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Volume 5 4 — Prelude to destruction
Volume 5 4 — Prelude to destruction
Volume 5 Chapter 4: Prelude to destruction
That was a desperate scene certainly suitable to be described as the end of the world.
… The sky was black. Pitch black.
Looking really closely, one could notice that the true identity of the thing that blackened the sky was that of a crowd of flying-type monsters.
Are you… Joking…?
That number, rounding it down, was no less than ten thousands.
Seeing that many monsters at once in the human world… It was an unheard-of scene.
Before this unprecedented happening that suddenly took place, the people at the venue of the miss monster girl contest instantly fell into panic.
“Eeeeeeerm. Everyone. Calm down. Cam down, please.”
The one who got the ball rolling in order to calm down this situation was the mid-rank monster tamer Yuina-san.
“According to the info that we have just received, the first barrier of the sky Abyss Gate—Eternal White has been destroyed by an attack of the Black Tamers.
Due to this damage, an estimate of fifty thousands monsters from the anti-human faction have invaded the human world… Their objective are the people who possess magic power… In other words, us. Luckily, in this occasion no ordinary person will suffer any harm.”
“!?”
An attack to the Abyss Gate by the Black Tamers…?
About the Abyss Gates, I’ve heard that they are located either in the sky, in the sea or on land.
When we went to the Netherworld before, we made use of a marine Abyss Gate… The one attacked this time was a sky Abyss Gate.
So that’s why this many flying-type monsters have appeared?
“We had been withholding this info from all of the rookies, but… To tell the truth, intelligence of an attack to the Abyss Gates by the Black Tamers had been leaked to the Association some time ago.
So… That all of you rookies have been gathered here at the camp is not unrelated. We have no time and… On top of that, we also have no hands.
That’s why we’d want all of you fight alongside us.
The one located at the Fuji’s Sea of Trees is literally the world’s largest Abyss Gate—Hell’s Red.
The damage if they break through here cannot be compared to what’s happening over our heads.
“… No joke.”
“How do you want us to fight such a horde of monsters!?”
Hearing Yuina-san’s words, the rookies at the venue couldn’t stop trembling.
“… Of course we don’t plan on asking something unreasonable of you rookies. We are, so to speak, no more than insurance.
Hell’s Red is a location of utmost importance for humanity.
Currently, the one entrusted with the protection of Hell’s Red… Is the legendary monster tamer—Kusumi Kanae!”
“!?”
Right after they heard mom’s name.
The air of tension that filled the venue relaxed.
“By Kusumi Kanae… You mean the Immortal Tamer?”
“The one who’s told to be the strongest from among all the generations of top class monster tamers, and to have by herself the battle prowess of 2,000 regular tamers…?”
“Rookies. Be calm.
Seeing that Kanae-san is entrusted with its protection, that Hell’s Red would get destroyed and the peace of humanity put in jeopardy is very unlikely.
However, even Kanae-san is human.
It may be possible that a surprise attack by traitors lets them break the first barrier.
Come that time, it’s our turn.
So that no harm will reach the populace, why don’t we give our all to stop the monster invasion here!?"
“… What the first barrier stops aren’t just… Monsters categorized as E rank type?”
“… Yeah. If it’s like that, even we may be able to stop them.”
“…”
Receiving Yuina-san’s plead, the people at the venue gradually looked like they were recovering their eagerness.
Really, mom’s great.
The panic of moments ago looked like a lie… The moment mom’s name came out, the mood at the venue changed entirely.
However, contrasting with the people around me who had recovered their calm, my face didn’t clear up.
I, who through the survival race passed down at the land of ghouls called the hundred death’s course… Became able to feel the magic power flow of my surroundings, could notice it.
In a place not so far from here.
At the other end through this forest.
In a point around ten kilometers apart southwest.
I noticed it.
Since a while ago, there—two magic power clumps that released a presence unlike anything I had felt till now are engaged in fierce battle.
My body keeps sweating from the discomfort.
Perhaps… It may be that the people who are battling there are stronger than the current me with my limiter 100% released.
This is a first.
Even if I go at full strength, I can’t picture me winning.
“… Chiharu. What’s the matter?”
It may be since I was lost in thought with a grim face.
Zonmi, who was around, peeked at my face of unrest.
Assuming that the info we heard from Yuina-san is true, from the two people that currently are out on battle at Fuji’s Sea of Trees, one is undoubtedly mom.
In that case, the other one…?
Did the Black Tamers have a monster tamer able to fight on par with mom?
…
……
Regrettably… Just one.
I happened to know a monster tamer with a true power equal to mom.
That person… The first tamer I ever met… My former teacher who taught me the ropes of being a monster tamer.
