I have no memory of my childhood, and when I have a memory, the first thing that comes into my sight is the tattoo on my wrist, which has a strange pattern, with eight legs, like a spider turned into a physical body, and whenever I see this tattoo, I always feel surrounded by an inexplicable fear.

"This tattoo is a badge of honor that only the children of the Kyle family can have."

But my parents always comforted me whenever I wanted to get rid of my tattoos, and this phrase did not dispel my fear, but as time passed, a familiar feeling replaced it.

More often than not, I'm home alone, and my parents spend very little time at home. In the huge house, I have been living alone, there is nothing inconvenient, and if I need anything, I can get it through the people.

I'm used to being alone.

On that day, it was the autumn harvest season. My parents came home after a long absence, and the three of us had dinner together. Then, with a serious face, my father walked up to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said that he would take me to a place the next morning.

I was very happy to hear that because it would be my first outing with my family.

I fell asleep in excitement.

It's night.

I was awakened by the sound of screaming, which didn't stop for a long time.

Something must have happened.

I ran out the door and towards the source of the sound.

Then I went to my parents' room, and the door was open.

"Father? Mother? ”

The moment I stepped through the door, I almost screamed, and bright red blood flowed through the room. I looked at the sticky liquid on the bottom of my feet and felt creepy.

In the room, there were people lying on the ground everywhere, motionless, and I fell to my knees in the face of this unbelievable sight, and among the corpses of the many subordinates, there were also the faces of my father and mother who had died.

"Father! Mother ......"

In the dark room, a man in a turban was looking down at his mother's corpse, and when he heard my voice, he turned his head to look at me.

The turban man holds a bizarre dagger in his hand. Two short swords were connected, it was a double-edged short sword, and there was blood dripping from the sword, it must have been the turbans who killed my parents.

By the time I realized it, I was screaming and lunging at the Turban, and it was stupid to rush at the sword-wielder empty-handed without any plan.

But I was so carried away by fear and anger that I couldn't make the right judgment.

The turban man nimbly avoided my fist and swung his dagger in front of me.

Then, blood poured down from above my right eyelid, and hot blood flowed over my eye, obscuring my vision.

At that moment, I was a little hesitant.

This was my mistake.

The hijab man didn't give me a chance and came over and punched me in the abdomen.

My eyes were drenched with tears, and after a wave of vertigo, I collapsed on the floor.

The Turbaner could have swung his sword and taken my life, but the Turban's actions were completely unexpected. The guy stood quietly looking at me, took off his hooded turban, and revealed his face, and underneath the turban was a cold-faced man, who slowly lowered the short sword in his hand.

The man's eyes were cold, and he looked down at me quietly, and everything in the room fell silent, except for the sound of my stumbling breathing.

The weight of the man's quiet gaze and the silence around me weighed on me, and I felt as if I was about to suffocate, and finally, the man spoke: "Whether you want to die here like your parents, or stay under my hands, you can choose one for yourself." ”

The sentence he called the choice was actually more like a proclamation, and I just stared at the man and didn't answer out loud.

Between death and obedience, I did not choose either.

"Why didn't this murderer kill me?"

"Why did I come here with this murderer?"

In the dimly lit room, I had accumulated countless questions, and the same thoughts wandered through my mind hundreds of times.

I kept asking myself why I didn't give any answer at the time.

As a result, I still avoided death and chose to obey?

I didn't make a decision, I just wanted to save my life, so I followed the murderer, which I hated very much.

"It's Al. Al! ”

There was a loud laugh outside the door, and it seemed to mock me for the way I looked.

But the laughter that came from time to time complicated my mind even more, because the laughter coming from the room was the voice of a child.

The murderer lived with small children in this house. The murderer who brutally murdered my parents actually lives with a child? It choked me out.

There are not only murderers and children, but there also seem to be children my age.

The girl who brought me food was named Azes, and she was about my age.

Someone opened the door and walked in.

There was some sunlight streaming in through the door, and I dodged, curling up tighter.

A voice accompanied by a sigh strode towards me.

"Hey, little one. If you keep doing this, you're going to starve to death, right? ”

It was the murderer's voice.

The food that Azes had brought last night was left untouched on the bed in the room.

"Hmph, you don't care if I eat it or not."

I used all my strength just to suppress the emotions that were surging in my heart, and I wanted to beat that guy up right away.

But the guy ignored what I said, picked up the food on the bed and ate it.

