Chapter 95

“You don’t say…!!”

Usato was being swallowed by a skeleton in front of him .

While he could not move him, I was looking at him and immediately suppressed the desire to rescue him, and continued to supply magic to Lucas and Eva .

“Neah-chan, Usato-san is…!”

“Worry about yourself now! If you leave now, you’re gonna cause another Usato!”

Resistance magic can only be applied to one target .

Because I am touching Lucas and Eva now, the effect of resistance magic is being activated, and if either Lucas or Eva separates, it will move away from the range of effect of resistance magic .

“I’m sorry . I can’t fight, and I’m stuck in between, so Usato…”

“That’s right, Usato won’t falter to that extent! Don’t say anything unnecessary, just worry about yourself!!”

I’m talking to Lucas with a pessimistic look behind me, but I’m starting to be impatient .

Usato is strong against physical attacks, but weak against mental attacks .

If he’s already suffering from mental attacks of only a few skeletons as of last night, and now he’s eating countless skeletons, Usato’s heart may be broken .

My lord ends here, and I, the servant who disappeared from the lord, becomes a stray monster as before .

“…Fu, fufu”

What the heck am I thinking?

I should have been prepared to die before becoming Usato’s familiar .

There is no place to go back now . Strictly speaking, Usato’s status as a familiar is now where he is .

It may be okay to give up my life here for the person who decided to go all out to the outside world for a short time .

“——I’ll be with you until the end . Whether it succeeds or fails, I will fulfill my role as a familiar!”

“Gee!!”

“Ga!”

“I’ll show you what I’m capable of!!!”

Similarly to when it caught Usato, with a thin smile, the skeleton threw a chain here, and I devoted more magic to resistance magic .

Then, the resistant magical pattern that covers us three emerges like a bulge and transforms into a spherical barrier .

“Show me what you got…!”

In this case, neither the curse itself nor the chain can be touched . Instead, the magic is completely fixed on the spot, and it uses a lot of magical power, but it should be quite effective against these opponents .

“A… . bodaaaa!!!”

The barrier will repel all the chains thrown by the skeletons .

Although there are some skeletons who hit their bodies with all their might, it has no effect .

“Neah-chan!? To protect us…”

“I’m doing this because Usato said he’s going to help you!” So you should stay silent and just watch!!”

To withstand the impact of the skeletons coming in, I stick my hands forward and concentrate on maintaining my magic .

Resistance magic is certainly a powerful magic, but it is not a magic that is invincible . It can endure any number of attacks with the set resistance, but it is not very strong against other attacks .

Therefore, I have no choice but to use magic to reinforce the load caused by shock and weight…!!

[I guess it’s better to be straightforward?]

“…!!”

While enduring the onslaught of skeletons, an individual appears from the floor in front of the altar that gives off a distinctly different atmosphere than the skeletons I’ve seen so far .

Although it is a skeleton, it had an expensive robe which had a tattered and a cane, uttering words with rattling rattles .

“You finally appeared…!”

“I have only come out of the slightest whim . The healing magician is already in my hands, after that I can accomplish and fulfill what my lord has dreamt off . ”

When the person in front raises his hand, the chain extending from the neck of the skeleton is pulled back, and the attack is forcibly stopped .

Whimsical, I think he actually showed up after seeing that the skeletons can’t hold back .

Moreover, in addition to being able to communicate with others, it means that he can handle curses to some extent because he stopped attacking .

And from his word of fulfilling his lord—

“You’re quite an obsessed prick huh, magician . It’s not sane to tie your dead soul to a curse, pretending to be a death sentence . ”

“A magician? No way, is he the magician who has been executed by the king with the intent of sacrificing other people!?”

It’s no surprise that Lucas is surprised .

No way, I don’t think a human being who lived hundreds of years ago is obsessed with a hero even by binding himself to a curse .

“It’s a funny story to think about . The king and the magician sacrificed their people of Samaria to a curse, but for some reason only the royal family was cursed . Originally, the descendant of the magician, the Fegnis clan would only be cursed . It’s funny that he hasn’t been cursed either, because he was only transferring the direction of the curse to the royal family .

[It’s almost correct . But it’s also to help keep my curse . ]

――In other words, Fegnis was also used to prevent death .

Thinking so, the teaching that makes a hero to be so obsessed is also like a curse .

“What are you going to do with Usato?” Either way, if you lose the source of magical power, you are destined to disappear . Even if you are convinced of winning, it is only temporary . ”

[Kuku, Kukuku…]

What’s wrong?

