20. Fall into the Abyss

Taking Kazuha with me, I descended the stone steps and stepped into the dungeon.

Near the entrance, there were no signs of orcs or goblins. An opened treasure chest lay overturned.

"Did someone come in ahead of us?"

I heard that the student council's exploration had progressed quite a bit from the first to the second floor.

Encountering another group party could lead to more trouble, so we took the shortest route down.

Meeting humans seemed much more troublesome than monsters, so I wanted to pass through quickly.

As if my bad premonition had come true, armed men appeared from the front as we entered the great hall.

"Whoops, looks like a dead end here."

A long-haired blonde whose dyed hair had a pudding-like color stood in my way, holding a long sword.

Behind him were a fat, flabby giant who looked slightly better than an orc, a gaunt and lanky guy with sharp eyes, and a short guy with buck teeth and a rat-like face.

Feeling a presence, I turned around to see four more riffraff appearing from that side.

Four from the front and four from the back, a total of eight. It seemed we were surrounded.

These guys were the ones who were confronting Nanami's group party earlier.

Just as I thought that, the long-haired blonde opened his mouth. He was the leader after all.

"Shinjo-kuuun, what happened to that ferocious rabbit woman~?"

"Huh? Left her in the city."

His obnoxious tone grated on my nerves, but I wasn't hiding anything, so I told him.

I wanted to avoid trouble, but I couldn't imagine these guys letting us pass peacefully in this atmosphere.

"Fheheheh, this is convenient. Without that monster rabbit woman, Shinjo-kun isn't scary at all."

It seemed they mistakenly thought only Wooser was strong.

In the end, they wouldn't be convinced unless I showed them the difference in power. Well, whatever, these guys annoyed me, so I was planning to deal with them sooner or later anyway.

I'd give them a light threat, and if they still didn't listen, I'd break a bone or two to make them back off.

I grabbed the scabbard I was carrying on my back, ready to draw my sword at any moment.

"Whoa, he's got a girl with him again."

"Hey, isn't that class representative Kazuha? Uhehe, she's got a nice body, I've wanted to get my hands on her for a while now."

From behind the long-haired guy, the gaunt one and the short one let out vulgar cheers, causing Kazuha to tremble in fear.

The group leered at Rindo Kazuha, all with the same disgusting smiles on their faces.

I understood them attacking me; they were probably planning revenge for what Wooser did to them.

But were these guys seriously planning to attack a girl who was in the same class as them?

No, maybe I was being too naive to think they wouldn't attack a girl.

Even in the city where negative actions were prohibited, Kazuha had been on the verge of death.

If you took one step out of the city into the labyrinth, it was a lawless zone where anything went.

It had already been nine days since the transfer, and the fact that murder and rape hadn't openly occurred yet was probably thanks to Nanami's student council's excellent management.

In a closed environment under constant strong stress, if it became lawless, people would naturally do such things.

Soon, some of the guys who had been restrained by Nanami and the student council's reason might break free.

It would be useless if these guys had already lost their human morality.

But I might as well say it.

"You guys, this is your last warning. If you don't want to die, don't mess with us..."

"Ooh, scary, scary." "Uwahahaha, this guy's still bluffing in this situation!"

My warning seemed to have been in vain after all.

The long-haired blonde spoke as if this was his greatest concession.

"Shinjo-kuuun, we were in the same F class, and I'll even give you credit for luring Kazuha-chan out of the city. If you obediently hand over the girl, I'll just strip you bare and beat you up a little. Heheh, if you want, after we've all had our fun, we can even let you have a go."

This was going nowhere.

I remained silent, measuring the distance between myself and the eight surrounding men.

I had gotten stronger, but this was the first time I had faced eight armed men.

If it were just me, I could just strike down the enemies in front of me and break through, but today I had a burden with me.

With this many opponents, I couldn't win unless I was truly prepared to kill.

The problem was whether I, who had never killed a person before, could really do it... I would.

If it was kill or be killed, I would kill.

I would just do the same thing I had been doing in the dungeon all along.

"Oi oi, Shinjo-kuuun, quickly rub your head on the ground and beg for your life!" "Hehehe, you don't stand a chance in an eight-on-one fight!" "If you don't want to die, just be obedient!"

