Leave a comment

“Lord Kuro is da god of Hadaha Village. We call him Lord Kuro because he’s completely black. He’s apparently the god of harvest, but da villagers don’t like him cause he demands a boy sacrifice every five years in addition to other tributes. But dat’s a secret, kay? We’re forbidden to speak ill of Lord Kuro.”

“Sacrifice? What do you mean by that?”
“Lord Kuro eats people.”
“What?”

Orthus was terribly surprised. Although he’d seen various religions, he’d never encountered one whose god actually existed and was revered like this. Even if there were, it would’ve been nothing more than a make-believe.

That aside, what worried Orthus more was that this god ate people and was completely black.

“Wis. This Lord Kuro of yours might not be a god. It might just be a Demon.”

Although the fact that its appetite would only surface once every five years and that it had the intelligence to select a different person in a cycle made it hard to believe, Orthus still thought that this was the work of a Demon.

However, Wisteria didn’t seem phased by Orthus’ comment.

“I don’t think he’s a Demon. At least I hope so.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I haven’t seen Demons close to Hadaha Village.”
“That might be because this is Lord Kuro’s territory.”
“Another thing is dat Lord Kuro is just strange.”
“Strange?”
“You’ll know once ya see him.”

In the end, the conversation went nowhere. The only thing Orthus managed to get out of it was that a singular entity was threatening the village.

“Want me to take him out for you?” Orthus asked.
“You can do dat, big bro?”
“Yea. I’m quite confident in my skills.”
“Hmmm… Thanks for proposing it, but I’ll have to pass.”
“Why?”

“I got all worked up just now and said all those things about becoming a knight and taking down Lord Kuro, but in reality it’s impossible.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Cause Lord Kuro is a god. No one can stand up to him.”
“He’s that strong?”
“Once, when I wasn’t even born, the village raised a lot of money and hired a team of Gold Rank Adventurers to deal with Lord Kuro. However, it apparently failed, and only made Lord Kuro angry.”

Orthus was bothered by how discouraged Wisteria, who was usually in good spirits, seemed.

(A black god who can’t be taken down even with a team of Gold Rank Adventurers, and who eats a boy every five years…)

Orthus couldn’t figure out what this Lord Kuro was. However, if he really was an evil entity that ate people, as a knight, Orthus couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to it. Above all, he felt compelled to return the favor to Wisteria, who had saved his life.

“Wis, can you take me to go see this Lord Kuro? If he looks like someone I can beat, then I…” Orthus stopped himself mid-sentence.

Something was going on outside. Wisteria, too, noticed this and immediately looked alarmed. They glanced at each other, nodded, and ran out of the house.

The following moment…

“Lord Kuro! Please calm yourself! The appointed day has yet to come! Please!!!” A man in his prime sobbed as he implored in the open space of the village’s central square.

The situation was clearly unusual, but the villagers watching were filled with pity and resignation, and no one tried to intervene.

(Lord Kuro?)

Orthus and Wisteria hid behind a house, peeking out to see what was happening. That’s when they saw it.

Indeed, there stood Lord Kuro, the black god that Wisteria had mentioned. His black body resembled that of a human child. Its small stature and smooth body appeared almost inorganic. A single red eye was embedded in its head, and sharp teeth peeked out from its side-slit mouth.

Lord Kuro was carrying the unconscious Rowdon, the boy they’d seen earlier, on his shoulder.

At first glance, Lord Kuro appeared small and not powerful at all. However, the moment Orthus laid eyes on him, he immediately went on guard. Even with him in his prime state, he couldn’t hide his unease.

(T-That’s…)

“What should we do?!! Rowdon! Lord Kuro will eat him! There’s still time until the Sacrifice Festival!” Wisteria yelled.
“Wis… This Lord Kuro of yours is no god.”
“Wat?”
“He’s an old Demon.”

Orthus said this and proceeded to stand up. He’d seen Lord Kuro before. Lord Kuro was, to put it bluntly, a terribly powerful Demon.

The Upper Rank was not the highest classification for Demons. There were Demons that went above even Upper Ranks. Those Demons were classified as Demon Lord Rank.

Orthus picked up a long sword that was lying randomly. Drawing the blade from the scabbard in one swift motion, he steadied himself while loosening his muscles.

“Wis, I’m going. No matter what happens, you are not to move from here, okay?”
“Ya’ll fight it? It’s impossible! Ya can’t win! Give up!”
“Impossible, huh… Maybe you’re right. But you may also be wrong.”

Orthus wanted to say that they would win, but he didn’t have that much confidence in himself right now.

Fighting a Demon Lord without his Sacred Sword or Sacred Armor and with just an ordinary steel sword in hand was foolish. But he could not stand by when an innocent child was about to be eaten in front of his eyes.

Orthus exhaled and began to walk towards the Demon Lord.