Chapter 74 Prejudice
Chapter 74 Prejudice
The group was preparing to leave. They stepped out of the inn and fetched Rhogan. As they walked through the town, a church-like building caught Reika’s attention.
“Guys, maybe we can ask there about Sensei—or about the blessing,” Reika muttered to Iryoku and Yumi.
Yumi looked in the direction she was pointing. “Good idea, Reika.”
Iryoku nodded thoughtfully. “We don’t lose anything by trying.”
They approached the building. Outside, a group of children were picking weeds in the courtyard. One of them—a kid with cat ears—looked up, gasped in fear, and fell backward.
“Ah!” he cried, landing hard. “Oww... my butt!”
The other demihuman children rushed to shield him protectively.
“Who are you?” barked a tall man in old armor, stepping into view. His expression was openly hostile as he looked the group over.
“Sorry, sir. We just wanted to learn about the church,” Reika said politely, speaking formally and showing no hostility.
Iryoku narrowed his eyes at the armored demihuman, who had fox ears and a tail—but quickly calmed his expression as Yumi held onto his arm.
Yumi added calmly, “Sir, we met a demihuman nun from another church. She shared her views with us, and we were just curious about this place.”
The man regarded them warily. He walked over to the fallen child, helped him to his feet, then turned back to the group.
“Look... please just leave. People like you always end up hurting us. And I don’t want any more blood on my hands.” His eyes were filled with anger and pain.
The three stood in silence—Yumi and Reika visibly surprised. Iryoku simply reached out and pulled them along.
“Let’s go, girls,” he said quietly.
Now outside the town, they moved at a steady pace, passing over uneven ground on a road overgrown with weeds. Reika and Yumi remained unusually quiet, still shaken. They had never imagined being seen as threatening—just for being human.
Iryoku rode in silence for a while, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, it shifted into a wide smirk. His hands, resting on Reika’s hips, suddenly moved.
One slid up to give Reika’s breast a quick squeeze. The other reached forward and pinched Yumi’s butt.
“Hey—what are you doing?!” both girls shouted, turning to glare at him, their faces flushed.
Iryoku just laughed.
“Hahaha! Cheer up, girls. Being judged by prejudice isn’t that bad—as long as you’re a good person.”
He flashed a grin. “Look at me! I’ve been judged my whole life. Everyone thinks I’m just some perverted delinquent.”
Both Reika and Yumi frowned.
“But you are a pervert,” Reika muttered under her breath.
“Yeah… and definitely a delinquent,” Yumi added, crossing her arms.
“Hahaha! See? Always judging this pure man of principle. A heart of gold!” he chuckled.
Reika and Yumi exchanged a look—then burst out laughing.
With the mood lightened, they continued on.
Suddenly, Iryoku’s eyes sharpened. His danger sense spiked—just as a sharp sound tore through the air.
BOOM.
CRACK.
Rhogan growled
In one swift motion, Iryoku shoved the girls off Rhogan with all his strength, throwing himself over them as a human shield. His harpoon, attached to the white rope, snapped into motion and formed a net across his back—an instinctive defense to absorb the incoming strike.
“Aghhh!” His body jolted violently as a small explosion hit his back, then he was hurled from Rhogan, slamming hard into the ground.
Rhogan let out a deep, guttural growl.
“Iryoku!” the girls screamed, scrambling to their feet and rushing to his side.
Yumi quickly drew her bow, scanning the treeline. Reika raised her hand and conjured a translucent barrier to shield them.
Iryoku’s face twisted with fury, his eyes burning with sharp intensity. His teeth were clenched so tightly it seemed they might crack.
He stood, trembling with rage. The back of his armor—already shattered from the tower battle—finally gave way, revealing bruised, bleeding skin.
From the shadows, several demihumans emerged with weapons drawn. Two carried daggers, a bulky dwarf hefted a strange cannon-like weapon, one bore a shield and sword, and at the front stood a tall, armored figure with fox ears and a swaying tail—his furious gaze locked on Iryoku and the girls.
