Black Iron Magician

『Oh, it seems to have worked this time. The point is, the original soul that was restored completely couldn’t withstand the drastic change. The normal state is sensitive to abnormalities. It would deny reality and the ego would collapse immediately. Therefore, this time, I eliminated all unnecessary feelings and desires, and focused only on one thing. You’re the first one! …… Uh, Alhazard, what was his name again?』

『Lilyvia-sama said that his name was Toue Akira.』

In front of Akira, there was a monster that clearly looked like a Demon King, Vakala, the person who revived him, and Alhazard, his confidant.

『Too long! Also, that’s a strange name. He has no head, so let’s omit the head from his name and named him Kira.』

『As expected of Vakala-sama. That’s a wonderful and simple naming sense.』

『Hmph! It’s true, but don’t praise me so much. I’m going to get carried away~. Ah, more importantly, Kira, do you understand what I’m saying?』

Akira’s heart was filled with loyalty, even though he had never met this monster before. Without any doubt, he tried to spin his words to pledge his loyalty to Vakala.

『■, ■■■, ■■…』

However, what came out were incomprehensible words.

『…… Vakala-sama.』

『Wait, don’t say anything. I’m undead, so even I make mistakes sometimes. Tehepero.』

『Please don’t act cute. Vakala-sama, you should consider your age and appearance. Only Maria-sama who’s allowed to do that.』

『Maria is also quite old, you know!? She just look like that! Ah, if you go with that idea, then I can just collect dead flesh and make a cute appearance…!』

『Seriously, please stop it. Even I would consider leaving Carmine if you do that.』

『Okay, I will stop. So please don’t even think about it. …… I mean, you’re the only one among my subordinates that I can have a friendly conversation with! If you’re gone, my stress level will skyrocket, you know!? I might go to take over the world the next day, you know!?』

Vakala and Alhazard continued their half-joking conversation. For Akira, who had just woken up, this was the most annoying thing. But, since the current Akira was a mass of loyalty, he didn’t feel such feelings at all.

『Jokes aside, what emotion did you leave behind? From what I’ve heard, it seems that it’s something very negative.』

『Oh, you could tell? To make the hero’s body have an ambition without self-conceit, I left only the desire for revenge. The rest is just a little bit of hatred, which is its foundation. All of them are from the original personality, so there are no impurities in them.』

『Isn’t that what makes him incapable of speech? There is not a shred of reason left in him.』

『Eh~, but if I leave his reason behind, there’s a high possibility that he will break, you know? Human’s mentality is basically fragile. I don’t want to waste the body of a hero that Lilyvia gave me.』

『But he’s just a mad dog. He won’t go against Vakala-sama because of the effect of the magic, but he probably can’t distinguish between enemies and allies. What is the value of a person who just goes wild on the spot?』

『But, he’s not attacking you, right?』

『It’s because I’ve been giving pressure, enough to make a normal person die due to shock, to him so that he can understand instinctively even if he has no reason. I’m sure you already know about it, Vakala-sama…!』

Vakala wanted to make the most of the ingredients, but Alhazard seemed to want to focus on safety. Akira’s treatment was in dispute between the Demon King and his confidant. The decision here would determine Akira’s future, but he could only watch the conversation between the two.

『――Okay, then let’s do this. In normal times, I will have Kada and Torse watch him to maintain the current situation. With the two of them together, they would be able to stop Kira before he could cause any problems. Then, we give Kira some kind of mission and release some of his sealed rationality only at the most critical moment. How about that?』

『Yes, I think it’s a reasonable compromise. But if something goes wrong, I’ll deal with him.』

『Uhh, I feel like a child who’s favorite toy is being disposed of without permission…. Well, that’s fine. Kira, your fate has just been decided. It is no exaggeration to say you’re just a small fry in Carmine since you’re just level 6. However, I see great potential in your qualities as a hero. In order to live up to my expectations, you should devote yourself to your vengeance every day. Fortunately, there are many deaths swirling around here. You can die to your heart’s content with the intention of devouring all of them. No matter how many times you die, I will bring you back to life again.』

From that day on, Akira spent his days covered in death as the 『Headless』 Kira. He faced against overwhelmingly strong opponents and died many times. He kept challenging them even while dying.

Kira has almost no human desire left. With his desire to sleep gone and his body no longer in need of sleep, he devoted the full 24 hours of his day to training. His sanity is gone, and his attitude is the complete opposite of what it was before he was reborn. Everything was for the sake of Vakala, whom he worshiped, and to destroy those who humiliated him and took everything away from him.

After a week and a month passed, Kira almost never died. On the contrary, he crossed bladed with the undead of the Sixty Six Generals and won. At this time, he began to participate in skirmishes with human nations, and the name 『Headless』 began to become well-known. His ability blossomed at a tremendous rate thanks to his hero job.

――――And now, Kira is assigned an important mission by Vakala. As a legitimate disciple of Vakala, he became the trial for Deris and Nell’s disciples. Kira’s body and mind rejoice at the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his loyalty to Vakala and to carry out the purpose for which he was resurrected. He’s eager to unleash his rage, to pay back what he owed at that time, and to feel the sensation of cutting his enemy.

Perhaps Kira’s mind would be broken when his reason is unsealed to fight Haruna and the others. However, he dismissed it as a trivial matter and devoted his days to facing death every day. Even if there is a possibility that he would be broken, he believed that this madness to take revenge would surely lead him to achieve his goal.

「This ■ is a bit cramped for us to settle our ■. I’ve prepared a ■ upstairs where we can go all out. Will you ■ me, Haruna?」

The vengeful demon jumped into the hole he had made in the ceiling while holding Ernest. Chinatsu tried to stop Haruna, but she immediately followed him into the same hole.