Chapter 5: Hero Killing
Riding on Ariel’s back, Gouki’s group arrived at the castle to the sight of knights fighting assailants everywhere. They were currently 150 meters above the castle. At the hundred-meter point, the aerial knights were fighting griffin-riding mercenaries, firing magic at each other.
“This is much worse than I expected... Ariel knows the way to Sir Rio’s mansion, right? Ah, is it below us?” Gouki asked, spotting Rio’s mansion—or rather, the people around it.
“I can see everyone. The situation is rather bad. Everyone, be prepared.”
Miharu, Celia, and everyone else were down below. Lucci had just taken the two of them hostage, so it was easy to read the situation immediately. There was no need to hesitate.
“These crooks... Let’s go, Kayoko.”
“Understood,” Kayoko replied.
Without missing a beat, Gouki jumped down from where Ariel was stopped 150 meters above the ground.
“You three wait for Ariel to descend. This is our first battle for Sir Rio. Let us not shame his name,” Kayoko said to the remaining attendants, then jumped after Gouki. Thus, the strongest married couple of the Karasuki Kingdom joined the battle.
By creating elastic footholds in the air, the two of them descended to the ground running. Air resistance was no obstacle for them, and they arrived in a matter of seconds. Their attendants were still incapable of such a feat.
“...” Gouki reached the ground first, having jumped off Ariel before Kayoko. He created a foothold right before landing, absorbing the impact and silencing his footsteps. Right beside him, Lucci was about to swing his sword at Miharu’s face.
“I’m going to put her to sleep first. It’ll also be a thank-you for earlier.”
Perhaps it was because of her glossy, long, black hair. The sight of Miharu overlapped with Rio’s mother Ayame in Gouki’s eyes.
I must protect her no matter what. Now that I have arrived, he will not harm a hair on her head.
Gouki prioritized defending against Lucci’s attack. He slipped between Miharu and Lucci, stopping the black sword with his own blade.
“My sincere apologies for the delay. I, Gouki Saga, have arrived to exact justice,” he declared solemnly.
“Wh-Who the hell are you?!” Lucci raged, trying to push Gouki’s sword back with his physical strength.
“Silence, you fiend!”
“What?!”
However, the one who did the pushing was Gouki. He hadn’t sent any of his strength into his sword. All he did was step forward, and that was enough for Lucci’s body to be pushed back.
He took another step forward, then vanished. Moments later, he reappeared right before Lucci.
“Lucci!” Ven yelled. He had started running towards Gouki the moment Lucci was pushed back to cover for him, and he made it just in time. If he had started running one moment later, Lucci would have been cut down.
“Hmph...!” Gouki smoothly evaded the sword Ven stabbed from his side, falling back to where Miharu was.
“I have secured Lady Celia.” Kayoko joined him, having retrieved Celia from where she lay beside the mercenaries.
“Good,” Gouki nodded.
“Wha... When did she—?!”
“Who is this old man? And this hag?!”
Lucci, Ven, and the five mercenaries still able to fight were dumbfounded as they gathered together in one group.
Kayoko’s eyes were ice cold. “Hag? Such disrespectful fools. I’m only just over forty.”
“Kreeeh!”
Ariel had also descended to ten-odd meters above ground, allowing Gouki’s three attendants to leap off its back. The three of them moved to surround Alma and Louise on the ground as soon as they landed.
“They seemed like rather mobile fiends, so I waited until our defenses had gathered first. Now I can punish them without holding back. Is that fine with you, Lady Miharu? The situation was rather evident, even without the need for words.”
Despite glaring at Lucci and his men with seething rage, Gouki’s assessment of the situation was extremely calm.
“Y-Yes. Thank you very much...”
Miharu must have been extremely tense, as she staggered just from nodding. However, she was certain they would be fine now, and she was able to get back on her feet right away.
“Understood. Now, I don’t know who you people are, but you’ve raised your hands towards people who are important to my master. Don’t think you’ll be getting out of this.” Gouki’s eyes glinted as he glared at the men.
“Uhh...” Sensing danger, the mercenaries all started backing away. The instincts that they had developed through all their combat experience were warning them of Gouki’s formidable strength.
“Gouki! These men are the subordinates of the man who killed Rio’s mom and dad! Be careful of the man with the black sword! It can release a strong shock wave of darkness, and the sword has the ability to warp the blade and the user!” Latifa yelled, sharing information about Lucci and the others.
“Oh?” Gouki’s attention was drawn to the identities of the men more than the sword’s abilities. A fire ignited in his eyes.
To think I would be given such an opportunity here...
