Vol. 4 CH. 15 — If push comes to shove (2)

PART #1

Kouga Misumi and Taiga Kurosawa weren't that close to be called friends. They talk often in class but they don't hang out as much as normal friends do outside of class. In fact, their relationship was close to that of a young master of a wealthy house and a lower ranking noble who always has to watch what has to say to the young master.

Kouga Misumi was more or less friendly with other kids in school but being acquainted with Taiga Kurosawa was very different. There was always this air of intimidation that Taiga Kurosawa would always emit while being alone with a few guys. During such close meetings, Kouga Misumi wood always stand behind the other while they hang out as friends and act as closely towards Taiga Kurosawa.

Being the son of a politician and all that, many others try to cross the bridge towards Taiga Kurosawa as carefully as possible. The rumors that have been flying around secretly within the community of delinquents about Taiga Kurosawa weren't the kinds police normal would turn a blind eye to after all. That's why, most people that try to get acquainted with Taiga Kurosawa would always try to be careful around Taiga Kurosawa at all times. If not, some bad things might happen to them.

"Urgh.... fuck! I heard you went insane and tried to take down Travestin just because they cut your funding. Just what does your shit got to do with me?!"

In an outburst of rage, Kouga Misumi couldn't hold back his words and cursed at Taiga Kurosawa for coming to his place and beating him up.

"Why don't just shut up and follow what I told you like you always do back then? Do you think you've gotten so well up in life that you can talk like that to me?"

"Fuck! Who died and made you king all of a sudden?! It's different from back then! We're even in this world! We're both heroes for christ's sake!"

"Hmm....."

It was natural for anyone to think that Taiga Kurosawa had fallen from grace after coming to this world. His standing as a politician's son was knocked over by the summoning event and although he became a hero, his deeds caused him to fall deeper from where he once stood. Moreover, after the incident he caused in Travestin not to long ago, he was deprived of being called a hero and everything he has was taken from him.

Taiga Kurosawa thinks that Kouga Misumi was being impertinent. His rude words should warrant death for insulting Taiga Kurosawa, a person from a higher pedigree than him. Although this caused some irksome feelings to well up inside Taiga Kurosawa's chest, the person himself decided to set that aside for now as he needs to do was important.

"I'll overlook what you've said just that and offer the same thing as before. I'm making a new group of heroes. I want you to join me in it"

Foregoing his usual stance of forcing someone to join him, Taiga Kurosawa decided to slow things down for now. The storm outside continues to muffle the sounds from inside the room and the strong winds blowing through the forest was making louder noises than anyone tonight.

Kouga Misumi glares at Taiga Kurosawa. He was already sober enough to think straight but his body that was beaten up black and blue earlier was still aching. For now, Kouga Misumi decided to think things through as long as possible to buy himself some time.

"The heck is even with that, bastard? I know you went crazy and all that when I heard you went wrecking things back in Travestin but this is all too different now. Even from you"

If Kouga Misumi were to think about of the past Taiga Kurosawa who was very friendly on the outside, towards his other classmates and other students, Taiga Kurosawa wouldn't something so crazy as killing people and attacking the royal family in Travestin. To be honest, that was a lot more stupid that framing Kyoushiro Kagami on something as ridiculous as killing the other heroes.

"Just what have you been up to since going to that first Demon Lord place? I don't give a damn why you're trying to recruit me to your new band of heroes shit, but have you lost your mind? You've killed hundreds of people already...."

"Hmph"

Taiga Kurosawa snorted.

"I haven't really changed all that much before. Neither do I need to hold myself back anymore after coming to this world. Do you think a god will feel remorse when he takes a life? Of course not"

"...."

The moment Kouga Misumi heard those words from Taiga Kurosawa, he felt chills run down his spine. 

Taiga Kurosawa had gone insane. No, he might have already lost his mind even before they were summoned to this world. Calling himself a god like that while not feeling any conscience on what he had done up to this point, Kouga Misumi felt that Taiga Kurosawa had turned from bad to worse in the time they stayed here. Moreover, his hair and eyes colors were a lot different from what they used to be.

"You.... just what happened to you?"

"Nothing much, just..... a bit of an upgrade"

As Taiga Kurosawa said that, the whole room shook as if an intense magnitude of earthquake came. Dark shadowy figures rose up from the feet of the skeletons and corpse eaters. From there, those physical bodies of the undead were suddenly wrapped in dark cloak of shadows and were then replaced by powerful undead monsters.

Lich King, Dullahan, Banshees, Dark Knights, Skeleton Knights and many more. The undead filled the room instantly until only a small space was left in between Kouga Misumi and Taiga Kurosawa. Alarm bells rang loudly inside Kouga Misumi's mind as he saw such thing unfold in his very eyes.

