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He was someone who could toy with a person’s mind as if it were held in his hand. He could knead the brain as he pleased, tear through memories and thoughts, shatter them completely, then piece them back together to reshape them anew.
He possessed one of the broadest, most ambiguous, and most dangerous powers among all the known ability systems—the mental-type power.
And that person was Ethan.
He was the perfect candidate to distort and divert attention away from the subjugation operation.
After some hesitation, Letilia eventually nodded. “Fine.”
“Who knows what that duke’s family, driven mad by today’s events, might try to pull.”
“Just wait. They’ll end up self-destructing soon enough. Judging from what happened today, it wouldn’t be strange if they awakened any moment now.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine them clinging to their crumbling sanity, sobbing endlessly. Isaac sneered.
Letilia asked indifferently,
“Do you remember what ability that daughter had?”
“No.”
What does it matter.
Isaac slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.
“They’ll be wiped out soon anyway.”
The only reason they’d left the Colhart family alone until now was for this very moment.
After suffering the greatest humiliation of their lives, the Colharts would inevitably create a justifiable reason for their own destruction.
And Isaac’s group was more than happy to wait for them to cross that line first.
❖ ❖ ❖
Honestly, I hadn’t planned to follow them. Really.
Rather than going along and just getting in the way, it’s a hundred times better to stay here and be a blanket bug.
No special ability, mediocre physical strength, and until recently, weakened by malnutrition.
By civilian standards, my physical ability ranked somewhere in the lower-middle. Compared to those five monsters, I was basically a sunfish.
I figured, even if I couldn’t help, I should at least avoid being a burden. But then…
Of all things, the Colharts had to stay behind…!
I’d overlooked the fact that Saren was still here.
She wasn’t awakened yet, but she’d shown signs of manifesting for two years now. She was a potential ability user—specifically of the ice type, one of the natural-type abilities.
I didn’t want to give her some common healing power like typical heroines, so I’d made her an offensive type. And now, that choice had come back to bite me hard.
Seriously, screw you, past me.
No matter how much I cursed myself, the conclusion was obvious:
If I stayed behind alone, I might end up killed by Saren once she awakened.
This incident surely shattered her mental state.
Awakening often occurred in ability users after a traumatic emotional shock. Very few people knew this. The only reason Saren hadn’t awakened until now was because…
When you’re spoiled and pampered like a princess, when would you ever cry in true despair?
But that was old news.
She’d already looked half-dead at the banquet hall, and once she found out I was alone, she’d come running, dignity be damned.
“If worst comes to worst, at least stay with two or more people, including Shunen. Anything’s better than her being alone.”
“Has his brain turned into an apple from eating too many? What if something happens there?! Use that clever head of yours for once!”
And honestly, everyone was desperate to end the heated argument before it blew up the mansion.
“Ugh, fine! I’ll just go too! End of discussion!”
…And just like that, my participation was decided.
❖ ❖ ❖
“The southern borderlands, huh…”
Thanks to Isaac, we reached the border easily. It was a wasteland. Dead weeds covered the barren ground, which was more sand than dirt.
It was easy to see why no one came here.
“That’s the border,” Letilia pointed not far ahead.
“Beyond that is the Kartilan Empire. Relations with Luspertu aren’t exactly good.”
“Their power’s about the same?”
“It used to be. But things tilted after we joined hands with the Emperor.”
The power balance between nations shifted because of just five people. I was used to accepting such outrageous statements from Letilia by now. I already knew how strong they were.
Whooosh—
A chilly wind cut through my hair. I roughly pushed it aside and scanned the surroundings.
Although security was tightly maintained with scattered magic stones, there really wasn’t a single soul in sight.
I muttered,
“If the lab is near here, it’s dangerously close to the border. No wonder the Emperor couldn’t just send soldiers in recklessly.”
“And he decides to use us instead. Next time, I’m really blowing up the Imperial Palace—”
“Stop spouting nonsense, brother.”
Isaac clamped his hand over Nobel’s mouth. Nobel’s red eyes glinted menacingly, but Isaac just clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Just hold it in. You’ll have plenty to blow up soon anyway. Save your stress relief for that.”
“So where is it, then?”
Isaac signaled Ethan with his eyes.
Ethan gave a brief nod and blinked. His green eyes flared like emerald flames.
“One o’clock direction. The distance is vague but not far. Isaac, scout at intervals as you move.”
“Got it. How many?”
“Plenty.”
He answered flatly, without much emotion.
While the others nodded knowingly, I realized a moment later what he had done.
