Final Confrontation: The Hero's Sword Pierces the Black Sky (2)
"Are you... serious?"
"I'm always serious, Hero."
The Count Melrn was also one who wielded mana, magic, and sorcery. He must have clearly sensed just how immense the mana composing that terrifying iron mace being meticulously prepared in the sky above was.
And yet.
――But Emilia can do it, he trusted without a shred of doubt.
――A hero doesn't whimper over something like that, he declared boldly.
"I..."
But it wasn't a matter of whether she could or couldn't. For Emilia, dying right here would be far better.
What would be left if she survived like this? The Count's sorcery would still be fastened around her neck like a collar, and even if she lived through this, all that awaited was a wretched life as his castle slave, enduring his desires.
A plaything for Count Melrn and Mona. She'd spend her entire life being used up by those two.
If that was the case, then this was better. She could be freed from that miserable future.
And her enemy, Count Melrn, could be finished off right here.
Mona the succubus would suffer some deep penalty from the contract if Emilia died. She might even cease to exist if things went well.
So.
So.
So.
So――I'll...!
"~~~~~~~~~~~!"
Emilia ruffled her hair wildly. The abundant, curly golden locks, roughly tied back with a strip of torn cloth, came undone and spilled everywhere.
Count Melrn simply gazed at her with adoring eyes. His gaze was gentle as ever, his expression one of serene detachment, as if her death right now would be no problem at all.
...If he was the villain, couldn't he at least show some fear or terror at his own death?
"...Fuck, for real!"
Shing...!
Spitting out her deep frustration, Emilia raised the greatsword in her hand and swung it experimentally at the empty air.
A beautiful slicing sound cut through the wind, a clear ring echoing from the blade.
A truly fine sword, on the level of fragmentation ranks. Perhaps even comparable to the hero's sword.
With this, maybe... just maybe she could withstand that one strike.
Gripping the greatsword tightly, Emilia glared with wide eyes and shouted.
"I'm so pissed! Why can't we both just die here?!"
"Just give up already! Let me die without a fight!!"
"Fuck... fuck! What the hell is this?! Why... me...!"
Her voice brimmed with raw grievance. A choked sob escaped her throat.
Tears welled up, blurring her vision.
"I hate you, I really fucking hate you! I wish you'd just die! I'm dead serious!"
Emotions clashed within her. No matter how she tried to give up, she couldn't.
She didn't want to die. She wanted to repel the demons. She didn't want to let the hero's lineage end here. She wanted to inherit her father's will and fulfill the hero's duty.
She wanted to protect everyone――to be sword and shield for all.
And so, Emilia began pouring mana into the greatsword in her hand. She infused the unfamiliar blade with the hero's power, gradually familiarizing it.
"This isn't for you, Count Melrn, absolutely not!"
"Yeah, that's right. It would be."
"It's for the people! Because I don't want to die! Because I'm the hero, and I can't just let an evil bastard like you run free! Remember that! Protecting people just happens to include you! No, just die already!"
"I can't die on you, but I understand your feelings completely, my love. That's why I love you so much it hurts――that version of you."
The storm gathered bit by bit. Even as her hair whipped in the gale, Emilia ground her teeth and glared up at him. Count Melrn looked down with a melting expression of pure joy.
――Emilia is a hero.
――No matter what anyone says, she is a hero.
Her sworn enemy stood right beside her, and she had the means to kill him, yet she prioritized the people's safety over revenge.
And she wasn't some puppet driven blindly by duty; she felt her own desperate longing for life, the contradictions and frustrations she couldn't resolve.
That immaturity. That sincerity. That contradiction. That righteousness.
The fresh greenness of unripe fruit, the poignant fragility of a flower, combined with the unyielding strength of sturdy reeds. The Count loved this young girl's rawness.
"Then, I leave it to you, Hero."
"...I really hate you."
Even laced with utter contempt, Count Melrn only smiled with an expression too blissful to witness.
* * *
Wooooooh... Wooooooh...!!!
The death dragon floating in the storm-ravaged night sky, gathering its power there, now felt that power reaching its critical point.
