The Bard’s Reckoning

The tavern fell into a deathly silence.

All eyes were fixed on the young bard.

The demon hunter he had seized froze, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Suddenly, the demon hunter’s hand shot out, reaching for the sword at his waist, but just as his fingers brushed the hilt—

Crack!

The air seemed to solidify for a fleeting moment.

Before the demon hunter’s hand could even grasp his sword, a cold flash had already swept past—

The young bard had already extended his own hand, drawing the demon hunter’s sword from its sheath—

And with that very blade, he severed the demon hunter’s head!

Blood gushed from the neck, splattering across the old oak table and staining the floor with crimson flecks.

The demon hunter’s head, which had tumbled to the ground, still bore open eyes, though the light within them had been utterly extinguished.

No one in the tavern dared to utter a sound.

A moment later, the other, shorter demon hunter, who had remained silent until then, abruptly sprang to his feet and bolted towards the tavern entrance.

But it was already too late.

With a flick of his wrist, the young bard—

Whoosh!

The longsword flew from his grip, piercing directly into the fleeing demon hunter’s back.

The demon hunter, attempting to escape, let out a muffled groan as his body jolted violently, then slumped lifelessly to the floor.

His corpse was impaled firmly against the door.

Blood slowly trickled down the blade, pooling into a dark crimson puddle on the floor.

Every single person had witnessed this gruesome sight.

Their gazes darted amongst themselves, fear and shock etched deeply in their eyes.

“My apologies, everyone.” The young bard let out a soft sigh. “These two fellows were simply too boastful; I couldn’t restrain myself.”

He casually picked up a wine glass from a nearby table and took two sips.

“Demon hunters?” The young bard clicked his tongue, his tone brimming with mockery. “And they claimed to hunt Evil Seeds… yet, they couldn’t even recognize a humble Corrupt Seed like myself…”

“Adam.” A voice interrupted the bard’s jesting.

From the corner, a richly dressed man calmly wiped a wine stain from the corner of his mouth, his expression serene.

“Let’s get to business,” the man stated.

He cast a meaningful glance at Adam, the young bard.

“Alright, everyone, we’re here to collect ‘sustenance’.” Adam licked his lips.

He offered a slight smile, then parted his lips to reveal a row of sharp, pointed teeth to the assembled crowd.

“Since you’ve all graced me by listening to my ode,” Adam chirped merrily, “how about this: each of your adventurer guilds and mercenary companies sends one person out. Once we’ve had our fill, we’ll let the rest of you go free. What do you say?”

The adventurers in the tavern exchanged uneasy glances.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t want to be eaten…”

“What does this mean? They want us to choose a sacrifice ourselves?”

“Shh! Don’t speak, they’re listening.”

Adam listened to the fragmented murmurs, unable to suppress the grin that spread across his lips.

He turned his head to look at his leader, the man dressed in lavish attire.

Gray.

Gray merely sliced a piece of beef, brought the meat to his mouth, and did not spare Adam a glance.

Adam couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

‘How dull. Not even a word of praise.’

Gray, an Evil Seed, had long been roaming the kingdom.

Adam, on the other hand, was Gray’s kin, the “Corrupt Seed” mentioned in the song he had just sung.

They were likely the very targets the Church had recently been hunting, yet they had infiltrated the city so swiftly.

‘This tavern was supposed to have the Church’s ‘protection bricks,’ and today’s patrons were all regulars, so how did these monsters manage to get in?’

Alice’s drunkenness had long since been scared away; she recalled the morning’s wanted posters…

Within the Link Adventuring Group, no one spoke a word at this moment.

Alice, Rob, John…

All remained silent.

Who should they send out to be consumed?

A shared thought had formed in many minds, but none dared to voice it.

Finally, Ed let out a soft sigh, rolling his wheelchair forward.

“I’ll go, everyone.”

Ed’s tone was calm, devoid of any hesitation or a hint of fear.

Everyone abruptly looked up.

“For a man with crippled legs like me, it’s already a blessing that the adventuring group took me in.” Ed offered a faint smile, lifting his head to let his gaze sweep over each of his companions. “You all saved my life, and I have no other way to repay that kindness, save for this…”

“No.” Alice bit her lip, reaching out to grasp Ed’s arm. “You promised me…”

She struggled to control the expression on her face.

