This is the story of a magician and an elf girl.

"Child! Here! Quick!"

"Ooohhhhhhh!!"

"Quack quack!!"

"Swoosh, snap!" Jack, using the spear-shaped shovel as a throwing weapon, directly hit the puppet that was chasing the child, and then stabbed the second puppet that attacked him from the side with a dagger. He then dragged the corpse and crashed it into other puppets to delay time. After saving the child, he immediately ran away.

"It's okay, uncle is here, it's okay."

"Uncle... I... I'm so scared... Where is my mother..."

"Yes...I know...I know...Just bear with it, I'll take you to find it..."

Jack knew very well that the child was not yet able to fully accept the threat of puppets, so he took her hand and ran along the road, wanting only to save their lives which did not need to be killed or treated cruelly.

Obviously, there are countless criminals in this world who should be tortured and executed, as numerous as grains of sand, but often such people cannot die. Those who are sent to die first are usually naive and childish good guys like Jack.

“Help! Aaaaaaahhhh!!”

"!" Jack, who watched another child being chased by puppets, had no time to worry about his own body. He rescued the living from the abyss of hell again and again, as if he was a light that was resisting all the evil in this world and moving forward.

But no matter how dazzling the light is, it will eventually go out - just like a candle with a lifespan, the more fiercely it burns, the easier it is to melt.

"Quack quack!!"

"Sister...they are..."

"Don't be afraid! Sister will protect you! Stand back!"

The two sisters surrounded by six puppets were about to be stained by those dirty hands - "Snap!" Although the elder sister who smashed the shovel at the puppet's head used all her strength, with the full strength of a child, this weapon could only cause scratches on the head at most.

"Yahahahah!!"

"Quack quack!!"

The sister, who placed the handle of the shovel against the puppet's mouth, grabbed the sand on the ground and threw it into the puppet's eyes. However, for puppets, creatures that do not need vision and can use another organ to identify the enemy, they had long since abandoned humans' inferior retinas and the habit of relying on vision for activities.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"

"elder sister!!"

"Quack, quack, quack——"

“Drinka ...

Just before the puppet was about to chew up the child like a meat bun, a shadow covering both of them passed by from above, and Jack stepped over the roof and swung the dagger with terrifying momentum.

"Snap!" The blade that pierced through the head was covered in blood. He kicked the second puppet away, then immediately stabbed the third puppet to death after pulling out the dagger. He dodged the fourth puppet's self-sacrificing attack and used it as a blunt weapon to hit the fifth puppet, then stabbed the sixth puppet's head with the dagger held in reverse.

"Hurry! I'll stop them! No matter what you see, don't stop! Quick! Take that kid and your sister and run towards the big tree!!"

"But……"

"I'll be on my way soon! Run!"

"!" After saying this, Jack knocked the fifth puppet to the ground and stabbed it to death. He knew very well that the rest of the puppets had gradually stepped into the village. If they continued like this, it would not take half a day before this place would be completely blackened by their footprints.

"Snap!" Jack, who threw a dagger to knock down the second puppet, used the force of his sprint to knock down the fourth puppet, causing it to fall to the ground and be pierced in the head by a sharp wooden stick.

"Uncle! Hurry!"

“Look ahead… don’t stop… haah… haah…”

Jack, whose strength was gradually decreasing, was very aware that his physical condition had been deteriorating from the beginning until now. There were clearly three weak children in front of him struggling to move forward, but he seemed to be getting further and further away from them.

No... not good... my head... feels so hot... my vision is starting to... become blurry...

"Uncle...wait, uncle..."

"No! We can't stop! If we wait any longer they will..."

"Sister! Hurry up... hurry up and go!"

"Ah!" Jack, who had kicked another puppet down the slope, shook his head and cheered himself up.

I can't fall down yet. I can't fall down yet. If I fall down, who can fight? Who can stand in front of them and fight again?

"Quack quack quack!!!"

“Drink ah ah ah ah!!!”

"Snap!" Jack, wielding a dagger, stabbed the blade into the puppet's head, then used the opponent's body as an obstacle to kick the second puppet, and threw the dagger to pierce the third puppet's head.

"Plop." The suddenly swaying figure knelt on one knee due to exhaustion. The clothes that had been stained red made Jack realize that his wound had already split open.

No, no, no! Stand up... Stand up! Stand up!

Damn it... my feet... won't obey me... why... can't I stand up...

"Uncle! In front! In front!!"

"Uncle! Run away!!"

"No! Sister! Don't go--!"

In order to protect Jack, the girl picked up the small sickle on the ground and swung it at the puppet's head - "Snap!" The blade that pierced into the eyes was filled with blood, but it still failed to cause decisive and fatal injuries to the puppet. Needless to say, one can imagine what will happen to the person whose attack is ineffective.

"Crack!" The snow-white gums were stained with blood from the bleeding wound, and the blood spurting from the girl's body dyed Jack's dull eyes red.

"stop……"

“Sister…Aaaaaaah!! Sister!!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah nooooooooooooooooooooooo——!!”

“——Gagaga!!”

The younger sister watched helplessly as her own sister was bitten by the puppet as if she were food. She fell to the ground and could not move. The puppet standing behind her slowly stretched out its hand to her, and roughly pulled up her hair, and put her fair neck in front of its mouth - "click."

