Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Episode 105
Eleanor and Lustitia eventually passed the Pretium fiefdom and began to move toward the royal castle.
“It’s strange.”
“Huh? What is?”
Eleanor frowned.
Lustitia, on the other hand, just tilted her head, perhaps due to the effect of the curse.
When they had entered the Pretium fiefdom, they had encountered monsters periodically, but after that, they had not encountered a single monster.
“Doesn’t it feel like they’re luring us in? Sister.”
“Mmm……”
The two of them knew that the monster that had swallowed Delayed had intelligence.
Therefore, if it was luring them in, it was also a trap.
But at the same time, they couldn't help but think this.
“It's too obvious. Shouldn't we see this as an invitation instead?”
“Yes, I think so too. Perhaps they want to have a conversation with us?”
“Well, last time I did cut its head off before it could speak at length.”
What lay before them was clearly a trap.
To make matters worse, Lustitia was even weakened by a curse.
But it was also true that they didn't know when another opportunity to head to the royal castle of Chrysos would come.
“……Shall we go back?”
Eleanor suggested to Lustitia, based on her own situation. It was too dangerous to push her own desires.
Of course, there might not be a next time. Because the space around Chrysos was usually tangled.
The reason they could move without any interference like this was because the opponent was drawing them in.
But she did not want to involve others in danger for such a reason.
At first, she had thought there would be no problem with the power of a [Hero], but wasn't Lustitia's condition getting worse day by day?
She could no longer be certain that they could return safely.
Eleanor did not want to drag Lustitia into such a gamble.
That was why she had no choice but to finally make a decision.
“I think we have to go back. There will be another chance. First, we need to solve your curse, sister……”
“Can you be so sure there will be another chance?”
Lustitia said, looking directly into Eleanor's eyes.
Her pupils were hazy, perhaps due to the effect of the curse, but at the same time, the fire of conviction to see her own will through was lit within them.
“Noah, honestly, I don't want to say this, but the fact that you can't be sure there will be a next chance is the same for me. Because my curse was received from a dragon, of all things.”
“No……. I’m sure it’ll be fine. R-right! The Master might know a way. Because the Master is smart and knows everything……”
“Even if that were so, I am a Hero.”
“……”
Lustitia said, cutting off Eleanor's hopeful opinion with a firm voice.
“My journey must be for someone else.”
“Why……?”
“Because I wished to become a Hero. Because this is the path I chose.”
Lustitia was, in fact, thinking of this journey as her last.
Hadn't even the light that had enveloped the entire Papal States been unable to heal her?
She had no expertise in divine arts, but she knew just how tremendous a power that light possessed.
Wasn't it enough to heal all of the unconscious Eleanor's wounds?
Even such a light could not solve her curse.
In fact, it was something she had expected.
Because this curse was one cast directly by a dragon, of which there were only five in the world.
“Will you let me fill my end with a journey for you?”
“……”
Eleanor could not answer.
She could not understand Lustitia's definition of sacrificing oneself solely for the sake of others.
But at the same time, she felt that she could never deny it.
Because she too was trying to fulfill her duties as royalty.
In the end, the two of them were alike.
“Then let’s hurry a little more. Let’s check the situation in Chrysos and come back before you get tired, sister.”
“Will that be okay? Don’t you want to save them?”
“That's fine for now. That was my purpose from the beginning, and another chance will come. Because I am certain it will.”
“Alright, then let’s hurry. Noah.”
“Yes, Sister Lusti.”
The two decided to take a step back for each other.
An ending that neither of them wanted.
But it was something that had come to be because they had each prioritized their own objectives.
And it was when the two of them were about to pick up speed.
“What a truly regrettable thing.”
There was a being that had approached, completely ignoring the senses of the two.
A rock, not even a few meters away. A figure sitting on top of it was looking down at the two of them, as if in ridicule.
“I am truly sorry. Seeing this, it seems neither of your objectives can be achieved.”
“Father……?”
Eleanor was horrified.
