TSFA l Part 2 CH 64

Part 2 Chapter 64

At that moment, Bania.

***

The moment the suppression was lifted, Ratan was neatly bound.

• “M-Master, I am precious to you, right…?” 

The pitiful monster was sweating nervously, maybe because my expression—full of joy at the thought of torturing him—looked ominous.

“Of course you’re precious.”

So precious that I’d been binding him over and over dozens of times!

Not out of kindness, but because I worried he’d run back into Märchen before I could properly “educate” him.

“As precious as you are, I’ll scorch you with heat.”

• “Wait, no—ugh!” 

“…?”

But before I even burned him with the Spring of Purification, Ratan grimaced in pain as if he were already suffering.

• “Ugh, h-how… nghhh!” 

“Huh? Acting up again? What kind of trick is this now?”

Then suddenly, my view dropped—Ratan’s grip loosened, and my body began sinking down.

“Eh?”

As I drifted lower—

“…?!”

“…!!”

Before I knew it, I was clutching the neck of a handsome man with sparkling blue eyes.

“B-Bania…?”

“Prince…?”

What was happening?

How did Ratan, who was still bound, disappear into him?

“Wha!”

Before I could think further, Nike swooped in, lifting me by the waist and setting me back down a short distance away.

And then—

Nike’s blue cape fluttered—

fwish!

It blocked my sight for a moment, then revealed a shocking scene.

Nike had draped his cape over Märchen’s bare body and now knelt on one knee before him.

“Are you alright, Prince?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

The two dazzling men stared at each other—it felt like flower petals were floating in the air.

Honestly, with this picture, I felt like just an extra. As if Nike’s heroic rescue had been for Märchen instead of me…

‘No, no, this isn’t the time to think like that!’

I gasped.

“Prince! I bound Ratan securely—how did he slip inside you?!”

“Ah, right! I truly don’t know myself…”

Märchen suddenly stood.

Ah!

The cape, loosely draped, was about to fall off his shoulders—

“Hey!”

—but Nike quickly wrapped it tighter around him. It almost looked like he was embracing him.

“Be careful.”

“Haha, sorry.”

“….”

Seriously, what was this? Why did those two look so dangerously close while I felt like background scenery?

“The reason Ratan’s beast form was undone—I think I know why,” Nike said.

“It didn’t make sense that the other monsters obeyed that new intelligent creature’s orders. Monsters have no reason—they only follow strength. There’s no way they’d obey some weaker creature just because it could speak.”

True—the long-nosed intelligent monster had suddenly appeared, and yet the monster army obeyed him, even though Ratan was much stronger.

“Ratan must have given that thing the authority of command somehow.”

“How?”

“That, I don’t know—I’m not a monster. But I’m certain of one thing: it couldn’t have been through words. There must’ve been some method of forcing obedience.”

Nike looked at Märchen.

“Ratan didn’t undo his beast form willingly. He shared his power, forced the monsters into obedience, and when they were wiped out, he suffered the backlash.”

Wiped out?

‘Ah, of course!’

Ratan had vanished into Märchen shortly after my suppression ended.

Ryan’s suppression must have ended too.

All the monsters bound by Ratan’s forced control would’ve been instantly slain by Ryan.

‘That makes sense.’

Honestly, Nike deserved an honorary professorship in monster studies.

The only shameful thing was—

‘I didn’t get to punish him!!!’

I still hadn’t properly disciplined that arrogant beast!

Noticing the madness flicker in my eyes, Märchen flinched and quickly told Nike:

“But that’s just your theory, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Let’s call Ratan back out and confirm the truth. Please, stab me with your sword.”

“Are you insane? Absolutely not.”

“I can’t exactly return to the battlefield like this, can I?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already dismissed the onlookers.”

“But a horse can’t carry three.”

Nike’s black steed neighed uneasily, as if sensing danger in Märchen’s words.

Nike soothed it by stroking its mane.

“Two of you ride. I’ll walk it back slowly.”

“…? If it bothers you to wound me, then at least lend me your sword. I’ll do it myself.”

