Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 068. Beyond the Heavens (2)

Kududududu… Bang! Crack— Thump!

Countless trees snapped and collapsed as clouds of dirt billowed in all directions.

Could you believe it?

All it took was a kick. Not even a full kick—just a light tap—and this was the result.

It made no sense by any standard. Even by the standards of practitioners blessed by gods, it was absurd.

That was why everyone present froze like mice before a cat.

"By any chance, do you know? How about you? Hmm?"

The hulking man who had kicked Anagin far away strolled among the terrified, frozen people as he asked.

He looked utterly relaxed, as if he were out for a casual walk.

"Could you give me an answer? I heard something on my way here. Don't you know? No?"

With a hand smeared with food scraps and grease, the man tapped people on the head, patted them familiarly, and sometimes grabbed their heads and shook them roughly.

But none of that mattered.

Whether he tapped them, patted them, or grabbed and shook them.

Everyone simply stood there and took it.

Frozen with fear.

“Huh? Are you all blind? Or mute? I heard Peripoopoo got taken out by someone?”

Peripoopoo(Peripoopoo). It was a strange name no one had ever heard before, but it was instinctively clear that it was a nickname for Periphetes.

Ah, was it really a nickname? It sounded less affectionate and more ridiculous…. Still, that didn’t really matter. If the man in front of them called it a nickname, then it was a nickname.

“Hm, this is getting boring.”

When no one answered out of fear, the man seemed annoyed and grabbed someone nearby at random.

Standing over three meters tall, his hands were enormous as well, easily lifting a grown man by the waist.

“Uuh… uh…”

The practitioner, frozen stiff with terror, was lifted without any resistance, and then—

Krk!

The man bit into one side of his face.

“AAARGH…!!”

Opening his massive jaws, the man clamped down with his teeth from the right cheekbone up to the crown of the head, biting off about a quarter of the man’s skull.

The head wasn’t bitten clean through at once, but as the teeth slowly sank in, a large amount of blood poured out.

The practitioner whose face was being bitten tried to struggle, but when the man tightened his grip, he couldn’t even do that.

"I-it was just now! Just now! That guy…! That guy did it, i-it was him! That guy!!"

Gripped by extreme pain and terror, the practitioner screamed convulsively.

It was a plea for life, a desperate struggle itself.

The man laughed.

"Gwahaha—! Thank you. See! An answer! It’s not that hard, right!?"

Released from the man’s jaws, the practitioner nodded repeatedly with a servile smile.

One side of his face was ruined, deeply marked by teeth, but he looked relieved just to be alive. However—

“Then you should’ve answered faster!”

The man tightened his grip on the practitioner, crushing him.

The sound of bones, flesh, and organs being pulverized by the man’s grip rang out, and the practitioner couldn’t even scream properly, only managing a “Kuhk… kuh…”.

Complete mockery. Utter humiliation. And yet, no one moved to help.

“Hahahaha, look at you flailing because you want to live. Do you want to live?”

“Kuh…, kuhk…. Y-yes… l-live…… ggaaah….”

“Then introduce yourself. If it’s funny, I’ll let you live.”

Unable to breathe properly, the practitioner nonetheless introduced himself to survive.

He confessed that he was a practitioner from the Anapik Western Practitioner Family Alliance, and that about half the people here were practitioners like him.

The other half were Anti-Forest Brotherhood, and their leader was the New Argonaut Expedition Team—he spilled everything.

“Ohhh, really? I see. Then I guess I should kill all of you?”

Despite having said he would spare him, the man wiped his mouth clean.

As if to say, So what are you going to do about it?

He wasn’t just any madman. He was the real thing—a lunatic beyond reason, who treated human lives like insects.

Fear pressed down mercilessly on everyone present, and eventually, someone who couldn’t withstand it anymore screamed and tried to run.

Pak!

Before the fleeing person could even take three steps, he was struck by the practitioner the man threw, his head shattering as he died on the spot.

“Don’t move.”

Unlike before, the man didn’t shout. He spoke in a low, calm voice. That made it even more terrifying.

