CH 41

Chapter 41 – The Time To End

The next thing I knew, the battle was over.

The last of the soldiers had been defeated, and there was no one moving on the plain. The beastman who was guarding the dwarves came out from the gun emplacements and quietly waved their hands to the shooters in front of the city walls. Everyone’s faces were covered in soot from the dust and gunpowder, and their eyes were glazed over. They were scurrying around with their mouths half-open, tilting their heads as they talked.

He was deaf after a series of shots and was probably trying to suppress the ringing in his ears.

There was no atmosphere of overjoyed cheering. No one was in the slightest bit of a mood to cheer anymore. What we had done was an act of gruesome and merciless revenge and annihilation. It may have been something that needed to be done, but that was it.

After carrying the six machine gunners who had worked so hard on the front line to the front of the castle wall in two round trips, I let out a small breath.

I was the only one who couldn’t get into the circle of everyone. There is a strange creak of something crusty deep in my chest.

“Yoshua!”

Myrril came running up to me and hugged me. She looked up at me with a face that looked like she was crying, laughing, or angry and then rubbed her head against my stomach.

“It’s over. At last, our war is over.”

“…No, not yet.”

The dwarf girl tilted her head suspiciously. I had no idea what to do. What should I do? I didn’t know what I wanted to do…

I pushed her away quietly. The hands that had been touching each other until the end scratched the air slightly and separated.

“I’m sorry, Myrril. There is one thing you must forgive me for.”

“…What are you talking about? Where do you think you’re going?”

“Hey, guys, listen up! There are no more enemies for you! No one shoots anything from now on! Nobody goes down to the plain! Do you understand me?”

Everyone nodded their heads with uncertain expressions.

I felt a pain in my chest. I chastised myself, wondering if there was any point in doing this. There is no point. But I had to do it. I decided to do it.

I looked at each of the residents of Casemaian, and finally at Myrril, and said.

“If anyone gets in my way… then I’ll kill that person.”

◇ ◇

“Hey.”

I teleported to the canyon entrance and called out to the hero who was still standing there. He looked back at me cautiously, his eyes hollow, with no expression at all. There was no blood on his skin, no light in his eyes.

Only his lips were twisted into the shape of a smile.

“You want to kill me, don’t you? I always wanted to kill you, you know. Come on. Let’s do it. …I will do it, with my own hands.”

“…Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…”

A small whisper reaches my ear. The hero moves like a sleepwalker, but the sword he raises is so fast and sharp that I can’t even see the trajectory. A faint sound that takes my breath away. When I recognized that it was a wind cut, the slash had already pierced through my side.

The carriage that had been piled up as a shield was shattered and crumbled. Behind me, as I ran, one blast after another went off. The impact and destructive power were so great that it was hard to believe it was caused by slashing alone.

When I turned around, the hero was already right in front of me.

“…Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill…”

“I’ve crushed the saint and the wise man, you know.”

He threw a momentary glance at the kingdom’s military position in preparation for an opening, but the enemy did not come on board. At the same time as he lowered his head, he lowered his ass, and the tip of the blade blew off the horse protection fence at my back.

“…Kill!”

It’s not a speed that can be avoided anymore. The next slash was struck without any preliminary movement, and I used a short-range teleport to get behind him. Without looking back, the sword struck directly, and the AKM I was holding was blown to pieces.

“Damn it!”

I took out a spare AKM from storage and fired 30 rounds from a single magazine in full-automatic fire. 7.62×39mm rounds all hit the hero’s body, but he didn’t even wince. The power that penetrated the armor of heavily armored infantry is easily flipped like a peashooter in front of the hero, leaving no wounds. Whether it’s a magic barrier or a blessing, the hero’s power must be beyond the norm. It’s not a surprise, but I’m still not sure what to make of it, and I’ll keep my distance and look for a way out.

I have no more weapons than AKM in my storage. I have M1919 heavy machine guns and RPKs that I gave to the dwarves. I have M1903 rifles, but I don’t think I can hit them at a distance where the hero’s sword can’t reach. And with the bolt-action rifle, if the first shot misses, I will be screwed.

“I’m going to go kill the king after I defeat you.”