He shuddered with excitement. Before he knew it, his mouth was moving of its own accord. “Finally... Finally, I can prove my devotion to him,” he muttered.
“Huh?” Lucci replied. However, it seemed his words were only audible to Kayoko, who was beside him.
“I will go with you. You three will be able to protect Lady Miharu and Lady Celia, right?”
She entrusted Celia to one of her subordinates, then stood beside Gouki. With a flowing movement, she drew her kodachi and shot Lucci a cold glare.
“We have even more reason to put a stop to you now. There’s no need to confirm the situation any further,” she said. The two of them held their respective weapons ready.
“I am Gouki Saga.”
“And I, Kayoko Saga.”
“For the sake of our master!”
“We challenge you to a duel!”
The strongest married couple and pride of the Karasuki Kingdom yelled together, then closed the five-meter distance to their opponents in a single bound.
“They’re fast!” The seven mercenaries tried to retreat immediately, but Gouki and Kayoko split up and cornered the scattering men, preventing their escape.
“Shit!” The men they approached readied their swords, but they only lasted a few strikes before they were disarmed and made powerless.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” There were five mercenaries remaining. The two nearest mercenaries to the disarmed men charged at Gouki and Kayoko, swinging their swords. But Gouki and Kayoko vanished before their eyes, evading the swings. All they did was crouch down on the spot, but to the men, it was like they had disappeared.
“Guh!” The men went flying through the air. Gouki and Kayoko swung the bladeless sides of their kodachi to strike the men in the jaw. They were concussed midair and knocked unconscious. There were only three mercenaries remaining, including Lucci and Ven.
“H-Hey now!”
“This old man and hag are bad news!”
The remaining three were extremely shaken and barely able to keep their distance from the couple. But even as they ran around, Gouki and Kayoko were closing in from the sides.
“F-Fall back!” Lucci desperately gathered magic essence in his sword, scattering his shock wave of darkness to hit his opponents.
“Too slow!”
However, Gouki and Kayoko both leaped up, evading the shock wave.
In normal circumstances of war, unnecessarily large jumps during battle opened one to attacks. Humans couldn’t control their movements midair, so the time between landing and adjusting their stance was the biggest moment of vulnerability. The only options were to attack while falling or to prepare oneself to block the incoming attack.
“Dumbasses!” The experienced veterans knew this and reflexively went for that opening. Ven and the other mercenary charged at their falling opponents.
However, they should have been more wary of the two that had made such a sudden and grand entrance. Both Gouki and Kayoko crouched midair and leaped again.
“Wha?!” Before the mercenaries knew it, the couple was on the ground. They stood behind Ven and the other mercenary with their backs facing them.
“Wh...at...?” Ven and the other mercenary had dazed looks in their eyes as they collapsed. Gouki and Kayoko had landed two strikes to their jaws as they landed on the ground.
“Guys! Damn it, you’ve done it now!” Lucci howled, trembling from head to toe.
“Rest assured, we have no intention of leaving the enemies of our master alone. We just held ourselves back for now,” Gouki said.
“The young ladies don’t need to be exposed to the blood and death of such filth over a situation of this level,” said Kayoko.
“We also need to interrogate you on anything else you may be plotting. The punishments can wait until after that,” Gouki added.
“That’s not what I meant! Don’t think you can mess with me!”
“You’re the ones messing about. I assume you’re here for your unjustified resentment over the death of that man Lucius, but...”
I will be the one to deal with him—Gouki signaled that to Kayoko with his eyes as he replied to Lucci. He then slowly inched his way closer.
“W-Wow. Who are those people...?”
Latifa was familiar with Gouki’s group, but Satsuki, Charlotte, Christina, and Flora had no idea who they were. They had watched the one-sided fight take place in astonishment.
“Don’t worry! They’re on our side!” Latifa informed them happily.
“That just leaves those monsters, then...” Six of the mercenaries had been defeated in an instant, leaving only Lucci standing. But Sara was more focused on watching the revenants swarming near the mansion with a grim look.
Hel and Ifritah were still being held down by dozens of revenants. Their flesh was being torn off and bitten into, leaving them unable to move. They were probably on the verge of losing their material forms.
They were holding on so desperately because of the dozens of revenants that would be released if they turned into their spirit forms. However, now that the tables had turned on the battlefield, they were finally able to do something about it.
“Hel, Ifritah! Thank you, you can disappear now!” a voice cried from overhead. It was Orphia, bow held ready in her hand.
“Orphia!” Sara shouted with joy as Hel and Ifritah disappeared in relief.