The magician who shrugs his shoulder screamed when he turned his hollow eyes toward me .

[I don’t need to supply magic power anymore]

“……What do you mean?”

[It is also possible to bind the soul to the body by using “My magic, the magic of bondage” . If I can get a new body, I don’t need the supply of magic or the existing curse . ’]

“That’s an unreasonable thing to do…! Dead people are not allowed to come to life again, let alone dead people taking over living people… It’s impossible!”

[You seem to have noticed . But that healing magician is going to become my new body . ]

The purpose was not to bind Usato to Samaril, but to take over Usato’s body!?

A mental attack in which Usato is being hit by skeletons .

If dozens or hundreds of people’s thoughts are poured into at once, the mind of a normal person will break .

The skeleton who saw me who changed the blood phase after reaching that thought again screamed and gave an unpleasant laughter .

[They really are simpletons . They’re just clowns that seek on unfulfilled wishes and rush to the living people . However, there are still many . If a regular person can see the voice and memory of a grudge that they can’t stand listening to, they could break their hearts . ]

“Then Usato…!”

[I’m sure he’s watching the scene of hell endlessly]

I look at Usato surrounded by skeletons .

He cannot be seen because he is surrounded by a tremendous number of skeletons, but he continues to see the hatred and detestable memories of the people of Samaria .

If you are a normal person, it will take less than a minute .

“Please stop… why are you doing that?”

Eva asks the magician with a quiet voice .

The magician mocked and laughed with his nose .

[The reason is simple . I adore the hero . I sought a hero because I worship him . I caught and tried to make it eternal . As a result, it failed . ]

“Yeah . You can’t bind the hero who defeats the wicked dragon with your own magic . ”

Certainly magic is powerful, but it is easily dealt with by far more sophisticated opponents .

Of course, the target is a hero who even defeated the wicked dragon . The power of the element is also terrible, and above all, you won’t win with just strength .

[…At that time he just patted me with all my curses . He disappeared without breaking the curse . As if this was my punishment, my crime . ]

“If so, if you make an effort to feed on that failure–“

[Shut up, you naive little girl]

For the first time, a magical voice is emitted from the magician .

Eva trembles .

[It’s hard for a human being to work hard to reach that area, but… I think it’s right that we make use of our failure . I’m not stupid enough to repeat the same thing . ]

Then, the words that the magician said next was the worst thing imaginable .

[So I thought . Why not become a person with the qualities of a hero . ]

…… .

I don’t mean to say this is a true monster .

For that reason, at the expense of the lives of many innocent people, even to the extent of becoming a soul and becomes part of the curse…

[Now, if you can just be a gentle sacrifice for the curse, you can also be with the healing magician? You can even meet your lost mother . ]

“…I don’t like it! Usato-san is still working hard!! I can’t give up living here now!!”

[The healing magician is already in my hands . It didn’t take long to break his mind and apply my technique . ……At least I thought I was being merciful, so I decided to choose an easy way to destroy him, but it seems to be useless . ]

“…You bastard!”

I curse the magician .

Compassion seems to be too kind of a word for him, but it’s like saying that he is certain to erase him anyway . When you can only vomit words that narrow down such options, you can see that this magician is a way out of words… . .

“You can never be a hero”

At that time, Lucas told the magician such a thing .

The calmly spoken words contained quiet anger .

[……What?]

“If you can only say words like that, you’ll never be a hero . ”

[Now that’s interesting . A hero is an entity with overwhelming power . That healing magician, too, is a peculiar entity that continues to regenerate the body with healing magic and continues to extend the upper limit of his body and become stronger . If I can be that kind of person, I can become a mighty person . Isn’t it?]

“You must be joking . It’s useless to say anything to you who is fascinated only by power, but I’ll tell you nonetheless!”

Lucas stepped forward strongly and moved beside me .

I silently shift to the side and face the magician so that he can talk easily .

“It’s not the power that matters, it’s the heart of the person who handles it . I knew someone like that, and it’s Usato, he understood it . He has great power, but he won’t abuse it . He uses it to save people . Do you know how difficult that is?”

[So what? What can you do to become a hero with your aspirations and beliefs? It’s all foolishness . ]

“You are the stupid one . What’s the point worshiping a hero? What you worship is only that power…!”

I wonder if the magician was surprised by Lucas’ words .

Despite that, he spun on the following words .

“I’m sure the hero who defeated the wicked dragon must have fought for the people’s lives, but what made it meaningless is you and the king at the time . What’s worse, after all this time, you regretted nothing . You have continued to use the souls of the people who have been sacrificed for a hundred years… A man who tramples on the dignity of such a person cannot be a hero!!”

