Desperate Struggle
"Everything that happened in this place was Athena's plan. She desperately wanted you broken."
"...What did you just say?"
"Her orders were to make you into someone powerless. Someone useless."
He looked at me as though the injury to his arm meant nothing at all, a smile splitting his face nearly ear to ear.
For a moment I could only stare blankly into empty air, stunned by his words.
Athena.
Athena had given him an order like that...?
No.
That couldn't be.
I let out a short, incredulous laugh in Bordin's direction.
"What are you after?"
"Hm?"
"Are you trying to drive a wedge between us?"
At least try to say something that makes sense.
It was a little embarrassing to admit, but I knew how much Athena loved me. I knew how carefully she cherished me.
There was no way she would ever do anything to hurt me.
This had to be one of Bordin's vile schemes.
"It won't work, Bordin."
When I spoke those words with my head held high, he stared at me blankly for a moment—then his expression shifted into something almost intrigued.
"How amusing. So you've chosen denial?"
"I said it won't work."
"And how can you be so certain?"
I met his gaze without flinching.
"Isn't it obvious?"
My eyes were full of conviction as I answered.
"I trust the Athena I love far more than a criminal like you."
"Keh-heh-heh... Amusing. Truly amusing."
Bordin turned his head toward Alina.
"It seems the plan has failed, Alina. The young lady says she has no intention of leaving this place."
"....."
Alina looked at me with briefly confused eyes, then squeezed them shut and turned her gaze back to Bordin.
"I will respect the young lady's choice. Master, please give up now."
"I refuse."
"...Excuse me?"
While Alina was still caught off guard, Bordin twisted his bent arm a few times and forced the warped bone back into place.
"Alina. There is more than one or two reasons I cannot accept your plan."
He flexed the hand that had returned to normal a few times, then held it out toward Alina and began counting off on his fingers.
"First. You place far too much faith in the Imperial Palace. They are not the virtuous people you imagine them to be."
He shot me a sidelong glance as he spoke.
"Second. You underestimate Athena far too much. For the sake of her own desires, she would not stop even if her opponent were the Imperial Palace itself."
As Alina watched him in silence, Bordin pressed on.
"And lastly. Did you tell me to abandon my revenge?"
Sensing that something was badly wrong, Alina raised her blade and settled into a guarded stance.
"No. Absolutely not. Telling me to set aside my revenge is the same as telling me to die."
"It's already over, Master."
Bordin had already lost a considerable amount of blood. Even so, with no room left for composure, he spoke to Alina in a calm, even voice.
"Alina. Haven't I always told you?"
Crunch—
Bordin bit down hard on his own teeth. The sound of something shattering inside his mouth filled the room, and a purple liquid began to flow down his throat.
"It's always wise to keep a contingency plan ready."
"...!"
An ominous aura began to gather around his body.
Sensing the danger at once, Alina lunged toward him—but she was too late.
"A surprise attack may have worked. But did you really think you could beat me in a straight fight?"
Bordin subdued her easily with one hand, then swept his leg around and smashed it down hard across hers.
"Kh!"
Alina's face twisted in pain as her knees hit the floor. Bordin kicked her immediately afterward, sending her flying.
She slammed into the wall and crumpled face-down onto the ground.
"Alina!!"
I rushed to her side at once and checked her condition.
Thankfully, she didn't seem seriously hurt—but standing properly looked like more than she could manage.
"Young lady..."
Even so, she forced her swaying body upright and gripped her sword again.
"This is my failure. I'll buy you time—please run."
As if her own injuries meant nothing at all, she was still worrying about me.
...Why on earth are you going this far for me, Alina?
I looked at her for a moment, then sighed and eased her back down so she could sit more comfortably on the floor.
"...Young lady?"
".....Just rest for a bit, Alina."
"What? But—"
"I'll handle this."
I cut her off firmly. She stared up at me with startled eyes.
Leaving her behind, I turned my gaze on Bordin—and confirmed that his condition was anything but ordinary.
His appearance could no longer be called human. It was grotesque.
Purple tentacles writhed obscenely from his severed arm, and his eyes were nothing a human being should possess.
The sclera had turned pure black, and the irises were inverted—a vivid, unnatural red.
I had seen this scene in the novel.
The form of a demon. No—more precisely, the form of a human who had been transformed into one.
It matched the symptoms that appeared when a non-demon underwent demonization.
"...Remarkable, truly."
Bordin murmured as he regarded the arm that had already regenerated.
I hurled sharp words at him.
"...Did you lay hands on Demonic Energy?"
"Oh? You know of Demonic Energy?"
Of course I did.
It had been in the novel.
Demonic Energy.
In the novel, it was described as a power received from the Demon King, or from a Demon Commander of vice-commander rank or higher.
Those who accepted Demonic Energy and completed their demonization gained not only the demons' superior physical abilities, but could also use a portion of the power belonging to the one who had created that energy.
