Ch.122Final Battle (5)

After the sacrificial ritual, trying to control a large amount of mana at once was taking a toll on my body.

I had to endure.

I steadied my breathing and opened my mouth.

“Admiral, it’s all over now. Surrender.”

“Be quiet. Jenny, what did you just say?”

Something was wrong with the Admiral. He was staring blankly at the girl in his arms as if entranced.

“Jenny?”

[“Ugh.”]

“Are you awake? Do you know who I am?”

[“Papa? Papa?”]

The Admiral broke into a broad smile.

“Yes, I’m your father! It’s been so long! So very long, hahaha!”

[“Papaaa.”]

Something was strange.

No, something was wrong.

“Admiral Dietz! You need to get away from that child right now!”

“Be quiet! Can’t you see I’m talking with Jenny!”

“That’s not your daughter!”

“Shut up! What do you know! Have you ever actually seen my daughter? Are you her parent? If you don’t know anything, keep quiet!”

[“Waaaah.”]

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Did Daddy speak too loudly?”

The Holy Maiden grabbed my shoulder, trembling. She shouted:

“Get away from her! She’s a demon!”

“Demon? A demon? My daughter? How dare you speak such nonsense!”

“A six or seven-year-old child crying like a newborn baby! How can that possibly be your daughter?”

“Don’t talk if you’ve never raised a child! Oh my, I said I’m sorry, didn’t I? Daddy was wrong. Do you know how hard I’ve worked to bring you back to life?”

[“Hehe.”]

“My princess, even your laugh is beautiful.”

As the conversation continued, fear began to show in the eyes of the troops. One by one, they lowered their guns.

The more perceptive ones turned their weapons toward the girl.

“Sir, you need to put that girl down.”

“What are you all doing? Are you trying to betray me, huh?”

“No, sir. We’re only trying to protect you.”

“If you want to protect me, point those guns elsewhere. Now.”

“I cannot follow that order. That child… she doesn’t seem human.”

“What nonsense is this? My daughter, not human? How? What part of her isn’t human? She has eyes, a nose, a mouth! Her complexion is healthy! She’s so adorable! How dare you spout such garbage! Huh?!”

“That child is speaking in Incantation!”

“My child was raised with gifted education! She knew basic magic! What’s the big deal about speaking in Incantation? There are plenty of little kids who can speak eight languages!”

After shouting, the Admiral caught his breath and continued more calmly.

“…My daughter lost her mother early, and I raised her alone. She had no one but me, and I had no one but her. No one knows how much I’ve endured these past twenty years.”

[“Ahaha, Papa.”]

“My eyes don’t deceive me. This child is my daughter. Even if all of you point fingers calling her a demon, spreading all sorts of slander, she’s my daughter.”

Just then, the girl in the Admiral’s arms turned her head.

Our eyes met.

Black with vertical red pupils.

“…Reverse eyes?”

The girl grinned.

Then, she opened her mouth like a snake.

A black hand stretched out from deep within her throat.

Soon her limbs twisted, broke, and grew like a tree, forming a grotesque shape.

“Urgh, huh?”

The Admiral dropped his arms, crushed by the weight. The girl fell to the floor with a thud and began to writhe like a worm.

The girl’s neck bent backward as her hair grew longer. Her eyeballs burst with blood flowing out, and her face turned deathly white. Goat-like horns sprouted from her head, while her limbs transformed into deer-like reverse joints.

In short, she had become a monster.

“Wh-what?”

The Admiral stepped back, completely dumbfounded.

“Wh-what is this? What is this?!”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you!”

“Where did my daughter go, and where did this monster come from?! Jenny! What happened to Jenny?! She was just here in my arms…”

“Stop talking and come this way! You there, all of you, now!”

Just as I raised a magical barrier, dozens of tentacles sprouted from the monster’s back. With one swing, it captured about seven National Security agents and Admiral Dietz.

The monster then opened a mouth in the middle of its belly and began feeding them in one by one.

Crunch, crunch.

Desperate screams echoed along with the sound of bones being crushed.

“Help me! Save me!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Jenny, why are you doing this?!”

The sight of blood spurting and intestines spilling out left me unable to think of attacking. My mind went blank. My heart was racing madly.

It was then that someone spoke.

“…We need to fight.”

A single sentence from Rachel, the Valkyrie.

With those words, my frozen thoughts began to move again.

The Holy Maiden quickly recited a prayer of stability, while Riyo prepared to shoot fire arrows. Salvira returned rifles to the retreating troops before deploying magical power alongside me.

Ratatatatat!

The National Security agents began firing their rifles wildly. Lead bullets and silver bullets pierced the head, belly, stem, and other potential weak points of the monster. Magic spells hit that massive body as well.

“Damn it, it’s useless!”

“Don’t chicken out, keep firing!”

It was then that the monster raised its tentacle with a whoosh.

I shouted:

“Duck!”

Whack!

The tentacle sliced through the air like a blade, taking off the heads of several National Security agents. Blood sprayed everywhere, and the severed heads rolled like soccer balls.

“Urgh.”

“Is everyone alright?”

I supported Tiria and Riyo as they fought back the urge to vomit.

Whiiiirl!