With nobody to cling on to, the revenants started to scatter. They didn’t seem sure of their next target, but it was clear that they saw Sara and the others as their enemies. But before they could make their next move, Orphia shot a single arrow of light. The thick arrow would have taken quite some time to charge up, but she had been able to stay undetected in the skies and do just that. The powerful light arrow split into two and rained down over the spot where Hel and Ifritah had just disappeared.
“Graaah?!” Two dense masses of pure energy crushed the revenants to death, leaving behind two craters that were ten meters in diameter. The monsters vanished, leaving a large number of enchanted gems behind.
“That should do it.” Orphia descended to where Alma lay unconscious. In the one or two minutes since Gouki’s group arrived, the situation had been completely turned on its head.
“Ha ha, how wonderful. As expected of Lady Orphia.” Gouki chuckled heartily at the sight of Orphia’s grand method of eliminating the monsters. He then turned back to Lucci, the last remaining enemy. “Now, shall we put an end to this?”
“Eat shit!” Lucci yelled, making a dash towards Gouki. Gouki also launched himself forward. The two were soon within reach of each other and swinging their weapons.
Swords crossed faster than the eye could see, during which Gouki started a conversation. “Hmph! I just don’t understand!” he shouted.
“Understand what?!” Lucci yelled back
“Why are you so mad? What reason do you have to be so emotional?”
“One of my comrades was killed!”
“While it sounds like you have perfectly reasonable values, your actions are completely contradictory! How can you value your own comrades while stealing the lives of others?”
“It’s survival of the fittest! Anyone who isn’t a comrade is of no concern to me! There’s no contradiction anywhere!”
“That isn’t much of an answer!”
It was at this point that Gouki’s katana sent Lucci flying with his sword. Lucci’s body had a more powerful physical enhancement thanks to Lucius’s enchanted sword, but Gouki’s body was enhanced with spirit arts. They were equally powerful enchantments, but their base strength was different.
“Shit!” Lucci backed away furiously. There was no leisure in his expression at all. He was unable to keep up with Gouki’s attacks, and shallow cuts began to accumulate over his body.
“Let me change the question, then. If you believe in both survival of the fittest and valuing your comrades, why do you direct your resentment to Sir Haruto, who’s stronger than all of you? Explain that contradiction. Sir Haruto is the one who defeated your leader. Survival of the fittest means you either surrender or hide yourselves once your leader is dead.”
Gouki temporarily put some distance between them and pointed the end of his sword at Lucci to ask his question. Why challenge Haruto if that was the case?
“What... Ngh!” Lucci was about to let his emotions snap, but found himself stumbling over his words instead. He was unable to come up with a logical reason.
“Hmph, no answer again. You’re a child with no sense of reason.”
“I’d rather die than answer such a pathetic question!” Lucci yelled. His pride wouldn’t allow such a thing.
“Then die! If there’s someone you refuse to surrender to while believing in survival of the fittest, your only options as a warrior are to die challenging them or to quietly kill yourself somewhere out of sight,” Gouki rebuked him sharply. That was what it meant to truly believe in the concept of “survival of the fittest.”
“Ngh...!”
“You can’t even do that, so you harass him behind his back. How laughable! You only claim survival of the fittest when it’s convenient to you. Those are the actions of nothing more than a vain coward!”
“Sh-Shut up! We came to take hostages so he wouldn’t run away! That’s how mercenaries work!” Lucci howled like a cornered dog.
“Hmm... The same mercenary that’s seeking revenge for his leader and comrades? I thought mercenaries were all about fighting for money. How pitiful.”
You don’t even know your own reason for being here right now, Gouki implied with a look that bordered on mercy instead of contempt.
“Grr...”
“But I can understand you a little more now. There’s no justice in your revenge—you have no reason at all. You just want to resent someone. If you value your comrades, you shouldn’t have laid your hands on other people’s comrades. I hope you can understand this one day...” Gouki trailed off, readjusting his katana’s position. Perhaps he had started this conversation in order to vent his feelings for the man who killed Ayame and Zen. Or perhaps he wouldn’t feel content without getting the last word in against the fiends who tried to harm his master.
“And regret it deeply for the rest of your life!” Gouki started running, closing the distance between them once more.
“Gah! Ugh— Argh, shit!”
The difference in their physical abilities was minimal, yet Lucci couldn’t keep up with Gouki’s sword movements. The more Gouki swung his sword, the slower Lucci’s reaction speed was.
Sh-Shit, I barely have any essence left as is.
It was all he could do to maintain his physical body enhancement. At this rate, he would lose.
On top of losing the logical argument, he was about to lose in sword mastery. With nothing but complete defeat on the horizon, Lucci began to panic.
