Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts
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"Kelock, we almost died together there...!"
I couldn't properly move a single finger right now, lying sprawled on the colosseum floor, exhaling ragged breaths.
It was the consequence of recklessly abusing my mana core and not considering the recoil. A magic that leaves you so vulnerable you could lose your life to another enemy if this weren't a one-on-one duel.
Thinking of Idea, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
With this, I can definitely kill the Demon King.
Because I felt, even if just a tiny bit, that I had touched the power of a god.
p>It wasn't something I could have done with my strength alone; it was possible by borrowing the power of my comrades.
"I think I need to find a way to protect my body somehow..."
Enduring the headache and pain as if all my bones were broken and my blood was flowing backward, I was thinking about ways to develop Idea further.
It was the occupational hazard of someone who had devoted their entire life to the study of magic.
p>As Dullahan said, this magic is still incomplete.
There was still no way to protect the caster from the massive explosion that occurs during the sealing, and the structure needed to be changed to allow more of my comrades' power to be infused.
At that moment, a voice so loud it hurt my ears was heard.
"Wh-what is this?! Lord Dullahan has disappeared without a trace! Could a being of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings have been annihilated here in Poseiken Hollow?!"
The siren in charge of commentary, seeing Dullahan's form vanish, raised her voice in panic more than anyone else.
Unfortunately, he wasn't completely annihilated.
Since Idea isn't an offensive magic, it merely sealed the entity known as Dullahan somewhere.
"Th-then, according to the colosseum rules, the winner becomes the Mad Mage! Where on earth could Lord Dullahan have gone..."
Murmurs.
It wasn't just the siren who began to stir. Voices also came from the spectator stands, perhaps unable to accept Dullahan's defeat.
"Lord Dullahan lost? No way! A being of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings couldn't go out so pathetically!"
"No. The opponent is the mage who killed Lady Bellamora. Seeing how he defeated almost every participant in the colosseum to get here, you should know."
Because I had defeated nearly all the participants to fight Dullahan, voices from the audience siding with me were also heard.
Some also couldn't imagine anyone surviving a hit from a magic of Idea's enormous scale and power, seeing it for the first time.
Well, who do you think created that magic?
I kept holding back the laughter that wanted to escape, my lips curling upward to the point where I even forgot the pain constricting my entire body.
With this, I've avenged my parents and the people of my hometown. The feeling of the guilt that had tormented me for ten long years disappearing was utterly refreshing.
It was right at that moment.
"Lord Astal, are you alright?"
The Saint, Victoria, whose presence was so immense it seemed to blot out half the sun in the sky, immediately approached my side and cradled my head on her lap.
I wonder how long she had been waiting.
If she had come right after the colosseum battle ended, her expression wouldn't have held such a mix of worry and relief.
"If I say I'm fine... you're going to hit me, right?"
"No, do you still think of me as such a violent woman?"
Victoria spoke while holding back tears. I wanted to wipe her tears away, but I hated my own body for being completely immobile.
"Your figure is violent enough to leave nowhere to look."
I deliberately uttered a vulgar joke I wouldn't normally make to Victoria. Because I didn't want to see her sad face.
"Is that so? Then I'll do as you wish."
Squish—.
Instantly, my vision darkened.
Victoria leaned forward slightly, pressing my face against the soft pouch of her chest.
A soft, warm sensation spread directly across my face, accompanied by a sweet, stimulating floral fragrance.
"Victoria... I can't breathe well... I can't even move a finger right now..."
"I know how to control that. I practiced a little secretly while you were asleep."
"......"
As Victoria said, I could barely breathe, forced to fully savor her body as if receiving the karmic retribution for pushing her feelings away all this time.
Before our contract relationship, she would have denounced me as a pervert or given me a disgusted look the moment I spoke like this.
"Right now... just stay like this for a moment. It's the only way I can feel a little reassured."
The current Victoria was clumsy at expressing her emotions, making mistakes or lying to deceive herself, but she wasn't doing that now.
I couldn't say anything about her playful tantrum either.
- I'm embarrassed too... I don't want these feelings to be noticed... Right now, I just want to play a prank like usual. If I think about how you almost died, I feel like I'll cry...
From the dark, cozy blackness, Victoria's inner thoughts reached me.
Contrary to her outward appearance of trying not to sound sad, her voice was choked up as if she had even assumed the scenario of my death.
"I told you I wouldn't die. How little do you trust me?"
"You did drink and smoke behind my back, didn't you?"
"That's that, and this is this—. Ugh..."
"This is punishment for saying something bad. You did sweat a little, but you seemed to like that part more."
Squish, squish.
This time, she leaned forward a bit more, blocking my mouth. Watching her, I realized how deep my karmic debt was.
Only after I apologized several times did my vision brighten slightly.
"...Seeing you make such a lewd joke, unlike your usual self, it seems you won't die right now. Luckily, I don't have to worry about becoming a widow."
Victoria, perhaps sensing the intention hidden in my words, wiped her tears with a mischievous smile.
Even in the colosseum watched by all sorts of monsters and demons, the Saint Victoria Aberhart prioritized the actions she wanted to take.
