Volume 7 Chapter 8 Cornered Rats and the Executioner of the Funeral Procession
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
……Time goes back to the morning of the day before.
Lara walks ahead of me. Mimi walks behind her. Rene is at my side. Her tiny fingers hold tightly to the edge of my shirt. She will not let go. A faint warmth comes through the cloth. It feels like a frightened small animal.
Elder Erland and several other elves walk behind us.
We are almost at our assigned spot.
A yellow mist of spores (tiny seed-like particles) crawls slowly from the mud at our feet.
The person just a few steps ahead looks blurry. If someone walks twenty or thirty paces away, their shape fades into a ghost-like smudge.
The sky is hidden. Giant trees of unknown age weave their branches into layers. They block out the light. Under them, crawling ferns, tangled vines, and strangely colored flowers spread a sickly sweet smell of rot.
The powder of the spores sticks to my tongue. With every breath, a sick feeling settles deep in my lungs. It feels like mud is gathering at the bottom.
The depths of spring. A subtropical jungle.
I would not say I am used to this season. My stomach acid just does not rise up my throat anymore.
As I walk, I think back to the events of three weeks ago……
It was Mimi’s ears that first heard the approach of a massive army. There were thousands of them.
I quickly called the grand council. I had Mimi and Lara attend as well.
That was the exact moment the color of her eyes changed. The moment the fox bared her fangs. Even before the meeting was over, Lara was already doing the math in her head.
”The distance from the entrance of the Magic Forest to our village is about one hundred and fifty kilometers. The enemy’s marching speed will likely be around ten kilometers a day. But we shall launch night raids the moment they enter the depths. If fear robs them of proper sleep, their pace will be cut in half. …About three weeks from now.” Lara declared with chilling exactness.
Three weeks. Lara made it happen down to the exact day.
The moment the enemy army stepped into the depths of the Magic Forest, the elite elven units launched their night raids. Partway through, Gauz was used for the “Cage of Light” strategy. This further wore down the enemy. It took away their sleep and made them lose their minds through pure terror.
At the same time, the elven engineering squads blocked every other path. Fallen trees, poison tree zones, and swampy grounds. They made sure it looked like natural trouble to human eyes.
……So far, everything is going according to plan.
Lara looked back.
As she walks, she glances at me over her shoulder. The yellow mist of spores has settled into a thin dust over her golden hair.
”Your Majesty. Please make sure to properly hold back your Magic today. It would be quite troublesome if our precious supplies were burned away.” Lara warned gently.
”…Yeah. Don’t worry. Leave it to me.” I replied with a flat grin.
It was a crazy request.
Lara had asked me to come up with a Magic that would kill a massive army as cleanly as possible.
If the goal were simply to wipe out the enemy forces, my current Magic alone would be more than enough. I could kill thousands of them if I went all out.
But doing that would completely ruin the gift of supplies and equipment. They had so kindly carried all of it all this way.
In that case, it was much smarter to kill them quietly and take their things. Well, Lara had a point.
For a while now, I had been pushing all the hard chores onto the people around me. I focused entirely on making new Magic. Because of that, great ideas had been coming up one after another. My magical choices were growing.
”Hey, Melis, what’s the word on the enemy’s position?” I asked, looking over.
”Yes, Master. Please wait just a moment.” Melis responded, adjusting her stance.
Melis narrowed her eyes. The tips of her ponytail clung to her sweaty neck.
Her eyes are special. They process visual information as heat signals. In this dark, foul sea of a forest, she serves as our eyes. She watches the battlefield from above.
”…I see them. A long, thin ribbon. They have entered the bottleneck perfectly. The front group is jammed up. But the supply wagons in the rear are still pushing forward. So they are being squeezed tightly together.” Melis reported precisely.
”Excellent~” Lara murmured with noble satisfaction.
”Then, allow me to perform the final check once more.” Lara added, stepping forward.
Lara elegantly held up four fingers.
”One, ‘Induction’. This is already quite complete~. The enemy has entered the bottleneck we prepared. They believe they chose this path of their own free will. But this deadly trap was the only option left to them from the very beginning. Hehe.”
One of Lara’s fingers folded down.
”Two, ‘Containment’. Once the column has stretched far enough into the bottleneck, we will close the front and rear at the same time. The front will be held by Sylvia and the elven archers. The rear by Gauz. They will not be able to move forward. They will not be able to retreat. To their left and right are ironwood and poison tree zones. The moment they look for an escape route, they are already cornered rats~.”1
Rene’s fingers tugged sharply at my shirt. Mimi gave a small shudder.
