Chapter 28
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 28
As Swallow prepared to counter, Uin landed lightly on her toes and spun in an instant.
Putting her full weight behind it, she threw another punch.
Crack!
A shockwave rippled out from the impact, but that was all. Swallow easily caught her fist in his outstretched hand, the shockwave failing to even penetrate his palm. Unlike her first strike at the auction house, his skin didn't peel or tear. Instead, the force recoiled, shoving Uin back.
"What are you doing?"
With a dry, detached expression, Swallow swept her leg.
Uin lost her balance and went airborne, slamming onto the stone floor in a completely defenseless heap. Groaning, she pushed herself up. Before she could even steady her stance, she swung her fist again. Once more, Swallow merely reached out and blocked the punch.
This time, he stomped on her left foot. The sound of crushing bone echoed through the air. As she screamed, Swallow kicked her. Thud. It was a dull, dismissive sound. He hadn't put any real strength into it—as if kicking aside a piece of trash—but Uin's fragile body still tumbled several meters away.
"Ugh… ah…"
Dust and ash swirled around her. Covered in filth from head to toe, Uin staggered to her feet. She spat out a mouthful of blood and, with a pained groan, charged at Swallow once more.
She swung her fist. Whoosh. It cut through empty air. Swallow blocked it. She immediately followed with her left fist—but before she could touch him, a kick sent her rolling several meters away once more.
This time, she lay still for a long while, as if dead, before barely managing to push herself to her feet. Her body trembled violently. She staggered forward, much slower than before, and threw a weak, powerless punch.
Thud.
Not even a shockwave rippled. There was no way it could hurt.
Finding her feeble attempt pathetic, Swallow struck her with his forearm. With a choked gasp, she collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Even in that state, she grabbed his ankle.
She coughed up a torrent of blood. Her body convulsed, her heart hammering against her ribs. You're going to die. You're really going to die. Stop moving. You've already reached your limit, her instincts screamed.
—This is really the limit.
How many times did I attack? How many seconds have passed? I fought with everything I had, but it hasn't even been a minute, has it? This is the limit. Nothing will change. It's meaningless. So end it here. It's okay to rest now. You've done enough. You've fought honorably.
Defeatism flooded her mind.
In a fading voice, she muttered.
"The citizens of the Empire…"
Uin Historia is a Hero.
"The innocent people…"
Because she was a Hero, she could not fall yet.
—Move.
Not yet. This wasn't the limit. Her instincts were lying. She hadn't reached her limit yet. She still had a sliver of strength left. She had to squeeze out every last drop. Even if it meant wringing out the very energy keeping her alive, she had to do it.
Dying was fine. If she was going to die, she would die moving.
Move.
"Never…"
A minute? A second? Even the briefest moment was fine. No one knew what kind of change that short span of time could bring. Right now, the best thing ‘Hero Uin’ could do was buy time. Just a little more time.
"You can't go…"
She pressed both hands against the ground, so unstable she looked ready to collapse at any second.
Because she had to protect the citizens and defend the Empire. Because to defeat a monster like this, the entire military might of the Empire had to gather. Until they all assembled, she couldn't let him pass. Just a little more.
Just a little more.
"Ah…"
Just. A little. More.
"Haaaaaaaah!"
She let out a wild shriek—a final, desperate struggle fueled by the last dregs of strength at the bottom of her soul. A madness transcending mere will forced her small body upright. She swayed unsteadily, like a puppet on broken strings.
She pulled her shoulder back. The only thing she knew how to do was throw a straight punch. It was what she was most confident in, what she did best.
To inflict even the slightest scratch. To buy even a fraction of a second more.
—Her final blow struck Swallow's heart.
Tap.
It merely brushed against his chest.
She remained frozen in that pose for a long moment. Blood from a gash on her head dripped down her face, over her lips, and splattered onto the ground. Her bruised flesh was a deeper shade of blue than her hair.
Uin Historia collapsed to her knees.
Her swollen lips trembled. Her face stained with tears, she spoke as if squeezing out the absolute last of her strength.
"The citizens of the Empire…"
She fell face-down on the ground, silent as if dead.
Swallow clicked his tongue.
He could have killed her instantly. He hadn't been toying with her; he was simply curious. He wanted to see just how far a human's will could carry them.
His conclusion: she had done well.
"Congratulations. Yours was not a dog's death," Swallow said to the fallen Uin.
There were no other humans nearby. Her only logical reason for chasing him must have been to buy time.
If buying time was her goal, then she had held out for an impressive amount of time.
"Uin, was it? I'll at least remember your name. Though I don't know how long that memory will last."
Swallow raised his left foot, its shadow falling over her sky-blue hair, now matted with blood. One stomp was all it would take to crush her head.
Some might call it cruel, but few deaths were as painless as having one's head crushed in a single blow. It was his minimal show of respect for her persistence.
Just before he brought his foot down on her head, he sensed several presences.
More humans? Annoyed, Swallow turned his gaze toward the source. A few in front of him—he was too lazy to count, but there weren't many.
—And one behind him.
Boom!
Something heavy struck the back of Swallow's head. It caused no damage, but the blow was stronger than expected, making his vision shake. With one leg already raised, his balance faltered. In that brief moment of instability, the person behind him shoved Uin's body aside. Leaving her to roll across the ground like an inanimate object, the attacker made a swift retreat.
"Are you a string of sausages? Why do you insist on coming out one by one instead of all at once?" Swallow asked, his irritation plain to see. He seemed to have given up on hiding his expression, his face twisted into a deep scowl.
