A sword forged from thin air and mana.

Welf didn't know how it happened, but he knew that it was necessary to face the monster in front of him.

"Welf?"

He heard Fae speak up from behind him. Hesitant and also a bit embarrassed.

To be honest, he was a bit embarrassed as well. He didn't think that he would say something like that, but it was already too late to take it back. So instead, he turned to give her a quick smile before focusing on the monster.

It was a Silverback. An ape-like creature with silver fur and hulking muscles.

Kind of reminded him of Bell at the moment with his random muscle growth, actually.

But that wasn't important.

Welf grabbed the handle of the sword he forged and focused.

...The monster wasn't normal. Just like the others that had been appearing throughout the city, the Silverback was corrupted by something.

Slashes and scars covered the Silverback's body, like it had been split apart over and over. But at the same time, eerie black vines stitched those severed parts back together, giving the monster the appearance of a haphazardly fixed stuffed animal.

But more than that, it was strong.

Welf wasn't as crazy as Bell who could apparently tell exactly how strong people were somehow, but he had been in plenty of dangerous situations. More since meeting Bell.

And his instincts were telling him that the monster was strong. Strong enough to rip him apart if he wasn't careful. But...

'You think I'll lose in front of Fae?'

His heart was pounding. Whether that was because Fae was behind him, because he sprinted here on instinct, or because he was overdrawing his mana with the sword he made, Welf didn't know.

But what he did know was...

"Burn out."

...He could kill it.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

The monster roared and pounced.

"WELF!"

Fae screamed.

A black and silver blur approached, quickly resolving into a giant fist swinging at Welf's face.

But he didn't retreat or try to parry. Instead, he swung his sword to meet the fist and shouted. "False works!"

Static.

Welf felt his sword connect with the fist and cut through. But the moment it did, he got a wave of feedback. Like his entire body was steel and something just slammed against it, sending a reverberation throughout.

Information flowed into his head. Pictures on a screen of a young man facing off against a similar opponent. And then text, appearing in Welf's field of vision, overlaying the Silverback.

Static.

*
The [flames] have died down.

There are about thirty meters to the [Silverback].

It'll take [it] less than three seconds to close this distance.

-Therefore.

The outcome of this battle will be decided in the next three seconds.
*

'What... is this...?'

A sense of incongruency.

Time had crawled to a halt as Welf faced off against the Silverback. Even so, information continued to flow and words continued to appear.

*
My mind is clear.

I know the scope of my power.

Projection using [concept creation], basic structure, composition, production technique, growth experience, and accumulated years.

A [False Reality] that [distorts] the world engraved in [the soul], the embodiment of the [fictional] world using the theory of [realization], [fiction in fiction].

Inheritance of battle technique, experience, and physical strength from [***** ******.]

>ERROR.

>Failed to reach source.

>Failed to compile recorded recollection.
*

Something cracked.

The moment it did, time resumed and the Silverback charged.

Welf blinked and then moved to swing his sword again. But as he did, he staggered, suddenly feeling like his body was wrong. That the limbs he used to stand and swing his sword were a bit too long. That the flow of his mana wasn't right.

*CLANG.*

The sword that had cut through the Silverback's fist before was pushed back. With it, Welf staggered. And because of that, he couldn't block the follow up attack.

But-

"You idiot!"

-Someone else did for him.

Fae pulled Welf back, opening up a gap between them and the Silverback.

The moment she did, Welf managed to get a hold of himself, snapping out of his daze. That sense of incongruency vanished as well. And just in time.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

The Silverback roared again, furious. The black vines that were keeping it together pulsed, slowly threading through its muscles as if trying to replace them. At the same time, its eyes started shining with a dark crimson light. Moreover, the pressure it exerted started to intensify.

Fae tensed for a moment before stepping away from Welf and raising her sword. When she did, she looked at Welf and pursed her lips. "...Don't try to be a hero. I'll take care of this, so run away."

Welf laughed and then raised his sword as well. "Who said anything about being a hero?" Pointing it at the Silverback, he said, "I've already had one goddess sacrifice herself for my sake. I won't let the one I love do the same."

Fae's face turned red, but she pointedly ignored looking at Welf. Instead, she focused on the Silverback and said, "F-Fine. Then... let's-"

Before she could finish talking, an explosion erupted. The source was a group of towering black pillars with crimson lines glowing within them. Shortly after that, a torrential rain of light fell from up above.

The Silverback that had given Fae and Welf so much trouble, the terrifying monster that was getting stronger by the second...

It ripped apart, turning into nothing more than a haze of black and red. But even that disappeared as a person landed in the middle of the pillars.

Messy white hair. Sharp crimson eyes. A honed and muscular body that was covered in black plate mail with crimson lines threading through it all. And then a transparent energy shield on his left arm.

After taking a look around to make sure the area was secured, Bell clicked his tongue and then glared at Welf.

"Oi, dumbass. Who told you to run off on your own like that?"

Welf blinked and then let out a sheepish laugh.

xxx

It was a mess. I should have known better than to start introducing foreign magical concepts when I still didn't even understand the baseline magic of this world.

Still, on the upside I managed to learn a few interesting things.

First, my muscles had just been bloated from the Satsui no Ha- I mean, from the killing intent that I used earlier. After venting a bit, my muscles went back to a more reasonable size.

