Ch.132End (3)

I rushed to the enemy’s main camp with Leo’s help, but being left alone among enemies wasn’t exactly what I wanted.

Would they take me hostage now? Maybe I could manage something with my supernatural power?

But my physical abilities are too weak. I’d probably take down two people at most before being subdued.

Should I just end my life here? But I’m too scared to die.

While I was lost in these thoughts, Leo grabbed my wrist and started dragging me somewhere.

“Mr. Leo?”

“Don’t do anything stupid and stay quiet.”

Leo must have some plan. If he wanted to kill me or take me hostage, he wouldn’t have reacted that way earlier.

As Leo was dragging me somewhere, someone who looked like a grunt approached us.

“Why did you bring the reincarnator here?”

“I brought them as a hostage. Got a problem with that?”

“You’re not taking a hostage—you’re bringing your own ally!”

“…Ugh!”

That bastard kicked my leg instead of Leo. Why direct your anger at Leo but your violence at me? Am I really that easy a target?

…I guess I am.

Anyway, that wretched grunt smiled viciously and provoked Leo again.

“What? If they’re a hostage, it shouldn’t matter how I treat them, right?”

His leg was about to fly toward my shin again. Seriously, if they want to fight, they should fight each other. Why take it out on me?

But Leo, who had brought me into this enemy territory, showed no reaction to my mistreatment.

“Ugh!”

Thanks to that, my shin got kicked again. Is this really how you treat a hostage?

As my frustration grew, Leo pulled out a dagger from inside his clothes, held it to my neck, and said:

“Would you be satisfied if I killed them?”

“Sure, go ahead and kill them if you want.”

That bastard continued to mock Leo with a sneering tone. But he wouldn’t actually kill me, right?

Fortunately, my neck remained intact even after some time passed. However, the situation wasn’t exactly good.

Leo had tried to prove his innocence but only ended up creating more suspicion.

“See, you can’t kill—AAAGH!”

Suddenly Leo threw his dagger into the man’s abdomen, and he collapsed to the ground.

“W-what are you doing…?”

“I just couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Leo spoke in a cold, low voice, showing no emotion.

“When a key enemy force defects to our side, have you thought about what happens if you treat them like this?”

The atmosphere had completely frozen over, as if influenced by Leo’s demeanor.

And the person responsible for this atmosphere casually dragged me somewhere else while saying to the grunt:

“If you keep running your mouth, I’ll just kill everyone.”

Honestly, that felt a bit satisfying, but my worry grew even more. Being suspected as an enemy and then creating more evidence to support that suspicion—how could I not be concerned?

Still, Leo must have a plan. He wouldn’t do this without some strategy, right? With that thought, I whispered so only Leo could hear:

“Mr. Leo? Why did you do that just now?”

“If I left them alone, guys like that would keep coming after us.”

“…You did all that just for that reason?”

“Everything ends today anyway.”

“But what if those people come after us and attack?”

“Then I’ll kill them all.”

“…What?”

“They’re just useless bugs anyway.”

Leo seems to be in a bad mental state, perhaps because he’s under too much pressure. Maybe I was too harsh with him earlier.

On the positive side, at least my shins won’t get kicked again.

While walking with these useless thoughts, Leo suddenly spoke in a cold tone:

“This is the mindset you need to fight with.”

“What mindset?”

“You need to see your opponents not as people, but as insects.”

The killing intent in Leo’s sharp voice was clearly visible. His mental state really seems precarious.

While I was having these naive thoughts, Leo showed me who was truly being naive.

“This isn’t some sport with rules. It’s a disgusting place where you have to take others’ lives to survive.”

“…”

“You came here to defeat the Demon King, right? Then you need to be prepared to dirty your hands.”

I came this far to defeat the Demon King. But I never really thought about committing murder.

Even if the opponent is the Demon King, they’re still a person. I should have prepared myself mentally for this.

I believe murder can never be justified. But if I stop here, this world will be destroyed. Wouldn’t doing nothing be closer to committing murder then?

