Chapter 148: From Instant Killing To Lapse Of Memory (1/2)
Loren had heard the stories, but had never witnessed it himself. That was why he hadn’t been able to call up the memory right away.
He knew that it was already too late to say ‘Run!’, but he did anyway.
“Run!”
Loren didn’t know if the adventurers facing Tizona realized that it was directed at them or not. Because the moment he had recalled Tizona’s identity and shouted out the warning to them, he had also picked Lapis up and ran away.
Gula also had set off after them just one moment later, and at almost the same time, Tizona had opened her mouth.
“Burn. Ashes to ashes. Trashes to ashes.”
The words were spoken as if sung. As soon as they left her mouth, the adventurers burst into flames.
The red flames enveloped their whole bodies and, without a single scream or a single whiff of smoke or smell of burning flesh, the adventurers became piles of ash in the blink of an eye. Despite how violent the flames were, it didn’t spread.
The massacre was over too soon, and it had happened so seamlessly that no one was able to utter anything. Those presented could only turn their gazes towards the piles of ash lying on the floor.
The sole perpetrator, Tizona, slowly lowered her arms and looked around. After confirming that no one had anything to say, she slowly walked towards the wall, where Loren had escaped to with Lapis. Her expression was so indifferent that it was impossible to imagine she had just burned several people to death.
“You seem to know about me, don’t you?”
Tizona was coming closer and closer with a clacking of heels, and Loren found himself unable to answer her. He had the experience of imagining scenes after hearing stories about this before, but it was probably the first time that he saw the actual scene. It was so shocking that he was at a loss for words.
“Wha… what was just now?”
Gula, who had run to the wall like Loren, asked with dumbfounded words. Hearing her questions, Loren’s stiffened lips finally moved to say the following:
“Hellfire Sword”
“That means you know me, don’t you? I also feel like I know you. Maybe we’ve met somewhere before?”
“I don’t know. At least, this should be the first time I’ve met you.”
“Then maybe it was on a battlefield. In that case, it’s very likely that only I saw you… Have you always used that greatsword?”
Tizona glanced at the greatsword on Loren’s back and asked.
Loren had used a similar sword during his mercenary days, but it had been a very ordinary steel sword, not entirely black like this one. That sword broke when he became an adventurer, so he bought this one as a replacement as per Lapis’ advice. Loren suspected that this sword was the reason why Tizona felt like she had met him before.
“No, I’ve just bought this one recently. The sword I used to use was… broken.”
“Was it similar to this one? A steel greatsword?”
“Yeah, you can say so.”
Loren had considered lying, but he wasn’t sure what Tizona would do if she knew she had been lied to. Rather than taking that risk, he believed it was better to just tell the truth.
“Is that so? Are you the mercenary called ‘Decapitating Wind’?”
“No, I’m not. Isn’t he the one said to be able to turn the tide of a battle by himself, and thus have a nickname, just like you? I’m not such a big shot.”
It felt like Loren already had a similar conversation before. Still being carried by Loren, Lapis watched him and Tizona. Loren looked very earnest, his face saying ‘I’m not lying’. Meanwhile, Tizona nodded multiple times as if she was satisfied.
“You really are ‘Decapitating Wind’. What are you doing here? I heard the mercenary company you belonged to was annihilated. Did you quit working as a mercenary?”
“That’s why I said I’m not him. My company was indeed annihilated, and I did quit being a mercenary, but I don’t have a nickname. I was just an ordinary mercenary.”
Loren kept insisting that it was not him. But Tizona already made conclusion and looked at him with an expression of understanding his need to deny the ‘truth’.
“Uhm, excuse me, but is it alright for me to say something?”