Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 3 - Chapter 29

Monster no Goshujin-sama: Volume 3 Chapter 29: The Battle With the Mad Beast

Side note: Tenses are pain.

Changes: Thin Sword -> Saber (thanks for the suggestion, pezantri!)

___________________________________________________________________________

Summary of previous chapter:
The cornered Takaya activates his unique ability.

___________________________________________________________________________

Takaya, who had transformed into a hideous beastman, cleaved his left arm with a roar.

A large, heavy blow.
Because of me relaxing right after thinking that the battle had ended, combined with the shock at Takaya Jun’s transformation, by the time I put up my stance, the rocky fist had already drawn very close to the right side of my face

‘Not good.’

Just as I thought that, the nape of the neck was grabbed with a jerk.

“Majima!”

I was pulled backwards.

At a point-blank distance where I could even feel the frictional heat in the air, the huge fist passed by me with a tremendous ‘GOU’ sound.

When I fell to my back, I saw Iino on her knees.

――But, taking a second low-sweeping attack blew her through the air.

There was a dull thud, reminiscent of a traffic accident.
Following that, I heard a harsh scream.

It didn’t belong to Iino.

The bellowing scream, was that of the beast.

Before grasping what had happened, I first moved.
In any case, it wasn’t good to stay in that spot.

I rolled backwards, jumped back, and distanced myself from Takaya.
Fortunately, there weren’t any follow-up attacks before I could get into position.

What I saw when I stood up, was Takaya screaming towards the sky.

There was a deep cut between his thick, bristly index and middle fingers, and a bloody saber was pierced in his left palm.

It was Iino’s sword.

After a beat, I understood the situation.

When Iino pulled me backwards, she made a simultaneous attack against the incoming attack that she couldn’t avoid due to not being able to properly move her legs, making Takaya take a counterblow.

When I turned around, I saw that Iino had fallen and was lying face down a little ways away.

Judging from the bloodstains left behind here and there, it seems that after she slammed against the ground once, she rolled until over there.

Her right arm was pointing in the opposite direction of his elbow, and blood was flowing from her head where she seemed to have been hit.

She seemed to be alive as she let out a small groan, but looking at her unfocused eyes, she seemed to be barely conscious.

Iino said that no one would die here.
She’s an idiot, but she isn’t a liar.
Those words were truths that came from her heart.

However……at the same time, this caused the [Idaten] to leave the battlefield.

Having grasped the situation, I pulled out the [pseudo-damascus steel sword] on my hip and turned to face Takaya.

An unpleasant sweat trickled down my cheek.
This was a very bad situation.

“Master, flee-……!”

The screaming Lily, who had collapsed behind the beast-turned Takaya, was still trapped by the magic tool, the [Binding Chain of Sins].

There were no signs that Gerbera was coming back, and Berta, who seemed to have fainted, was collapsed and didn’t move.

Alone and without support……no.

“Goshu, ji-! Sama-!”
“……That’s right, you’re here”

The Asarina that grew from the back of my left hand cried encouragingly.
I smiled ever so slightly, and glared at the form-changed Takaya.

Takaya bit on the handle of the saber in his left palm, pulling it out and throwing it on the ground in one go.

His cloudy yellow eyes reflected my image.
The edges of his mouth, distorted by his messy teeth, hung awkwardly.

The beast lurched out a roar from it’s giant mouth.
Its sticky drool splattered onto the ground.

“Takaya……You’ve already quit being human, huh”

I made a cramped smile and tightened my grip on the hilt of my sword in my right hand.

……It’s fine.
It’s still too early to despair.

Fortunately, thanks to Iino, I’ve been able to at least get myself into a position to fight head on.

Calm down.
Look carefully at the enemy.

What’s important; the unique ability that Jun Takaya had activated――isn’t it.

I need to look not only at what has changed, but also at what hasn’t changed.

Something that hasn’t changedfrom before or after the activation of his ability.

The tattered uniform.
And, the injuries on his body.

