It happened one night .


    In the guildhouse of the PK guild “Liberacion”, a boy and a girl were surrounded by guild members .


    The boy had a horn sprouting from his forehead and scales on his skin, while the girl had peculiar patterns on her body; judging from such visual traits, the boy was a Dragnil and the girl a Pixie .


    While venturing outside looking for ingredients, they were suddenly surrounded by yers and caught with no room to escape .


    Now, in the area built within the guildhouse, the boy -called Masakado- was forced to fight against monsters . His opponent was a level 398 bug-type monster, a Stag Mantis, which was a cross between a stag beetle and a mantis, boasting four scythes and a pair of pincers .


    Masakado’s level was over 200, but he had already resurrected a few times, so his stats were, on average, just a bit higher than 300 . These were numbers rather worrying if facing against a Stag Mantis .


    Even more worrying was the fact that the key to draw out his power as a Magic Swordsman, his sword 『Rune de』 had been snatched by the PKs . His sub job was Fist Fighter, but the most he could do now was avoid the monster’s attacks .


    “Come on,e on! Run faster or you’re gonna die!”


    “Serves ya right for acting all cool trying to protect the girl!”


    “Looks like we’ll have a winner pretty soon!”


    The PKs watching the fight from outside the arena yelled and jeered .


    As long as the girl who was with him, Hmee, was taken hostage, Masakado could not try anything . The only way out avable to him now, was defeating the Stag Mantis .


    “Shit!!”


    Masakado swore and leapt away . Less than one secondter, a scythe about the same size as he was, pierced the ground where he had been standing .


    Bug-type monsters excelled at physical attacks and defense . Masakado, as he was now, would surely be killed if he received even just a few blows .


    “——!? ——!!”


    Hmee was trying to say something, but the gag on her mouth prevented her from formting actual words .


    “Why did this…”


    The long game of tag against the superior monster had started shaving off Masakado’s powers of concentration . When would it end? Even if he really defeated the Stag Mantis, would they be saved?


    He was supposed to be thinking of a way to rescue Hmee and escape, but his overworked mind ended up thinking of thingspletely unrted .


    He was almost at his limit . Masakado started thinking of ast resort attack on the Stag Beetle .


    “—-eh?”


    In front of Masakado’s eyes, Hmee floated in midair . Precisely speaking, the PK that had captured her thrown the bound girl in the ring .


    Hmee’s body struck the ground, rolled a few times and stopped . The Stag Mantis was right next to her .


    “You bastards!!”


    “C’mon boy, go save her or she’ll be in danger!”


    “Damn you…!!”


    Masakado jumped at the Stag Mantis . The monster’s attention was focused on Hmee, so Masakado’s jumping kick hit its head cleanly, causing the monster to stagger .


    However, Its HP barely decreased and the monster soon regained its bnce .


    “Gah!?”


    The back of the monster’s scythes, which it had swung wide to get rid of the annoyance that had hit it,nded squarely on Masakado’s abdomen . Due to the differences in physique and stats, Masakado was blown away . He crashed against the ground, his body grating against the floor of the arena .


    The HP gauge disyed at the edge of Masakado’s line of sight had decreased by around 30% . In addition, the status disy indicated he had been poisoned .


    “—–! —–!!”


    Hmee tried to shout again . Uncaring, the Stag Mantis raised its four scythes in her direction .


    The female pixie was a Mage with low defense . If she was struck by all four scythes, her HP gauge would surely be annihted .


    “Damn you…look at meeeeeeee!!!”


    Masakado used a taunt skill to force the monster to turn towards him . However, the Stag Mantis had already started its attack motions, and did not even look at him .


    A few more seconds and Hmee would die . He wouldn’tst much longer either . Just as a feeling of hopeless surrender was about to envelop Masakado’s heart…


    “—that wasn’t a bad choice . ”


    The voice of a man, a voice he had heard before, suddenly resounded . At the same time, the guildhouse shook violently .


    “Woooohhh!?!”


    “What!? What the hell’s going on!?”


    The vibration, strong enough to lift the ground up, caused confusion among the PKs .


    A pale blue ball suddenly appeared in the center of the arena; the next instant, thunder and lightning ran across the ring .


    The booming thunderp caused Masakado’s sight to go ck . It was the rare visual status effect caused by strong shing of light or thunder, 【Blind】 .


    No matter how much he squinted, Masakado could not tell what was happening around him . The PKs’ screams, however, echoed clearly in his ears .


    “Shadow, please take those two . ”


    “Got it . Hey, stay quiet . ”


    “Eh?”


    The confused Masakado was forcefully grabbed by someone . There were two people next to him apparently . Judging from their conversation, a man called Shadow had just lifted Masakado on his shoulders .