This was different from the monsters she had met so far. It wasn't just that it had intelligence.
“Yes, daughter. Is this how I should speak? Hahahaha!”
“……”
The monster that had swallowed Delayed's body was maintaining its form completely without any distortion, as if it were on a different level from the other monsters. No, rather, it had become even stronger than Delayed in his lifetime.
“It is true that I was waiting for you, just as the little one over there said. I wanted to have a conversation. Though I have no intention of letting you leave alive.”
“A conversation……? What kind of conversation? Aren't you unable to live unless you kill us anyway?”
“It seems you've drawn the correct conclusion from what I've shown you. I was worried because you looked foolish.”
“……”
“Well, good. Then this makes the conversation quick.”
The monster wearing Delayed's body descended from the rock and approached the two of them.
“Hut?!”
At the monster's attitude, Lustitia naturally drew her sword and began to be on her guard.
An instinctive action. There was something she could know even with her muddled mind.
The monster before her was…….
'Stronger than the Demon King.'
A monster in every sense of the word.
“A Hero…… was it? We had something like that in our world too. Should I take it that you possess considerable power, as you call yourself a Hero?”
“Well. I'm past my prime, so I don't know how it will be.”
Lustitia bluffed.
However, that bluff was, unusually, a self-deprecating one.
She knew the intent of the question the opponent had asked. He was trying to gauge the power of this world using Lustitia as a standard.
If so, she must by no means be underestimated. Right now, she was the measure of humanity's strength.
“I'm past my prime, but would you like to check?”
“I wonder if there’s a need for that.”
The monster shrugged its shoulders and avoided a fight with Lustitia.
It was not because it felt burdened. It simply felt no need for it.
“What should we call you?”
“Noah……?”
Lustitia was flustered, seeing the surprisingly calm Eleanor.
The opponent was speaking to her with her parent's form and voice.
“Hmm, I see. I don't have a particular name, so how about you just call me Delayed?”
“……Alright. Mr. Delayed.”
“An uninteresting reaction.”
Delayed clicked his tongue, seeing the calm response of Eleanor, as if it were not the reaction he had expected.
“You said you wanted to have a conversation with us? Why is that? Did you have a need for it?”
“I see……. I just wanted to correct something.”
Delayed raised his hand with a bitter smile.
Then, a monster from afar ran toward him and leaned its body against him.
“I have been watching you since the moment you reached this place.”
“Of course.”
Delayed said, stroking the monster that was leaning against him.
“How do I look to you right now? Do I look like a monster?”
“……No. At least you can communicate, so you seem different from the other monsters.”
“Wrong.”
Delayed stated flatly.
He looked down at the gruesome monster with affectionate eyes and spoke as if it were unfair.
“These children are not monsters. If you had to choose who the monster is, that would be me.”
“……”
“After the last incident, I tried to pull up information about you from Delayed's memory. It seems he was quite uninterested, even though you were his own daughter. There weren't as many memories as I thought.”
Delayed was finally able to remember Eleanor, who had been pushed to the edge of his consciousness for some time.
Because it was a memory that had disappeared once during a period of disconnection, he couldn't recall it again until he became conscious of it.
“There were quite a few who died for you.”
And in those memories that came to mind, there were the figures of those who had died for her.
They were those who had been swallowed, soul and all, by them, the invaders.
“These children are the same as them.”
“The same? How can they, who swallow people and exploit their forms and souls, be……”
“Unlike me, it's just an action based on instinct. These ones have no subjectivity of their own.”
“Even so, you people are……!”
“These children are those who once refused to become monsters.”
“……”
The world they had lived in had become a place where life could no longer exist.
That was because they had been abandoned.
Born incomplete, they could not maintain their sanity unless they became monsters themselves.
“I became a monster by my own will. That is why I can have a conversation with you like this now.”
“……!”
Eleanor could understand what Delayed was saying.
Delayed had chosen to become a monster himself and was able to maintain his intelligence and minimize the collapse of his body.
If so, yes, if so, then why had those horribly transformed monsters become that form?