Maybe this is just self-justification. But without something like this, I don’t think I could fight at all.

“…How did you feel, Mr. Leo, when you first killed someone?”

“I was so disgusted with myself that I threw up everything inside me.”

“How do you feel now when you kill?”

“I don’t feel much. And I find myself utterly disgusting for that.”

It was surely painful and horrible at first, but after repeating it, he no longer feels anything.

I find that fact terrifying. What if I also end up taking someone’s one and only life and living on without feeling anything?

“…I really don’t want to kill anyone.”

“But you can’t avoid it, can you?”

“…”

I wish the opponent were some evil monster incapable of thought. Then I could fight without any guilt.

As I walked, confronting this issue I’d been deliberately avoiding, I saw a severely damaged barrier.

“The barrier is pretty damaged. There’s no need to station the Four Heavenly Kings to guard it now.”

‘Still, picking us off one by one would be better than having us all gather here,’ Leo added.

“Anyway, we’ve arrived. Good luck.”

“M-Mr. Leo, aren’t you going to fight?”

I’m so nervous about the important battle ahead that I can barely speak properly. Maybe I should have just hidden somewhere safe?

“I’m too tired to fight anyone.”

Leo began to leave with weary steps. While it’s disappointing that Leo won’t help, at least we don’t have to fight him directly.

Now I just need to take a deep breath and go in. Wait, what if I’m the only one in there? Wouldn’t I be the first to die?

Okay, let me just peek in first to assess the situation. If something seems off, I’ll run away immediately.

With that thought, I poked my head through the barrier and saw Ju-an collapsed in a corner, with Parthia, the dragon, and the maid desperately fighting the Demon King.

“J-Ju-an!”

I needed to use the divine power I received from the Goddess to heal Ju-an immediately, so I ran at full speed to where he had fallen.

Please, please don’t die… Please, at least be breathing…

Somehow dragging my weak body, I managed to reach Ju-an, who was fortunately still breathing.

However, Ju-an’s condition was so critical that he could die at any moment.

It’s okay, I have the divine power from the Goddess. If I pour it all into him, he’ll surely get better.

With that desperate thought, I fired all the bullets containing divine power at him. His condition improved slightly, but he was still in critical condition.

“Ju-an? Are you okay? Please, please say something…”

At this rate, Ju-an will surely die. The one silver lining is that even if he dies once, there’s a way to bring him back.

But I don’t think we can defeat the Demon King without Ju-an right now. After all, only the Hero can inflict fatal damage on the Demon King.

Leo has already withdrawn from the fight. And Ju-an is on the verge of death. Can we really defeat the Demon King in this situation?

It’s absolutely impossible. So I need to save Ju-an right now. There must be a better way…

Come to think of it, my first supernatural power was to transfer something of mine directly. Then I should be able to transfer my life force as well.

As soon as that thought occurred to me, I fired a bullet containing as much life force as I could safely give to Ju-an.

Bang!

But Ju-an’s condition was still not good enough.

Now I truly have nothing left to give. Even if I transferred my lifespan, it wouldn’t immediately improve his physical condition.

Please think of a way to save Ju-an. We might be separated forever again!

My second supernatural power was to use someone else’s ability by sacrificing my lifespan. So couldn’t I use a healing ability?

No, I haven’t directly experienced such an ability, so I can’t use it. This cursed power requires me to have personally experienced an ability before I can replicate it.

Is there any other option? Let me think about the abilities I’ve experienced: creating duplicates, mind control, stopping time, creating identical conditions…

None of these are useful right now. Is there really no ability that can heal others like I just did…?

…My second supernatural power is to replicate someone else’s ability. But could I use it to replicate my own ability?

Let’s try it. Staying idle might let things become irreversible.

With that desperate thought, I recalled the moment I transferred my life force and fired my gun.

Bang!

I felt my body weaken slightly as the bullet was fired. Great, this can save him!

So I continued firing bullets until Ju-an’s condition improved.