Chapter 3 – Parents Who Hid Their Blades

I walked toward Father with trembling steps until I finally reached him.

He was covered in blood, his body riddled with wounds, his eyes closed, and his expression twisted with pain.

The marks on him were from claws—huge, tearing gashes.

Had he fought a monster like that… with his bare hands?

“...Ed?”

My breath caught in my throat at the sound of his voice.

He wasn’t dead yet.

He could still speak.

“Don’t talk, Father. I’ll take you to a healer. Just hang in there.”

“R… run… quickly…”

Run?

Before I could question him, something shifted behind me, cutting off the sunlight filtering through the trees.

I turned around—

A massive fist came at me from the right.

I raised the sword on reflex, trying to block it, but the impact sent me flying until I slammed into the trunk of a tree.

“AAAGH!”

That wasn’t an ordinary punch.

It was like trying to stop a charging truck with my bare hands.

The creature in front of me was a huge bear-like monster with bladed claws protruding from its elbows, strange markings all over its body, and wounds scattered across its fur. One of its eyes was milky-white, bisected by a long scar.

It was strong…

I had no idea if I could beat it.

But I had to try.

“Ugh…”

My small body couldn’t handle that blow. Every nerve burned.

I couldn’t stand up.

I had to stand up.

I had to save Father.

“So… you’re that fool’s son.”

A talking monster?!

That meant this beast had lived a long time.

In this world, Malum Spirits sit at the bottom of the hierarchy of evil beings, and some of them take control of magical beasts.

The longer those beasts live and the more they clash with the world, the more conscious they become.

Judging from his scarred body, this one had survived more than a few battles.

“Watch closely as I devour your son in front of you… and carve that memory into your mind before you die.”

“No… Ed… try… to run…”

So this monster had chosen to leave Father alive when it sensed me coming.

This wasn’t going to be an easy opponent.

Where is that damned spirit?

“Don’t insult me. I’m right beside you.”

What? Can you hear my thoughts?

“Of course.”

Then why didn’t you help me?

“Do you really think you managed to block that earlier blow with your own strength?”

…Fair point.

Fine. Then help me heal my body.

“I can’t heal you completely—that’s not my specialty—but I can dull the pain so you can hold out a bit longer. Just buy me some time.”

You got it.

I’ll keep him talking.

Creatures like this will never match humans in cunning—no matter how “smart” they think they are.

“How did you even get into this forest?”

“Let’s just say… I had a little help here and there.”

So someone brought him here on purpose.

To kill people in the village?

What else would you expect from the kind of people who’d one day drag this world to ruin…

“But you haven’t attacked the village at all. Why?”

“Ah… you’ve got the wrong idea. I didn’t come here for the village. I came for that man and his wife.”

Someone sent a monster like this specifically for Father and Mother?

Marshal? The family?

Are they behind this?!

“Tell me—”

“That’s enough. I’m done talking. I want to eat you.”

He started walking toward me, drool dripping from his mouth.

Disgusting.

“I’m done. You can move now.”

Good. That’s what I was waiting for.

Go to Father, please.

“I will. And don’t worry—I’ll keep pouring my power into you.”

Thanks. I’m going to need it…

I waited for the monster to step closer, tightening my grip on the sword, waiting for the moment his guard dropped completely.

The moment he reached out to grab me and stuff me into his mouth, I lunged and swung for his neck.

But with this child’s body, my strength wasn’t enough.

Instead of decapitating him, I only carved a deep gash into his throat.

He roared in pain.

“You filthy little maggot. You really are their son… Same dirty tricks.”

It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I was thankful I managed to hurt this bastard at all.

I had never seen this specific scene in the game, but I knew one thing very well: these creatures are idiots.

Once they get hurt, they let their rage and pain cloud their reason and start doing stupid things.

And that was exactly the chance I needed—for the spirit to finish numbing Father’s pain so he could escape.

