NOVEL WEB Chapter 60
KWA-AAAAANG!!
A red pillar of fire shot up into the sky.
The Cloak of Darkness that hung over the lakeside was extinguished by the light, and the Blue Moon hanging in the sky began to brightly illuminate the earth.
“…….”
Bearnes raised her sword high with one hand towards the sky.
Flames wrapped around her body like rags, and her pale skin bore no wounds, not even scratches.
“Kh, huhaha…!”
Purcas lay on the ground, bursting into laughter.
The undead he brought were all burned to ashes, leaving not even a trace behind, and he himself was not much different.
“You’re strong, Hero…! How cowardly…! Fighting with only the power of the Holy Sword, not your own power…!”
“Shut up, heretic.”
Bearnes’s expression was fiercely grim.
Around her were many who were gravely wounded, and some had even breathed their last.
“You shall never be forgiven.”
“Whether you forgive me or not… my role is already over. While you’re tied up here, Normans will have become ruins. Kihihit…!”
“No.”
Bearnes’s voice was full of certainty.
“Normans will be safe. Even if the Great Demon Lord you so long for returns alive, Normans will remain unharmed.”
“Ka, Kahh…! Foolish…!”
Purcas pointed at Bearnes and mocked her.
“The Demon Lord has already—”
[CRUNCH.]
Something appeared and stomped on Purcas’s head.
In an instant, Purcas’s head burst, and Bearnes lowered her sword again at the sight of the one who had emerged while stepping on Purcas.
“Who are you…?”
“…No need to know.”
A refreshing woman’s voice.
The woman, clad in a white robe covering her entire body and wearing a white fox mask that concealed her face, turned around after grasping a Magic Stone from Purcas’s corpse.
“Who are you!! Reveal your identity!!”
“I told you there’s no need to know. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to say….”
[CRACK.]
The woman crushed the Magic Stone with her grip.
The white light that shimmered in the woman’s hand made Bearnes’s heart sink.
“You, you are…?!”
“To pretend to be the Holy Sword’s Hero with just that much power is truly laughable.”
“Don’t tell me…!!”
“My name is….”
[SWISH.]
The woman vanished.
“…….”
*
Fwoosh.
Flames engulf her body.
At first, I thought nothing of it.
No matter how you look at it, it’s not the fire of the Holy Sword.
Flame Hero Bearnes was previously held back by Purcas, so that fire is merely the magic flame used by a witch.
If that’s all it is, there’s no problem.
There’s no way I can lose to the Behemoth Malpas formed from the vengeful spirits of dead crows.
That’s what I thought.
Fwoosh.
Kiyaaaaaack!!
The screams of the crows echoed everywhere.
Malpas was also tinted red in front of him from the fire clinging to his soul.
Ah.
That is the flame of the Holy Sword.
Before the Hero Bearnes left, she must have left some of her power behind.
I was caught off guard.
Completely caught off guard.
—Think of Heroes as disasters from nature.
That was the Demon Lord’s words.
Heroes could act strangely at any time and any place, so being done in by a Hero was not something to be ashamed of.
It was like being struck dead by lightning that suddenly falls from the sky, and even the Demon Lord himself could be killed by a Hero who suddenly appears at the gates of the Demon King’s Castle one day.
A Hero is an unpredictable being and should not be underestimated.
The power they wield from the Holy Sword is something that one cannot even begin to fathom.
However.
[I cannot… lose…!!]
I must not be defeated here.
Just as the Demon Lord had lost, I cannot allow the Demon Race to be defeated by the Holy Sword’s Hero again.
The Demon Lord may have lost, but I must show that I am not like him, right?
No!
[Demon Lord! Are you watching!!]
Malpas screamed, veins bulging in his neck.
Even as the flames surged into his body, consuming countless crow souls, Malpas pressed on towards the two wielding swords.
[We, the Demon King’s Army, will never be defeated by something like a Holy Sword!!]
This is a declaration of will.
This is a cry of rebellion.
[We can win again!!]
This is the Demon Race proclaiming their existence against the absurdity of the Holy Sword.
[For the Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor!!]
Malpas reached out.
Though his feathers burned, his skin melted, and only bones remained, he attacked those wielding swords with whatever bones he had left.
KWA-AAAAANG!!
Malpas’s bony hand struck the castle wall.
The knight and the witch evaded Malpas’s hand and ran along the walls, but Malpas extended his other hand to block their path.
[I’m not letting you go…!!]
While others can be ignored, these two cannot be forgiven.
Especially that witch who handled the strategies of the Demon Lord as if they were in the palm of her hand, even rendering the finishing blow Malpas had prepared for ten years useless—she shall never be forgiven.
Kiyaaaack!!
Sticking to the castle wall, it flapped its wings.
It opened its beak, ready to bite and crush the knight and the witch, and although only bones remained, it still reached out using the muscles that were left with flames still blazing.
[SWISH.]
The knight leaped into the air alongside the witch, dodging the attack.
Malpas flapped its wings, shooting feathers like arrows.
There was nowhere to escape in the air.