Second, whatever had corrupted these monsters had turned them into great crafting material. If I were to put it in game terms... It was like whatever I crafted got automatically enchanted. Well, that and they turned black and red like something an evil overlord would use, but that didn't matter too much.

Third...

I stared at Welf being fussed over by Hephaestus and then frowned.

...Storyteller's Refrain seemed to be a dangerous skill.

He was different. That guy had already been changing, but now that I looked at the way energy flowed around him, I could see that some 'circuits' were starting to appear in his body. Faint lines in parallel beginning from his left arm and tracing out to his heart. Twenty seven of them.

Not only that, but his eye color had changed a bit too. Since I met him, they had turned a bit icy, changing from a clear blue to a glacial color. But now they were more silver than blue, like the color of frost reflecting the blue sky.

A soft thud from beside me. Someone landing on the ground.

I glanced over to see Ryuu standing there with a thoughtful look on her face. Seeing that, I said, "How's the situation?"

"It's being controlled. But the damage..." She clenched her fists.

I sighed and said, "Yeah. It's going to be a mess after this."

Monster breaking free and killing countless civilians and tourists. Newbie adventurers being overwhelmed and dying in droves...

Because I was the cheat that I was, I managed to avoid the worst case scenario by pulling a Gilgamesh and spamming long-range attacks with rare weaponry.

Unfortunately, that also meant that it was going to be a huge ass mess in the upcoming Denatus because of all the shenanigans I pulled today.

On the plus side, I should have leveled from this. On the down side, I *really* shouldn't have postponed that status update. Even if I thought that it was dangerous to rely on divine power instead of your own.

Mostly because it seemed like my powers were evolving on their own regardless of my input...

Dammit. Why couldn't I just be a side character in a cozy adventurer life isekai? Just *had* to be the MC instead...

...And now whoever started this mess was definitely going to keep an eye on me for their next plans. Meaning I'd need to go back to the drawing board for even *more* contingencies...

Like getting more party members. Because as much as I'd be able to solo entire Familia, I'd rather *not*. Read enough stories to know that the mountain of cannon fodder never ended once that ball started rolling. Better to dissuade them all by building up a big force.

...Hm. Maybe I should go take a trip to the shadier districts in town sometime. If we're going full tropes and cliches, there are probably some slave party members or something there that would gladly help if I freed them, right?

"...ll. Bell. Hello? Bell?"

I blinked and then realized that Welf was standing in front of me.

Seeing that I was paying attention now, Welf grinned and said, "Great. So, uh... what do we do now, Captain?"

"...I should punch you."

"Hahaha...?"

I rolled my eyes and then kicked off the ground, rapidly summoning and desummoning platforms to reach the highest pillar I dropped so that I could get a bird's eye view of the surroundings.

...Yep. Looks like things were wrapping up now.

The Freya Familia were out in full force combing through Main Street. The Hephaestus Familia and other merchants had secured the commercial district. ...For some reason, I could see that Ais girl and Loki running through the entertainment district with a bunch of other adventurers, but that felt like a flag, so I ignored it. Then there was Tia, Freya, and Artemis in the central plaza scolding the kids while a Japanese guy- Oh. A Japanese *God* kept watch alongside a bunch of adventurers cosplaying as Samurai.

Yeah. Looks like this little plot point was over.

At least, that should be the case.

But knowing who I am and the fact that I haven't really had a big fight yet when this is a Shounen-genre story setting-

A faint gust along the back of my neck.

"""BELL!"""

My name being called out by three different people.

*CLANG.*

Sparks flew as one of my swords blocked a sharp shadowy tendril.

'You have grown stronger.'

"Ah. So one of the voices in my head is the shadowy boss monster that almost wiped me, huh? Should've known."

A familiar War Shadow with gray and green eyes.

And one that immediately sent out a wave of shadows, warping Welf, Ryuu, and Hephaestus away. Not to a dangerous place though. I could see in the distance that they suddenly appeared next to Tia and the others.

But then an invisible ripple spread out, turning the world gray as well as making everyone else vanish.

"Man." I reached into my inventory and pulled out a spear before pointing it at the War Shadow. "This world really wants to power-check me today, huh?"

"That is because the world will not survive if a hero does not appear."

A calm and refined female voice echoed from the War Shadow. And when it did, the shadows around it dispersed, revealing a beautiful woman.

Long flowing silver hair. A lacy black dress. Black gloves and matching leather boots with a black choker as an accessory...

And a face that seemed weirdly familiar.

She smiled, reaching out to pluck a sword from thin air the same way I grabbed my spear. "It's been quite noisy around you recently. Do you have any regrets about it?"

"Only that the world seems to keep throwing me curveballs."

The War Shadow- No. The weirdly familiar woman nodded and said, "I agree. But that's to be expected. Now." She pointed her sword at me and said, "...Let us see who you take after more. Your father, or-"

An explosion of light. Sparks flying from a barrage of Adamantite shards deflecting off an invisible barrier surrounding the woman.

I clicked my tongue. "No cutscene skip today, huh?"

The woman laughed.

And then she vanished.

I immediately pulled out a slab to block my neck-

And then I got a boot to the face and was sent flying off the pillar.