I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

“...Deathberry?” Ferith asked, her lips twitching. She was still unable to grasp the situation. “What is going o—”

Boom!

Sellen immediately wrapped her arms around Ferith and pulled her down, and they rolled on the floor together.

Pft.

Something passed through the spot where Ferith had just been standing.

Was it a bundle of thread?

The ones before had been silver, but this one was dark and dull.

What would happen if it touched her?

She didn’t dare to find out.

“...”

Ferith’s voice was filled with fear.

“What about it?” Sellen asked.

“I-it’s a thread coated with corrosive chemicals... It's so dangerous that it was sealed away even during fights.”

“...”

If it was coated with corrosives, it would be difficult to fight it with bladed weapons. Sure, a skilled fencer could parry it a few times, but after that?

Any weapon that came into contact with the acid would quickly rust and break, and without the rapier, there’d be no way to deal with that thread.

“So there’s a black thread. Are there other threads too?”

“...”

“Ferith!” Sellen shouted, startling Ferith enough that she snapped out of her daze. “Are there other threads?”

“Y-yes, there are...”

Sellen nibbled her lip.

She wanted to hear more, but was there time?

She looked at Deathberry.

It was still standing there with one hand outstretched, frozen stiff like it had been turned to stone...

She did not know what it was thinking, nor did she want to know.

Charon, who had approached silently, quietly asked, “Why did you save her?”

“...I don’t know,” Sellen answered. At that moment, she’d remembered something Ferith had said.

—Sellen. My first friend.

“...”

Her head throbbed. Had she been shaken by those insignificant words?

Sellen slapped Ferith on the cheek.

Slap!

“Ack!”

“Wake the fuck up.”

Ferith’s eyes began to gain their focus again.

“First, get out of here. Hide somewhere in this mansion, or if you can move, go to Building 12, where the Headmaster is. Just do everything you can to get out.”

“Wh-why...?”

“...”

It was a question with a lot of meaning behind it.

Instead of responding, Sellen gave her one final piece of advice: “Get going. And don’t pull out the knife in your shoulder or you risk bleeding out.”

“...”

Ferith got to her feet and did as she’d been told, still looking terrified.

[...]

This entire time, Deathberry, Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon, had not moved.

It no longer felt like a mere doll... yet calling it a living creature seemed wrong because it was as lifeless as a fallen leaf about to be run over.

Faced with such an enemy, Sellen Goodspring and Charon Woodjack had no idea what to do next.

“...That cold ki storm you used before, how many more times can you use it?” Charon asked.

“Once,” Sellen replied.

“Mmm.”

“What about you? You don't look too great.”

Charon laughed bitterly. “I used the Blessing of Explosives. It causes an internal explosion. The sudden force momentarily boosts my speed, but as you can see, my body’s a mess. Pain aside, the broken bones are the problem. I can’t move much at all like this.”

“I see.”

Even in top shape, they would likely lose. With them both miraculously alive in such terrible states, their situation was bad.

It was like fighting a monster with a paper sword... yet neither planned to give up. That much, at least, they liked about each other.

[...]

Deathberry was still standing there, unmoving.

Did it think that they were caught fish and it had already won the fight? What a disrespectful piece of sh—

It didn’t take long...

“...”

“...”

Charon and Sellen realized at the same time.

Aren’t these...

Threads?

Since when?

All around them, threads surrounded them like spider webs, the same silver threads they had seen earlier.

How did we not see this?

A humorless laugh escaped at their helplessness.

It really had already won this fight. They were the idiots who had pretty much walked right into its net.

The demon lord took a step.

Step.

The two young heroes’ eyes were locked on Deathberry.

They could see it moving, but neither of them could move.

Sellen Goodspring thought she was the only one who could turn this situation around.

But what difference would it make if she unleashed cold ki in this state?

If her cold ki didn’t remove the threads, then...

Ah.

Sellen suddenly realized how limited her options were.

It had been a great choice to participate in the Bednicker training camp and receive the blessing of the forgotten god Frost, but mastering this power was another story.

I could really use a good ten years of closed-door training.

...Not that it mattered. At this rate, she’d die.