That's my line.

If you guys were just a little less stupid, we wouldn't have had to fight.

"Haaah..."

A deep sigh escaped my chest.

I discarded my human emotions along with it. I was a drawn blade meant for killing people. If I couldn't become that, I would die.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

A scream went up. The four men behind grabbed Kazuha, hugged her, and tried to snatch her away.

The men's vulgar laughter and the sound of Kazuha's skirt tearing with a rip echoed.

"...So you really laid a hand on her."

Combat initiated. My head instantly cooled down.

Gathering all my spirit, I swiftly drew the Nodachi 'Solitude' that I carried on my back.

The menacing aura of the meter-long blade, gleaming with a ferocious light, seemed to make the four men in front, including the long-haired blonde, flinch slightly.

Even so, the men surrounding Kazuha, trying to violate her, were engrossed in grabbing her, pulling down her skirt, and trying to strip off her leather armor.

Even with the enemy's blades before them, they could only think about satisfying their immediate desires.

How utterly foolish.

Towards Kazuha's scream as she was swarmed by the men, I casually swung my long Nodachi.

The men crowding Kazuha were full of openings.

With one swing, I sliced through the backs and shoulders of two of them.

Blood splattered violently, and screams erupted.

Not only the two who were cut down, but also the remaining two who had surrounded Kazuha let out pathetic cries of "Kyaah!" and their legs gave out.

Too weak. This was a decoy.

The real targets were the long-haired blonde and the others.

As expected, at the moment I attacked the side surrounding Kazuha, the long-haired blonde and the others all rushed at me at once.

I narrowly dodged the long-haired blonde's attack as he quickly swung his long sword.

"Kuh..."

"Oryaaaaaaah!"

I parried the battle-axe of the tall, fat giant who tried to cleave me with a thick voice.

Metal scraped against metal, making a nasty sound.

As expected of a hundred-kan (approx. 375 kg) fatty, that was quite a heavy blow.

I barely managed to neutralize the force of the heavy strike I couldn't fully block by leaping diagonally backward.

Sparks flew in the air with a grating sound.

As soon as I landed, I counterattacked the slow-moving giant fatty.

I raised my sword high above my head and, using the spring in my whole body, unleashed a full-power downward diagonal slash with my right hand. It was a movement I had trained countless times, swinging at a pace of once per second.

"Too slow!"

"Gyaaaaaah!"

The slow-moving giant fatty was still swinging his battle-axe and was defenseless. I deeply slashed him down from his shoulder, pushing him down.

Solitude, which would never be damaged, could even slice through iron armor if enough force was applied.

I had slashed deeply with the intent to kill, but he was still able to scream, so he probably wouldn't die.

The fatty was protected by his thick layers of fat.

Riding on the momentum, I also slashed through the arm of the short guy with the short sword who was to the giant's right. That felt like cutting through tofu, so effortless. He was just a small fry.

But there were still enemies left. I cautiously readjusted my stance and waited for the next attack, but for some reason, no one attacked.

Despite all of them holding weapons, the enemies didn't seem to be able to react to my speed.

Thinking that they were really slow, I slashed upwards through the flank of the tall, thin man on my left.

The armor worn by the tall student was made of sturdy steel, and it didn't break through, but the breastplate caved in with a crunch, and his tall body folded in half, slamming against the wall.

No matter how hard the armor was, it was meaningless if the person inside wasn't strong enough.

Only three were left unscathed.

I turned my sword behind me, intending to cut down the guys whose legs had given out.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Back us up with magic!"

The long-haired blonde finally gave an order. The two who had been paralyzed by fear seemed to regain their senses at his voice and began chanting fire ball spells.

So these guys were mages.

Projectiles were good, but magic was a bad move here.

If those had been well-aimed arrows or throwing knives, I might not have been able to avoid them. In that case, they might have been able to land a solid hit on me while my stance was broken.

In Genoria, offensive magic only flew straight ahead. The trajectory angle was quite limited.

If you were using a huge, high-level attack spell in a narrow, unavoidable passage, it would definitely hit, but there was no way a small, low-level fire ball would hit.

I ducked through the two fire balls that flew at a visibly slow speed and then made a sweeping cut at the two mages.