“Hmph. Your agitation is showing in your sword. You’re full of openings!” Gouki saw through that panic and used that delayed reaction to slide right up to Lucci. He then swung his katana up from left to right.
“Wha—?!” Lucci tried to respond by defending, but his black sword sailed through the air.
“Fuck...” The hand that held the sword was also knocked upwards, causing the upper half of Lucci’s body to bend back.
“Justice!” Gouki flipped his blade at the end of the first swing and stepped forward, striking Lucci with the back of the sword before sliding past his side.
“Gah...” Lucci groaned, collapsing to the ground.
“It’s over.” With his back to the fallen man, Gouki moved with elegance, sheathing his katana with a clink.
“Gouki!” Latifa called Gouki’s name happily, waving her hand.
“Good day, Lady Latifa.” Gouki’s expression, having been sharp throughout the entire battle, immediately softened as he walked over to her.
“Thank you for saving us!”
“It is my duty to protect everyone. Lady Orphia told us of the ominous shapes she saw falling over the castle, so we rushed over here. It was lucky we did so.”
“Lady Latifa, may I ask who this is? He seemed to refer to Sir Haruto as his master during the battle, but...”
Charlotte had just finished ordering the knights to restrain the intruders and carry the wounded to the mansion. She questioned Latifa about the curious information her sharp ears had picked up on during the battle.
“My name is Gouki Saga. I served Sir Haruto’s late mother while she was alive.” Gouki introduced himself respectfully in the Karasuki manner. He seemed to have determined Charlotte’s high status from her clothes and demeanor.
“Oh my, is that so...” Charlotte recalled how Rio’s parents were immigrants as she observed Gouki’s appearance carefully. His slightly strong accent was probably because he was an immigrant as well. The one thing she was most curious about was how he appeared to be of important status too. His refined movements were clearly ingrained deeply into him, and above all, the sword mastery he showed in the earlier battle was indisputably top class.
How interesting. The mystery around Sir Haruto grows again.
Charlotte smiled in delight, having taken a newfound interest in Gouki’s group.
Incidentally, the reason why Gouki and his people were able to speak the Strahl common tongue was because the Strahl region and Yagumo region once had a select few nations that kept in touch with each other.
Rio also learned this for the first time after meeting Gouki in the Karasuki Kingdom, but there were some nations that used the Strahl common tongue as a second or third official language because of this history, and the Karasuki Kingdom was one such nation.
As it was only considered a second or third official language, it was mostly royals and civil officials that bothered to learn it. Their pronunciation was also rather accented when compared to the standard in Strahl, but Gouki and his people had been studying the language since the moment they decided to follow Rio to Strahl. The heavy accent had greatly improved during their stay in the spirit folk village, but there were still some traces of it.
“Oh, pardon me. My name is Charlotte Galarc, Second Princess of the Galarc Kingdom. Thank you for saving us from the earlier predicament. On behalf of the kingdom, I wish to express my warmest gratitudes.” Charlotte picked up her skirt by the hem and curtsied elegantly.
“Ah, so you’re Princess Charlotte. I’ve heard a lot about you from Sir Haruto.”
“Why, I’m so pleased to hear that. Oh, and allow me to introduce you. This is First Princess Christina and Second Princess Flora from the neighboring kingdom of Beltrum.”
“Hello, I’m Christina. Thank you very much for saving us earlier.”
“I’m her little sister Flora. It’s nice to meet you.”
He must be a soldier who used to serve Sir Amakawa’s mother. From what he showed of his strength, he would have been one of the strongest in the country...
Someone just like the King’s Sword of Beltrum, Alfred Emerle. Since Christina knew that Rio’s mother was royalty, she was able to guess his background more accurately than Charlotte. For someone of such strength to leave Yagumo and come this far, he was probably incredibly loyal to Rio.
Memories of her days at the royal academy flashed through her head, making her frown. Feelings of guilt resurged within her. Rio had told her not to worry about it, but these feelings would probably never disappear completely.
“And this is the hero, Lady Satsuki.”
“I’m Sumeragi Satsuki... Ah, that would be Satsuki Sumeragi in this world. It’s very nice to meet you, Gouki.”
Satsuki seemed quite interested in Gouki’s appearance, as he closely resembled a Japanese person, but first gave a simple self-introduction.
“I’ve heard many stories about all of you. It’s very nice to finally be meeting you,” Gouki said, bowing deeply.
“Dear, I’d like to move Lady Alma and Lady Celia to somewhere they can rest.”
Kayoko came up to them with the wounded Alma in her arms. Miharu, Orphia, and Celia were with her.
