Between The Capital of Ilifen and The Great Forest of Lidande, a once-green field is now scorched in the aftermath of a powerful magical spell.

 The surroundings have melted due to the fog containing supercharged plasma heated to thousands of degrees.

 As the party members of Night Ouen watched this sight, they couldn't help but be baffled at what they’d just seen.

 ‘...This is why he was highly evaluated… huh?’ Turen uttered to himself, though everyone heard him.

 So they just nod in agreement.

 Alum, the caster of this destruction spell, was lying beside them due to mana exhaustion.

 “...I hope reinforcement arrives before it's too late. From what Alum had said… they were fresh and probably from the village just up ahead….” Jan said.

 He had sent a message to the guild requesting an investigation, and well… since it wasn’t really the guild’s duty, it would certainly get the military involved since they’re the ones handling cases such as these.

 After putting Alum to rest in the carriage, they took a little detour, heading to the closest village to investigate. And since the Wyvern Squad was the most likely to come, they had to patiently wait to take appropriate measures.

 Still… they couldn’t help but pity the boy.

 “...To think such a tragedy would occur on his very first adventure….” Nuli said.

 Her voice was a little strained as her expression darkened.

 “Well, we do encounter these things… albeit rarely,” Jua comments as she looks at the scorched plains.

 …

  …..

 …

 And a little while later, when the four set up a camp near the carriage, the driver cooked them something to eat. The sweet aroma of food made Alum’s stomach growl. And as he slowly opened his eyelids, he followed the scent out. It was evening, and the sun was setting. He was in an unfamiliar place.

 (…How long was I passed out?) he pondered as he glanced at the others sitting around a campfire.

 “...Where are we?” Alum asked as he slowly made his way to them.

 “Oh! Good! You’re awake!” Turen greeted him, later looking at him with a grim expression. “We’re close to the village that was driven into chaos—.” he shook his head, “We’ll take that later, come, sit down,” he said.

 “...Okay.”

 He seated himself and received a bowl of soup from the driver. He had a faint smile on his face. Yet… it seemed sorrowful at the same time.

 “...Thanks, Mister Hul.”

 …

 ..

 When they all finished their meal, they told Alum about the plan that they’d come up with. As they were close to the village, they needed to wait for reinforcement.

 The situation looked grave as monsters crawled the place. Not only that, there were risen undead as the headless bodies were possessed and formed an abomination of corpses that lumped together.

 “...From my investigation… there’s a slight possibility of survivors,” Jan comments.

 In turn, Jua nodded and continued from where he had left off. “The stench of death should mask the scent of living beings, so… there is a slight possibility that some people are hiding.”

 Hearing that, Alum firmly nodded, and with a determined look, he asked, “What can be done?”

 “Well… there’s not much we can do, as of now,” Turen answered.

 He’s the party leader, and he judged it to be too dangerous to try and do something about it as they are.

 “...I see,” Alum expressed. He seemed a little disheartened, but… “When will reinforcement arrive?” he asked.

 They all shook their head.

 “We’re unsure today, tomorrow, or even a few days from now,” Turen replied.

 Alum turned his gaze to Jan, who’d been investigating the village.

 “...How strong are the monsters?” Alum asked.

 Sensing that Alum was up to something, Jan hesitantly replied. “From the looks of it, there are indeed abominations, Giant Fang Wolves…were around C-Ranked, as for the abominations… I do not know.”

 (…That doesn't seem too bad,) Alum thought as he was considering the possibilities.

 Normal undead or undead abominations may be weak or strong, depending on what they’ve consumed. And the wolf's rank is already set unless they’ve eaten and evolved into something else….

 “...Jan, you’re trying to find where the potential survivors are, right? In that case… Can I come along?”

 They seemed relieved somehow. After all, Alum’s eyes were empty after that incident, and they’re happy that it didn’t seem to affect him too much. He looked like the caring and considerate person they’d come to know.

 “Why not?” Jan replied. “I can bring you along. You’re all fine with that?” He asked the others.

 They all seemed a little reluctant but said, ‘Sure’ and started at Alum.

 “By the way….” Nuli said, glancing at Alum with some concern. “How’s your mana? You’ve just woken up, and… you recently depleted all of your mana. Will you be okay?”

 Alum lightly shook his head with a faint smile, confidently saying, “No worries, I recover mana faster than most people, and I should be fine.”

 “Then! It’s decided!” Nuli said with a cheerful smile.

 “Ah~! Nuli, my wife, so… precious!” Turen hugged her, expressing his affection.

