Chapter 5

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Translator: Kui

Editor: Laurence02

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Author: 七沢またり (NANASAWA MATARI)

RAWS

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Reflected in the empty eyes of the man ― Salvad, the trapper ― was a pitiful girl taking her last breaths. His eyes were just as dark as the cloak draped around him.

He held no guilt in setting up the death trap. A fool had simply died clumsily, alone. That was all.

Salvad’s mouth twisted into a grin.

 Indeed, that was all, but it was all that was needed to bring a wave of pleasure through Salvad.

The adventurers who fell for his traps, oblivious to how they died. The expression which would arise as they were skewered with arrows, the fear from their inevitable deaths as well as the crushing despair of their dreams and ambitions being rendered unattainable.

Traps could reveal the true human nature of those caught in them within a short amount of time. ―Rather, that revelation was forced by the works of art that Salvad had produced.

The trap he had prepared this time was a simple one activated through a pressure plate. Arrows were set to rain down from the crossbows facing the intruder.

It was plenty to kill a man, regardless of if they were trained or not, rookie or veteran.

However, Salvad did reflect that he had gone slightly overboard since his prey would die in no time at all if things had continued as they did.

Although he was satisfied with how the trap turned out, the adjustments were always hard.

Perhaps he should have let his prey, a young healthy girl, squirm a little this time round. The girl seemed like she was confident in her swordsmanship.

He wanted to take his sweet time torturing the girl, stripping her sanity from her bit by bit and slowly driving her to her death. How would the girl cry? How would she beg? What agony would she show?

Salvad was in cloud nine just from imagining it, his heart wrapped in bliss. He resolved to definitely do so next time.

Salvad silenced his laughter and undid his concealment. His skillful movements, breathing patterns and clothing dripping with miasma all played a part in his concealment.

He sat down on the treasure chest and wiped the dripping saliva from his mouth. 

Nevertheless. He absolutely loved this trapped chest for how ridiculous it was.

The ones who were most alert of traps were the first to dive in, and the first to die. There was nothing more amusing than that.

It was right this instant. He could not get enough of the moment when his prey met their ends. Salvad’s brain was reaching a climax.

The pleasure was greater than that from any woman he had embraced and more plentiful than any fortunes he had made. Incomparably so.

Salvad, who had strayed from the righteous path, hadn’t started out like so. The same went for his minions. They once had led honest lives, working in the light.

The trigger for change was simple. It was because they hated being pushed around.

Salvad was in debt, something his parents had left behind and in order to return the money, Salvad made a living through his skills. His dexterity was second to none, and even in the Ranger’s Guild, he outshone many of his peers. Thus, eventually, he had made a name for himself.

　 He was cheaply hired as a freelancer by a knight of noble birth just to be worked as a slave. Perhaps, to the knight who shouldered his debt, he was nothing but a lowly slave.

Every so often, he was told “We have plenty of replacements for you, but you have to first earn your money’s worth.” as they cold-heartedly pushed him into death’s jaw, further threatening to report his crimes to the church, when he tearfully begged them to let him quit.

“It’s nothing but a snap of a finger to conjure a crime for you. Serve me as you did before. You’re truly excellent at it.”, the knight had haughtily scoffed. 

His salary diminished again. In proportion, his hatred and his desire for murder swelled. Thus, he took action.

He laid out the most elaborate trap to date inside the labyrinth, bringing down the knight along with the group they were escorting in one fellow swoop. The guillotine had fallen upon the neck of the knight, severing head from body. Simultaneously, Salvad had wept in anguish, as though confirming his rebirth in that very instant. 

When he delivered the rotting head to the doorsteps of the family, he felt something snap. He felt that the shitty days he lived until then had been worth it.

At the time, his strained funds chipped away in form of his equipment. He sold piece by piece to the black market, at prices  which insulted the efforts he put in so far. It wasn’t long before the targets of his traps shifted from demons to humans.

Whenever he set down a prototype trap inside the labyrinth, idiots upon idiots crowded it like moths to a flame.

They all fell for it and died all without him lifting a finger, leaving behind all their valuables. There was nothing more amusing than that.

Salvad proceeded to trap and kill several dozens of people. Eventually, his infamy spread which led to his expulsion from the guild and a bounty being placed on him.

Despite this, no one bothered to attack him as he hid among the slimes in the labyrinth.

His days of setting traps in the labyrinth never ceased, and Salvad’s daily life remained the same, other than the fact that he now found living worthwhile. His reason to live was to observe from up close the instant people died. Salvad had entirely strayed from the path of humanity.

Slowly, people who were displeased in the same way as him gathered below him to form a party of sorts whose members were all former rangers.