Namely, being by the side of the man she loved most.
And it seemed she wanted to make up for not being able to fight alongside him and for secretly crying because she couldn't fully believe his promise to return alive.
"Victoria, my victory isn't officially confirmed yet, is it okay for you to come down to the arena like this?"
"It doesn't matter. The Astal I know is someone who always brings victory. Of course, you won."
Saying that, Victoria left a small kiss on my forehead, a pleased smile on her lips as she tidied my bangs with her fingers.
"...Honestly, it was a tough fight. I didn't even completely kill Dullahan."
Watching that, I told Victoria about the outcome of the fight.
"If you didn't kill him... is it because of Poseiken Hollow's characteristic? No one can die here, right?"
"That's part of it, but I also didn't like the idea of him dying comfortably."
Saying that, I let out a laugh of satisfaction. Even though my lungs were damaged, ribs broken, and I was coughing up bloody phlegm.
"I gave him a punishment worse than death. That bastard's Life Vessel turned out to be the holy sword he never drew, you know? Maybe he was scared it might break or get destroyed."
"That's... possible? You can imbue your essence into a sword forged by the god Odin?"
Seeing that, Victoria didn't frown or call it dirty at all, instead using her sleeve to wipe away the bloodstains.
I liked this side of her.
I thought her selfless, devoted nature—willing to step into muddy water herself to save people—was so fitting of a Saint.
"But, there was something he overlooked. That sword is no longer a holy sword; it's a demonic sword. It has consumed too much of the blood and vengeful spirits of innocent people."
I clearly remember the moment Dullahan drew that sword. It was engraved with the grudges of those he killed, to the point it should be called a demonic sword, not a holy one.
Souls clinging to the sword, unable to even go to hell, waiting for the day Dullahan would die.
Was it because I had briefly approached the realm of the gods through Idea? I caught sight of the original Hero party members glaring at Dullahan as if to kill him, weeping tears of blood.
- I'm sorry.
He probably killed his lover and child with that sword. The Saint holding the baby even seemed to mouth 'I'm sorry' to me.
It seemed they pitied the fact that misfortune had continued due to their past mistakes.
"Among them was a woman in Saint's robes holding a baby. That's probably why the Heavenly God Lumina opposes our relationship. Well, of course, I don't think she's completely against it..."
"Not completely against it? What does that mean?"
"Who knows? It might be better to ask her directly later. I think even the so-called gods have many things they hide."
The one who likely made it possible for me to hear Victoria's inner thoughts was probably the Heavenly God Lumina.
If she truly intended to obstruct our relationship, she would have distorted the inner thoughts I heard to drive us apart, or she wouldn't have set such a strange condition when I rejected the confession.
"Well, if it really doesn't work out, I have my own ideas too."
"Are you perhaps thinking the same thing as me?"
"Probably? Once I properly perfect the magic to kill the Demon King, it won't matter if you become an ordinary woman instead of a Saint."
I smiled while looking at the result Idea had created in the distance.
If the problem was Victoria becoming an ordinary woman without any abilities, then I just needed to create magic so powerful that it wouldn't even be a problem.
Of course, right now, Idea has many aspects that need improvement and many areas that require supplementation.
"...I'll be waiting. Both the real answer to the confession you promised to give me before, and the magic that can kill the Demon King."
With Victoria and my comrades by my side, I can do it.
Hearing my resolution, she smiled brightly and gave a short kiss on my lips.
- [You damn bastard!! How dare, how dare you seal me in the holy sword...?! I will definitely escape!! Someday I'll get out of this trashy place, tear you to shreds, and hang your entrails and bones in the streets!!]
A voice interrupted before I could even savor the afterglow.
Ah, the mood was perfect, damn it.
The voice grumbling from the jet-black holy sword was undoubtedly Dullahan's.
From the beginning, Idea was a sealing magic, not an offensive one, and I didn't like the idea of my tormentor dying comfortably either.
"Lord Astal, this is..."
"I sealed Dullahan himself inside the cursed holy sword. Now he'll have to spend eternity, unable to go to heaven or hell, repeating the torment from the people he killed."
I merely gave him a little help so he could receive the full karmic retribution for the sins he accumulated.
If he had truly lived a good life like Kyle, nothing would have happened.
- [Agh, uwaaah!!! Please stop, stop it!! I am the original Hero!! I am not a body meant to suffer your torment here!!]
After a little time passed, Dullahan began uttering humiliating pleas of 'Please spare me!! I'll do anything, please!!', likely suffering torments worse than death from those he killed.
"I was thinking of giving this to Kyle later... or maybe planting it at my parents' gravesite... What do you think, Victoria?"
"How about dipping it in magma once, or sinking it in the ocean to torment him first? It's unfair if we don't do anything."
"That's true too."
Victoria wore a smile more devilish than anyone's, thinking of ways to torture Dullahan.
"Poseiken Hollow, 4,321st Colosseum Match, the victor is—!! The Harmless Mage, Astal Kaisaros!! Congratulations—!!"
Finally grasping the whole situation, the siren was the first to loudly announce my name, informing everyone of the victory.
Yes, you could have called it that from the start.