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 - Test Cutting of the Black Blade — The Trembling Heart and the Forest of Twyla
The air in the underground waterway hasn't changed since that day. It's cool and damp, steeped in the smell of mold, earth, and something far older—like blood, like iron, clinging to everything.
On the training room wall, a violet phosphorescence flickered unsteadily.
I looked down at my right hand. The curse mark carved into the back of it pulsed, *thump-thump*, *thump-thump*. Black, deep, almost like a living thing. It's been like this for three days now. Throbbing. Hot. But—it doesn't feel bad.
"Good. The mark seems to have stabilized completely."
Maria called out from behind me. When I turned, she wore her usual faint smile, her golden eyes fixed on my right hand. Her waist-length, pale purple hair was braided on one side, swaying gently with the movement.
"Yeah. It's like... it doesn't feel like my own hand anymore."
"Fufu... that's exactly right. After all, it's your very anger now."
Maria raised her left hand. The back of her hand, too, was etched with curse marks layered one over another. Old ones, new ones—like tree rings, overlapping again and again. Each one of those lines must be a history of the hatred she's accumulated.
"Today, we do it for real. Go to the Towyra Forest. There's a troll in the depths. Hunt it."
"A troll, huh..."
"Yes. A big one, easily three meters long. For ordinary adventurers, it's an opponent you'd form a party to face. But—as you are now, you can defeat it alone."
Maria gently touched the mark on my right hand with her finger.
"Don't forget. Pour your anger into it. Remember those wretched companions who betrayed you."
At those words, the mark throbbed sharply.
Aqua's face surfaced in my mind. That grinning, laughing face of hers, going "Ehehe, sorry~!" Dropping fifty thousand eris into the river. Smashing the barrier and racking up a three hundred thousand eris debt. And more than anything—drunkenly spilling the entire life-or-death operation to the enemy.
"...Yeah."
Megumin's face surfaced in my mind. That small body I always had to carry on my back after she blasted her Explosion magic and became incapacitated. Black hair and crimson eyes. Going on about "My name is Megumin!" and never listening to a word I said, yet casually brushing off my complaints.
Darkness's face surfaced too. Looking all serious, then flipping her pervert switch in an instant. Breathing heavily from her humiliation fantasies, deliberately taking enemy attacks and wrecking her armor every single time. But when it came to protecting her comrades, she'd genuinely become a shield.
—The moment I thought that far, the mark pulsed violently.
A black aura gathered around my right hand. It swirled with a *whoosh*, solidified, and took the form of a single short sword. Black, cold, fitting perfectly in my hand as if it were clinging to it.
"So this... is my power."
My voice trembled a little.
But it didn't feel bad. If anything—I finally felt like something was about to change.
"That's a good look in your eyes."
Maria's lips softened just a fraction. It might have been the first time I'd seen her smile.
"But be careful. Don't let the power consume you. You are the one who wields it, to the very end. If you forget that—"
She gazed at the curse marks on her own left hand.
"—you won't be able to come back."
I thought I caught a hint of loneliness mixed into her voice.
"...Got it."
I gripped the short sword tightly. As I poured strength into it, the black aura flared up with a *whoosh*.
"I'm heading out."
When I left the underground waterway, it was morning outside.
I stepped onto the cobblestones of Axel's streets. The usual bustle—merchants calling out, the sound of carriage wheels, children's laughter from somewhere. How long has it been since I came to this town?
I emerged above ground from the dried-up well in the commercial district and headed for the town's south gate. Towyra Forest was fifteen kilometers southwest of Axel. About a three-hour walk.
(A troll in the depths of the forest, huh...)
Trolls are a type of giant. Three meters tall, easily weighing over three hundred kilograms. A single blow from their club can shatter rock. For ordinary adventurers, it's an opponent you'd form a party to face.
But—as I am now.
The mark on my right hand throbbed again.
(I can do this.)
No, I *will* do this. I'll show them—show Aqua and the others—that I can fight on my own.
I passed through the south gate and walked along the grassy path.
The sky was blue, dotted with a few clouds. A lark sang somewhere in the distance. A peaceful landscape. But inside my heart, it was filled with nothing but thick, black muck.
Those bastards are the worst.
Suddenly, a voice echoed inside my head.
Not my own voice. Deeper, murkier—someone else's voice entirely.
"...Again?"
Every time the mark throbs, I hear this voice.
(I'm still fine. I'm still me.)
I told myself that and quickened my pace.
By the time I reached Towyra Forest, the sun was already directly overhead.
At the forest entrance stood an old wooden signboard. "Towyra Forest—Take Care of Your Life," someone had scrawled in clumsy letters. Not a very convincing warning.
Inside the forest, it was cool and dark. Massive trees grew thickly, their leaves blocking the sunlight, so it was dim even in the middle of the day. The ground was soft with moss, sinking damply with every step. The air was humid, a mix of the smell of trees and something faintly sweet, like rot.
"She said the depths, right..."
I pressed deeper into the forest.
There were a few Giant Toads, but I ignored them. They're too small fry for me now.
About thirty minutes of walking, maybe.
Suddenly, the atmosphere around me changed.
The trees grew taller, thicker. Vines as thick as an adult's arm coiled around the trunks, giving the place the feel of an ancient forest. And the air felt heavy.
—*THUD*.
The ground shook.
—*THUD*. *THUD*.
Something was approaching.
From the shadow of a giant tree, it emerged.
