The Infernal Sentinel

Lord Wymond, The Infernal Sentinel, would check most of the boxes for the brute trope at first glance: all muscle and armor, simple, and intimidating as hell. He normally had a head of a bull too, definitely inspired by Minotaurs, but in public, he’d wear a human face to blend in with the crowd. Despite all signs pointing to him being a clearly dangerous threat, I couldn’t find myself afraid at all.

“Omigosh, it’s Lord Wymond!” I blurted out. “I’m such a huge fan!”

Wymond blinked at me. “You… how do you know my name?”

“Eh? Oh…” Goddamnit, I really need to think twice before talking! “Right, uh…”

Ashrenne stepped in front of me and said, “We heard lots of interesting stuff from Barry’s Grove, you see. Your name happened to slip, and more people started talking about you and the other ambassadors. We just happened to hear them on our breakfast trip.”

Ooh, nice save!

“Is that so?” Wymond rubbed his chin. “Interesting. We demons normally don’t share our names anymore due to the human superstition that it may bring ill omens. Thus, very few individuals would know our identities. You’re the first humans I’ve crossed paths with to disregard that belief.”

“That’s because I’ve heard of your deeds!” I chirped, eyes sparkling. “Like how you’ve split the northern continent in half, and how you can control a whole volcano to do your bidding! That’s freaking awesome!”

“You flatter me, but wouldn’t it be wiser to admire a proper hero?”

“What do you mean? You are one.”

He tilted his head.

“Not long ago, Ledgorod had a huge glacial leviathan that kept delivering blizzards and storms to their villages. It could’ve wiped out a huge chunk of their population, but you’ve managed to defeat it all on your own and ended up splitting the continent in the process, right? People thought you were behind the storms, but you’ve definitely saved them!”

He slightly raised his brows. “Huh, I’m impressed that you know the full story. What’s your name?”

“I-I’m Haruma Kurimoto!”

“Haruma, you’re certainly unique yourself. Aside from your unusually profound knowledge and appearance, you’ve even left an impression on both Lady Silvestine and Lord Entrophys. So, tell me…”

Wymond took a step closer, and Ashrenne and I stiffened up.

“What brings you here to Cindespoir City, Haruma?”

“I… wanted to look for answers. I’m… cursed, I think. Even I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Hm… Can you elaborate on that?”

I briefly explained my situation with my glitchy skills in a comprehensible manner, and after doing so, Wymond scratched his chin.

“I’ve never heard of such a curse before,” he said.

“Yeah, no one does,” I said. “I guess I’ll just...”

His eyes abruptly turned dark. “Therefore, I’ll have you show it to me in a duel.”

I blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Ashrenne dropped her jaw so far it hit the ground.

“I-I-I’m sorry?” I squeaked, rubbing my ears. “Ahaha, I think I’ve misheard that…”

“No, you did not.” Wymond summoned his axe and pointed it at me. “As ordered by Lord Malistraeus and Queen Verisette, I have a duty to uphold law and order in this city. If you claim your powers are as uncontrollable as you say, then it is my responsibility to determine if you are a threat.”

“Ehh?! A threat?! Me?! N-no, I’m not trying to cause any trouble, I swear!”

“I can vouch for that!” said Ashrenne, raising a protective arm. “Ever since his arrival… er, since tod—this morning, the kid’s made zero trouble!”

Why did she exclude everything before this morning?!

Wymond shook his head. “People can change in the blink of an eye. Humans, elves, dwarves, fairies, demons, angels… Even the kindest goddess has proven to fall from grace. I cannot let you go simply because you claim you’ll remain civilized. Show me that you can keep your word through your actions.”

“No way, I-I can’t! I don’t know how to fight!” I frantically looked around the busy streets, where the passersby deliberately avoided walking too close to Wymond. “A-and I might accidentally hurt someone too…”

The general aggressively spun his axe and smashed it on the ground, summoning a fiery rune under our feet and engulfing the scene in a blinding white light.

Ashrenne covered her face and stepped back. When the flash faded away, she looked up, only to find Wymond and me already vanished from the scene.

She took a moment to process what had just happened and wore an exasperated look. “‘He’s actually pretty easy to reason with!’ he says. ‘He’s not so bad, I swear!’ he says! Haah, kids these days…”

She scratched her head before trudging away. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

⮽⮽⮽

When I could open my eyes again, I found myself standing in a familiar forest, right outside the city’s borders… and right in front of Lord Wymond. I watched in awe as a streak of fire burned through his human face and revealed his true identity as a bull-headed warrior.

If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve started squealing like a fan again, but all I could feel now was an absolute sense of dread.

There were only two scenarios where Wymond would drop his human disguise: in serious battles or in private, relaxed settings. Clearly, this scenario right now wasn’t the latter.

“When it comes to a battle of life or death, you should know that such excuses are nothing but hollow words.” He raised his weapon and pointed at me again. “Now, draw your sword.”

I looked around, barely realizing Ashrenne wasn’t with me anymore. It was just the two of us in the middle of nowhere, with no one else around to worry about. I bit my lip and cupped my face in shame.

…I’m so, so sorry for the trouble, Ashrenne.

I took a deep breath and carefully pulled out my sword out of my head with a shaky hand. “Don’t blame me if anything crazy happens.”

“I will not.”

“Alright… take this!” I swung my sword, and it promptly glitched out of my grasp. Like before, it started randomly teleporting and swinging around, slashing at the trees, the ground, the air, and even at me.

Wymond calmly stood still as he observed my deranged swordplay like it was some sort of abstract art.

But the unthinkable happened. He just… casually caught my sword. Midair. With a simple grip of his fist, like how some people could snatch mosquitoes with a single hand. I dropped my jaw in astonishment, and I would’ve even started applauding him had he not decided to chuck the sword straight at me without warning.

“Uwaah?!” I instinctively jumped out of the way, and to no one’s surprise, I started teleporting randomly around, collecting scrapes from the trees and rocks. Once again, Wymond watched it all unfold before him with that stoic expression.

And once again, he managed to amaze me by stopping me with a swift kick to my side. A sharp pain swept over me as I soared and crashed into a tree, and I slid down with a weak groan. God did it hurt.

It hurt so bad my vision split into two, my head grew dizzy, and my ears started ringing. I couldn’t move my legs and shoulders, so I helplessly watched as Wymond steadily approached me.

What a total beast… I already knew he was crazy strong, but I wished he could’ve at least held himself back just a bit! Aside from these glitches, I was pretty much a normal, pathetically frail human! It was already a miracle I didn’t lose a limb yet! Not to mention… that gaze…

My heart rate spiked under Wymond’s deadly gaze, one he would give before finishing off his opponent. Without realizing it, my whole body quivered, and I couldn’t look away.

“Are you… really going to kill me?” I croaked.

“That depends on you,” he answered. “If you want to survive, fight back with everything you’ve got.”

I gritted my teeth and tried to push myself back up, but the pain made it impossible.

Wymond tightened his grip and raised his axe above his head.

Out of sheer desperation, I brute forced my way through the pain, raised a trembling arm, and resummoned my sword. Right before Wymond swung down, I managed to shield myself.

His axe clashed against my blade and released a massive shockwave. For once, my opponent didn’t get blown away at all, but instead, I ended up soaring away from the impact.

I hopelessly succumbed to the force and tumbled to the ground like a rag doll. I hoarsely coughed and weakly raised my head, barely registering Wymond approaching me again through a blurry vision.

Not good. None of my skills could land a single hit on him, and my whole body hurt like hell.

Utterly immobilized, I could only squeeze my eyes shut as Wymond swung his axe down.