Taiga Kurosawa smiled and his eyes that we're originally red, glowed a cold, icy blue color.

"I've merged with one of the Demon Lords. As you can see, it's something that's surpasses even that of a hero.... Impressive isn't it?"

"You've gone mad...!!"

"No, more like, I've ascended"

Taiga Kurosawa had clearly deluded himself to be some higher being. Thinking that he was far above a human being. That he was clearly a much more important existence than any other. Kouga Misumi couldn't find a way how he would be able to leave this place unscathed with how much monsters Taiga brought with him.

If push comes to shove, Kouga Misumi will just fight till he gets a chance to escape but....

"Do you think you're a god or something?! What happened to you Taiga!!"

Kouga Misumi realized that if he were to run away now, Yuuya Mizushima, his half brother, will die. But it seems that Taiga Kurosawa already had seen through Kouga Misumi's plans.

"I don't really need you alive you know? I just thought it might be good to use you while you're alive"

"!!"

"Well, if push comes to shove, it's better to use you as an undead rather than a living person, right?"

Taiga Kurosawa smirked as if that was the signal, thunder roared and the entirety of the undead in the room bared their swords, fangs, claws and staves towards Kouga Misumi. Demon Lord Vraheim smiles satisfied as another tasty soul was added to his collection.

—

The storm last night left an awful mess in the morning. Leaves and branches sprawled over the streets and roofs while some houses and buildings were left with torn up roofs and broken doors and windowsills. The clean up was long and hard but when the sun was high in the blue sky, everything was finished even before lunch began.

But there was on place that looked gruesome when morning came. It was a house that Kouga Misumi used in the city. A part of the house was demolished, as if something exploded from the inside. The wreckaged didn't do much damaged in the neighborhood, which was rather questionable considering the damages left on the house itself.

What's more, there was the awful stench of rotting corpse everywhere. It was as if a container of dead rotting dead bodies were suddenly opened. It was not a pleasant stench for everyone.

"What do you think happened here?"

"I don't know but something tells me that it's not something that should be in the city"

The Knights that took over the investigation of Kouga Misumi's house looked around for clues. The conclusion they made after was worrying enough that they had to send an emergency letter to the King of the Dwarven nation. 

If such thing was capable of doing such destruction right under their noses, it would be bad if they were to leave it alone.

"Sir. There's no sign of the hero anywhere. There seemed to signs of struggle but...."

The floor boards, the walls and the ceiling. All then had bear some signs of a fight. In short, a battle happened while a storm was raging last night and no one even heard an explosion happening at the same time.

It was definitely suspicious, everyone was getting worried about the situation.

"Look for the hero, Kouga Misumi-sama. We'll inform his brother about this later but for now, inform his majesty about the situation"

"Understood sir"

It was a messy situation. None of them knew what happened overnight and the disappearance of a hero was enough to make them worry about the safety of their kingdom. Hoping that this was just another case of Kouga Misumi's outburst of stupidity, the Knight Guard captain sighs as he could only scratch his head.

—

Yuuya Mizushima woke up in his bed alone. Last night, he was comforted by one of the women tasked to look after him. It was an experience he never even imagined and simply thinking about that woman made his face flush.

Yesterday ended with a stormy night but the day after, he was welcomed with a warm sun and clear blue sky. It was like the heavens was showing that he had been reborn. The messy bed that had stains of the night activities he had done with that woman still smell like her scent. Yuuya Mizushima smiled as he got up from his bed and got dressed for the day.

Different from before, Yuuya Mizushima was actually looking forward for today. He wasn't eating breakfast with his head hang low and neither were there were negative thoughts hovering inside his mind. It was like he had become a different person now.

That made Yuuya Mizushima happy.

As he left his room, the devastating sight of the after effects of the storm last night came to his view. But being in a good mood as he was, Yuuya Mizushima didn't felt down seeing such destruction. In fact, it made him feel like he should help out in the clean up.

He did so as soon as he saw some kids picking up some trash in the streets. Using wind magic, he blew away the leaves and trash scattered around and swept them up using a small whirlwind that didn't made any disturbance around the place.

His good mood penetrated everyone around him and made them help out as much as he could. Some of the townsfolk felt something different about Yuuya Mizushima and it made them think that something might've happened.

News about Kouga Mizushima being missing has yet to reach Yuuya Mizushima's ears. Even everyone right now hardly even know about the incident that took place last night. Still, there was the word of mouth that spreads around rather quietly even if there was a gag order imposed by the Knights.

