CH 284.1

The Empire, a country that stretches across the western part of the Ost continent.

(Kill me)

A man with dark circles under his eyes and sullen cheeks was talking to himself in the cockpit.

Grim Reaper, as he is called, and the slender, tall, dark-gray A-class Knight that resembles its pilot. This combination is feared to be one of the strongest in the Empire.

(What’s the matter? Kill me, otherwise, I will kill you)

The Death Scythe crawled across the ground, and the shiny lead-colored golem dodged by retreating. Right after the Death Scythe passed by, the lead-colored golem launched an explosive assault.

A small but visible crack appeared in the bedrock that had caught the dash attack, sending tiny fragments flying backward.

(As expected of Metal Golem. A magic beast higher than an A-class. Show me what you can do)

The Grim Reaper bends the edge of his mouth upward and makes the Knight fold his Death Scythe back like a swallow. He then struck the metal golem from the side and deflected its rush to the side, but its heavy fist also caught the A-class Knight in the side of its head.

「Guh!」

Feeling an intense pain as if his ribs were broken, the fierce-looking pilot let out a cry. But he was not actually injured.

It was only the Knight that was actually receiving. The pilot only felt the pain.

(This sense of pain… I’m feeling great today)

After repositioning his Death Scythe, the Grim Reaper glared at his powerful enemy with a delightful expression.

『Sensory Feedback』

This is a rare occurrence experienced when a skilled pilot rides their Knight. Only the top handful of pilots are able to experience it, and ordinary pilots have only heard about it through rumors.

However, the feedback was dull, and most of it was just a slight feeling of discomfort.

(When I twist the Knight’s body, the pain is so intense that I involuntarily distort my face. It’s nothing compared to before)

His cheeks relaxed and his mouth slackened.

In recent years, the ability of the gloomy, ferocious-looking pilot had increased greatly. It could be said that he had managed to overcome the wall and reached one stage higher.

(As expected, 『Sin and Punishment』 has led me to even greater heights)

He thinks as he accurately strikes down the metal golem’s fist with his Death Scythe. The precision of his Knight’s movements and the speed of his reactions are something he could never have achieved before.

(I’ve changed)

The old me, who could only find the meaning of life in fighting. Because of my lack of attachment to life, people always assumed that I wanted to die.

But now it’s different. I want to continue living and experience more joy.

(Death comes only once in a lifetime. How utterly beautiful it is to go to the afterlife without any regrets)

The goal remains the same, 『Death』, but the approach he took to face it is completely different from what he has done before. And because it’s a special event, he wants to take his time to mature it and deepen its flavor.

That’s why even though he is now facing an enemy of the same rank, or even higher than him, he is not afraid, despite his expectations.

(If you think you can satisfy me, you can come and try to kill me)

The deepest part of the Great Pit that only he can reach. The Knight is chewed up alive by a golem in this place where there is no one to help or search for him.

Just thinking about it made the Scythe between his legs hurt like hell as it pressed against his pants.

(Now, it’s time for close-quarter combat. Let’s exchange blows until one of us is dead, shall we?)

A twisted smile was plastered on his face as he took a step forward, while the Metal Golem stepped back as if wary of him. What he can feel from it was its intention to stop the fight and leave.

(For something as powerful as a Metal Golem to do a boring calculation… Or could it be that because it’s just evolved recently?)

It was obvious that it did not want to fight a fight of attrition.

『It doesn’t mean anything to defeat the great Grim Reaper just to get eaten by Heavy Stone Golems after that』

That must be what it was thinking. Looking around through the Knight’s head, several dark brown golems were watching them from a distance.

Because this is the Metal Golem’s territory, they wouldn’t come close, but once it weakened, they would surely come close.

(Let’s save the fun part for next time then. For now, eat well and be stronger)

Enough to overwhelm myself.

Calling out to the Metal Golem in his mind, the Grim Reaper made his Knight take a step back. Then he turned around and began to climb the hill toward the far surface.

The Heavy Stone Golems in the surrounding did not attack the slender A-class Knight who had some energy left.

