The Hero's Nemesis
After sending his aide out of the room, Kaits nodded to himself, then let out a groan.
"This is going to be a bit of a hassle."
"I was just thinking the same thing. Want me to skip it?"
Why the hell is he calling for me?
No, that's not the right question.
What kind of bullshit is he planning to pull this time?
There was no way that king of laziness would summon me for any normal reason. I couldn't meet him right now. If I came face to face with that bastard while he tried to pull something on me in my current injured state... I might actually kill him.
Even without that, Nanar's stunt had already set my blood boiling with murderous intent toward the entire country. I was barely holding it in. If those worthless worms poked at me right now, I had zero confidence in my patience.
"Perhaps he intends to reward you."
"A reward?"
"You didn't hear? At this moment, you're being hailed as a hero once again throughout the kingdom."
"...Why?"
Mullin had mentioned it, but I still couldn't wrap my head around it.
"The story going around is that you uncovered the secret hidden inside the Sea God's Cave and crushed a powerful demonic beast that even the judges couldn't handle—as the hero's companion. With a demonic beast involved, it's only natural they'd call you a hero. For the king, getting close to you wouldn't hurt."
"The hero's companion part is pure brain fiction on your end, isn't it?"
"...A few people said it."
"Who? Mari?"
"......"
As expected, the guy was an open book.
It was honestly impressive how he could act like that while secretly being an ancient ten-thousand-year-old fossil...
"You've lived for ten thousand years too, haven't you?"
Fuck off. I'm a vibrant young man in his prime.
"Hey. What happened with the preliminaries?"
"It's gotten rather ambiguous. They won't gather the victims and restart it, but there's a chance an unprecedented event might occur where everyone can participate. As for you... it's hard to say."
"Why me specifically?"
"Everyone else might be fine, but you definitely passed out. They're probably debating right now whether to count you as eliminated or not."
"What's there to debate? Just eliminate me."
Kaits' eyes widened like saucers.
"What's with that look?"
"Are you sure that's wise? It feels like you'd be abandoning the main quest tied to the Ten Great Families..."
When I answered with clear annoyance, he fell silent.
Wondering what was up, I studied his expression.
"Why? You want me to go through with it?"
I hadn't been particularly interested in this users' race or whatever it was from the start, but if they insisted, I was willing to advance the main quest to some degree.
"No, it's your choice. Rather than an unknown factor like the Ten Great Families main quest where we have no idea what's waiting, I'd rather focus on the True Demon King."
"Then we're good."
The Ten Great Families already had plenty of people holding grudges against me anyway. My dropping out probably wouldn't cause much of a stir.
"Aside from the hero treatment, anything else I should watch out for?"
"It's less something to watch out for and more a peculiar situation. The system is currently broken."
"......?"
The system?
"That thing that always goes 'ding!'?"
"Yes. That one."
"How the hell did it break??"
"The system ultimately runs on divine power. I don't know the exact mechanics... but since it's a force powered by divine energy, it seems your sword—which cut down the mighty deity Nanar—has affected it and caused it to malfunction."
......
"Is the system being broken the reason all the strangers are trying to gang up on me?"
"Not quite. Though they do seem rather excited by this unprecedented event."
The system breaking down... yeah, that was definitely unprecedented.
"It should be restored soon. In the meantime, you should prepare yourself for the wave of fame that's about to come knocking. Also... the Holy Kingdom of Narnia's greatest event, the Holy God Festival. Nanar will definitely try something there."
That damn fame again.
During the Floating Island incident I hadn't gone around alone much, so I hadn't really felt its weight. It would probably be the same this time.
But what the hell was the Holy God Festival?
...He'd probably explain later. Whatever.
"...Okay. I understand. Shall we head out?"
"Yes. Let's go."
They say to strike while the iron is hot, so we'd head straight to the palace right now.
I'd figure out the king's intentions there. If he was friendly and I could pull him to our side, I would. If Nanar turned the entire Holy Kingdom into an enemy, it might be terrifying, but it would definitely be a massive pain in the ass.
Just imagining hordes of fanatics like Rafnir made my head throb with irritation.
The aide waiting anxiously outside the lounge let out a sigh and bowed deeply.
I'd asked the man if it was all right to go with the hero, and he'd broken into a heavy sweat while contacting someone. Meeting the king without Kaits felt... somewhat unsettling.
Shit, that scared the hell out of me.
The ridiculously talented bastard had sent me a telepathic message.
It was a win-win proposal.
If that was the angle, it wasn't a bad deal...
"Come, come! The carriage is waiting outside! This way, please!"