…… Certainly, the heroes of the previous generation must have fought for the people of Samaria being suffered from the wicked dragon . Therefore, he continued fighting without sleeping, and at the end, he jumped into the mouth of the wicked dragon and stabbed his sword into the dragon’s heart .

However, what was waiting for him after the battle was the betrayal from the country that would have saved them and the dead body of the people who had been saved and were sacrificed to bind him .

…………It may be natural that we are devoted to human beings .

“It’s thanks to him that I won’t have to give up after not being able to help my daughter . He told me he would help me, so I can hold onto what little hope I had… . . Let me throw you this question then, is it possible for you to make people hopeful? No! You sacrificed hundreds of innocent people, and even used their souls for your own benefit… now you’re trying to take over Usato’s body! Only a coward would do that!”

The magician doesn’t speak to Lucas who revealed his feelings and said so .

Instead, the ridicule that was rattling from the beginning disappeared, and only the eerie atmosphere was conspicuous . ‥

[That’s enough… after all, it’s a meaningless story of a king who can do nothing . I’ll destroy your soul and make it a puppet . ”=]

“Tsk . ”

At the same time as the magician’s arm moves, the magical power is trapped in the barrier that was holding it and activated .

At the moment, the skeletons, which had been blocked by chains until now, all rushed to the barrier .

“Ughh…”

“Neah!”

“Are you okay!?”

“Get down!”

Lucas and Eva were worried about me as I took the onslaught of the skeletons at the barrier and raised a painful voice .

[Great magic . As expected of a demon… No, let’s call it a vampire out of respect . However, no matter how much the magic repels the curse, if you keep receiving this many curses, your magic power will run out eventually . ]

“I know, even if you didn’t tell me…!!”

I clench my teeth and say so while enduring .

What I’m doing now is just earning time .

[Why are you going such lengths?” What you are doing now is meaningless . The healing magician can’t help you anymore, He’ll soon break his heart and I’ll get into the shell, and my plan shall be achieved . ]

“Huh, huh, it’s gonna take more than that to destroy Usato’s spirit…!”

Minutes have passed since Usato was caught by the skeleton, but the skeletons did not try to leave him .

That doesn’t mean that Usato has given up yet .

Looking at the silent magician, I’m convinced that Usato’s current endurance is unexpected .

[… No matter how strong the body is, the spirit is human and still an immature child . No matter how much hope you have, it’s no use . ]

“…Fufu”

What is this, even though I’m in a  desperate situation, I smile at his words .

“You’re so humorous right now . You’ve convinced you’ve won, you’re in good shape, and you’re ugly to look at… it’s just like my situation at that time . ”

I’m sure Usato at that time looked the same as I was, looking at the magician in front of me . It’s the same as me who had a horrible end as a result of defeating the other party when my plan went well .

“The things you have planned will definitely fail . After all, the guy you’re about to get is doing ridiculous things that you can’t measure on a normal scale . You’ll be seriously injured if you think … everything will go smoothly…!!”

Ordinary humans do not use healing magic in battle and do not try to fight the wicked dragon head-on .

First of all, it is funny because that man consists of only a strong body .

This magician does not understand it .

[…… . I’ll hit you with all the souls that can be used in this place and end it]

The magician raised his arms greatly with words that seemed to be frustrated .

According to the movement, hundreds of chains extend from the floor, and more skeletons than ever have appeared .

[I don’t need a spare . Either way, I have already used it and it has already been used . I’ll use you when my soul has been worn out . ]

“You really are hopeless…!”

[You should be grateful that you’re being used in my plan . ]

If all of those attacks were to be attacked at once, I wouldn’t have enough magical power .

However, I have no choice but to protect them .

I ​​feel like I’m in a desperate situation, but nevertheless, I desperately put myself up and confined myself to the barrier .

[Go]

“Oh!!”

“””Gaaaaa”””

Floating skeletons flood my barriers .

I close my eyes to prepare for the coming shock and load .

“Gar!?”

“Ahhh…!”

“…?”

However, the shock that should come is not coming .

The voices of the skeletons I heard have changed from a beast-like scream to a mixture of startle and confusion .

Opening my eyes slowly while confused—

“…What is this?”

—-In front of me was a translucent white figure standing to protect us from skeletons .

If you look closely, many white figures surround us, preventing the onslaught of the skeletons .

“Are you protecting us…?”