“……I don’t like it when people move without my permission. So don’t move.”

The man grabbed the head of someone nearby, patted it, and then snapped it.

The person whose neck was broken went limp, but no one moved.

Seeing the reaction around him, the man smiled in satisfaction and walked off to one side—the direction where the New Argonaut Expedition Team was gathered.

“Hm?”

As everyone held their breath and watched him.

The man stopped. With a slightly… surprised expression.

“No, no. Well, well. Who do we have here? Huh?”

The man squatted down in front of the instructor, who was sitting still like a statue.

Though he squatted, his eye level was still higher than the instructor’s, given his towering height.

“To meet such a distinguished guest in a shabby place like this. What kind of day is today?”

“It’s been a while.”

The instructor greeted him, eyes gleaming between his long hair.

From the atmosphere, it was clear they weren’t merely acquaintances.

“It has been a while for me, too. But I can’t say I’m glad to see you. I came here to mess with bugs today, not to fight…. Do I have to fight?”

“I didn’t come here to fight either, so that should be fine.”

The people frozen around them gasped soundlessly at the exchange.

By “bugs,” the man clearly meant the New Argonaut Expedition Team and the Western Alliance. And yet he mentioned fighting separately when speaking to the instructor.

They had known he was no ordinary person, coming from Chiron Tower—but to this extent?

Yet the real shock lay elsewhere.

The instructor showed not a hint of hesitation, nor any sign of intending to help.

As if even this situation were simply part of the training.

“This time, I only came to watch….”

“Ahh~ then that’s a relief! That means I can play, right? Yeah?”

The man replied in an exaggerated tone, then casually swept his gaze over the members of the New Argonaut Expedition Team.

“But still, this batch of disciples doesn’t look so great? Three stars at that age isn’t bad, sure, but they’re already scared of me, see? What are they going to accomplish like that…. Oh, wait. Wasn’t there one guy who rushed me earlier?”

“—He’s not my disciple.”

“Is that so?”

“He’s just a stranger who joined midway.”

The man alternated his gaze between Periphetes and the New Argonaut Expedition Team, then let out a hollow sigh.

“Huuuh…. And that guy took down Peripoopoo? Hmmm…….”

The man, who had been squatting in front of the instructor, stood up and looked in the direction where Anagin had been sent flying.

"Is he dead? No, he’s alive."

Then he grabbed another suitably placed person nearby.

Another practitioner caught in one hand.

Raising his thumbnail, the man lightly pressed it into the captive man’s face as he asked. The nail dug in like an axe blade, carving a wound and drawing blood.

“So, does that bastard have companions? He broke my stuff, so I’ve got to break his stuff to keep things balanced, right? Or are all of you his companions?”

“N-No! That’s not it! Over there! Only those guys are his companions!! We have nothing to do with—”

Pook! …thud!

“So noisy.”

The man crushed the loudmouthed man to death with his thumb, then walked over to Sphinx.

Sphinx pulled Kori and Pais into her arms, hid them behind her back, and lowered her body. She placed both hands on the ground as if bowing.

“Greetings.”

“Greetings to you as well. Do you know me?”

“I have never seen you in person, but how could anyone dare not know Lord Erysichthon?”

“Hooh?”

“……!!”

The moment Sphinx spoke the man’s name, Erysichthon lifted one corner of his lips, while the others fell into stunned silence.

Who was Erysichthon?

A member of the rebels who denied the existing order and opposed the gods, and a patron who sponsored countless criminals.

…Now that one thought about it, that absurd height, bulk, and overwhelming presence. If it weren’t Erysichthon, it would make even less sense.

But then why was such a monster here?

“I’m surprised you recognized me. Most people get so scared when they see me that they can’t tell who I am. For a bitch that reeks of a beast, you’re impressive.”

Erysichthon bent at the waist to bring himself to Sphinx’s eye level—though given his sheer height, he was still looking down at her.

“To receive praise from a great villain, I hardly know where to put myself.”

