Chapter 123

Volume 2

Chapter 102

「AaAAah, stop, please stop, noooo!!!」

The four colored castle of fortune that I earned and built up sinks down the hole.

「AAaaa, AaAAAAAA…」

My money in the truest sense really turned into nothing.

And white-silver coin from a pouch on my neck surely will be taken away as well.

Just how long will it take to assemble such fortune again.

「Now then, let’s move on to the last penalty game.」

「Are, are you saying there is still more!」

I reflexively lift my head.

But the Hero without giving it any attention started the worst possible chant.

「―――「I cannot forgive you. I cannot forgive everything about you.」―――」

「What!? Tha, That is…!?」

That loud female singing voice.

I recognized what the hero was reenacting.

「―――「My right hand shall freeze you.

My left hand shall wither you.

Unreachable you, shall turn into remains.」」

「Sto, stop… No, Noo! Why! The Curse of the Holy Maiden, no, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiit!!! 」

Just once, but I saw that spirit sword. I have seen it.

I still remember that. No, I just remembered that.

That sensation of every inch of my body crumbling away, even though it is not pointed at me, even though I am merely looking at it.

「―――「O, precious flower, you are in my hands.

Charmed by no one.

Exposed to no one.

Be resharpen into eternal sludge.」」

I was shown the form of a soul and how it rots away.

Abominable memory. Like a ship that had a huge hole opened in it, my heart is being filled with cold dread.

「―――「All of you belongs to me.」」

It fills my whole body without any obstruction.

Bearing a soul-killing coldness it gradually gets closer.

And then it revealed its form.

「―――「Sword of Mortal Sin・Madwoman from the Castle of Envy」」

One moment, for one moment, all sound has disappeared.

「『「KieeEeEeeEAAEeAEaaeEeeAAeAeAaea?!」』」

「Hii, aaAA…!」

It did not look like a sword or even a weapon for that matter.

It had an appearance of a woman with sickening black hair, having a blindfold with the color of blackened blood, ash-colored skin and with rusty chains wrapped over her whole body.

Instead of a blade, from the hilt that Hero was holding, came the rusty chains that kept the woman at bay as they coiled around her.

「『Aah, Aah, how envious, how jealous, how hateful. Though I was called for the first time in a while, to think that I won’t even see the light of the sun, everyone should just disappear.』」

「You never change, Envy.」

To that thing that fills a heart with terror after just one glance upon it, the hero was smiling with an unchanging attitude.

「『Cruel, so cruel. Even though I am your sword, why you won’t use me at all?』」

「I have no choice. Your demerits by themselves are making you hard to use and on top of them due to the Curse of the Holy Maiden, there are ever harsher side effects. 」

「『I can’t tell if that’s the case. I can sense that others are being used. There is even a strange seal as if to mock me.』」

「No, as I said it is not my fault. If you have complaints then give them to the Goddess.」

「『I don’t care about such things. It’s unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair. All others should just disappear. 』」

Black Aura visible to a naked eye starts leaking out from the woman’s body.

「Well, I won’t ask you not to be jealous. It is your very existence and you are part of myself after all. So, submit to my bidding.」

「『…You are really unfair.』」

Withdrawing the aura, the woman says sullenly.

Then the Hero turned his gaze my way.

「Now, I don’t think it is necessary to explain her ability to you?」

That’s right, I know her, I know the effects of her power.

An evil dragon that once provoked the Hero’s wrath. By her power, the hero had the dragon’s whole body destroyed from the inside and died in agony.

It is absolute physical control over the target.

It can transform flesh into metal, turn blood into vapor and freely change the shape of bones.

With that power, he instantly killed the evil dragon that had magic resistance on par with the Demon Lord.

Moreover, he did not simply kill it.

One dominated by that power will have his soul bound by it even after death.

That evil dragon, after his body decayed was left there in the form of a pale blue transparent spirit, and in the end…

「N-no, no… No, no.」

All I could do was spectate that scene from the shadows while trembling in fear.

With one hand bitten off and smeared in blood, the hero calmly gazed at the dragon’s decaying form.

And just quietly smiled.

It was eerie and scary beyond control.