Takaya Jun’s wounds haven’t healed.

The right side of his chest was cut so deeply that he couldn’t move properly.
His right arm, his dominant arm, was nearly torn off from beyond his upper arm.

In addition, Iino had rendered his left fist useless earlier.

The current Takaya is just forcing his body, which is incapable of fighting, to move through [Mad Beastification].

Even if his physical abilities are increased, he won’t be able to produce even half of the power he should if his actual body is in shambles.

His combat ability wouldn’t even be as high as an average Warrior.

To put it simply, Takaya Jun has a dying body.1

……The problem though, was that Takaya Jun was still a superior opponent for me, even with a dying body.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t an unbeatable opponent now.

Also……remember.
Having conversed with Gerbera about our feelings, the current me should be in a better shape than ever before.

……It might just be a matter of my state of mind, but even if it is, it doesn’t change the fact that I have the advantage in the mental portion.

Since Asarina was also rooted in my body, she was inevitably also in top shape.

There’s no way I can’t do this.
That’s what I believe.

Fortunately, you could say, I didn’t not think of what to do “in case Iino’s attack doesn’t defeat him.”

I couldn’t predict that Takaya Jun would transform into such a form, so I have to improvise a bit but……I have no choice but to just do it now.

“OOoOOOO!”

Both I and Takaya yelled before stepping forward at the same time.

The injuries were taking their toll, Takaya’s movement speed was sluggish.
His right arm below the elbow didn’t move, and he was practically dragging the right half of his body.
The only thing I have to be careful of is an attack from his left arm, which can’t even form a fist.

……Of course, even with that handicap, I’d probably be knocked unconscious with just one direct blow. I have to avoid it or else.

Swallowing down the nauseating tension, I threw myself into the line of death.

“GURUuoOOOO!”

Takaya swung his left arm.
By the time I saw the starting point of the swinging motion, I had thrown myself far to the side.

The slamming attack was frighteningly fast.
But at the same time, considering the original speed, it was impossibly slow.

The act of evading by strengthening my physical abilities with magic power was just barely successful.

“OOoO!”

I escaped to Takaya’s left side, and slashed my sword into his stomach as I passed by.

Although Silane has given me the basics, my swordsmanship was still inexperienced.
Still, intense training doesn’t lie.

The sharp point of the [pseudo-damascus steel sword] that Rose carefully made cut shallowly through the beastman’s extremely sturdy body.

Of course, Takaya wouldn’t falter at wounds that shallow.
The left arm that he swung down cleaved away in the form of a backhand blow.

I took a chance, and bent down with momentum.
His arm swung over a large range, however, his body enlarging was his undoing: it was now a distance from the ground.

Having slipped into that gap, I raised my sword with the momentum from standing up.
The wound on Takaya’s side ran diagonally with the previous one.

Blood seeped from the wound, and Takaya’s eyes glared with irritation.
Asarina, running like a whip, determinedly struck him in the face.

“Goshu, sama-!”

Asarina ‘kurukuru‘ coiled her long body around Takaya’s face, and at the end of it, she opened her mouth wide and bit him on the nose.

There was no visible damage, but it seemed to hurt in its own way; Takaya let out a scream and reached for his face.

“Good job, Asarina!”

Taking the chance, I delivered one more blow.

Takaya roared in anger.
Asarina was torn to pieces.

Let’s start over.
I was going to once again face the beastman.

“OOoO!”

Regardless, avoid the enemy’s attacks, and focus on wounding them without going in too deep.

As I fought desperately in this way, the battlefield gradually shifted, and I could no longer see Lily nor Iino lying on the ground.

This way, those girls won’t get caught up in the fight.

I became more and more immersed in the sensation of the threat in front of me as well as the weapon in my hand.

The beastified Takaya has tough fur and thick muscles.
The wounds I inflict are, by all means, shallow.

Still, if repeated over and over again, the damage will accumulate.

