Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

127 – Possibility?

He was certain he’d killed him.

He’d aimed for the neck with unwavering precision.

Unless it was all a delusion,

the b*stard hadn’t even reacted.

Even those damn eyes of his

couldn’t follow the movement,

simply yielding his arm.

So he hadn’t doubted it.

No, doubt was impossible.

If his previous strike had been

sixty percent of his full strength,

this time he’d swung his sword with the single-minded intention to kill.

[Kill, kill, kill…]

‘I…know that…!!’

[Kill, defile, desecrate, trample him!!]

It didn’t matter that madness

was screaming endlessly inside his head.

He’d never once believed this power was safe, anyway.

He was simply content to have obtained a strength he could use right now.

Thanks to it, like this…

For the first and last time in his life,

he would bring him to his knees

and claim his head.

Even if he became a demon, he wanted

at least this b*stard’s head as a trophy.

Even if he lost his sanity and

became a demon rampaging among civilians.

It would be proof enough that he had defeated this one.

“Uoooh!!!”

Yes, that was how it should have gone.

The neck of a boy who wasn’t fully grown yet,

and who’d lost his right arm…

With his current power, he should have taken it with ease.

“…Huh?”

“What fresh hell is this?!”

Had my blade not halted just before

the b*stard’s throat.

Surely, that would have been it.

Even now, a trickle

of crimson was leaking from the nape of his neck,

a mere graze it seemed.

But, I had not taken his life, nor severed his head.

The wretch was still,

obstinately alive.

Of all the souls I’d faced, this one clung to life most fiercely.

‘Why… why are you still struggling?!’

I have become this.

And yet, *you*, in that state, remain.

The thought chafed so unbearably

I gritted my teeth and

channeled every ounce of strength I possessed.

The target: his throat.

His absolute demise.

“Gwaaah!!!”

“…?”

But against all hopes and expectations,

my blade remained

unmoving.

As if his neck were harder than my very steel.

“Damn it all…!”

I strained, teeth grinding,

summoning every scrap of

untamed energy that swirled

within my being,

yet I could only

penetrate a sliver.

Why?

Why can I not kill you?

Why can I not defeat you?

As that vile thought crossed my mind,

a human arm burst forth

from the b*stard’s throat.

From the very spot where, moments before,

I had been desperately trying to jam my blade.

“Don’t… torment Blackie.”

A frail arm, not appearing particularly strong,

wriggled free,

and following it, a childish girl

sprang from within the beast’s body.

A young girl who, even generously estimated,

looked no older than fifteen years.

Her only distinctive trait was

the same jet-black

hair and eyes as the beast.

That girl, now, blocked his sword.

Truly, if he’d just plunged a bit further.

The beast’s neck would already have been

his for the taking!

[Irritating, isn’t it? Irritating!!]

‘..Krk.’

[Kill, kill, kill.]

‘Shu…t up…!!’

[Break the arms, crush the legs, brew liquor from the eyes!!]

The insane voice, dancing

to the rhythm of his rage,

resonates in his heart, forcing his body to move on its own.

Solely to slaughter everything before his eyes.

“Die, die, all of you die!!!”

[Heh heh heh!! Yes, kill them all, every last one!!]

The body, consumed by madness, grants strength several times its usual level,

and the reason, soaked in elation and pleasure, craves only instinct.

Ah, a dream overflowing with malice.

A sweet dream he

absolutely does not want to wake from.

*

“Dieeeee!!”

“Blackie… I’ll protect you!!”

What is this situation?

He was absolutely certain he’d died.

Why is he still alive,

and who is that girl that sprang from his neck?

A girl whose appearance doesn’t exceed

fifteen years,

emerging from

his body…

The fight erupted without warning.

And with such unnerving skill.

As if this was simply how things should be.

“What the…urgh…?!?”

“Kkamangi!!”

Her slender arm

darkened, turning black,

and a swirl of ebony light burst forth from her palm.

A single, unbroken line,

a deep and dense darkness.

To think such energy flowed from one

barely scraping 160 centimeters,

it was a chilling, yet beautiful, umbral light.

“Where’d this little runt come from…!”

“..Eep, stay back!!”

“Die, you too!!”

Black light and a violet blade began their own, strange dance.

The purple sword, distorted,

wavered back and forth,

but the girl refused to yield, and with a delicate gesture of her hand,

black arrows shot out, again and again, from everywhere.

Allen’s single blade

against the girl’s dozens of arrows.

Which would triumph was

hard to say for certain,

but at least for this moment,

quantity definitively outweighed quality.

“Urggh…!”

“Eek…!”

The black arrowheads sank

deep into Allen’s violet flesh,

*thunk thunk*,

They hissed with an unsettling sound.

Drip, drip.

The flesh around the embedded arrows

melted and fell away,

and the ground it touched

began to dissolve as well,

but his blade did not falter.