With a crisp sound and a solid feel, bright red blood splattered. Delayed, a man let out a thick scream of "Gyaaaaaah!"

I was going to kill all of these guys anyway, but if I could just incapacitate them for now, it didn't matter if they lived or died.

Alright, now all that was left was the long-haired blonde.

"Hiii!"

Leaving the leader, the long-haired blonde, the short guy who had been screaming with his right hand cut off showed his back. He was probably planning to escape alone.

His judgment was a little too late. I had already decided to kill everyone; I wouldn't let him get away now.

"Mid-tier middle, Flame Ia, Soar Foi!"

I calmly chanted a mid-tier middle-class fire ball spell.

This was also an attack that wasn't unavoidable if you calmly ducked or dodged, but if you tried to flee blindly, you would definitely get hit.

"Gyaaaaaah!"

The back of the short guy who had taken the fire ball in the back burst into flames violently. He turned into a human torch, collapsed, and writhed on the ground.

The savory smell of burning flesh filled the air. The fire mostly went out as he rolled on the ground, but he continued to writhe in agony from the severe burns.

"Alright, you're the only one left, Blondie!"

"Wait! Wait, please... let's talk this over!"

My heart froze at the sight of the blonde dropping his long sword and raising his hands. Did he really think I would allow him to surrender now?

They surrounded me as a group, and now that they realized they couldn't win, he wanted to surrender. I was utterly dumbfounded.

"This is so boring, is this what they call the banality of evil?"

"What's that?"

These guys were students from the same advanced school as me in F class, so they should at least be able to do the minimum amount of studying, but did they not even know Hannah Arendt?

They only studied what they were taught in school and didn't try to think for themselves, that's probably why they did such ridiculous things.

"I'm talking about why you guys attacked me and Rindo."

"No! I didn't intend to attack! It was them, they did it on their own!"

The long-haired blonde spat those words out towards his companions who were groaning from my cuts.

After surrounding us, that's what he had to say.

"It was Kato! Kato told us to do it!"

"You guys are lying! I didn't say anything like that!"

The wounded guys cursed vehemently, saying that they had been ordered by the long-haired blonde named Kato.

Well, I knew he was the leader, but in the end, it probably wasn't that anyone specifically ordered it; it was just a natural flow where they decided to attack anyone.

The air was filled not only with the iron-like smell of blood but also with a pungent ammonia odor.

The men writhing on the floor had probably soiled themselves from the shock of being cut. If you weren't mentally prepared, that kind of thing could happen.

What pathetic men. These guys attacked me even though they weren't prepared to be cut down themselves.

When I asked for their reasons, they all made excuses, saying they just went along with the atmosphere. They were just ordered to do it; they weren't the ones at fault.

Compared to a conscious evil like Jinguuji, could there be any extenuating circumstances for these small-time villains who had no clear motive and were just weak-minded?

Impossible!

These guys who could attack people without any motive, just going along with the situation, were the evil that needed to be eliminated first.

Jinguuji and the others were at least humans with their own will.

Conscious evil could change into conscious good depending on the circumstances. I hated Jinguuji, but he probably had the power to suppress these idiots.

I thought the student council's order was crap.

But Jinguuji and Nanami and I just had different beliefs; there was no right or wrong.

In comparison, these guys who attacked people were already absolute evil, no longer human. They were the same as unintelligent monsters, just beasts.

I no longer recognized these guys as the same humans as me. That's why I had no qualms about getting rid of them.

"I see. So, in other words, you guys aren't even worth keeping alive."

"N-no, stop! Help me, please help me!"

Hearing my voice, which sounded like it was coming from the depths of the earth, the long-haired blonde hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, pressing his forehead against the cold stone floor.

He told me to prostrate myself, and now he was doing it himself, so I didn't need to bother.

"Alright, then I'll give you a chance to survive. Blondie, tie up everyone's hands with this rope and restrain them."

I took out a rope from my rucksack and ordered him to tie everyone's hands and restrain them in a chain.

"What are you planning to do...?"

"Just hurry up and do it, all of them! Once you're done restraining them, you can treat their injuries with potions."

While the long-haired blonde restrained his companions and healed them with potions, I tended to Kazuha.

She was terribly frightened, having been grabbed by the men and almost had her clothes torn off.