“Hey, Zonmi, Kyouko, Iris. Could you follow me to a place without saying a word?”
“… Nu?”
“What now, that of a sudden?”
“… There’s a person I have to meet no matter what.
Who does that person think they are to do this? On top of hearing what that person has to say I believe it's my responsibility to stop their actions.”
“… Those words from now were irrelevant.
However, if you say you want to go, Chiharu, I’ve decided to follow you even to the very ends of the world.”
“… The same as the ghoul. How do I put it, if you went somewhere by yourself like before, this time I’ll give you a beating!
“Monster tamer. I have had with thee, until now… Uncountable debts of gratitude.
If with this thing I could make some amends… I have no reason to refuse thy wish.”
“… Girls. Thanks.”
I think I really have the best comrades.
While digesting my feelings of gratitude for the three girls that always support me, I dashed at full speed to the depths of the forest.
× × ×
“What… The… Heck…”
When I reached my destination, I was at a loss for words.
I had heard about it a couple of times.
That which stood before my eyes was the Abyss Gate.
The size, approximately around 20 meters?
A huge gate boasting a size a head taller than the surrounding trees let out a bizarre atmosphere.
However, what shocked me wasn’t the Abyss Gate itself.
… They were the ten nearly dead monster tamers lying down around it.
“Terrible… Who could…”
Kyouko covered her mouth in shock.
Zonmi, composed before such an odd situation, examined the lying down tamers.
“If they don’t receive medical treatment asap, they’ll be in danger.
What the heck could they have been fighting to lose so much magic power…? I have no clue.”
“…”
Like Zonmi said, there are lots of baffling points in this situation.
The monster tamers around us had no conspicuous external injuries.
They were in a state of magic power depletion as if someone had sucked it out of them.
… Is such a thing possible?
With absolutely no damage on the outside, their magic power had become emptied.
“Haru-kun… Run away…”
While I was suspicious of the surrounding situation.
I heard mom’s voice from somewhere.
I looked towards the voice.
And, what awaited there was a shocking scene that unconsciously made me doubt my eyes.
“Mom!?”
Mom’s state wasn’t comparable to that of the other collapsed monster tamers.
She had suffered damage from head to toe as if until just now she had been engaged in fierce battle, and there were traces of fresh blood all over her body.
Flustered, in a flash I tried to run to mom’s side.
But.
“Hallo—. Chiharu-kun. Long time no see—”
The voice of a lone woman deterred my movements of running to mom’s side.
No wonder. Since I had predicted from the start that she’d be at this place.
“—Luka-san. All of this… Is it your doing?”
Let’s be frank.
I’m totally scared.
Hurting mom and other unrelated people and other unforgivable things, she… Has no qualms on doing such inhuman deeds.
When I inquired, Luka-san tilted her head in an affected manner.
“Mmmmm. Half marks…? The remaining half was really these children doing!”
In the direction that Luka-san pointed saying so, there were three monster tamers somewhat familiar.
“… Long time no see, Kusumi Chiharu. I eagerly waited for the day when we settled things with you…”
“Oniichan, found you!”
“Fufufu. I looked forward for the day that we battled again.”
The ones who suddenly appeared before me were the monster tamers from the Black Tamers I had have bouts with before.
The man in a black suit (name unknown), Noelle and Lance, those three.
“… Luka-san. What’s your aim? Why have you hurt mom… And unrelated people!?”
The instant after I pressed Luka-san for an answer.
The fist of a huge beast was launched towards me.
“!?”
The one who reacted without a moment’s delay and protected me with a wall of flames was Iris, the one from among my contracted monsters that especially excelled in speed.
“… Though in the earlier battle I left thee at large enough to not take thy life… Thou incorrigibly intendest to bring harm to my master…
Have thou readiest thy resolve, black-vested tamer?”
“… Tsk. And it was a good chance to hit with my preemptive punch… This is the second time. How you dare to get in my way, red dragon!”
… Now that he mentions it, back when the incident of the attack to the Grandeel islands I had seen it once.
The man on the black suit had turned into a giant werewolf and stood before us.
“… ’d grief. This Clarie. Let’s go!”
“Those who stand in our way… I’ll kill them without arguiiiiiiing!”
One after another, those who came after me as if doing a pincer attack were Lance and Noelle—the two monster tamers who possessed a limiter.
Noelle with her arms turned into those of a golem and Lance fully turned into a grim reaper, each one entered into attack motions.
“I won’t let you!”
“Haru! Fall back!”
However, I somehow managed to avoid this surprise attack by Zonmi protecting me from Lance’s attack and Kyouko from Noelle’s attack.
