"You fucking brat!"

One of the Flays bellowed as he charged at me with his sword raised above his head.

"Even if you grow a little and get new clothes, you're still the same old trash from the slums!!" He yelled as he swung his rusty sword down on me.

"Stop! Don't charge forward blindedly!"

Not heeding his brother's warning, Brutus put all of his strength to his arms and brought the sword down.

Although the swing was forceful, it was far slower than the attacks that sir Alford often subjected me to.

I lightly stepped to the side and parried the blade with my palm. Because the force he used was too much, a mere tap from the side was enough to cause his entire stance to crumble.

His sword dug deep into the ground as he leaned forward. Making use of this opening, I twisted my body and elbowed his exposed jaw, breaking it in the process.

"Guaah!" He exhaled as his eyes turned to the back of his head and collapsed on the ground.

"I'll save you brother's for last" I spat at him as I faced the other four in front of me. "Now then,"

"He knocked Brutus out with one blow! This is bad, boss!" One of the men shouted as he looked to the collapsed man on the ground.

In response, the other half of the Flays glared and pointed his sword at him.

"Shut your trap! Surround him and attack him all at once!"

Hearing this, I crouched down low and condensed my mana to my feet. I then Kicked off the ground and propelled my entire body with incredible speed.

"I won't allow you" I scoffed lightly as I dashed towards the one they called boss.

However,

*Paaang*

A loud metallic sound reverberated throughout the open space as my forearm collided with the blunt side of his sword.

"Hah! That trick of yers won't work on us twice!"

Despite my sudden burst of speed, the man was able to block my attack with his sword.

"Tch" I clicked my tongue as I leaped away from him.

"You're not the only one who can use that, you know?!" He yelled as he took a stance and readied his sword.

Suddenly, white steam started appearing around the large man's body.

"Hoh? So you can use body strengthening, eh?" I said to him as I anticipated their next move.

People from this world were all born with certain amounts of mana inside their bodies, varying from person to person.

One could, with intense training, learn to manipulate said mana to greatly enhance their physical capabilities, this was called "Body Strengthening Magic."

Other, more blessed individuals, were born with highly concentrated mana, allowing for further manipulation into certain elements, akin to their affinity, or use it to influence the state of being of other people, These were called "Elemental and
Augmentation Magic."

There was also a fourth magic known in this world called "Holy Magic" but it was only accessible to people of the Holy Kingdom.

"Hoh! The boss can also use Body Strengthening! We can win!"

"That's our boss for ya!"

The men cheered as they slowly gained their confidence.

Knowing that my dash won't work against them anymore, I opted to use the weapon of the Flay that I had just knocked out, but just as I was bending down,

"Now's an opening! Get him!!" The boss yelled as his thugs charged at me with their makeshift weapons.

".. you underestimate me" I said in a low tone as I rolled forward to dodge one man's club, picking up the sword in the process.

"Huup!"

*Paang*

Another metallic sound rang as I blocked an attack from another man while kneeling down.

"I have him pinned down, get hi-- eh?"

The man's sentence was cut off as he realized that he was already staring into the sky, greatly confusing him.

I had used my legs to sweep him off of his feet and lift him up to the air as he was pinning me down. Using this opening, I quickly dashed forward to the man behind him.

"Hiih!" The man screeched as he noticed me coming at him.

My figure, that had been blocked by his comrade until recently, was suddenly charging at him with incredible speed, so it was only understandable that he was greatly surprised.

He tried to raise his woodchoppers axe to defend against my attack,

However,

"Too slow" I whispered as I swung my sword to his side.

At the same time as his friend hit the ground, my rusty weapon dug deep into his lower rib, breaking them into shards and hitting multiple organs in his body in the process.

"Nghh Guaaaah!" He exclaimed as he spewed blood from his side and mouth.

Feeling that the sword was stuck inside him, I decided to take his axe just before he collapsed on the ground.

"You fucking bastard!!!" The man they called boss suddenly shouted as he swung his sword at me. Just from his movements alone, I could already tell that he was far superior than all of his underlings, despite having a relatively fatter body.

"I told you, I'll leave you guys for last." I said as I evaded his attack and kicked his gut, sending him flying. I then charged at the man that was just getting up.

Before he could even turn around to look at me, my axe swung as I passed him by and separated his head from his body.

Blood spurted out of the place that had once held his head intact, dying his surroundings in red. His body, that had not yet realized what just happened, continued it's motion of getting up, only to once again collapse on to the ground.