”Three, ‘Compression’. Next, we tighten the mouth of the bag. When humans are terrified, they have a habit of crowding toward circles of fire. A core of the herd forms around the torches. All you need to do, Your Majesty, is crush those cores one by one. Crush a core, and they scatter. Where they scatter, they will gather toward the fire again. Then they will form a new core. Then you crush that core again… We will repeat this process.”
I nodded silently. I pictured the enemy formation and Lara’s strategy inside my mind.
”Four, ‘Collection’. We open the bag and pick up whatever is useful. Mimi will tell them apart one by one by sound. Those with heavy armor, those with commanding voices, those whose fingertips are busy… We will bring back ten to twenty of them alive. I will pass their exact spots to you, Your Majesty. Please make sure not to crush those specific spots.”
Lara folded her four fingers down one by one. Finally, she clenched her palm into a tight fist.
”That is all from me~.” Lara concluded with a bow.
Erland hid her mouth behind her folding fan and let out a long breath.
”…Driving them into a bag, tying the mouth shut, and crushing them inside. What an incredibly elaborate dish you are preparing, indeed.” Erland remarked with elegant calm.
”It is a dish with terrible manners~. After all, it is a sound thrashing.”2 Lara countered. She looked at the elder over her shoulder. Only her mouth was smiling.
”However…… it ensures a guaranteed kill.” Lara stated firmly.
Erland adjusted her glasses with her middle finger and gave a small nod.
”My King. We elves are your shield. Your command, at any time.” Erland pledged softly.
”Erland. While I’m dealing with them, the defenses around here will grow thin. I’m counting on you.” I said, nodding to her.
Rene tugged at my sleeve.
”Papa… Is there somethin’ Rene should do too…?” Rene asked, looking up with wide eyes.
”Rene. Your job is to be my healing item. You do not have to do anything. Just stay by my side. Do not go moving around on your own and tripping over things.” I murmured softly.
”…Yeah.” Rene nodded slightly, looking relieved.
”So, when do I get a piece of the action?” I inquired, rolling my shoulders.
”Once the containment is complete and a core forms in the herd. Melis will inform you of the heat signal density. Until that signal, please wait and sharpen your claws, Your Majesty.” Lara explained smoothly.
In other words, what I have to do is simple.
When Lara tells me to shoot, I just hurl a massive chunk of Magic into the spot Melis points out. It is just another simple chore.
”OK, I gotcha. Let’s throw ’em straight into the absolute depths of terror.” I muttered, cracking my knuckles.
”Incredibly reassuring~, Your Majesty. The number of prey should be around two to three thousand. Please enjoy yourself to your heart’s content.” Lara said with an elegant smile.
The strategy layout belongs to Lara. Scouting belongs to Mimi and Melis. Holding the front belongs to Sylvia. Sealing the rear belongs to Gauz. Handling the stray squads belongs to Farrell. Securing the prisoners belongs to the elite units. The rest of the elves are fully placed at key spots around the bottleneck.
I am a battery. A battery that merely fires at the right place at the right time. For someone who is not a war expert, that is just fine. Though I must hide my racing heart.
”…Alright. Then while I’m sharpenin’ my claws, I might as well polish my d**k too. Right, Rene?” I joked casually.
”Yeah, Papa! …Should I use my mouth right here, like we always do?” Rene chimed in innocently.
I gently patted the head of Rene, who beamed with an innocent smile.
I meant it as a joke, but it completely went over Rene’s head. Even for someone like me, I am not going to fool around right before a big battle.
”Well then…… shall we begin?” Lara asked, facing forward once more.
We walk through the yellow mist of spores.
The wet dirt sucks at the soles of our boots. The buzzing of insects. The weird cries of birds. Something is roaring in the distance.
The depths of spring wear the exact same face as always.
The forest has no way of knowing that countless humans will die here today.
＊
From the roots of the giant tree where I sit, the cold wetness of the dirt and the smell of mold crawl upward.
A straight-line distance of one hundred meters to the bottleneck.
The rising yellow mist of spores mixes with the dense shadows of the branches. It turns our vision as muddy as dirt. It is impossible for them to spot us from over there.
But the sound and shaking hit my jawbone directly like an invisible swamp.
The damp rumbling of countless combat boots pressing the mud. The dry creaking of layered iron plate armor. The rough braying squeezed from the lungs of horses. And then, the curses of the soldiers and the angry roars of the commanders.
The friction of a huge mass being forcibly crammed into a narrow pipe shakes the forest air violently.
Mimi perked up her slender ears and closed her eyelids tight.
”…The front is jammed. They’re being pushed from behind, and there’s shouting… but the footsteps… aren’t moving forward.” Mimi whispered under her breath.
