Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Undying Arena Fight
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Thus, a new morning dawned in Forsaken Hollow, and I was once again making my way toward Dullahan's arena.
The heat of battle and the roars coming from afar were still something I couldn't quite get used to.
The sight of participants fighting day and night, thanks to the territory's characteristic of not allowing death, was utterly bizarre no matter how many times I saw it.
It felt like hell, watching lives that even refused death fight on, and the spectators who simply dismissed it as entertainment and consumed it.
"...It's a shame we can't fight together."
Kyle spoke up, watching me head toward the arena's waiting room.
From the perspective of the Hero, it must have seemed frustrating to send a comrade alone when the neck of a Heavenly King was right before his eyes.
"Yeah, if you helped, we could probably kill a Dullahan quickly."
Kicking an innocent pebble with the tip of his foot to vent his frustration, his behavior seemed so unlike Kyle that I chimed in.
"...Really? You think so too?"
"Of course I'm joking. We struggled so much just to catch Bellamora; how could we easily kill something even stronger than that?"
"No. There might be a possibility. If we sank Dullahan's helmet into the sea to drown it, or buried it in the ground..."
His face immediately flushed with color as he spoke playfully. He was showing a side of himself so different it was hard to believe he was a Hero chosen by the Lord God, just like Dullahan.
Thinking of the guy who had taken innocent humans hostage to force participation in the arena and had schemed and set the board, I gritted my teeth.
"I don't like it. In the end, Astal has to sacrifice himself again. Just a few days ago, he was teetering on the brink of death..."
Anima wore a worried expression, looking at the flowers still remaining on my body. As a close friend of Victoria, she knew just how painful and tormenting these flowers were.
"If things had gone wrong, we might have had the misfortune of fighting among ourselves. It's regrettable, but this is likely the best course."
"Even so, we're the Hero's party, Taryon. Comrades are supposed to die together and live together...!"
Anima and Taryon held differing views on me entering the arena alone.
In truth, Anima wasn't wrong.
For a year, we had crossed life-and-death lines together, and through that, we had come to desire surviving together rather than surviving by someone's sacrifice.
It was for this reason that I, a former suicide hopeful, had changed my way of thinking after joining the Hero's party.
"Above all, I trust Sir Astal. He saved us on a battlefield surrounded by countless demons and monsters and even achieved the feat of inflicting a fatal wound on the Heavenly King Bellamora."
Taryon continued speaking while barely managing to console his lover.
He said that even if the misfortune of fighting each other occurred, he would have vehemently opposed it if anyone other than me had entered the arena.
"Right here, right now, the person with the highest objective probability of killing the Demon King is Astal. Don't you all agree?"
Then, without a hint of hesitation, Taryon made an incredible statement.
He was viewing me, not the God-appointed Hero, as the hero most likely to defeat the Demon King.
"What...?"
I was so dumbfounded that words failed me for a moment.
It was astonishing that a party gathered around Kyle, the kindest and most trustworthy Hero in this world, now trusted me over him.
"...I agree too. To the point where I don't understand why the Lord God Odin didn't appoint Astal as the Hero."
Hero Kyle patted my shoulder, expressing agreement with Taryon's opinion. Looking at his expression, it didn't feel like a lie.
"That's true... But we can't keep having Astal solve everything like this every time. Besides, if this guy dies, Victoria said she'd stop eating and drinking and die with him..."
Anima spoke in a voice that grew quieter.
Being close friends with Victoria, it seemed she had heard about my contract relationship through the grapevine.
"Victoria...?"
"Is there a problem?"
At my call, Victoria, who had been praying for victory in battle until just moments ago, slowly opened her eyes.
In the past, whenever praise for me came up, she would have disparaged me and told me to know my place. It was strange to see her so quiet now.
"I've told you many times I won't die."
"It's embarrassing, but if I think of you disappearing... I am a woman who feels a despair as if the whole world is crumbling."
Victoria unclasped her hands, wrapped her arms around my waist, hugged me, and whispered into my ear.
The ticklish voice and soft touch almost shook my reason, but I gritted my teeth and barely held on. I couldn't show an unsightly appearance right before going to avenge my parents.
"...Now I feel a bit stable."
Burying her face in my chest and taking a few strong sniffs, Victoria then looked at me with a relaxed expression.
