207
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 207
Gloria couldn't deflect the sword that was stabbed in unexpectedly.
To be precise, Gloria struck the sword with all her might, but couldn't push back against the heavy force behind the incoming blade.
Instead, she managed to slightly twist the direction of the incoming sword, redirecting it from her spine to her side.
Clang!
The sword glided along the elegant curves of the black armor.
As the sword pushed in, the assassin was drawn into Gloria's embrace.
Gloria met the assassin's eyes at close range.
His eyes were pale blue like Gloria's.
But his pale eyes had lost their color and were constantly trembling.
"Ah, aah..."
He lunged at Gloria with his jaw wide open as if to tear out her throat.
Gloria responded instinctively to this bestial, savage method of attack.
Gloria raised her shoulder as high as possible to block his yellowed teeth with her shoulder plate.
Scraaatch!
While his teeth were scraping against her shoulder plate, Gloria kicked his stomach and retreated as if falling backward.
As Gloria rolled backward once, she activated her chainsaw sword against the guy's follow-up attack.
Whirrrrr!
He didn't give Gloria time to regain her stance.
He swung his sword down while Gloria was off-balance, and just as urgently as the chain moved along the blade, Gloria's arm moved hastily to block his sword.
Clang!
Unlike the previous attack, Gloria succeeded in deflecting his sword.
It was thanks to the powerful rotational force of the chainsaw sword.
But he threw his body like a zombie, regardless of whether his sword was deflected or not.
Gloria pulled her sword with all her might and brought it down toward his collarbone.
Grrrrrrk!
The chainsaw sword dug into their collarbone.
But strangely, the chainsaw sword couldn't cut through his body.
Is he a tank-type knight like Caesar?
Or was his body special?
Whatever the case, the chainsaw that had even cut through an orc's thigh was stuck at their collarbone and wouldn't move.
"Aaaaargh!"
He charged at Gloria while screaming in pain.
Gloria became more endangered as the intensely rotating chainsaw sword was pushed back.
As he approached, the chainsaw sword was forced backward and rushed toward Gloria's face.
Gloria twisted to avoid the chainsaw sword coming at her.
But her forearm was caught by his outstretched left hand.
"Ugh!"
Terrible pain surged through as if her forearm was being crushed in a press.
Not stopping there, he lunged with his mouth wide open as if to tear out Gloria's throat.
Gloria tried to push his stomach away with her right foot, but her right shoulder felt like it would dislocate due to the guy gripping her right forearm.
Still, she pushed with all her might knowing her throat would surely be caught in those vicious jaws if she didn't push them away.
At that moment, a sword flew toward Gloria's neck.
It was the broadsword in his right hand.
Gloria had no way to block the sword.
The broadsword was too close to pull back the chainsaw sword to block it.
'...Am I going to die?'
In such an absurd way?
Caesar used to say that no one knows when they're going to die.
He said this was especially true for soldiers.
But she never knew this saying would come to her in such a ridiculous way.
'Caesar...!'
Splat!
Just then, blood splattered on Gloria's face.
It wasn't Gloria's blood.
She felt no sensation on her neck.
The red fox's hand was positioned between Gloria and the assassin.
It was Maru.
Maru blocked the assassin's right hand that was aiming for Gloria's neck by striking it with a broken dagger.
"Are you okay? Gloria?!"
"Watch out to the side!"
The assassin's jaw lunged to bite Maru's right forearm.
Maru quickly dodged while cutting the tendon of their arm that was gripping Gloria's forearm.
Finally able to break free from the assassin's grip, Gloria pulled her chainsaw sword strongly inward while stepping back.
He screamed in pain.
"Ugh!"
Gloria could now fully see his entire body.
Above his head was a beating heart, and five blood vessels connected to it were linked to fist-sized holes in their recently severed right arm, left arm, both legs, and lower back.
Gloria immediately recognized that this grotesque creature was very similar to that ugly drawing Caesar had made.
"...Could it be Raum's puppet?"
"Aaaaargh!"
He screamed while shedding tears of blood.
Then their dangling right arm regenerated instantly, and the flesh and blood that the chainsaw sword had torn were restored to the puppet.
Both Gloria and even Maru swallowed hard at this bizarre phenomenon that could only be seen as demonic sorcery.
The puppet opened his trembling lips to speak.
"Ru, run..."
"...?"
