Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Moonlight Holy Sword
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The situation ended in an instant.
The aftermath had blanketed the amusement park in thick tree trunks like a dense jungle, but compared to the current state with zero casualties, it was nothing more than a brief mishap.
"...Gulp."
Lorenski himself had slain over twenty monsters with his own hands.
Combining the numbers from all six gates, there must have been at least two hundred in total.
'He took them all out...? In just a few seconds...?'
Humanoid monsters were fundamentally far stronger than regular ones.
Among them, there were rare cases that could even speak human languages, and some were said to have histories intertwined with humanity itself.
But what was that thing?
It felt like something even above the "ordinary" humanoid monsters like the Jamsil Monster he'd seen before.
Yes, like those from the ancient era before Christ, recorded only in legends.
Not mere monsters, but beings that had reigned under the title of "gods"—entities from another dimension entirely.
That existence—Amaterasu—turned away from the other humans as if utterly uninterested in Lorenski and the civilians behind him, slowly approaching the fallen Kurumi.
And toward the princess, who was barely drawing breath, it declared:
「Then. As per our contract. I shall take. All your remaining. Lifespan.」
"......Yes."
"What?!"
He hadn't thought summoning such a powerful being would come without a price.
Not even if she was the talented daughter of one of the world's top ten families, considered humanity's pinnacle bloodline.
But to think the cost was her life.
Lorenski had swum all the way from Russia to Korea on his homeland's orders just to retrieve Princess Kurumi.
If she died here, the mission would be a total failure.
But what could he do about it?
The tree trunk that was Amaterasu's body began to slowly grow, extending in a way that enveloped both itself and the princess collapsed before it.
Once those trunks fully concealed the two, the mission would be over.
Yet Lorenski couldn't dare step forward.
He couldn't even fathom challenging that thing.
'There's an opening, but... I can't even dream of exploiting it...!'
If there was anyone here who could move, it would be one of two types.
First: an existence on par with that god.
Second: an existence oblivious enough to charge in blindly.
Unfortunately, Lorenski fit neither category.
The first was obvious, and as for the second—he wasn't quite that stupid; he barely scraped by the cutoff.
Yes, if there was someone foolish enough to throw away their life here...
It would have to be none other than...
"Don't you dare mess with our company's advertising model! You tree-headed bastard!!"
「...?」
"P-Pink Lady?!"
Thud thud thud thud thud!
Someone who could rampage like the protagonist of this world—only Yoo Si-hyun fit the bill.
"Who...?"
Amaterasu had been slowly growing its body, assuming no one would interfere.
In the meantime, Yoo Si-hyun had come to her senses. At first, she'd played dead out of sheer terror.
But then:
'Th-the princess is gonna die?!'
The princess she'd personally scouted as the next ad model in front of SG Group's executives—the next heir herself.
Furious at the thought that Kurumi might die, she charged ahead without a second thought.
"I'll carry you on my back!"
"W-Wait! You can't carry a person like—Mmgh?!"
Above all, she was special!
By the time Amaterasu turned its head, wondering what's this?, Yoo Si-hyun had already dashed past, hoisted the collapsed Kurumi onto her back, and retreated behind Lorenski.
"Bleeeeurghhh—!"
"Y-You're disgusting!? Princess, you won't do this during our CF shoot later, right...?"
"Bleeeeurghhh..."
"Pink Lady... Your recklessness? Courage? Whatever you call that fearless display—I'm genuinely astonished..."
"Heh. Of course. I'm special, after all. A protagonist as pretty, cute, and adorable as me wouldn't die so easily, right?"
"......"
How overloaded with self-consciousness did someone have to be to act this recklessly?
Lorenski could only marvel.
But thanks to her, they'd saved Princess Kurumi unscathed.
...At least that was a relief, for now.
「Hand it over. Human.」
"Hmm... Is human language trendy among monsters these days? But compared to Little Monster Girl, your Woodman vibe isn't giving good feels."
...No.
Saving the princess didn't change the dire situation.
If anything, by rescuing the one who was supposed to die, Lorenski now faced Amaterasu head-on. He trembled, feeling a chill of death he'd never even sensed back home.
"M-Mister! You're supposed to be Russia's national-level powerhouse, right? So you can win this, yeah?!"
"...It's gonna be tough."
"Ugh! At least try to win! If it gets bad, I'll cheer you on from behind!"
"...That's utterly meaningless help, Pink Lady."
Anyway, with things as they were, he had no choice.
As Amaterasu's body finally turned toward them, Lorenski took a deep breath and steadied his stance.
Even an earthworm writhes when stepped on.
"Just... hand me over..."
"Sorry, but this is my country's orders, not my choice. I'll pass."