    Masakado instinctively fought back when he was grabbed, but stopped moving after Shadow dashed away . The speed at which he moved, far higher than Masakado’s, would have caused him to fall if he struggled .


    Shadow moved one step forward, paused for a second, then dashed away again .


    Several secondster, he leapt high in the air .


    “Wha!?”


    “!?!”


    He heard ament right next to him . He could swear it was Hmee’s voice .


    “Stay still . ”


    After theynded, Shadow urged them to stop struggling and jumped even higher . As with the first jump, theynded somewhere high and then jumped to a farther high ce .


    “I’m going to heal you . Quiet . ”


    Masakado nodded quietly . He was saved from certain death at the “hands” of the Stag Mantis . He did not know what Shadow and hispanion had in mind, but he had no reason to oppose them .


    The status effect 【Blind】 disappeared and Masakado could finally see again; he immediately looked around for Hmee .


    “You’re safe…I’m d . ”


    Hmee had just been freed from her mouth gag . The man that was now untying the ropes binding her hands was probably Shadow .


    He was a young man d in ninja-like equipment . Masakado’s 【Analyze V】 barely revealed any information about him, but judging from his earlier movements, he was surely an advanced yer .


    “Use this and go back to town . ”


    Shadow threw a crystal to the two . Masakado frantically caught it and realized it was imbued with teleportation magic .


    “I-is it really alright? This looks really expensive…”


    For Masakado and Hmee, who had been robbed of their possessions, it was a very wee gift .


    Teleportation magic had ranks too; the low rank allowed teleportation from outside fields and town buildings, the middle rank able from dungeons too, and the high rank also allowed from unique locations . The ranks were signaled by colors: low rank was brown, middle rank silver, and high rank golden .


    There were some areas where teleport crystals could not be used, but the ce where they were now was just a field . Using a golden crystal would be nothing but wasteful .


    To teleport from a field to the town, a brown crystal was more than enough . Crystals imbued with high-rank teleport magic were rare, so for Masakado it must have looked terribly valuable .


    “You’ll be in our way if you stay . Shut up and go . We can’t save you again if theye after you . ”


    Shadow then quickly dashed back to the PK guildhouse .


    “Hey, that’s…”


    Hmee, finally free, pointed at the guildhouse . The structure was still being rocked by explosions, bursts of light zing all around it, illuminating the night sky to the point that it was as bright as noon .


    Human silhouettes could be seen jumping out every once in awhile . They were holding brown or golden crystals, suggesting that they were trying to teleport away .


    Not one of them, however, managed to sessfully make their escape .


    One was burnt to a crisp by a blue me that zed through the guildhouse walls, another was skewered by a ck spike arising from the ground, others suddenly turned into ice statues and shattered .


    Masakado, or maybe Hmee, held their breath . They had been told to return to their town, but the scenery of the guildhouse being destroyed and the PKs vanishing before their eyes froze them where they stood .


    If the guildhouse looked like that from outside, things had to be even more chaotic inside .


    “Ah… . ”


    Suddenly, darkness enveloped the two . They took a few seconds to notice that there were no more explosions or bursts of light from the guildhouse .


    “!?”


    Finally, light descended again .


    A pir of light,rge enough to cover the whole guildhouse, and powerful enough to blow away the surrounding trees and rocks .


    “Is that…a skill…?”


    Masakado had difficulty believing that there existed a skill that could produce such immense power . He could barely make out the shadow of the guildhouse, but that too disappeared soon .


    As the light pir vanished, literally nothing stood in its wake .


    Buildings vanished when their durability ran out . Everyone knew that much, but seeing something disappear without a trace like that filled them with something akin to horror . Needless to think how the PKs inside must have felt .


    “Hey…someone’sing . ”


    Hmee pointed at two human silhouettesing their way . One was the man that had saved them, the other was a yer that Masakado and Hmee both knew .


    “That’s…Mr . Shin…right?”


    “Yeah, I mean, he should be…”


    Few did not know Shin’s name, his face, and reason behind his fame .


    Masakado and Hmee had been saved by Shin already in the past too . They knew that he wasn’t the kind of person to unleash utter destruction like that .


    Looking at the ce where the guildhouse once was, only a scorched patch remained . The scene they had just witnessed clearly showed what had happened there .


    Shin had exterminated the PKs, all the yers inside the guild . That was something the Shin that Masakado knew would have never done .


    Masakado and Hmee didn’t know what had happened to Shin . As such, they didn’t understand .


    They neither knew the reason why he was there, nor why his equipment was different .


    Or why his expression seemed void of all emotion, an expression they had never seen before .


    “Ah, er, Mr . Shin…?”