”…The compression has begun. The column, which was long vertically, is shrinking down tight. It’s completely jammed.” Melis observed quietly.
As if picking up the melody of frenzy, Melis narrowed her feverish eyes beside me.
”Excellent~. Then, the lid.” Lara commanded, her voice utterly cold.
Lara’s voice has no warmth or feeling in it. Her gaze is not directed toward the chaos beyond the mist. Instead, she looks at the plan of slaughter constructed inside her head.
”Completely seal the front and rear.” Lara ordered firmly.
The moment Lara’s lips closed, Aaron and Edwin melted into the depths of the yellow mist. They did not make a single sound.
The buzzing of the forest insects mixes with the noise of the humans drifting from the bottleneck. It pushes my eardrums into a low, eerie hum.
Hidden within that noise, we simply waited for the moment the lid of death snapped shut.
The first crash slammed into our eardrums from behind.
A wet explosion. It sounded like a mass of metal smashing a meat sack full of fluid against a wall.
A moment later, a scream squeezed from countless throats at once. It erupted with enough force to blow away the mist of spores.
”G-Gauz… has struck the rear of the herd…” Mimi reported, her voice trembling.
”The sound of boots trying to escape… is all smashing into the walls… ah, eek… p-people are flying like rags…” Mimi whimpered in fear.
The nature of the noise echoing through the forest changed. The controlled voices of command vanished. They were replaced by fear filling the air as a roar.
Erland gripped her staff with sharp eyes. She was ready to fight.
”…Even with support, the one holding them back at the front is just that single person. As expected, he exists entirely outside the laws of nature.” Erland murmured in polite amazement.
”It is Gauz, after all. If you wish to move him, you would have to drag a dragon out here.” Lara remarked. A cruel smile formed on her lips.
”The front… has stopped too,” Mimi added quickly.
”The sound of arrows… ah, they’re screaming. Eek! So many popping sounds…!” Mimi cried out, covering her ears.
A dry popping sound echoes from afar. Gunfire. Mimi’s ears flatten down against her head. Rene clings tightly to my shirt.
”Forget about it. I’ll handle this.” I grunted, stepping forward.
As I stand up, I thrust my right hand forward.
Unfolding inside my brain is a cold cage of iron. It changes the Magic elements within my area into countless particles of steel. It sews them tight into the air. Absolute fixation.
”‘Iron Curtain’” I bellowed.
At a five-meter radius marking my outer edge, tiny metallic static crackled into existence. A cluster of particles resembling a thin haze. It is invisible unless one stares closely.
Clang!
With a sharp metallic screech, the lead ball hit the barrier of particles. Its deadly force was completely broken.
”Hie…!” Rene shrieked in terror.
It dropped into the mud at his feet. It was just a twisted piece of silver scrap. The second bounced-off round cut a piece of bark from a huge tree nearby.
”Stay close to me. The wind goes through, but it stops attacks,” Ryuichi ordered.
”…Our vision is clear, and sound passes through too. I see, this will not disrupt our orders. As expected of our King,” Lara noted with cool distance.
I gently patted Rene’s head. He had jumped in fear and was now clinging to my knees.
His skin was damp with sweat. There was a shallow puddle at our feet. His underwear was probably wet through too.
”…Ah, the footsteps running to the side… they are coming back… coughing, they fell…” Mimi whimpered. Her voice shook.
”The toxic tree zone3, if you please. Every gap in the net was sealed from the start,” Lara said with elegant superiority.
Lara calmly took control of the situation.
Aaron slid through the mist and dropped to his knees beside Rene. Rotting mud splashed from his boots. It brought a deathly smell like ammonia.
”Front line, trapped by Sylvia-sama. Rear guard, Gauz’s barrier is done. Flanking runners wiped out by the toxic tree zone,” Aaron reported. His tone was short and formal.
”Good work. Please stand by,” Lara instructed gracefully.
”…Teacher, I am at my limit,” Melis murmured. Her eyes were completely unfocused.
”Center area, the heat has gathered into one solid mass. They are swarming around the torches like moths,” Melis added. She kept her noble calm despite the pressure.
The madness in the narrow space was reaching its limit. Roars turned into screams. Screams turned into crying. A horrible scene flashed in my mind. Thousands of bodies crushing each other in the narrow space. Faces trampled into the mud.
”Now, King. If you would be so kind. The thickest group is slightly left of center. Please avoid the right side. That is where the future captives are,” Lara directed. Her voice held chilling elegance.
Lara’s voice coldly marked the position of the target.