In just a moment, a storm of black feathers would sink into the ground, sprinkling blood.
However.
The knight’s eyes gleamed golden.
Kagagagagang—!!
With a swing of the sword in the air, the feathers swiftly fell to the ground.
Even the Mana carried by the feathers was burned away, and the knight and witch had sustained not a single scratch, landing safely atop the castle wall, coolly regarding their surroundings.
Ultimate move!
Winds of Sabers!!
As soon as he landed, the knight disappeared with a shout.
When Malpas heard the name of the technique the knight shouted, the vengeful spirits of the crows that had clung to his wings were already being cut down and vanishing.
Kiyaaaack!!
So very fast.
The pace that even Malpas couldn’t keep up with was not the power given to him by the Flame Hero.
[How dare you, Malpas!!]
That was the true power the knight possessed.
A sense of déjà vu washed over him as if seeing it somewhere before, but now, Malpas had almost no strength left.
[Even you—!!]
[CRUNCH.]
Malpas swallowed the entire castle wall.
With its beak blocking out the moonlight, the witch who swallowed it alongside the castle wall walked slowly towards him.
[Khahaha! Even in death, I will take you with me!!]
“…Sorry, but you have to die here.”
In that moment.
Malpas felt a chill in his chest.
In the red gaze looking at him, Malpas was struck by a feeling as if the world had stopped with the weighty dark energy.
Scout Crow Unit 379.
The moment the witch called out to him.
Malpas was reminded not of Malpas, but of the small crow that stood atop the Demon Lord’s castle wall 500 years ago.
[Ah, aah…?]
He formed the words with his mouth, but Malpas did see it clearly.
From now on… he should be called Malpas.
[Ahhh…!!]
Malpas saw it.
“It’s over.”
Amid countless crow souls, a red-haired witch aiming her staff directly at him accurately found him.
In the shadows that hung behind her, a black figure he longed for down to his bones.
“Sleep now.”
Flames gathered at the tip of the witch’s staff.
The witch gazed straight at Malpas, closed her eyes gently with an apologetic expression.
Your loyalty.
I will not forget.
I shall remember your name.
[…….]
Fwoosh.
At the flame touching his heart, Malpas quietly closed his eyes.
*
The battle came to an end.
I watched the crow Malpas turn to ash in the flames of the Holy Fire, and many thoughts crossed my mind.
The Demon Race challenging the Hero.
The Demon Race that does not yield to the Holy Sword.
The Demon Race fighting proudly against injustice, refusing to back down.
…Yes, this is the Demon King’s Army.
500 years ago, no matter the hardships and adversities, I, Belphegor, was the one who would not yield and would devise every means and method to achieve victory.
The one who instilled a fear in humans that they could never win.
The being that made them believe praying to the Goddess was futile.
What Malpas left behind as he burned was not merely the Magic Stone he left behind.
For a long time.
I felt something ignite that I had forgotten a long time ago.
“Master.”
“Lucius.”
The Hero approached.
The embodiment of injustice, the Master of the Holy Sword drew near.
“…….”
Lucius took something out from within his cloak and handed it to me.
It was a handkerchief embroidered with gold thread on a red fabric, and I was startled at my own face reflected in his sword.
“…It’s a misunderstanding.”
I took the handkerchief and wiped my eyes.
“This is just the overflowing magic. It’s seeping out because this body is now taking in mana I can’t handle. Undead don’t shed tears in the first place.”
[SWISH.]
Lucius handed me his robe.
His gaze was directed skyward, and I immediately understood why he was holding his head high.
“…Ugh, don’t mind me.”
As I accepted the flames of the Holy Fire, my clothes had burned away by more than half.
With the rapid movements I made before, the remnants of the burned fabric had vanished, and the Holy Fire was barely covering my important parts.
“Lucius.”
“Yes, Master.”
“…You did well.”
Regarding matters related to the Holy Sword.
Or regarding the Demon Race.
Or matters about the Demon King’s Army.
Those problems are something to think about later.
“You defeated such a monster without liberating the Holy Sword. Now, I can entrust my back to you.”
“Are you implying that you couldn’t before?”
“Of course not.”
I draped the robe over myself and lightly poked Lucius’s head with my staff.
“The only ones who can stand behind me are those I can trust enough to place my back upon.”
I am not fully satisfied yet, but I can at least trust someone like Lucius enough.
“……Little by little.”
The darkness faded.
Dawn began to break.
“……It must have been tiring at dawn, shall we go get some sleep?”
Tomorrow.
No, starting today, it would only get harder.
For now.
I just wanted to take a moment and rest.
*
“Hmmm. The Flame Hero has appeared in Normans…”
Maine quietly twisted the corners of her mouth.
“Well, compared to the Great Demon Lord, it’s nothing.”
Charak.
Maine and Zephar looked through the glass wall, holding a glass filled with blood-red wine.
“Ah, Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor. Where are you…?”
Lick.
“Your magnificent and noble form is right here.”
Beyond the glass wall, the black dragon, bound in white chains, slept quietly in the darkness.
Silently.