"I'm saving the princess on my own terms! So you'll definitely appear in our company's ad CF later. Got it?!"
Kurumi had already forsaken her life.
But these two couldn't give up on the princess for their own reasons.
And at that moment.
"Exactly, Princess. If you die here, what happens to us Koreans who were asked to look after you by Japan?!"
Figures landed safely beside the three, slicing through the wooden trunks blocking the amusement park's ceiling—just like Lorenski earlier.
Seeing those two... or rather, one in particular who was impossible to mistake, Kurumi reacted. Even...
"...! You..."
"I'm Lee Jin-ah, branch chief of the Korean Hunters Association. ...Or at least, that's the intro—but we've met before, right? Immortal."
Lorenski's lips finally curved into a smile at the arrival of reinforcements on his level.
"Lee Jin-ah?! Why are you here...? No, more than that—branch chief in Korea? I remember you being Pennsylvania branch chief in the US..."
"Got fired from that gig. Sneaked into Hunter HQ basement without permission from the President or HQ chief. Got demoted here."
"S-Sir Lancelot?! Wait, explain...?"
Lee Jin-ah hopped down from Sir Lancelot's arms—the one who'd carried her here.
And since they were from the same generation, Lorenski had plenty to ask.
"We'll chat over vodka in an underground cell later, Immortal."
"...! Tch, no wonder security was lax. You had me dancing in your palm from the start, Lee Jin-ah."
"Hehe. Obviously. Even if you're the daughter of Korea's top conglomerate, you think the Korean Hunters Association is some punching bag that'd let you escape easily?"
"Eek!"
Yoo Si-hyun fell silent, sweating profusely as her eyes met Lee Jin-ah's sly grin.
"Bleeeeurghhh..."
Meanwhile, Kurumi—struck again by her human phobia—vomited more from her perch on Yoo Si-hyun's back.
And then.
Step. Step. Step.
No time to reminisce as the otherworldly "aura" emanated, now fully eclipsing the sun behind it, drawing its wooden body ever closer—the evil god approached.
「If you. Interrupt my meal. You die.」
"Sir Lancelot, compared to the dragons from Arthurian legend, that thing seems manageable... right?"
"......Honestly, I'd take the dragons. That one's... no, that lord's aura is on another level from the start. I can feel it as a fellow humanoid."
Even Sir Lancelot—their hope—seemed to yield to Amaterasu's presence. Revered as a "god" even in the pre-Christian era, when monsters were said to be strongest.
"Morale's tanking before we even start. Sir Lancelot. Anyway, Jin-ah, haven't the other Korean national-level hunters arrived?"
"...One's coming with the military. Rolling went to HQ to gear up in White Tiger Armament."
"R-Rolling?! No way she's here too? For real?!"
Lorenski clenched his fist at the news of Korea's other national-level hunters—especially Rolling, a promising peer from his generation.
"Incoming!"
But could they hold out until they arrived?
No—could they even subjugate that once they did?
「Ooo. Ooooooh!!」
As Amaterasu shifted from slow steps to thundering charges—like a tree swelling after rain—the three national-levels assumed positions in unison.
"Yoo Si-hyun!"
"Y-Yes! Me?!"
"Take the princess and run!!"
She'd just be in the way here.
At minimum, make herself useful—right before clashing with Amaterasu, Lee Jin-ah ordered the dazed Yoo Si-hyun behind them.
And then.
"Lorenski, stand aside! Jin-ah, fall back!"
Shing.
Sir Lancelot instantly drew his sword from his waist.
"Hoo..."
Thud thud thud thud!
How far a medieval knight like him could reach against that ancient god was unknown.
But the Round Table Knights, including himself.
The sole mage among them had surely said this:
"Sir Lancelot. Your sword can cleave anything, so long as it lacks light."
"Anything... you say?"
"Yes. That holy sword, infused with moonlight, wields the power of light only in darkness..."
"The holy sword of reality that slices through illusions."
The witch who pierced the essence of all things with her ever impassive gaze.
And Merlin, the knights' sole mage.
The one their king longed for until the end—they all believed in her.
"Thank you. Thanks to the tree trunks you grew, no light reaches here."
「?!」
The realm of the sword.
A world composed solely of black and white, devoid of color—for victory alone.
In that world, Lancelot aimed his holy sword precisely at the center of the charging god's body.
"Hoo..."
Timing it like a breath.
Fwhoosh!
In the darkened amusement park, a brilliant yet subdued moonlight gleam erupted from the blade as he shouted:
"Activate—Arondight!!"
Like a line slashed in an instant, the beam of moonlight shot from the blade's tip.
"...!"
"Sir Lancelot!"
It pierced straight through the chest of Japan's worst evil god—the one convinced of its own invincibility.