"Do you think he knows what happened?"

"Shh! Don't talk about that! You'll get yourself in trouble if someone hears you!"

The whispers of the worried citizens were muffled out by Yuuya Mizushima's good mood. He was all smiles and didn't seem to be listening at all around his surroundings. When everything was done and most of the streets in front of his place was cleared of garbage, Yuuya Mizushima went off to go to work. Which was another day in exterminating monsters outside the wall.

As soon as Yuuya Mizushima reached the outer wall, the guardsmen and the adventurers stationed there all stared at him. The contemptuous look in their eyes bore holes in Yuuya Mizushima's happy exterior that even he, despite in a good mood, could not help but notice.

Nevertheless, Yuuya Mizushima ignored them as he knew what he had done. Nothing could turn back time anyway so there was no need to think about what happened yesterday.

That was when he saw someone walked out from forest. That person limps as he walks, as if he has been injured from a fight.

"I'll help!"

Yuuya Mizushima enthusiastically shouted as he ran out of the gates of the outer wall. But once he was close enough, his feet slowly stopped it's tracks.

"W-What.....K-Kouga...?"

His eyes bulged out in shock. His blood went cold and strength left his body. Yuuya Mizushima, who had just woke up in a pleasant day was met with a walking corpse of his half blooded brother.

"Kouga!!"

Kouga Mizushima. A young hero that was well known to be a heavy drinker wasn't limping because he wasn't sober. The young man had half of his face clawed out, his jaw hanging from only on it's left side. His body was full of cuts and even his organs spilling out. His blood had long since dried up and hardly even a drop of it came out of his body.

In the undead Kouga Misumi's hands was a sword, free from any signs of a fight. It looked as though it was brand new.

"Kouga! What happened to you!! Answer me!!"

Yuuya Mizushima tried to call out to his brother but to no avail. Kouga Didn't say a word and just walked towards Yuuya Mizushima with it's cold dead eyes staring right at him.

It was then, Taiga Kurosawa and his undead army walked out from the shadows of the forest.

"He won't answer no matter how much you call him"

"!!? You!!"

"Haha, funny how you made the same face as him when he first saw me last night. I guess you really are brothers even if you both are from different mothers"

Taiga Kurosawa brandished his wide, cocky smile at Yuuya Mizushima. The threatening air around him made Yuuya Mizushima unconsciously back away.

"It looks like you're well off more than your idiot of a brother Mizushima. Look, you're friends are coming to save you"

"What...??"

The Knights and Adventurers ran out as soon as they saw Kouga Misumi's walking corpse out of the forest. The moment they saw Taiga Kurosawa, they felt something was already wrong. That's why, all of them moved as quickly as possible to help Yuuya Mizushima escape as fast as they can.

Taiga Kurosawa smile and called out to Yuuya Mizushima once more.

"Mizushima"

Yuuya Mizushima slowly turned his head back to Taiga as if his neck had rusted. Cold sweat ran down his back as he saw some dark light come from Taiga Kurosawa's body...

"Join me and live or refuse and die. Which one do you like?"

Taiga Kurosawa then offered the same thing he asked to Kouga Misumi. Yuuya Mizushima was frightened.

"You have two choices. I kill you and everyone behind you or join me. I'll give you power that you stupid brother couldn't even realize"

Kouga Misumi died because he refused Taiga Kurosawa's offer to team up. But after realizing the the power of a hero disappears when they die, Kouga Misumi's corpse was no different from a low ranking undead.

That's why, Taiga Kurosawa moved to another person he can persuade with threats. Yuuya Mizushima listened as Taiga Kurosawa walked closer to him.

"So? Which one do you like?"

Right then, Yuuya Mizushima once more saw the cause of his nightmares....

PART #2

Yuuya Mizushima fought for days in that Monster house. The amount of exp he got from defeating monsters were great enough for him to level up quickly. But even with how much he grew stronger like everyone else that was with him, the never ending spawns of monsters was just too much.

The soldiers that were with them that day died off one after the other, trying to protect the reckless young heroes from their demise. Yuuya Mizushima and Kouga Misumi were among those who were reckless enough to jump into a fray of monsters without even considering the consequences of their actions.

It was true that everyone one of then that were called as heroes were strong. Blessed by the power of skills and amazing stats that seemed to surpass that of human limitations, the young kids that felt almost like gods didn't even look back and think about what might happen if they were to fail.

They were too over confident of their abilities and saw nothing wrong with sacrificing a few soldiers in each and every battle.

With Taiga Kurosawa at the front, all the boys charged with reckless abandon and fought with nothing but guts and adrenaline. The girls' screams for worry and cries to stop running out of the encirclement too far were unheard.

