Ch.62Abandoned and Inescapable NPC (2)

“You son of a bitch!! Why is everyone giving me shit?!!”

-BANG!!!

Avaritia, the demon of Greed. As the mayor of Aigram, she smashed her desk to pieces upon hearing that Ira, the demon of Wrath, was approaching with a monster parade and lesser demons.

“Of all demons. Why Wrath?! Envy was bad enough, but why Wrath?! Is someone deliberately trying to kill me?!!”

Their compatibility was terrible. The power of the Greed demon was subjugation—drawing everything back under her control.

But Wrath was simple, brute destruction that clashed power and hatred against its opponents, growing stronger over time.

There was no way to win in a direct confrontation, and holding out was equally impossible against such an opponent. Provoking them would only amplify their hatred and wrath, increasing their power.

If you could defeat them, it had to be instantly. If that wasn’t possible, running away was the only option.

Avaritia bit her lip at the fact that, after Pride, the second worst possible opponent was targeting her city.

“Fuck. FUCK! If it were Lust or Greed or Gluttony, I could at least put up a fight…!!”

Even if she revealed herself and tried to fight, she couldn’t win, and her identity would be exposed, making it impossible to remain on the human continent.

Changing her appearance was easy enough, but how many years would it take to build another city of this scale?

No. If the Seven Deadly Sins had decided to invade the human realm, half the humans on this continent would disappear, and it would become like hell.

Then she, who governed the sin of Greed, would have no way to satisfy her instincts anymore. No matter which way things went, she was finished.

“You bastards. YOU BASTARDS!! If that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll fight with everything I have. To hell with Pride and the Seven Deadly Sins and everything else!! I’ll kill them all!!!”

Avaritia made her decision.

Rather than returning to that empty, burning hellscape, she would live and die here for her own greed.

Even if another demon of the Seven Deadly Sins appeared and took over the power of Greed, they would become the lowest trash, cleaning up after the others until the end.

Though she currently possessed mid-tier power, if she lost her city and couldn’t live according to her instincts and sin, the fate of Avaritia was already determined.

As she resolved to fight for what was hers and began drawing up her magical energy to exert her maximum power…

-Knock knock knock!!

“M-Mayor!!”

“……”

“Mayor!!!”

“What is it!!!”

She was already revealing her horns, eyes, and wings, about to fully transform into her demon form when she was interrupted by the voice of her new aide. She shouted back in her typical temperament.

Her voice, filled with rage and magical energy, made everything around her vibrate. The mayor considered revealing her true identity and killing the aide as well…

“Mister. Step aside. And don’t look inside at all—quickly go outside and follow the evacuation procession.”

“What?! B-but I’m the mayor’s aide…”

“I said go. Or would you prefer to end up like the people downstairs?”

“N-no!! Good luck to you!!!”

The conversation was strange. The aide should have been waiting with her guards for orders. But before that…

‘…There’s no presence from below?’

Sensing something was wrong, she approached the window and looked outside.

‘…Are they all dead? No, collapsed?’

They weren’t dead, but all unconscious. Seeing her ten exceptional guards all passed out without making a sound, she truly realized something unusual was happening…

-BANG!!!

“Eek?!!”

Suddenly, the door shook.

The mayor’s office was protected by numerous magical tools and artifacts she had accumulated, with dozens of layers of defensive magic and barriers deployed to prevent any invasion from outside if she transformed into her demon form.

Yet that door to her office had just shaken from simple violence.

“Sturdy, isn’t it? Ma’am. You recognize my voice, right? Let’s see your face.”

“W-who are you?”

“Open it.”

Should she open it? The door had received an unusually strong impact but hadn’t opened or broken. She quickly drew up her magical energy.

Since it was clear that whatever was outside wasn’t friendly to her, she needed to eliminate it first…

-THUD!!!

“?!!”

-BOOM!!!”

“Eek?!!”

The door shook. No, even the walls were shaking.

This office was a culmination of magical tools and artifacts worth hundreds of millions of cans.

And the entire mansion, worth dozens of times more, began to shake with tremendous impact.

And then.

-THUD!! CRACK!!!

This wasn’t just any wooden door.

It was made from the Millennium Tree that had lived for 10,000 years. Normal axes and knives would break against it, and even those who tried to burn it with magic would die of exhaustion first. This door, made from what was called the treasure of the Spirit Magic Nation Siltra, was pierced by a single fist.

No, it wasn’t just the Millennium Tree—all the defensive magic from the magical tools and artifacts reinforcing the wood had been broken.

And Avaritia wondered: Could she do the same? She didn’t know. No, it was probably impossible.

Unable to keep up with the situation unfolding before her, she forgot she was in her demon form and stared blankly as the fist that had punched through withdrew.

And then.

“Here’s Johnny.”

The face of the man visible through the hole brought back memories of humiliation she had tried desperately to forget.

*

“Haaah!!!”

-Swish swish swish!!!

“Ohhh!!!”

“We can win!! We can do this!!!”

No, they couldn’t. It was absolutely impossible. Jack had been right.

Ray felt this acutely as she swung her sword with all her might.

“Haaaah!!!”

-SLASH!!!

[K⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯?!!]

[Lesser Demon (Death): Level 82]

The lower demons hiding among the enemies were monsters. Though she hadn’t seen them before, they were clearly stronger than cyclopes.

Ray was convinced the situation was absurd.