Celia had been treated terribly by Lucci earlier, but she hadn’t sustained any major wounds or fallen unconscious. Miharu and Orphia had offered to lend her a shoulder to lean on, but she wanted to walk by herself. The only thing she did was cast healing magic on herself just in case.
“In that case, please take her inside the mansion...” Charlotte had just suggested, when—
“A signal flare?” Its light shot across the sky above the castle.
“It isn’t a signal flare from our kingdom,” a nearby knight observed. There were different signal patterns for each kingdom, but she didn’t recognize that one.
“It must belong to the attackers. Their griffin squad must be fleeing,” Charlotte guessed. She could see the mercenaries that had been fighting the aerial knights flying away from the castle.
“I guess they gave up on the mansion...?” Satsuki muttered.
“Everyone has their own post in the battlefield,” Charlotte explained. “Their goal may have been to raid this place, but with the squad in charge wiped out, there’s nothing left for them to do.”
“So they’d abandon their comrades?”
Perhaps she found them heartless, or perhaps she was worried they would return. Either way, it was a question only a novice at war would ask. Her question was answered by Gouki, who was an actual veteran.
“Of course, there’s a possibility they may return, but the role of the enemies in the sky was to secure a path of retreat and prevent reinforcements from arriving. Rushing over here would be the same as abandoning that role. Unless they had a plan that would allow them to rescue their comrades without a path of retreat, they wouldn’t come over here. It’d be the same as an honorable suicide.”
Whether it was in enemy territory or on the front lines, rescuing a comrade was a high-risk action. The rescuing side could end up needing to be rescued themselves, and anyone who left their post could cause the front line to collapse, causing even more damage.
They had to look at the bigger picture. If someone insisted on saving their comrade in spite of that, then they had to make sure there was no issue in leaving their post and keep a path of retreat secured.
It was easy for the side being rescued to unhappily think, “Why did you come to save me?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! Some comrade you are!” but the comrades that had to weigh the risks of rescue were just as easily susceptible to stress and guilt over abandoning their allies. But it was something both sides mutually understood when participating in war. There were even psychological tactics to leave captured enemies alive but powerless on purpose because of this. That was what happened in war.
“I see...” Satsuki looked somber, but seemed to understand.
“If the mercenaries in the sky have begun to flee, then it means there’s no way for them to retrieve their allies. We can leave the rest to the castle guards,” Charlotte stated.
Just then, something roared.
“WROOOOOOH!”
◇ ◇ ◇
Shortly before the signal flare went up in the sky, somewhere in the rooftop garden.
Splendid work. Thank goodness everyone seems to be safe...
King Francois had just witnessed the fight take place outside Rio’s mansion with bated breath. In fact, he was still watching them now. The enemies’ movements had made it clear that their target was Rio’s mansion, but there was another reason he had been so intently focused on the mansion during the entire ordeal.
It began with Celia, Sara, and Alma taking on dozens of monsters by themselves, followed by the fierce attack of the mercenaries that were faster than what the knights with magically enhanced physical abilities could keep up with, followed by the appearance of a huge beast that started to fight the mercenaries for them, followed by Alma getting stabbed, followed by the hero Satsuki coming out of the mansion...
Who was then followed by the princesses stepping out into the garden, followed by the return of the beast that disappeared, followed by the monsters across the castle gathering before the mansion, followed by Celia and Miharu nearly being taken hostage, followed by the arrival of an outrageously strong man and woman from the skies who began overpowering the mercenaries, followed by more people riding a giant bird...
The situation changed more than just once or twice. There was no way he could look away. Even the reports from his subordinates began to get on his nerves, so he left the command of other areas to them from partway through.
I can’t believe they survived an attack of such a scale without any injuries...
There were many things he wanted to confirm as the leader of a nation, but for now, he rejoiced openly.
Those helpers who appeared from the sky are most likely related to Haruto. I can ask the details from him in person when he returns, but I would like to speak to them privately under the pretext of expressing gratitude. Perhaps Charlotte can handle the negotiations.
At that moment, a knight ran up to Francois in a fluster. “The enemy has begun their retreat, Your Majesty! What would you like to do? Shall we pursue them?”
“Go after them, but don’t pursue them too far. Make sure the city is not damaged in the pursuit. Some of the enemies must have been captured already—they will suffice for interrogation. What we should prioritize now is assessing the damages and treating the wounded.”
“Understood. In terms of casualties, there have been a significant number of wounded, but no deaths.”
“Oh? So our military is quite capable after all.” He was tempted to compare them to the people of Rio’s mansion... But regardless of that, he looked pleased.
