Ch.63Abandoned and Inescapable NPC (3)

As I thought I was going to die, a refreshing breeze blew.

“My apologies.”

“Huh?”

-Thud.

The sound of something being cut and falling, the sensation of a refreshing breeze, and a voice answering my muttered words made Rey open her eyes.

And what she saw before her was.

“…Mr. Green Doll?”

“Not Jack, for once. Though I guess it hasn’t been that long? About a week?”

“W-why are you here…?”

“Hmm? Ah. I’m not an adventurer, nor am I from that city, so I had no particular reason to fight. I was planning to observe the situation from the city, but…”

The sight of demons and monsters that had surrounded them suddenly spewing blood and collapsing, and the black-haired, black-eyed man sheathing his sword at his waist looked utterly out of place.

Could it be? Did this man do all this?

“Honestly. Asking me to protect you in this situation? So I followed you here. But no. How could you try to die alone like this while protecting retreating people? You confidently told me to leave it to you, but if I’d brought back a corpse, I would have died myself.”

“W-what are you saying…”

“Jack would be sad.”

“!!”

Rey was startled when Jack’s name suddenly came from his lips. Could it be?

“There’s something I’ve been asking Jack to do many times, you see? He wouldn’t agree to it, which worried me, but he said he’d do it if I protected you on the frontlines and brought you back.”

“W-what does that…”

“It means exactly what it sounds like. You must be quite precious to him.”

Having said that much, Green Doll slung the immobilized Rey over his shoulder like baggage.

“Eek?!”

“I’m not your prince, so please excuse the position. Now, let’s head back.”

“W-wait a moment!! What about J-Jack?! Are we going to the evacuation line where Jack is?”

“Hmm?”

When she asked, Green Doll looked at her as if wondering what she was talking about, and then finally understood.

Honestly. He really is a shy man.

“No. This is Jack’s message: ‘Stay home and protect Ira.'”

“What?! What about J-Jack?! Don’t tell me!!!”

“Now then, let’s go home.”

“Wait!! What about Jack?! Did he go to fight alone?! To stop this situation?!!”

That definitely sounds like something Jack would say. And telling her to stay home means he intends to end this situation, that he won’t let Aigram fall. Which means…

“Yes. He told me that he probably knows the only way to end this situation, so he’s going to finish it.”

“N-no!! You’re strong, aren’t you, Mr. Green Doll?! Leave me and go help him…!!!”

“Hup.”

-Whoosh!

“Eek!!!”

Green Doll suddenly kicked off the ground and ran like the wind through the monsters, heading back to the city.

Beside him, Rey kept shrieking, saying she needed to help him, that it was her fault, that she shouldn’t have come, but…

‘Well. Even if she had resolved to flee from the beginning with her personality, she would have surely come back to try to stop it.’

Wouldn’t it have ended up like this from the start? It seems this woman simply pushed his back a little more strongly, breaking his resolve to run away.

Green Doll thought this as he quietly turned his head to look beyond the mountain.

‘Two extremely powerful demonic auras. I can’t sense Jack’s presence, but he must be there.’

And so Green Doll returned to the city with Rey to keep his promise to Jack.

Hoping that he would prove to be even more talented than he thought.

*

“W-what is that gray woman?!!”

“Woman? No, that’s a golem?!”

“A golem in the shape of a woman? Ah, I might have seen it before?!! I heard rumors about a tamer in Aigram raising one…”

[Take me with you too.]

-Boom!!

Gore was holding the position Jack had ordered him to defend.

In the situation just before Jack, who had suggested fleeing, entered the evacuation line with his companions while wearing an expression that looked like he was really going to die.

He eventually entrusted Ira to Ragni.

[…Ragni. Ira. I’m sorry.]

[I knew this would happen. Really, what are you hesitating for? Go. I’ll look after Ira.]

[…Ira.]

[Big brother. Don’t get hurt, okay?]

[…Yes. Ira, be good and wait at home. Understand?]

[Yes! Bring back big sister!]

In the end, he couldn’t abandon Rey. He didn’t choose to fight because he wanted to protect Aigram.

Gore understood that clearly.

If Rey had moved along with him, he would have fled to another place on the evacuation line, regardless of whether Aigram fell or not. However.

[It’s impossible. When you receive such intense affection continuously, even someone you disliked would grow fond of you.]

-Boom!!!

Gore mechanically swung his fist, turning all the shouting demon followers rushing toward him into bloody pulps, and recalled the situation from earlier.

[Gore.]

[Yes.]

[Don’t let a single one enter the city.]

[I should go with you. The opponent is strong.]

[Please. I have no one else to ask but you. And I will definitely win.]

[……]

I never imagined he would even silence me, the status window. He has no one else to ask but me.

In the end, he’s showing that much affection and trust even to me, a [status window] golem.

[So. Please stop coming already.]

-Crash!!!

Pieces of a mid-level demon that broke through the forest scattered across the sky, and low-level demons were flattened against the ground.

The demon followers of the Demon of Wrath rushed at people like beasts that had lost their reason, but they disappeared along with nearby goblins and orcs, even though Gore hadn’t directly hit them.