"Uh... I'll change my clothes first."
"Oh, of course!"
The aide seemed like the type who'd act arrogant and throw hysterical fits at his subordinates, yet he was shockingly obsequious toward us.
Leaving him waiting outside, I walked back to the hospital room where I'd been lying. Kaits followed slowly behind me with his arms crossed.
"It means your standing has risen that high."
"Stop omitting words and just say the whole thing. I can't understand you when you talk like that."
"Is that so."
"Yeah, dumbass."
I'd more or less understood that it meant I'd become quite the big shot, but the guy omitted so much information that I felt the need to warn him.
"By the way, have you met Laiet or Asita?"
"? Yeah, I did."
"I see. They went through considerable trouble to see you."
Trouble?
"This is a hospital belonging to the Ten Great Families. People with no connection to them aren't even allowed inside."
"What about him?"
"He's a messenger sent by the royal family. We couldn't exactly throw him out."
"Hmm..."
"Similarly, although Laiet is from another nation, her family is a powerful ducal house, so they couldn't ignore the request."
"Request...?"
"She said she wanted to see you. That's why she and Asita came as the student representatives. I don't know about Laiet, but Asita... she was worried sick to the point it was painful to watch. Gold let them in, saying you'd be happy."
As expected of Gold. My sworn brother really had the best sense.
Laiet's story, however, was quite surprising.
She'd even flaunted the power of her ducal family just to see me?
She wasn't the type who liked showing off her influence...
The memory of Laiet's gestures and tone nearly gave me an erection on the spot.
And deep in my chest, a small flower of joy bloomed.
So Asita had acted like that, huh.
Pretending to be fine, pretending she didn't care... hehehe...
Shut up, fossil.
I forced my erection down with sheer willpower. There was no way in hell I was getting hard next to this fucker Kaits.
Still, the silver lining was that my dick was perfectly fine. I'd been secretly worried while using Combat Sex techniques, but it truly lived up to its reputation as the pinnacle of Runar, the aggregation of life itself. Even after blocking all those attacks, it remained unscathed.
I felt Kaits staring at me intently.
When I turned to see what he wanted, he blinked and spoke.
"Now that I think about it, you used quite a unique combat method."
"Unique...?"
"Combat Sex, was it? Dirty, but surprisingly effective at striking the opponent's openings..."
I slammed my fist into his solar plexus, sending myself rolling across the floor again from the recoil.
"Argh! Fuck! This shitty body!"
"Why did you hit me...?"
"You bastard! Forget what you saw! You fucking asshole!"
I'd thought I'd only shown it to Makia!
How the hell had this guy seen it...? Well, since it was Kaits, it wouldn't be strange if he'd watched from afar or read the memories of everyone present.
"...Uh."
"Hm?"
Two out of the three people who came around the corner froze solid like statues.
I froze too.
"...Hey, Kaits."
"What is it?"
"Why are these people in a hospital reserved exclusively for the Ten Great Families...?"
At my words, the two of them awkwardly turned their heads away.
That was understandable. After all, they were the ones who'd tried to kill me.
Mejiem. And the nameless bastard who used mist.
Both members of the Sword Emperor Coalition.
And standing among them, the girl who stubbornly kept wearing her admiral outfit despite the warm room temperature was...
"Waaah—! Dre!"
"Eck."
Before I could even say her name, the admiral girl—Reina—leaped forward and hurled herself at my collapsed form.
An attack? Then I'll counter, you damn loli.
But this girl was seriously, insanely, ridiculously tough.
Even when Makia used every divine possession available, Reina might still have been stronger. Resisting in my current state would be difficult... aaargh.
I groaned in pain mid-thought.
It wasn't exactly an attack, but it was close enough.
"Kheeeek!"
Reina's action was simple. She buried her face in my chest and hugged me with all her might.
"Kyaaak, kek. Kehek!"
"Uwaaaang! You've awakened, my contractor!"
"What? Contractor?"
Had I made some kind of contract with her while unconscious? Was it forced? When I looked up at Kaits, he wore an expression that said he had no idea what was going on.
"Contractor bound by the blood oath, we saved each other's lives once again this time. I do not know how to express this joy..."
"Let go, you crazy woman! Let go!"
Even when I poked the top of her head with my chin, she wouldn't release me, squeezing tighter instead.
She smelled nice—like milk.
A tiny, beautiful young girl hugging me should have triggered protective instincts, but... her strength far exceeded mine...
I genuinely felt like I was going to die.
No joke—I felt a greater sense of crisis than when Nanar had unleashed that wide-area attack.