“…Kill, kill, kill…”

“That’s the end. That’s the end of the war for me, for us, for Casemaians.”

“Kill!”

The hero’s eyes glow. He took a deep step and put all his strength into the slash. I took his sword from him with my storage. As soon as I was about to fire, the barrel of the AKM bounced up from my elbow. At that moment, my hand, which should have been empty, was clenched tightly.

The face of a man with eyes as lifeless as marbles and a twisted smile loomed before me.

“You’re naive!”

A fist swung out of sight and slammed into my cheek. My body bounces off the ground and rolls to a stop as I plunge into the wreckage of a carriage that should have been far away. My whole body screams, and the pain paralyzes my extremities.

“…Gah, gofu!”

No voice comes out. Instead, reddish-black blood gushes from my lips. With just one hit, my ability to fight was eradicated. The light had returned to the eyes of the hero who was walking towards me. Those are not the naive, gorilla macho eyes that were once clouded with desire. There was a light of madness in them, shining brightly and glaringly.

“Damn you…!”

I tried to stand up, but the tip of his toe dug into my stomach. My whole body was lifted up, and I was kicked away when I was floating. My bones are creaking, and my internal organs are shaking violently. The fact that I didn’t die instantly from the hero’s blow is probably due to the fact that my status has increased dramatically in this war.

However, I’m only barely dead. There was no chance at all that I would be able to defeat this guy in a melee. Instead of fighting, my limbs are shriveled, and I can’t even stand up.

“My plans are ruined because of you! How many things do you think I have lost?”

“Gubuh!”

I was kicked in the side, and I was bent over and floated in the air.

“My position! And honor! Money! And women! All of it!”

With a frightening succession of kicks, my body was tossed around in a floating, lifting motion. I can’t speak or react in the slightest, and the final thrust kick sends me flying and tumbling like a rag doll.

I’m going to die. I’m seriously going to die.

I desperately search for storage. I’m in a daze and can’t pull it out properly. I can’t even remember what was in there.

No AKM. One of the AKM had been cut off, and one of the M1903s had been dropped somewhere. I probably couldn’t hold something that long if I pulled it out now. I gave the girls my pistol, my short machine gun, and my sawed-off shotgun.

Anything, any weapon…

“…Oh?”

The first thing that came out of my mouth was a knife.

I pulled it out myself and was amazed at what I was going to use it for in this situation. I don’t know if Simon gave it to me or if I took it from someone. It was a hunting knife with a blade about six inches long. I guess it’s a practical tool for skinning and such.

Before I could raise it, it was kicked out and flew away.

“…Damn it… you… useless…”

The hero has a smirk on his lips and grabs me by the hair as I fall and lifts me up.

“You’re the useless one! Are you out of ideas now? Then die. Die here. With regret, cry and scream, throw your guts out, and die in the open! Fuck you!”

A fist slammed into my face, and I bounced back up against the pile of carriages without feeling any pain and fell on my face. It’s a good thing I was hit by my own cover.

A reddish-black blur fills my vision, and light particles are flashing and flickering. They say a punch to the face can make stars fly, but that’s not a bad expression.

So this is a star. Yes, that’s what it looks like.

Beyond the stars, I saw something that looked familiar. I gently touch it, half exposed from the ground behind the wagon. A warning light flashed vaguely in the back of my head. What’s this…?

“What are you digging for, a hole to hide in? Or is it a grave?”

I turned my eyes in the direction of the voice. It’s not a step; it’s a rush, like an instantaneous movement.

The moment the raised foot is about to kick me in the jaw, I jump back in a short teleport and strip off the hero’s armor with my storage and pull out my shotgun instead.

A pump-action Isaka. However, a barrage of shotgun pellets leaves only a slight abrasion on the stripped body of the guy. His triumphant face twisted into an ugly mess.

“Don’t underestimate me too much, old man! Who the hell do you think I am, huh? Ah!?”

The body of the hero who stood in front of the wreckage of the carriage with a disdainful smile on his face as I continued to shoot while I jumped back and forth with teleportation…

“I! I’ll kill the Demon King! Save the world! I’m the hero…”

The handmade bomb, which was sprayed by the exposed detonators, also exploded.