This Is It (4): The Demon Slayer's Declaration
This was it. This exact moment.
Evan and Liberio stepped into the half-collapsed building. The wreckage made it impossible to tell which way the paths ran. They even questioned whether anyone could still be alive inside. But neither man intended to give up.
“Estelle!! If you can hear us, answer!”
“Sister Estelle!”
Two men fated to clash over a single woman. Yet in this moment, they had no choice but to work together.
“What now? Should we split up and search?”
“No, Brother Evan. It’s better if we move as one.”
Demons that had caught their voices came swarming from ahead. Perhaps they still hadn’t eaten their fill of human flesh. The moment they spotted Evan and Liberio, they charged.
“Graaaah—!”
The ring of steel sounded as Evan drew his sword and glanced back.
“Liberio. How capable are you in a fight?”
“I can at least keep myself alive.”
“Then I won’t waste attention on you. Just support with your holy power. We’re breaking straight through.”
Evan had battled demons since he was a boy. Border Count and knight both, he was a man who lived by the blade. Mana surged along his sword as it severed a demon’s arm.
“Kyaaak!”
“Their screams will summon more! You must kill them with a single blow!”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve killed more of these bastards than you ever will.”
“Then why only cut off its arm?”
“To drag every demon that might be heading for Estelle right here!”
Idiot. This is why you can never reason with religious fanatics.
Evan clicked his tongue and sliced off the creature’s remaining arm. The demon’s agonized howl turned the distant ruins noisy. More of them were definitely coming.
“At least the bait worked.”
Evan raised his mana and slashed the wall beside them. Stone crumbled, sealing the passage completely.
“Hey, Saint. Got anything useful besides holy power?”
Running the opposite way, Evan asked over his shoulder.
“I’ve been tracking Sister Estelle’s presence.”
“Presence? Wait. What exactly did you stick on Estelle?”
When Evan’s face twisted, Liberio clicked his tongue. I don’t know what filth you’re imagining, but the answer is no.
“From Sister Estelle I sense a warm light.”
“Warm light? So you really did plant something weird on her.”
“A faithless man like Brother Evan wouldn’t understand. But I can feel it clearly. It is a beacon, a divine lantern that clings to the rare few beloved by God.”
Beloved by God, my ass. Evan sneered inwardly. A person’s love from another person was more than enough. And the love Estelle would receive was already overflowing from him alone.
“So this warm light of yours. You can actually sense it?”
“Quiet. I just felt the warmth. This direction.”
“Out of the way. I’ll take point.”
“Trying to look impressive when we find Sister Estelle?”
“Or you can fight the demons yourself, Liberio.”
At Evan’s blunt suggestion, Liberio simply gestured for him to lead. Evan clicked his tongue again and broke into a run.
“Kyaaaak!”
Demons lying in ambush attacked several times along the way. The first wave was manageable. The second nearly killed him. Blood poured from a deep gash across Evan’s shoulder. As he cursed the wound, holy light washed over it and the injury closed.
“…You really are a saint.”
“Brother Evan has been healed by holy power many times before. It seems you still fail to grasp God’s greatness.”
“If God truly existed, He would have answered our prayers and wiped every last demon from the earth.”
“That is hardly appropriate speech in front of a high figure of the Holy Kingdom.”
“Which is exactly why I’m saying it. You’re a saint, aren’t you? Close to God? Then consider this me filing a formal complaint through you.”
They wandered the ruined building for nearly twenty minutes before two women appeared ahead of them.
“Estelle!”
“Sister Estelle!!”
Estelle, supporting Chiara, lifted her head. Her expression said she never expected to see them here.
“Border Count? Even the Saint? How did you…”
“Are you all right? Damn it, you’re hurt! Liberio, heal her right—”
“I was already going to.”
“Wait. This person first…”
Estelle pushed Chiara forward. The woman had terrible wounds across her head and both legs. Even in that state she had fought demons.
“Please stay still, Sister Estelle.”
Yet Liberio healed Estelle first. Holy power wrapped around her and the injuries vanished.
“What happened? Why didn’t you escape? Don’t tell me you stayed behind for her…”
“No. Actually, she protected me. If not for the young lady, I would have been captured.”
The moment Chiara struck the demon again, the building had collapsed by sheer coincidence. Thanks to the falling debris, Estelle had fled with her. The demons pursued, but the ruins kept crumbling, as though the world itself was buying them time. They had kept moving until they met the two men.
“Treatment is complete, but she lost too much blood. She won’t be able to move right away.”
Liberio wore a troubled look as he regarded Chiara.
“…That’s not our only problem.”
Evan gripped his sword and glared behind them. A foul stench was closing in. The demons had followed. They thought they had shaken the creatures, but the bastards were stubbornly persistent.
“We should move quickly, brothers and sisters.”
“No. They’ve already surrounded us.”
In the short time spent healing Estelle and Chiara, the demons had sealed every direction perfectly.
Evan clicked his tongue and scanned their surroundings. Luckily a thick castle wall stood at their backs. At least the rear was secure.
“The wall blocks our rear and there’s plenty of debris. If we hold this narrow spot, reinforcements should arrive soon. Our best chance is to endure until then.”
Evan had the most experience fighting demons. Right now, his judgment was law.
The moment they took position, the demons poured in.
“Over here!!”
“Kill them! Kill them all—!”
“Why are these things so vicious?”
“Probably because of the scream Brother Evan provoked earlier.”
“Not even close. I’ve never seen them react this violently.”
He aimed for the lead demon’s head. The creature casually blocked his sword with its horn. There were even rumors that a demon’s horn was its weakness. Nonsense. The horn was nothing but proof of corruption.