"Hiiiih!!" The other man screeched as he saw me send his boss flying and behead his other friend.

"Don't come near me!!!!" He screamed as he threw his club at me.

"How pitiful" I muttered as I easily evaded his attack.

Sliding down on the ground, I spun my body to generate momentum as I hacked one of his legs clean off with my axe.

"AAAAAAHHH!! My leeeg!!" He screamed as he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He layed there, screaming in pain as he held his severed leg that was spewing blood.

Noticing me walking towards him, he turned around and looked at me while bawling his eyes out, snot and everything.

"P-please!! Spare me!!" He pleaded to me as he raised one his hands. "I-I had nothing to do with whatever they did to you! I only followed them today because I needed money!!" He continued.

I looked at him with cold eyes as I crouched down.

"How unfortunate of you." I coldly told him as I got up and raised my axe.

Seeing this, the man's face lost all it's colours. "Please!! Don't!! I have a wife and son!! They need m---"

The man's voice was cut as I swung my axe down on him. The movement I made was quick and precise, so much so, that he continued moving his arms around long after his head split open and spilled it's contents.

"See, you have a brain" I said to the lifeless body as I let go of the axe. "I don't understand why you don't use it, and result to violence and crime."

"Ugghh.."

Hearing a groan coming from behind, I turned around and saw the man they called boss, slowly getting up.

"Hooh? Still kicking, eh?" I called out to him as we met eyes. "See? if you had just waited for your turn, you wouldn't be hurting this bad right now."

Hearing this, his face twisted into a furious scowl.

"You fucker!!!" He cursed at me as he readied his sword. "You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!! I'll kill you myself!"

"Heh, you're mistaken yet again, scum. I'm the one that's going to kill you." I lightly scoffed as I took the club beside me and swung it twice. "You and this shit's going to meet your other shit of a brother soon enough."

The man's eyes widened upon hearing my remark.

"What did you say?!?" He shouted at me with such vigour that the ground slightly shook.

"Ahh, apologies. I forgot to tell you" I lightly bumped my head in a silly manner as I winked and stuck out my tongue,

"You see, it was I who killed Barko, and it is I that will kill you and that shit there" I said as I gestured towards the unconscious man with a broken jaw.

"GRAAAAAAH!!" The man, blinded with anger, charged at me with his magic strengthened body.

Wanting to humiliate him even more, I dug my feet to the ground and prepared to receive his attack head on, a grave mistake on my part.

The impact generated by his attack was too heavy for my weapon as it blasted through it and sent me flying.

"Guaah!" I exclaimed as I stumbled a good distance away from him.

[Strong!] I unconsciously thought to myself as I reorganized my thoughts and controlled my breathing.

"I won't let you recover!!!!"

The man shouted as he followed through with his attacks.

Swinging his sword aimlessly and wildly, he continued his onslaught. Fortunately, he was too blinded by rage for his attacks to actually work.

I scrambled to dodge his wild attacks as I tried to look for something to defend my self.

[Meeting his attack head on was a terrible mistake] I thought to myself as I continued moving.

"You fucking shit!! Stay still!!!" Losing his patience, the man raised his sword high up in the air, as if to prepare for an attack.

Seeing the opening, I quickly kicked of the ground and dashed towards him.

Just as I was doing so, he showed a malicious grin.

[?!! Shit!] I cursed myself as I realized his intent.

It was a feint.

He made a show of opening and baited me into charging at him, knowing that I wouldn't be able to change my direction mid dash.

Fortunately, his bait needed his sword to be high up into the air, so he only had his fists to attack.

Anticipating this, I raised my arms to try and blocked his attack, another mistake on my part.

"Hah! I got you now!! Die!!!"

The man, that was surprisingly agile for his size, followed the momentum of his raised sword and turned his hips, sending a sweeping kick directed to my side.

"Ghaaah!" I gasped as I felt the air leave my lungs.

Stumbling yet again until I hit a wall. I had expected him to follow up with another onslaught so I instinctively raised my arms. However, contrary to my anticipation, no attack came.

What met my eyes when I looked up was the figure of a large, fat, man kneeling down with one of his arms resting against his knee, breathing heavily.

"Haah.. haah.. haah.." The man, while sweating bullets, was looking at me with eyes full of hatred and contempt.

[I guess the body strengthening wore off.]

The man had exhausted his mana reserves by strengthening his fat body so much for so long.