With a do-or-die mindset, she was about to unleash her cold ki...

But she was interrupted by a resounding boom followed by the floor exploding.

What the fuck? More surprises?

Even Sellen, whose eyes were half closed in exhaustion, couldn’t help but feel a wave of despair.

But that despair quickly changed into something else.

This wasn’t another enemy.

“Big Bro...!” Charon said, his face lighting up.

Sellen saw his complete change in demeanor and thought, Wow, I didn’t think he could actually make that kind of face, or that his voice could sound like that.

But who knows... maybe I’m wearing a similar expression myself.

“...Am I a bit late?” came a voice through the cloud of dust.

It was funny how that annoying tone could be so comforting now.

The figure of Luan Bednicker came into view.

[...]

...As a smile stretched across Deathberry’s face.

* * * * *

* * * * *

As soon as I arrived, I scanned my surroundings.

To be blunt, it wasn’t looking good.

It looked much worse than what little I had seen before, in that unknown space.

Evan, slouched against a wall, probably unconscious... And Charon and Sellen, though still standing, looked like they were about to collapse.

The cause of it all, the Blood-Lit Moon, was floating beyond the window, wearing a slapped-on human face...

And then there was Deathberry, wearing the same eerie expression as the moon.

Which one was the real body?

Probably the moon. That creepy smile gave me chills.

I tsked while staring at the demon lord grinning from ear to ear. “Do you really have to look like that? Mind getting rid of that mouth, or even better, your entire face?”

[...]

Deathberry flicked its hand, and the threads around Sellen and Charon began to close in.

Whoops.

If I didn’t act, they would basically become well-diced cubes within a minute or two.

I can’t let that happen, can I?

I quickly stretched out a hand and grabbed a string of silver thread.

I could feel the thin thread digging into the flesh of my palm, even with my ki wrapped around it.

...What a pity. I wish I had more calluses.

In my Spirit Mountain days, I could have gripped metal wires with my bare hands no problem.

In the end, no matter how strong one’s ki, it couldn’t fully replace a trained body. That was why it was important to balance external and internal training.

There wasn’t anything I could do at the moment, so I swallowed my disappointment and pulled hard on the thread, ignoring the feeling of it cutting into my skin.

Fwip.

The thread was coming from Deathberry’s body, so as I forcibly tugged on the thread, its frail body was lifted and pulled toward me.

Then I balled up my fist and swung.

Thwack!

My punch landed square on Deathberry’s face.

Oh? This... feels better than I was expecting.

A piece of the doll's skin was stuck to my fist. As for Deathberry, its shattered face smashed through one of the windows and flew out of the building.

It was such an anticlimactic end that I was about to feel disappointed, when...

“...”

I quickly scanned my surroundings in surprise. The usual irritating voice that always interrupted and ruined moments like this was not chipping in.

“Oh, right! Where's Evan?”

“That flattened squid over there.”

Sellen pointed her thumb to Evan, who was slumped against the wall. He didn’t seem injured, just unconscious.

Charon carefully asked, “Did you beat it?”

“The impact felt satisfying, but...”

I stopped talking.

Clatter.

A torn-up doll, one that had been taken down by either Sellen, Charon, or Evan, staggered to its feet.

Its arms were torn off and stuffing was spilling from its stomach, but as it stood, something strange happened.

Woooong.

A blood-red aura surrounded the doll’s body, and its appearance began to change.

The once-ordinary stuffed doll transformed into Deathberry.

That all happened in less than a second.

Deathberry gave that same annoying smirk. This time, I responded by thrusting my right palm forward.

White Sun Form, Second Technique.

Flaming Wheel.

KABOOM!

The flaming wheel struck Deathberry’s body and detonated.

It was another solid hit. Flames spread through Deathberry’s body and engulfed it like dry firewood.

But...

Clatter.

There were easily hundreds of dolls in the room.

One by one, they began to rise, all transforming into Deathberry.

Clatter, clatter...

I began to count the different Deathberrys on my fingers.

“...One blueberry, one raspberry, one blackberry, one boysenberry, one goji berry...”

But then I stopped.

I hadn’t run out of berries, there were just too many Deathberrys to count. There was no point in counting each and every one.