“Brother Evan! More from the side!”
“Damn it!”
The sheer numbers were bad enough, but the creatures’ ferocity was on another level. Evan had slain countless demons in his life. Even he had never faced anything like this.
“They’re coming from the other side too!”
“I’ll handle it, Brother Evan!”
A palm strike wrapped in holy power slammed into a demon’s chest. The creature staggered. Holy power was anathema to demons, especially when wielded by a saint. It should have screamed and retreated. Instead it roared louder and charged again.
“Were demons always this savage?! These things fight like wild beasts!”
“How the hell should I know? Just keep them off us!”
“I’m giving it everything I have!”
The academy under siege by demons. Estelle, cornered and fleeing for her life. The two male leads who appear to save her and display their prowess. Up to this point, everything followed the world’s predetermined script.
But one crucial difference existed.
The hero, Sion, was not here.
Only one person missing, yet that person was the hero. A trial meant to be overcome by three male leads working as a team. The hero served as main tanker and main damage dealer. The border count acted as sub-tank and sub-dps. The saint filled the role of healer and supporter. The three male protagonists formed a perfect balance that would rescue Estelle.
Yet the hero was absent. And they were not fighting for the romance fantasy’s heroine. They fought for the countless others outside these ruins.
Without their main tanker and main damage dealer, they could neither hold nor win.
“Damn it…!”
The world had realized the change too late. Demons continued to flood in. To capture Estelle—the heroine of this romance fantasy. Just as the male leads were fated to love her unconditionally, the trials were fated to try to kill her. That was the immutable law of this world.
“Liberio!”
Evan abandoned defense entirely and swung his sword wildly. Wounds carved across his body in seconds. Liberio poured holy power into him, but the relief lasted only moments. Evan accumulated more injuries. The brief lull in combat felt like heaven’s mercy.
“We can’t hold any longer.”
Evan assessed their situation with cold clarity. He had thought they could endure here. He had been wrong. The numerical disadvantage was overwhelming. The demons fought with unnatural fury. With one more fighter they might have managed. But only two people here could still swing a weapon.
“If we stay, we’ll be buried alive. We have to break out.”
“But the young lady is still unconscious…!”
Estelle’s words made Evan’s eyes flash. He had been wondering how to pin the demons down, even considering staying behind himself. Her words offered a new possibility.
“We’ve done everything possible. If she still hasn’t woken, we leave her.”
“What are you saying? You want to abandon the young lady?”
“I need to fight. Liberio needs to use his holy power.”
“Then I’ll carry her!”
“You’ll only slow us down. If we leave her here, she can buy us a little time.”
Use Chiara as bait. Leave her behind.
At Evan’s words, Estelle shot to her feet.
“You’re insane. Completely mad! How can you abandon a living person?! She isn’t dead!”
“In war you cannot sacrifice everyone to save one. We’ve done all we can. Any more would be—”
“No.”
Estelle struggled to rise while clutching Chiara.
“I will take her with us to the end. She helped me. And you want me to abandon her?”
“In a world like this, sometimes you have no choice!”
“Precisely because it is a world like this, we cannot abandon our humanity! That would make us no different from the demons! Even if we all die together, I will die as a human being!!”
At Estelle’s fierce reply, Evan glanced at Liberio. If you don’t want us all to die, persuade her.
“…Sister Estelle. I understand your heart. But there are times when sacrifice is inevitable.”
“I never thought the Saint would say such a thing! Doesn’t God love everyone equally?”
“He does. God loves all equally. But people do not.”
Both Evan and Liberio had come here for one reason only: to save Estelle, not Chiara.
“Brother Evan. The demons—”
“Will be back any second. This is our last chance.”
“…Sister Estelle.”
“No. Absolutely not. I will not abandon my humanity.”
Estelle hugged Chiara even tighter. At this point, only one option remained.
“Wh-what are you doing? Let go of me!”
“Forgive me. But we have no choice.”
Evan moved to drag Estelle away by force. Liberio quietly lent a hand.
“Let go! Let me go! Let go right now!!”
She struggled, but she could not overcome two men. It seemed Chiara would be left behind. Estelle even tried to bite their hands in desperation.
…Boom—!
Until the ground suddenly shook.
“Damn. Too late.”
At first both Evan and Liberio assumed it was more demons. But they soon realized the impact was not the earth trembling.
Boom!!
“…What the hell.”
They realized it was the massive castle wall behind them.
“What is—”
Boom!
Kwaaaang!!
The sound grew louder. The shaking intensified. Then another deafening roar.
Kwaaaang!!
Crack—!
A hole had been punched through the thick castle wall.
What the hell is this?
Evan peered into the gap and promptly fell backward with a startled cry.
“Brother Evan?”
“A… a demon?”
The instant he met the flashing blue eyes beyond the hole, goosebumps erupted across Evan’s entire body. He who had fought demons his whole life felt his hands tremble with raw terror at that gaze.
What on earth is that thing?
The answer came quickly.
“The capture device works perfectly.”
Kwaaaang!!
The wall finally shattered open wide enough for a person to pass through. Someone walked out from the other side with slow, heavy steps.
…
…
Evan. Liberio. Everyone lost the ability to speak.
It had not been an ordinary wall. It was a reinforced castle barrier built to withstand siege weapons. If they weren’t mistaken, the man had just smashed it with his bare hands.
“Killed quite a few.”
Tsk. The man clicked his tongue as he surveyed the demons. Regrettable, but he first crushed their heads.
Thud! Thud!
Confirmation kills, or perhaps something more primal. After pulverizing every demon, the man turned his head.
“Good work, capture devices.”
From now on, the demons are mine.
The demon slayer’s declaration had fallen.