"Ru, run, run away."
"...What did you say?"
"Run away from me."
He raised their broadsword with both hands.
"I said run awaaaay!"
He charged while spraying tears of blood.
Gloria instinctively raised her chainsaw sword to block his sword.
No, she couldn't block it.
Clang!
The chain of the intensely spinning chainsaw sword broke as soon as it blocked his broadsword.
'Damn! Of all times!'
Theon had mentioned that the chainsaw sword's durability was weak and could break during battle, but he hadn't expected it to happen in a life-threatening situation like this.
Fortunately, the broken chain flew into the puppet’s face instead of hitting Gloria.
The sharp blade wrapped in chain pierced the puppet's right eye and cheek.
"Arghhhhhh!"
The puppet screamed and pushed its sword forward.
Crack!
The broad sword crushed through the chainless blade.
As soon as Gloria saw the blade digging in, she dropped the chainsaw sword and stepped back.
In that moment, Maru rushed in.
Maru swung his dagger to take off the puppet's neck.
Hot flames created by Maru were burning brightly on the dagger, and as it dug into the puppet's nape, it seared its nerves and muscles.
"Got it...!"
"Dodge!"
Gloria dove into Maru's side and knocked him down.
The broad sword grazed past the tip of Maru's nose.
If they had been just a bit later, Maru's body would have been diagonally bisected.
Maru couldn't believe his eyes.
How could it swing a sword with a dagger stuck in its neck?
What kind of being was this?
The broad sword came in again, threatening to cut Maru's body in half.
Maru avoided it with a back flip, utilizing the natural flexibility of beast people.
The puppet pulled out the dagger stuck in its neck.
"...I, I told you to run away."
The puppet threw the dagger at Maru.
Maru barely twisted his body to avoid it.
Maru's broken dagger flew and shattered against a tree.
Simultaneously, the puppet rushed toward Maru.
Maru strongly pulled both hands up from below.
A thin wall of flames rose from bottom to top along the puppet's charging path.
The puppet broke through the wall of flames with its whole body and swung its sword at Maru.
Swoosh!
The puppet swung the broad sword at Maru's neck.
Whoosh!
As soon as Maru's head flew off, his body disappeared with the flames.
At that moment, a fireball dropped from above the puppet.
The puppet cut through the fireball with its broad sword.
BOOM!
With a huge explosion, the heart floating above the puppet's head took damage.
The puppet then clutched its pierced chest and fell to its knees.
"Urghk!"
Gloria and Maru's eyes met.
'Perhaps?'
Gloria charged forward with the broken chainsaw sword.
Though it had lost its cutting power without the chain, she judged it could at least serve as a club.
Gloria swung the greatsword toward the heart floating above the puppet's head.
The puppet instinctively raised its broad sword upward to protect its heart.
Screech!
Gloria slid deeply along the sword blade and struck down at the blood vessel connecting the puppet's right arm and heart.
Snap!
Though the puppet's blood vessel was rubber-like and tough, it wasn't enough to withstand Gloria's club strike.
When the blood vessel connected to the right arm broke, strength drained from the puppet's right arm and it fell limp.
'As I expected.'
She had wondered why the heart was hanging from its head, but it seemed that heart was controlling the puppet.
"Arghhhhh!"
The puppet swung its sword at Gloria's neck with its remaining left arm.
The speed of the puppet's sword was faster than she had thought.
It was impossible for Gloria to dodge.
Gloria offered her side instead of her neck.
Clang!
The broad sword hit the chest guard.
Though it wasn't made of iron or terra alloy, it was enough to block a sword without sword energy.
Crack!
"Ugh!"
However, unable to properly absorb the impact, Gloria's ribs broke.
At that moment, Maru rushed in.
Blazing flames filled both of Maru's hands.
Maru quickly jumped up and snatched the puppet's heart, crushing it simultaneously.
"Arghhhhhhhh!"
As blood leaked from the heart, flames burned it to a crisp.
The blood vessels connected to the heart also sizzled and burned from the flames Maru had released.
Maru stepped on the puppet's shoulder and pulled hard.
When Maru pulled the heart, the blood vessels connected to it snapped.
"Ah...!"
The puppet, having lost its heart, dropped its sword and fell to its knees.
Its clouded dead eyes cleared for a moment as it looked at Gloria.
"...Thank you."
Those were its last words before it collapsed.
