KonoSuba: Blessing This Wonderful World! IF Route - Kazuma Becomes a Dark Hero of Vengeance
Sato Kazuma, an adventurer, was fighting against the Demon King's general Beldia with his party members Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness.
But just before the final battle, their strategy leaks to the enemy because of Aqua's blunder. Kazuma finally snaps, yelling, "You guys are the worst!" He banishes his party and decides to fight alone.
"I'm never trusting anyone again."
With that vow, Kazuma joins the dark guild 'Shadow Stalker.' There, he meets Maria, a former goddess turned dark priestess who
KonoSuba: Blessing This Wonderful World! IF Route - Kazuma Becomes a Dark Hero of Vengeance - Mark of Darkness - Weaponization of Grudges and the Useless Goddess's Regret
The air in the underground waterway was cool and damp.
With each step down the stone stairs, the smell of mold, earth, and something far older—like blood, like iron—grew thicker. Moss clung thickly to the walls, and droplets of water dripped from various spots, their tiny *plink, plink* echoing through the darkness.
"Hmph… A more impressive hideout than I expected."
I muttered quietly. My voice was immediately swallowed by the darkness and vanished.
In my right hand, I clutched a piece of parchment—a map of the underground waterways handed to me by that hooded man last night. It instructed me to descend underground through a dried-up well in the commercial district and head for Sector Seven. Scrawled at the edge of the map, the words *Turn your anger into power* floated dimly in the flickering light of my lantern.
(*Turn anger into power… huh.*)
Just remembering yesterday made something dark and ugly surge up from deep in my chest.
Aqua's ditzy, half-hearted apology. Megumin's explosion obsession. Darkness's perverted grin. The plan I'd worked so hard to put together fell apart completely, and the 300,000-eris debt remained unpaid—no, think about how much debt our party has racked up all this time. All because of them.
They dropped 50,000 eris into a river. Blew up countless streetlamps with Explosion magic. Deliberately took enemy attacks and wrecked their armor every single time.
"Give me a break…"
My voice trembled.
It wasn't anger. It was frustration.
I know, deep down. Without them, I probably would've died in a ditch in this world a long time ago. But—even so. This time, I just couldn't forgive them.
(*What did you think my trust was worth to you?*)
I switched the lantern to my right hand. The fingers of my left hand unconsciously traced that spot—the place where the curse seal would soon be engraved.
Before long, a stone wall appeared before me.
According to the map, this was the entrance to Sector Seven. There were no markings on the wall. But when I brought the lantern closer, I saw a small portion of the wall glowing faintly purple. A perception-blocking barrier—now that I thought about it, I'd heard rumors that the Dark Guild's headquarters was concealed by magic.
"…This is it."
I touched the wall. The stone felt cold against my hand.
*<<Password.>>*
A voice suddenly echoed inside my head. A low, mechanical female voice.
"Wh—"
(*Password?! He didn't tell me anything about a password!*)
Panicked, I took a step back. But then, in the next instant—
*<<Password.>>*
The same voice again. Waiting.
My mind went blank, but I shouted on reflex.
"Turn anger into power!"
—*Rumble, rumble, rumble.*
The stone wall slid sideways and opened, letting out a heavy, ponderous sound.
A thick, oppressive air flowed out from within. It wasn't mold or blood—it was something else, a smell that made something deep in my chest stir uneasily.
"…I'm going in."
I took a step forward.
The interior was brighter than I'd expected. Purple phosphorescence ran across every wall, faintly illuminating the space. The ceiling was maybe three meters high. It was larger than I'd thought—easily the size of two school classrooms.
Countless shelves lined the walls. And lined up on them were—
"…What the hell is all this?"
Murky black glass bottles. Something was squirming inside them. Ancient scrolls. A candlestick shaped like a human hand. Over a dozen chipped and notched swords, piled up haphazardly. Every single thing looked seriously dangerous at a glance.
(*So this is the Shadow Stalker headquarters…*)
I'd heard the rumors. About seventy years ago, a group exiled from the official Adventurer's Guild formed this dark guild. Trading forbidden skills, assassination requests, dealing in cursed tools—they supposedly had only about forty members, but their combat strength was so high that even the official guild couldn't touch them.
There was only one condition to join: *You must have experienced betrayal by the official guild or by your comrades.*
"So you're Satou Kazuma."
A voice called out, and I turned around.
A man stepped forward from the darkness at the back of the room.
He looked to be in his forties or fifties. His gray hair was slicked back, and an old scar ran vertically down over his left eye. He wore an all-black coat. The staff in his right hand had a purple gem embedded in its tip, glowing with the same dull light as the phosphorescence that had been running along the walls.
"Yeah, I'm—"
"I've heard. You were betrayed by your comrades. They caused your debt and ruined a life-or-death operation."
The man spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, then tapped the floor with his staff.
"Tell me. In your own words."
—His eyes were appraising me, sizing me up.
(*This guy must be the interviewer.*)
I swallowed and began to speak.
"…Aqua got drunk and blabbed our plan to the enemy. The plan we'd spent five days preparing to take down Beldia. It was a life-or-death gamble to pay off a 300,000-eris debt."
Putting it into words made the anger surge back up.
"That's not all. Megumin's Explosion magic is always just one shot. After she fires it, she can't move, so every single time, I end up having to carry her back. Darkness is a perverted woman who deliberately takes hits and gets off on it. Her armor gets wrecked, so the debt piles up every time. I was just desperately trying to hold everyone together, and yet—"
I ran out of breath. My shoulders heaved as I stood there with my fists clenched.
The man had been listening intently.
And then—the corner of his mouth twisted slightly.
"You pass."
"…Huh?"
"That anger. That frustration. Here, that becomes power."
The man turned on his heel and began walking toward a passageway further in.