Just as I expected, the monster began to attack me in wild, uncoordinated swings, which made it much easier to dodge.

He was strong and huge compared to me, but… he was an idiot.

I hadn’t launched a single attack since the strike to his neck.

All I did was focus on dodging, but I knew that wouldn’t work forever.

So I decided to wait for the first opening to strike again, aiming at the same wound.

As if responding to that thought, he suddenly lunged with his right arm, trying to rip my head off.

I’d been waiting for something like that.

I slipped past the blow, and in the opening it created, I swung at his neck again—

Right where I had cut him before.

His scream split the air once more.

“I’m tired of this.”

He spun toward Father, who was still lying on the ground, and started rushing at him.

No.

I wouldn’t allow that.

I leapt at him from behind, aiming to strike—

But he turned around mid-movement, as if he knew I was coming.

“I tricked you.”

It was a trap.

He swung his claws at me and slammed into me full force, sending me crashing away with new wounds carved into my chest.

Fortunately, I had instinctively angled my body backward and used the sword to reduce the blow, or I might have been torn in half.

He looked down at me, grinning in triumph as I lay on the ground, writhing in pain.

“This is how it should be. You are on the ground, begging for your life.”

“I was going to devour you peacefully… but now?

No.

I’ll tear you apart before I eat you.”

He declared his filthy intention, then took a step forward—

A surge of power exploded behind him, so intense it made my heart shudder with fear.

This wasn’t normal energy.

It was dense, suffocating… and filled with murderous rage.

“What did you do… to my family?”

I lifted my eyes and saw Mother standing there, a sword forged from pure energy in her hand.

Rage and killing intent blazed in her eyes.

I had never seen Mother like this before.

This was the first time I saw this side of her.

“Hahaha… you finally came, veteran hero. This time, I’ll—”

Before he could finish, a blade of pure magic shot toward him.

He barely managed to block it with his arms, but even then, the impact forced him back a few steps.

“Do you really think I’m going to listen to your nonsense after what you did to my family?!”

I had never seen Mother this angry.

If I were her enemy, I would not want to be standing where he was.

But… how did she find us?

*********

“Where did that boy go? It’s strange for him to leave the house without telling me.”

Mother frowned.

“It seems something happened… Fine, let’s do a magical scan.”

She released a magical detection skill across the area.

That ability lets you sense living beings around you within a certain radius, and the more skilled you are, the wider the range becomes.

Mother was strong.

Her scan expanded far enough to reach the forest.

That’s when she felt my energy, racing deep into the woods.

“What are you running toward at that speed?”

She widened her perception, searching for my destination—

And found Father’s faint presence… and near him, a sinister, lurking energy.

“What brought that monster here?

What did it do to my husband?!”

Rage flared inside her, and she dashed toward us at full speed.

Because the monster was entirely focused on me, it never noticed her coming, even though her power was leaking out of her in waves of fury.

******

Father managed to stand and move thanks to the fox spirit’s power dulling his pain.

He picked me up and carried me over to a tree, propping my back against the trunk.

“F-Father…”

“Rest for now, son. Your parents will take it from here.”

He took the sword from my hand and turned to face the monster again.

I didn’t want to just sit and watch, knowing he was still injured.

“Hey, Fox… can I borrow your power one more time?”

“You’re still conscious because of it.”

“No, I mean… I want to use your energy instead of mine so I can cast healing magic on Father.”

“Wow. You learned that at your age? Fine. Go ahead.”

Of course, I need to learn it early; if I want to survive in this world, I was so caught up in trying to save my father that it never occurred to me to use it on myself, relying on the power of that fox. I need to keep this in mind from now on.

The fox channeled its energy into me, and I directed it into a healing spell for Father, who hadn’t gone too far yet.

His body glowed faintly.

He looked down at himself, surprised, then turned toward me.

I smiled at him.

“I wanted to do something useful for you, Father.”

He smiled back, and I could see the emotion in his eyes.