Salvad didn’t have an obsession with money, so after deducting his living expenses, he generously distributed the rest to his subordinates. He didn’t drink alcohol and he didn’t play with women, nor did he need any expensive weapons or equipment. His money went to food expenses and the creation of traps.

All Salvad wished for was one thing一the look of despair when people’s dreams were crushed. 

 

Salvad signalled at his subordinates who were still in hiding to lop off the head off the girl who had become a pin cushion.

He also signalled to his subordinates lurking behind the passage entrance. It turned out another prey at the entrance had come out unscathed due to her hesitation. But this wouldn’t change the ending. She would most likely die from a strike from behind. The entire passageway leading to this room was a trap in itself.

Salvad’s party consisted of five people and himself in the room, and another highly skilled man hiding in the passageway.

Everyone was former rangers who excelled in the skills of murder and theft. Rangers were generally nothing more than a gathering of famous thieves or hired killers.

The subordinate had a haughty smile on and raised his saber, swinging down with great force towards the neck of the pin cushion. 

However, it wasn’t the girl’s head which rolled, but the subordinate’s saber. He cradled his arm and shouted in pain.

　

“Fuck! Who did that!!”

 

At the man’s foot was a stick lying about. They pinned it as the entrance girl’s last act of resistance.

Salvad was irritated. He was looking forward to when the girl’s head rolled on the floor. This all had gone up in smoke, and it was like someone had drenched his happiness in a bucket of water.

 

“What are you doing.”

“S- Sir. It’s something the other prey at the entrance threw over. We’ll take care of it immediately.”

 

His subordinate trembled as he replied. He knew he wasn’t to disobey Salvad when he was in this state. If he handled this poorly, he could be used as a test subject for the next heinous trap.

 

“…Just hurry up and behead that girl. Don’t delay my fun any longer!”

“I- I’m terribly sorry!”

 

The subordinate faced the entrance again and clicked his tongue. He quickened his pace toward the girl drenched in blood.

In the man’s hands was a dagger. Its sharp blade could probably slice apart the girl’s neck in an instant.

 

“Fucking brat. You sure you’re not crazy to throw away your only prop? Well not that it changes anything, you’re still gonna die. You can regret everything after you’re dead.”

“Of course I’m not. You guys are the ones dying after all.”

 

A dagger silently flashed through the air. The moment the dagger closed in on the girl’s neck, the subordinate fell, quivering in agony.

The girl had landed a hit in his stomach. She grabbed the man by his hair and brought his face closer to her own. His face twisted in pain. 

 

“Ughhh… you bitch!”

“Shut up, trash. It’s unpleasant.”

 

The girl brutishly shoved her hand into the man’s mouth before he could let out another word and shouted.

A shimmering flash lit up the man’s face. A moment later, his face exploded together with the light.

All that remained was a headless corpse which collapsed onto the ground like a puppet cut of its strings.

 

“I used to avoid killing people you know? I believed that anyone could start anew, and that people were different to demons. But you see, scum will be scum no matter what you do.”

 

The girl released a fireball to the body, setting it ablaze, lighting up the small dimly lit room. The smell of burning flesh filled the room.

Salvad who was watching by the sides instantly became more alert.

Mages were dangerous. They were what he was the most cautious about. Powerful magic was a threat.

But they weren’t without weaknesses. Because chanting took time, it introduced an opportunity to attack and would inevitably reveal a slip of  vulnerability. Her shield^[1]

which should have bought her some time was on the ground, unable to be used in battle.

 

“She’s a mage! Get her, NOW!”

 

Salvad lashed out at his subordinates who were still in hiding through the Concealment Arts. Kill her, no matter the price; his instructions were clear and concise.

 

“Looks like you’ve been hiding quite deep. It’s bothersome so I’ll take you all on.”

“Die!”

 

The men who came out of hiding rushed towards her from all directions.

The one who yelled out was a distraction, and the real assailant was the man hiding behind the girl.

Rangers would not raise their voices when on the offense.

This formation was reserved for when they were faced with strong opponents, it’s efficiency proved by the many men who had been slaughtered by it.

 

“Back off, trash!!”

 

Along with her taunt, her hands emitted a bright light. It was a chantless magic spell, not even a few seconds after her previous flame spell.

The panic from the activation of the spell came too late. A flash of light came and went, followed by a reverberating bang, slamming the men, including Salvad, into the walls of the room.

  As for the man who was directly behind her, he had taken on the full brunt of force from the spell and lay splattered everywhere.

Salvad came back to his senses and ordered, “Don’t let her chant! Charge!” This girl was dangerous. Only now did he come to that realisation.