[I'm guessing that he didn't have much anyway in the first place.]

Seeing the opportunity, I quickly got up and dashed towards him once again.

His face twisted into a sour grimace as he tried to raise his sword, but it was too late.

I put my entire weight on my knee and collided it with his face, breaking his nose and removing most of his teeth in the process.

The man was sent flying a good distance, blood spewing out of his mouth and nose.

"Uguu!" He groaned as his back hit the ground.

Quickly picking up the sword he had let go, I forcefully stabbed it into his thigh to prevent him from getting up.

"Nnghhhh?!!! Gaah!!" The man squirmed in pain as blood gushed out of his impaled appendage. He looked at me with bloodshot eyes before trying to sit up.

"Just lay down" I said as I twisted the sword, causing him even more pain before breaking it and leaving a piece stuck to him.

Closing the distance between us, I pinned one of his arms as I broke the other while I mounted him.

The scream of the man, akin to a banshee, filled the bloodied courtyard.

Looking at him straight in the eyes, I placed the broken sword inside his mouth, wounding the sides in the process.

"You see, this is how I killed your shit brother" I told him as I placed my other hand on the hilt of the sword.

"I stabbed him twice as well, but with a broken piece of glass" I continued. "Find solace with the fact that you'll die, the same way as your brother, but with a sword."

Hearing this, the man tried to resist, but with one of his legs impaled, both his arms broken, and a sword jammed into his mouth, he couldn't do anything.

Tears began welling up at the side of his eyes as sweat trickled down from his forehead.

Seeing the look of pure and utter despair in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine and made me tremble slightly.

[Ahh, this is bad. You're gonna awaken something from me if you continue that.] I thought to myself as I jammed the lower half of the broken sword into his mouth.

The man's body squirmed vigorously as the sword went through his mouth and stabbed right into the ground.

A pool of blood slowly spreading from beneath him, I let go of the sword as the man's eyes turn blank and his body lightly twitched.

Turning around, I noticed a stain on the lifeless body's crotch and the foul smell of feces coming from him.

"Even in death you're fucking disgusting." I spat as I walked away from him. "Fucking pig, shitting and pissing himself. You can't even die properly."

I then walked towards the still unconscious Brutus and crouched down.

"..You guys are fucking ugly." I said as I took a knife from his pocket.

Because of his broken jaw, I could easily prie open his mouth and Insert the knife. inside, I cut off his tongue, waking him up.

"Bluurgh! Aaah hi Haa!!" Incorrigible blurb came out of his mouth as he spewed blood.

In response, I dug two of my fingers into his eyes and pulled them out.

"GUAAAAAAHHH!!!! AHHH!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs while rolling around and placing his hands at his, now empty, eye sockets.

"Oy, stop moving. We're not done yet."

I then took his arms and severed the tendons connecting to his hands, rendering them useless. Then I took the woodchoppers axe, and hit his kneecaps with the blunt side, shattering them and rendering him limp.

"Ghaaah!! Blurghn! Uwooh Aaah!!!" Even more incorrigible sounds came out of his mouth as he squirmed aroud.

In response, I kneeled beside him, right near his ear and whispered.

"These Injuries I caused you aren't fatal, don't worry." I said as I patted his head, "Soon, you'll heal, and you'll live the rest of your life without seeing, tasting, or even holding anything ever again. You'll live your life squirming around, like the worm that you are."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!! GUAAAA!!"

"Have fun"

As the man laid there screaming, I took off my blazer and shirt that have been dyed in blood, and neatly folded them. I looked around and saw the carnage that I had just done, six bodies, laying around in their own pools of blood, maimed and mangled.

Strangely enough, instead of feeling disgust like I thought I would, I felt satisfied.

[Haah, with this, I've avenged one of my past deaths.]

I thought to myself as I walked towards the alley.

With that, the scourge of the slums, the Flays, were no more. I had exacted my revenge for one of my deaths, and all the other deaths those detestable filth caused.

Little did I know, that their disappearance would cause an unprecedented problem, that I would be later forced to solve.

I looked up to the sky as I took the two by the hands and began walking towards the estate.

[Haah, how refreshing] I thought to myself.

The two twins would be formally introduced into the Carmine household as my relatives, and train under sir Alford himself, later growing into fine servants of the house with a deeply rooted loyalty to me.

The two would also often come to my room whenever they had free time and pester me to spend time with them, much to the displeasure of Lady Juliette. But that is a story for another time.