“… Tamer of the Spirits, Lance Patriot.
I had heard that you were locked inside the prison of the undead tribe, but it’s really a privilege to be able to meet you here. My sisters… To you who made (did) those despicable deeds to Aruru and Meruru, I wanted to pass judgment with my own hands!”
“Ooh… Scary. But, I love strong-willed girls.
Just picturing you afterwards as part of my collection… Serving me, it gives me the shivers.”
“…! You fiend!”
Zonmi’s umbrella and Lance’s scythe clashed and raised violent sparks.
“Tamer of the Catastrophe, Noelle North Norm!
I too wanted us to battle each other… How did you dare to trap me at the Saegusa festival!”
“? Who are you? Sorry. I can’t remember well the faces of people that don’t interest me. Especially in the case of people like you with a thin presence.”
“…”
*SNAP*
Something seems to have split inside Kyouko.
“… So. Then I’ll refresh your memory with a battle!”
Noelle arms, that were turned into those of a golem, received Kyouko’s mighty drop-kick.
Nephilim vs golem.
… Here too, as they are both power-type girls, a fierce battle is expected.
“Zonmi, Kyouko. I leave them to you!”
It’s not like I don’t have faith in Zonmi and the rest’s true might, but somehow I have an ill premonition.
I don’t know what kind of means have they employed.
However, those three I had fought with before… It looked like they had had a clearly substantial power-up from the time we fought.
“Sowwy~. It’s become boisterous.
If possible, to you… I’d tell at ease what I’m going to do now, but…”
“… Is that so?”
Saying just that, as there was no use in arguing, I hit Luka-san’s cheek with all my might.
He who moves first wins. This showdown… By no means do you have the comfort to be able to carefreely go chatting.
Like now, if the enemy gets careless… I’ll attack with full power!
“…!?”
*CRASH*
The sound of crashing bones.
It seems that by instantly twisting her body,, Luka-san avoided a direct hit, but… No problem.
My attack that unleashed the maou’s power, even if it miss the center, it will cause fatal damage.
Perhaps… No, surely.
I felt her lower jaw get horribly destroyed.
Luka-san, who had received my attack, was sent flying seven meters straight and crashed against one of the trees growing in the surroundings.
“I did it!?”
Luka-san, who had received my attack and laid in the ground, slowly stood up.
Right on the mark, Luka-san’s lower jaw was smashed to a pulp and that beautiful face had been defiled.
… Though my head thought that there was no other way, even being in a fight waging our lives, I felt terribly guilty about hitting a woman’s face.
However, seconds after that.
The guilty conscience inside my heart was sent out of bounds.
“Ufufu. Chiharu-kun, you rascal. To suddenly go hitting an older woman… Hopeless kid. Oneechan… Has gotten a bit aroused.”
Right then, it was… As if witnessing first-hand a ghoul’s regeneration ability.
“Are you… Joking…”
Luka-san, in a bit of a moment.
Not even five seconds had passed and her lower jaw who should have been smashed to bits regenerated, allowing her to be able to speak as if nothing had happened.
“…”
Different.
There’s definitely something different from the guys I’ve fought until now.
I couldn’t stop the chills in my spine.
Standing before Luka-san, I was tormented by the strange sensation of standing before hundreds of monsters at once.
“… Don’t make that face, Chiharu-kun.
Aren’t you being able to stand before a long-awaited foe you can fight with showing each other your precious full power?
This experience… Since it may not come again in your life… For now let’s enjoy a pure battle?”
“!?”
Luka-san, showing a bewitching smile, uprooted a huge tree about 10 meters tall.
“!?”
It’s not only a ghoul’s regenerative ability.
I don’t know what contrivance has made it possible, but it seems that Luka-san owns a power on par with a Nephilim.
“Here~. A present from oneechan?”
Like that, Luka-san threw at me the huge tree that she was holding.
I give up. Attacking with power at 30%… Doing something so half-hearted will definitely get me killed.
However, my limiter has a time limit.
If I fight at full power, in no more than five minutes, my magic power will get depleted.
… There’s no helping it.
How about getting one gear more up?
As I release my limiter to 50%, like that wings grew from my back and I soared to the air.
I narrowly avoided the huge tree.
Definitely, it’s reassuring having the ability to fly.
To recover my pace, while staying in mid-air, I cooled my head and thought about my next strategy.
However.
“… Did you thought that by flying to the sky you’d be safe?”
A woman’s voice hinting adult composure whispered into my ear.
At point-blank range in the span of a breath.
Turning back, there she was.
While flapping crimson wings disproportionately large in respect to her own body. Luka-san… Laughed behind me.
“… Chiharu-kun. Could your full power only be that?