 

His men tried to organise themselves back into formation but the girl allowed for no resistance.

 

“Don’t fuss, scum! Be good and obediently die!” she mocked again. 

 

Her crazed eyes locked onto Salvad and his men’s positions as the light gathered around her once more.

Every word that came from her mouth was tinted with aggression. Of course it would – one’s tone would naturally change to be more violent when talking with scum.

The burst of light and sound of explosions came once again. This time, they continued steadily without interruptions.

Many were flung against the walls and let out pathetic wails until the latter explosion when they couldn’t move a single finger.

When the third explosion rang out, their bodies ruptured and scattered into chunks of flesh indiscernible from one another.

Salvad had somehow managed to hold on by circulating all his power into defence. He gritted his teeth and used his attire smothered in layers of magic as a shield. He could feel his consciousness dispersing, but he clenched his jaw and bit his lips to continue enduring. And he endured. Salvad was confident in his body’s endurance, which had been trained since he was young. He took pride in his resilience which was on par with a knight’s.

 

“There’s still a piece of trash left. You’re unexpectedly tough.”

“…Who, are you? A renowned mage?” Salvad asked in hopes of buying some time.

 

He’d definitely kill this brat. And for that, he needed to buy some time to recover his stamina.

He held not a drop of pity or any similar emotions for his dead underlings. On the other hand, he would not forgive anyone who so much as scratched his pride. This fucking brat had gone step too far, so he would take special care to demember her.

Although his stamina was spent, he was sure he wouldn’t fall behind her. She had casted such powerful magic, meaning that there must be some time before she casts her next one. It had been a chantless chain of explosions. He didn’t know the intricacies of it, but he was certain that she couldn’t reproduce that burst of explosions.

　

“I’m a hero passing by, and I’m currently taking out the trash. It reeks so I have to clean it up.”

 

Salvad couldn’t help but spew out, “――Haha, hero. Hero you say? Keep your jokes to yourself. Is there anything inside that skull of yours? Or maybe you really have gone crazy.” Till this day, there was not a single one who replied ‘Hero’ when asked ‘who are you?’.

 

“Ironic coming from you. Anyways, it’s unpleasant, so could you hurry up and die? It ticks me off just seeing scum like you guys. The stench from you is even worse than that from demons.” the girl ―― Hero spits back irritatingly.

 

Her killing intent exposed fully as she gestured to lift her right hand to face Salvad. 

Salvad reached out to the activation switch hidden behind him. He had delayed it for long enough. 

Slowly but surely, he inched closer as he spoke. All so that his actions wouldn’t be detected. His stamina had recovered slightly. Salvad finally put his plan into motion.

 

“Hey, don’t get so heated. You’re here already so you should have a taste of this.” he said as he immediately activated the multi-guillotine trap.

 

This was Salvad, the trapper’s masterpiece. Multiple sharp guillotine blades were shot out to cut up the target. Included in this trap was a magic tool which acted as a sensor to guide the blades, and so Salvad only had to designate a target. 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Salvad’s life was dedicated to creating this trap.

Steel blades shot down from atop the room.

 

“――Tch!”

“There’s more of where that came from.”

 

Hero instantaneously evaded the strike as she stumbled sideways. She carried the fallen girl still pierced with arrows. Again, once, twice, thrice, she avoided the blades with a paper thin margin for error.

Despite the shock from her agile movements, Salvad continued to command the attacking guillotines. Three blades remained. He fired those too.

The girl tirelessly evaded the attacks whilst carrying the girl, and continued to survive. Salvad was truly impressed. This opponent was wonderful. There was no one yet who managed to make such a joke from his traps, and more than his frustration was the feeling of fascination.

However, things had not yet ended. There is a reason as to why he could casually admire his enemy. It was because he still had an ace up his sleeve.

Just as she let her guard down after dodging everything, he would deal the final blow. That was the essence of a masterful trapper.

Salvad successfully lured Hero into a certain spot. 

She may be deluded to believe that she was moving by her free will but all of Salvad’s attacks held the meaning of ‘guidance’.

Hero confirmed that the blade storm had ended and yelled, “…Was that it? It was a pretty interesting show. It’s my turn now.”

 

Everything was as planned. Salvad activated his trump card.

 

“Ah, you have no turn. This is it.”

“――Eh?”

 

From the sides of the room, a high-speed rotating blade shot towards Hero. 

All the attacks so far were from the ceiling, so Hero had a slight delay in response to this one.

Apparently deciding that she couldn’t escape, she immediately tossed aside the girl she was carrying.

Those actions were indeed praiseworthy. An action only the brave could make, Salvad thought.