He continued vaguely, "Then why did you come with me? It's better to die there directly. ”

I couldn't stand this guy's gibberish any longer, and I looked up and glared at the murderer in front of me.

As a result, the guy looked me in the eye and sneered, "Very good, why don't you do that?" ”

The murderer made me a new suggestion, and it sounded to me that the guy was also talking gibberish this time.

"Learn phantom magic with me, and you can kill me at any time during sparring. Kill me, and you will avenge your parents. ”

But unlike the previous ones, this time the proposal carries the label of revenge. I accepted his offer, which is to say revenge.

The murderer's name is Al, and it's a very earthy name. Seeing that I accepted the offer, El gave me a short sword and told me that I could strike him at any time.

Since he gave me the opportunity for revenge and gave me back the weapon, I certainly have no reason to refuse.

"What are you doing! The action is so slow, the snails are going to be friends with you! ”

I challenged Al day after day, bent on avenging my parents.

I wielded my dagger to slice the guy's neck, but the guy always dodged my dagger with ease, as if he knew in advance how I was going to attack.

"An ordinary sword can cut everything, but the phantom sword can be controlled and only cut what it wants to cut."

After every fight, the guy would teach me phantom magic.

According to the guy, the Phantom Sword refers to the use of mental power to create a sword that does not actually exist.

For example, when an ordinary sword attacks an enemy wearing armor, it is difficult to deal fatal damage to the enemy due to the armor, but if you use the Phantom Sword, you don't need to touch the armor, and you can directly slash at the enemy's body and even internal organs.

"Phantom magic is a unique trick of the Kyle family, you have a talent, and you will learn it quickly."

While determined to learn phantom magic and take revenge on the El, I had a suspicion that according to him, only the people of the Kyle family could use phantasmal magic, and the tattoo on the back of my hand was the symbol of our Kyle family, so it was normal for me to be able to control phantom magic.

However, Al can also cast phantom magic, so does Al have the same power as me, and are members of the Kyle family? If that's the case, then why did he kill my parents?

I didn't even dare ask him.

In addition to Al, there are more than a dozen children living together in this forest hut, and the children call each other family, and there are seven children under the age of eight who cannot help with the housework, and the children who take care of these children and are in charge of the housework are children like Leah, Michelle, and Azes, who are about my age.

Not a single adult.

By the way, there's only one, and I've heard of a guy named Dr. Rhodes who lives in the back side room, but I haven't seen this person once.

In short, except for the man, this house is full of children.

I've become more and more proficient at making phantom swords, and now I can make multiple phantom swords at the same time.

There were targets made of wooden stakes around me, and I concentrated my mental power and simultaneously created six phantom daggers and threw them around.

The Phantom Sword flew swiftly out of my consciousness, piercing through the six stakes at the target location.

"Haiji, that's amazing! It's only been a long time since I started learning! ”

Azes sighed as she watched me train. I was surprised because of this little thing, is she playing tricks on me? I turned around and saw Azes's round eyes full of admiration.

This is in no way trying to play tricks on my expression. In this way, this girl seems to have been such a character from the beginning, should she say that she has no ideas, or should she be praised for being cheerful? Anyway, it's a special girl.

"Because I'm a genius, there's nothing I can't do." Hearing this, Azes's eyes turned cold when she looked at me.

I'm just telling the truth, this girl has seen it with her own eyes and won't admit it. However, in this house, Azes is one of the people I am most comfortable with.

This short-haired girl always had a bandage around her neck, and she has been by my side since I first came here.

Even though I always ignored her, she still came to me every day to get on good terms with me. I finally gave up, and I don't know when I could talk to her a word or two. Unlike what I expected, the children here are ordinary and kind.

Even when I saw that I was doing something to Al every day and trying to take his life, no one ever said anything bad to me. There are even guys like this Azese, cheering me on. It was very confusing to me.

Even that guy from Al seems to be so close to the kids here.

The brutal murderers I've seen before don't seem to exist here, but that's not what confuses me.

Not long ago, a girl named Michelle suddenly fell ill, she suddenly fell to the ground, it was difficult to breathe, and everyone around her fell into a state of panic, looking for Al, Al happened to run over and used healing magic to treat her first.

Thankfully, Michelle regained her composure. It was at that time that I saw Michelle, who wanted to get into Al's arms, with the same tattoo on her knee as me.

The tattoo with eight legs that looked like a spider had turned into a physical body.

"This tattoo is a badge of honor that only the children of the Kyle family can have."

