I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

It was Esmeralda’s decisive strike through environmental and information control.
The opponent was momentarily blinded by the unexpected magic Esmeralda used.
Yes, despite aiming for such a perfect timing…

“Kuk?!”

She had to roll on the ground, spitting blood from Eleven’s counterattack.
It had certainly worked. Not only blinding him but also the thrust.
Esmeralda must have surely pierced through Eleven’s opening.
But there was something Esmeralda had overlooked:

“The attempt was good, but do you think you’re the only one who can do such things!”

That the opponent could also do things that cut flesh and grind bone.
Eleven avoided Esmeralda’s sword with minimal movement and cut her down.
As a result, there were stab wounds all over her body, on her arms, nape, and thighs.
The most surprising thing was that he still had his eyes wide open.
He didn’t care that he was blind. He chose the best option while ignoring even the pain of his eyes burning.
Even now, bloody tears were flowing from his wide-open eyes, showing that he had stepped forward without fearing injury.

‘This crazy… He has absolutely no carelessness even when facing a weaker opponent?’

Esmeralda shuddered.
He’s a being who doesn’t need to do that. There was enough of a skill gap that he could win eight or nine times out of ten by fighting normally.
What Esmeralda deployed to defeat such an opponent was the way of the weak.
That’s why it had meaning.
But if the opponent comes down to fight in the same way, only the pure difference in skill and strength remains.
Yes, the opponent is a monster.
One who literally doesn’t care about means or methods for victory.
For him, injury is not pain, and scars are not humiliation.

‘This is a Demon King’s Army Corps Commander…’

There are no elements for victory.
Esmeralda gritted her teeth.
It’s not just her who’s risking her life. Esmeralda was reminded once again of this obvious principle on the battlefield.
The opponent didn’t become arrogant and was a lion giving his all even against a rabbit.
There’s no chance of winning.

“Huu…!”

Still, she raises her sword.
She probably won’t be able to return alive. But at least she needs to leave a scar on the opponent that won’t be erased.
That’s the gift that she, as a person right now, can leave in this world.

“Haaaaaaaaah!”

Esmeralda charged in again.
She no longer defended. She just tried to leave even a little more wound on the opponent.
Swords clash and sparks fly in the dark forest.
Eleven, having read Esmeralda’s thoughts, blocked it with all his might.
An absurd resolve.
He turned completely defensive, having noticed that Esmeralda’s goal was to create a fatal wound at the cost of her life.
The offensive from the disadvantaged side and the defensive from the overwhelmingly advantageous side.
What created such a strange situation was none other than Esmeralda’s resolve.
Perhaps because of that? Esmeralda’s resolve brought about an unexpected result.

“Kuk?!”

Stab!
In the dark forest, another person rushed at Eleven and stabbed a dagger into his waist.

‘Is this Jim…?’

That movement was truly at an unremarkable level.
Nevertheless, Eleven couldn’t hide his bewilderment at not having detected it until just before being stabbed.

‘Surely according to the reports, he was supposed to be a magician? The location and method of stabbing, everything is sloppy. That’s for sure.’

But how did he stab?
How was he unable to even sense that presence until just before being stabbed?
The movement is also ordinary. Around are leaves, mud, and grass reaching up to the knees that should create small noises just by stepping on them.
Eleven, on the contrary, felt fear at Jim’s movements that didn’t match any logic.
There’s no sense of killing intent. Even at this moment when he stabbed his waist, the opponent had no intention of killing him.
However, the dagger stabbed into his waist certainly had the force to kill a person.

“Where!”
“Kuk!”

But it was only a momentary confusion.
Eleven pushed away Jim, who had stabbed a dagger into his waist, and then swung his sword to cut him down.
Esmeralda bit her lip at the sight of Jim rolling on the ground, splattering blood in an instant.

‘What the hell is that idiot doing?!’

She’s not sure if he had an awakening of comradeship or came to help.
If he’s a magician, he should have used magic from a distance like a magician, why did he rush in to die like a dog?
Could it be that he’s still immersed in his setting as a baggage carrier?
In a situation where his life is clearly at stake?
Esmeralda rushed in without feeling any gratitude.
If Jim dies here, her actions also lose meaning.
It would be truly dying like a dog.

“The more unfavorable the situation, being careful not to get impatient. This should be a given basic.”

At that moment, along with Eleven’s cold voice, the tip of his sword reached right in front of Esmeralda’s eyes.

“But, that basic is harder than you might think.”

