CH 36

Confused by his master’s instructions, the maneater was prompted once more to follow his master’s lead and bared its fangs.

The sound of flesh being devoured and bones being chewed echoed through the hillsides.

In the blink of an eye, Jerukku’s right arm was devoured, followed by his left arm, which was also devoured in the blink of an eye.

“Ahhhhhhhh! It hurts! It’s the kind of pain that makes you want to despair! Fufu! It’s eating me! My arm!　It’s eating me up along with the pain. It can’t be helped!”

It was …… strange.

Jerukku is exhausted and his bloodlust is fading away.

And yet, the maneater’s physique grows larger.

(What’s going on?)

But soon.

Jerukku, exhausted, but with a true expression filled with madness, now smiles fearlessly.

At the same time, the maneater’s physique immediately stopped growing.

“Ah …… I knew it! Abominable seal….!”

The seal applied by the elves even eroded the bones of Jerukku’s arms.

However, even with the loss of both arms, the seal was not broken.

No, to be correct, a part of the seal was broken, but it seemed to be only a small part of the seal.

Jerukku noticed this.

Naturally, Ren had the same expectation.

He thought that Jerukku’s speculation had failed. ……

“In the end—- I have nothing to regret!”

A tree root arose from Jerukku’s feet.

The root reached up to his chest and pierced it with a thump in a fraction of a second.

Jerukku is now just waiting for death.

The man’s chest was filled with the sound of something exploding.

(If you do something like that….)

He seems to be trying to break the seal by forcibly destroying his body, but death must come first.

If that happens, the maneater will disappear and Ren will win.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

A faint green light arose from the chest of the bellowing Jerukku.

“Ku… fu… Such an expensive potion, and yet this is the extent of it! Oh, that hurts ……oh!”

Jerukku used tree roots instead of his hands to spray the potion directly into his body. He says it’s expensive, but if you look at it, it has only prolonged his life marginally.

………This is truly a last-ditch, desperate attempt.

The time left is not long.

The only thing that matters to him now is forcing himself to buy a little time to kill Ren and Licia.

Jerukku is in pain for this reason alone, enduring a pain that threatens to burn out his spirit, and has fallen into a madness that Ren can’t even begin to imagine.

“Huff……huff……!”

Soon, the gigantic maneater also chews the corpse of the other maneater lying on its side.

This time, it didn’t stop growing, finally transforming into a hulking mass more than a dozen times larger than before.

It was thicker and covered in muscles with pulsating blood vessels.

Its limbs grew one by one, and it gained a pair of wings.

The sharp fangs that protruded from its mouth were longer than the entire length of the horse Ren was riding.

It —- looked like a dragon.

It was like the mighty dragon that Ren had seen in the legend of the Seven Heroes.

“Shhhhh….shruuuu!!!!”

The maneater let out a fire-filled exhale and glared at Ren.

He postures like a cat curled up on its back, leaving its master and approaching.

“I’m……alive……there’s still time……!”

A faint but joyful voice emanated from Jerukku’s mouth.

The roots of the tree that he had created pierced his chest, and while being supported by the roots of the tree, he was filled with a great deal of negative emotions.

“Kill…….”

Gone.

The maneater had somehow disappeared completely from Ren’s sight.

The next moment, something approaches with a gust of wind right beside Ren.

“……?”

The moment he turned his attention to it, an overpowering shock rushed through his body.

The bones of his torso creak with a sickening sound and he’s blown away, gouging out the earth of the hillside.

As I was tortured by the pain I had never experienced before, a black shadow was in pursuit right in front of me.

I saw several fangs illuminated by the moonlight.

I narrowly escape the fangs, but instead a stiff arm strikes me in the side of the head.

I’m being treated like a toy, he thought as he fought back the bone-crushing pain.

(What kind of a seal is that ……?)

I don’t know the details of the elven seal, but Jerukku had mentioned earlier that it was a seal that had eroded his hand down to the bone.

In other words, the seal wouldn’t disappear if only the skin of the arm was removed. Therefore, he tried to forcefully break the seal by having the maneater eat the entire arm.