“Judging by all that flattery, you must be wanting to ask me for something? Go on. I’ll listen, at least.”

“Please, forgive us and pretend you did not see us. We merely happened to travel together. We have committed no offense against you.”

"I refuse. I happen to enjoy killing innocent people."

“They are still children.”

“Kids have tender meat. Their bones are soft too, perfect for eating whole.”

Erysichthon laughed, opening his huge mouth wide.

From between his jaws wafted the thick stench of blood, the bandits who had fled earlier.

Sphinx unconsciously clenched the hands she had placed on the ground.

“…At the very least, could you come back after killing the man you kicked away just now?”

“That man? Ahh……. Do you really think he’s alive?”

Erysichthon asked with genuine curiosity. Usually, when people saw him kick someone, they simply assumed the victim was dead.

“He’s not the kind of human who would die from something like that.”

“For a beast that stinks, you say something admirable. Are you his master or something?”

Sphinx couldn’t answer.

What kind of relationship did she have with Anagin? Companions? Fellow travelers? One who made the laundry and one who did the laundry? Or perhaps a maid?

Any of them sounded excessive, yet for some reason, the corners of Sphinx’s lips rose.

“You’re smiling? Are you crazy? Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter. I have no intention of granting your request anyway.”

“Why is that?”

“I take immense pleasure in doing what others tell me not to do. Still, since I feel a bit bad, how about I give you a chance? Go on, shout for help to those guys over there! Since they’re all aiming to be heroes, who knows? If you beg pathetically enough, maybe they’ll help you. Gwahaha!”

Erysichthon sneered as he pointed behind himself, toward the Western Alliance and the Anti-Forest Brotherhood.

They still hadn’t moved, just as he said.

“…You are cruel.”

"Praising me won't make me go easy on you."

"Do you know this?"

"Know what?"

Erysichthon extended his hand, as if he were tired of any further banter.

Just as Sphinx had expected, he was aiming for Kori and Pais. The two children.

“Even an earthworm writhes when stepped on, and a rat will bite a cat when cornered.”

“An earthworm or a rat struggling won’t amount to much.”

“You don’t understand.”

“…?”

“If even an earthworm writhes, and even a rat bites a cat…. then what do you think a monstrous beast could do?”

“…And what could it do?”

Erysichthon asked, opening his massive mouth wide and fixing her with ghastly pale eyes.

Immediately after the question, a gigantic foot smashed into Erysichthon and sent him flying.

“Hooh…!”

Even though it had been swung with full force to send him as far away as possible, Erysichthon was only pushed back about ten steps.

Instead, the expensive clothes he wore were torn apart, as if shredded by a massive, ferocious beast.

“You will have to pay the price for making me break my vow.”

Sphinx, who had hidden herself tightly beneath her robe, revealed her true form and issued a warning.

Long golden curls, sharp catlike eyes, lips red as blood, a slender yet firm brown-toned body—and above all, a right arm transformed into that of a gigantic beast, with wings sprouting from her back…….

Erysichthon looked at Sphinx and smiled.

“Wow, that’s big. Still, a bug is a bug.”

* * *

The sky and ground were trembling. And a refreshing wind blew.

Anagin regained consciousness with his face pressed against the ground.

The earth was still shaking, and a piercing ringing echoed in his ears. The wind seemed to be blowing a little too.

As he slowly regained some awareness, Anagin felt a wave of nausea, as if his stomach would turn inside out, and pain throbbed throughout his body.

He didn’t understand the situation.

Sure, it seemed like Periphetes had been defeated and someone had come…

-You got hit and sent flying. Without even putting up a fight.

A strangely familiar yet pathetic voice.

Anagin reflexively turned his gaze toward the direction of the sound.

A man stood there, his face and entire body shrouded in shadow as he was backlit by the sun.

He was someone Anagin had never seen before.

However, he remembered the voice.

As the plague spread and villagers began dying one by one, and even his father and mother passed away, a voice asked, “Shall I help you?”

The one he thought had disappeared revealed himself and asked.

“Shall I help you?”