Lord Of Doom!Reincarnated Into a Novel as the Strongest Side Character-Chapter 52: A hill of human bones

Human skulls and bones were scattered across the area—dozens - no, uncountable. The bones were beginning to turn to dust, suggesting they had been there for far longer than just 10 or even 20 years. Under typical conditions, bones can take several decades to begin decaying into dust.

Factors such as moisture, soil composition, and temperature can accelerate this process. In dry climates, bones may remain intact for centuries, while in moist environments, they can decompose much faster, breaking down into fragile fragments and eventually dust. The sight before her indicated that these bones had been lying here for many years - perhaps even decades.

Sakura’s hands trembled at the sight.

She decided to call out to Squishy.

The shadow transformed into its true form and stood beside her. She then ordered it to stay in the pit with the bones and monitor for any movement as she suspected someone might come by cause the hole shouldn’t be opened like that - resembling a trap.

Sakura easily climbed out, using the stones embedded in the walls for support.

Once outside, she ran back to the inn to inform Gojin and find Kenji.

A couple of minutes later, she arrived.

She saw Gojin hovering in the air, his arms stretched wide, swaying gently in the breeze as his hair danced around him.

"Gojin!"

She shouted, but he ignored her - purposedly with a grin. Frustration mounted as she yelled again, but he still feigned ignorance, despite hearing her. Anger surged within her as she wished she could reach him, but he was too far above. After several moments of her shouting, he chuckled and finally responded.

Her face flushed red with anger.

"So you heard me?"

He sighed, clearly uninterested in answering, as if savoring his moment of peace. Quickly, she informed him about the human bones she had found in a pit just a few meters away from the inn. Gojin showed no surprise or emotion, as if it didn’t matter to him. But then, without warning, he vanished and reappeared right in front of her—so close that his nose nearly touched hers.

She stared at his blindfold and slowly raised a hand to push his head away, creating a little distance between them. His barrier wasn’t activated, allowing her to make contact.

He told her that he didn’t care about the bones and, by all means, would not meddle with them. They were dead—so what? Checking on them was foolish, and as she had said, they were now half dust. What was the use of investigating something that had been there for decades? The answer to who could have done it was clear—surely an Akuma.

Sakura couldn’t comprehend his words or his cold demeanor. She wondered if he possessed any emotions - maybe alexithymic- or if this was just his normal everyday mindset that he shows every point in time.

Which was the true him?

He turned around, and said:

"I don’t care, but it’s smart for you to stay here while I search for Kenji. We must keep moving once morning comes."

His tone was colder than usual. What had caused this shift?

Earlier, before Sakura returned, Gojin had been arguing with the system—foolishly demanding a refund for the 1,000 DM deducted for reduced damage. Since he hadn’t run, shouldn’t his points be returned? It was a futile argument. The system, referred to as Slave, declined every bargain and remained fixed on a resounding "No!"

Frustrated, he decided to abandon the process, realizing he had been foolish to let Slave deduct points in the first place. It was all his fault.Just two minutes later, Slave’s voice delivered a shocking message. Gojin was stunned but intrigued, relishing the thought of trying it out, even though he had no choice—it was compulsory.

Slave informed him that the Levies, the pillars, had decided on something new. Gojin had investigated and discovered who these pillars were—the glitch that was keeping him safe with its plot armor. Due to the error in the storyline, he should have been executed.

What was proposed was that Slave would be inactive to twist the plot in its favor, granting him free will without the threat of being eliminated as an error one day. He was given a final mission to complete before Slave’s return in an unspecified number of months or years. The timeline for its return was vague. All his powers remained intact; the vault and store were still available, but Slave and the chance for rewards were gone—no more answers to his questions.

However, he was clever enough to follow the story and investigate occurrences to anticipate what would happen next.

His task was to exorcise 1,000 entities—specifically Akumas—and he could also eliminate evil beings from various races. He was promised something, though it remained hidden from him.

He was also assigned a personality to follow, as this was the character the author had crafted —his usual attitude with a touch of coldness at times. He had to adhere to this developed character arc, which he was already unknowingly embodying. This would strengthen his glitched plot armor against the actual plot.

Gojin felt disheartened at first but soon became excited by the challenge of eliminating 1,000 entities. He would attempt to adopt a cold-hearted demeanor temporarily.

After all, he had been a menace before.

Sakura still couldn’t grasp this change, but she accepted his suggestion and watched as he vanished.

Suddenly, she saw her shadow—Squishy—rushing toward her, sticking to the ground as it moved swiftly before reaching her. She staggered back at its sudden approach.

"What happened? Did you see anything?"

It made a hand gesture indicating ’No,’ then merged back with her - its position, without any explanation for its quickened rush back to her. It felt like a mystery she was compelled to unravel, but she hesitated. Her instincts warned her to stay in place....., as if something was about to approach her—something quite strange, if not beyond comprehension....

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Gojin appeared right where Kenji lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Next to him, an Akuma was turning to ashes. Blood was splattered everywhere in wide arcs, and the blade was stained crimson.

Flashback!

As the tendrils drew closer to his head, he fell to the ground, gasping for breath as they passed over him and stabbed the sender—the Akuma. He quickly picked himself up just before the Akuma could plunge its own tendrils from its body.

He surrounded it with speed and agility, slicing through every inch of it from left to right. He then aimed for the unmounted head, disfigured and slopped, with a long tongue hanging down from it. He executed a 560-degree beheading—a swift, circular motion that allowed him to strike from multiple angles, ensuring a clean cut.

It Defeated, he inhaled deeply and collapsed to the ground, his heart became heavy and exhaustion manifesting as labored breathing

....

Gojin announced his presence with a clap, congratulating him before shifting focus to the main point: they needed to return for something he was anticipating, a similar gut feeling he had experienced, akin to Sakura’s.