”Finally, my turn. Rene, it will be over in a flash. Cover your ears and stay right here,” Ryuichi said confidently.
I took my hand off Rene’s head and stood up.
”‘Fly’”
My boots lifted from the mud. My body glided five meters up into the air.
I reached my right hand toward the thickest part of the enemy.
”Mimi. Direction?” Ryuichi called out.
”A little more to the left, th-there. A bit lower. That is where the sound of burning torches and… breathing is thickest,” Mimi stuttered. She tried to steady her voice.
”Melis. Distance?” Ryuichi asked.
”A little over a hundred meters. Teacher, there are so many people there that it is bright red,” Melis reported clearly.
Mimi’s direction and Melis’s distance matched perfectly in my mind.
I gripped the empty air and crushed it with pure force.
I turned the surrounding magic elements (energy used for spells) into air. I compressed it down to the size of a small ball. A tiny screech tore through the air itself. It sounded like reality was ripping apart. The bad smell of burnt air hit my nose. I coated it with a perfect hardness so the shell would break on impact. An invisible, heavy projectile appeared in the space just beyond my clenched fist.
I took a deep breath of the heavy air. I stared hard at the squirming shapes beyond my hand.
The thousands of lives below me in the mist were no longer human. They were a swarm of bugs crawling around. They wanted to destroy my garden.
They had marched toward Silver Moon Village (a small settlement) without hesitation. They wanted to kill me. My women. My elves.
Fools. I will kill them all. Every last one.
My thoughts fell deep into a cold, dark place. A place where only pure hate sinks.
I swung my right hand down toward the target locked in my brain.
”‘Atmospheric Deficit (Atmos Guillotine)’”
Right away, a spiral tunnel was bored through the center of the yellow spore mist.
One hundred and fifteen meters out… it hit.
From the point of impact, the compressed air exploded outward. It was a mass of air as dense as a stone wall. Dozens of men at the center were crushed with their armor. They were blown away as dark red paste.
Right after that, the expanding air ripped out the space. It created a vacuum zone. The surrounding air rushed toward it. Soldiers caught in the fast winds were pulled toward the center. The air was completely torn from their lungs. Their eyeballs burst from the inside.
Boom…!
The air had nowhere else to go. It crashed at the center and burst into a pale blue flash of cold light. That brief lightning shined through the mist. It lit up shapes of flesh and a rain of blood. They scattered in the air without keeping any of their human forms.
From the world, sound vanished…
The buzzing of bugs and the flapping of birds were crushed by the huge blast. A heavy, muddy silence fell.
Within fifty meters of the center.
Thick, dark blood poured from the broken ears of the soldiers. Their brains were completely scrambled. Their sense of balance totally broken, they fell one after another into the dirt. They were throwing up.
……And then, the screams returned.
They were completely different from before. These were the shrieks of beasts that had failed to die. The sounds came from deep instinct. A huge despair was born. It came from not understanding what had just happened. It erupted all at once from the throats of the survivors who saw it.
A lukewarm rain of blood mixed with the mist poured down.
A merciless hell, made of chunks of flesh and despair, had been born on that spot.
—
Summary:
Moving through a suffocatingly thick yellow spore mist, the protagonist balances tactical military calculations against his casual and crude interactions with his companions. As the elven forces systematically isolate a massive incoming human army within a pre-engineered jungle bottleneck, the physical sounds and heat signatures confirm that the containment net has fully snapped shut. Tensions peak when devastating impact sounds from Gauz in the rear and incoming gunfire from the front signal the commencement of systematic slaughter, leaving the final tactical response entirely dependent on the protagonist’s impending high-tier spell deployment.
Swarming adversaries march aggressively toward Silver Moon Village, prompting Ryuichi to project his barrier of particles defensively over his companions while calculating tactical positions. Advancing through choked bottlenecks and lethal environmental zones, enemy formations cluster densely around torches under heavy oversight by local visual spotters. Ryuichi scales the air to unleash a highly compressed pocket of elements, detonating a devastating atmospheric void that obliterates primary offensive forces but leaves prospective capture lines completely unresolved.
—
Trivia:
The entire sequence is a temporal flashback detailing tactical preparations from the morning of the previous day.
Lara explicitly demands that the protagonist limit his magical output to prevent the incineration of usable enemy gear and supply resources.
Melis uses a unique optical sensory ability that translates visual obstructions into readable thermal signatures to act as tactical recon.
The elven architecture units spent three weeks structuring the environment to look entirely like natural obstructions to human eyes.
Rene completely misinterprets the protagonist’s off-color joke about sharpening claws as a literal request for intimate activity.
