The Villain has Perished

"Shit! Shit! Shit! What is that fiend!?"

Matthew hurriedly ran through the thick jungle in the middle of the night. He had been waiting for Sol to fall asleep before running away.

"Uncle said that it would be easy to eliminate him in the forest. But what is this! He really is a fiend! No way can that thing be a human!"

Varnish had a backup plan if Sol was to enter the forest alone. It was to have Matthew assassinate Sol.

The plan was to use the monsters of the forest to kill Sol. However, Matthew was shocked at what he witnessed!

"He can create monsters out of thin air! If he isn't a fiend, then what is he!? A-and how did he kill that Ascended rank monster…?"

Matthew couldn't kill Sol with his own hands, or he would be caught. It was because of this he used something else, Enra Aroma.

At first, Matthew didn't plan on meddling to kill Sol. He believed that Sol would be killed by the monsters. However, Sol's ability to summon monsters of his own and have them fight for himself changed Matthew's opinion.

Matthew had secretly marked Sol with Enra Aroma, a peculiar odor that attracts monsters. It caused over 30 2nd Mortal Awakening monsters to chase Sol. However, Sol didn't die but won!

"Did Sol know that I had been watching him? Is that why he used his monsters scarcely every time? To hide his strength?"

In the beginning, Sol summoned 3 boars, then 5, sometimes 7 or 9. It was the first time Sol summoned 15 boars and that shocked Matthew to his core. Nevertheless, the real surprise came when Sol summoned over 30 boars to kill the monsters surrounding the lake. It turned out that 15 boars weren't his limit!

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Matthew punched a tree besides him. "I risked my life and baited the ascended rank monster! That should've been enough to kill him! How!? How did he kill that ascended rank monster!? How much strength is he hiding!?"

Matthew had been watching closely. But he couldn't follow Sol's movement when he killed the Ascended rank monster. One moment Sol was standing at the edge of the lake, and the next moment he was already behind the monster.

Anger and fear clouded Matthew's mind, and he again punched the tree.

"Why is he even hiding his strength!?" He roared, but in the corner of his mind Matthew knew the answer: Sol was aware that he was being watched. So, he was using only minimum strength to win. It was to give a wrong estimate of his strength to his enemies, who were watching him and bait them into attacking him.

Matthew scoffed, "Heh, if it was someone else they might have been fooled and revealed themselves. But I'm not like that. Thankfully, I baited the ascended rank monster. Although the monster died, it made me realize that Sol, no, that fiend was hiding a lot in comparison to the strength he had shown."

Rustle—!

Suddenly, a distinct noise came from above. Matthew pulled out his sword without hesitation and slashed at the source of the noise.

"Sigh, it's just this monster."

The branch fell to the ground along with a fist sized spider-like monster. Matthew had seen quite a few of these since the morning and knew that they wouldn't attack him.

He was about to put his sword back into the scabbard when he sensed a presence behind him. He immediately attacked. The blade of the sword clashed with a hard surface and his arm shook.

A four-legged monster with 3 heads was drooling at the sight of Matthew. In response, Matthew jumped back to create a distance between them.

He carefully watched the monster's movements and the faint mana it was emitting. He then muttered in a grave tone. "....It is a 3rd Mortal Awakening rank monster. Did it follow me because of the faint Enra aroma on me?"

To bait the Ascended rank monster that attacked Sol, Matthew had used a very small amount of Enra aroma on himself, too.

Just as the monster attacked, Matthew retreated while facing it. He clicked his tongue. "I'm afraid that the fiend knew that I was following him. If not, I wouldn't have waited until he fell asleep to run away. I can't waste too much time here."

He bent backwards and two claws whizzed past his face. At the same time, he covered his legs in mana. He then kicked upwards.

The monster whimpered when the kick landed in between its ribs. Its next attack was delayed due to the pain. Matthew used the monster's shoulder as a foothold and jumped higher into the sky.

He pulled his sword back while airborne. A subtle golden hue covered his blade.

'Holy swordsmanship 5th verse: Eminence of Dawn'

A huge golden arc shot from his blade. The surroundings were covered in an intense, bright light. And the arc of golden mana beheaded the monster.

"Huff! Huff!"

He landed on the ground, beside the corpse of the monster. The attack he used had considerable strength, but it was taxing on the body. If not for the urgent situation, Matthew wouldn't have used it.

"I should leave quickl—"

Spurt!

"Huh?"

Matthew looked below in confusion. A sword was stabbed through his left thigh. Then came the realization.

"Ahhhhh!!! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" He bellowed. "Who attacked me!?"

An intense golden hue, incomparable to the previous attack, covered his blade. His eyes turned bloodshot and, limping, he scanned the surroundings.

"Reveal yourself! Who was the one to attack me!?"

Veins throbbed on his neck as he shouted. It wasn't clear if he was behaving this way due to pain or anger.

Suddenly, a familiar voice answered. "Why? What would you do after knowing that?"