Simply the nature of that power was terrifying beyond measure.

And now that power was about to be used on me.

「Ye, Yes, This is just an empty threat! This power can only affect those that ingested your blood!」

「Didn’t you desperately drink exactly that until now? Water with my blood mixed in it, plenty of it.」

「Wha… What?」

I could feel my blood freeze.

No matter where I look, I saw no way to escape it.

「Why, why, why, didn’t you say that you will forgive me after sinking all of that gold!!!」

Panicking I screamed, but those words had no effect at all.

「Haa, damn, you really are an idiot. Agreements depend upon trust. Do you think I trust you?」

「Ah, Aa, AaAaaah…」

Those words had no ridicule or contempt to them, only uninterested apathy.

「Please, I beg you, I apologize, I will change my ways. I will stop all illegal activities, I won’t get involved with orphans anymore. This time I really will invest in…?!」

「Like I said, who is going to believe you. Didn’t you say so yourself? Until now, your worth was warranted by your money. Which means, now there is nothing that supports your credibility.」

「That!!」

「I told you, I will make you dance in the same way that you made me. Tell me, did you really think that I will forgive that? Those kids died all tattered. What made you think that you will be able to survive?」

「…Ah, Aaa, no, no, I don’t want to die. This, I don’t want to die having nothing, please don’t, please, the children that you mentioned are still alive, aren’t they, I still haven’t done a thing!!! I still haven’t…」

「Hey, close your mouth. Stop spewing dumb crap.」

I was almost crushed by the intimidating pressure that was so strong that it was almost audible.

「Hii, Ah, Ah, Ah…」

I understood, I was forced to.

I won’t survive. Nothing can be done anymore.

「Grond, I had enough talk with you. I won’t even give you a chance to beg for your life. So let’s start by crushing that voice.」

「『Uhyaaaaa!!!!!』」

「Kuhah?!」

My throat suddenly stiffens.

When I touched my neck in panic, I felt a cold, metal sensation.

When I try to say something, it only comes as a breath without making any sound.

「At last, we came this far. Now, it is your turn. Just like the kids, die in agony without being able to raise a single voice. ―――Sing, Envy.『Ice Image of Rosenkristall』」

And then Hero chimed the chains.

「『Hyeaaaa, HooOoOo!!!』」

「———-!!! Fhueh, hahue?!」

The pain started to spread from my limbs.

It felt like numberless needles were piercing me.

When I instinctively looked there, I saw that a small red crystallization was spreading from my hands and feet .

I have already seen this. The evil dragon, in the same way, had his blood changed into blades of ice and was turned into a pincushion.

「『HoOoooh, HeuueeEeAAAAAAh』」

「ーー!! ～－－～～,ー!!」

With every scream-like note she makes, from blood vessels, piercing the flesh, pop up new bloody crystals.

Hand, feet, shoulder, waist, shoulder.

Like a piece of art that was meant to be this way, my body gets concealed in bloody ice.

（Aah, why, why did it became like this…?）

That was the last question that came to my mind that has been bleached by pain and anguish.

「Kaah, fuuー～, Fuufufu~~」

I found the current situation very curious as I still could think even though I cannot move even an inch of my body.

「I wonder why. Ice made of blood is dazzlingly and sparklingly illuminated by fire, surely this is a very beautiful view.」

Pain assaulting me at irregular intervals would not allow me to lose consciousness.

The throat that was turned into a metal cannot produce even a single scream and only the whistling sounds of breathing comes out of my mouth.

「But you know what! I cannot see any significance in it no matter how I try! Why are you even living! Tell me, what was the point of killing the kids!! Why do those kids that were just trying so hard to survive had to taste such suffering!」

In my blurring sight, the Hero’s figure couldn’t be seen.

All I could see there was the Demon Lord with his face stained by wrath and hatred.

「You still haven’t done anything in this second circle? Then what about kids from the first one!! Are you gonna say since it all got re-winded just to forget about it? Don’t fuck with me, even if everything got reverted, as the one who remembers it all I won’t forgive you. I won’t allow it to go like it never happened.」

（Aah, I see, this is the Demon Lord what have I-no… what have we created, damn monster, shit, shit, shiiiit.）

「That is why you are going to die. Return to dust along with everything that you held dear.」

And then came the cold final announcement from that Demon Lord.