 “Honey~! Stooop! It’s embarrassing, a-and the others are watchiiing!” she protested, though, in a flirtatious way….

 The sight of this made Jua and Jan sigh as they facepalmed, seemingly getting a headache watching the two. Alum chucked as the others followed with a laugh.

 …

  …..

 …

 That night, Alum and Jan snuck into the village, searching for survivors and avoiding monsters. Their footsteps were quiet and coated in thin layers of mana, covering their scent and isolating sounds.

 As they sneak past monsters and abominations. They stumble upon more beasts than anticipated, and many more had gathered since Jan’s report.

 There was a conflict between the monsters as they fought over the corpses who weren’t possessed. And when they died in conflict… they ended up becoming undead themselves.

 And seeing the heinous sight of headless corpses piled everywhere, the image of their heads appeared in his mind, remembering what just recently happened earlier that day.

 He was a little shaken, and since then, he still had lingering trauma from his past. And now… it has started to surface.

 But… he could still keep his calm, at least appear calm. He held back his emotions, reverting to his old self.

 (This is…) Jan was feeling a little concerned, seeing Alum’s expression change into that of an empty vessel.

 He tapped Alum’s shoulder to shift his attention to something else, to keep his mind from the deaths.

 ‘Look,’ Jan whispered and pointed towards something. ‘That place is covered in an illusionary barrier.’

 Alum took a closer look, and… Jan was correct. It was a barrier that was hard to detect and couldn’t be noticed by the naked eye. Alum gave him a nod as they started to head to the barrier.

 Suddenly, an undead beast showed up in the corner in front of them, and since it was so close, it’d probably notice them.

 Jan gasps and tries to grab onto Alum and flee so that they’d have time before it notices them and gathers attention from the other abnormalities.

 (What the…)

 but he soon noticed that the beast was crystalised and had frozen in place, as Alum casually just walked past it…

 (The spell activation was so fast I didn’t even notice…) Jan thought as he looked at the crystalised beast, walking past it carefully.

 As he glances at Alum. He shivers a little. His ears were straight, and the chills ran down his back. The calm and eerie atmosphere around Alum was frightening. It was as if he’d become another person. Still… Jan knew what kind of person Alum actually was and regained his composure at that thought.

 They walked closer to the barrier. The surroundings were quiet and relatively peaceful in comparison to the monsters that had been fighting until recently.

 ‘We shouldn’t get our hopes up,’ Jan commented.

 ‘...I know,’ Alum replied. His tone is soft and monotonous, yet his eyes are cold and frightening. ‘There could be cultists behind this barrier,’ he states. Although he used the word ‘could,’ he was convinced that there were.

 ‘Right…’ Jan replied as he thought of a way to enter without being noticed. The caster behind the barrier would notice if they were to enter, and that would probably be the end of this investigation.

 And while Jan was in deep thought, Alum analysed the barrier and resonated his mana with his, matching its properties and distorting it.

 Jan snapped out of it and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. (He alters the barrier, making a gap without anyone noticing?) He was simply impressed by the almost astonishing feat without using magi-tools.

 …

  …..

 …

 The two entered the barrier without being noticed and came across a large building. Hiding in the threes, they spied on the guards that were outside—from the looks of it, these were more potent than the guards that guarded that carriage.

 ‘Are they cultists?” Alum inquired as he analysed their surroundings.

 Jan shook his head, saying, ‘I doubt. I recognise those guards; they’re the town’s guards, but… something seems off. So… let’s stay guarded.’

 Jan then asked how Alum was able to bend the barrier. Alum simply told him that he was able to convert a certain amount of mana, and with that, he traced the barrier and realised it wasn’t as stable as it seemed. So… he hijacked it slightly so that no one would notice.

 Jan seemed intrigued, but now wasn’t the time for more in-depth explanations, and they closed in on the building. And as Jan suspected, the eyes of the guards were strange, which meant that some sort of mind-controlling was at play.

 And Jan even remembered those two particular guards. They were friendly and would chit-chat with one another. Now… they’re just gazing out into the nothingness of night.

 And seeing the reluctant Jan, Alum couldn’t simply kill them. It was a predicament….

 ‘Can you find whoever controls them?’ Alum asked.

 Jan quietly thought of it for a little and nodded, ‘Yes, I think so,’ he replied.

 ‘Then, I’ll search for survivors….’ Alum said.

 Jan nodded, and with that short exchange, the two spit up. Both determined to find a solution before it was too late.

 …

  …..

