Backstabbing the Backstabber (2)

"Krakson! Strong!"

"Kh—!"

Kanna's defense was so stubborn that she held out a remarkably long time against Krakson and the overwhelming destructive power he brought to bear. Every time she went down, she bounced back up like a weighted doll and charged him all over again.

"Fairy! Not die!"

It was the first time Krakson had ever faced an enemy this tenacious, and he was starting to look genuinely rattled. That didn't mean Kanna was walking away unscathed. The Great Warrior class, even at Rare rank, boasted physical attack power that ranked among the very best of its grade — and she had just spent three full minutes tanking that monstrous output by herself. There was no world in which she came out of that looking fine.

The black-iron greatsword she'd been using had shattered long ago. Her shield was a crumpled slab of scrap, twisted past any hope of function. Her armor was cracked and broken through. The only reason she was still on her feet at all was the black aura wrapped around her body — and even that wasn't going to last. She might weather one more of Krakson's blows. A second was going to put her down for good.

"KRAAAAAAH!"

"Just die already!"

Sick of the whole affair, Krakson unleashed his skill.

A fist wreathed in gray light slammed into Kanna.

BOOM—!

"KYAAAAAH!"

The blow drove into her like a truck. She screamed as she went flying, and the black aura that had been holding her together finally met something it couldn't stop — her arm bent in a direction no arm was ever meant to go.

"Finally! Kill!"

Watching the fairy who'd been clinging to him so relentlessly finally hit the dirt, Krakson all but glowed with delight and launched himself into the air. The Great Warrior class had swollen his frame well past ten feet, and his weight had to be north of six hundred pounds. If a body like that came down on top of her, even a 6-Star like Kanna wouldn't survive it.

Crap. Do I step in?

Seeing Kanna in real danger put a knot of urgency in my gut. Of Avalon's fairies, the one I wanted most was Izabella and her Wind Mage class — but Kanna was a well-raised piece in her own right. Keep her growing on this trajectory and she'd have no trouble locking down the main tank slot for an entire party. I had a quality fairy sitting right in front of me. I wasn't about to let her die.

THUNK—!

"Ghk—?!"

I drove my sword through the fairy who'd been stalling me. She tried to catch the blade on her shield, but there was no stopping a thrust backed by strength stats that rivaled an 8-Star. The sword punched straight through the metal and buried itself in her heart. She coughed blood, clutched at the blade, trembled — and then her life went out and she dissolved into light.

Sorry about that.

I offered the dead fairy a silent apology. If things had been different, I would have made her mine. A waste, nothing more.

I turned to go pull Kanna out of the fire. I didn't need to.

"Khuh… khuh… This feeling… never gets old, does it?"

While Kanna had been buying time, Avalon had finished every last bit of his preparation — and now he was moving. The mid-rank demon he'd summoned was nowhere to be seen. He'd used his fourth skill.

Goat horns jutted from his temples. His eyes had gone the red of fresh blood. Bat wings spread from his back, his frame had swollen, and his skin had taken on the coarse, bestial texture of a goat. Fused with a mid-rank demon, Avalon looked like a demon himself.

Damn. That is a vicious mug. Status window.

Hmm…

I let out a quiet breath as I took in the fused Avalon's status window. However many people and fairies he'd been feeding to his demon, it had paid off — his numbers had ballooned. His level had jumped a full twenty points and his rank had climbed a star. On top of that, his class level and every last stat had each gained twenty points, and his skills had all ticked up five levels.

The two demon-related skills — Mid-Rank Demon Summon and Mid-Rank Demon Fusion, both Rare — had transformed into something else entirely, probably because of the fusion. Skills belonging to the demon called Baphomet, if I had to guess.

Yeah. This bastard is no ordinary piece of work.

I'd known Avalon wasn't some nobody the moment I confirmed he held the Demon Worshiping Swordmaster class. I just hadn't expected him to be this strong.

If Avalon keeps growing from here…

He'd become one of the handful of genuine powerhouses on the Gaiarium continent.

"Fairy! Kill!"

"Heh heh heh heh. I don't think so."