“These ones wanted to remain human.”
They had wanted to be human. That was why they had not chosen to extend their lives by swallowing others.
They were those who had thought it better to die as humans rather than become monsters.
“Ironically, because of that, they ended up looking more like monsters than anyone else.”
It was instinct. When their souls died, their bodies had moved to live.
They were life forms that had been made that way in the first place.
Because they were incomplete, they had no choice but to swallow others to become complete.
“Lies. That can't be true. Because……. you, you used them as scapegoats!”
“Haha! Did I not tell you?”
Delayed's hand, which had been stroking the monster, eventually moved down and gripped its neck.
“Kiek?!”
And just like that, he twisted and pulled off the monster's head. It was just a performance, with no purpose.
“I am the monster.”
A sneer.
Delayed smiled, as if finally pleased with the hopeless expressions of the two people looking at him.
Delayed did not feel pity for them. There was no reason to.
In the first place, was there any reason for him to feel pity? He had chosen to become a monster by his own will.
From his perspective, those who had lost their souls trying to remain human just looked like foolish idiots.
“Well, what I want to say is simple. It’s just a declaration of war against the weak.”
Delayed wiped his hands as if they were dirty. And he raised his hand, letting out a sneer.
Countless monsters began to surround Eleanor and Lustitia.
Delayed spoke solemnly, as if he were the king of those monsters.
“Those who are not prepared to become monsters will never be able to defeat us. That is all there is to it.”
“Noah……!”
“Yes!”
The two, having grasped the situation, immediately began to charge toward Delayed.
There might be some lies mixed in the opponent's words.
But one thing was certain.
That was the fact that the opponent was, without a doubt, a monster in both body and mind.
The two of them drew out their respective powers to the fullest and swung their swords toward Delayed.
“I have confirmed you both.”
But that attack was, as if it were a matter of course, blocked by the charging monsters.
No, it wasn't that they blocked it, but that the monsters themselves threw their bodies to protect Delayed.
“The Hero’s power is strong on its own……. and with the power you possess, even a wound as small as a scratch has the potential to lead to a fatal injury.”
Delayed took a step back.
He did not fight.
As long as there was a one-in-a-million chance, there was no reason for him to fight.
He was the captain of the vanguard, the commander.
“But your powers also have a weakness.”
The number of monsters gathering toward them was gradually increasing.
The weakness of the two that Delayed had identified.
“That power is not suited for facing a large number. Is it not?”
It would be a different story in a 1:1 fight, but it was difficult to respond in a simple battle of numbers.
“The conversation was enjoyable. Now, I would like you both to die here.”
Delayed began to leave the place, letting out a sneer as if he were certain of the two's death.
The two could not chase. They could not even think of chasing.
“You……. youuuu!!”
Eleanor's composure, which had been barely maintained since meeting Delayed, finally shattered.
The opponent was running away. Even though he had more than enough power to deal with Eleanor and Lustitia, he was running away for the reason of preparing for a one-in-a-million chance.
And he was leaving the monsters behind.
Aiming for the two of them were an incredible number of monsters, enough to be believed if one said they were gathered from a single city.
In the actions of Delayed……. no, the monster that had swallowed Delayed, who acted as if it didn't matter what happened to those countless monsters, there was no such thing as honor.
That action was only tarnishing the honor of Delayed, who had lived his entire life for honor.
Eleanor knew how much effort her father had put in for that honor.
That was why she could not forgive him.
“Now you’re showing a pleasing expression. Yes, so that was your reverse scale, was it? Hahahahaha!”
Delayed smiled with satisfaction, seeing Eleanor's expression. And yet, Eleanor did not chase after such a Delayed.
No, she could not chase.
“Keuk……”
Because countless monsters were surrounding them.
That was why Eleanor made a vow as she watched the receding figure of Delayed.
“I won’t die……. I will survive. And after surviving like that……”
With the power you fear, I will one day surely kill you.
Eleanor swallowed the rest of her words and quietly burned with fighting spirit.