Quickly… Quickly show me your full power!”
Next instant, my vision was dyed red.
As it was such an abrupt happening, for a moment I couldn’t comprehend what had been done to me.
“… Guwah!”
When I finally sorted out the situation, my body had been thrown against the ground from high up in the sky.
… What happened?
That must be it. Luka-san has produced flames from the palms of her own hands, burned my wings to a crisp and like that I plunged into the ground.
I feel that I have several broken bones, but this time that’s fine.
Due to the severe burns on my body, I’ve fallen into a distressing situation where I can’t even breathe, but this time that doesn’t matter.
Both of them, as long as there’s magic power left the damage suffered can be recovered in a flash by the limiter.
However, what the heck is this?
A ghoul’s recovering ability.
A Nephilim’s power.
A red dragon’s flight & flames.
Luka-san… Has she housed inside one body the strong points of those three at the same time!?
“… How come.”
“? What would it be?”
By the time I noticed, several questions had spilled from my lips.
“How come… How come this thing!?
You weren’t so strong, were you?…!
We… Should both have the same feeling of wanting to help the world!
And despite that… Wasn’t there any other way!?”
“…”
When I inquired, Luka-san looked at me with sorrow and slowly started to narrate.
“… Why don’t I tell you an allegory?
The humans and monsters who live in this world, if we liken them to paint colors, red, blue, yellow. Each and every one of them is wonderful… The colors called individuality.”
Starting with a “but”, Luka-san continued.
“Even if one by one the colors are wonderful… When you mix all of the colors in a palette, what color do you think you get?
—the answer is a crooked ugly grey.
It’s not like it’s anyone’s fault.
Even if there’s no ill will, when lots of consciousness get mixed, the world instantly becomes a slightly dirty color. That’s why I… Expose the people responsible for the incident of ten years ago… Making them pay for their crimes, I don’t intend anything like that.
The one wrong is not an individual—rather it’s the world.
That’s why I’ve decided to remake the world at once.
I’ll destroy the Abyss Gate, and riding in the chaos, I’ll rule the world from the top!
And I… Will guide every living being on this world in the correct direction so that just one unique color is shown!”
“…”
It’s not like I don’t understand Luka-san’s claim.
School and society unanimously teach kids that “individuality is wonderful”.
However, If we go perusing history, we can’t honestly praise individuality.
—Because of differences in thinking, people engage in arguments.
—Because of differences in skin color, people engage in discrimination.
—Because of differences in what should be protected, people engage in war.
If such a thing as individuality didn’t exist… The world may have been more peaceful. The incident ten years ago where more than thousand people in total lost their lives due to the IMA’s behind-the-scenes inhuman research may have too have been prevented.
“… However, let’s say that goes well, a hundred years later… What about the world after you’ve died!? The world after they’ve lost their just leader… Won’t it become more wretched than now?!”
“Ufufu. Thanks for your worries. But, it’s alright. Since me dying won’t ever be possible.”
“… Eh?”
“I mean… It’s for that that I got my hands on this unaging immortal body.”
“…”
What haz diz gurl sayz?
“The leader who holds the correct color will keep ruling with eternal life.
That’s the full story behind the Arcadia project us Black Tamers aim for!”
“…”
I can’t follow the logic of her speech.
Eternal life? Unaging and immortal?
Such a living being… how could it exist in this…
“You’re putting an unsatisfied expression. Fine. I’ll show you.
The legendary monster tamer… Kusumi Kanae, my true form that overwhelmed even her—‘ultimate perfect form Great Luka-san’—
Level… Overlimit”
The instant after she muttered just that.
My body was struck by an unprecedented amount of magic power unlike anything I had felt until now.
“… Kuh!”
And then one more surprising thing happened.
… What the heck is this?
The trees growing around Luka-san wilted all at once, the earth became barren and cracked after that.
“She’s sucking the magic power from her surroundings… Perhaps…!?”
Let’s take it as if the situation that’s happening right before me is like I said, the mysterious phenomenon of all those laying monster tamers with no signs of battle, only emptied of magic power, when I came here would tentatively be explained.
While Luka-san was sucking the magic power from the living beings around her, she grew larger like a snowball rolling on the ground.
The form she finally took… Was ‘something’ resembling a huge snake.
‘Something’… Calling it like that is because I had no other simile to express what the heck was that.
Since I couldn’t grasp its whole image from the ground, to check that ‘something’, flapping my wings, I once again flew to air.
“What the heck… Is this…”
Looking down from the sky, once I had at last a whole picture before my eyes, I was left speechless.
This… Can it really be called a living being?
It mainly has the shape of a serpent, but eye, arms, legs, wings, the result was something that has those all over the place.