But even that wasn’t enough.

So he pierced his chest and threw away his life to break the seal—-.

It is impossible to determine if the seal has been broken by this effect or if it hasn’t been broken but the seal has been weakened.

But it is true that for a small amount of time, he‘s using expensive potions to stay alive.

Therefore, his life should be faint.

“Sruuuuuuuuu!』\

The maneater is crowding Ren faster than the night wind.

(Ku …… that’s not the strength of the Jerukku I know ……!)

The Jerukku that Ren knows is, after all, only a sealed form.

The one thing I really like about the game is that Jerukku didn’t do anything this aggressive.

He was defeated by the dean right after the battle when he was about to do something.

His current strength is limited to the end of his life, but he was more than strong enough to kill Ren and Licia.

(The maneater now is B rank …… or maybe even higher …….)

The Maneater’s strong arm pushed out once more at Ren, who held up the iron magic sword even as he thought.

The strength of his muscles, which shouldn’t be able to resist, receives a strong impact through the iron magic sword.

“Guhooo—!”

He was rolled again.

Ren’s body, which rolled while gouging the earth, returns to that place where he protected Licia.

There, Licia lay panting in agony.

“Licia……sama……!”

I crawled on the ground and approached Licia.

I want to save her alone.

Driven by these feelings, Ren attempted to get up somehow.

“Get up…..!”

However, he couldn’t get up.

The repeated wear and tear and the attack of the maneater, whose seal had been broken, had already taken toll on his body.

If he could at least buy a little more time, Jerukku might die first.

But even gaining that little bit of time was extremely difficult.

“Fuhahaha …… it’s the end…..!”

Jerukku declared victory in a hazy voice.

The giant maneater jumped up, opened his mouth in midair, and bared his fangs at Ren and Licia.

It’s no good now?

Ren, who hadn’t given up, tried to use his last strength to stand up, and at that moment —-.

“Thank you……”

A faint voice came from the mouth of Licia, who was by his side.

Ren, who was about to reply, moved his mouth. But his voice was not coming out.

The pain was too much to bear and he couldn’t speak.

But as he did so, Ren’s body suddenly got released from the pain.

Just as he was wondering, their bodies were enveloped in a veil of white light.

“Licia….sama……?”

Hearing Ren struggling call out, Licia smiled and nodded stoutly.

“Thank you for protecting me…….”

She smiled again.

She hasn’t regained her vitality, so her forehead was sweating profusely and her complexion was slightly pale.

But she was beautiful.

Her dignified appearance remained unchanged at this moment.

“So —-!.”

With all her remaining strength, she lays her outstretched hand on Ren’s. Then, she gives him warmth.

It was a sacred magic for Ren, created by forcing herself to use all the strength she wanted to leave behind.

“I give you strength……. Saints can do this kind of thing.”

She finished her sentence.

“……I want you to be safe, even if it’s just you.”

She said in a voice feigning cheerfulness and fainted again.

The white veil began to crack.

“…………”

Licia must have told him to get out of there while he still could.

But Ren’s legs wouldn’t move.

He knew he was going to be killed soon, and he was terrified by that fact, his feet trembling slightly.

He still refused to leave Licia’s side.

“I wonder how this happened.”

Ren mocks himself at the thought.

He had been trying to avoid an encounter with Licia and avoid the same future as the legend of the seven heroes.

Furthermore, he had fallen into a turn of events that he didn’t know about.

And yet, here he was, trying to protect her with his life.

He found it funny and began to laugh.

“I’m sorry, Licia-sama.”

Ren battered, stood up.

Unlike before, he was able to get up quickly this time.

“I’m not going to run away without you, Licia.”

It’s not the maneater that I am really afraid of.

I was more afraid that I would lose heart here and run away without Licia.

I was a little surprised at myself for thinking so, and my cheeks relaxed just a little.

When did I become such a hothead?

With strong courage, Ren says,

“I don’t think I can come this far and lose.”