When I was a child, the words of my parents lingered in my mind, and when I looked at the tattoo on my wrist again, my wrist ached as if I had been pricked by a needle, and the unexplained fear of childhood came back to me.

Why on earth do the children stay here? What does it have to do with the Kyle family?

In order to clear my chaotic thoughts, I decided to refocus on the training of phantom magic, I could no longer lose my way, my goal was always only to avenge my parents.

I had nightmares about me being in the mansion that day, the day everyone in the mansion was killed.

I walked into my mother's room again, still filled with bright red blood, the red liquid spreading to my knees, and a huge foamy object slowly pouring up from the bottom of the liquid.

"I'm so wronged...... Sea-based. ”

It was the many people who lost their lives that day, my parents, the dead covered in blood, who slowly looked up at me and walked towards me.

"Help me...... Revenge ......"

"Avenge our unjust death......"

The deceased grabbed my body and pleaded incessantly, as if trying to drag me into a pool of blood. I told them that I would take revenge on the El. I grabbed my dead mother and shouted that I would take revenge.

Then, in an instant, the mother's face changed to that of Azess.

"No, you can't, because Al is your family."

Hearing this, my heart seemed to be clenched, and I felt a sharp pain, and the eyes of the dead Azes were still dragging me into a pool of blood.

......

Due to the support of my innate strength, the strength of my Phantom Sword has quickly improved. Even, my control of the Phantom Sword has surpassed that of the El guy, and in today's duel, if it weren't for that guy's despicable sudden use of physical arts, I would have been the one who won.

"Haiji, after killing me, you have to live to protect me."

After the duel, Al started preaching again, and whenever he did, I often wanted to cry, but there was an irrepressible anger rising.

"Hatred is temporary, the target is gone, and naturally it is gone. Learn the power to help others! That way you don't lose yourself. ”

It was he who had messed up my whole life, and now he was pretending to say this, which disgusted me very much.

"Don't laugh!"

I yelled at Al, what a joke, because of him, I was left alone in this world, where else was there anything to protect.

As time passed, my determined determination to take revenge began to waver, and that would not change that Al was the murderer of my family, but Al was also a family member of these children.

If I kill Al, the children will lose their families just like me, do I want to kill these people's families?

That's where my hesitation began.

"You said you could heal magic, right? You teach me healing magic, and I'll leave the killing of you until then. ”

After the sparring, I said to Al.

I remembered the healing magic that Al had used on Michelle, and if I had that ability, I would have been able to do things more easily when I hurt Eyre, and since I hadn't decided whether I wanted him to live or die, it would always be useful to have both powers. I definitely didn't take Ayr's advice last time.

Hearing this, Al grinned and walked over to me.

"Haha, you're begging me, why are you still talking like that! I beg you to teach me! ”

Al locked my neck from behind and began threatening me to beg him again, but it wasn't until I begged him again that Al let go. I thought, I really shouldn't ask this guy.

After waking up from the dream, the nightmare continued, and I even saw the phantom of my dead parents and Ajess in reality.

I'm obviously starting to go crazy.

My parents begged me to get revenge, and Azes urged me to become a family together. Everyone looked at me with a look full of grief, and in order to avoid the phantom, I ignored everything and chose to escape.

Every time I saw my parents' apparitions, I trained in phantom magic, and when I saw Azes's apparitions, I studied the healing magic that Al had taught me.

I just thought that when the time came, I would be able to make a decision. I just like that, procrastinating all decisions and hiding in the illusion of maintaining the status quo.

Then, one day, I saw a man's apparition, which looked exactly like me, and with the apparition, the family's tattoo began to ache.

The phantom staring at my appearance reached out to me, and I ran away to avoid it, but the pain in my wrist did not stop.

I left the house and ran aimlessly through the woods, hoping that no phantom would find me. Walking like this, before you know it, it's evening.

In the end, I couldn't make any decisions and went home.

"Haiji!"

Azes screamed and ran towards me, and behind her, a group of people came after her, all of whom I had never seen before.

"You have to run! Follow me! ”

Ajess took my hand and ran as hard as she could, and I was somehow dragged by her and began to run on the ridge behind the forest.

We ran dizzily down the mountain road to avoid the trackers, and behind us, the trackers' footsteps faded away from us.

"What happened? Explain why you ran away! ”

Slowing down a bit, I asked Azes that I wanted to get a feel for the situation.

"Those are...... A soldier of the Kyle family. ”

Hearing this, I shook off Azes's hand.

"What? Then I don't have to run away! Maybe they're here to save me......"