That length, doesn’t it easily surpass one kilometer?
Of Luka-san herself, it was just the upper body, the lower half being turned into the head and body of a serpent.
The thing left barely humanlike was just that one point.
“Ufufu. How’s it?
The unaging and immortal body achieved after researching for ten years… ‘Ultimate perfect form Great Luka-san’?”
“…”
What kind of comment does this person expect from me?
“Ufufu. It seems that you are still too young to understand this body’s magnificence.
In a normal person’s case, just by successfully inserting into them the cells of a single monster species, they reach their limit, but… I was different.
My body had the ability of being able to take in cells from lots of monster species at the same time!
That’s why I got perfected.
The ultimate body with the feature of, by adjusting the balance of the monster cells of more than a hundred of species it has embedded at the same time, changes the life energy of the surrounding beings into magic power and rejuvenates the cells!
This body I don’t call it neither First nor Second… It’s called Third.”
“…”
Ultimate perfect form Great Luka-san.
It would be good if I could attach a smile to this joke-like name, but her form is nothing to laugh for.
Ironically, her aspect. Is the chaotic gray obtained by mixing different individualities that she had spoken of earlier.
It looked like the embodiment of how things were in this world.
“Chiharu-kun. I’ll go as far as giving you one last chance more.
If you cooperate with us, you’ll be perfected by our Arcadia project.
If, by mass-producing the strongest monster species that is the chimera of a maou and a human, we could raise them as soldiers… Our organization could very easily climb to the peak of the world.
Isn’t that great?”
“… Mass-producing the strongest species… That’s quite a disturbing speech.”
“You can be at ease.
I understand that you are not for blood-reeking jobs, and if possible I don’t want to continue with inhuman researches.
That’s why… I want my methods to be as much humane as possible.
Specifically… In the event of you joining our organization… I promise not to give you any job other than baby-making!
The Black Tamers will gather only cute girls picked of course from among the best of the organization… And make you your very own harem.
Eei. Get that, you thieve! If you wish I can award you with the right of making children with either me or Noelle?
Ufufu? How’s it?
Wouldn’t that make a boy glad~”
“…”
That the somewhat fascinating conditions that Luka-san proposed snatched my heart just a bit will be a secret.
Nevertheless.
“I refuse!
Regrettably, I… Since I’m a big pervert with a monster fetish and sister complex, I don’t get aroused by bodies other than those of monster girls or my little sister! Since such a disposition… I’ve been trained into it by them!”
I… Could promptly refuse her temptation.
Why, you say… My conclusion regarding this matter was decided long ago.
I don’t know about difficult things such as guiding the world in the correct direction.
For that reason, I… Have decided to only fight for the sake of the important people besides me.
“… Is that so. I have mixed feelings as your former superior.
When I first met you… You couldn’t decide by yourself even which girl to make a contract with… You were an indecisive good-for-nothing kid, and yet… The you right now has the eyes of a boy with a firm resolution.
Frankly… The you right now is cool.
Unbecoming of my age, oneechan’s heart is throbbity-throb.
But, y’know. But, but…”
Luka-san, saying that with a tone of putting on airs,
“Then, die?”
With a refreshing smile, sentenced me to death.
What do I do now?
*GUNYU GUNYU*
Luka-san, winding octopus legs-like thing that came from her own body… Started to create countless giant arms by aggregating them.
Very carefully surveying, at the tip of the most enormous of them a big gaping hole was opened.
“!?”
And, the next instant.
From the tip of the arm created by Luka-san… She shot a high-speed energy bullet.
Let me say first that it was totally by chance that I managed to avoid her attack… Rather, it would be better to say that her attack had no intention of striking.
The energy bullet shot by Luka-san missed my body, and like that it made contact with Mt. Fuji.
*KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
While raising a frighteningly thunderous roar that left a buzzing in the ears despite the sound stopping, the energy bullet that Luka-san shot exploded.
“… Aha. I missed. But… This time it may hit?”
“…!”
Let’s see how it ended.
Mt. Fuji, regarded for a long time as the symbol of Japan, of all things, from the earlier attack, the upper part vanished like a crème caramel that someone had scooped a spoonful of, and was left in a tragically crooked shape.
Darn.
Having to battle this nonsensical opponent… Even I think that’s absurd.
Not even I know how much can I do.
However, I… So as to protect the people dear to me and the world the people dear to me love, have to stop with all my might the advancement of her plans.
I’m unwilling but there’s no room to it.
This time, for sure, it’s my genuine… 100%!
Invoking my trump card of fully turning into a monster, while tracing a spiraling trajectory, I charged against the enemy before me.
× × ×
This was the start.