“Why?” Reika asked softly, her eyes filled with concern.
The fox-eared man stepped forward, drawing two curved swords from his back. His voice trembled with rage.
“I don’t want you humans bringing more of your kind here. Don’t think I don’t know your game. You come, gather information, and return with your zealot friends. But not this time. Not on my watch. You die here.”
His eyes burned with hatred.
Rhogan moved in front of the group, letting out a deep, thunderous growl as he shielded them with his massive body.
“We’re not—!” Yumi cried, her voice trembling.
“We’re good people!” Reika echoed, her voice cracking with desperation.
The dwarf raised his cannon-like weapon, eyes full of hatred.
“Just die already, damn humans!” he roared.
Magic began to gather rapidly at the weapon’s core, swirling with deadly intensity.
Iryoku didn’t hesitate.
In a blur, He dashed forward.
His harpoon shot toward one of the dagger-wielders, impaling him directly in the chest, while his free hand hurled throwing knives at the fox-eared warrior. In the same instant, he appeared directly in front of the dwarf—just as the cannon-like weapon was about to fire at point-blank range.
With lightning reflexes, Iryoku kicked the weapon aside.
The blast misfired, striking another demihuman—the one with the shield—and sent him flying.
Thud.
The fight had begun.
Yumi and Reika hesitated only for a heartbeat—then sprang into action.
Reika conjured a bolt of lightning and fired. The spell struck the other dagger-wielding man in the chest, leaving a black, smoldering wound. He collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently as electricity coursed through him.
Yumi nocked an arrow and let it fly, aiming for the fox warrior’s shoulder.
With a snarl, the dwarf swung his arm at Iryoku—energy crackling around it. Iryoku dropped low, crouching fast. The tree beside them exploded as the dwarf’s blow missed him and struck the trunk instead.
In the same motion, Iryoku shot upward, slashing between the gaps in the dwarf’s armor with his twin daggers. A deep, vicious wound split open across the exposed flesh. Frost bloomed instantly, ice crystallizing around the injury.
The dwarf staggered back, dropping his cannon and screaming as he clutched his frozen wounds.
Iryoku stepped forward to finish the job—
But the fox warrior, who had deflected Iryoku’s throwing knives earlier, now smacked Yumi’s arrow out of the air and surged forward in a blur.
His body flared with energy, a furious aura coating his limbs.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Iryoku.
Iryoku twisted his torso, narrowly dodging the attack, then leapt back, landing near the girls.
The whole exchange lasted only a second—but now, only the fox warrior and the wounded dwarf remained standing on the demihuman side.
Iryoku’s eyes narrowed with hatred.
He turned to the girls.
“Don’t interfere. Stand back,” he said, his voice low and chilling.
“But…” Reika tried to protest, Her voice trailed off.
Yumi stayed silent, eyes fixed on Iryoku’s back, her expression full of worry.
“Rhogan, protect them,” Iryoku added.
Rhogan snorted in agreement, stepping in front of the girls like a silent guardian.
Iryoku stepped forward once more, his blades gleaming—ready for the next round.
The fox warrior’s face twisted with fury as he looked over his fallen comrades. Letting out a battle cry, energy flared violently around him as he lunged. Iryoku charged too—and in the blink of an eye, their weapons met: two swords against two daggers.
Steel clashed with a deafening ring. The fox warrior’s strength surged through his blades, coated in leben, and Iryoku’s arms trembled from the force. The fox's confident smile deepened—he believed he was overpowering Iryoku.
But something was wrong.
Their flurry of strikes continued.
Iryoku met every blow with precision, but slowly, his approach began to shift. He no longer blocked directly. Instead, he twisted his daggers just in time, pulling them back enough to deflect without absorbing the full impact.
Little by little, he stopped clashing entirely—dodging every strike at the last possible second.