Ren’s figure with his iron magic sword at the ready is unreliable, but his eyes, pointed at the maneater looming outside the white veil, are as sharp as blades.

The veil that enveloped them both shattered into pieces as Ren took a fighting stance.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh』\

So far, the crystallization of the physical strength that treated Ren as a toy….

The mighty Maneater’s stiff arm, caused by Jerukku’s real intention, is swung down.

Underneath the arm, Ren raised the iron magic sword with a flash of sacred magic in his hand.

“Here!”

The tip of the sword caught the maneater’s physical strength.

The manaeater’s muscles were so strong that they not only shook the earth, but also sank the earth on which Ren was standing while he was protecting Licia at the same time.

“No way this is over! Uoooooooh!!!!“

“………!!”

And then it bounced back.

The last of the power that Licia shared with him, he used his physical strength, which he would normally not have been able to use, to bounce off the Maneater’s body.

But the cost was too great.

Ren’s arms sagged, as if his muscles were not working.

And his legs, which supported his body, lost their strength and he fell on his knees.

“Move…..! What have you worked so hard for….!”

The body is completely unable to do what he wants, even though he’s screaming.

On the contrary.

“My body can’t……!”

At last, Ren lay down and his arm with the bracelet lay between Licia’s breasts.

(Ku…..)

His eyelids are heavy even at a time like this.

The high laughter of Jerukku, which could be heard from afar, was also hard to hear.

Is there really nothing more I can do?

No. At least, Let me at least buy some time, even if it’s only for a moment.

Ren pulled Licia’s body under him and prayed that Jerukku would die first, even if it was only for a tenth of a second.

(…… Excuse me)

I could only do such a pathetic thing, and tears came to my eyes—-

It was in the midst of all this.

From Licia’s chest, the bracelet overlapping with Licia’s body emitted a light similar to sacred magic.

It emitted a dazzling white light that startled Ren.

(What’s this? ……?)

He looked at the bracelet in astonishment.

There, in the list of familiar magic swords, was the name of a strange magic sword.

… ？？？？ (Level 1: 1/1)

——————————–

Why a new magic sword at a time like this?

And why is it full of “?”

All these questions came to mind, but Ren decided.

(…… whatever)

Conveniently, if this was the power that could help Licia…….

Thinking of this possibility, Ren thought that any magic sword would do if it could help Licia, and he ordered the unnamed magic sword.

Come, anything is fine.

If you can help me fight, I don’t care what kind of power you have. —-

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 』\

The roar of the maneater echoed through the air.

I could also feel his anger at having his attack repelled earlier.

“This is killing my last pleasure ……!”

Jerukku’s rapturous voice rang out.

There is nothing else I can do.

“I don’t care what kind of power I have, as long as I can protect her….!”

Suddenly, Ren and Licia were enveloped by a dazzling flash of light and golden lightning.

But because of the dazzling light, he couldn’t see the sword he was supposed to have summoned.

All he could see was the silhouette of a long sword floating in the air.

Ren reached out and grasped it.

The flash of light and thunderstorms were clothed in white winds and formed a glow that pierced the heavens.

Jerukku’s, eyes wide open, was stunned.

The huge maneater closed his eyes to the light.

All the dead bodies of the monsters lying around them are transformed into particles of light.

So was the giant maneater.

The mouth that was supposed to devour Ren and Licia turns into particles of light, and everything is swallowed by the glow that pierces the heavens, and rises into the heavens with a powerful wind.

“Ku……fu…… this…… is impossible—-“

In the end, the dying Jerukku was swallowed up as well, and disappeared from the world before anything was known.

The glow eventually thinned and just before it disappeared, it seeped into the bodies of both Ren and Licia.

This is vitality.

It was a strange light that healed their bodies.

“At…. least, only Licia-sama…… and also —-.”

How did we win, and what is that magic sword?

When he came to, the magic sword was gone, but Ren didn’t question it in any way either.

He was only concerned about Licia.

At the moment he let go of his consciousness.

Ren finally smiled when he saw that Licia was still breathing.

He then quickly closed his eyelids.