Even fighting at full strength, I don’t feel like I can win…
For me, if I attacked making best use of my speed and plunged at my opponent’s bosom, against she who has a humongous body, I think that the battle could progress with a limited advantage on my part, but…
Her essence, which seems to have been made by mixing cells of monsters of more than a hundred of species… Is close to being insubstantial and unstructured
Although since a while ago I have attempted on countless occasions to get close relying on maneuverability, Luka-san’s body; protected by the uncountable tentacle-like things, didn’t let me pick up my pace in the least.
Soon the time limit I can maintain my limiter will draw near.
I must decide this showdown in one go…
Thinking after this fact, me trying to rush this showdown may have been what left me out of luck.
“!?”
“Ufufu. I caught you~”
Did hurrying the showdown make me adopt an almost straight-line trajectory?
Just attacking by relying on speed gave me an advantage against her, and yet… With the zillionth tentacle attack from today she finally bound me.
“…!”
This thing!
Making full use of my limiter, I tore off one after another the tentacles that grew from Luka-san’s body.
But, however.
Even if I tore them off, since from the tentacles grew other tentacles, no matter how much I resist, my body won’t be released.
“… One last thing, Chiharu-kun.
Don’t be so pessimistic facing death. Since your body, after this, will keep on living as a part of me.”
Saying that, Luka-san shot at me the same high-speed bullet that a while before had blown away Mt. Fuji.
I give up.
Luka-san plans on blasting up my body with her own tentacles.
However, even knowing that, I don’t have any way to counteract the oncoming attack.
“Goodbye, Chiharu-kun.”
Before my consciousness blew off, I think I heard Luka-san’s words.
× × ×
“Eh… Uh…?”
Why… Am I still alive.
As almighty as my limiter is, nonetheless, it doesn’t seem like I can receive an attack that blew away a mountain yet still be alive.
… Even if I say that, the limiter that was my last ray of hope should have been completely cancelled by now, though.
“… Aaah. That’s right.”
Guessing from the line that Luka-san said at the end.
Luka-san is planning on absorbing my body into her own.
To her, it would be a drawback if she blew away my body without leaving a trace.
For that reason, I… Could survive in such a wretched state.
The bones in my hands and legs were smashed in pieces, like a turned up jigsaw puzzle, but since my body’s magic power had completely ran out, there didn’t seem to be any signs of restoration.
Ahaha.
If the situation has worsened to this point, no matter what miracle happens, I can no longer picture any way of winning against her.
The only possibility I can think of is, after Zonmi and the rest finish their battles, if they rush up to my side…
“They won’t be coming to save you.”
Plainly declared Luka-san, as if seeing through my thinking.
“It’s a pity.
The sweeties you rely on looks like they have been totally overpowered by my subordinates with their magic power drastically raised by using the dragon blood that we harvested from the red dragons five years ago.”
What appeared into my sight along with Luka-san’s words were three dark human shadows.
“… Haha! The great me with dragon blood is invincible! Right now I feel the greatest! I’ve perfectly returned what I owed to that nasty red dragon!”
“Kyahaha! Is it oniichan’s turn next?”
“Fuhahaha. At last! At last the curtain has risen for our aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage!
“…”
Aaah. What’s with this.
In Noelle’s arms, turned into those of a golem, there were the figures of Zonmi, Kyouko and Iris, battered from head to toe and hanging their heads.
Move!
Please move, body of mine!
They can do what they please with me, but at least I want to save the girls.
Had my body any strength left for speaking, I’ll kowtow or anything to ask for that, but my body, with all it’s bones cracked, unfortunately can’t move.
“Well… Chiharu-kun. Become one with me. Let’s burn together into our retinas the dawn of a new world. Isn’t it great?”
“…”
Darn!…
It seems that my devil’s luck has run out.
It’s a pity, but, including me, there’s no allies left to go against the Black Tamers. If we liken it to the world of games, the party has been wiped out.
Sorry, Zonmi.
Sorry, Kyouko. Sorry, Iris.
Sorry… Everyone.
The moment I gave up on the fight and closed my eyes.
“I won’t let you!”
From somewhere I thought I heard a voice I missed.
Who is the one there…?
What entered my fuzzy and dim line of sight was glossy black hair that unconsciously made you want to caress it & big and round innocent eyes.
Could it be that you are…!?
“Oniichan! Manami’s virginity! Take it!”
“!?”
To tell you the truth, there’s no way that the me back then could have understood in the least (slightest) the words that she had sputtered.
However, they were the words of my little sister with whom I had spent more than ten years, and for that reason, I intuitively guessed what I should do next.
Mustering the last of my strength, with my eyes closed, I pushed up my right arm up high.
