Hiramatsu Takehiko's soul nearly fled his body. He could hear the cold, murderous intent in Shinji's tone loud and clear.
At this moment, he knew there was no point in arguing or making excuses anymore.
"Guards! Protect me! Kill him! Kill this man now!" he shouted frantically.
For this campaign, Hiramatsu had brought a large retinue of personal guards — originally meant to keep the Grand Tutor in check in case he turned traitor.
He never expected the Grand Tutor would die just like that… and drag a terrifying god of death down upon them all!
The horrific fate of those monster soldiers was still fresh in his mind. He knew exactly who was behind it.
He knew Ishikura Yoshiakira far too well; the Land of Fangs simply didn't have the power to do such things.
But where had that stubborn, old‑fashioned fool found such powerful reinforcements?
Hiramatsu couldn't understand it. We were already winning handily… how did it all fall apart?
If Shinji had heard his thoughts, he would have told him plainly: You were already celebrating victory halfway through the battle. You had it coming — arrogance brings ruin!
Swish!
Shinji hurled his massive executioner's blade with full force.
Spinning rapidly, it carved a bloody path through everything in its way. Anyone who dared stand between them was cut down instantly.
Without losing momentum, the blade pinned Hiramatsu Takehiko straight to the ground.
He couldn't even let out a scream. His mouth filled with blood, and he could only make wet, gurgling sounds.
"Listen closely. I don't care about the dirty grudges and hatred between your two nations. Frankly, I think both you and the Lord of the Land of Fangs deserved to die."
"But compared to him… you are far more detestable. Since you loved living sacrifices so much, let your life be the offering for this blade in my hand."
Thud!
Shinji stepped on Hiramatsu's back to yank the blade free, then with one clean swing, cut off his head.
One of the Seven Killing Lamps engraved on the blade lit up.
That meant Hiramatsu's soul was trapped inside the weapon forever. In the future, it would be consumed as energy for the skill Hidden Strike, and no resurrection jutsu in the world could ever save him.
"D‑dead?! He's dead?!"
"Our Lord is dead! Run for it!"
"What?! He was killed?! That's impossible!"
"Don't panic! Stay calm! Calm down!"
---
The moment Hiramatsu died, chaos erupted in the Land of Claws' ranks.
They had already been unsettled when the monster soldiers were slaughtered, but their morale had held, and General Watanabe had managed to keep them steady.
Now, however, the news spreading from the rear triggered a total collapse.
This was the double‑edged blade of having a ruler lead troops in person.
When the ruler stands on the front lines, morale soars and men fight harder than ever.
But if the ruler dies on the battlefield, the blow to the army is devastating.
Think about it: if the man you swore loyalty to is dead… who are you fighting for anymore? What is the point?
General Watanabe did everything in his power to restore order — only to look up and see a head come flying through the air, landing right in front of their lines.
He recognized it instantly: it was Lord Hiramatsu's severed head.
His vision went black.
If even their commander was broken by the sight, the soldiers were naturally even worse.
With the seeds of doubt planted earlier, they had already lost the will to fight.
Our Lord is dead. If we don't run now, we'll never get away!
En masse, thousands of men threw away their armor and weapons and fled. They didn't fight back even when enemies caught up and struck them down.
It was a true collapse — like an avalanche.
---
Ishikura Yoshiakira, who had been ready to die moments before, experienced a shift from hell to heaven in mere minutes. His face flushed red with wild excitement.
"Charge! Cut them down!"
"Hahaha! I was right all along!"
"Hiramatsu Takehiko — look well now! Tell me… which one of us was truly short‑sighted?!"
"You called yourself an ambitious hero, sacrificing innocent people left and right in your madness, certain of victory. But you never realized: that was exactly what brought about your end! Your power came from it… and your ruin came from it too!"
Ishikura stood tall and proud. Even the wrinkles that had appeared on his face over these hard days seemed to smooth out.
Yet he wasn't so carried away by this great victory — one that decided the fate of both nations — that he lost his reason.
He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he had seen the blood rain fall from the sky and wipe out every monster.
He had also heard the sudden uproar from the enemy's rear, and the shouts that Hiramatsu was dead.
Someone helped me.
His mind immediately went back to the mysterious stranger who had visited his room the night before, and his heart burned with gratitude and curiosity.
But by the time they had completely routed the enemy army, Shinji was already long gone.
Ishikura could only piece together what happened from eyewitness accounts, confirming his guesses.
He expected the stranger would return, and prepared to give up a large portion of his wealth and land as a reward.
Yet even after he fully annexed the Land of Claws and became the sole ruler of both nations, the man never appeared again.
Only then did Ishikura begin to realize that the things he possessed… were things that man likely didn't care about in the slightest.
Just as a great lord wouldn't snatch a rotting cornbread from a beggar's hand.
---
It's worth mentioning that the truth about Hiramatsu's human sacrifices spread very quickly.
Such a crime required many accomplices and helpers to carry out. While Hiramatsu was alive, he could keep it hidden.
Once dead, there were plenty of people eager to expose his crimes and distance themselves from him.
That was also why the Land of Fangs was able to conquer them so smoothly and quickly.
By then, of course, Shinji was already far away, his deeds unknown and unrecorded.
---
Outside the borders of the Land of Fangs, Shinji and his group continued their journey.
"This trip wasn't a loss… but it wasn't especially profitable either. Mainly because I didn't run into any Special Grade Cursed Spirits. Otherwise, I would have fully unlocked the Six Eyes ability by now."
Shinji couldn't help feeling a bit regretful.
He had several choices ahead:
1. Continue taking jobs based on intel from the Underground Exchange, hunting for Special Grades by chance, and digging up treasure maps along the way.
2. Simply find a quiet place to lie low and wait for the Exchange to steal that Special Grade corpse from the Cloud Village as promised.
3. Grind for more Cursed Spirit Points while practicing his ultimate yo‑yo techniques… and lying low.
Alright, truth be told — he was feeling pretty frustrated.
Where on earth are all those Special Grade Cursed Spirits hiding?
---
While Shinji sought them but found none… far away in the Land of Snow, Fubuki Yukime knelt in the snow, covered in blood, eyes empty and lifeless. In her arms, she held an egg covered entirely in strange cursive markings.
She herself didn't understand how things had turned out this way.
She had only returned to the Land of Snow with her old servant and Moxi, determined to face her past.
Everything had gone perfectly at first — Moxi's power completely overwhelmed everyone there.
Just when she thought it was all over… a sudden group of "beings" appeared and destroyed everything.
____________________
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