He’s tracking people’s thoughts.
I’d seen this technique a few times in the original story, but never so directly. It was both fascinating and unsettling.
“Info?”
“As expected. They’re experimenting to create ability users.”
His answer brought a brief silence. The light in Ethan’s eyes faded like a fire dying down.
“That’s all I can tell for now. No harm done poking around. Isaac, Letilia—you two check it out.”
“Alright. Let’s move.”
“Ethan, stay with Shunen.”
“Take care, Shunee~ We’ll be back soooon…”
“Ethan, keep a close eye on Shunen.”
As the four prepared to leave, each threw out a quick remark. I silently waved them off. Don’t worry about me, just go.
The moment they grabbed Isaac’s hand, a blue light enveloped them—and they vanished.
Leaving only Ethan and me behind.
And then this happened.
BOOOOOOM—!!
A deafening explosion rocked the earth as gray stone fragments—obviously parts of a building—scattered into the air and crashed down like meteorites, gouging craters into the ground.
We watched the scene from a few kilometers away, dumbfounded.
“Nobel, that crazy bomb freak…”
“…You don’t think the Kartilan Empire will take that as a declaration of war, right?”
Honestly, if it were me, I would.
Explosions right near the border, caused by an enemy nation’s ability user?
We’re lucky they haven’t opened fire yet.
What on earth were they doing over there?
There was no point asking—we just had to wait.
❖ ❖ ❖
Isaac watched a wagon disappear into the distance, humming under his breath. He wanted to know who was backing the supply shipments out here in the middle of nowhere.
“Well then…”
His black eyes fixed on the coachman. Spinning a small knife in his hand, he activated his power.
He silently dropped onto the wagon. The coachman didn’t even notice.
“Hi.”
Isaac smiled.
As the coachman gaped in shock, Isaac looped his knife arm around the man’s neck.
“I hate hearing pigs squeal. Just answer the questions.”
“Mmmph, mmm—!”
“Where are your supplies coming from?”
His voice was quiet but menacing.
The coachman reflexively let go of the reins as his breathing was cut off, and the horses started to run wild.
The wagon shook violently, and the coachman’s face turned pale.
“T-the wagon! At this rate we’ll both die!”
“Sorry, but that’ll just be you.”
“Are you kidding me?! We’ll cross the border at this rate!”
“Then let’s find out, shall we?”
Who’ll give in first?
Isaac pressed the blade closer. His relaxed expression contrasted sharply with the knife digging into the man’s skin. The terrified coachman screamed and finally spilled the information.
The corners of Isaac’s mouth curled into a twisted smile just as—
BOOM—!
An explosion echoed from the direction of the laboratory.
“…Nobel.”
Isaac clicked his tongue and released the coachman.
He’d gotten the answer he needed, and now he had to return before Nobel obliterated the records.
The horse, panicking, suddenly swerved to the side.
The coachman went pale as he saw a massive boulder jutting out of the ground and desperately tried to grab the reins. It was no use.
“Well, goodbye.”
The last thing the terrified coachman saw was Isaac vanishing in a flash of light.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Gaaah!”
“Open the annex doors now! The test subjects—! Aaargh!”
The researcher’s desperate cries were drowned out by his own screams.
Slash! A flying shard pierced through him, blood gushing like a fountain.
The laboratory was filled with screams. Yelling, sobbing, frantic footsteps—beneath it all lay the corpses of those who’d run before.
BOOM—
“Aaahhh!”
A perfectly fine wall exploded. A researcher running for his life was crushed beneath the debris.
No one even looked back.
“Seriously. Not a single one of you knows how to fight properly?”
Through the dust stepped Nobel.
He stared indifferently at the blood seeping from the wreckage and ran his hand roughly through his hair.
His ability was destructive—perfect for creating explosions of the desired scale.
Because of him, the building’s interior no longer had corridors or rooms—everything had been blasted apart. And true to his nature, he slaughtered every last person there.
Nobel’s red eyes turned toward a group of researchers trying to flee through the back door.
“There’s so damn many of you. Like ants.”
With an irritated wave of his hand, the hallway pillars exploded.
“Gasp…!”
“R-run!”
“Aaahhh!”
They all clambered for the single exit, but it was far too late.
THUD—!
The pillars collapsed with a heavy crash.
And then the ceiling, which they’d been supporting, began to crack.
“Oh, for— Did they build this place out of paper?!”
Three pillars fall and the whole thing collapses? Nobel shouted angrily and backed away. For now, getting out of here was the priority.
