fell.
Behind Apollo.
Among those several dozen [Apollo Familia] members whose faces had been ashen with despair, gradually, several had already buried their heads low.
After all, among their number—
There truly were victims who had been forced in exactly this way, back then.
Just as the scene fell into a deadlock—
——The captain who had been standing behind Apollo the entire time.
The last shred of luck vanished completely from the face of 「Beloved Child of the Sun's Light」 Hyacinthus Clio.
Listening to those words Haimer spoke, he understood very well.
His provocative act this morning of deliberately overturning the [Demeter Familia]'s transport cart at the East Gate.
Compounded with the evil deeds the [Apollo Familia] had accumulated over the years.
There was no longer any room for negotiation today where paying money could settle the affair.
Thinking of this, the once-proud Hyacinthus, 「Beloved Child of the Sun's Light」, fell silent and drew a deep breath.
Then, in the next second!
"Shing!"
Hyacinthus reached his right hand behind his waist and suddenly drew a short defensive dagger he carried on his person!
The surrounding onlookers let out a chorus of alarmed cries.
Everyone assumed he meant to resist to the death.
Inaba Tsukuyo's right hand instantly gripped her tachi.
Narukami Koharu's hollow eyes lit up even brighter.
However.
Hyacinthus raised his right hand.
The action he took, however, was beyond everyone's expectations.
All anyone saw—
The sharp short dagger, in an instant, reversed and turned its edge around.
Aimed at his own other arm, the left one.
All anyone saw—
"Squelch."
Hyacinthus clenched his teeth!
With all his strength!
He hacked down viciously at a slant with a single stroke!
A gout of scalding blood sprayed straight out into the sunlight, splattering into the cracks of the surrounding flagstones.
A muffled "thud."
The sound of flesh tearing and bone snapping was unbearably grating.
Hyacinthus's face twisted into a knot, great patches of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
From the now-empty sleeve at his left shoulder, blood still dripped down unstoppably.
The entire arm rolled a couple of turns in the dust.
But he forcibly held back and did not let out a single wail.
A "thud" sound.
His knees bent, crashing heavily and directly onto the ground.
Hyacinthus knelt right there, facing Haimer.
Propping up his body with his remaining stump of an arm, his head bowed low into the pool of blood.
"Lord Haimer."
"This morning's provocation at the East Gate was my own decision to make; every last decision was carried out by me alone."
"It has nothing whatsoever to do with Lord Apollo or the entire Familia."
Hyacinthus pressed his whole face nearly into the dirt.
"This hand."
"On behalf of the Apollo Familia, I offer it to the goddess Demeter who was offended today, and to her Familia members—"
"as my apology."
"With this I atone for my crime; I beg my lord to show mercy!"
Silence.
Before the hall's gate, all that remained was the drip-drip of blood falling onto the flagstones.
Within the ranks of the Apollo Familia, several adventurers who normally revered Hyacinthus couldn't bear it and covered their mouths.
A severed arm as atonement.
Taking all the wrongdoing entirely upon himself.
Even among the surrounding adventurers watching the spectacle, quite a few couldn't help but feel a measure of approval in their hearts for this decisive, ruthless captain.
This could be said to be the highest grade of apology ceremony a mortal could possibly perform.
Everyone's gaze converged once more upon Haimer's face.
Waiting for this Constable to show great mercy.
After all.
According to past experience in handling disputes, the patron god pays out his entire fortune, and the captain cripples his own combat strength.
That degree was already enough to settle any matter.
However.
Reality is always cruel.
It was all nothing but wishful self-delusion.
The evils of the past had long since transformed into barbed vines, rooted deep within cause and effect—by no means could they be snipped away with the loss of a single arm.
Haimer looked coldly at Hyacinthus kneeling in the pool of blood before him.
"Atonement with a severed arm?"
"You think that with a hide belonging only to yourself, you can trade for the dignity of those Lower World children you all once oppressed?"
"Do you think your life is more precious than others'?"
"Or do you think I'm so easy to fool?"
The instant these words came out.
The kneeling Hyacinthus's pupils quaked, his body stiffened, and he lifted his head to look at Haimer in disbelief.
Was it still not enough?
"This bad habit of yours—inviting trouble upon yourselves and then thinking you can take it as a matter of course to shoulder the loss alone—that doesn't fly with me."
"Self-mutilating in front of me will earn you no sympathy at all."
"Since you're so fond of dismantling your own parts."
"Koharu."
"Sever one of his legs as well."
"His life is worthless. I'll personally hand his life over to the aggrieved party—let the [Demeter Familia] judge him themselves!"
"Yes!"
The moment these words were spoken, Narukami Koharu's shark-toothed grin bloomed once more, without the slightest hesitation!
In fact—
In the very instant Haimer finished speaking!
Her afterimage gave Hyacinthus no window whatsoever to dodge, flashing straight past him.
"Tch——"
A spray of red mist mixed with blood and shattered bone and flesh burst up in an instant!
Hyacinthus's right leg came off at the thigh!
"Gaaaah!!!"
In the extreme agony, Hyacinthus lost his balance and pitched headfirst into the pool of blood, his face contorting in pain.
This time the onlookers didn't even dare to breathe, their eyes stretched wide open.
As Narukami Koharu slid the blade back into its guard with a "clack."
Haimer looked around at his surroundings.
"The verdict is as follows."
"Effective immediately, all core Apollo Familia members who took part in coercing and oppressing other adventurers shall be imprisoned together in the great dungeon of Orario!"
"Without the express permission from a Constable's own mouth, they shall never leave their cells for all eternity!"
"All deposits, equipment, real estate, and Dungeon resources held under the Apollo Familia's name shall be confiscated—every last one, without exception—and seized as public property."
"Furthermore—"
Speaking of this, Haimer paused briefly.
"As for those members who were forced to join the Apollo Familia back then."
"I permit you to withdraw from the Apollo Familia and, in Orario, once again choose to join under some other legitimate god."
Haimer glanced back at Shakti behind him.
"But the conversion documents and procedures, as well as your futures, must all be handled by Eina of the Guild."
The moment this sentence of judgment fell—
Those lower-ranking members who had been sobbing just moments ago jerked their heads up, eyes full of disbelief.
This sudden liberation left them at a loss.
"Is it true?"
"Can we really start over?"
Some were already wiping away tears, saying it in trembling, disbelieving voices.
But.
The joys and sorrows of humankind are not shared.
Apollo only found their clamor grating, his face full of despair.
____
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