Disgrace

It was a night with a full moon.

Under its profound radiance, a massacre was being repeated.

Each time the sharp blade swung, skin was torn and organs spilled out along with their warm, coppery scent.

The star of this tragedy was a single man.

A man clad in beast hide, sword in hand. Yet what carved apart his victims were his long, extended claws.

Indeed, Ordo's weapons were his own body. Claws and fangs that could rend even mithril.

And the sense that allowed him to detect the presence of the strong.

Sensing the overwhelming presence of a powerful opponent heading his way, Ordo immediately vanished.

The first to arrive at the gruesome scene of slaughter was Carla, leading an order of knights.

"This is horrible…" "This one still has a pulse!" "Carla-sama."

Those capable of healing magic began treating the critically wounded.

"Ah, Mother…"

Before the injured boy lay a woman whose eyes had lost their light.

Carla gathered her magical power, connected to the world's laws, and called back the lost soul.

Not all attempts succeeded. But several people were indeed brought back by Carla's magic.

"Ooh…" "It's a miracle…"

Some worshipped Carla as if she were a goddess.

"Wow, amazing. You really are a saint."

A voice, utterly out of place in its casualness, rang through the scene.

Carla readied herself for battle. She hadn't noticed the man's presence until he was at point-blank range.

"Who are you?"

Perhaps this was the one who had caused this disaster.

Even so, Carla questioned him in an ice-cold voice.

"Ah, name's Ordo. Demon General Ordo. Not a general anymore though."

With a vulgar face and a fierce smile, Ordo introduced himself.

"Why would you do something like this…"

Seeing people still groaning all around them, anger welled up within Carla.

This wasn't even a fight. It was pure torment.

"Well, I could come up with various reasons, but in the end, it's you."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

Ordo wore a cruel, calculating smile.

"You can barely use any magic right now, can you?"

Carla's complexion changed. She had used too much magical power on resurrection magic.

Forget powerful offensive magic—she could hardly even use body reinforcement.

"Carla-sama, leave this to us!"

The knights charged forward. But with a single swing of Ordo's sword, they were brought to their knees.

Strong.

His inherent magical power was great, but he was strong in close combat.

No one but herself could defeat him. That was Carla's conclusion.

"Everyone, stand back. I'll be his opponent."

And what she drew was the Dragon-Destroying Sword Ekudra.

No matter how much her opponent reinforced himself, this sword that had slain dragons would surely pierce his defenses.

And so the battle began.

In swordsmanship alone, Carla was superior.

But that didn't mean much.

"It was worth choosing a full moon."

As Ordo spoke, his muscles swelled before her eyes, his upper body taking the form of a wolf.

A werewolf.

Among the demon tribe, they are said to exhibit their maximum power on nights with a full moon.

With strength that easily surpassed human limits, Carla was forced onto the defensive.

But suddenly, her vision seemed to flow in slow motion.

(Serge, thank you.)

It was acceleration magic from Serge. He must have used magical power for healing too.

She poured her remaining magical power into fighting Ordo.

Her blade somehow caught Ordo's body.

But it was shallow. It wasn't just that Carla lacked strength—the magical power enveloping her opponent's body was interfering with her blade.

Considering their stamina, she would be the one to lose eventually.

Carla felt she needed to take a gamble.

She poured all her magical power into her sword.

She stole her opponent's vision for an instant with a fog of magic.

And there, she thrust with all her might.

Carla's sword pierced Ordo's abdomen.

"Too bad."

The next instant.

Ordo's claws had severed Carla's right arm.

"Aaaaah!"

Even the resolute Carla couldn't endure that intense pain.

The severed surface of her right arm burned hot, blood streaming freely.

"Hahaha, damn, that was close. A little higher and you'd have hit my heart."

Saying that, Ordo slowly pulled the sword from his own abdomen.

Despite being wracked with pain, Carla used the minimum healing magic. If she didn't stop the bleeding from her right arm, she would die from blood loss.