The monster wildly shook the tentacle holding the Admiral. Because of this, several bullets fired by the National Security agents ended up hitting his body.

“Kuh.”

“Sir!”

Hehehe, the monster smiled eerily. With a smile so wide that the corners of its mouth tore and bled, it grabbed the struggling Admiral by the waist. The Admiral gasped and strained his voice.

“Let go! Let me go! I don’t want to die!”

Creak, the monster opened its mouth.

“I need to go home with my daughter! Why! I was almost, almost there! Jenny!”

The jaws closed.

“Aaaaargh!”

They opened again, then closed again.

This process repeated dozens of times. The shark-like teeth rotated like a grinder, slowly grinding the Admiral from his toes upward.

“Save me! Please, Jenny! Don’t do this! Come to your senses! It’s Daddy! Your Daddy!”

[“Papa, delicious. So delicious.”]

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

[“Papa, we’re one now.”]

“What are you all doing?! Aagh! Quickly! Urghaaak! Do something! You fools, why are you just standing there! Don’t you know how precious human life is…! Kuh!”

By the time the monster’s jaws had swallowed the Admiral up to his waist, he could no longer move his tongue. All that remained visible were the blood welling up, intestines spilling out, and eyes as empty as a dead fish’s.

“S-sir…”

“He’s dead, he’s dead.”

The vampire chuckled.

“Hmm, it seems bringing back the dead in their right mind isn’t possible. What’s been created is neither demon, devil, nor human. In the end, the offering failed, and I’ve spent hundreds of years doing nothing but foolish things…”

I gritted my teeth.

Though I had grown to hate the Admiral enough to want to kill him myself, I hadn’t wished for him to meet such an end. It wasn’t a legal procedure, nor was justice being served. It was just an unpleasant sight.

“Everyone, I hope you saw that clearly.”

Director Adora spoke calmly.

“This is what happens when you try to make deals with demons. There’s a reason Jeriem insisted on keeping the Pledge of the Mage. You all broke the pledge along with the Admiral, so in life you’ll be torn apart by that monster, and in death you’ll be violated by demons.”

“Th-then what should we do?”

“Well…”

Adora took out a piece of gum and chewed it. Tiria snapped at her.

“You can chew gum in this situation?”

“This was my last piece. Let’s see… tsk, it’s been an unlucky day.”

Adora sighed after checking the fortune written on the gum wrapper.

The monster approached, flicking its tongue.

[“Let’s play. Let’s play together.”]

[“I want to eat something delicious.”]

[“Ow ow ow. That hurts.”]

[“Bepisya, you’ve done very well. I shall per-per-personally reward you.”]

Multiple voices flowed from a single mouth.

Souls neither ascended nor fallen. Voices of those who had been forcibly offered and captured by demons. The Demon King’s voice was likely among them, though he too seemed to have been swallowed by the true demon.

Soon darkness fell all around.

“Director.”

“Director!”

“Director Giford, sir!”

The surviving National Security soldiers bowed to Adora. Their voices trembled with fear.

“What is it now?”

“We were wrong. Please, give us orders!”

Until just moments ago, these people had been our enemies. But now there was no other choice. Even dogs fighting among themselves will join forces when a tiger appears; humans are no different.

Adora scratched her head and adjusted her grip on her sword.

“Fight as if you’re prepared to die. Then you might return alive.”

***

When Director Adora told everyone to fight as if prepared to die, few nodded in agreement.

First was Adora herself, who had received a second life from Erich.

Then Holy Maiden Tiria.

Engineer Riyo did so, as did Erich, and Salvira also prepared for what might be her final battle with a detached attitude toward life.

Among them, Rachel had the least attachment to her remaining life.

Rachel was checking on Erich’s condition whenever she had a chance.

Wasn’t he just one wrong move away from losing his breath?

“Aaaaargh!”

“Urghaaak!”

“Help, somebody help me!”

Despite this concern, whenever someone called for help, she diverted her attention and deployed magic in that direction. She could see his stance continuously crumbling.

Despite Erich doing his best, the National Security agents, who were already frightened, were quickly falling apart. Paradoxically, they were the first to fall because they feared death.

“Hah.”

In the end, not a single one survived.

After this battle, even Erich might die. Having used the sacrificial ritual to save three people, a demon might take his life as payment.

For Rachel, who had once lost everything, he was all she had left. If he too departed for the next world, what was she supposed to do?

She didn’t know.

She was tired.

It felt like she couldn’t go on.

Nevertheless.

“…Huff.”

Rachel vowed to protect him until the end. She had decided to fight. To protect. She aimed the spear created by Erich and the fox sisters at the monster, steadying her breath. She wiped the blood stains from her cheeks and clenched her teeth.

If that man died too, she would have no more attachments to this world.

“Goddess of battle.”

Rather than a beautiful end…

Grant me the strength to defeat the enemy before me.

The Goddess of Battle answered the maiden’s prayer, which bordered on recklessness.

“———.”

Rachel smiled faintly. With a powerful shout, she charged forward fiercely and leaped toward the ceiling.

An unprecedented bright light burst from the tip of her spear, piercing the monster’s neck.

Seeing that light, Salvira and Bepisya both flinched.

[“…That’s!”]

“The Radiance of the Hero… isn’t it?”