Also, the current Takaya is wounded.
Even now, blood is spilling from the wound on his chest, and if he is forced to do strenuous movements, that alone would be enough to considerably wear him down.

All I have to do, is avoid all attacks that would render me unable to fight with one hit, and hit him with my own attacks.

It goes without saying that that’s difficult but……putting it another way, it’s not completely impossible.
I’m not saying that as a bluff, but rather as a feeling gained from the fight.

“GAaAAA――A!”

The current Takaya is a berserker wearing a beast’s skin.
He’s lost his reason, and his attacks have become terribly monotonous.

Normally, he would still have enough of both speed and strength, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem, but now that he was seriously injured, I can take advantage of the gaps caused by the monotony.

Up until now, I’ve learned evasion techniques during the nauseating actual-battle training with Gerbera, and I’ve learned the basics necessary to wield a sword, such as footwork, strikes, and weight shifts, from Silane.

Continuously dodging Takaya’s attacks was difficult, but still not impossible.

“UoOOoO!”

The tightrope act-exchange continued.

“……-!?”

Then, a sudden dreadful chill combed my spine.

It was an unmistakable feeling of death.
The sensory organs that became acutely sensitive during the battle rang an alarm bell――.

“……-!?”

――The next moment, an arm like a large tree unexpectedly interrupted my field of view.

“UoO!?”

I interrupted the attack I was about to make, and, not willing to lose my posture, I jumped to the side and escaped away.

Moreover, Asarina used her own judgement to correct my direction by hitting the ground.
I narrowly avoided the attack.

“What, the. Just now, what was……?”

I nearly took a direct hit.

Did I get careless? No. That’s not possible.
I was caught by surprise……No. He sped up, maybe?

Confused, I retreated, trying to get some distance to understand the situation.

“GURURUuoAAA!”

The ugly beastman chased after me, fangs bared.

Due to the difference in speed between the two of us, his figure quickly grew larger and larger in my field of view――no.

“……You’re kidding, oi”

My stunned voice sounded out.
It wasn’t an optical illusion, “Takaya’s body was actually getting bigger.”

What the heck.
Takaya’s unique ability didn’t end at that.

I was mistaken. [Mad Beastification] wasn’t simply an ability that transforms you into a beast without reason.
It was a power that increased violence as one’s reason was lost and madness was deepened.

Takaya’s yellow eyeballs were wide open as he chased after me.
His body was swelling more and more with muscles, and his uniform was torn, unable to keep its original shape.

The ragged uniform flapped around with the momentum from his sprint, and finally peeled off from the beast’s bristly hair-covered body.

His uniform was probably tattered from the start because he previously enlarged his physique using his [Mad beastification] ability.

Last time, his uniform had been barely intact, but now it was torn, which meant that this was the first time he’s become like this.

The benefits were tremendous.

His speed was clearly higher than before.
Not only had his physical ability been enhanced, but his sense of pain had also dulled.

“GAAaAA!”

Takaya’s left arm swung wide.
We still had some distance. However, I instinctively felt that it was bad.

I jumped and dived forward.

I couldn’t make it in time.

A thick, hairy arm stretched out in front of me.
Along with his giant, swelled-up frame, came a corresponding arm length, which widened the range of his attack.

I couldn’t avoid it.

“Gu-……u!?”

Takaya’s left hand was badly injured by Iino’s saber.
So he couldn’t make a fist, and it was his fingertips that struck the shield I held out in front of me.

“Uguu”

Even as I jumped back, I couldn’t hold my ground and was flung far away.

It was quite an impact.
However, if it’s something of this level, then there won’t be any damage.

It would be possible to prepare for a follow-up attack as soon as I landed.

Immediately deciding to do so, I positioned myself in the air in preparation for landing――that, was when my eyes met with a girl with pigtails looking up at me.

In the time you could say “ah,” I flew over her.
The ground neared.

“Gu-”

I almost crashed, but at the last moment, I used my entire body as a spring to overcome the impact of the landing.
I raised my face.

“Se, senpai……?”