“The squad in the sky was mostly moving to buy the others time, so things played out well there.”
In addition to that, the castle had many people who were capable of using healing magic. As long as no one was instantly killed in one hit, there were many people available to heal them.
“I see.”
“Also, regarding the matter of their swift movement speed—the secret seems to lie in the swords they had.”
The knight reporting was about to explain the abilities of the enchanted swords the mercenaries were equipped with, when—
“WROOOOOOH!”
It was at that moment that something roared.
Everyone on the rooftop garden flinched in surprise. It almost sounded like the voice was coming from the sky.
“What?!”
Most people looked up reflexively.
“What...is that...?”
What Francois saw was an embodiment of despair.
◇ ◇ ◇
Hero Killer.
It all started over a thousand years ago.
During the era of the Divine War, there was a being that was crowned with the name of Hero Killer for slaughtering countless heroes of the war.
The name of the being that even enchanted-sword-wielding heroes feared was Draugul.
“WROOOOOOH!”
A voice thundered through the capital. It almost sounded like the wailing cry of a man.
The one making the noise wasn’t a revenant left behind on the castle grounds. It wasn’t a griffin in the sky either. Nor was it Ariel, Orphia’s contract spirit that was still in the air. Hel and Ifritah were still in their spirit forms after being wounded earlier. In the first place, it wasn’t a volume of sound that could be made by creatures of their sizes.
“WROOOOOOH!”
The owner of the voice was the Hero Killer, Draugul.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard before Rio’s mansion...
“Hmm. This is a rather strange sight...” Gouki furrowed his brow, looking up at the sky.
“Wh-What is that...?” Satsuki asked, trembling. No one there knew that it was the apparition of the legend. However, if Aishia had been there, she would have been able to associate his presence with Reiss, even if she didn’t know about the Hero Killer Draugul. She had actually fought him once before.
It all took place in Rodania. While Rio was traveling through the Proxia Empire and Paladia Kingdom for information about Lucius, in the middle of Christina and Flora’s abduction taking place elsewhere, Reiss had appeared before Celia. Aishia, who had been guarding her in spirit form, materialized to pursue Reiss, who in turn summoned a large number of monsters and undead knights to fight her.
The Hero Killer was the most powerful of the undead knights Aishia had fought at the time. Unlike the other monsters, he didn’t leave an enchanted gem upon defeat. Reiss had disguised himself as Draugul to fake his death when she defeated him. At the time, the Hero Killer had been deterred by her overwhelming power, but the Hero Killer wasn’t weak by any means.
The era of the Divine War gave birth to many fierce warriors; there was no way someone with a nickname as exaggerated as Hero Killer could be weak. He had earned the title by continuously sending experienced warriors equipped with enchanted swords to their graves. The nickname of Hero Killer was given because it would take the effort of multiple heroes for him to have any chance of defeat.
Minotaurs were dwarfed by the size of his ten-meter-tall body. He wielded a several-meter-long one-handed sword and sturdy-looking shield, on top of being dressed in full body armor. Two wings grew from his back like a devil or fallen angel.
The undead knight glared down from his position a hundred meters in the sky, eyes glinting with ominous hatred. The people inside the capital perceived his presence.
“If the mercenaries in the sky have begun to flee, then it means there’s no way for them to retrieve their allies. We can leave the rest to the castle guards,” Charlotte said.
“Can we leave that to the castle guards too, Char...?” A tense wind blew. Satsuki looked up at the overwhelming presence of Draugul above her head as she nervously questioned Charlotte., but Satsuki hadn’t asked with the intention of mocking the situation. Her expression showed how much she wanted to leave it to the guards if possible.
“Probably not...” Charlotte would have loved nothing more than to agree, but she knew things wouldn’t end well that way. She would have to borrow the strength of the people here to defeat that monster.
“It’s clearly glaring this way. How interesting.” Gouki stared back at the Hero Killer in the sky with a smirk.
“N-No, no it’s not! It isn’t interesting at all!” Satsuki shouted in protest.
“Leave this to me. Since we don’t know how it will move, it would be best for everyone here to focus on defending with barriers.”
“It sounds like you’re planning on charging in alone, but I’m going to fight too, dear.” Kayoko lined up alongside Gouki, who was raring to fight.
Gouki looked at his wife and grinned. “Hmm... Fine. But don’t think your excitement is being hidden right now.”
“Of course not. This is the perfect situation to test our worth in Sir Haruto’s absence. It’s only natural to feel spirited, wouldn’t you agree?”