Rene is positioned directly at Ryuichi’s knees, physically trembling so much that her garments are thoroughly soaked from the floor mire.
The defensive spatial barrier constructed by Ryuichi uniquely permits local airflow to circulate normally while completely reflecting violent metal ammunition.
Lara explicitly instructs Ryuichi to spare the right flank of the tactical zone to ensure military prisoners remain viable for retrieval.
The vacuum collapse caused by the spell forces blood from the target units’ sensory organs and splits open their biological structures through internal pressure.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Lara – An aristocratic Fox-kin tactician with golden hair, fur, and tail, possessing a curvaceous, mature body and porcelain skin. Initially a defiant, virgin military strategist who deemed no suitor worthy, she was defeated and broken by the protagonist. Now a submissive servant who addresses him as her King, she calmly orchestrates ruthless tactical strikes with complete spatial awareness.
• Mimi – A petite, pale Rabbit-kin tracker from the Hundred-Beast Federation. Her exceptionally sensitive ears act as a sensory array detecting distant army movements, heartbeats, and breathing patterns through bottlenecks, though she shudders easily at violence. Traumatized by hearing the world’s life force consumed, she serves as a loyal lookout for her allies. She wears only an oversized shirt, her battered body covered in white fluid and fresh blood.
• Rene – A fragile, timid young Elf archer and harem member who clings to the protagonist for safety, responding with absolute innocence to his jokes. Marked by warm, sweat-dampened skin and prone to jumping in fright, she struggles with raw Mana bursts triggered by fear. Designated as his “healing item” after intimate rituals, she now sleeps in blissfully stunned exhaustion alongside the others.
• Erland – A 320-year-old elven Village Elder and sharp-featured tactician with glasses and long silver hair, she acts as a protective shield and guide for her deity, the Spirit King, while accompanying Serafina. Wielding a staff and folding fan, she maintains a powerful barrier, uses earth magic, and systematically commands messengers to capture specific prisoners, torn between village order and intense devotion.
• Gauz – A massive, steel-furred feline warrior with a golden mane and slit eyes, this hyper-durable predatory commander possesses brawny, log-like arms and an abnormal sense of smell. Armed with the axe Agito, he systematically obliterates enemy infantry, sending them flying like rags. Arrogant yet fiercely loyal, he led 30,000 troops, established a rear-guard barrier, and submits only to the protagonist. Tied to a past security failure, he is now a charred runaway.
• Melis – Voluptuous 160cm elf watchtower guard and tracking specialist with blonde hair in a high ponytail, sweaty hair tips sticking to her neck. Wearing a low-cut tunic under a grease-stained leather apron, she has a seductive aura and speaks like an aristocrat. Married to dwarf Kulum but infatuated with Ryuichi, whose essence altered her eyes to process visual info as thermal signatures, letting her track enemy heat and magic in zero-visibility battlefields.
• Sylvia – A platinum-haired, jade-eyed commander who serves her master with fevered adoration and ruthless efficiency. Deploying at the front bottleneck alongside elven archers, this highly perceptive operative successfully contained the forward line, unleashing white heat rays and vacuum blades with terrifying precision. Domestically and in battle, she acts with complete deference to her master, uses a sweet tone to torment others, and maintains a complex, sisterly relationship with the broken Lara.
• King – A powerful, authoritative male lead who possesses immense physical strength and magic. He commands absolute loyalty and submission from the inhabitants of the Silver Moon Village.
• Farrell – An elf garrison captain restored by the protagonist, this determined swordsman leads village security and a guerrilla unit with grim resolve and sharp authority. Wearing a green afterimage aura, he uses a vacuum wind blade to swiftly slice open escaping enemies. Driven to regain lost honor after a past defeat by Ryuichi, he respects his King, loathes Gauz, and maintains a tense protagonist alliance.
• Aaron – A military subordinate who slides through the mist to deliver concise status reports on containment and flanking maneuvers. A stealthy operative who melts into the yellow spore mist without making a sound.
• Edwin – A stealthy operative who melts into the yellow spore mist alongside Aaron without a single sound.
• Ryuichi – Goshujin-sama, a 40-year-old Spirit King with Japanese past-life memories, is a towering, muscular master with short dark hair, black eyes, and a beard. Analytical, cold, and commanding, he ruthlessly controls the Elder’s Manor, an elf village, and his intimate companion, Erika. Using immense mana, gravity, healing magic, and a protective wind-permeating barrier, he rules safely from afar.
• Ryu – A man with Interdimensional Magic who leads a growing household. He acts as a provider and protector for his slaves, while maintaining a pragmatic and blunt personality.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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