Unlike usual, her serious eyes looked straight into my eyes, and she said, "Originally, I didn't want to talk about it because of Al's relationship, but now I'll tell you about this situation." ”

Azes began to untie the bandages around her neck, which she never usually untied, and the tattoos on her neck appeared that were the same as mine.

Tattoos of the Kyle family.

"Yes, I'm also a child of the Kyle family, and most of the children here have imprints."

Then, after a moment's hesitation, she continued, "Because this mark is the mark of the monster planted. ”

Azes looked at me very seriously, took my hand again, she quickened her pace, and continued: "It is said that by cultivating monsters in the human body, extremely powerful monsters can be grown, so in order to obtain monsters, the sorcerers of the Kyle family deliberately raised children and began to cultivate monsters in children's bodies. ”

"The 'marks' on the children's bodies are not family tattoos, but the marks of the monsters planted by the sorcerers. The only way to stop the monsters in the children's bodies from awakening is to inject magic through the Philosopher's Stone of the Kyle family. ”

"Al stole the family inheritance stone and left the family with the children. Then, hiding from the eyes and ears of the family, he walked around and shook off the family's trackers. "Azes told me all of this.

"Al killed your parents because your parents wanted to get rid of us, and then, Al found you there."

"Do you think I'm going to believe that?"

How could it be that my parents wanted to deal with the children of the Kyle family, I raised my voice to refute hers.

Right now.

Azess's expression froze, and she looked behind me, where the Kyle soldiers had caught up with me at some point, and one of them pointed his wand at me.

"Haiji! Dangerous! ”

At that moment, Azes stood in front of me, invisible magical power penetrating her body, and she could no longer support herself, and she fell to the ground.

I barely held Ajiesi's body, and called out to her in a trembling voice: "Ajiesi! ”

Azess's body trembled, she gasped heavily, her appearance overlapped with Michelle's former appearance, and I felt a strong sense of fear.

"Stop! As mentioned above, Haiji is a precious test subject! ”

Someone stood up from the crowd attacking Ajath and yelled at the wand-wielding soldier, for some reason, the man didn't seem to be intent on attacking me directly.

I picked up Azess's body and tried to run away with her, but even though I tried to lift her up, Azes kept pushing my hand away.

Azes: "Heiji, run...... I'm going to be a monster in no time. ”

I couldn't understand a word of what she was saying.

Ajieth: "Before Al helped, they were all going to have seizures. ”

I couldn't understand why she kept pushing me away.

Ajies: "I, even if I give my life, will protect you." ”

Why did she look at me crying so sadly?

Azes: "Because, Haiji is...... Our family. ”

Huge spikes appeared, piercing her body, shattering bones and dripping flesh, and I was no longer human.

It was as if Azez's existence had been destroyed, a terrible death. A man approached and stabbed his sword into the being that had once been Ageth, the man he had just called me a test subject.

The man's sword slowly pierced through the monster, and the monster's thorns began to wriggle in pain.

He looked into my terrified eyes and said, "Do you know why you want to make children monsters? Because even if it becomes a monster in the future, the host it cultivates will not attack the family members. ”

My brain couldn't understand what the man was saying, I couldn't do anything, because what was happening in front of me frightened me, and reason was swallowed up by paralysis.

"Because I'm a genius".

I sat slumped in despair, and the soldiers drew closer to me, knowing that I could do nothing. At that moment, El appeared and used phantom magic to drive away all the soldiers.

Azes.

Al seemed to be saying something to me.

I'm sorry......

However, I couldn't hear it at all.

Ajess ......

Al picked me up helplessly.

I'm sorry...... Azes.

Al carried me on his shoulders and began to run away from the soldiers.

Ran for a while.

Although there was a distance from the death of Ajieth, the blow to me did not weaken in the slightest.

Al and I were both approaching the limit of our physical strength, and our legs seemed to be filled with lead, weighing as many pounds, but at this moment, a sudden downhill appeared in front of me, and I couldn't react for a while.

I lost my center of gravity, slipped down the slope, and rolled on the ground several times.

"Are you alright? Can you stand up? ”

I tried to get up with all my strength, but as soon as I stepped on the ground, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle, which seemed to have been hurt when the ground was rolling.

"If you go on like this, you'll definitely get caught by those guys."

"But I can't run away anymore."

There was also a hint of nervousness in Al's expression, and he looked up the ramp, where the soldiers would soon arrive.