What the—? the fox warrior thought, frustration building. He’s not even using ´ruach´, and I can’t land a hit.
Iryoku’s movements sharpened—faster, colder, more precise. His feet glided across the ground. His expression was blank, but his eyes burned with a terrifying focus.
Then—slash.
Blood sprayed into the air.
The fox warrior gasped, his weapons slipping from his hands. He collapsed to his knees, deep cuts streaking across his arms and legs. Every strike had landed with surgical precision—nerve clusters shattered. His limbs failed him.
He looked up, wide-eyed in disbelief.
Iryoku stood over him, breathing steady. His eyes were dark. Empty. Merciless.
“Argh…”
A choked sound came from behind.
The fox warrior turned his head, just in time to see the dwarf’s body hit the ground with a dull thud. His head landed several feet away—severed cleanly. Iryoku’s harpoon, still glowing with white light, swung back through the air like a serpent—alive, writhing.
“Why did you have to do this?” Iryoku muttered, voice low and cold.
The fox’s gaze snapped back to him.
“You know what? I don’t fucking—I don’t care why.” Iryoku stepped closer, eyes burning. “You tried to kill my women.”
His words dripped with venom.
Yumi and Reika rushed to his side.
“Iryoku, that’s enough,” Reika said softly, grabbing his arm.
“He can’t hurt us anymore. We’re okay,” Yumi added, her voice shaking—afraid of what was coming next.
But Iryoku didn’t stop.
He stepped forward, his harpoon retracting into his arm as the wolf dagger snapped into his hand with a swift, fluid motion. He loomed over the fox warrior, eyes blazing with pure hatred.
“That match we just had?” he said with a wide, chilling grin. “I was playing with you. I could’ve killed you anytime—whether you used Leben or not.”
He leaned in slightly, his voice growing lower, darker.
“And since you thought it was a good idea to go after the people I care about… I think it’s only fair I pay you back in kind. No, I’m not talking about this sorry bunch,” he added, gesturing to the corpses strewn across the ground.
“Oh no... I’m going to return to Lakaa—and kill every single person in that church of yours. Every single child.”
His eyes gleamed with unhinged madness.
The fox warrior let out a feral growl, blood still pouring from his wounds. With one final burst of rage, he lunged forward.
“Die, monster—!”
Iryoku sidestepped with ease.
Then, with terrifying precision and calm, he slashed across the fox’s legs—amputating them. In the same fluid motion, he severed the warrior’s arms.
The fox collapsed to his knees, shrieking in agony.
And with one last, smooth strike, Iryoku took his head.
Silence.
Iryoku’s breathing slowed. He stood still, blood dripping from his dagger, posture relaxed at last.
Behind him, Yumi and Reika stood pale and trembling—on the verge of tears from the brutality they’d just witnessed. They had seen Iryoku angry before…
But never like this.
He turned to them slowly, his voice soft again—exhausted. “Let’s get out of here… before more of them show up.”
He began walking toward Rhogan. The girls finally snapped out of their shock when they saw blood soaking through his back.
“Iryoku, wait—your back…!” Reika cried, rushing to his side.
She lifted her hand and began healing the deep wound on his back, magic glowing softly against the torn flesh.
Yumi, eyes shimmering with unshed tears, clutched his arm. “Please… calm down. We’re safe now. Just breathe…”
Iryoku glanced to the side as Reika finished healing his wounds just enough to stop the bleeding. Without a word, he walked over to the strange cannon-like weapon the dwarf had used, examined it briefly,
“Reika,” he muttered, tiredly. “Do you know how to use this thing?”
“I’ve never used one,” she replied, “but I’ve heard how they work.”
He nodded, then slung it over Rhogan’s back without another word.
Climbing onto Rhogan with the girls, he gave the battlefield one final glance.
“This damn world…” he muttered, voice cold and bitter.
And with that, they rode into the forest—deeper into the unknown.