"Whew..."
Gloria sat down with a sigh of relief.
"Ugh."
But was it because I breathed too deeply?
Pain surged from the broken rib area.
"Are you okay, Gloria?"
Maru extended his hand to Gloria.
Gloria took Maru's hand and stood up.
"Yeah, I survived thanks to you. Thank you."
Maru scratched the tip of his nose, seemingly embarrassed.
"...You're weak because you try to win with tricks. You need to learn how to win fair and square to become strong."
Gloria chuckled.
"You're right. I should buy sturdy armor and get a new sword too."
"It's not good to rely on equipment. You lose your edge when that strange sword breaks."
"It's not relying on equipment, it's making good use of it. Of course, things get a bit harder when equipment breaks, as you said."
"If you're not going to wear that strange sword and armor forever, you should train properly."
"That's..."
Gloria was about to say something but closed her mouth.
Isn't he just big but still 7 years old?
What's the point of winning an argument with a child?
"You're right. I should probably train more."
"...Well, you could train with us then. You'll get strong quickly if you train with us."
Gloria looked at Maru's tail.
Judging by his wagging tail, he seemed secretly excited.
'How cute.'
Really just big but still a child.
"I don't think that will be possible."
"Why?"
"I think my rib is broken. I'll need to rest for a while."
Maru looked at Gloria's armor.
There was a large scratch where it had blocked the broadsword.
"Then we should head back soon. Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I think I can walk. But..."
"Wait."
Maru's ears perked up.
"...This can't be."
"What? What's wrong?"
"...These guys are everywhere."
"What?"
Maru held up his dagger.
"At least 10 of them. They're coming from all directions. What should we do?"
"How do you know that?"
"Focus on the sounds."
Gloria concentrated on her hearing as Maru said.
oh oh oh oh!
oh oh!
Gloria got goosebumps.
Split voices spread throughout the forest.
"They must have heard us fighting. We need to escape."
"I can't go."
"If it's your side that's hurt, it's okay. I'll carry you."
"No. If you try to run while carrying me, we'll both die. These guys aren't ordinary."
"But how can I abandon you?! I can't abandon you!"
Gloria somewhat understood why Raven had opened her heart to the beast people.
Though they were enemies trying to kill each other just a year ago, he was willing to give his life to protect Gloria.
That's why she couldn't let him die for her sake.
"Don't worry, I have a way to hide myself, so hurry and tell Master."
"You have a way to hide? Really?"
"Have you only lived being deceived? Hurry and go! Can you escape?"
"That's... Possible."
"Then hurry and go."
"But..."
"Go! Hurry! If you waste time now, I'll be in more danger."
Gloria pushed Maru's back.
"Can you really hide yourself?"
"I can hold out if you go quickly."
"Really? Can you swear?"
"Yes. I'll swear. The longer you delay, the more danger I'm in. So hurry and go."
"Okay. I'll be back quickly, so make sure to hide well."
Maru jumped up onto a tree.
"Hold on just a bit. Okay?"
"Could you deliver a message to our Master?"
"What message?"
"Tell him that Raum's puppet that Master mentioned has appeared and..."
Gloria hesitated for a moment, then smiled brightly.
"Tell him thank you so much."
Maru tilted his head.
"...I'll deliver that message for now. Wait just a bit."
"Yes, hurry and go."
Maru leaped and flew between the trees.
When he disappeared from view, Gloria's legs gave out and she fell.
Though she forced a smile in front of Maru saying she was fine, she wasn't fine at all.
Gloria was so scared she felt like she would die.
Where would there be any way to hide?
She sent him away because those who can live should live.
"...Master was wrong about something."
Pat! Pat! Pat!
The sound of footsteps through grass came from all directions.
"That most people don't know when they'll die."
The puppets appeared through the underbrush, emanating an ominous aura.
Gloria's heart beat wildly.
Death is scarier than I thought.
Before, when I was scared, I used to think of Dad, but now I'm starting to think of Master.
What would Master do in this situation?
At least he wouldn't show these guys a frightened face.
Gloria used the fallen broadsword as a cane to stand up.
Then she looked at the puppets approaching with swords and spears.
All the puppets approached while shedding tears of blood.
"Come on. Devils."
Gloria smiled like Caesar.
Smiling made the fear subside a little.
"I'll kill you all."
The puppets rushed at Gloria.