What now.
*SLIP*
I felt like if something had slipped into my pinky.
Within my faint consciousness, I made sure of what was that which my sister had risked her life to bring me.
“…?”
Contract ring.
It was surely a contract ring.
…
……
Hey, hey. Wait a minute.
Sis. Even if I’m in quite a desperate pinch, isn’t that a bit too much lacking in judgement?
It’s not necessary to explain it now… The contract ring is a device used for making a pact between a human and a monster.
Putting it on a fellow human is decidedly nonsense.
But, however.
The instant I held that thought.
The contract ring I had just put on started to let out a big glow like never before.
“… Whoa!? The heck!?”
This glowing is the unmistakable proof of a contract completion!
But, how the heck!?
What reason could have led to a contract between fellow humans.
“It’s sister power's injection turn! Boost!”
And the moment after my sister chanted that incantation.
Manami’s magic power flowed into me.
“Amazing…”
I unconsciously couldn’t help but leak a voice of admiration.
To the extent that the quantity of magic power my sister infused me with was inexhaustible, that it became drops of golden light that I could clearly see with my own eyes, and my body that until just now I couldn’t so much as twitch was fixed instantly.
Moreover, that wasn’t all.
“… What’s this? Strength is filling me from the depths of my body.”
“Wonderful. If it’s me right now… I feel like I won’t lose to anyone.”
“The magic power of the little sister is reaching us through the tamer…? Could it be…!? This…!?”
Zonmi, Kyouko, Iris, the bodies of the three of them, like mine, started to glow in golden light and they got back the will to fight.
A full recovery to when before fighting… No, the magic power in their bodies surpasses full recovery…?
“Impudent braaaaaat! No matter how many times we fight, the result will be the same!”
Most likely, he planned to reach a conclusion before my sister’s magic power reached (ended).
The monster tamer in a black suit who turned into a werewolf bared his fangs against Iris.
“Iris!?”
“… Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
However, the one who cried like that was the werewolf.
The werewolf was engulfed whole by an azure flame and couldn’t help but roll on the floor.
“Iris’s flames… Azure…!?”
Now that you mention it, I think that they taught me this in chemistry.
Azure flames have a higher energy quantity than regular red flames and hold a high calorific value.
How come Iris can suddenly produce azure flames?
The answer… If we assume it's because of the golden light we are wrapped with…
Like that, the earlier showdown ended instantly.
“… Darn! What the blazes. These movements…!?”
Wrapped in golden light, Zonmi, her speed remarkably risen, got to a level where she produced afterimages, as if many Zonmis were fighting at the same time.
“…Gubaah!”
Lance received Zonmi’s piercing attacks in succession from her umbrella.
“Lance Patriot. No matter the circumstances… Your deed of brainwashing us ghouls… Your large number of felonies by no means can be forgiven. Receive your reward once again in the other world!”
“… Kuh! This me can’t catch up in speed… Is it…!?”
If it’s the me right now revived by my sister’s power, I can barely follow with my eyes.
Although each of Zonmi’s attacks’ power don’t make a big change by themselves, you could say that their number is on a whole new level.
After all… That’s only natural.
Zonmi, in this short time… Has already hit Lance more than a thousand times.
“Guaaaaaaaaah!?”
As a result of receiving in succession Zonmi’s fierce like a storm consecutive attacks… Lance’s transformation got undone.
It was a flawless seemingly not dangerous victory very much like Zonmi and her honor student disposition.
“Taaaaaaaaah!”
“… Han! No matter how many times, it’s useless!”
Noelle turned her arms into rock and guarded from Kyouko’s fist.
Before that overwhelming defense, Kyouko’s attack looked like it was stopped, but…
“… What!?”
*CREAKCREAKCREAK*
Noelle’s arms made a sound and got smashed.
The revived Kyouko’s attack at last got through Noelle’s defense.
“… Get ready! You ill-natured girl!”
With a villainous face unbecoming of a girl, like that, Kyouko straddled Noelle getting into a mount position.
“Woah!? Stop!? Don’t joke…!? Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Kyouko didn’t hold back and, like that, she punched Noelle’s face. She punched. She punched.
“…”
By repeatedly attacking with no hesitation, making me who was looking draw away, she achieved victory.
That’s really like Kyouko.
Soundly speaking, hearing it is enough, but it was a too plain way of winning that won’t be shown onto screen.
“… What the heck is this? What has happened?”
Luka-san was in dismay not understanding the situation before her.
Without paying attention to Luka-san, this time I somehow could make a guess about the phenomenon that’s taking place before my eyes.
As you know, I am a chimera born from a human and maou.
