The World Is Mine For The Taking

I looked toward the heroes again.

They still had a certain aversion to actually hurting people.

That was something I needed to change.

It wasn't because I wanted them to become bloodthirsty killers who enjoyed fighting people for fun.

The problem was that war didn't care about someone's personality.

An enemy wasn't going to stop attacking just because the person standing in front of them didn't like killing.

If they entered a battlefield while still hesitating every time they needed to make a decisive move, then someone else would eventually take advantage of that hesitation.

And that someone else could kill them.

I needed them to understand that before they actually entered the war.

That was where Beelzebub came in.

The method I had in mind was simple enough.

I wanted to force them into a situation where they believed they had to kill something they shouldn't kill.

It was more of a test than anything else.

They weren't actually going to kill anyone.

Still, that didn't mean the test was going to be easy.

If they couldn't bring themselves to do what was necessary even when they believed their lives were at stake, then they wouldn't pass.

"Can you turn into a child?" I asked Beelzebub.

She stared at me for a moment before giving me a strange look.

"You sure have some sort of weird proclivities," she said with a faint laugh. "Still, I suppose I can do that."

She transformed herself into her child form I had requested without putting up much of a fight.

I stared at her for a moment.

"That's not what I meant."

Beelzebub's expression immediately became amused.

I ignored her reaction and turned my attention back toward the heroes, who were still fighting Zes.

They were trying their best.

That much was obvious.

However, trying their best wasn't enough.

They needed to become better.

They needed to understand what it actually meant to fight someone who was trying to kill them.

I took a breath before raising my voice.

"Everyone."

I clapped my hands together loudly enough to get their attention.

The heroes stopped what they were doing and turned toward me.

"I want all of you to take this test."

They slowly made their way toward us, clearly wondering what kind of test I had suddenly decided to give them.

Beelzebub and I stood together while they approached.

Their eyes immediately settled on Beelzebub.

She currently had the appearance of a child, exactly as I had asked her to become.

They looked confused.

I couldn't blame them.

From their perspective, I had interrupted their training, walked over with Beelzebub, and then announced that I wanted them to take some kind of test without explaining what that test actually was.

"I'm going to make this simple," I said.

I looked at all of them.

"I want all of you to kill her."

"W-What?"

Sakai's eyes widened first.

The surprise on her face was obvious enough that I didn't even need to ask whether she had heard me correctly.

"L-Leon, even if you're trying to teach us how to kill people, killing an innocent person is..." she said, clearly struggling to finish her sentence.

"If you believe she's an innocent person, then fine," I replied calmly.

Sakai stared at me.

"However, I don't think you'll be able to accomplish anything in the war if you can't shed that hesitation when it comes to killing."

I looked toward the others as I continued.

"That hesitation might seem harmless right now, but once you're on an actual battlefield, it can cost you your life."

"You seriously..." Kashiwagi muttered.

He looked at me as though I were some sick fuck who had decided to toy with them simply because I found it amusing.

"I know this isn't a joke," he continued. "I understand that the war is going to be a matter of life and death, and I understand that killing and dying are both going to be part of it. I get that much, but how can you seriously tell us to kill a small child?"

I sighed.

I had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as I had hoped.

Their hesitation was simply too deeply ingrained in them.

Even after knowing that they were going into a war, they still couldn't bring themselves to cross that line.

"Beelze."

Beelzebub immediately smiled when she heard me call her name.

She raised one hand, and a knife suddenly formed within her grasp.

The moment the weapon appeared, her entire expression changed.

She didn't need to say anything.

She simply moved.

Beelzebub suddenly dashed forward at an incredible speed.

Her movement was so fast that it was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye, and before any of the heroes could properly understand what had happened, she had already reached Kashiwagi.

A thin line appeared across his cheek.

A second later, blood began trickling down from the shallow wound.

"H-Huh?"

Kashiwagi touched his cheek with trembling fingers.

When he pulled his hand away, he stared at the blood covering his fingertips.

The other heroes stared at him in shock as they finally realized what had happened.

Beelzebub had moved faster than any of them had ever seen.

"I didn't tell you that you only had to kill her," I said while watching their reactions carefully.

I wanted them to understand the point of the exercise.

"I also want to see how well you're going to adapt when someone is actually trying to kill you."

Their expressions became even more serious.

"If you don't want to kill her, then she'll kill you."

I let those words sink in before continuing.

"That's the situation you're going to face in the war."

I looked at them one by one.

"Your opponents aren't going to wait patiently for you to overcome your hesitation, and they aren't going to care whether you've never killed anyone before. They won't care whether you're uncomfortable with it, either, because the moment you step onto that battlefield, your enemy will only care about one thing."

I paused briefly.

"Whether they can kill you before you kill them."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!