“I’d rather not see you hurting yourself. That would be worse.”

???

Excuse me? What kind of line was that?!

“Anyway, Ryan’s probably finished cleaning up the battlefield by now. No need to rush. Let’s return slowly.”

***

By the time the sun was setting, we arrived back at the battlefield.

As expected, everything had been handled.

Monster corpses were stacked like mountains and set ablaze to hide the traces of instant death.

“Hey, Rabbit! You’re back?!”

Ryan, sitting around a fire with the knights, eating heartily, leapt up and ran over.

“You’re not hurt, right? I was worried!”

“For someone who was worried, you sure stayed behind eating instead of coming to help.”

I wiped the grease from his lips.

“Hey, don’t say that. The moment suppression was lifted, you were the last person I worried about—you’re basically a walking natural disaster. But anyway—”

Ryan turned to Märchen.

“Prince, what happened? Why did that crazy monster run off with her?”

“Don’t even mention it. He planned to elope with Bania.”

“What?!”

Ryan was horrified. Nike sighed.

“We can’t leave Bania alone with him when her powers are suppressed. Who knows what he might do.”

“My god. I knew something was off ever since Bania acted for him last time—he looked way too moved! Your Highness, you almost became a widower right after marriage!”

“….”

Nike’s face darkened again at the mention of Ratan. He changed the subject.

“More importantly, what’s with that ridiculous formation?”

I had noticed too.

Normally, exterminations cycle like this: monsters appear, battle, lull, then more monsters, repeat until it ends.

Nike had warned on the way back that by the time we arrived, the next wave would likely be appearing.

But instead of preparing, the Belzer troops sat around casually.

It looked like a campfire gathering.

The soldiers had even formed a circle around the emergence point, as if performing some ritual.

“There’s no time. Re-form the lines.”

“This is the formation.”

“What?”

Ryan smirked.

“What are you talking about, Dad? If we stand like this, everyone dies.”

His wide-range instant-death ability killed everything in sight.

That meant his comrades had to be outside his vision range.

Yet Ryan said nothing more. Smiling slyly, he stretched both arms wide toward the sky.

“Come forth, monsters!”

“Come forth! Come forth!”

“Come forth! Come forth!”

Ryan looked like some dark sorcerer performing a forbidden ritual, while the Belzer soldiers looked like crazed cultists.

“Dad, what are you doing?! Are you planning to kill us all alongside the monsters?!”

“Come forth! Come forth!”

“Come forth! Come forth!”

“…He’s lost his mind.”

Nike urgently pulled Märchen and me back behind Ryan.

Then—the ground shook.

Suddenly, a monster’s head broke through the ground inside the circle.

Snap!

Ryan flicked his fingers with a sharp sound.

The monster died before it could even crawl out.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, I realized why Ryan had arranged this “campfire formation.”

Another monster appeared.

“Bang!”

Ryan pointed his finger like a gun—and it dropped dead.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Like dual pistols, he fired with both hands.

Each shot—another monster, dead.

Again!

And again!!

And again!!!

I was speechless.

Beside me, Nike’s eyes widened as he breathed heavily, shaken by the sight.

“Bang! Bang!”

Like a game of whack-a-mole, Ryan stood in one spot, picking off every monster the moment it surfaced.

Even though allies were within sight, he targeted only the enemies. Selective kills—one by one.

I clutched my pounding chest, staring at Ryan’s ecstatic profile.

This was it.

The power of instant death, mastered at Stage 3.

From this point on, Ryan was undeniably a “god.”

Those he granted survival would live. Those he denied—would die instantly.

Such absurd… overwhelming power.

“Daughter.”

Without pause, still killing monsters, Ryan called out to me.

“No, no—my little sister.”

Soon, the ground was filled with the corpses of monsters that had barely managed to poke their heads above the earth.

As silence fell, Ryan looked down at me—speechless with fear—and said:

“Let’s go to Father now.”

“…”

“We must repay the grace of the one who gave us life.”