36. Survival Is Victory
36. Survival Is Victory
[I am Belphegor... the great demon who rules the Swamp of Hell.]
It was a low voice, like a massive boulder rolling downhill.
In an aged voice matching his appearance, the great demon Belphegor spoke.
Belphegor's voice echoed through the entire cave in a deep reverberation, its dreadfully deep tone pressing against my chest.
-If it's Belphegor... that's fortunate, all things considered. He's infamous for being too slothful by nature to act proactively. And thanks to the incomplete descent ritual, his manifestation isn't perfect. There's still a chance.
Even with a great demon right before her eyes, Companion wasn't frightened at all.
She was calmly analyzing the situation, searching for any possible way to survive.
But unlike Companion's voice, I was utterly terrified.
'This is... a great demon?'
Even without a complete descent, the great demon radiated a horrifying pressure.
All the demons I had faced until now were nothing.
Companion had said that we had to stop the great demons' schemes, and that the moment to fight them would come someday.
'I have to... fight something like that?'
-Pull yourself together, Amy Parker!! If you break down now, you'll die for sure!!!
It's impossible.
There's no way I could fight something like that.
I felt like I would crumble at any moment.
-Thud
"Huh...? Why am I..."
Before me, Liber dropped to her knees.
Her face was deathly pale.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and though she hadn't dropped her sword, her hands were trembling uncontrollably.
-Oh no...! You're holding out thanks to the Anti-Demon Coat, but Simore is completely exposed. There's no way an ordinary person can withstand a great demon's aura...!
Only then did my mind snap back.
I couldn't break down like this.
Right now, I wasn't alone in this place.
If I broke down here, it wouldn't just be me who died.
I steeled my heart and forced myself back up.
[How thoroughly... dull a place you've summoned me to. Calling me into a cave like this... are we doing things they did a thousand years ago?]
The great demon Belphegor began to spout trivial remarks, right in front of us.
He didn't seem to have any intention of killing us right away.
Seeing that attitude, Companion shouted as if seizing an opportunity.
-He's not thinking of killing us yet. This is your chance. Use the hourglass!! Even if it's an incomplete descent, he's not an opponent we can handle right now!! Hurry and run!!!!
The hourglass was a special artifact.
Even if a great demon had laid down magic formulas around us to block spatial movement, the hourglass would still work without fail.
This moment, when Belphegor couldn't even be bothered to kill us and was talking leisurely, was my chance.
Right, I had the hourglass. If I used it, I could escape.
But then something important crossed my mind.
'But... what about Liber...?'
The hourglass was an artifact that could only transport one person.
If I used the hourglass and vanished alone... what was I supposed to do about Liber, who would be left here by herself?
-It's an unavoidable choice...!
I glanced sideways at Liber.
"....I have to... get up.. I have to get up...."
Liber, who hadn't even flinched with a demon evangelist right in front of her, was trembling.
She hadn't fallen into a panic, but she still couldn't stand up on her own.
I couldn't run away and leave her behind like this.
'No... there's still one left, isn't there.'
-You're going to use that now?! That's a powerful tool, but it's not enough against a descended great demon!
'You said that thing's descent isn't complete either!!'
Fortunately, I still had one more hidden card left.
I had to strike while he was still letting his guard down.
I raised the gun in my left hand and aimed it at Belphegor.
"Flame of Saint Macinto...!!!"
-Fwooooosh!!
The moment I pulled the trigger, the sacred flame flared white-hot once more, pouring out toward the great demon Belphegor.
The white-hot fire, released from its seal at the muzzle, gushed forth endlessly.
A wave of pure white flame swept away the pitch-black demonic energy and swallowed Belphegor whole.
No matter how great a demon he was, he wouldn't come out unscathed after taking a dragon's breath imbued with holy power.
To make sure 'both of us' survived, I had no choice but to fight.
"I'm... gooooing!!!"
Silver bullets wouldn't work, so I holstered the revolver.
From the raised mithril greatsword, aura blazed up magnificently.
—————————————————
[How displeasing.]
And then the flames were all snuffed out at once.
"Kyaaah!!!"
A black storm surged, scattering Macinto's fire, and both Liber and I were swept up and slammed into the wall.
I hurt all over, but I could still move.
But that was just me, still somewhat functional. Liber, who couldn't even control her body properly, was what mattered.
"Ugh.. Liber... are you okay?"
"......"
"No...."
Liber wasn't moving.
It seemed she had hit her head when we were thrown.
[Displeasing. To douse me with such filth... me, who has personally deigned to grace you with my presence from Hell.]
Belphegor walked out, completely unharmed, though his body bore burn marks.
It had been the breath of a dragon infused with holy power, but in a reproduced form like this... it seemed it was only this effective after all.
"Shouldn't have shot at the evangelist... should've used both shots here... damn it.."
[Insolent.]
A black gleam flickered from the great demon's finger, and a black stake impaled my left leg.
