“You are... a far kinder man than I imagined.”

Lieutenant General Ebon’s remark came out of nowhere, and his intent was unclear. Since he was not a woman, let alone a beautiful one, the undying one paid him no attention whatsoever.

“Save it. Praise from a man does little for me.”

“Right. Of course. Yes.”

Lieutenant General Ebon nodded, muttering to himself. As he continued spouting incomprehensible remarks, the undying one lost interest in him as well.

“Now, I shall go break up that fight...”

“Ah. We can’t have that. No.”

It happened then. Without any warning, Lieutenant General Ebon violently thrust out his hands. Claws had appeared on both of them, gleaming coldly as they aimed for the undying one’s back.

Just as those beast-maw claws were about to tear into his body—

“Hah! Not a chance!”

Sensing the killing intent, the undying one immediately twisted around and raised his vaunted right arm to block Lieutenant General Ebon’s attack...

...forgetting that his right hand was still detached.

“Oops! My right hand!”

Meeting no resistance, the claws pierced the undying one’s body. The talon-shaped blades churned through his innards as they drove mercilessly forward.

Impaled by six blades because of a moment’s carelessness, the undying one cried out in anguish.

“Urgh! My mistake! I’ve grown so used to not having a right arm that I forgot!”

“That alone would be fatal. But he belongs to the immortal race. He won’t die anyway...” Lieutenant General Ebon murmured coldly.

“I’ll merely keep you from interfering, my kindhearted friend.”

As he spoke, Lieutenant General Ebon drew up the power within him.

The mana he squeezed from his body shone blue. Dozens of slashes reinforced with energy arts mangled the undying one’s body. Shoulders, thighs, chest, flanks. Dozens of bloody lines scored his massive frame in rapid succession.

For a fleeting instant, the undying one hung motionless in midair. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to say something, but no words emerged.

Then his body exploded, bursting apart in every direction. A storm of flesh filled the corridor.

It was a ruthless yet efficient attack. With his entire body shredded like that, even the undying one would need half a day to regenerate.

“Ah, aaaaah! Rash!”

The sight of the undying one exploding before her eyes was too much for Callis to bear. Panic seized her, and she screamed.

Lieutenant General Ebon addressed her firmly.

“Have you grown attached? Don’t worry, Lieutenant Colonel. He is undying, is he not? He’ll come back to life regardless.”

“But... this is... He was helping us.”

Lieutenant General Ebon did not even listen to the rest of what Callis had to say. Instead, he folded his fingers down one by one, reviewing whether he had forgotten anything.

“Good. The King of Cats has removed one nuisance, and I’ve just disposed of the undying one. As expected, the Progenitor seems uninterested in us. That leaves...”

Trailing off, the lieutenant general slowly turned his gaze toward me. Our eyes met awkwardly.

He spoke.

“By the way, are you often told you have very little presence? Or were you using some concealment technique? I nearly overlooked you entirely.”

So close.

Ah, damn. I’d been reading everyone’s thoughts and keeping myself in the blind spots of their awareness, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Perhaps because he belonged to a secret organization, the lieutenant general was more thorough than I’d expected.

Counting on your fingers was cheating. Play fair and rely on your memory alone!

Now he had me. What should I do? Could I talk my way out of this?

“Necessity is the mother of discovery. Doesn’t the fact that you failed to notice me mean there was no particular need to notice me? I’m just an ordinary convict laborer. If you simply let me go, everyone can be happ—”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

‘A convict laborer... An ordinary civilian who was merely lucky enough to survive. If the lieutenant colonel were dead, things might be different, but we don’t need a guide now. No reason to leave a witness alive.’

His killing intent swelled. This was the unwavering intent to kill me emanating from a general, one of the Military State’s mightiest assets.

Just as I could not block starlight, I had no means of blocking his attack. Sky Cherry Blossom might be another matter, but this attack would come from claws with definite weight. With my strength, even if I blocked them, they would drive straight through me.

Had I been the person I was when I first fell into the bottomless pit, I would have died helplessly.

“Blame your bad luck.”

But I had a powerful backer. One greater than most nations—no, one who was a nation unto herself.

Just before I could call for Tyr, Callis shouted first.

“You must not attack him, Lieutenant General Ebon!”

Lieutenant General Ebon spoke without even considering withdrawing his claws.

“Lieutenant Colonel, as I’ve told you time and again, put aside these petty attachments. For our great cause...”

“No. That’s not it. He is under the Progenitor’s protection.”

“The Progenitor?”

[“Indeed.”]

At once, all the shadows cast by the light gave voice. Thin, high voices issued from the long, narrow shadows, while deep, heavy voices came from the broad, thick ones.

The ensemble of darkness shook the entire space before gradually converging into a single voice.

[“He is under my protection, and his heart is my heart.”]