“I lied to you, Alice.” Ed gently removed Alice’s hand. “I haven’t wanted to live for a long time now.”

“So, none of you should feel any burden of guilt…” Ed added, glancing up at his surrounding teammates.

“But…” John’s voice trembled slightly. “There must be another way…”

John himself had no idea what other way there could be.

Two powerful demon hunters had been slain by the monster named Adam in a mere instant.

Furthermore, judging by the conversation between Adam and the lavishly dressed man, there was more than one such monster in the tavern.

Adam watched as Ed, seated in his wheelchair, rolled forward to stop before him.

“You’re quite quick at choosing your sacrifices,” Adam said with a laugh, leaning closer to examine Ed intently. “What good is a man with broken legs to an adventurer? Now I understand.”

Adam found this rather peculiar.

He sensed no fear emanating from Ed; instead, Ed’s gaze remained fixed upon him.

This made Adam feel a prickle of unease.

“Very well, come with me,” Adam instructed.

He extended his hand, and just as it was about to make contact with Ed—

“What if I refuse to let you take him?”

A figure, accompanied by a voice, stepped between Adam and Ed.

It was White Star.

Her eyes, cold and unwavering, met Adam’s gaze.

“Are you his wife?” Adam inquired.

“No,” White Star replied.

“You wish to die in his stead?” Adam asked, observing the young woman before him with keen interest.

“No, I was simply wondering why we must obey you,” White Star questioned.

John and the other group members stared at White Star in astonishment.

They noticed that this girl, usually reserved, prone to stuttering, and somewhat naive in thought, was now speaking with remarkable fluency and in a tone none of the group members had ever heard from her before.

It was an imperious tone.

“If you fail to provide a sacrifice within the allotted time, then we will kill everyone here, do you understand?” Adam stated. “While it would be somewhat wasteful, it’s not something we wish to do.”

“And what if I kill you instead?” White Star’s eyes gleamed with a sudden thought.

As White Star spoke, she drew the sword from the cloth sheath on her back.

She discarded the cloth onto the floor and fastened the sword to her waist.

The sword’s scabbard was pure white.

“What?” Adam scoffed, a sneer on his face. “Kill me?”

“Yes,” White Star affirmed.

“You saw what happened to the demon hunter; he couldn’t even touch his sword…” Adam remarked, finding the girl before him amusingly foolish. “Do you intend to play the same game with me?”

“Yes,” White Star replied.

“What do you think of my speed?” Adam challenged.

“Very fast,” White Star conceded. “However…”

Adam tilted his head, awaiting White Star to finish her sentence.

“I’m faster!”

No sooner had the word “faster” left her lips than the blade of a longsword had already pierced Adam’s throat.

The blade, clear as water, gleamed with a chilling silver light under the tavern’s illumination.

Everyone present watched this scene unfold in stunned disbelief.

They knew White Star wore a sword at her waist.

They also knew that the blade of that sword had now pierced her opponent’s throat.

But the intervening moments—

Not a single soul had clearly seen them.

Gray, seated in the corner, stared at White Star’s empty scabbard, his hand, still clutching a fork, frozen mid-air, his eyes wide with shock.

Within Gray’s pupils, beyond the shock, lay a profound terror.

‘When did she draw that sword?’

Gray, an Evil Seed, was one of the fastest creatures on land, and Adam, a Corrupt Seed, likewise possessed extraordinary speed.

Yet this single strike was so swift that Adam couldn’t evade it, and even Gray hadn’t clearly perceived how it was delivered.

Gray’s brow furrowed, and his hand instinctively moved to his own sword.

‘It should be fine; an ordinary sword can’t kill Adam…’

‘Or so it should be…’

However, the silver-white sword in White Star’s hand was relentlessly burning Adam’s flesh within the wound it had inflicted, causing his body to tremble violently.

White Star withdrew her sword, and Adam’s body toppled straight to the ground.

Thud!

In moments, Adam shriveled into a desiccated corpse.

White Star performed a flourish with her sword, then shifted her body to shield Ed behind her.

“Blast it!”

Only then did Gray react, letting out a furious shout.

He marshaled his strength, slamming the table as he rose, drawing his sword, and lunging towards Adam’s corpse.

Gray caught sight of White Star’s eyes—

They were a terrifying gold.

‘This one is also a mutated monster!’