Esmeralda, who forcibly twisted her body from her charging posture, barely managed to end with just a graze on her cheek, but at the cost of greatly losing her balance.

“Farewell.”

Yes, that’s why she couldn’t avoid it.
Eleven’s sword, which continued gracefully and meticulously, cut deeply across the center of Esmeralda’s body.
Esmeralda, who had somehow been enduring until now, couldn’t withstand that single strike and collapsed as if crumbling.

‘Ah, really dying like a dog…’

She lost too much blood.
Even with just the wounds she had suffered before, Esmeralda was practically splattering blood as she moved.
But with that recent strike, she spilled so much blood at once that her vision blurred.
There’s no way she could move. No, the opponent could see Esmeralda die without even touching her.

“Kuk…! Kuuuk!”

Crack!
Esmeralda tried to somehow raise her body, grabbing everything within reach.
Even as grass and rocks were pulled out and trees were crushed, Esmeralda tried to somehow raise her body, but her knees cruelly couldn’t stand on the ground.

“Ah, damn it.”

Esmeralda finally acknowledged.
That this is the end for her.

“Huh?”

As she thought that and raised her head to glare at Eleven, something strange appeared at the edge of Esmeralda’s vision.

[Blue Blood Lv. 1] → [Blue Blood Lv. 2]

It was the moment when Jim’s unidentified characteristic, which she had been trying to uncover until now, rose one level.
And it was also the moment when the value of just one characteristic was revealed.

“Haha, everyone’s cheating, how on earth am I the hero?”

[Name: Jim]
.
.
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[Comprehensive Estimate: Lv. 542]

When I opened my eyes, I was in a strangely detached state.
What I saw when I belatedly woke up was a sky bright with moonlight.
The cool sensation remaining on my nape and the sticky blood.
I could easily recall that someone had tried to kill me.
So who could it be?
Could it be that the hero figured out my identity and tried to kill me?
For a moment such thoughts crossed my mind, but judging from the lingering pain of the wound, I could feel the unique sinister mana that can be felt from demons.

“I see, so they decided to dispose of me after all?”

As I had initially thought.
The assumption that they might give up on rescuing me and abandon me.
That became reality. No, it became more than what I had imagined.
It seems the Demon King’s Army sent an assassin to kill me, perhaps thinking I might betray and sell information about the Demon King’s Army.
Well, there’s no reason to make that much effort to save a mere lieutenant.
I didn’t feel resentful.
I just looked at myself with the perspective of an outsider observing the result.
At this moment, the standard within me tilted from the demon side to the human side.
I could feel the invisible scale moving.

“First, let’s find the hero.”

I didn’t have to go far.
The noise of intense battle could be heard even from here.
It seems the demon sent to kill me was quite strong.
It would have been better if they had used such force to rescue me, but it’s just a difference of which side bears the burden that is me.
If the Demon King’s Army had tried to save me, I would have become their burden.
But if they swung their sword to kill me without warning, I become the hero’s side’s burden instead.
Yes, I am the burden itself.
Whatever happens, for me to survive, the hero must win in the end.
I can’t defeat an opponent that she can’t defeat.
It’s better to support the hero’s side.
With such thoughts, I walked.
My head was cold to an unusual degree. It felt like I wasn’t myself.

“Haaaaaaaaah!”

And finally, I found the two people.
It was the first time I saw Esmeralda so severely injured.
With a sense of heaviness in a corner of my heart, I confirmed the being pushing the hero back, and.
The moment my gaze touched his sword.

“…”

I completely lost control of my existence.
It was a different sensation from feeling like I was moving, even though it was my body.
I watch myself approaching with calm steps from a detached position. I moved relying only on a single dagger in my hand, having discarded black magic somewhere.

“Kuk?!”

But surprisingly, my attack reached the opponent.
Even though I approached clumsily and just stabbed ordinarily, the opponent didn’t notice until just before being stabbed.
And right after that.
I collapsed, cut down by the opponent’s sword as if I had been waiting for it.
As consciousness began to fade at last.
I felt something coagulated on the opponent’s sword seep into me.

Although the flesh is lowly.
Even if the soul has lost its dignity.
So many killings make me recall my existence like this.
As the world is overwhelmingly chaotic with greed (貪), anger (瞋), and ignorance (癡) beyond measure.

“Your sword has swallowed the karma (業) of so many people, thus calling me into the world like this.”

Blue Blood
Six Realms Manifestation – Hell Realm
[Eight Hot Hells: Sword-Wheel Hell (刀輪處)]