Chapter 74: While Everyone Was Asleep (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74: While Everyone Was Asleep (4)
I might not have read the original work of this world like Violet did.
However, I was someone with a fairly long history of reading web novels.
And it wasn't just a long history; I read them consistently.
Even if I didn't know the opponent's exact identity, I could get a rough estimate of their traits just by looking at them.
That thing was likely the demon Violet mentioned that appears in the latter half of the story.
Given that it started as just an eyeball and still had only one eye even in its human form... that eye was either the source of its power or its weakness.
That was why I was focusing all my attacks on the eye.
This wasn't a matter of personality; it was a matter of strategy!
"You damn human! Is there something wrong with the character of humans these days?!"
See? The demon's words were nothing but slander.
I was simply taking the most efficient approach to deal with an evil demon.
"Urgh!"
Was there a restriction preventing it from maintaining its form in this world yet?
Or was it unable to muster its strength because I’d landed a preemptive strike?
Unlike a typical demon, it was busy just running away, so I gleefully pressed the attack.
However, landing a truly decisive blow was harder than I expected.
I suppose it is a demon, after all.
Or should I start using divine power now?
"Hmm."
As I pondered for a moment, I noticed something strange.
How should I put it?
This was a place I hadn't seen before.
"I see."
I realized what the core of the barrier was.
It seemed the area of the barrier moved along with the core.
In that case...
"Hand over that eyeball!"
"Aaaargh!"
The demon screamed at the strike infused with divine power.
"How can you use the power of that cursed wench?!"
"Because I'm the Goddess's daughter's boyfriend!"
"That damn Goddess! Of all the people to pick, she picked someone like this!"
It was the Saintess who picked me, not the Goddess, but there was no need to correct him.
Since he’d started laboring under the delusion that I was connected to the Goddess, he began to flee even more desperately.
"I'll kill you!"
"Gah!"
Crack!
As my mana stretched out like a whip and lashed the demon, it sped up even more.
I chased right after it.
If we kept going like this, we were bound to run into someone.
Whipping the demon like I was driving a carriage, I diligently pushed the barrier forward.
Daisy - He’s not my boyfriend.
From the moment the reinforcements from the Rias territory joined us, the situation was expected to be an overwhelming victory for our side.
Though they were momentarily flustered, many of our club members are quite strong.
Asran’s dignity has been steadily chipping away since he first enrolled, making him something of an icon of defeat lately.
But that’s only because Ellen and Mr. Adam are such nonsensical monsters. It’s not that Asran is weak.
In fact, after experiencing defeat, Asran has grown even stronger.
As if to prove it, enemies fell easily before his unhesitating blade.
What a relief.
When we first met, he told me how heavy the weight of inheriting his grandfather’s name, the Sword Emperor, felt.
It seems that weight has lightened considerably now.
"Wow."
However, the unfortunate part was that even the improved Asran seemed unlikely to catch up to the current Ellen.
Even for someone like me, who hasn't formally learned the sword, Ellen's movements felt like they were on an entirely different level.
If I were a swordsman, I might have fallen for those dance-like movements.
But a promise is a promise.
The conditions for being Mr. Adam’s fake lover included a ban on dating Prince Ellen.
I couldn't exactly go around cheating.
"..."
...Now that I think about it, it’s unfair.
He cheats all he wants, yet he forbids me from doing the same!
Was this his plan all along? This must be why Violet told me to read contracts carefully before signing them.
"O wave, swallow your enemies."
While the others fought hard at the front, Arwen provided support with magic.
As a fellow student in the Magic Department, I was impressed by his clean mana manipulation.
To use water magic of that scale in a place without a water source...
That alone was incredible, but the surging waves were precisely swallowing only the enemies.
"Don't let a single one escape!"
At Gerard’s shout from the rear, the Rias knights charged.
Though I had attacked them earlier by mistake, they were skilled enough to have blocked my strikes.
"Urgh!"
As the offensive continued, the remnants of the dark mages began to dwindle.
Some tried to flee, but...
"Don't run!"
"Just wait a little longer, and Lord Bellon will arrive!"
"Use your lives to hasten Lord Bellon's descent!"
"Death is not the end!"
Suddenly, shouting the name Bellon, several dark mages stabbed the backs of those trying to escape with daggers.
"Gah!"
"I don't want to die!"
The wounds didn't look fatal.
Fear is contagious, so were they just making an example of them to stop the desertion?
"Ah."
I shouldn't have let my guard down.
Violet said that dark mages are the kind of lunatics who would sacrifice their own souls if necessary, and thus, they use the souls of others without a second thought.
As expected, Violet was right.
"What on earth is that..."
It was Asran, who was at the very front, who muttered those words.
Ellen didn't say anything, but his expression was the same.
It was only natural.
A human they were just fighting was suddenly stabbed by an ally and was turning into a monster.
Their bodies began to be stained purple or deep blood-red, and their muscles swelled excessively until their size doubled—no, tripled.
"Aaaagh-ooh-ee!"
The humans who had been screaming in tears became something non-human, their expressions frozen in agony.