Yuuya Mizushima was among those who didn't listen. He cut down monsters with a smile. He shot forth winds of blades like some superhero in a TV show and acted like he was among the strongest people in the world.

He fought and fought till his magic power ran out and flopped down on the ground with an intense ringing in his ears accompanied by the loud beats of his heart.

That's when it dawned on him. When a monster bared it's fangs at his face, his life flashed before his eyes.

All the things he experienced, felt and saw instantly played back right before a still world. As the seconds ticked by the fangs drew closer to him. That's when Gaius stood before him and sacrifice his own arm to save Yuuya Mizushima.

"Get a hold of yourself hero! Stand up and fight!"

Gaius got his arm severed as he ripped the head of the monster right off his arm. As the others were also in trouble, Gaius ran towards their direction and swung his greatsword to cut down as many monsters as he could.

Yuuya Mizushima could not stand up. Because when he saw his life flashed back in his mind, the fear of death got to him. That was then some soldiers fell right before him. Their heads rolled down to his legs and caused his blood to run cold.

—

That was back then. Now, right before the walking corpse of his own brother, Yuuya Mizushima could only mutter the name of his brother.

"...Kou...ga...?"

His brother's corpse was badly hurt. His guts were spilling out and his right leg was twisted to an odd angle. His right eye was missing and the side of his neck seemed to have been bitten off. There were also signs of cuts and slashes. But the most striking thing that made Yuuya Mizushima stood still was the hole right where his brother's heart used to be.

Inside his chest was empty. Almost as if, it was blow from his back.

"KOUGA!!!!!!!"

Yuuya Mizushima screamed.

"Mwahahahahaha!!! Yes! That's right!!"

Taiga Kurosawa then enjoyed the spectacle. Feeling the power he carried that caused such pain and agony towards Yuuya Mizushima, made Taiga Kurosawa feel like he was god. He had the power to hold a person's life in his hands and he has the choice whether to keep it alive or not.

This... This was the feeling of invincibility. This was how Gods like him should be.

"Uaaah...aaagh...aaaAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!"

*Ssssh—*

As Yuuya Mizushima screamed, air rolled around him. Leaves and dusts gathered around a veil of tornado. Yuuya Mizushima's tears were swept along with the wind. The walking corpse of the former Kouga Misumi was being pushed back by that veil.

Taiga Kurosawa suddenly stopped laughing. 

He felt something was wrong. That it shouldn't be like this. That Yuuya Mizushima shouldn't possess that kind of power. Although Yuuya Mizushima was weak and easily frightened, he too had gone through many fights and raised his level to a higher strata like the others. Taiga Kurosawa was like that too but for him, it was only Vraheim's power that made Taiga Kurosawa stronger.

In front of Yuuya Mizushima, someone who wasn't even worth Taiga Kurosawa's attention, suddenly got stronger.

"TAAAIIIGAAAAAA!!!!!!"

This time, Yuuya Mizushima screamed out Taiga Kurosawa's name. Then, in pure rage and bloodlust, Yuuya Mizushima kicked off from the ground. So much so that the very ground he was stepping on got blown off and he was launched instantly right in front of Taiga Kurosawa.

A dagger shined dangerously under the light of the sun. Taiga Kurosawa felt the air cutting through his skin as Yuuya Mizushima appeared before him.

‘How weak’

A voice of unknown origin came ringing in Taiga Kurosawa's mind. A voice so cold and chilling that even Taiga Kurosawa felt his skin crawl.

‘You have my power yet you're only this much? Pitiful’

Vraheim, the 12th Demon Lord, cackles as he admonished the arrogant Taiga Kurosawa; whom underestimated his opponent.

‘Weak fool, this is how you use my power’

In that moment, the air changed. Gooey shadows burst off from Taiga Kurosawa's feet. From it, came out skeleton arms that went reaching out towards Yuuya Mizushima.

However, Yuuya Mizushima was in a fit of rage. Such things didn't register in his line of sight. His attention only focused on Taiga Kurosawa. No, towards his neck.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!"

As the dagger came swooping down towards Taiga Kurosawa, The arms of the dead eached grabbed Yuuya Mizushima's limbs. Five hands grabbed his right arm, seven on each of his legs and ten on his torso and eight on his other arm.

*Fvooosh!!*

Interrupted, the veil of tornado dispersed. Only Yuuya Mizushima's trembling arm was moving, under the tight grip of Vraheim's undead.

‘[Trap of the Dead] a useful skill for a troublesome opponent’

Vraheim's voice came again.