What would happen if that me makes a contract with my sister, who has the blood of the strongest monster tamer, mom?
The answer is easy. Crystal clear.
The contract ring should have perceived me as a monster and my sister as a monster tamer, and completed the contract.
In other words, if we explain the current situation in an easy-to-understand way.
This kind of unexpected double-layered contract was established.
Of course, this kind of foul play-like technique can only be pulled off by me, who has the disposition of a monster and the disposition of a monster tamer.
“… Luka-san.”
Calling the name of the archenemy before my eyes, I approached her step by step.
“Right here, right now, I who has the blood of the strongest monster, dad, and my sister who has the blood of the strongest monster tamer, mom, have made a contract. Do you understand what this means?”
“Who knows… I don’t understand. Tell me.”
Luka-san’s expression, different from a while ago, somewhat looked as if her composure had disappeared.
“Strongest + stongest gives superstrongest!!”
After loudly proclaiming that, releasing my limiter to 100%… No, 120%, I took to the sky.
Then, something surprising happened.
I definitely can’t lose.
Was it for strongly thinking that the one image I vividly pictured in my mind broke out?
The image in my head, before long… Became as clear as if it was there.
In the end, really… The sword I pictured in my head materialized in my hand.
Haven’t I seen this sword somewhere…!?
The name, if I’m not wrong, wasn’t it ‘Shiden’?
Lilith-san had brought me before to the former maou’s office.
Then, I remember that she told me that it was the former maou’s favorite weapon.
Then, why has it materialized now in my hand?
“Goooo! Oniichaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”
Receiving my sister’s cheers, I promptly came back to my senses.
… Let’s skip the details.
In any case, if I could defeat the foe before me, that’d be good—.
“Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
I flew with (at) full power towards Luka-san; turned into an enormous snake.
On the way, Luka-san tried many times to block me with her tentacles, but having made a contract with my sister and my limiter released to 120%, to me those movements looked still.
Slipping through Luka-san’s attacks, at last I managed to land on her a stroke of my sword.
From the sword I held *CRACKLE CRACKLE* black lightning was shot.
It looks like this blade… Not only inflicts damage by the sheer attack, it seems that it confers damage by lightning.
“Hu~mph. Superb power. But, it’s a pity.
Didn’t I say it? My body can generate magic power on a semipermanent basis. This kind of damage will be recovered in an instant… Wha!”
I realized why Luka-san’s face turned pale in an instant.
The limbs that Luka-san had regrown turned ashen grey, became countless particles and disappeared into the air.
“This power, could it be…!? The former maou’s characteristic power of returning any magic power to nothing…!?”
I heard Luka-san muttering something, but since I was concentrating only on what was before my eyes, my ears didn’t pick up her words.
Using the weapon I was grasping tightly, I slashed at the enemy before me.
“… Kuh!”
Luka-san trued to capture me by manipulating more than ten tentacles at the same time, but I was easy slipping through her attacks.
There may no longer exist in this world anyone who can catch the me revived by borrowing my sister’s power.
Moving by weaving my way between the approaching tentacles, I poured a storm of attacks onto the enemy before my eyes.
Luka-san, with each slash of my weapon, raised a heartbreaking scream and was made to cancel her transformation.
“That… My… Arcadia plan that I had nurtured for ten years… Crumbling away… In such a joke-like manner…”
“…”
Until the very end, I held no sympathy for Luka-san’s methods, but there’s a bit of pity.
Even if it was nothing to be proud of, having the plan you had bet your life on… Foiled by the likes of me who popped out of nowhere, surely you won’t accept it.
“… Sorry. Instantly turning the scene into a joke no matter how serious it was is my sister’s expertise.”
That’s why, I… To her who stuck with her own justice to the extent of losing her human form, I plan to stop her while showing respect.
Luka-san, her transformation completely dispelled by my attacks, turned into human form and got thrown in midair.
“Luka-san. In the end, I, till the last moment… Couldn’t endorse your plan of sacrificing some to save the many.
However… The feelings for that world you’ve devoted your power to save no matter the methods surely have not been in vain.
That’s why, now… Rest at ease, please.”
“…”
When I told my honest thoughts, I felt that Luka-san’s face seemed to clear as if demons had stopped haunting her.
“I leave this world to you… Chiharu-kun.”
“Yeah. Leave it to me.”
So that Luka-san’s body didn’t crash into the ground, I caught her in midair.
Losing her limiter, Luka-san’s body is surprisingly light.
Nevertheless, the hopes that she had entrusted to me were in no way light.
In this way, the curtain was drawn for this long-lasting fight… Rather, the real battle may start now for me.
Looking at her sleeping face of being wounded all over, that was what I thought in the end.