"Are you alright, Rindo?"

"Shinjo-kun, I..."

Her hair tie must have been broken by the men's strong pulling, and her long hair was disheveled.

Her skirt had been ripped to shreds, but her upper body was mostly unharmed.

I hadn't equipped her for something like this, but it was fortunate that I had made her wear leather armor.

I took off my 'Diminish Mantle' and put it on Kazuha's shoulders as she held back her tears. I would lend it to her for a while.

"...The dungeon is dangerous, you know. If you get scared, you can go back to the city."

"N-no, I still want to go. I'm sorry for being a burden."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but Kazuha still didn't cry and asked to accompany me. The decision of whether or not to go was up to Kazuha.

Even if she went back to the city now, things probably wouldn't get any better. Now, it was time to deal with the men.

Threatening them with my drawn sword by poking their butts, I led them to 'Tartarus', near the stairs to the surface. I would drag anyone who didn't move.

I had intended to really kill them if they tried to escape, but even though they knew they were going to be executed, for some reason they didn't run.

This place was still close to the safe city. Moreover, we were heading to 'Tartarus' near the entrance.

If they had timed it right and all escaped at once, maybe one of them could have survived, but they were foolish.

"Alright, Blondie. Throw your companions into this hole."

"Please stop, don't kill them..."

"Even if you fall into this hole, you won't die. Just hurry up and do it!"

"Ugh, sorry everyone."

As I ordered, the long-haired blonde kicked his companions into the abyss one by one, and the men tied to the rope lost their footing and fell one after another.

Even after some of them fell, the ones who were still holding on desperately tried to pull them back up with the rope and resisted.

Even though I told him to hurry up and drop them, the blonde was slow to move.

When I poked the blonde's butt with the tip of my sword, he finally started dropping them.

"I see, so for guys who don't understand words, it's less trouble to just make them listen like this from the start. I can kind of understand Jinguuji's feelings when he tried to threaten me into listening."

"Oi, Kato, stop it! Please stop!"

"Sorry, I can't help it... I was told to do it, it's not my fault."

"Katooooo, you bastard!"

"Sorry!"

The lanky, tall student who had been resisting until the end cursed Kato with a terrifying look on his face. He desperately clung to the cliff with his tied hands, but he couldn't withstand the weight of the others who had fallen and slipped away.

What were the names of the guys who just fell? I vaguely remembered their faces, and I had a feeling most of them were from the same F class, but I couldn't recall their names at all.

Well, whatever.

I wouldn't be seeing them alive again anyway.

Once all seven of them had been dropped, it was finally the long-haired blonde, Kato's, turn.

"Alright, Kato. You're going down this hole too. You can take all the weapons and luggage that are here."

"N-no way... please help me! I did everything you told me to, Shinjo-san!"

"What are you saying now? You dropped your companions; there's no way you're going to be the only one pardoned."

"That's awful! Okay, I'll become your loyal underling, Shinjo-san! I'll do anything! So please, just spare my life!"

Even if he knelt, I didn't need a yakuza underling who was also a potential rapist.

The moment you guys attacked me, you were finished.

These guys had fallen to the level of demons who attacked humans. Once they crossed that line, there was no choice but to get rid of all of them.

A bear that has tasted human flesh has to be exterminated. I think giving you a chance to survive at the end is already being lenient.

"Listen, it's a straight drop to the tenth floor underground, but there's even a water source down there. There have been cases of newbie beginners who fell and survived to return. You go down there, untie your companions' ropes, and if the eight of you help each other and explore the surroundings thoroughly, there's a chance you might survive. If you want to live, prove that you are humans worth living."

Even after giving him that warning, the long-haired blonde didn't listen to me and just kept repeating, "No way, please help me!" So, getting impatient, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and kicked him into the abyss.

Following the long-haired blonde as he fell screaming, I also threw his luggage and sword into the hole.

"At that rate, he'll probably die nine times out of ten."

No, he'll definitely die.

Although it wasn't a complete lie that there was a possibility of survival.

If I didn't have the knowledge of Genoria, even the current me might not be able to go down to the tenth floor and return safely for sure.

What increases the survival rate in a critical environment is the strength of the will to live.

Those guys didn't have it, so they would probably all die after a nasty argument.