「――――Sing, Envy.『Obstinate Cinderella』」

「『LAAAAA, LAAAAAA, LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!』」

It’s unbelievable that such metallic voice can be produced by a living being.

High-pitched voice that was close to a scream mysteriously had some hymnal holiness to it.

I can feel how my body changes into metal bit by bit.

Flesh, bones and blood ice as well.

（No, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die. Someone, someone, anyone, please save me…!!)

Before long, my whole body was transformed into metal.

Unable to speak, unable to move in a slightest, unable to even blink.

And I don’t understand why I am still conscious.

Perhaps because my whole body truly was turned into metal, I don’t even feel pain anymore.

I am just really really cold.

「This is your grave, fall there, Grond. 」

With a voice like it was creeping from the very depths of hell, the Demon Lord delivered his final judgment with a simple copper coin.

A copper coin that flew my way lightly struck me.

Unable to prevent it in any way, I tilted a little and in the next moment fell into the water.

(…?!?!?!?! It huuuuUuUUuuuuUuuUuUuUurts!!!）

It’s melting. it’s melting. it’s melting!

With hissing, my whole body turns into a rough soil.

This is a metal’s pain.

Impossible for a human body, completely incomprehensible for a being made of flesh.

「Ahahahahaha!!! Drown into what you were dreaming about all along and die!!! Just turn into the mud and disappear without leaving a trace!!」

I hear a muffled voice coming from the other side of the water surface.

Along with an instant or maybe with an eternity of pain, it’s hard to say for sure, my everything has turned in a mud.

And when all of the pain has faded away and I was left floating as a soul, chains twined around me and dragged me along.

「『Ah, such a pleasant soul. So unfair, so unfair. So free as a sole soul. You need suffering, you have to suffer, you must taste suffering.』」

「『GuAAAAAAaaAAAaAAAh!』」

The chains bit into the body.

It’s not like it isn’t painful. It was like condensed to the maximum feeling of utmost discomfort.

It was just unbearably agonizing.

It feels like my very existence fades away as it is taken away from me, dissolved in a cold water depths.

It is suffering that makes you think that feeling pain was more bearable.

「『No, no, that is not good at all, being below me you have to suffer more. I will not permit you to have a better lot than me. 』」

「『aAaAaAaaAAah, A, A, Aah…』」

Torn into more and more smaller pieces, rendered into shreds, turned into nothing.

「『Cruel…, You are, a demon… Money, body, and even soul…』」

「Demon? That is not true, for you people, I am…」

Then, the hero showed me a terribly warped smile and jeered at me,

「…A common enemy of the entire human race, 「Demon Lord」, right?」

He pulled the chain of the gallows.

「『GyaAAAAaAAAaaAAAAAaA!!!』」

Raising a scream from literally my very soul, the existence known as Grond is dying.

But even this last agony of my life…

「Kuku, aha, AHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHAHHAHAH」

…Ended with a loud laugh from the Demon Lord, without reaching anywhere.

☆

Particles of Grond’s soul scatter in mid-air like sparks from a bonfire.

Envy’s chain wounds up with a rattling sound.

It’s over. It is over.

With this, another one.

「Farewell, Grond.」

Parting words that naturally came along with tears falling down.

「Farewell…, Farewell.」

From my closed eyes, slowly but without stopping streamed tears.

The fury in my heart has completely died down like it was never there.

But for some reason, I felt like it was a calmness different from tranquility or composure.

Smoke from the bonfire and the vapors produced when gold and Grond’s body melted, mixed together and were rising up from the hole and into the sky.

「Finally, I finally avenged you guys. 」

Words that came out, sounded false and empty as if they were reflecting the depths of my heart.

「『Hey, this won’t do, indulging in 「Pride」 right in front of me. I will not permit it.』」

「In 「Pride」?」

「『I am a part of your soul. You won’t fool me with such a display.』」

Envy’s word echoed in my ears.

…Yea, I know. In truth, I understand.

I knew that those kids did not really wish for revenge.