"S-sol…?"

A black-haired young man came out of the darkness of the forest. He was roughly around 190 cm tall and had a slim yet robust figure. He had a well-defined jawline, an athletic build with broad shoulders and a trim waist. Sol's had a scrawny appearance in the past due to the treatment he received, but after undergoing through 2nd Mortal Awakening his true appearance was no longer hidden.

Matthew flinched when his gaze landed on Sol's expressionless face. Even in this situation where he was ready to attack, Sol's gait was unhurried and calm.

But what pulled his attention was Sol's hair. Those black hairs didn't shine in the slightest, almost as if they were sucking all the light falling on them, like the darkness of the abyss.

"St-stop! If you take another step, I'll attack!" Matthew gripped his blade tightly and the mana in the surroundings churned.

The trees shook violently and the ground quaked. It was enough to show that Mattew who could achieve this feat at 2nd Mortal Awakening was talented.

"I said stop!"

Sol, however, never stopped walking. Despite the rampaging mana, Sol's figure didn't waver once. Finally, he stood across Matthew and spoke.

"What happened? Weren't you going to attack?"

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Matthew was panting. His back was drenched in cold sweat and his limbs were trembling fiercely. He was commanding his body to move, but it wouldn't budge. "Y…you what did you do to…me. Huff! Huff! Wh..hy can't I move…?"

A small smile appeared on Sol's visage when he listened to Matthew's accusation. Yet, his eyes remained tranquil. "I didn't do anything. Isn't it because of 'fear' that you can't move?"

"Wh-why would I be afraid of you? Don't spout nonsense!?"

Matthew's body finally moved. He swung his blade at Sol, but Sol was faster. He pulled the black blade out of his scabbard and severed the arm that Matthew was using to hold his sword.

"Argghh!!"

Blood spewed out of the stump that was once Matthew's arm. He hollered in pain and thrashed around wildly.

"Aren't you afraid because you saw how I killed the monsters you baited?"

Those words spoken in a calm tone were enough to bring Matthew out of hysteria. He spoke with his face covered in tears and snout.

"D-don't kill me. I c-can help you…"

"Hoh? You pulled yourself together fairly quickly." Sol muttered amusedly. "Speak. I shall decide your fate after listening to your words."

"Templar! I'm a Templar!"

Matthew jumped at the chance that Sol gave him. He revealed a golden badge that had a shield and an eagle engraved on it. However, Sol didn't respond. Maybe Sol didn't know of the importance of Templars. With those thoughts, Matthew continued.

"We Templars are the covert knights of the Holy Order. Our job is to infiltrate different noble families and report about them to the Church. I..if you kill me, the Holy Order will be immediately notified of my death and the location of death. They will come here! If that happens your secret will be out!"

Holy Order was the knight order belonging to the Church. Their military might was comparable to the Imperial Army. They weren't weaker than the Swordsmith Empire and they had connections all over the Kamera Continent.

If the Holy Order tried to investigate Sol, he would be no different from a mouse caught in a trap. Conversely, if Sol left Matthew live he would get a spy that would inform him of Holy Order's movements.

However, Sol's gaze was still placid. He didn't seem to be moved after hearing Matthew's secret. Only one sentence came out of his mouth.

"Is that all?"

"No! If you keep me alive, I can help you get revenge on my uncle! Not only him, but all others who belittled you! And, and, I will help you hide your stren—"

Spurt!

A black blade penetrated Matthew's heart. Blood dripped through the tip of the blade that came out of his back. He despairingly raised his head and stared at Sol.

"Wh-why?"

Why did Sol kill him? Why not leave him, since he could help Sol? Why even ask for a reason, if he was going to kill him nonetheless? Why was he hiding his strength?

"I knew already. That you belonged to the Holy Order." Sol crouched and whispered in his ears. "How does it feel dying, but not knowing that you had been dancing on someone else's palm the entire time?"

Sol turned around and left after taking Matthew's Templar badge. An epiphany struck Matthew and he muttered.

"D-did you knowingly come out of the carriage? Why? Since when had y-you been planning this? Was it since our spar?"

Those words sapped Matthew of his remaining strength. However, he didn't want to die while writhing in the agony of ignorance. The answer wouldn't mean much, it wouldn't allow him to live again. But at least it would give him a sense of satisfaction before his death.

"Do you want to know?"

Matthew weakly nodded. Sol quietly stared at him for a few moments. "I never promised you an answer."

He left with those words, without answering Matthew. Matthew's eyes widened and his expression twisted. Why did Sol stir his curiosity if he was never going to answer? Was it fun to ridicule a dying person? Was it too much for Sol to let him die in peace?

"F-fiend…"

And, breath finally left Matthew's body.

…..

….

…

..

.

Sol was returning to the Lake of Purity. In his hands was the golden badge of Templars that he took from Matthew. He raised his head and gazed at the moon. A whisper escaped his lips.

"I never said that you were dancing on 'my' palms."