The one who was there was Katou-san, who turned around with a surprised face.
At her chest, she was holding Rose.

On the other side, I saw Lily, whose upper body was upright even while bound by chains.
A little further away, I could also see the unconscious Iino collapsed on the ground.

The blood drained from my face.

……Crap.
I messed up.

The strategy for when Iino couldn’t defeat Takaya――was for Katou-san to release Lily while acting separately from someone else holding back the weakened Takaya.

For this reason, Katou-san had moved to a place far enough away so that she wouldn’t be caught up in the battle in advance, and hid herself.

When Iino, our trump card, was defeated, I knew through our path that Katou-san, who was carrying Rose, who had lost her lower body, making her easier to carry, had started to move.

That’s why I was working to get Takaya, who had lost his reason, away from where Lily was.

And yet, as I was running away from Takaya, who had become even more deranged, I unknowingly returned to where I started.

Inevitably, Takaya, who’s turned into a crazed beast, appears on the scene in pursuit of me.

“GAaAAAAA!”

Appearing with a roar, he neared the sitting Lily.
He was between where I was, and where Katou-san, who had started to run up to Lily, was.

“Shit-”

I immediately broke into a run.

……Not yet.
We can still recover from this mistake.

In the case where Takaya aims at Katou-san, who’s in the way:
Considering the distance between him and Katou-san, and the speed of the two of them, he would probably, but just barely, reach.

On the other hand, if Takaya tries to secure Lily, he would, as one would expect, not make it in time.

However, the current Takaya’s right arm is useless.
If he tries to secure Lily, his remaining left arm will be occupied. If that happens, it’ll even be an advantageous development for us.

I keep my eyes on Takaya’s movements so that I can react to either way the situation turns out.

“――”

As expected.
Takaya’s yellow eyes reflected the bound Lily.

‘Yoshi,’ I thought inwardly, clenching my fists.
I messed up, but Takaya also made a wrong choice.

In this situation, securing Lily could have been put off.
But Takaya prioritized Lily.

In a sense, it was natural. The current Takaya has lost his reason.
There was no way he could make a sound judgment.

From here, it’s up to me.

With Lily secured, what will Takaya do?
Will he run away? Or, will he counter-attack me on the spot?

Either way, I just have to somehow keep up.

With resolve in my heart, I ran with my eyes fixed on Takaya.

Gazing ahead, I saw Takaya move as he looked down at Lily.

‘He swung his hairy arm wide――’

……Hey, wait.
What in the world, is he trying to do?

In an instant, I was trembling in horror with goosebumps all over.

If I’m not mistaken……that’s a preliminary movement in order to gain momentum to slam the arm against something.

But, that’s impossible.
Why would Takaya prepare to attack Lily?
To him, Lily is Mizushima Miho. She should be his precious childhood friend.

So then, why would……it can’t be.

When I finally arrived at the answer, I felt my soul freeze.

……Are you saying that Takaya’s [Mad Beastification] ability, has made him unable to realize even that?

Did he aim for Lily, not because he reacted to her, who was in the form of Mizushima Miho, but rather simply ‘because she was nearby’?

By turning into a beastman, Takaya turned the tables on the thirty monsters that Kudou had sent to chase him.
At that time, he did not raise his hand at Lily.

He probably still had enough reason left in him to make that kind of decision.

But, this was the first time that Takaya’s [Mad Beastification] ability had progressed to this level.

Is there no longer even a minimum of reason left in Takaya?

If so, Lily is……

With a pale face, Lily quickly turned towards me.

“Sto-……”

I reached my hand out to her.
Far. I couldn’t reach.

“GURUUuOOOO!”

Raising a roar that could only belong to a complete beast, Takaya swung his arm down.

On my own, there was nothing I could do.

So, this was the current me’s limit.
No matter how hard I fought, there was a limit to what I could do by myself.

……However, don’t forget.

I’m not the only one here――.

“Ane–sama-!” (TN: Elder sister)

――A girl’s voice rang out.