A white figure suddenly appeared .

The one that caught my eye most was the image of a woman with long hair, who had both hands spread out in front of us and protected us from the skeletons .

Although it shines a white light like other figures, the long hair reaching up to the waist is coloured blue, and its appearance is similar to Eva .

“So, you have come…”

“Do you know what this is? Eva”

Listening to Eva who said happily, I asked about the white figure in front of us .

“These guys aren’t the bad guys . They are the people who have always protected me from scary dreams…”

Protected me from scary dreams…

So are they the ones who protected her heart from the curse of the Samaria people who are trying to mentally hunt her down?

But why did they come out now?

I wonder if they jumped out of the curse in the crisis of Eva?

“Father, it’s alright now! These people will protect us!”

“…”

“……Father?”

Lucas was staring at the white figure in front of me, maybe he didn’t hear Eva’s words .

Looking at him for a while, Lucas shook his voice in tears, strengthened his hand to hug Eva, and opened his mouth .

“Aaah, I see now… So that’s how it is, even if you have lost your body, you kept watching this child’s growth nearby… I’m no match for you after all . I didn’t need your parting words because you were with Eva all the time…”

Hearing Lucas’ trembling voice, the woman with blue hair turned around and smiled gently .

Listening to Lucas’ words, Eva blinks her eyes .

I see, this woman is most likely Lucas… .

That means the figures around us are the royal family who have been erased by the curse .

[Impossible!!]

At that time, the magician echoed in the hall .

[Why are you guys coming out now!! You are just humans who don’t even have magic! You’re the ones who have erased your body and captured your soul . This is impossible…!! No, I don’t care about that!! Right now, you’re in my way!!!]

Along with the words, the magician pulled up the chain further and flooded the figure with more skeletons .

[H, ha, ha ha ha!! You can’t stop the grudges of the hundreds of dead people wherever they gather!]

According to the magician, the skeletons cannot be stopped by the royal family .

In fact, every time they receive a skeleton, the white shadow fluctuates like smoke, and its appearance changes to a dull one .

The figure of the woman in front of us is no exception . However, perhaps the woman was not paying attention to the skeletons’ attacks, she turned around again and slowly moved her lips .

“——“

“Eh?”

I can’t hear her voice .

But she’s certainly trying to tell us something .

What on earth…

“She’s saying… . It’s okay . ”

“Eva, you, can you understand what this person is saying?”

“Yes, somehow…”

Is it possible to communicate to some extent due to the effect of protecting Eva who was receiving the curse? Or is this woman simply this child — that should be considered a given .

What is all right? The situation remained the same as before, and even if she said that it would be okay in such a situation, it doesn’t look like it .

When she smiled with a gentle smile that reassured me of my concern, she spun a short series of words .

『――――――』

“Since he’s awake…?”

While confused, I tilted my head on Eva’s words .

Judging by this situation…

[Hahaha, no matter what you do now, it’s all futile! I have plan for such a long time, and it will succeed! All of you will break your soul and become my puppet! Ha, ha ha ha ha!!]

“Tsk, damn you’re annoying……”

The magician who raises a laughter without revealing the true nature of his character .

I glared at the magician thinking I should say something back, but the sight of the skeletons surrounding Usato behind the magician leaving the spider’s children scattered apart . By entering, I understand the meaning of the woman’s words .

[Hahahahaha!!]

A figure approaches from behind the magician who is laughing without realizing the abnormal situation that is occurring behind him .

At the same time he can be seen clearly, the movements of the skeletons attacking us gradually slow down . By the time he was just behind the magician, the skeletons had been pulled by chains and weakened to the point that they were forced into the barrier .

“…Seriously, just because I woke up a little late…What the hell is this?”

I’m happy about it, but I’m shocked to see him .

Anyway, I could see the anger that felt far away and the arms that were so powerful that the blood vessels floated .

“Oi . ”

[What?]

Along with a serious voice, his hand extended from the back of the magician who was laughing loudly, then grabbed his head .

[Wh- Wh- W-hat… you are supposed…]

“What’s wrong? Laugh more . You sound like an idiot . So, laugh while you have the chance—–“

He slammed the magician’s head into the floor as is .

Looking down on the crushing floor and the shattering skull of the magician with cold eyes, Usato makes a fist whilst smiling as usual .

“What? Can’t laugh anymore?”

When someone is really angry, they naturally smile, which is what I heard from a traveler who came from somewhere, but it seems that Usato is in that state .

It was such a clean move, and I’m so glad he came at such a good timing .