 …

 Looking around and stealthy sneaking, Alum found a gap where he’d be able to enter, hoping that there weren’t any traps. But to make sure of that, he’d use [Static Field] and didn’t notice anything strange. Thus, entering the building.

 Alum was now in the building. He crept stealthily, hiding in the dark spots in the ceiling and creating an illusion around him by bending water.

 Still…

 (They’re sure leisurely chit-chatting…) Alum thought as he came across some people who wore robes.

 “Damn, our superior sucks…” one of them complained.

 “...Well, those two are creeps…” the other one replied. “I wonder why they were put in that position… they’re not even that strong….”

 “Tch… The Seat Members probably had something in mind putting those sick people in charge.”

 The other one scratched his head. “Well… we’re here to gather ‘subjects’ and not toy with them… but I suppose they have their reason….”

 “...Reason? To put those sickos in charge? I don’t care about the adults or whatever, nor the kids, though… it’s rather distasteful to spoil our supreme’s ‘subjects’ like that.”

 “...You’re right… it’s not really prohibited as they’ll be sold as slaves anyways, but… these idiots are just lowering their values….”

 (…..)

 Alum felt sick to the core listening to their conversation. Even if these people aren’t as bad as their proclaimed superior, he wouldn’t feel bad for them were something to happen.

 (…I suppose I can use their robes.)

 Alum kept stalking them, and as they were further away, he did not detect anyone nearby. He cast [Abyssal Depth]. One of his original spells was designed to isolate vibrations—a perfect tool to silently eliminate a nuisance or two.

 The thin layer of water covered in mana absorbs any friction inside of it, and the two cultists start to realise how strangely silent it is.

 As one of them turned behind them, Alum removed his hood and cut off his head with [Water Blade], and as the other noticed his friend being decapitated, he tried to pull out his weapon, but was his in the head with a [Drop Bullet], silencing him for good.

 Alum looked at the two corpses and was a little shaken… he’d taken a person's life. Despite being bad people, it was still traumatising, considering this reminded him of that time his parents bathed in a pool of blood.

 ‘Gulp’

 But… he stayed calm. His eyes lit up in a blue light, and he’d regain composure again. He then took one of the robes and cleansed the blood away. After that, he crystallised the corpses in ice, not leaving a foul smell behind. With that, he’d put them in a corner somewhere and cleaned the rest of the bloodstains.

 This all happened in just a minute, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still… these robes would serve as cover, but he still had to be careful if someone recognised that he was not one of them. So… he still had to sneak around, but it would make him look less suspicious from a distance….

 …

  …..

 …

 As he navigates this seemingly large building, Alum finds a group of people in a relatively spacious room. They were being tied as guards watched over them. From the looks of it, they weren’t cultists and were under a spell….

 (Looks difficult… no elderly nor infants…) Alum thought as he analysed the situation.

 People are being held captive by people who are innocent as well…. Another thing Alum noticed was that they were all good-looking people among those who’ve been tied.

 (They’re being sold off… Now… what to do in this predicament?) Alum pondered while considering other options.

 But… he concluded that finding the source would make things easier. Suppose he’d jumped in now and tried to free them. He’d just end up killing innocent mind-controlled individuals. Some of them may even be family members of the captives….

 (…Let’s not overthink and make things complicated,) Alum thought as he was about to move on to another location.

 Then—as he was about to leave, some people walked into the room. Still hiding in the shadows above, Alum decided to watch a little longer.

 “You two! Boy and girl! Get up!” the cultist violently yelled.

 Seeming to accept his face, the boy got up. He had a dark expression as he walked toward the cultist, wobbly like a puppet being controlled.

 The girl, on the other hand, had tears in her eyes, and for a moment… maybe, just maybe. Their eyes met.

 (I doubt she saw me…) Alum thought.

 But…

 His heart was aching. The girl had blue eyes and whitish-blue hair. Somehow, her appearance overlapped with Amethely, a little similar… maybe….

 As she started to walk toward the cultist, another boy stood up, trying to stop her from going. He was tied but tried his hardest to stand in her way. From the looks of it, they’re siblings.

 “Ameth! Don’t! Ameth!” the boy repeatedly cried as the guards held him down.

 (…..)

 As the two teens left with the cultists, the guards released the boy, and he fell onto his knees, despairing and crying.

 Of course… Alum couldn’t just simply watch anymore. He’d almost lost his control when he heard a name similar to Amethely and as her image overlapped with the girl. He felt some sort of despair as well. So… he decided to tail them.