Avalon appeared in front of Kanna in the space between heartbeats and threw a punch.

KABOOM—!

"GUAAARGH?!"

A violent explosion of force sent Krakson — who'd been diving in to flatten Kanna — flying. A bare-knuckle punch had just launched a body that weighed over six hundred pounds.

"K-KRAAAAH! Monster! Kill— whoa?"

Krakson heaved himself back to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his feet and started to charge, killing intent rolling off him in waves. But the Avalon who'd been standing in front of Kanna was already gone.

"Heh heh heh… Looking the wrong way, Krakson."

"KUOOOH?!"

Avalon was behind him. He'd crossed that distance in a blink.

A goat's bleat rolled out of Avalon's mouth.

"Ku— kuoooh! Ooooh! Uooooh!"

Krakson started howling like a madman, throwing punches at empty air. His eyes went so red they looked ready to weep blood, and drool ran freely from his jaw.

A low, building hum filled the air as black energy began to coil around Avalon's hand. He thrust his palm forward, and the darkness detonated — a shockwave ripping out in every direction.

SLASH—!

"GRRRRK! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The shockwave shattered both of Krakson's arms and both of his legs in an instant. One heartbeat he was whole; the next he was a cripple. But whatever the song had done to him, pain no longer seemed to register — he thrashed across the ground like a wounded animal, shrieking.

"Heh heh heh! Krakson. You'll be my—"

"KUOOOOOOH—!"

"For a mere sacrifice, you're putting up quite the fight."

The thing that had been writhing like a grub launched itself at Avalon. No arms, no legs — he'd hurled his entire torso through the air on nothing but raw strength.

"Resisting is pointle— huh?"

"Look out, Avalon!"

"Khuh—?!"

I'd been watching for my opening to finish Krakson myself, and I was not about to let this one slip. I hit the airborne Krakson before he could hit Avalon, tackling him out of the air and snatching him down.

"H-hey, wait—!"

That got a rise out of Avalon, of all people. I didn't give him time to interfere. Both ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arms locked around Krakson's head.

I don't care how strong you are — you're not stronger than me. Become the sacrifice for my growth, Krakson!

I wrenched. His neck snapped. I didn't stop there — I tore the head clean off.

CRACK-CRUNCH—!

"Ghk—?!"

It didn't matter how strong you were, or how high your stats climbed. Lose your head and you die. Superhuman strength that no ordinary person could ever touch, and at the end of the day he was still just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a man.

The moment Krakson died, a window bloomed in front of my eyes.

Yes!

Just as I'd planned — Nothingness had evolved into Emptiness. I swallowed the grin and turned back to Avalon.

"What were you doing letting your guard down in a spot like that? Heh. Don't bother thanking me. Friends saving each other's lives is just what we do, right?"

"…"

I shrugged at him, all easy innocence. Avalon had been staring blankly at the headless corpse of Krakson. Now he looked at me.

"…"

Whoa. That is a look that could kill. He'd murder me on the spot if he could.

If a glare were enough to end a man, I'd have died a hundred times over by now. That was how much rage and killing intent Avalon was pouring into me for stepping on his moment. But I was a man who came back even if he died. His blood-chilling stare didn't so much as scratch me.

"Why so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stiff? Come on, man. That's exactly why you don't let your guard down. When you get a chance to kill the enemy, you take it. Hesitate and drag it out like you just did, and you're the one who gets got. Remember that."

"…"

I clapped him on the shoulder, laying it on thick. The fury and murder in his eyes only burned hotter.

"AAAAAH!"

"Mas— KYAAAAAH!"

"Kh— hhk!"

Krakson's fairies started screaming. They'd already been down, pinned by Avalon's own fairies — and in the window I'd spent killing Krakson, Sonic had moved like a thunderbolt and taken every last one of their lives.

"W-wait! What do you think you're doing?!"

"I prefer not to leave loose ends."

Izabella tore into Sonic over the killings, but Sonic — I wondered who she'd learned it from — just answered with the same shameless calm.

"That side's all cleaned up. Now let's go put a knife in Purge's back."

"…"

With Krakson's fairies dead to the last, Avalon's face hardened even further.