At that moment, a pillar of earth rose up, separating Takaya and Lily.

Takaya’s swinging blow destroyed the earthen pillar that stood in the way.
Raising a short scream, Lily, still tied up, tumbled to the ground.

“Lily!?”

I called out, but Lily was laying there fallen, unmoving.
However, if she had taken the blow, it would have been enough to easily crush her current body.

Thanks to the interference just now, a direct hit was avoided.
It seems that Lily has just lost consciousness.

Takaya, frustrated at being obstructed, whipped his head around.

The one who caught his gaze, was Rose.
Rose, carried by Katou-san, with only her lower body, was holding Takaya’s treasure sword, the magic tool [Sword of Earthen Collapse], in her hands.

She seems to have retrieved the thing that Takaya had dropped earlier.

“I will not allow you to hurt ane-sama!”

At Rose’s brave declaration, Takaya tried to howl like an angry beast――

“SHAAaA-!”

――Then, a white spider pounced at him.

One of her thrusts with her spider legs was dodged by him lowering his head, but Gerbera followed by grappling his large body.

“Beast! What art thou trying to do to my sister!”

Her two slender arms and numerous incomplete spider legs tried to restrain Takaya’s arms.

Perhaps because of the blow she had taken earlier, the movements of Gerbera, who had blood dripping from her lips, were duller than I had ever seen them before.

The way I handle magic is very similar to her’s. That’s why I could understand particularly well, that the flow of Gerbera’s magic power was currently in disarray.

It’s possible that even one of her internal organs is damaged.

Even so, Gerbera vindictively stretched out her arms.
She is a spider. She specializes in capturing and binding.

Furthermore, a sign of magic power rose up, and a pillar of earth that grew out of the ground pierced Takaya’s stomach.

It was Rose’s support.
Of course, she couldn’t expect to have the same rapid-fire as when Takaya was using it, but she was also fighting with her body like that.

The two’s arduous fighting certainly stopped Takaya’s violence.

However, it was also a certain fact that these two injured girls inevitably had their limits.

“GAaAaAA!”
“OOu!?”

First, Gerbera’s bind was shaken off.
A hairy hand grabbed Gerbera’s wrist.

Gerbera’s body was swung around like a toy.

Then, she was flung away.
In her path, were Rose and Katou-san.

Rose, with only her upper body, couldn’t move freely, and the reaction of Katou-san, who was carrying her, couldn’t keep up.

“Mana!”
“Kyaa”

Rose immediately shook off Katou-san and pushed her away.
Rose, thrown into the air, crashed into the flung Gerbera.

“Gafu……u”
“Gih……!”

The two of them rolled in a tangle.
The thrown out treasure sword fell to the ground, and made a heavy sound.

Up until now, it’s been a few seconds.
Takaya, who was snarling abominably, turned his face to Lily once again――I glared back at his cloudy yellow eyes head-on.

“Guru……?”
“……I made it in time”

Using the precious time that Gerbera and the others gained, I rushed to Lily’s side.

Finally……finally, I got her back.2
I even felt nostalgic for the warmth of Lily on my chest while I was holding her in my arms.

I wasn’t letting her go ever again.

I looked up at Takaya’s monstrous face, towering above me.
There wasn’t even a shred of reason left.

He was only burning madly, with the will to destroy the enemy――or maybe, the reality――in front of him.

After all, the current Takaya doesn’t even have Mizushima Miho in his head right now.
I’m sure he’ll crush me and Lily without any remorse, nor hesitation.

……Gerbera and the others did their best, but there wasn’t enough time to escape with Lily.

While holding Lily in my arms, I can’t fight Takaya, nor can I run away.
On the other hand, since Lily has become Takaya’s target, I can’t just leave Lily here either.

In the face of this desperate crisis, I quietly resolved myself.

___________________________________________________________________________

Don’t really know how else to translate this other than “dying body” (高屋純は死に体だ).
TN: …I wish I could make this sound less possessive…oh well, I tried (and failed).