Al slowly looked back at me, "Heiji, listen to what I'm going to say next. ”

Al looked at me and shoved the two short swords in his hand into my hands. Until that time, I thought he was just giving me weapons against the soldiers.

"This is the Kyle family's family inheritance stone, and wearing it on your body will prevent you from turning into a monster."

He hung the necklace he had been wearing around my neck, as if to give me this amulet called the Family Inheritance Stone, which meant to let me run away by myself.

"Are you letting me run away on my own?"

Al nodded and smiled softly.

"I want to kill you! But why did you save me! ”

"Because you can do better than me."

He said with a quiet smile. How exactly did this man do it, he could laugh in such a situation.

"I've lost everything I wanted to protect, so I don't have any point in living anymore."

He turned his back and stood facing the soldiers. At this moment, I saw a tall, thin man with a fist blade and a bunch of soldiers appear in the moonlight.

"The hired assassins are here! Haiji, at least you have to survive. You're my only family member, you know? ”

With these words, Al rushed towards the soldiers, who swung their swords at him, but he used phantom magic to slash them like beasts.

Countless Phantom Swords flew through the air, splattering clusters of blood, and then, realizing that El was not wearing the Family Inheritance Stone, the soldiers infused him with magical powers.

Al had the same ending as Azess, and once again I witnessed the shattering of the cherished people.

An apparition that resembles me reappears.

It's all my fault.

The phantom was warning me to save them both.

It's all because I'm not determined enough.

It was I who messed up everything.

The soldiers reached out to me.

That hand belongs to the one who took his family from me.

At dawn.

My head was heavy and I was in a trance.

It seems like you're in the middle of a nightmare with no end in sight.

I barely opened my eyes and looked around.

I was lying with the corpses of the Kyle soldiers, but I didn't see the Assassin with the fist blade.

In the haze, I remembered that they were the ones chasing after me and Al.

It wasn't a dream.

Whether it's the memory of running away to avoid the pursuers, or the death of the two.

There is also a family heirloom stone necklace that remains around my neck.

It's not a dream.

Al...... Ajess ...... And the kids are all ......

"Haiji, after killing me, you have to live to protect me."

Al's pretentious voice rang in my head.

My heart seemed to be clenched with grief, and tears condensed and ticked down the tip of my chin.

I was asked to live for protection.

A sucker.

What do you want me to do.

As soon as I found what I wanted to protect, I lost everything......

I would have known to tell the truth and told them that I wanted to be part of your family too.

......

Time passes.

Haiji is used to facing the phantom in his heart, and the two short swords left behind by Al seem to have turned into part of his body.

Heiki looked back on his experience and smiled self-deprecatingly. It would be great if that day I could have the determination I have now.

Haiji sorted out his thoughts, and now, there are still some things that need to be corrected. After that day, there was a steady stream of people chasing Haiji, which means that there are still ugly gangs that use children's bodies to breed monsters and profit from the war.

Haiji cannot sit idly by.

This time, not for revenge, nor for his own survival, but to correct the wrong things, Haiji pulled out the Phantom Sword.

......

In the Kyle family's mansion.

It is said that the core of the family will meet here today, and this is an opportunity that must not be missed.

Heiji opens the door and enters the mansion.

The nobles of the Kyle family looked at Haiji in dismay.

Their eyes reflected countless phantom blades.

This is the requiem sent by Haiji.

Soothe the souls of those who have died at the hands of the wicked.

Requiem for the Soul.

......

A year later.

Haiki travels aimlessly around the world, and along the way, he comes to a small village that, although small, is famous among adventurers for its spider patronus and strawberries.

"Meet in front of the clock tower!"

As soon as Haiji entered the village, the assembly bell rang near the mercenary group's office, and the footsteps of the mercenary group members one after another.

It seems that the order was given to the mercenary group to go on the expedition.

"Newcomer! Why are you in a daze here! Meet at the Clock Tower! ”

One of the mercenaries rushing to the clock tower seems to recognize Haeki as someone else and struck up a conversation with him.

Haiji panicked and waved his hand to the member to explain that he was not a member of the group.

However, the mercenaries didn't seem to hear him at all.

The mercenary said to himself, "It's really unlucky that the artifact has gone berserk. If this continues, Kuhan may also be in danger. Even if we fight for our lives, we will protect Kuhan! ”

The mercenary's last words reminded Heiki of her last words.

"I, even if I give my life, will protect you."

Haiji followed the mercenaries and rushed to the clock tower, and at this moment, Haiji saw a man with two swords and the leader of the Kabulan mercenary group walking into the clock tower.