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by a crowd of Deathberrys.

Sellen sighed and muttered, “...I hate this kind of enemy the most.”

I knew this wasn’t a good time, but I was too curious not to ask, “What do you mean, ‘this type of enemy’?”

“The type that splits and regenerates. They’re annoying, and there’s no effort put into it, no emotional payoff. There are so many points where I’d just quit.”

“Yeah?” I replied with indifference. Sellen was clearly starting to lose it and just rambling nonsense.

I was about to ask what kind of enemy she preferred, but we had no time for such useless conversations.

In the next moment, a swarm of Deathberrys rushed us.

Without a moment to waste, I purposely took three steps forward and became a fool who willingly walked into the most dangerous spot on the battlefield.

But of course, by making things harder for myself, I was easing the burden on the other two.

This was the right move. The strongest one should be the one who took on the most enemies.

Dozens of Deathberrys charged me.

There were no fancy powers or threads this time—just straightforward, brute-force attacks.

If that was all, they weren’t much of a threat... Which meant I had to be extra careful not to drop my guard.

I focused my energy into my eyes, awakening the power of the divine beast.

Using both fire eyes and serpent’s eye, I noted that it was about time I gave these two skills a proper name.

...

And then I realized that every Deathberry attacking me was connected by a thread.

The one controlling this thread is... ha.

I followed the trail of threads with my gaze, and the source left me flabbergasted by its ridiculousness.

The moon.

The threads came from the moon, attaching to the dolls to manipulate them like puppets.

Damn.

Did I really have to destroy the moon?

Crunch!

A Deathberry in my blind spot bit my arm.

As soon as I met its grotesque eyes, the shit-face doll mockingly flashed another creepy grin at me.

But that wasn’t all.

[Ah—]

I heard a voice.

It wasn’t an actual voice I was hearing. Rather, it felt as though the voice was directly invading my mind, though it was too unsettling to just be sound transmission.

It felt as unpleasant as having fingers invade my ears and dig into my brain.

I openly grimaced.

[Unbearably, sweet, owner of, ten thousand, souls. You, are mine.]

“...”

[But, why?]

Deathberry’s head tilted.

[Why, did you not, go back?]

“What?”

[I was, hoping, it would, be, consumed, this time—]

I smashed its face with my other hand, cutting off the weird voice. At the same time, though, I wondered.

What did it mean by that?

Also, ten thousand souls? What was that?

I had a lot of questions, but I decided not to dwell on the demon lord’s cryptic words for now.

I steadily reduced the number of Deathberrys while trying to make sense of the demon lord’s few words.

Why I didn't go back?

When I thought about those words, what flashed through my mind was the Blessing of Spirit Mountain.

Naturally, that made me think of my regression.

So the demon lord can sense my regression?

From my conversation with Legion Commander Kajita, I’d realized that the demon lord Ahop remembered our encounter.

Even though that event had happened in a past that no longer existed.

From that, one thing was clear: demon lord–level beings could indeed detect my regressions.

After that... it wanted something to be consumed?

Was it referring to the Blessing of Spirit Mountain?

I still didn’t understand.

If Hadenaihar knew about my regression, wouldn't me returning to the past be the last thing it wanted?

That would only complicate things for it.

Is my regression beneficial to Hadenaihar? That doesn’t make sense...

Right after I thought that...

My train of thought stopped with a jolt.

An absurd thought had just crossed my mind.

The Blessing of Spirit Mountain was a mysterious power. Even as its user, I couldn’t say I understood it fully.

...It was entirely possible that the demon lord, a transcendent being, knew more about my blessing than I did.

It wants me to consume it.

Or, to put it another way, it was trying to make me use up the blessing.

If I could use the blessing without limit, there would be no reason to say such a thing.

In other words, this blessing had to have a limit.

With that, all the confusion from before started to click.

The reason the Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon had continuously shown me both Spirit Mountain and the present, back and forth, and pulled that bullshit...

I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped me. It started with a low chuckle that gradually increased into a full laugh.

Hadenaihar, you sonuvabitch...

It was trying to make me use up my regressions.

____