-Puk!
"Aaargh!!!"
I knew that showing pain would only amuse the demon, but I couldn't hold back the scream.
The black stake was no ordinary stake.
A continuous agony emanated from every part of my flesh that touched the pitch-black stake.
The great demon wasn't incapable of killing me.
He was simply choosing not to.
Like absently watching an ant crawl across a patch of sand... the great demon Belphegor was just keeping us alive because he didn't feel the need to kill us right away.
That was what a great demon was—an existence standing in the position of overwhelming power, deciding on a whim at any given moment whether to spare a life or snuff it out.
The black stake wouldn't come out of my leg.
"Ugh...!! My leg won't move.."
In the end, I hadn't been able to do anything.
I should have used the hourglass to run the moment I saw him.
Once again, Companion had been right.
-You've taken heavy damage, but you're not dead yet. Belphegor can't even be bothered to kill you. This is your chance..! Even now, if you use the hourglass, you can survive.
Companion was right.
To survive, I had to use the hourglass, even now.
I would be able to survive in the immediate sense.
'But what about after?'
They say he who survives wins, but if I ran away now, there would be no Atlas and no Liber.
Would I have to fight the demons all alone again...?
Could that really be called winning?
"I don't want to...."
There was nothing particularly strange about it.
That was how I had survived until now, after all.
Survive by any means, and fight the demons alone.
Someday, I would be able to face even a terrifying great demon like that.
Companion had guaranteed it, so that much must be certain.
But at that time too, I would be alone.
How much longer did I have to live like this?
Until every demon in the world disappeared...?
Could I really endure until then...?
"What is this.."
Something hot was streaming down my face. I wiped it, thinking it was blood, but it was tears.
I hadn't cried in years, so I thought I had dried up, but it seemed I still had attachments left in this world.
Yes, I had made my decision.
I took off the hourglass hanging around my neck and placed it around Liber's neck.
And as I turned the hourglass one full rotation, her form vanished like a mirage, as if she had never been there at all.
-You... what have you done!!! Do you really want to die!!!
Companion was shocked because I had transferred the hourglass.
Of course she would be. I had just practically thrown away my life.
"I'm sorry.. I just... couldn't live like that."
Coming to the academy had been so wonderful.
After losing all my friends in the territory, I had reclaimed something I had forgotten.
"I'm too scared to be alone after all.."
Atlas, who had reached out his hand..
Liber, who had saved me when I got mixed up with a bad person..
Even though I hadn't shown any special abilities, the two of them had just been kind to me.
The warmth of another person, felt after so long, was incredibly comforting.
I had thought that I wished this kind of time could go on forever.
That was why I had regretted it so deeply when Atlas became a demon.
If I abandoned even Liber and ran away just to save myself alone, could I live with my head held high?
When no one was left in the clearing where the three of us had gathered in the mornings, would I be able to bear it?
"Rather than survive alone while letting my friends die... I'd rather just die myself...."
Tears streamed down my face.
I cried from sadness that my life was ending like this, but I smiled because I was happy that Liber had survived.
A mess of emotions, neither one thing nor the other, tangled together inside me.
-...So... such an ending is possible too, I see.
Companion, too, lowered her voice as if resigned.
-In the end, I didn't understand you at all either...
Belphegor, looking down at me collapsed on the ground as if I were a bug, sighed.
[What a cheap melodrama, not even interesting. I'm bored now. I shall go outside.]
Once more, black demonic energy condensed at Belphegor's fingertips.
The leg with the black stake impaled in it wouldn't move, and I had no strength left in my body.
It had been a life of nothing but being swayed and controlled by someone else's words, but at least I could decide my own final moments.
I didn't close my eyes.
Even if I died, I would at least remember the face of the demon who killed me.
I had killed demons until now... but this time, I had failed.
"Do demons like that... actually die too..?"
-Yes. All demons are bound by three weaknesses. Even great demons... do you still remember?
The three methods Companion had first taught me for killing a demon came to mind.
She had told me to absolutely burn it into my memory, because it was the most crucial information.
First, holy power.
Second, pure substances.
And...
"The... third is....."
"Hey.. heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At that moment, a frantic shout rang out from somewhere.
The sound of footsteps pounding closer echoed through the cave.
And then, right after, the footsteps vanished.
-Pwooooooosh!!!
[Gaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!]
Something flashing like a bolt of lightning flew and lodged itself into Belphegor's flank.
It was a sword, shining like the midday sun.
I had seen an Aura Blade gleaming so brilliantly once before.
The thing that had ended my childhood nightmare—when I investigated it later, I had learned what it signified.
Swordsmen described an Aura Blade raised to the realm where the sword body was no longer visible like this:
"The Aura Blade that has reached... the 'Extreme'........"
Belphegor, with the radiant sword buried in his side, was screaming in agony.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing to my canary!!!!!!!!"
The one who had rammed the shining sword into Belphegor's flank... was Atlas.