Three black knights rose from my shadow and stood in front of me. Three swords forged from darkness stood poised, their edges keen.

[“Hear my decree. From any who harm him, I shall exact a debt of blood.”]

The power was so immense that shivers ran through my entire body. Just as no one would feel competitive in the face of a natural disaster, an ordinary person would have bowed down, not daring even to consider resistance.

But... even that primordial darkness was not enough to frighten a general.

Lieutenant General Ebon spoke, his voice full of surprise.

“Convict laborer, it seems you didn’t survive by chance after all. Did you charm the Progenitor?”

“Haha. You might call it a desperate bid for survival.”

“Rather grand for a desperate bid. Then naturally, I must treat you as that achievement deserves!”

As he spoke, Lieutenant General Ebon swiftly swung his claws. The savage, beastlike talons cleaved the darkness.

The black knight lasted exactly two exchanges. Its weapon, formed from gathered darkness, shattered at the first clash with that blue-edged power. A second claw strike followed almost immediately, collapsing the knight itself.

The other two black knights attacked Lieutenant General Ebon. But the colonel had already closed in and blocked one of them.

“How dare you attack the lieutenant general!”

With a thud, the colonel planted both feet and pummeled the black knight with his fists. Under the rain of punches, its entire body repeatedly scattered and reformed.

A straight punch wreathed in blue energy struck the black knight square in the face. It staggered, then dissolved into smoke.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Ebon had cut the last knight to pieces. Now he faced me with nothing left between us.

... Now that I thought about it, weren’t these black knights far too weak? Their pathetic strength had been welcome when I was fighting Tyr, but now they hardly inspired confidence.

The lieutenant general gave me a kindly smile.

“But we do need a hostage of our own, don’t we? Kindly cooperate.”

It was much like the smile he had given Callis upon finding her alive: kindly, yet coldly calculated.

Now I understood. That was the smile he wore when he saw someone useful to him. It was the sort of smile a merchant might wear at an unexpected windfall, pleased even as he coolly calculated his profits and losses.

Apparently, I had become useful to him. That did not make me particularly happy.

“Rest assured, Progenitor. For our own well-being, I promise his safety. Not a hair on his head will be harmed... provided you do not interfere with us.”

[“You bastards... You had best keep your word.”]

The shadows seethed in warning. Lieutenant General Ebon offered a greeting in the direction of the voice, then beckoned to the colonel waiting behind him.

“Colonel. Bring a rope. We must tie him up.”

“Yes, sir!”

The bear-like colonel pulled a rope from his leather bag. It was a special Military State rope that would not burn and was difficult to cut even with a blade. He tugged it with both hands to test its strength, then nodded and approached me.

The colonel smiled coldly. To greet him, I promptly put my arms together and held them out so he could tie me up easily.

“Here! Hurry up and tie me up!”

“... What are you doing?”

“Actively cooperating with the Military State! You were going to tie me up like this anyway! Let’s get it over and done with quickly! So we can restore the peaceful Tantalus we once knew!”

The colonel looked dubious, but that did not change what he had to do. Watching me suspiciously, he bound my wrists securely. Then, as if that were not enough, he pulled the rope tight with his bear-like strength. He tied it so damn tightly that even my fingers hurt.

The restraint was so flawless I almost said, “That’s the Military State for you.” Lieutenant General Ebon spoke.

“Cheerful even in a situation like this, convict laborer.”

“It’s precisely because of the situation that I have to be cheerful. What would frowning and acting grave in the bottomless pit accomplish, apart from adding another touch of gloom?”

“Is this how you seduced the Progenitor?”

“That’s a trade secret... is what I’d like to say, but honestly, I’m not sure myself. Maybe it’s because she’s an old woman who’s lived alone for twelve hundred years, but once I stayed by her side and chattered away to keep her company, she opened her heart completely and became ready to give me absolutely anyth—ow!”

A shadow over there threw a tin can at me. Struck on the head without warning, I tried to rub the stinging spot at the back of my head, then remembered my arms were tied and merely groaned.

Lieutenant General Ebon watched me and the shadow with interest.

‘I should remember this. It may prove useful later.’

Looking away from me, the lieutenant general addressed Callis.

“Now, Lieutenant Colonel. Lead us to the King of Dogs. We must have everything ready by the time the ‘path’ opens in thirty minutes.”

“Yes, sir. Follow me.”

Callis took the lead. Lieutenant General Ebon was about to follow her at his leisure when a small fragment of blade on the floor caught his eye.

Narrowing his eyes, he studied the bloodstained shard.

It was the thin, sharp blade created by the suicide packet in the bundle meant to help her escape this life.

After looking at it for the briefest moment, Lieutenant General Ebon glanced sideways to confirm the wound on Callis’s right hand. Then he gave a quiet snort and stepped outside.