It was a gruesome sight.
I finally understood a little why Violet said we didn't need to treat dark mages as human.
Therefore, I swung my sword without hesitation.
Infusing a massive amount of mana with divine power.
"Gwaaaaah!"
A massive sword of divine power—no, it was more like a club. The monster screamed at the blow.
Instead of a clean cut, there was the smell of something burning, suggesting it was being purified by the divine power.
"Let's go!"
"...Right."
Snapping back to his senses, Ellen joined Asran in facing the other monsters.
Arwen and Gerard also began using their magic in earnest to push the monsters back.
However, the monsters seemed to have a high resistance to magic.
"These things are too tough!"
And perhaps due to their natural bulk, effective attacks with a sword were difficult.
The only effective strikes were coming from my divine power.
So, after incinerating one monster, I was about to share my divine power with Ellen and Asran, just as I had with Mr. Adam, when...
"Oh! O Great One!"
"Descendant of the Great God, come to this place..."
I had heard there were pagans mixed in with the dark mages.
It seems I no longer need to look for them.
The problem was...
"That's..."
Something ominous was approaching.
I could clearly feel a repulsive presence, the likes of which I had never felt in my life, drawing near.
"Stop!"
I didn't know what it was, but I couldn't let it get here.
I attacked the pagans with all the mana and divine power I could muster, but they used the monsters they had created as shields to protect themselves.
And then.
"Ohhh!"
Finally, that repulsive presence revealed itself within our sight.
Its body, emitting a red aura, seemed to be made of blood rather than flesh.
The two horns on its head proved that it belonged to a race of legends.
"A demon!"
Long ago, it was said that the Goddess defeated the evil god who tried to destroy the world.
The demons were said to have been sealed away in the corners of the world along with their defeated god!
"You fools! The moment Lord Bellon descended upon this land, your fates were sealed!"
The demon named Bellon was approaching at an increasing speed.
With blood-tears dripping and a distorted face, he was the very image of a demon from mythology, but...
"...Huh?"
As the demon got closer, a question arose.
The nearer he got, the more I noticed something strange about his appearance.
"..."
It seemed the enemies felt it too, as even the pagans who had been worshipping the demon fell silent.
I mean, how should I put it?
"Is it just me, or does it look like he's running away?"
"..."
The conversation between Ellen and Asran resolved my doubt.
Yes, that was it.
He looked like he was fleeing from something.
"Ah."
Then, I heard a familiar voice.
But I shook my head and denied it.
It wasn't that I was embarrassed to suddenly hear my fake lover's voice...
No. To be precise, I was embarrassed.
But in a completely different sense.
Because...
"You don't get it! It's common knowledge that covering both eyes with bandages is way cooler than just covering one with an eyepatch!"
"I don't need that!"
"I'll make sure you need it, so just let me pluck out one eye!"
Even if it was just an act, the man who said things that even a demon found horrifying...
The man who made even a demon run away was, albeit fake, my lover.
"Goddess... was the repulsive thing actually over there?"
Was the ominous aura I felt earlier not the demon, but Mr. Adam?
I asked the Goddess with all my heart, but she remained silent, so I couldn't know for sure.
"Oh?"
After a long night of running with the demon, I finally reached the finish line.
"Uncle!"
I waved my hand at Uncle Aeryun, who was staring at me from a distance with his mouth agape.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing him still dazed, I squeezed out my mana and divine power and lunged at the demon.
"Get to work."
"Gah!"
Black smoke, instead of blood, rose from the long gash on its back.
Perhaps because its body was composed of blood from that eyeball?
It seemed to take damage, but the wounds healed so quickly that it wasn't very satisfying to cut.
"You humans!"
But I wasn't the only one who had found allies.
"Quickly, get this mosquito-like human off me!"
"So demons hate mosquitoes too?"
"Aaaargh!"
As expected of mosquitoes. Even a mighty demon finds them loathsome.
"Lord Bellon?!"
As I poked the demon's side again like a mosquito, the guys in black robes up ahead began to freak out.
"Save Lord Bellon!"
I guess this guy's name was Bellon.
"How can a demon be named Melon?"
"It's not Melon, it's Bellon!"
Whether it's Melon or Bellon, they both suck.
Besides, I had a much cooler name in mind.
"How about Lee Sin?"
All he needed was to lose an eye and shave his head.
"I don't want it!"
Perhaps because he’d reached his allies, the guy who had been doing nothing but running suddenly stopped and glared at me.
"I know the Goddess's power within you has weakened!"
That was true.
"But I don't think I'll lose to you."
"Foolish human. I am only restricted because of that damn Goddess. If those restrictions were lifted, a worm like you would..."
Gritting his teeth, Bellon spat out a stereotypical villain line before sensing something strange and turning his head.
"...What on earth is that?!"
He looked in horror at the very large and beautiful sword approaching from behind.
"Just die already!"
Swung without a moment's hesitation.
By a force of divine power incomparable to the one I had used.
"Aaaargh!"
He was slammed into the ground like a common fly.