Interlude 

A Mangled Trail

One day, at a remote town in Khaos Schwartz, a pregnant woman began to experience a bizarre phenomenon. All of a sudden, strange wounds appeared all over her body. Upon seeing them on her arms and hands, she thought she must have simply cut herself and not realized it. However, the wounds kept increasing with every day, until she found them on her cheeks, stomach, and even inside her mouth. She had no recollection of ever cutting herself there on these places.

Assuming that it must have been some kind of disease or curse, she went to visit several doctors, but none of them could tell her why it was happening. When she talked to her husband, who was a star sorcerer as well as a distinguished military official, he told her: “Occasionally, when children with extremely potent star power are born, their abilities affect their mothers.”

People became afraid of the mangled woman, and even spread rumors about how she was going to give birth to a cursed child. Despite that, the woman never gave in to the pain or the rumors, and fought for the child she had created with her beloved husband. As the birth drew nearer, the wounds increased, each one deeper than the last. Sometimes, she even coughed up blood. It seemed that the wounds were appearing inside her body as well.

As the child grew, she began to sense star power from within. Everyone knew that children who possessed star power from birth always grew up to become powerful star sorcerers, so her husband was overjoyed.

Finally, the woman succeeded in giving birth from her mangled body. She named her child Redge.

◆

Redge was a very kind boy, but kindness wasn’t his only trait. Sometimes, one could catch a glimpse of a very powerful will beyond his kindness. His mother’s kindness and his father’s strength – he had inherited his parents’ best qualities.

But the other children feared him. One day, he saw a girl from the next town over getting bullied by several boys. Redge got angry, but first tried to use words to stop them. In response, the boys decided to gang up on him and beat him to a pulp. As they converged on him, every last bully was instantly mangled to shreds.

In Khaos Schwartz, there existed a great number of star sorcerers, and many children could use star sorcery. Since Redge could do what he did without using any wind star sorcery, he frightened them. It wasn’t until later that they discovered his star sorcery was blade elemental, an element that incorporated the abstract concepts of ‘blade’ and ‘severance.’

Depending on how much star power he used, Redge could sever anything, even star sorcery itself. He could also cut through space, which allowed him to teleport.

Redge didn’t know how to control this power. This was a problem that powerful star sorcerers often faced. If he had been a fire elemental, he might have suddenly set nearby things on fire by accident. Therefore, he understood why people were so afraid of him. Many abstract elements were one of a kind, and no one had ever heard of another star sorcerer who was blade elemental. In Redge’s case, things nearby would suddenly get cut in two without him noticing.

It also happened when he argued with his mother. One day, he asked her why she always had so many scars on her body. His father was a military official, but as far as he knew his mother had never been on a battlefield. Yet for some reason, it looked as if her entire body had been carved up by blades.

She didn’t answer him, but Redge learned the reason soon enough when he heard the other children talking about a certain rumor. His mother had gotten strange cuts and lacerations while she was pregnant with him, which meant that he was a cursed child.

Redge’s mother was always very kind to him, and he loved her. He hated the fact that he had hurt her simply by being alive. Cursing his ability, Redge decided to kill himself and sliced his own throat.

At the last moment, his mother came in and embraced him. “You can hate me as much as you want,” she said. “Just don’t hate yourself.”

Redge’s mother bound his silver hair in a special clasp that she had a friend of his father make. It was crafted out of rare materials that suppressed star power.

After that, Redge vowed to control his power and use it to help people. In order to keep that vow, he decided the best thing to do would be to join the military like his father, so that he could get a chance to protect good people like his mother.

◆

When tragedy struck, Redge was powerless.

One night, a band of monsters attacked his village. Khaos Schwartz was split into two kingdoms: one controlled by humans, and the other by monsters, and the two halves were constantly warring.

Monsters – inhuman beings. Goblins, orcs, and vampires were among the many non-human creatures that existed. They were stronger and smarter than humans, possessed their own special abilities, and looked upon humans as inferior beings. In order to fight them, the humans had no choice but to use star sorcery.

What Redge saw that day was hell incarnate. The village he had played in ever since he was a small child had been burned to the ground and painted in blood. Some were killed, others were taken away, while still others were devoured and ravaged. He saw monsters toying with his father as they killed him, while his mother became a sexual plaything for grotesque beasts. Both those who had been cruel and kind to Redge were all tortured equally.

That’s when Redge realized – This is why I have my power.

After losing everything, Redge dashed around the village, ripping the vile monsters to shreds. However, he was still a young boy. His ability was rare and powerful, but it still wasn’t strong enough to defeat the elite monsters. Redge was captured, and would have been punished severely for killing so many of the other monsters – but something else happened.

Just before they sliced off Redge’s head, a lone man appeared and destroyed the rest of the monsters in one fell swoop.

His name was Zolminal Radius, and he became the boy’s new guardian.

◆

The man who saved Redge claimed to be a friend of his father’s. They had fought side by side in the wars, so he was just as saddened about the tragedy that had befallen Redge’s village.

In response, Redge screamed at him. “Why didn’t you come sooner?! Why didn’t you save everyone?!”

Zolminal responded. “If there is anything I can do to atone for this, please, let me know.”

But Redge had nothing left – Nothing to protect, nothing to call his own. So he chose revenge.

“I want to kill as many monsters as I can.”

“Then you should become a soldier,” Zolminal said.

And so, the boy started training with the man.