Yet it continued to amass even more. It drew in the mana from the atmosphere, refined it, and converted it into its own.
Like other dragons inhaling mana-rich air for their breath, though it had no lungs to breathe, it simply pulled in mana itself on a massive scale.
Gather, gather, gather, gather.
Its dragon heart――its魔核, glowing eerily even in the darkness, now shone red and bright like a small sun.
Most of the light was shrouded in dense black mist, but as it intensified, it began piercing through unmistakably.
『―――――――!!』
The skeletal dragon, the dragon of death, bellowed toward the land below from its voiceless throat.
It was a lament for its master, and a declaration of its will to fulfill its mission to the end.
Crack, crack, crack――its bones began to splinter and fracture.
It might vanish without a trace like this, but it didn't care; it kept drawing in the storm.
Grooooh! Grooooh! Grooooh! Groooooh!
The魔核, throbbing as it gathered mana, passed the critical point and began showing unstable reactions, on the verge of rampage.
With its will, it compressed and contained it, gathering more mana, preheating further.
Compress more. Make it stronger. Add more power.
It prepared the ultimate strike, one that nothing could withstand.
Once was enough. It intended to use its body as a disposable launch platform.
Thus, it attempted even more reckless compression.
Still not enough――a vortex of mana swirled violently, accelerating its spin.
The 'small sun' that even black mist couldn't fully conceal emitted a red, ominous glow, now fully charged to annihilate all life below.
――Soon, all preparations would be complete.
* * *
And just as the dragon's desperate strike neared completion, on the balcony below, Emilia faced the storm and murmured with a sigh.
"Not enough time."
Concise words. The monster above had been gathering power for ■ minutes already, while she was only just starting.
Her body had recovered somewhat, but ramping up output still required time to gather strength.
The greatsword in Emilia's hand. Originally wielded by the black knight, servant of the Demon King.
Its obsidian blade gleamed with faint silver light, growing steadily brighter over time.
But that light was still far too dim compared to the ominous 'small sun' glimpsed in the sky.
The fact was obvious, and even Count Melrn, witnessing this, refrained from his usual carefree "I believe in you."
"Time, huh. How much do you need?"
"I don't know. As much as possible. Even a little more."
Emilia gripped the greatsword with both hands, sweat beading as she continued drawing in mana.
A small storm began swirling around her, but it was swallowed by the massive tempest the dragon gathered above.
She couldn't pinpoint the exact time, but instinct told her it was imminent.
Soon, the dragon's breath would fire mercilessly toward them.
"I see. Time is definitely short."
"So stand in front and be my meat shield or whatever. Or just turn to dust and vanish."
"I won't die before you. ――But being your shield? I'm all for it."
Thud...
Count Melrn, who had been right behind Emilia, stepped past her to the forefront of the balcony.
Further into the raging storm. Under the sky pouring fierce rain, bathed in the red murderous glow above.
"Wha...?"
A dumbfounded voice escaped Emilia's lips. Her mind blanked for a moment, unable to comprehend what the Count was doing, leaving her with a stupid expression.
Even so, the light from the greatsword in her hand grew ever clearer.
"I probably won't last long. But it'll work out somehow. Mona, lend a hand."
Count Melrn adjusted the glove on his right hand, then drew a ritual paper knife from his inner breast pocket――the one he always carried――and gripped it elegantly.
He sliced his other wrist.
Spurt...!
An enormous volume of blood jetted into the air from the cut wrist.
The blood scattered wildly in the fierce wind, but suddenly halted midair as if possessed by will.
Then it began moving on its own, slowly forming intricate patterns and formations.
At the Count's feet, from his shadow fully merged with the outer darkness, Mona's upper body emerged.
"Yessir~ Yessir~, Master. Sounds good, sounds good."
"Just stay like that. Stand right there. Leave it all to me~. Do exactly as I say~. Entrust everything to me~."
"Your ever-capable Mona will handle it all. I'm your excellent servant, after all."
"It's a shame it ends up helping humans in the end."
"But this time, I'll teach you everything, and I'll help you through it all."
"Because I'm――your servant."