"We had to resort to drastic measures to save Lady Uin. Please forgive our rudeness."
The long-haired man at the head of the group answered. He had black hair—a rare trait among humans—and wore an outfit that marked him as their commander. Though tall, he was still shorter than Swallow's Polymorphed form. The man exuded a natural elegance in both speech and demeanor, unlike Melju's clumsy attempts. This was the genuine article.
"…Do you really think I'll forgive you just because you say sorry after hitting me from behind?"
"Allow me to introduce myself, though it is belated. I am Ar Edelbreas Galf Rivisten of the Edelbreas Black Wolf Knights, here to present myself to the almighty Lord Swallow."
"Ar Edel… what?"
"I am Ar Edelbreas Galf Rivisten of the Edelbreas Black Wolf Subjugation Squad."
"Black Wolf… what? …Why is it so long?"
What is he even saying? I'll just call him Ar. The rest is probably just family names, anyway. Annoyed, Swallow gave a half-hearted nod.
"Right, you… you just called me 'Lord Swallow,' didn't you? How did you know?"
"I simply have a talented subordinate with the ability to recognize you, Lord Swallow."
Bowing once more, Ar spoke with formal politeness, a subtle, unpleasant smile playing on his lips.
That's the classic smile of someone with an ulterior motive.
Swallow's brow twitched. He had lived a very long time, and his vast experience told him that people like this were troublesome. They were the type who enjoyed playing mind games. He'd lost his temper and devoured countless such individuals mid-conversation in the past.
Not that being hot-tempered was something to boast about.
"Well, whatever."
His plan to handle things quietly in the Empire was already ruined anyway.
Swallow started to ask, "What do you want?" but stopped. Even to him, it was a stupid question. Obviously, they were here to rescue the sky-blue-haired girl, Uin. Otherwise, they wouldn't have braved the flames to get here, nor would they have struck him from behind just as he was about to crush her head.
Scanning the group again, Swallow spotted a familiar face: a pink-haired woman with a missing arm. It was definitely the woman who had been with Uin.
Staring at the pink-haired woman, Swallow stroked his jaw as understanding dawned. Ah. The pink-haired woman clearly cherished Uin; she had thrown herself in front of her back at the auction house. It stood to reason that she was the one who brought these humans here to rescue her.
That meant the "talented individual" Ar mentioned was almost certainly her. Swallow was sure of it. The pink-haired woman knew something. Her split-second decision to use protection and teleportation magic at the auction house was only possible if she already knew who he was. Otherwise, common sense dictated she would have used an offensive spell.
—He grasped the situation now. In the end, this was just another story of fools getting wiped out trying to save a comrade.
"I'm in a foul mood. I've already wasted enough time on that human, Uin, and now you're wasting even more. So, come at me all at once."
He beckoned Ar with a finger, prepared to devour them all if necessary.
However, Ar's response was entirely unexpected.
"I believe there has been a misunderstanding. We have absolutely no intention of fighting you, Lord Swallow."
"What?"
"It is our policy to avoid unwinnable battles as much as possible."
"You expect to rescue her without fighting? Against me? Do you have any idea how much of my time you've wasted? Do you really think you can escape?"
"We have no intention of fleeing either. As I said, we do not engage in futile actions. The reason we have come here is to propose a deal to you, Lord Swallow."
"A deal? With me? What could I possibly want from you? Human, you'd better grasp your situation. Keep talking nonsense and you won't get an easy death."
At the word 'deal,' Swallow's face contorted. Demeura, on his wrist, swayed back and forth. He glared at Ar, looking ready to tear him to shreds. If the man uttered one more word of nonsense, he wouldn't waste another second on conversation.
After a few seconds of silence, Ar finally parted his lips.
"According to the myths recorded in the history books of the Empire, Lord Swallow only appeared before humans when you were greatly angered by them. Normally, you never showed yourself to humans, nor did you interfere in human affairs."
"…Are you trying to analyze my actions using some myth written by humans?"
"It is merely the speculation of uncivilized minds. However, the fact remains that you, Lord Swallow, have appeared here in the heart of the Empire in 'human form.' And based on your earlier question—'How did you know?'—I became certain… you were trying to hide your identity, were you not?"
The monster before them was an entity that had effortlessly crushed two of the Empire's three greatest Heroes. Would such a being hide his identity out of fear? No. It was far more likely that he simply 'didn't want to cause a commotion.'
"If so, then at the very least, you did not come here with the intention of passing judgment on humanity."
"So? What's the deal?"
"We will help you."
The emotionless, measured response made even Swallow freeze.
"I do not believe you came all this way merely to retrieve Guillotine's Tooth."
Having said his piece, Ar closed his eyes, as if awaiting judgment.
While he could predict the situation, he could not predict Swallow's reaction. From this point on, it was a gamble with his life on the line.
Earlier, Garot had rushed back to the Dungeon Subjugation Union Headquarters after losing an arm. According to her report, two intruders had broken into the auction house where she and Uin were stationed. They had appeared from the back of the building and declared they were there to retrieve Guillotine's Tooth.
Garot felt a heavy concentration of the 'Trace of Bern' at the feet of one of them. The trace was so thick it suggested multiple instances of 'direct contact'—far too intense for a mere monster. This led her to be certain that the intruder was Swallow.
When Swallow then declared he would slaughter everyone in the auction house, Uin attacked. Swallow countered, blowing Uin away. In the process of trying to rescue her, Garot lost her arm and barely managed to escape.