(Probably only the Stone Golems and lesser golems would come to attack without a care in the world)

The Grim Reaper shrugged his shoulders as he thought about the trouble of breaking through the crowd of golems.

***

A little northwest of the Great Pit is Landbarn, the capital of the Margrave territory.

The Margrave is the chief vassal of the Empire that owns and manages the Great Pit. A bald middle-aged man, who is the Lord of the territory, was having a meeting with two other men in his office.

「Yesterday, I received a report from Lord Reaper. He said he saw a metal golem at the bottom of the Great Pit. It was near sunset when he saw it, so he returned without fighting it」

A dull, middle-aged man in a pilot’s uniform opens his mouth with a satisfied look at the Margrave. He is a knight commander of the Frontier knight order and a pilot of a B-class Knight.

「About that matter… He seems to be rushing off early this morning」

The vice commander with a handlebar mustache put his hand to his forehead and sighed at the commander’s words.

「There’s no doubt about it, he must have gone to take it down alone」

Grim Reaper’s social standing is almost the same as that of the Margrave. The only reason he is stationed in Landbarn is because he was ordered by the emperor to provide assistance.

He looks and sounds terrifying, but he’s not dangerous as long as no one stands in his way. For this reason, he was allowed to do as he pleased.

「Since it’s Lord Reaper we’re talking about, there’s a possibility that he can defeat the Metal Golem single-handedly. However, there is no way to bring the defeated metal golem up to the surface」

That is certainly a pity. Handlebar mustache sighed deeply again.

A Metal Golem’s body contains a lot of highly pure rare metal, and its value can be said to be immeasurable.

But the skill gap between Grim Reaper, the Frontier Knights, and also the Yellow Lily squad of the Lily Knights is too broad, thus no one can accompany him to the bottom.

As a result, there’s no choice but to let those precious minerals from the golem he has defeated so far become the food for the other golems in the bottom of the pit.

「Lord Reaper has been to the bottom of the Great Pit many times before. But there have never been any sightings of metal golems up until now」

The dull, middle-aged knight commander stopped for a moment, crossed his arms, and continued.

「This is just my guess, but it was probably just born recently」

Then, with an indescribable expression, he shook his head from side to side.

『Golems feed on each other to refine their ore and evolve into higher species』

This was a possibility that was pointed out by the scholarly-looking pilots under his command.

After hearing this, Lord Reaper began to deliberately knock the remains of the golem down into the depths of the pit where they could not be retrieved.

His intention was obvious. If there’s no strong enemy, I just have to make them myself.

「Well, it’s Lord Reaper. Let’s just let him do what he wants」

The Margrave closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, and stuck out his lips while letting out a sound as if he were soaking in hot water. Both of his hands rested on the blonde maid’s head between his thighs.

「As expected of you, it feels good」

The Margrave gently stroked the blonde’s head as she moved her throat and made a wistful expression. The three of them were talking in a circle of chairs without a table.

Instead of a table, there were three kneeling maids. They were burying their heads in each of the men’s crotches and diligently using their tongues.

「Hey, that was a bit too strong. You’re sucking too hard. Wait」

The bald middle-aged man looks up at the ceiling with his eyes closed and groans in a displeased tone. The maids were probably eager to show off their skills for the opportunity to serve the imperial vassal that had finally come around.

The Margrave is not actually displeased and is shaking his head from side to side as if savoring the moment.

And following after their superior, the adjutant and the knight commander began giving the maid a drink.

「Excuse me」

There was a knock at the door, and the Margrave allowed the guest to enter the room as is while he was naked from the bottom down. The maids had covered his private parts, so he was not fully naked.

The soldier who showed up only had a slight look of envy in his eyes.

「I’ve received a message from the imperial capital. Here it is sir」

The C-class Knight that had just arrived. It seems that they were in such a hurry that the pilot ran out of magic power and lost unconsciousness as soon as he arrived.

While sitting in his chair, he took a knife from the desk behind him, popped off the wax seal, and took out the contents.

「…..What?」

Colors drained from the Margrave’s face as he read on.

Realizing that something serious had happened, the adjutant and the knight commander tightened their expressions as they placed their hands on the maid’s head.