"There, there, Reina."
"You're hurting him, you know."
The two sensible people grabbed Reina's arms and pried her off me.
I gasped for air, looking up at the three of them.
Reina was smiling brightly, still radiating massive favor toward me.
...What the actual fuck.
"...Is Makia here as well, by any chance?"
When I asked Mejiem, he scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Well... uh," then shook his head.
"She returned with Revelation."
Soft, silent footsteps that made no sound at all.
Yet her posture remained perfectly straight, the kind of refined stance that experts could recognize as masterful from the walk alone.
Even with her eyes closed, she advanced through the pitch-black darkness without the slightest hesitation.
A faint glow of Runar emanated from her body, illuminating her surroundings.
Makia.
She had possessed two gods—one of them the chief god—yet showed no adverse effects whatsoever. The word "genius" wasn't enough to describe this transcendent being.
Despite everything she'd been through, she appeared completely unaffected. In reality, she had quelled most of the unrest caused by the recent incident. On the surface she looked calm, but inside, a violent storm was raging.
Chuu... Th-that's not... The actions I must take from now on are... Ah, his body really was so firm.
Thoughts about the future and obscene memories mixed together, preventing any coherent thinking.
No matter how hard she tried to compose herself and act relaxed, the sensation of their lips meeting and that final hot, thick hand pressed against her cheek like heated iron kept resurfacing.
It was ridiculous.
After being betrayed by the deities and even declaring the end of their contract, at a time when she needed to seriously consider the future, why did those memories keep invading her mind?
Makia stopped walking.
It wasn't just because of her thoughts.
"Do you have some business with me?"
In the hallway of a room submerged in pitch-black darkness, a figure emerged from the shadows.
A goddess-like beautiful girl leaning against the wall.
Painted entirely in black as if to contrast with Makia, she would have blended perfectly with the space if not for her distinctive outfit.
Her alias was the Chairman.
Her real name was Suryeon.
She was the one who had schemed behind the scenes during this incident.
She was also the ranker who had once fought Makia in the past.
"Are you returning from meeting the saintess?"
"Yes. I delivered the notice of contract termination with Lord Nanar, applied a penalty to the one who severed the contract first to receive causality points, and discussed future plans."
"Did you not receive any reprimand for the failure?"
"Fortunately, no."
A brief silence fell.
The one who broke it was Makia's soft "ufufu" laugh.
"It seems you came for another reason?"
"What makes you think so?"
"You look angry, unlike your usual self."
"...Angry? Me?"
"Yes. Umm... I'm sorry for failing the mission. Next time I will definitely succeed..."
Makia suddenly stopped speaking.
"It's not because of that, is it?"
"No? It's exactly that."
"......"
"......"
Silence fell once more.
This time Suryeon broke it.
"From what I heard..."
"Yes?"
"Something rather strange happened during your fight with that man."
".....Ah."
Makia's face flushed bright red. She covered both cheeks with her hands as if trying to hide it. The sight made Suryeon's expression grow even colder.
Looking like she wanted to avoid that gaze, Makia hesitated, then squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
"Y-you didn't just hear about it—you saw it!"
"...What basis do you have for that claim?"
"V-voyeurism is a bad thing!"
With that, Makia rushed past with quick, completely flustered steps.
Suryeon watched her retreating back and muttered.
"Is she a girl in love or something...?"
Crack.
Something shattered in Suryeon's hand. It was a smartphone.
On its screen, a video was playing.
"To surrender your body to a beast... whether you're a saintess or whatever, that thing is a beast too..."
Recalling the scene, Suryeon ground her teeth.
It was time to establish the next plan.
But first, she needed to calm down the terrified Shin Jin-pae.
"...How annoying."
That man who always exceeded expectations, and... that always... vulgar...
"Really fucking annoying."
Even trying to imitate a foreigner doesn't make any sense.
"Your Majesty. What did you just say?"
The king standing among knights who looked ridiculously strong. Me, kneeling before him.
When I asked while down on one knee, the king pointed at me and shouted again.
"I shall arrest you for the crimes of treason and terrorism! You there! What are you waiting for?! Immediately seize this man..."
CRACK!
Blood splattered across the king's face with a wet smack.
"...What!"
"Oh my god!"
"Your Majesty!"
Shocked gasps erupted from every direction.
You fucking bastard. Another sweet potato moment, god damn it.
I prefer cider, you son of a bitch.
I don't know what his intention was... but one thing was crystal clear.
Your Majesty, you son of a bitch. You'd better prepare to die.