    Shin must have noticed their presence, but did not react to them in the least . Masakado gathered his courage and spoke to him, but there was no answer . Not even a nce in his direction .


    Shadow, walking next to him, did not say anything either .


    “…… . ”


    Shin and Shadow kept walking away; Masakado could not say anything more .


    “What in the world happened to him… . ?”


    Masakado’s confused words were lost in the night, not reaching Shin’s or anyone’s ears .


    That night, 24 yers disappeared from THE NEW GATE’s world .


    It was the start of an unprecedented cleansing that raged on with storm-like fury .


    ◆◆◆◆


    “It’s nice to see you again . Your achievements are getting more and more talked about, you know . ”


    Calmia chuckled while looking at Shin .


    Almost one month had passed since Shin started his PK hunt . Even if he had kept his identity and figure hidden, the news that Shin was going around killing PKs spread quickly .


    The pace was too fast, the massacre too one-sided . Too subtle for a major guild, while for a smaller guild not suffering any casualties would have been impossible . On the other hand, some yers whispered that a certain person had not shown themselves in the dungeon clearing frontlines recently .


    As Shin’s disappearance and the start of the PK hunt happened roughly at the same time, the rumors eventually became that Shin had started performing a “PK cleansing” .


    The rumors became more and more believable as witnesses, rescued by him, started reporting what they saw .


    “They’re more on their guard now . It’s a pain . ”


    “Is that something the man who crushed dozens of PK guilds would say? Thanks to your rampage, it’s been a mess here these days, everyone crying andughing…”


    Normally, avenged yers would not show their emotions openly, out of respect for others whose aggressors were still unpunished . But now, the numbers were too great, as were the expectations for the future, so Avidya’s guildhouse looked more or less like a banquet hall .


    They praised and hailed Shin as a hero for destroying PK guilds with his powerful skills .


    Others, like Shadow, did their part too, but the scale of destruction caused and people killed were too different for them to be mentioned .


    “There are some yers who disapprove of your ways though . I don’t think the major guilds will actually move, but they might attempt something, so be careful . ”


    Calmia looked worried . Shin nodded without any particr change in his expression .


    Yes, even if he was killing PKs, murderers, his actions were judged in many ways .


    Many said that revenge was meaningless, that he would just be the same as them, they lost their respect for Shin . Some of them started calling him “God of Death” .


    “No problem . The onlyrge guild remaining is “Ouroboros” anyway . I won’t let the smaller ones go though, I have no intention of stopping now that I’vee so far . ”


    “Is that so? I can give you this information then . ”


    “Atst…?”


    “Yes, atst we have found Ouroboros’ hideout . Garga has been seen too . d doesn’t seem to be around though . Based on the information we have, he hasn’t returned to the guild and is acting on his own . ”


    Shin remembered d’s gloating expression . It was still etched clearly in his memories .


    Maybe he was observing Shin from afar . That’s how deep the obsession he felt emanating from d .


    “I don’t know if d will be there, but it seems that they will have arge gathering three days from now . You’ve been destroying PK guilds one after the other, so they might be meeting to develop countermeasures . The most skilled PKs still alive will likely be there, do be careful . ”


    “Got it . But having targets gather like that is pretty helpful for me . Being ambushed by high-ss PKs would be pretty nasty . ”


    “Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Some people try suicide attacks against PKs, but if everyone did that no one would be left…”


    “I’m not as admirable as that . That’s thestrge-scale PK guild; I’m going to make it leave the stage with a bang . ”


    Shin spoke what he truly felt .


    He had no intention of losing his life while killing the PKs; he loathed the idea of dying alongside them even more than being killed by them .


    He would use all means avable . Only the PKs needed to disappear . That was the method Shin adopted .


    “Maybe I should keep this for myself…but in a way, I feel like I have to tell him, hmm…”


    After obtaining more details, Shin left Avidya’s guildhouse and went to the meeting point with Shadow .


    Unlike Shin, Shadow was hell-bent on killing Garga, even at the cost of his own life . Shin thus was thinking of carrying out the next mission alone .


    “…no, that won’t work . ”


    No matter how much he thought, the conclusion he reached was always to tell Shadow .


    If Shin hadn’t lost Marino, he might have tried everything he could to stop Shadow .


    Shin’s position, though, was the same as Shadow’s . To exact vengeance with your own hands . No one could stop that feeling .


    Even if death would follow vengeance, they would not stop . The opinions of others meant nothing . It was only about what the person themselves thought, that was the only question .


    “It’s snowing . ”


    Shin looked up at the sky and saw pure white snow starting to fall .


    When Shadow heard about Garga’s whereabouts, a twisted smile appeared on his lips .