A wound that would have any ordinary person

screaming on the spot,

and even knights, no matter how great their endurance

and pain tolerance,

or any creature of similar caliber…

Surely, no—at the very least, they should have paused for a moment.

Unless they were pathetic souls dragged along

helplessly by the weight of their swords.

They absolutely *must* have stopped.

“This…sort of thing.”

“Eeeeheeaat…!”

“Khehehe…something like this can never kill me!!”

On the contrary, the speed

of his swordsmanship only accelerated further,

not a single hesitation to be found.

Beeeeee─

What snapped me out of this unreal situation

was a ringing in my ears, even more intense than before,

and feeling a thick

fluid in my ear canal,

it seemed my eardrum was properly damaged as well.

No wonder, the sounds had been

strangely cutting in and out for a while now.

I tried to raise myself up, but no strength came.

My legs only trembled,

looking pathetically weak.

My head spun,

the amount of blood lost from my body was considerable,

and still, my magic refused to listen.

‘…No, at this rate, I’m definitely going to d—’

“Oppa…!”

“…Aria?”

Like a large dog running to its master,

Aria rushed towards me.

Though her expression was anything but welcoming.

“Oppa, your body…your body…mph!”

“Shhh…”

With the one arm I had left,

I quickly covered her mouth,

glancing over at the two still fighting.

“…Thankfully, it seems they didn’t hear.”

“Oppa… your arm… the blood… ugh…”

“Don’t make such a fuss, Aria.

I’m still alive, you know.”

Well, who knows when I’ll finally kick it.

Just judging from my current state,

I could die any second now.

No, even if I weren’t so keen on dying, the amount of blood loss

will probably see to it soon enough.

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

“Aria, tear my clothes and bind the wound.”

“Oppa!!”

“Quickly, we need to staunch the bleeding, even a little.”

“No, why are you doing this, Oppa…!!”

“…Ha, Aria. Fall back now, while you still can.”

Right now, Aria,

bound by that mana restraint on her arm,

wasn’t a fighting force;

she was just a regular person.

That’s why I didn’t want her caught up in this battle,

and why I entrusted her

to Charlotte.

Hoping she would protect her with everything she had.

Because right now, even a stray

shard of stone could be

life-threatening for her.

“I won’t hear any objections, Aria. Quickly─”

“Shut it and just let me heal you, you idiot.”

“Huh?”

Before I knew it, the Saintess’s holy power,

was pouring into my body.

Those warm, golden energies.

“Saintess, staying here could put you in─”

“I already know exactly what you were about to say.”

“…”

“Someone else already interfered in this fight, you know?”

“…”

“I don’t know who that little one is, but with things like this we have no reason to sit back.”

“…”

“Now this fight isn’t yours

alone anymore.”

“…But at least Aria─”

“Oppa, I’m okay now, too.”

Aria’s arm, which was just a moment ago

holding pressure on my wound, reaches towards me.

Still a slender wrist,

and encircling it, a single bracelet.

A rather unpleasant sensation emanates from the

bracelet, jingling towards me.

“Is something wrong with the mana restraint?”

“This thing, apparently its effect has weakened.”

“…Who?

“I used a little bit of my power.”

“…Lady Charlotte?”

“Well, me, I’ve tried using that thing,

quite a lot of times, after all.”

“…”

“I know the formula, roughly.”

“…”

“So how long can you hold out?

I did put in a support request, though?”

“…”

“Or maybe just running away is…”

Hahaha…

I’m so dumbfounded, I can’t help but laugh.

Running away wouldn’t have really mattered.

It’s only natural to feel fear,

if you’re someone who does feel it.

‘..Is that just my own thought?’

“Oppa?”

“Are you hurting somewhere else?

Or are you about to hurt again…”

“…No, nothing in particular.”

My gaze shifts to the still-flickering

black glimmer,

and I thought.

Like this, there’s still, a chance.

She said she requested support, so…

Soon enough, the soldiers would arrive.

Until then, the task at hand was clear, wasn’t it?

“…I hope everyone makes it through.”

“Hm? Did you say something…”

“Nothing, let’s focus.”

All we had to do was endure.

Somehow, we had to survive.

Forget everything else.

Make that the absolute priority.

Yes, unless something else appeared here…

We still had a chance.

*

“…Hm?”

“What is it, what now, you old coot?”

“…Quiet down, will you…you strumpet.”

“Huh? This crazy old man’s still got…”

“…Hmm, that’s odd.”

“…What, what’s so odd?”

“Didn’t I spread some poison a long time ago?”

“…Ah, that stuff you used on the ‘offering’s’ mother?”

“Yes, but in the process,

there was a certain fellow I used slightly…”

“…?”

“Why is the power I planted

within that one’s body reacting now of all times?”

“…I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying.”

“Hmm.”

“Hey, what? Where are you going, old man?”

“When you get older… your instincts sharpen, I should check it out.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“Where that body is, of course.”