“It is indeed. We will express our devotion for Sir Haruto by protecting everyone here. It truly feels like I’m swinging my sword for him. Bring the monster on! I couldn’t have asked for a more worthy opponent!”
Gouki pointed his katana at the sky and yelled fiercely.
While the fearsome roar and sinister aura of the being had clutched everyone else’s hearts with despair, Gouki and Kayoko showed no hesitation at all. In fact, their unfazed attitudes spurred on the others around them.
“I will fight too!” Sara stated first.
“As will I.”
“And me, of course.”
Celia and Orphia added.
“No no, you should all focus on defending yourselves. Sir Haruto isn’t here right now,” Gouki said, hurriedly encouraging them to retract their offers.
“That’s exactly why!”
“Yup!”
Sara and Orphia were unyielding.
“Hrmm...”
“It’s precisely because Haruto is absent right now that we have to work together to overcome this dilemma. If I let someone else protect me here, I’ll become someone who always needs to be protected by Haruto... I want to prove that I don’t need to be protected. I don’t want Haruto to distance himself because of my own weakness!” Celia said. She conveyed the same feelings she had before Lucci and the mercenaries here, in front of the Hero Killer.
“Lady Aishia is the only one who can truly fight together with him, after all. Even if the two of them were here right now, Haruto would leave Lady Aishia behind to protect us and fight alone. But that’s so lonely for him, and somewhat frustrating for us.”
“We know he’s acting for our sakes, but we want him to rely on us a little more.”
“Yes!”
Sara and Orphia confessed their true thoughts as though to encourage themselves. At any rate, they had presented their motives for fighting. There was no need for further discussion.
Just like how Gouki and Kayoko saw the situation as a chance to prove their loyalty to Rio, the girls wanted to put up a proper fight in Rio and Aishia’s absence.
“The elderly shouldn’t dismiss the hearts of young ladies so lightly, dear.”
“Hmm... I’m reminded of all the times Lady Ayame made such ridiculous requests.” The feelings of the three girls had affected him.
“Either way, Ariel’s presence will be indispensable in an aerial battle against that thing. Let us borrow their strength gratefully,” Kayoko advised.
“All right, I understand. Let us defeat him together.”
Thus, they all found their resolution.
“Protection of the ground will be handled by Miharu, Ifritah, and Hel. The two spirits will put up essence barriers, so could you supply them with magic essence? Offense isn’t the only means of fighting. It’s an important role only you can fill.”
If they were going to fight the Hero Killer Draugul, they couldn’t just focus on attacking. Sara nominated Miharu as the key to their defense for her ample amounts of magic essence.
“Sure, leave it to me.”
Miharu couldn’t imagine herself fighting the enemy that had appeared in the sky. She’d just be helpless and get in the way of others. The somewhat lonely expression on her face was because of how keenly she felt her current limits. However, that didn’t mean she had nodded weakly. She wanted to do what she was capable of, so she spoke up with a firm voice.
“The mercenaries might use this chance to attack again. Latifa and Satsuki will be in charge of suppressing them! Please guard the others, you two!” Sara said, leaving an order for Latifa and Satsuki as well.
“Okay!”
“Got it...!”
The two of them braced themselves and nodded.
“...” Meanwhile, the Hero Killer was still looking down at the ground brazenly.
“Why doesn’t it come down to the ground...?” Flora wondered out loud. Indeed, it could descend if it wanted to.
“Like the monsters that appeared earlier, it’s clearly there to support the mercenaries. I don’t know how it’s possible, but someone in the Heavenly Lions is clearly controlling these monsters from the shadows. In which case, they might not want to hit their comrades on the ground,” Christina guessed, looking around at her surroundings. There hadn’t been enough time to gather all the unconscious mercenaries in one spot, so they were scattered about everywhere. If the Hero Killer descended right now, they would be affected by the battle, and she assumed he didn’t want that to happen.
At any rate, it was impossible to predict how the apparition would move. There was no telling how long this silence would continue for. They didn’t know how he would attack, and they didn’t know if there was another reason why he wasn’t attacking. They had an overwhelming lack of information.
But they had to make a choice.
“We wouldn’t want it to fight beside Sir Haruto’s mansion and destroy it either. I’d like to make the first move against it...” Gouki said, presenting his first choice.
“Right. Orphia, please lend us Ariel.”
“Go ahead! And Celia, use this to recover your magic essence.”
The whole party climbed onto the giant bird’s back, including Orphia herself. While doing so, she handed a spirit stone to Celia. Celia recognized what it was right away. “Thank you!”
