Munch and the others came out of the building and of course, all of them were laughing eerily without exception.
"Munch, you bastard!!!" roared Aku.
However, Munch just ignored Aku as if he wasn't even worth more than food stuck in his teeth.
"How is the preparation?" Munch asked the old man with the long beard and grey hair, who was looking down at us from the top of the building with his black eyes.
"The encirclement is complete. Not a single bug can run away."
"Understood."
Munch raised his right arm, and in an instant, groups of several dozen armed men appeared out of the darkness of night, surrounding us on top of hedges and buildings.
This group of black-clothed men looked considerably well-trained. No, more than that—
"You guys knew everything!"
The adventurers coming out of the building said nothing, except grinning eerily at the raging Aku.
"It's useless, Aku."
This feeling of bugs squirming around their skins. It's too late to save them.
"Ugh....." Satori stared at Munch, but her lips were shivering, and blood drained from her face as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Hey, Satori!" Aku called out to Satori, whose body was unusually trembling, but—
"Aku, they aren't the same Munch and our family members....."
That was all she could squeeze out to say.
"What are you saying!? No matter how you look at it, aren't they Munch and the other family members!?"
I was sure he had vaguely realised the meaning of Satori's words, but he still called out to her out of ever-present desperation. He most likely didn't want to believe it. In that case, I would forcefully make him aware of this worst situation.
"Let me show you the proof!"
I invoked [Explosive Thread], making the thread appear behind Munch, wrapping it around his neck, and pulling it with all my might.
"Huh?"
As soon as I did that, Munch’s stupid voice rattled in our eardrums. At the same time, Munch’s head slowly fell to the ground.
"You bastard!!"
Looking at this, Aku turned around to give me an ogre-like expression.
"Idiot. It’s impossible for someone to get his head blown off without even a drop of blood coming out. Look at the reality with your own eyes!" I pointed with my index finger and urged him.
"H-hey—!"
"You're lying......."
The adventurers behind me shouted in astonishment. It was natural. Because, the fallen head of Munch deformed, turned into purple poisonous liquid, and merged into Munch’s legs that had lost the head. Then, a bulge formed where the head had been and once again molded into his face.
"Quite rude, you are," while grinning, what once had been Munch opened its mouth that split wide to its ears.
"Grey, this is....?" Willy asked as his voice trembled uncharacteristically.
"Well, it doesn't look human at the very least," I replied while turning over my shoulder to look at them.
However, not only the female receptionist, but even Gaius was frozen stiff with his eyes wide open. Good grief, things at this level shouldn't be enough to shock you if you are an adventurer.
So, we had been surrounded from all sides, but above all—
"Hostage?"
"Yes, you guessed it right. Poisonous Liquor!"
When Munch looked up at the white-haired old man called Poison Liquor on top of the building, I saw that the black-clad men had carefully placed knives close to the throats of three gagged children.
Good grief, it's the same approach these scumbags always have.
"So? Are you planning to kill these children?"
"It depends on your actions."
If I considered the petty thoughts of the mastermind behind this, the chance of saving them should be around fifty percent.
But I wasn't going to make the same mistake as Id' made with Gill.
Aku's comrades were just like Gill. They couldn't be saved. Because, unlike those children, I could sense a disgusting stench coming out of them. They weren't humans anymore.
"You are going to see something painful. Are you prepared for this?"
Even for an instant, he was going to see his comrades die in front of his eyes. It was a scar that might continue to hurt him for a lifetime.
"It doesn't matter whether I'm prepared or not! It's something I must do!!"
"I see......"
Just a bit, I thought I had treated him like a child. Certainly, I would make the same choice if I was in Aku's shoes. I stared down at him for a while before pointing at him and invoking [High Heal].
Aku was overcome with surprise as he watched his injury healing like rewinding a video.
"Protect yourself."
I only said that.
"I will also stay."
The green-haired girl also took a stance.
"I'm staying, too. I don't like the idea of just throwing everything to a bunch of kids and running away."
A red-haired stern old man, Gaius, also unsheathed his sword from his waist and took a fighting stance.
I could see it in their eyes. No matter what I said, they weren't going to change their minds. They had that much conviction.
"I'm leaving it to you, Willy. My comrades will cover your back. Go!"
I was hesitant to use the teleportation in front of onlookers. It might seem a little late to use it, but I should make every effort to keep it out of sight.
Anyway, with Calogero covering them, they should be able to reach their destination safely.
"I pray for your good luck."
Willy carried the children like other adventurers and started running into the dark night.
"Do you think you can run away!!"
The old man with white hair and long beard, Poisonous Liquor, shouted. Soon, three black-clothed men tried to chase after Willy and the other.
"That's my line."
I captured all of them with [Explosive Thread].
"Detonate."
The entire bodies of the three of them shattered, obstructing my vision.
"Wha!?" Poisonous Liquor opened his eyes wide, astonishingly looking at his subordinates exploding.
"It's really bad luck."
"That's right. This place will be your burial ground, after all." Munch misunderstood heroically.
[Those stupid bastards!]
Mura's furious voice echoed inside my head. His voice was filled with rage and a tinge of resignation.
It is true that, normally, I would have considered the option of handing them over to the authorities, but these guys were [Laguna]. They were the ones with a certain level of cooperation with pure-bred aristocrats. If I had handed them over to the authorities, they would have surely been released for lack of evidence. Unfortunately for them, I didn't have the slightest intention to play the game of cat and mouse with them. And above anything else, I was already at my limit.
That was why—
"True, it's really bad luck."
For the first time, I exposed the emotions I'd been suppressing until now.
"Hiiii!!"
A small scream leaked out of the black-clothed men.
"Mo-monster!!" Poisonous Liquor began to gush out sweat like waterfall, and squeezed out these words.
Bullshit. Did you step into our world without the minimum of preparation? They were laughably irredeemable.
"Repent. You don't need a single ounce of compassion."
Now, let's begin. The scumbag who depicted this act, had touched my most loathed and hated taboo. He had successfully awakened the sleeping monster inside me.
"Begin the raid." I verdict my final sentences to these fools.