But nothing in this world came free.
Even if enormous power could be obtained in a short time, Demonic Energy carried one enormous drawback.
"Have you given up on being human?"
It wasn't only the demons' power that was inherited—it was their savage nature as well.
Once you took Demonic Energy into yourself, you could consider your life as a human finished. You would become starved for slaughter.
Who on earth did he receive Demonic Energy from?
Since he hadn't been a character in the novel, there was far too much I didn't know about Bordin's history.
From the Imperial Seal all the way to Demonic Energy.
Someone with this much influence should absolutely have been mentioned. So why was there nothing at all about a man named Bordin?
"Given up on being human, you say..."
Bordin examined his own body for a moment, then looked at me and answered my question.
"Not once since my wife died have I ever wanted to live as a human."
He stretched a hand toward me, and purple tentacles came surging in a thrashing swarm.
Grotesque, nauseating tentacles without number.
Any ordinary person would have recoiled in horror and fled from the sight of them—but
Pop—pop—
they burst apart far too easily under my kicks and fists.
The sensation of tentacles against my skin was revolting, but I clenched my teeth, planted my feet, and poured every ounce of strength into charging forward.
"...!"
In an instant I was right in front of him.
He clearly hadn't anticipated my speed—Bordin's twin red eyes went wide as he stared at me.
I threw a punch. He raised both arms on pure reflex to block—
"Gahk!"
BOOM!
Accompanied by the sound of shattering bone, his body shot away like a bullet and slammed hard into the wall.
I spoke quietly to the man coughing up blood.
"Now that you've become a demon, I won't hold back."
Bordin casually righted his grotesquely twisted body as if nothing were wrong.
"...I knew you were strong, but... this is astonishing..."
I raised my fists again and settled into a stance.
Around my body, gold and blue light swirled in a violent vortex.
"You'd better brace yourself."
"Khuh!"
This can't be.
Bordin could not make sense of the situation unfolding before him.
Crack—
His arm went flying.
BOOOOM—
A single punch reduced his body to pieces.
Thanks to the Demonic Energy, he regenerated at once—but even that would eventually reach its limit.
Did I miscalculate?
He had known she was strong.
After all, she possessed a unique ability.
On top of that, he had heard she had inherited a portion of Athena's power as well.
But precisely because he had expected her to be strong, he had prepared thoroughly.
This Demonic Energy—obtained by staking his own life, just in case the poison failed.
It was not the Demonic Energy of some ordinary demon.
It belonged to one of the greatest Commanders beneath the Demon King himself: the Lord of Immortality, Velum, who had personally forged it.
A power he had barely managed to receive by pledging the downfall of a hero.
His body and soul would be ruined beyond recognition, yes—but in exchange he should have gained the ability to wield Velum's power directly.
And yet all it did was regenerate his body. Not a single one of his attacks was landing on her.
...What in the world is that blue mana?
A blue aura far denser than Athena's mana circulating around her.
Whatever that unknown power was, it was clearly the reason he was being overwhelmed.
At this rate, he would die a hollow death.
He could not let years of carefully prepared revenge end like this.
He was still wrestling with how to turn the situation around when—
Creeeak—
The soft sound of the dining hall door opening reached his ears.
He turned his head. What entered his vision was a young girl.
"Mom... what's goi—.......huh?"
A child so young she had barely left girlhood behind.
He had seen this girl once before.
The child Athena had brought back with her when she returned from her travels.
Athena had said she was an orphan she had taken in out of pity in Karman.
"..M-Mom... blood...?"
The child began to tremble violently the moment she saw the young lady's condition.
"Ma... Mari..."
The young lady, too, looked thoroughly flustered at the sight of the child.
His mind raced.
It did not take long to reach a decision.
I don't know what they are to each other—but this is perfect.
If he took the child hostage, he could force open a way out of this situation.
The thought settled, and he charged straight at the girl.
Whether it was inhuman no longer mattered.
To drive Athena into despair, there was nothing he would not do.
"No... Mari!!"
The young lady rushed forward with a desperate expression, trying to stop him.
"Keh-heh-heh. You're too late."
Fortune was on his side—he had been closer to the dining hall door.
Thanks to that, he reached the child before the young lady could.
"Sorry about this, little one."
Without a moment's hesitation, he stretched his tentacles toward the child whose face had gone blank with shock.
The tentacles began to wrap around her.
But the instant he tried to seize the child—
her head snapped around toward him with a sharp whick.
"You?"
"!!!"
The moment he met those piercing blue eyes, terror seized his entire body.
It felt as though he had been set before some transcendent being.
His instincts screamed at him to run, warning him that his life was in danger.
"W-What is this...!"
But before he could even turn his feet—
a magic circle bloomed beneath him.
He had no time even to feel the pain.
Crack—
His body split cleanly in two.