After keeping up a barrier for so long in the earlier battle, Celia was completely out of essence. Partway through the battle, she had started to draw essence from the spirit stone Rio had previously given her, but she appreciated the extra boost to her recovery.
“All right, here we go!”
With Gouki’s shout, Ariel rose into the sky. Then, as though it had been waiting for that moment—
“WRRROOOOOOH!”
Like a fallen angel hovering in the sky, the undead knight howled loud enough to shake the air over the capital.
“Orphia and I will use long-ranged attacks to watch how it reacts first,” Celia offered, exchanging looks with Orphia.
“Understood. Kayoko and I will handle the close-range combat, along with Lady Sara.”
It was their specialty style of fighting, after all. The division of roles was decided swiftly.
“For now, I’ll use intermediate-level magic to gain the advantage in attack numbers. Orphia will watch the opponent while preparing a big attack!”
“Okay!”
“Septet Magi: Magicae Displodo!”
Seven magic circles appeared above Ariel’s head. One beat later, seven beams of light fired out of them. Each cannon shot that was fired like a greeting had enough force to knock out a warrior physically enhanced with an enchanted sword.
He’s not moving out of the way?
The Hero Killer made no move to evade.
“...”
He calmly raised his shield at the incoming barrage.
“Wha— You’ve gotta be kidding me...” Celia was dumbfounded as the fifth, then sixth shot met its target. He staggered a little in the air, but he was continuously taking intermediate-level cannon fire from in front without issue.
Eventually, Celia’s seventh shot met its mark.
“I’m ready!” Orphia fired a single arrow of light from Ariel’s back. All the magic essence she would have used on flying was able to be refined for her attack, making her arrow much more powerful that Celia’s cannon fire.
“Wruuuh!” Instead of raising his shield to block the attack, the Hero Killer swung his shield to knock the arrow down. As a result, he didn’t sustain any damage.
“I see... He seems to be rather confident in his defense. But the attack just now had enough force to require him to knock it away with the shield instead,” Gouki said, analyzing his movements.
Orphia’s one attack had the same amount of force as advanced-level magic. If I want to damage him, I’ll have to use advanced-level offensive magic too.
Celia immediately began to consider the candidates for her next attack spell.
“In that case, that shield and armor will be quite the nuisance,” Kayoko said, sighing in annoyance.
“Yes. Anything fired from afar will be blocked by that shield. And I’m sure he can evade if he needs to as well.”
Sara also realized the high difficulty of defeating him from afar and frowned. During that time, Ariel rose until it was higher than the Hero Killer.
“At any rate, we’ve now obtained information about his defenses. He’s also shown how he responds to long-ranged attacks. Which leaves the matter of close-range combat! Now, it’s my turn to test his reactions!” Gouki leaped down from Ariel’s back and ran through the air towards the Hero Killer. His opponent sensed his approach and made eye contact with him.
“...”
“Ha ha! He’s even bigger up close!” The Hero Killer was easily ten times Gouki’s size, but Gouki just laughed heartily as he charged forward.
The first one to swing their weapon was the Hero Killer. The one-handed sword was several meters long, so its reach was on a different level to Gouki’s. However, Gouki understood that clearly as he continued charging.
Good reaction speed, and precise aim! His speed is also impressive, but...
Gouki jumped midair and evaded the attack. The Hero Killer’s sword swung under him, missing. The wind pressure pushed his body upwards.
“Let’s see how sturdy those weak points of your defense are!”
Gouki weaved through the gap between helmet and armor, aiming for the Hero Killer’s neck. However, his opponent wasn’t about to allow that so easily. The Hero Killer swung his shield upwards in an attempt to knock Gouki back.
“Whoa! That shield really is a nuisance!”
Gouki used his comparatively smaller frame to his advantage and evaded the attack. He then made a temporary retreat to where Ariel was.
“His reaction speed and movement speed aren’t impossible to keep up with, but that giant body and equipment are a huge problem. His defenses are too strong. If we were to bring him down with long-ranged attacks, I could run around and distract him from lifting his shield. That may be the best way of getting a powerful hit in,” he said to the others.
“An alternative would be for Orphia and I to blow away that shield so that you can all get a hit in where the body is uncovered by armor,” Celia suggested.
“Ha ha, that sounds equally exhilarating. The thought of cutting down such a huge and solid body makes my heart dance. However, he’s yet to show a true weakness. We’ll need to observe him while fighting a little more to find his weak points!” Gouki said, then ran off to challenge the Hero Killer again.
“I’ll go too.”
“I’m going as well!”
Kayoko and Sara jumped off Ariel and followed him. Thus, the battle between five fierce warriors and the Hero Killer commenced for real.
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