"Malin, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
I still remember the matron of the orphanage asking Malin about his future path. At that time, Malin had absolutely no idea.
What was the future, what was tomorrow? These questions were far too remote for Malin, more distant even than pondering what he would eat that evening.
"Malin, remember what Granny says, this country needs us. I’m old, you will grow up, so the future is yours."
She could have never imagined that her Malin, in a far distant future, would be struggling to survive for this calamity-ridden planet under their feet.
All that once was had vanished, leaving behind only an unrecorded history, so trivial and pitiable compared to the vastness of the planet beneath their feet.
But that Chapter of history was still alive because Malin was convinced that an era only became history once all its people died out. As long as Malin lived, the era from eight thousand years ago remained alive, and all those people he knew and didn’t know hadn’t yet turned into history because Malin remembered them. As long as the era didn’t perish, those who lived in it would remain eternal.
Perhaps all this was nothing more than Malin’s self-consolation, but... but no one, no one had the right to profane the vow Malin kept, whether it be the ideology of the North or the one Malin held dear. They might have their flaws, might not fit in the present... perhaps they would be vilified. Malin understood this well because an ideology couldn’t unite everyone. They would curse, they would slander, they would even distort history.
But they were still people at the end of the day, even if they opposed everything, they remained living, breathing humans.
But the Mutant Breed before him... it was no longer human; it had forgotten the oath it took. In its eyes, humans were nothing more than food, or merely toys.
So, in the blink of an eye, Malin dodged the opponent’s thrust and, moving four steps to the left, his long-handled knife executed a thrust. The World Tree Sapling spear that made up the attack had been avoided by the opponent, who turned to mist to dodge the strike.
The next second, the arm transformed into a Bone Blade pierced the afterimage left by Malin at his original spot.
The long-handled knife made from Saplings fell apart into segments, transforming into the toughest bracers between Malin’s arms. Using his left arm, Malin blocked the incoming slash of the Bone Blade. While ducking, he tilted his blocking arm so that the Bone Blade slid off, sparking as it scraped across his arm.
Ducking under the Bone Blade, then delivering an accelerated right roundhouse kick, the World Tree Sapling boots ignored Roben’s blocking Bone Blade, and after the kick severed the Bone Blade, Roben once again turned into mist.
After Malin’s leg swept through the mist, a brand-new Bone Blade emerged from within it, aiming a stab at Malin’s chest which, yet again, passed through an afterimage.
The next second, having moved to Roben’s right hand side, Malin grabbed the end of the Bone Blade. Before he could exert any strength, he saw the bone break again as its owner evaded the attack, while also swinging his left fist in an attempt to hit Malin.
However, this attack ended without issue for Malin, and after the two punches had been exchanged, Malin stepped back three paces, for the first time realizing that his strength could not oppress all beings. He watched the twisted figure of his opponent—who had retreated six steps but hadn’t been sent flying as Malin had expected.
"You clearly possess such strength, you could completely use your power, your ability, to create a better world, instead of compromising and appeasing like the ideology of the North. My mentor is still naïvely believing that negotiations with the Nobles and the royal family are possible... This achieves nothing!"
Roben’s Whisper of the Soul echoed in Malin’s ears as it stood up again. When it looked at Malin, there was a new fervor and anger in its eyes.
"That achieves nothing. We even have to make sacrifices to save them from the upcoming Tide of the Dead!"
"So, you turned yourself into a being of Chaos?" Malin shook his head. "Everything I’ve sacrificed was to save more people from the upcoming Tide of the Dead! And what about you! You’ve become one of them!"
The fist full of bone spikes clashed against the fist wrapped in vines, and this time, Malin retreated two steps while Roben stepped back four.
·If the survival of humanity still needs to include them, what’s the point of all the Northern principles? Compromise only leads to more demands!
"But at least I never feel guilty. Everything I do is for the survival of human life. Only humans can judge those traitors, not monsters like you!"
The next second, as the two parties clashed again, the Bone Blade collided with Malin’s World Tree Sapling in his hand, and amidst a large burst of energy sparks, Malin roared without hesitation. The battle cry of the Frost Giant made his power grow even stronger.
Then, on the next encounter, Malin’s iron fist shattered Roben’s incoming fist and with it, crushed his forearm as well.
As the Chaos Mutant once again dissolved into mist, Malin saw the large clumps of blood that had fallen to the ground, corroding the earth beneath.
"Filthy monster! Look at your blood! You’ve turned yourself into such an ugly form!" Looking at Roben, who had reappeared in his field of vision, Malin roared angrily, pointing at the Mutant Breed.
·This is the ultimate destination of human evolution! The weak and suffering flesh will welcome change! Yet you see blessings as a curse! You, a false god’s dog, will surely drown in your own pool of blood.
After Roben finished talking, before he could even react, Malin was already in front of him and punched him, sending him flying.
"You have no right to judge me! Monster!"
Chasing after the creature named Roben at high speed, Malin’s first kick was blocked, the tremendous force pushing him sliding backward.
Malin landed, leaped up once more, and while turning in the air, his accelerated kick shattered both Roben’s Bone Blade and arm that he used to block and eventually kicked him right in the chest.
As Roben was sent flying backward, the World Tree Saplings on Malin’s arms turned into ropes, wrapping around the airborne Roben. When his flight was cut short, the ropes’ elasticity pulled him back towards Malin once more.
Like a storm of fists, Malin’s blows landed on Roben’s chest. This former young man had even lost his right to wail in agony until the final strike, a kick from Malin, sent the Mutant Breed flying.
Then the Sapling wrapped around the creature, dragging it back towards Malin once again.
While it was still in mid-flight tumbling backward, Malin leapt up, grabbed the creature by the waist, then flipped its body forward while propelling himself forward, smashing the Chaos being and its head directly into the ground.
As the Chaos body crashed to the ground, Malin stood up.
"Is it dead?" Eleven, who had been watching the fight, asked.
"Yes, it’s dead, both as a Chaos and as a person," Malin said and walked over to the firearms on the ground.
Picking up a Firearm, he secured Bippo and its nest, then caught the Demon Crystal of footage tossed by Eleven, and glanced at the battle video.
"I think my video capture is not as good as this thing," Eleven said.
Malin just smiled noncommittally.