“You’ve already done more than enough, little one.”

He turned back to the monster and walked toward it, his steps much steadier and stronger now that most of his injuries had healed.

“My dear, why don’t we finish off this half-dead thing right here?”

Mother moved in as well, taking up positions to the monster’s front and left side.

“Let’s make him regret ever showing his face in front of us again, dear.”

Unease flickered across the monster’s features.

He clearly hadn’t wanted to face both of them together.

Judging from what Mother had said, this wasn’t their first encounter with this creature.

And from the look in his eyes… he knew exactly who they were.

Was it possible that all those wounds on his body were from them?

What I saw next is something I still struggle to put into words.

The way they fought together against him… No one would believe me if I tried to describe that level of coordination.

The monster was struggling.

Father held the front line, pressing the attack, while Mother fired magical blades from a distance, forcing the beast to split its attention.

Whenever the monster tried to charge Father, Mother would instantly close the distance and strike with her magic-forged sword, targeting the same spot Father had just attacked.

No matter how hard it tried, the creature couldn’t read their next move.

Their attack patterns kept shifting in seamless, fluid ways.

I’ve played the game so many times, seen all kinds of parties and team compositions, but I’d never seen anything like this level of harmony and understanding.

They weren’t just “lovebirds.”

They were a veteran team that had chosen to step away from the spotlight.

If I had known they existed in the game, I would have done everything in my power to recruit them.

With them, maybe… just maybe… the ending could have been changed.

Despite the monster’s strength, they still weren’t using everything they had.

I knew that for a fact.

They were toying with him.

They didn’t want this to end quickly.

Their eyes made it clear: they would make him suffer for coming back and for threatening their son’s life.

I actually started to feel a bit sorry for the poor thing.

“Y-you… damn insects…”

The monster was exhausted.

His desperate attempts to fight back kept failing, and his repeated bleeding had left him in a hopeless state.

Meanwhile, Father and Mother weren’t even showing signs of fatigue.

It didn’t take long before the creature finally crashed to the ground.

“Kill me… and get it over with…”

They’d broken him so badly that he was now begging for death.

“Kill you? What do you think, dear? Should we end it quickly after what he did to our little boy?”

Mother… he’s had enough.

Just kill him and take me home.

Say “yes,” Father. Please.

“Hahaha. Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself, imagining you have the right to choose?”

Father!!

“You really think you can keep going like this? You must be exhausted by now.”

What an idiot.

Can’t he tell they haven’t even been fighting seriously from the start?

Father forced a mocking smile and looked down at him with pure contempt.

“Do you really think we’d bother exerting ourselves and going all out on a worm like you?”

“Don’t compare this time to the last.

The wall has grown far too high for you to ever reach it again.”

For a moment, it was as if the monster saw something far more terrifying than itself standing before it.

Tension and fear wrapped around its heart like chains.

Father had used an Overlord-type skill—

One that forcefully made the enemy feel the difference in power between them and the user.

The bigger the gap, the more crushing the pressure.

And now, the beast finally understood just how wide that gap really was.

“So there was never any chance… from the beginning.”

Father turned his gaze toward me, and his expression shifted back to the gentle warmth I’d grown used to.

“Ed, what do you think? Should I kill him now?”

Dear lord… who asks a child that kind of question?

“Adrian, what are you saying to our little boy?”

Yes, Mother, please stop him—

Bring him back to his senses.

“Ask him whether we should kill him quickly… or tear him apart first and then kill him.”

…There’s no hope left in treating me like a “child,” is there?

“Kill him.”

Yes. Kill him.

Then carry me home. I’m tired.

Since this Malum has already adapted and gained this level of awareness, it can no longer separate from this beast’s body and escape the way the newly merged Malum can.

They’ve fused completely.

That body is now Malum’s true form.

So I don’t have to worry about it slipping away and running off like the lesser ones.

Just kill him.

And let this be over.

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