No, even that is just my convenient assumption. I just don’t want them to wish for revenge.

I just don’t want them to suffer from all the ills that come with an attempt to have your vengeance.

There is no way to check the truthfulness of that answer, then, then?

Then what is this feeling?

「Ah, I see. It is just a feeling of guilt.」

It cannot be stopped just by recognizing and voicing it out.

In order to prevent myself from crumbling down, I cover my face with one hand.

I always said so myself. Even if time was re-winded, just as their sins won’t disappear, my mistakes would always come to haunt me.

Due to my fault, I killed them.

Even if it was Grond who actually killed them, the person who allowed him to profit during the first circle was me.

I was unable to save them.

I made them suffer.

I couldn’t rescue them.

I could not do a single thing for them.

「Master…」「Mister Kaito.」

「It’s okay, It’s okay. I already had regrets plenty of times. At this point, I won’t be interrupted by something like that.」

I reply to the two worried voices.

Someday, I perhaps will be killed by this incurable wound.

But for sure, not today.

「I will kill them no matter what. I will throw them all into the pits of hell. No matter what lies ahead.」

So I swore.

Therefore I won’t stop anymore.

That is even more vile treachery and desertion than just giving up.

「…I will follow you anywhere, Master. I will support you for as long as it takes to achieve it.」

「Happy things, sad things, we will accept all of them. 」

「Master is…」

「Mister Kaito is…」

「「the Owner of our revenge.」」

The words of the two that were snuggling closer had no nice hidden meaning.

They were filled only with the reprimanding will saying『We won’t let you run away』.

「Yea, really thank you, both of you. 」

I don’t need support that is just easy on ears.

I want them to stay as chains that bind me.

That is why I gave them words of gratitude.

「Now then, Envy.」

「『Oh, no. I am going to be put to sleep once again, huh. From now on just use me alone.』」

「There is no way I can do that. You lot are too hard to use with all those demerits. Well, you are still on the better side.」

Those demerits can be called the counter-evidence to a great power.

All spirit swords related to the【Sword of Mortal Sin]have difficult activation conditions or big demerits to them.

Taking Envy as an example, during the time of her manifestation, my status is reduced to one third.

Moreover, for the three whole days after using her, I am unable to use any other spirit swords and all healing effects other than natural recovery are nullified.

As long as you fulfill their conditions, no opponent can defend against their power, but it comes with a great price.

「And there is also the Curse of the Holy Maiden. I cannot use you willy-nilly. 」

Even among swords that I use, those that belong to the Mortal Sins have powers on a different scale.

That is why right at the beginning of my betrayal during the first circle, they had those powers sealed.

With a magic formula that the church secretly was developing to restrain Demon Lord, I had huge shackles put upon me.

If I could use my powers freely perhaps the first circle could have ended differently.

「Well, from now on I will use you a lot. Though this time there won’t be many chances to fight evil dragons. 」

I cancel my spirit sword.

Envy’s body turns into particles of light like it is being dissolved.

「『…I see. I am just a sword, so I don’t really understand it. If you are going to call me again then I am happy.』」

Said that, Envy looks at Minnalis and Shuria.

「『I want to be used more. So it will be a problem if Master is not healthy, please give it your all and save him. I am a bit jealous but if he dies it would be even worse.』」

「Eh?」「Fueh?」

Envy gives Minnalis and Shuria a faint smile.

「? Hey, what are you talking…」

Without answering that question, Envy disappeared.

But there was no need to hear that answer.

The next moment blood gushed out from all over my body and I collapsed.

「Guha?!」

「Master!?」「Mister Kaito?!」

「Guhaa, this pain, could it be, that… Goho!!!」

Blood filling my mouth drips onto the ground.

「Master, here is a potion, faster…!」

「Eehm, Eehm, here is an MP potion!」

I move through pain and push away potions that they took out of tool bags in panic.

「No, it fine…, These wounds won’t be healed by that. I count on your follow up.」

「Master!!」「Mister Kaito!!」

（Shit, as expected I didn’t plan, on, that… ）

That was the limit.

As gravitation pulled my body, my mind was dragged into the darkness, unable to resist its clutches.