 The boy seemed calm. His expression was dark—he’d lost any hope whatsoever. As for the girl, she has been lifeless ever since she started to walk.

 Alum closely walked behind, blending in, as they made their way to a room on one of the upper floors. It was as suspected….

 A foul smell of body odour and fluids covered the room as people lay in piles, either dead or broken. Some were still conscious, but their eyes were empty as they twitched.

 Alum glanced at the girl. She was silently crying as she covered her body and fell to her knees. The boy was listless and empty….

 Alum shifted his gaze to the pile of people again.

 (From different age ranges. One thing in common—they’re all good-looking.)

 “I’ve brought them per request,” the cultist coldly spoke.

 The man and woman who were ‘enjoying’ some of the people brought in earlier looked delighted by the two teens that the cultist brought.

 “Oh~ hun! Look, more toys!” The woman delightedly moaned as she had a sadistic look.

 “You’re right! She’s a real cutie, ain’t she? You’ve even got a nice-looking boy for yourself, too, hon!” the man replied as he leered at the girl.

 The woman then noticed Alum, who’s been behind the cultist all along. “Oh my! Who’s that handsome behind you? Let me have him~” she said as she licked her lips.

 The cultist was confused, saying, “What are you—” before he could finish his sentence. Alum sliced off his head. And with a thud, his head rolled on the disgusting floor.

 He’d already activated [Abyssal Depth] and slowly closed the door behind him as the sick couple tried to comprehend what had just happened. They just blankly stared at him, his eyes shining, as he looked at them like he was looking at trash.

 “You’re not cold?” Alum asked provocatively. “You sure look breezy,” he later added.

 The two of the m snapped out of it and stood up. “What the fuck!?” the man yelled as he got up, preparing to fight.

 Anger dwelled in the two of them. The man started to charge at him, and Alum wouldn’t care too much. He’d just give the boy and girl a small pat, telling them it’d be alright.

 As the man charged at them, he ran into an invincible barrier—Alum was practically making a fool out of him.

 “Hon!” the woman cried.

 “Shit, stinky bastard!” the man complained as he glared at Alum.

 But Alum ignored them, saying, “You’re safe now, and softly smiled at the two kids.”

 Charging at Alum again, this time with his head more clear and body enhanced, the muscular man that was twice as big as he slammed down his claymore.

 ALum pushed the two kids back and repelled the attack.

 “Shit, you’re not bad!” the man cried in delight. “But I’ll fucking kill you for humiliating me!”

 Alum did not care. He’d already concluded that these two were no match for him, call it cocky, but Alum is quite arrogant. Though… he knows what limits he has.

 The man laughed at him again, this time with an infused blade that was easily propelled by a small blue blade.

 “!?” the man felt shocked that a tiny weapon such as that had so much weight to it. Not only that… he now realised how dangerous the individual Alum was. He started to shout at the woman behind him, “Hon! Strengthen me!” he demanded.

 But…

 “I’m trying!” the woman shouted.

 Her mana was disrupted and now flowing properly. Her control was bad, and what she’d managed was that of a meagre enhancement. Both stare at Alum, confused and distressed. They felt desperate as they started to shake.

 “Oh? Getting cold now?” Alum calmly said. His eyes were cold, and there was a faint blue light as he then said, “You’d think I’d let you? In this barrier?”

 Only now, the two of them realise they’re in a barrier. They desperately tried to destroy it, but it was for nought as their weakened attacks would bounce, wasting their mana and energy.

 They were both desperate as they realised they were trapped with someone they couldn’t hope to defeat.

 “P-please! I beg of you!” the man said, “It’s all this woman's fault anyways!” he cried.

 “What!?” the woman shouts in response. “You asshole! You dragged me into this!”

 They started to blame one another but soon found that their pleas were meaningless. Alum walked closer, and in a final desperate attempt, they charged at him. Or… that was the plan, the woman had stayed back and as the man slowly turned his head, glancing back. His lover was running the other way.

 At that moment, Alum’s blade cut through his divine claymore with ease, seeping its way to his throat and cleanly severing the head as it thudded on the floor.

 The woman who’d run the other way bounced back when she tried to jump out of the window, and as she looked at her dead lover, she despaired, begging for her life once more.

 Alum looked at her and softly smiled. In that childlike smile, the woman had found a sliver of hope that he’d spare her.

 But… that was just wishful thinking on her part as she realised how deprived of emotion his eyes were. And with that. Her life ended with a single [Drop Bullet] in the head.