They were much weaker than the monsters in the dungeon she had explored with Jack, but their numbers were incomparable, and they weren’t stationary—they kept charging at people.

Adventurers and soldiers with shields tried desperately to hold them back, but it took 3-4 people to barely hold off one creature until their shields were torn apart.

Nevertheless.

“We can win!! Fight!!!”

“If we fall back here, all the villages behind us will die!!!”

“Follow Swordswoman Ray!! We can win!!!”

Because I had sliced through the enemies like paper, people placed their hopes in me and fought with renewed vigor.

‘Don’t weaken. I can’t weaken!!’

Already knowing they couldn’t win, that they couldn’t stop this entire army, she pushed herself harder.

And so, with her body drenched in enemy blood, she swiftly swung her sword across the battlefield.

[Swift Sword] Having surpassed level 190 while traveling with Jack, she had grown strong enough to easily handle the mobs of ep.2. However.

-CRASH!!

“Aaaaargh!!”

“Aaagh!!”

“W-what is that?!”

“M-monster!!!”

[Kr⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!!]

A giant nearly 3 meters tall wielding a massive axe. Clearly not a monster but a demon.

[Mid-rank Demon: Level 170]

“I’ll handle this!!!”

-Whoosh!!!

Ray charged forward, kicking off the ground forcefully, and the creature blocked her sword with the flat of its axe.

As it tried to shake her off by swinging the axe sideways, Ray lowered her stance and aimed for the gap, piercing its neck and head with her sword.

But.

“Huh?!”

[Kr⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!!]

-Grab!!

“Ugh?!!”

A fatal blow that should have killed any normal creature. Yet the demon didn’t die and grabbed Ray, who was stuck with her sword in its jaw.

The sword wouldn’t come out from under its jaw, and Ray, forcibly grabbed, felt her waist being crushed.

“Aaaagh!!!”

Tremendous strength. And terrible pain. Ray sensed this would be where she died. But.

‘Not yet!! NOT YET!!! Jack and Ira need more time to escape!!!’

This army was moving too fast. How long could the walls of Aigram hold them back? She knew why he was running away.

She knew he wasn’t fleeing because he didn’t want to fight, or because he was afraid for his life.

“Nngh!!! Let me go!!!”

-SLASH!!!

[K⎯⎯⎯?!!!]

She pulled her sword toward her body, tearing off half its face, and the demon’s grip loosened as it fell with a death cry. It seemed that even demons died when their faces were split in half. Now she knew not to stab them in the face…

“H-how many of these monsters are there?!!”

“Fuck!! Run!! We can’t win!!!”

“Damn it!! Miss Ray!! We need to retreat!! We need to fall back to the gates for a defensive battle!!!”

“Ah, yes.”

A soldier approached her as she knelt on one knee, catching her breath. He urgently reported the situation around them.

These giant monsters weren’t just one or two—dozens had already been spotted.

“…Everyone retreat.”

“Pardon?”

“GO!! Hurry!!!”

“What?! Yes!!”

When she shouted, the soldier who had come to help her ran away in a hurry. And Ray didn’t watch him go but looked straight ahead.

“…Haha. Jack is always right.”

She could see two of the demons she had just struggled to defeat approaching her simultaneously, with goblins and lesser demons below them. How long could she hold out here?

“Even for a defensive battle, someone needs to buy time for retreat. I promised Jack. I said I’d repay his kindness. I said I’d buy time for him to escape.”

After imbuing her sword with a skill, she looked around.

People being attacked during retreat. She swung her sword quickly to help them, moving across the battlefield while carefully keeping the approaching giant demons and monsters at bay.

And then.

-CLANG!!!

“Ugh…”

She had killed one of the two demons, but why were there now four?

Unable to dodge an incoming axe, she blocked it with her sword but was pushed back. She looked around again.

There were no more people.

Only what used to be people and the monsters trying to kill them.

And all the rage and killing intent was now directed at her, who had tried to protect them.

“…Jack. I’m sorry. I couldn’t buy much time.”

Even at a time like this, his face came to mind. Always angry, always smiling brightly at Ira, always happy.

Ah. Come to think of it.

“…You never smiled at me like that.”

She truly liked him. She really loved him. That’s why she resolved to swing her sword for him, to buy time for him to escape.

She came here because she couldn’t abandon others, because she couldn’t leave them behind.

But the reason she swung her sword was ultimately because she wanted Jack, and the sister he cherished, to be safe.

“Heh. At least I’m fortunate. Since I won’t see them violate me, they won’t touch my body, which belongs to Jack.”

-Swish swish!!! SLASH!!

“Haa. Haa. Haa. Come on, keep coming. I can’t move well now, so you have to charge at me.”

With her legs trembling too much to move, she leaned against a tree and swung her sword rapidly.

And finally.

-CLANG!!!

“Ah.”

She lost her grip on her sword when she failed to deflect a mid-rank demon’s axe blade.

‘So this is it.’

Ray felt strangely relieved.

This should have been enough time for everyone to escape safely. The evacuation procession must have gone quite far by now. Jack would surely be safe. Ira and Ragni would certainly remember her.

Her life had been empty, but thinking that she would remain in the memories of the people she loved made her feel no regrets.

Watching the mid-rank demons raise their axes to kill her, Ray quietly closed her eyes.

“Jack. Thank you.”

Her softly spoken words never reached Jack.