The days Redge spent with Zolminal allowed him to momentarily forget the sadness of losing everything, and the horrors he had experienced during the tragedy. This man provided him with a wealth of knowledge – how to use a sword, how to use his power, how to fight, and how to live.

◆

“...Zol, is revenge a bad thing?”

“That depends on the person and the situation. It can be both good and evil, so you should just decide the answer for yourself. Even I sometimes do things just for the sake of pissing someone off, rather than some lofty ideal.”

“How can I get strong like you?”

“Make enemies. Basically, you need to find a goal, but finding an enemy is probably an easier way to look at it. Find someone you can’t forgive, or someone who you want to defeat. That’s bound to make you more motivated. Although, if you’re the kind of wuss who turns tail and runs after he loses, it won’t matter what you do.”

“Then I want you to be my enemy.”

“You’re a cheeky one, aren’t you? You’ve got guts... And kids with guts always end up getting stronger.”

“Why did you become a soldier?”

“For the money.”

“...Not for your family, or for the empire?”

“Who cares about that? I don’t even have a family. They were killed by monsters when I was a kid, just like you.”

“Is that why you saved me?”

“No. Just thought I might be able to use you. Thought you might come in handy at some point. I owed your father a lot, too.”

“...What do you think family really means?”

“How should I know?”

“I wanted to become a soldier to protect my family. I wanted to protect my mom, like my dad did... But now...”

“You want someone to protect?”

“...Is it easy to find someone like that?”

“Probably not. I can’t be your mother, but I may be able to become your family. You can even call me pop if you want.”

“Knock it off, Zol.”

“Cheeky little brat.”

◆

Much later, Redge grew strong enough to become Zolminal’s subordinate, and the two began teaming up on missions. By this point, they had already gone through quite a lot together.

One day, Zolminal was chosen to become one of the Seven Wicked Knights, the elite squad that directly served the leader of the Granz Empire, the largest nation on the human side. They attended a special military academy, and also met the man who would later become the first member of the Wicked Knights, and Redge’s right hand man. Later, on a mission together, they saved a girl who had been enslaved, and she became attached to them.

Their last day together came abruptly. They were told that it would be a simple mission, but it was clearly more than that.

“What we’re about to do here is evil. It’s no different from what the monsters always do... But if we succeed, it’ll allow us to win all the coming wars with ease. We’ll be able to save thousands of people.”

Their mission was to invade Azur Étoile and steal the Ruinmaker. Zolminal was confident that it wouldn’t be too dangerous, and that the two would be able to succeed without any trouble. But when Redge heard that what they would be doing was no different than the monsters, he hesitated a bit.

The monsters were the ones who had stolen everything from him. At first, he had been fighting only to get revenge, but as of now, he truly wanted to protect the empire. And in order to do that, he couldn’t go on clinging to ideals. Sometimes, it was necessary to dirty one’s hands a little.

A small sacrifice could save thousands. All he had to do was sacrifice one little girl from some other world in order to save his homeland. It was an easy choice. A small price to pay.

And so, Redge buried his reservations beneath deceitful rationalizations. For the sake of his mentor, his homeland, the people he wanted to protect, and the vile monsters he wanted to destroy, Redge had no choice but to do it.

He changed his focus from his excuses to the mission at hand, and invaded another world. Khaos Schwartz had invaded Semuleice before, but never Azur Étoile, so there was no telling what would happen. It was said that Azur Étoile was an underdeveloped world in terms of star sorcery, so it couldn’t be considered a threat.

...Or so they thought.

In the end, Zolminal lost his life during the mission, and they failed to steal the Ruinmaker. Before they left their world, they had received a report stating that the Ruinmaker had not fully awakened, and that a compatible wielder hadn’t been found – but that hadn’t been the truth at all.

Redge blamed himself. He’d become intoxicated with a cheap sense of justice, and failed to fulfill his duty in a calm, composed manner. He should have emptied his mind and taken on the foe with all his might. Even if things had ended up in the same manner, he would have at least known that he had done all he could.

Instead, he lost sight of his goal – and lost his one and only mentor. He would never be whole again.

“I can’t believe he lost to a star sorcerer from some underdeveloped world.” The members of the faction that had clashed with Zolminal mocked his death, without any knowledge of what had actually transpired that day.

Redge couldn’t let it go. And so, he made a vow. He would complete the mission that Zolminal had started, and restore his reputation. Then, he would get revenge on the Ruinmaker wielder who killed his mentor.

After that incident, Redge continued to rack up military successes, and climbed the ranks at an unprecedented speed.

◆

Redge sat up. It felt like he had just seen a very long, ponderous dream.

“Lord Redge, how do you feel?”

“...Fine. Give me the latest report. Where are the remaining Knights?”

“Fortier and Typhon are out on a mission, as are Meile and Neige. Grom has been recovered, and I think Valt should be finished healing him soon.”

Valt Mastigio was the fifth of the Seven Wicked Knights. Since she specialized in healing star sorcery, she was considered to be especially valuable. Valt was to be on healing duty after Redge’s group returned from Azur Étoile, so she began her journey back to the castle while they were gone. On her way back, she was attacked by monsters, so Redge was forced to hurry back to Khaos Schwartz and save her.

“Good work. As soon as the healing is finished, we’ll immediately head back to Azur Étoile.”

“...Yes, my lord.” It seemed like Elemia wanted to say something else, but she remained silent.

She probably wanted to suggest that Redge rest for a little longer, but he wouldn’t stand for it.

Just a little more... I’m almost there, Zol...

At long last, the revenge he had been waiting for was just around the corner.