In return, however, Hero’s carotid artery was cut by the guillotine, causing a large amount of bleeding. The source of all life; her blood was splattered across the walls, dying them with fresh blood.

Although she pressed down on her neck, the massive overflow wouldn’t wane. There was nothing she could do to stop it. Even her Healing Arts wouldn’t be able to save her life; it was a fatal wound.

 

“I had intended to cut off your head. That intuition of yours is something, all right, as well as that courage of yours which you used to save your friend. But, you can’t be saved anymore. HAHA, you never will be saved!”, Salvad ridiculed.

 

He slowly approached Hero as he licked his lips. She was the strongest enemy he had in a long time and thus, the joy of victory was overwhelming.

His chest thumped, and his eyes were excited like those of a young man staring at a naked woman. He unconsciously gulped.

Now was the time for pleasure. It would soon begin. Because of this girl who called herself a hero. Her skills were wonderful. He decided to hold onto the girl’s head until it rotted. The act of her clean-cut yet cheeky face becoming a rotten mess was bound to become something of profound taste.

Oh, how I want to dissect you. I want to cut you up while you’re still conscious, Salvad thought. I want to try out a variety of things.

Salvad’s mouth watered just from the thought. He didn’t have the heart to wipe off the dripping saliva either.

 

“Now then, where should I start cutting you up from? Whoops, don’t die on me yet. I’m begging you. Let me hear plenty of that cute chirp of yours when I crush you like a bird!”

 

He took out a dagger and screeched in delight while looking over at where Hero was.

 

“I’ve decided. First is the ears, then the eyes. After that, I’ll chop off your four limbs. Then I’ll cut your tongue off and roast it. Your head and body are to be saved for last. Doesn’t that sound like a delicious full course?”

 

Once he had finished elaborating on his method of execution, he moved to stand right in front of Hero. Salvad raised his knife in preparation to chop off Hero’s ear.

Out of nowhere, a bright light released from Hero’s quivering hand, and her cleanly cut neck began regenerating. The blood ceased to flow.

 

“What?! H- Healing Arts?”

 

Salvad’s eyes widened from surprise.

To calm her body, Hero sucked in a deep breath. Her anger exploded together with the exhale of her breath. 

The trembling was not from her bodily pains. It was physiological aversion which caused the trembling in Hero’s body.

　

“DON’T FUCKING INCLUDE ME IN YOUR DISGUSTING IMAGINATION YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!”

 

A force struck out at Salvad’s face, slamming him against the wall. The right side of his vision was dark. He confirmed with his hands that his eye was crushed. His nose was bashed in too.

 

“Ow, OWW. It hurts. ―U ugh UGGAAHHHH!! IT HURTS!! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!”

“What a tough man you are. I hoped to crush you with that one blow. Hurry up and die, you scum.”

“Ek, EEK”

“Ugh, geez. Don’t you move. How annoying.”

 

Hero cracked her neck a couple of times as she walked over. Meanwhile, Salvad was shrieking as he pressed himself even further back. 

If he didn’t do anything, he would undoubtedly be cruelly trampled down. Salvad, who was supposed to have won, bellowed back in absurdity.

 

“Y- YOU FREAK, HOW IS YOUR NECK HEALED?! PLEASE, JUST DIE!”

“Of course it’s because I’m the hero. You can go die now that you know.”

 

Finally, with his back to the wall, Salvad was left with nowhere to escape.

 

“W- wait. H- Help me. I’ll reflect on my actions, so save me. I’m also a human with blood flowing through me. A human. P- Please, I’m begging you. If- If you want money――”

 

Throwing away his last bit of pride as a trapper, Salvad begged for his life. He didn’t want to die. Standing in this predicament, his wish to continue living burst out. He was willing to do anything in order to be let off.

 

“There’s no way I’d help a demon like you. You’re no human. Just a demon. Never open that filthy mouth of yours again.”

“Monster, m- MONSTER!”

 

Salvad ignored the pain tearing at his body and took up his knife charging at Hero, all without a plan. It was an attack which suppressed his pain and fear.

The shaking knife cut empty and the bloodied Hero revealed a gruesome smile.

 

“Yeah, I used to get that a lot. Oh and, that last trap was pretty good for a piece of scum like you.”

“W- wait―”

“See ya then.”

 

Her right fist once again met Salvad’s face in a hook. His face splattered like rotten fruit smashed against the ground, in turn scattering around brain matter with great momentum. The body, which had lost it’s master, fell down.

Hero’s face scrunched up from the stench. She retrieved the cloth from inside the bag and began to wipe off any blood, brain matter or flesh chunks stuck on her from Salvad.

 

――That day, the notorious master trapper Salvad and his followers were annihilated under the hands of a sole girl.

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