"Victoria, you're not saying anything about Astal going into the arena? Just a few days ago, you were almost crying, telling me you were worried..."
Anima spoke as if something was off, looking at Victoria and me. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed strange to be so calm knowing her lover was being driven into a deadly situation.
She could say that because she didn't know just how worried and obsessed Victoria was about me.
"The man I love is an altruistic person who desires everyone's happiness more than surviving alone."
"Of course I'm worried. If he really dies, I might even contract with an evil god right away to resurrect his corpse."
"......"
I remained silent, watching Victoria lie without batting an eye.
No matter what, the idea of a Saint chosen by the Heavenly God borrowing the power of the evil god Serena to revive me was chilling.
I had been keeping a slight distance from Victoria since last night because she felt a bit unfamiliar, but...
"...? Don't move away."
Seeing that, Victoria puffed out her cheeks slightly and then took a large step toward me.
If I took a step away, she took a step closer.
Seeing that scene, I couldn't help but think for a moment that it resembled our relationship.
Even though we were bound by a contract relationship and I couldn't properly confess my true feelings due to the mission of defeating the Demon King.
"You can win gloriously, right? I'll look forward to the gift you'll give me later."
"...A gift?"
"Isn't that only natural?"
Victoria drew a faint arc at the corner of her mouth as she looked at my confused face. I had closed my eyes tightly, thinking she would surely bring up baby seeds or ask me to impregnate her.
"Your real answer to my confession."
Right now, Victoria's inner thoughts weren't desiring something so vulgar. It seemed that after the drinking party and the last words incident, much of her anxiety and suspicion toward me had subsided.
"We said we'd finish the revenge and go greet your parents, didn't we?"
"...Ah, right, we did."
Victoria lightly pressed her mark onto my lips and smiled. It felt more like a blessing kiss wishing for victory than a clingy kiss demanding love.
I didn't even have a chance to ask, "When?"
I couldn't let my comrades find out about the contract relationship.
"...If you defeat Dullahan, then you can finally cast off your guilt and spend happy days with me. We'll whisper love to each other, have trivial conversations about who liked whom more..."
"...Yeah. I'll definitely win and return."
"I'll be waiting. I'll cheer hard too, so you have to watch, okay?"
Victoria ruffled my hair like a puppy and showed me the way forward. Laughing at my messy hairstyle, I accepted her affection.
"That's enough. I really have to go now."
"Do well and come back. My love."
At that moment, as soon as I turned my back, I heard her inner thoughts.
"If we really start dating, let's do naughty things together and get rid of the flowers. Who knows? Maybe later, even if I get pregnant, you'll allow me to continue my activities as a Saint."
"......"
Hearing Victoria's inner thoughts, my footsteps halted for a moment, but I didn't look back and silently moved forward.
Wanting to become a family with the person you love and have a child who looks just like them is a common thought ordinary people can have.
Even if Victoria's inner thoughts were more shy and quite vulgar compared to her outward appearance.
Victoria mustered the courage to confess her true feelings for me, and I, lacking the certainty that I could save her on this journey, ended up lying to her.
'Now it's my turn to answer Victoria's inner thoughts.'
I steeled my resolve like that and headed toward the arena where Dullahan awaited.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hello, everyone─!! Forsaken Hollow, the 4,321st arena match! I'm Ran, once again in charge of commentary!"
Not long after Astal stepped into the arena, a woman with the lower body of a fish and bird wings on her back shouted, heating up the arena's fervor.
"Today's special guest! The legendary mage said to bring death wherever he passes! The mage from the notorious Hero's party!"
The woman, who looked like a siren from myth, introduced herself as Ran and raised her voice toward the spectator stands.
"Welcome him with applause and jeers! The mage of the despicable Hero's party! The living nightmare of monsters and demons! The mad mage! Astal Caesaros!"
Following Ran's introduction, Astal, wearing a blue robe, appeared in the arena, and countless jeers and taunts poured toward him. Among them, only one person.
Victoria Everhart was suppressing the urge to shatter this arena right now, gripping the seat tightly.
"I don't like that introduction. How dare some random harlot speak so carelessly about my love."
"......"
At the choice of words unbecoming of a Saint, all the comrades fell silent, trying not to upset Victoria's mood.