As if he had been waiting for that, Ordo took Carla's remaining left arm and hoisted her into the air.

"Uu… aaaaah!"

Her left arm, gripped tight, was crushed at the wrist.

"You don't have enough magical power, do you? I calculated this fight, after all."

Ordo spoke with evident pleasure. Indeed, she didn't have enough magical power. At this rate, she couldn't even fight. At the very least, she needed to create some distance.

As if realizing her intention, Ordo's claws stabbed into Carla's thigh.

"Uu…"

This time Carla didn't scream.

Despite sweating from the pain, she glared at Ordo from point-blank range.

"Nice, you're really something else."

"Carla-sama!" "Let go of Carla-sama!"

The knights surrounding them rushed at Ordo. But Carla couldn't even stop them.

If she opened her mouth, she would surely scream from the violent pain.

And one after another, the knights were swatted away and rendered unable to fight by Ordo, who still held Carla aloft with one hand.

It was a massacre.

Right before her eyes, everything was being destroyed.

Her precious people were falling.

"Frustrated? So powerless."

Saying that, Ordo hooked his claw into Carla's collar and tore it away in one motion.

Carla's skin, whiter than snow, was exposed under the moonlight.

"Carla-san!"

He couldn't wait any longer.

This was past his limit.

Serge burst from his hiding spot and released a Longinus accelerated to its maximum.

At a speed impossible to dodge. Yet it was deflected by the fur covered in fighting spirit.

"Oh, a kid."

Even so, not underestimating Serge, Ordo discarded Carla on the spot and closed in on Serge with explosive speed.

Despite having increased his speed to the limit with acceleration magic.

Serge couldn't dodge Ordo's strike and was slammed into a wall.

If he hadn't been reinforced, he would have died right there.

Even so, bones throughout his body were broken.

(Damn… I'm so weak…)

Ashamed of his own weakness, Serge lost consciousness.

(Nee-chan…)

"Now then, shall we continue? After all, I've been told not to kill you."

Still sprawled out on the ground, Carla heard those words.

Her crushed left wrist was lifted up again.

Ordo's claws pierced into Carla's exposed chest.

"Can you feel it? This is your heart beating. Pounding violently in fear."

Ordo explained with evident enjoyment. Carla could only desperately endure the pain.

"That's it, that's when you're most beautiful—when you're enduring the pain like that."

Muttering with pleasure, Ordo stabbed his claw above Carla's navel.

"… hh… hah…"

"Your organs are so warm… This feels great. They're about to spill out."

His fingertips moved around inside Carla's body.

He traced her organs one by one. The pain of her abdominal muscles being sliced had already gone almost numb.

His other claw tore through her knight uniform's trousers, exposing her legs.

"This hard thing here must be your womb, huh? Not many people last this long without dying, so I'm going to enjoy this to the fullest. You're a virgin, right? I can smell it."

Even while violating Carla's insides, Ordo spoke with an innocent air.

Like a beast innocently toying with its prey, he was trying to destroy Carla's mind.

"I'll ram it in right here. Don't worry, I won't kill you. In fact, you'll probably feel good."

Even so.

Even so, Carla did not despair. Even if all that awaited her was the death of her own spirit.

Serge was probably still alive. If he met with Ria, she would definitely stop this man.

Ria.

I want to see you, one more time.

The next instant, Ordo was blown away by an impact from the side.

She understood the cause because the person responsible was standing right there.

Carla's eyes caught sight of that girl.

Black wings sprouting from her back.

She stood there, bathed in silver moonlight from behind.

"Ria…"

The black-haired girl said nothing. She simply healed Carla, who lay unable to move, reduced to tatters.

"You bastard…"

Ordo, who had crashed into a wall, rose from the rubble. As expected, he hadn't taken any damage.

And Ria—

Ria was trembling.

So long as she held a katana, she should remain calm no matter what.

But that was impossible now.

She was so angry she couldn't suppress her trembling.

"I will kill you."

It was a declaration utterly devoid of emotion.