“Stop…gachachachacha…”

Jack's five fingers were stuck in the sand, and he was trying to crush the sand in his hands with all his strength. Suddenly, a brute force came from nowhere along with the signal current - "Snap!"

"Gaga."

“Ugh… Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

However, another puppet that attacked from behind him pressed Jack's head to the ground, wanting to bite him to pieces, and opened its bloody mouth wide to show off its gums.

Jack could only use his remaining strength to resist the puppets. At this time, he couldn't even take care of his own safety, let alone help the last surviving child.

“Hurry… run… ahhhhhhhh!!”

“Uncle…Uncle…save…save me…ah…ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

The result: "Click."

Jack could only watch as the child was knocked to the ground and his face was bitten by the puppet in front of him. He felt the powerlessness in his heart pushed him into a bottomless abyss.

Why, why did it become like this again?

Why am I always... protected by others?

Why, why on earth did I manage to survive by such luck?

Why does one's own life...always rely on the lives of others to continue?

How many people's expectations must I disappoint before I learn this lesson?

“Ga…Ga…Ga…Gacha…Gacha…Gacha…”

“Stop… Stop it now… Stop it… Ah…”

Jack, lying on the ground and looking into the girl's desperate eyes, could only watch as the puppet continued to dig into her petite body. He could do nothing else because it was too late no matter what he did.

Why am I so powerless?

Why can I only watch these monsters eat the people I cherish?

Why on earth am I standing here and fighting?

Is there nothing I can do except standing still?

It’s definitely not the case. It’s definitely not the case. It’s definitely not the case.

Unforgivable. Unforgivable.

There is absolutely no forgiveness. Kill them, kill them, don't let any of them escape. Kill them all, no matter what means are used, no matter how inhumane, irrational or common sense they are, I will use my hands to cut these damn monsters into pieces and curse their ancestors for eighteen generations.

“Hurry… stop it… stop it ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Click. A sound of disconnection came from the depths of his mind. As if his rationality and consciousness were cut off, Jack was once again wrapped in a furry animal skin skeleton. A lion-headed helmet dominated his face, and his gentle eyes were replaced by sharp red eyes like a beast. The claws in front of his five fingers reflected the heads of the puppets and swung down.

"Snap, snap, snap!" The claw blade that cut the body in half dyed the screen red. A monster even crazier than the puppet descended here again.

“Uooooa ...

Rather than a roar, a cry that was closer to a wail spread throughout the village, and a creepy wave of magical power ran through everyone's body. It felt like being showered by cold raindrops, and the sharp cry awakened the "fear" flowing in people's bodies.

"What...what's that sound..."

"Can a puppet make such a sound... Has a new monster appeared..."

"No… this is… huh?"

Suddenly, the roots that materialized from under the tree gradually transformed into the shapes of several dryads and walked towards the village, as if they had sensed something unusual, making the orcs who were staying under the tree, not knowing what to do, even more anxious.

"Snap!" The heads bouncing on the wall fell to the ground one after another. Jack was alone facing the puppets who were surrounded on all sides. No matter how sharp the teeth bit him or how sharp the nails scratched him, the puppets could not make a single scratch on his beastly skin.

This gave Jack the advantage of being able to attack even when surrounded by puppets.

“Kill… kill… kill… kill them all… kill all the puppets… die, all of them, gaga gaga gaga gaga gaga gaga gaga gaga!!!”

"Gah?!"

"Gah!?"

The puppet conqueror advanced with shouts, waving his claws with terrifying vigor. A puppet's head fell every second, and his entire body was dyed red every time he killed a puppet. Jack became less and less human with each battle, and had lost his previous calmness and rationality.

When the child's head fell from his claws, Jack recalled that the child was the one he was protecting, and his hands stained with the child's blood suddenly awakened his conscience.

“Ah…ah…ah…ah…how could it be…how could it be…”

The living become puppets of the dead and are buried again by the living.

Why can't this natural truth be applied to a girl who has been transformed into a puppet?

Are the reality that I have already accepted, the determination that I have already accepted, and the enlightenment that I have already accepted, all lies made up to deceive myself?

“Ugh… wuu ...

The guilt caused by violating his conscience gave rise to anger, and the anger that filled his heart turned into hatred. The inescapable reality and responsibility further worsened his mental state. These hands stained with blood and sin will not disappear until his life is burned out - this is the bloody reality.

Hope will not come.

The nightmare will never end.

The light extinguished by the darkness has melted into a pool of mud and sank into the abyss.

"Big sister... I'm so scared..."

"It's okay...it's okay...it will be fine..."

"But...but..."

"It's okay... No matter how desperate the situation is... No matter how unreasonable the situation is... As long as it's her... As long as it's her who inherited that figure... I still believe in her -"

Indeed, this world shrouded in darkness has lost the support of light time and time again.

Once the light in a person's heart is extinguished by despair, it will be difficult to revive it again.

Wanting to keep believing, wanting to persist, wanting to protect - these ideas are not wrong.

However, it is extremely unrealistic to think that this situation can be saved by dreams and ideals alone. To reverse all this, what is needed is the obsession and unyielding vision that can subvert subjective theory. Only the successors who have bathed in the light and know what "good deeds" are can become the new light of this era.

"Because if Miss Linnae says so, she will definitely come to rescue us."

At the same time, a dark silhouette that was similar to the light appeared above the hill and descended.