Gore completely sealed off everything as instructed and guarded the entrance to the city.

This too reflected his character. It wasn’t about wanting to protect people or the city.

If that were the case, it would have been better to order ‘kill all enemies.’ But he said not to let a single one enter the city. In other words…

[It means don’t let monsters, demons, and their followers approach Ira. That’s what it means.]

Understanding the order clearly, Gore didn’t bother stopping monsters and demons that clung to other humans. What he needed to protect was ‘the city where Ira is,’ not those people.

Gore thought of his master who would soon begin fighting beyond the mountain and protected the place he would return to—the place where Ira was.

*

[Humaaaaaan!!!!!!]

“Ah, fuck. Shut up, you piece of shit. What, did you take a shower in a furnace? Why are you on fire again?”

The Demon of Greed, Avaritia, who had completed her full demonization, looked down from the sky at the burning giant, not bothering to hide her blue skin, goat-like eyes, and massive horns and wings.

[Come down at once!! How dare you!! I’ll burn you to ashes for betraying our Seven Deadly Sins and siding with humans!!!]

“Idiot. Why are you telling me to come down when you could just grow bigger? Hey, you cheap pot. I’m just living according to my sin. You’re interfering with me, not the other way around.”

[Graaaah!!!]

Provoked by the mayor’s taunts, the Demon of Wrath began to roar and its body grew even larger. The monster, which had been about 5 meters tall, nearly doubled in size, becoming as large as a small mountain.

The Demon of Wrath now reached out toward Greed, who was within striking distance, and threw a punch, but…

“You’re so fucking slow. What are you doing? You’re as big as a mountain, but can you catch me?”

[I’ll kill you!! You’re no longer a demon or anything!! You mongrel whore!!!]

“Bullshit. I’ve never even slept with a male. And guys like you who call women whores have never even held hands with a female. Oh, right, didn’t you confess to Lust about 2,000 years ago and get rejected? What was the reason again? Big body but small dick? Why? Does only your body grow when you’re angry but your dick stays the same? Make your dick get angry too.”

[Graaaaaaah!!!!]

It was a story she had milked several times before, but the effect was tremendous.

The Demon of Wrath continued to build up rage at the personal attacks and gaslighting, and now it had grown to the size of a real mountain.

“Wow… fuck. How big are you going to get? Your dick doesn’t even grow.”

[I’ll crush and erase that city you’ve been protecting.]

The face of the woman, who had been quickly flying through the sky and only provoking Wrath’s anger, suddenly hardened. She had revealed herself directly to protect that city, and losing the city here would truly be disastrous.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Something like you can’t even come near my city.”

[This is the end.]

The burning giant, now so large that it couldn’t even hear Greed’s voice, began to walk forward. A demon so enormous that it could reach the city in three steps. If Greed wanted to protect the city, she would eventually have to fight him, and if they fought, Wrath could not lose.

That’s why he targeted the city and moved…

[All places named Aigram are my land! Under the authority of Greed (Avaritia), I command: Exploit!!!]

And in an instant, Wrath’s world flickered.

*

“Damn it! Can you really win?!”

“Just hold out for an hour.”

“Are you crazy!! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be used!!!”

[Where is this?! Are you insane?!! You haven’t used it for so long that you’ve forgotten what happens when you use your authority…!! Human?!]

Wrath, who had believed she couldn’t use her power, was considerably surprised when the world suddenly changed.

The authority of Greed. It exploits everything she has marked as her own.

Even if she had handed it over to someone else or sold it. In the end, it always returns to her, one way or another.

And whoever possessed Greed’s property would be ruined, having everything taken away by her in some way.

In other words, as long as she held the [ownership] of Aigram, it was thought she wouldn’t use it because she wouldn’t want to destroy the city she had built.

But suddenly she activated it, turning the world upside down and pulling everything she owned into a world of exploitation.

Her unique domain. [Hell of Exploitation] Where all her [possessions] are converted into her power.

And it brings ruin to all who possessed them. In other words, even if Aigram isn’t trampled under her feet and destroyed now, it will perish before long.

However.

[What are you?]

“Shut your mouth, spark.”

[What…?]

Pulled into Greed’s space, he could no longer maintain the same gigantic size as before, but he still maintained his basic size of 5 meters.

The sight of a gray human looking up at his enormous self and speaking irritably was more bewildering than anger-inducing to Wrath.

[Greed has truly gone mad. Bringing a human into her own domain?! And a deranged human at that, which suits you perfectly, you whore…]

“Is it difficult to understand ‘shut your mouth’? Did I speak Chinese?”

[……]

Looking at the human who was slowly approaching while spouting incomprehensible words, the Demon of Wrath finally began to feel anger rising.

Yes. Let’s tear this human apart first. Thinking this, he converted his rising anger into strength and delivered a kick.

-Crash!!!

[?!!!]

“What, is that really all you’ve got?”

The man swung his fist to match the kick.

The Demon of Wrath widened the eyes hidden within his burning body as their attacks completely countered each other and were pushed back.