A massive humanoid shape, easily three meters tall. Its skin was gray, rugged like cracked rock. In its right hand, it held a club that looked like it had been carved straight from a log. It was probably as thick as my torso.
A troll.
The troll's small eyes swiveled, locking onto me. Its nostrils flared, and a blast of foul breath burst out.
"GUOOOOOOOHHH!"
An incredible roar. My ears rang.
The troll raised its club and charged. The ground shook. Dead leaves flew into the air. The massive body bore down on me in a straight line—
(I'm not scared.)
Strangely, that's what I thought.
What surged up before fear was anger.
In my head, Aqua's smiling face flashed back.
*"Ehehe, sorry~!"*
Every time that face of hers surfaced—the mark on my right hand shone especially bright. Violet light spilled from the back of my hand.
"This is—!!"
The short sword in my right hand transformed in an instant.
Black aura erupted with a *whoosh*, and the blade extended. Twenty centimeters, thirty, one meter—before I knew it, it had become a black longsword. The entire blade was wrapped in a pitch-black aura, making an eerie *bzzzt... bzzzt...* sound, as if it were rotting the very air itself.
"My anger!!"
A single flash.
A black arc tore through the air.
The troll's club was sliced clean in two and sent flying. And then—the neck.
*SHHHRRRAAAK!!*
The massive gray head flew off, spraying blood from the cut. It spun through the air and landed with a heavy *thud* on the mossy ground.
A beat later, the body collapsed.
*DOOOOON...*
The ground rumbled, and then—the forest fell silent.
The fallen troll's blood slowly spread across the ground.
"Hahh... hahh..."
Breathing heavily, I looked down at the sword.
The black aura was still flickering unsteadily.
"Did I... do it?"
A troll. Not quite S-rank equivalent, but normally an opponent you'd need a party for. And I took it down in a single blow.
(So this is the power of Grudge Weaponization...)
I couldn't help but feel my lips twist.
I was smiling.
Overwhelming power. Hatred for my comrades, producing this much destruction. Serves them right—I can fight even without those bastards.
That's when it happened.
The right hand gripping the sword suddenly began to tremble violently.
"Wha—!?"
Unrelated to my will, my hand was convulsing, shaking uncontrollably. The sword rattled noisily, the black aura flickering unstably.
And then—
—*Those bastards are the worst. Hate them more.*
A voice whispered inside my head.
"...Who are you?"
—*They betrayed you. What did they think of your trust?*
"Shut up..."
—*Get angrier. Anger is your power.*
The voice sounded like mine, but it wasn't. Low, murky, a voice that clung to the inside of my ears.
"...Damn it."
I shook my head. But the voice wouldn't disappear.
If anything—what was this feeling?
It wasn't unpleasant. In fact, it felt good.
The moment I killed it, I felt like something had been lifted, just a little. Like all the murky stuff that had been building up deep in my chest had been released outside through the sword—
"I'm... fine."
I told myself.
I'm fine. I'm still me.
I clenched my trembling right hand tight once more and dismissed the black sword. The aura scattered with a *whoosh*, and the sword melted into the darkness.
Only the mark remained, throbbing with a dull, persistent ache.
Meanwhile, at that same time—
In the city of Axel, on the second-floor tavern of the Weathercock Inn.
The afternoon tavern was usually bustling with adventurers drinking and carousing at this hour. The smell of the famous Adventurer's Curry drifted through the room.
But the three girls sitting at the corner table hadn't tried to order anything.
"Kazuma seems to be hiding out in the underground waterway."
Darkness said it in a hushed voice.
Her long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, her blue eyes were wide with seriousness. Her expression held not a trace of the usual slackness she wore when indulging in her perverted fantasies.
"And... I heard at the reception desk just now. There's a witness report that he headed for Towyra Forest alone this morning."
"Towyra Forest!?"
Aqua shot up from her chair with a clatter. Her aqua-blue ponytail swayed wildly.
"No way... going into the forest alone, isn't that way too dangerous?! Kazuma, you idiot! Why would you do something so reckless!"
Her large blue eyes began to well up with tears.
"Calm down, Aqua."
Megumin gripped her staff tightly. The small, black-haired mage fixed her crimson eyes straight ahead.
"But this is a chance. As long as he kept lurking in the underground waterway, we couldn't lay a hand on him. If he's in the forest—he's within the range of my Explosion magic."
"Are you planning to just blast him out of nowhere!?"
Darkness retorted.
"Naturally. That man still doesn't even half understand the magnificence of my Explosion magic. I cannot allow things to end like this."
Megumin puffed out her small chest.
"Besides—without Kazuma, my means of transportation is—"
"So it *is* on the premise of being carried on his back!"
"Uuu... *hic*..."
Aqua started crying, staring at the rice ball she clutched in both hands.
"I'm going to apologize to Kazuma this time, for real! Apologize properly, and then—and then—"
"Alright."
Darkness stood up.
"I'll bring him back. No matter what anyone says, I'll do it."
Her blue eyes shone with powerful determination.
"An ending like this is far too miserable. More miserable than even my shame-soaked fantasies."
"Don't compare it to that!"
"Let's go. To Towyra Forest."
The three of them burst out of the Weathercock Inn.
They ran across the cobblestone streets. Through the south gate, along the grassy path—running, heading for Towyra Forest.
I was nearing the forest exit.
I had been harvesting materials from the troll and stuffing them into a leather bag. Troll hide fetches a decent price. The fangs could probably be sold as materials too. If I took them to the
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