"Enter. Lady Maria, an executive, is waiting for you inside."
—Maria.
A name I'd never heard before.
Following the interviewer, I proceeded deeper inside. The passageway walls were still lined with all sorts of creepy cursed tools. On one of the shelves, a label was affixed that read: *Dagger of Grudge (Prototype) — Three users, all suffered complete mental collapse.*
I stopped in my tracks involuntarily.
"…Mental collapse?"
"Pay it no mind. We have something far superior prepared for you."
The interviewer said this without turning around. The gem at the tip of his staff flickered.
Eventually, a single black door appeared at the end of the passageway.
"This is it."
The interviewer gave a brief bow and departed.
"…Enter."
A voice came from inside. A woman's voice.
"Fufu… There's no need to be afraid."
I placed my hand on the door. The hinges creaked as it opened.
The room was, surprisingly, empty.
Bookshelves lined every wall, but there was no desk or chair. A circular magic circle was drawn on the floor, glowing faintly purple.
And in the center of the room, she stood.
Silver—no, pale purple hair that reached down to her waist, with one side braided. Her slender body was wrapped in a black robe. Peeking out from the collar, around her collarbone, I could see the marks of numerous curse seals crawling across her skin.
But what drew my eye most of all were her eyes.
Golden pupils stared intently at me. Cold—yet possessing a depth that felt like it could swallow you whole.
"So you're the one who was betrayed by Aqua."
Her voice was quiet.
But a faint smile played on her lips.
"I am Maria. A former goddess. Now, I do this—working as a Dark Priest."
"Former goddess?"
"The same as Aqua. I was a goddess who dwelled in the heavens."
She continued in a flat, emotionless tone.
"But I was deceived by Aqua. Her lies caused me to be cast down to the mortal realm. My qualifications as a goddess, my power—everything was stripped away… and I fell, becoming a mere human."
Her golden eyes wavered slightly.
"You've seen Aqua's 'Soooorry~' face, haven't you? That smile that looks like she isn't thinking about anything at all."
"…Yeah."
"That's it. That is Aqua's true nature. She hurts people and thinks she's done nothing wrong. She thinks apologizing will make everything forgiven.—I couldn't forgive that."
She took a step closer to me.
A faint, flower-like, yet somehow cold scent brushed my nose.
"That's why I'll teach you. A way to keep your anger from going to waste."
Maria's left hand gently lifted my right hand.
Her fingertips were cold. Freezing—like ice.
"—*Vengeance Arms*. A forbidden skill that converts negative emotions—grudges against your comrades, anger, disappointment—into a physical weapon."
"Anger… into a weapon?"
"Yes. The stronger the emotion, the greater the weapon's power. In terms of actual combat ability, it rivals even the generals of the Demon King's army—you want to defeat Beldia the Dullahan right now, correct? With the amount of anger you possess, someone like him would fall in a single blow."
"A single blow…"
My heart pounded.
I could defeat that headless knight in one hit. Then I could pay off the debt. Then—
"But there is a price."
Maria's voice suddenly turned cold.
"If you continue to use Vengeance Arms, the negative emotions will erode your spirit. At first, it's just minor irritation, but eventually, you'll want to direct hatred at anyone and everyone, and in the end, you'll lose your sense of self completely.—In the past, five people have acquired this skill. All of them, without exception, went berserk and self-destructed."
My breath stopped.
"No way…"
"Scared? Of course, you're free to run away."
For the first time, her lips relaxed into a faint smile.
"But—if you run now, what can you do? Can you pay off the debt? Can you defeat Beldia? Can you get revenge on that worthless goddess who ruined everything for you?"
Her words pierced my chest.
No. I can't do anything.
Without them, I'm just a pathetic, half-baked adventurer whose only redeeming quality is high Luck. I had no cheat ability in this world, and I was treated as useless in combat. Even the one thing I could rely on—*holding the party together*—was taken from me by Aqua's blunder.
(*Then… what am I supposed to do?*)
"Hate them."
A voice whispered in my ear.
"Aqua. Megumin. Darkness.—Those worthless comrades who betrayed you."
Maria's finger traced the back of my right hand.
"If you do, you can become strong."
*<<Contract accepted.>>*
The same mechanical voice I'd heard at the wall echoed in my head.
At the same time, the back of my right hand—burned with searing heat.
"—Agh!!"
The smell of burning flesh. On my skin, something like black ink writhed like a living creature, taking shape. Geometric patterns. Ancient letters—no, a curse crest.
"Gah… Aaaagh!!"
Burning. Burning. Burning.
The back of my right hand radiated intense pain, as if a heated iron was being pressed against it. My vision flickered, and I desperately fought the urge to collapse to my knees.
"Endure it. Just a little longer until the engraving settles."
Her voice remained utterly calm.
Eventually—after ten seconds, twenty seconds, or what felt like much longer—the pain subsided.
"…Hah… hah…"
I looked at the back of my right hand.
A black curse seal was clearly engraved there. In the center of a swirling pattern, a design resembling some kind of eyeball floated.
*<<Vengeance Arms — Skill Acquired>>*
*<<Current Grudge Intensity: Medium>>*
*<<Targets: Aqua, Megumin, Darkness>>*
"It was a success."
Maria let out a small breath.
"Fufu… Your right hand is beautifully engraved. Far more powerful than mine."
She lifted her own left hand. Several similar curse seal engravings were layered upon it.
"You are special. It's the first time I've felt this way."
Maria smiled—truly, for the first time—with unmistakable emotion.
"Now, let's go to the training ground. We'll do a test cut."
—Around the same time.
In the town of Axel, at the Pokapoka Inn.
A muffled crying voice leaked from the room at the very end of the second floor.
"Uuu… *hic*… Kazuma, you id
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