A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 54

Chapter 54   The Hero’s Resolve

“Tch! How long are they going to keep coming?! Sakura! Can’t you take them all down at once?”

Despite usually treating Kujou coldly, Oda shouted for help, perhaps because Kujou was the only “Blessed One” in the group. But…

“Just wait a little longer! I haven’t recovered yet from the last monster!”

“Damn it!”

Before this battle, she had unleashed her full power in a single strike, and then quickly faced off against another large monster. Even though Kujou was a “Blessed One,” there were limits to how long she could keep fighting.

Looks like I’ll have to use my blessing. It would mean giving up my “normal” life, but I have no choice. It’s far better than watching someone die right in front of me.

Just as I was about to speak…

“Here’s my moment to shine—BOOM!”

Rinrin, who had been standing behind us doing nothing until now, shouted out. The sky flashed, and in the next instant, a thunderous roar and shockwaves tore through the monsters.

“Ugh… I’ll leave the rest… to you…”

“Rinrin!?”

Kujou rushed to the side of Rinrin, who collapsed with a strained yet defiant smile. She was probably still alive, but it was clear she had pushed her skills to the absolute limit.

Up until now, Rinrin had always said that after using her skill, she’d be completely drained and unable to move. But somehow, even after using all her power, she had still been able to move a little. It seemed like there was a safeguard that prevented her strength from dropping below a certain threshold.

But now, she had surpassed that limit, pouring every last drop of strength into her skill. The result? A massive attack that blew away the surrounding monsters—but the price was her own collapse.

“She probably just passed out from overusing her skill. Still, even with that huge blow, there are so many left.”

Thanks to Rinrin, we had gained some breathing room, but the number of enemies was still overwhelming. Maybe we hadn’t even taken down half of the original horde.

“Damn it…!”

“Moriya! Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I’ll head back to the front lines right awa—ugh!”

“Don’t push yourself. Rest a bit, and come back when you’ve recovered.”

“I’m sorry.”

Even though we had a little breathing room, the enemy numbers were still too large, and soon we were being pushed back again. The situation kept deteriorating. Moriya had just been taken down by an attack, and all but Oda from his team had fallen. Toudou’s team was barely hanging on, and as for us—now it was just me and Kujou left after Moriya fell. And I wasn’t even able to directly fight.

“Opening Again—To Vanquish the Malevolence Infesting This World. My Pain, My Life, All for the Sake of Protecting Others!'”

Clearly sensing the danger, Kujou gritted her teeth, and with a shout that seemed to tear from her soul, she nocked a brilliant arrow of light into her blessed bow.

“Everyone, we’re ready! I’ll wipe them all out!”

With those words, Kujou aimed her bow at the sky, signaling the attack, but no arrow was released. When I looked at her, I noticed her hands trembling as she held the bow. It wasn’t from fear. Most likely, like Rinrin, she had overexerted herself.

She was pushing her body to the brink, holding herself together through sheer willpower.

Watching her struggle, I felt disgusted with myself for hiding my own blessing, even in this dire situation, out of self-preservation.

“I… must… drive away all evil.”

Though her body trembled, Kujou still recited the final words of the blessing as she drew the bowstring. Just as she was about to release the arrow—

“Here I… go—huh?”

—Wait, what?

“Gah…!”

“Haha… Ahahahahaha!”

The arrow was never released. Instead, a sudden burst of crazed laughter echoed from behind us, and everyone turned to look.

There, Kujou had collapsed, blood spilling from a knife wound in her abdomen. Standing over her, laughing maniacally, was Moriya, who had supposedly retreated after being injured.

“Sakura!?”

“What the hell are you—ugh!”

Confused and in shock, Toudou and Oda tried to rush to Kujou and Moriya, but they were immediately attacked by the monsters in front of them. They had no choice but to return to fighting the monsters, as did the other students still engaged in battle.

Seeing this, Moriya suddenly sprinted forward, plunging himself into the throng of monsters.

Normally, charging into a swarm of monsters would be suicidal, but Moriya must have had some kind of plan.

“I won’t let you get away!”

“Argh—!”

But I didn’t have the time to think it through. All I knew was that I had to stop him. Desperately, I reached out and grabbed him.

“You… Moriya! What are you trying to do? Why did you do this!?”

I slammed him to the ground and restrained him, demanding answers.

“If I kill all of you here, I’ll become even stronger! I’ll gain power! So—”

But even in this situation, Moriya didn’t stop smiling. It unnerved me, and I was about to question him, but… it was too late.

“Die, all of you!”

The moment Moriya shouted that, my “hand” that had been holding him disappeared, and an overwhelming, nauseating aura began to emanate from him.

“What the hell… is this?”

“I’ve become stronger. I’m not the same as I was before. Look! Look at this power!”

Freed from my restraint, Moriya stood up, spreading his arms wide in front of the monsters as if to show off his newfound strength.

Perhaps because of that, the monsters momentarily halted their attacks, even taking a step back as if waiting.

This gave us a brief respite, but… does this mean Moriya really gained control over the monsters? How could something like that even be possible…?

“Even the monsters bow before my power! I can control them, even create them! From now on, I’ll only grow stronger—”

“Is that so? In that case, I’ll kill you myself instead of these monsters, you bastard!”

“Huh?—Ah!”

Moriya was mid-sentence, still shouting gleefully, when suddenly a spear flew from an unexpected direction, piercing his heart before he could react.

Oda had thrown the spear. He glared at Moriya with an irritated expression, then yanked the spear out of his heart with a rough pull, stabbing him repeatedly in the head and neck to ensure he was dead.

“Tch. I can’t believe we let this trash mess with us for so long. What a waste of time.”

“What are you doing?! We should’ve captured him and questioned him!”

“Normally, yeah. But look around. Do we really have the luxury to deal with a traitor right now? Do you?”

“That’s…”

“If you’ve got complaints, save them for later. Right now, all you should be thinking about is killing these things, or else both of us are going to end up as monster food.”

“Ugh! Fine! What the hell is going on!?”

Still, if Moriya had been controlling the monsters, now that he was dead, wouldn’t they stop attacking us?

That’s what I had hoped, but I was wrong.

The monsters, which had been still for a moment after Moriya’s death, gradually began moving again, once more turning their focus toward us.

“These arrows…”

“Sakura! What are you doing?! You need to stay still!”

“I… I can still fight… I’m not done yet…!”

Kujou’s fingers were bleeding, likely from pulling her bowstring too much, but even so, she continued firing arrows.

“Don’t push yourself.”

“I’m not pushing myself… Besides, if I don’t give it my all here, then when will I?”

“What are you talking about? You can’t even fake it anymore…”

Ignoring my words, Kujou kept firing her arrows.

This battle has been intense. Inori must know by now that I’m in pain, and if I wait, she’ll probably come. I told her not to, but I know her—she’s not going to listen.

But… is that really okay?

Inori coming is inevitable. But I don’t know when she’ll arrive. It could be in the next moment, or maybe in five minutes. It could even take thirty minutes, or an hour.

How many people will get hurt in that time? Getting injured is one thing, but in the worst-case scenario, someone might die. I have the means to stop that, yet am I really going to let “someone in front of me get hurt” just because I don’t want to stand out, because I want to live a normal life?

…That’s not something I can accept.

Make up your mind. What’s the point of hiding now? You coward, you’re taking too long to decide.

…Amamiya-san called me a “hero,” but she’s wrong. She’s absolutely wrong. I’m not a hero. I’m just a coward who kept hiding for the sake of self-preservation until things got this bad.

“Everyone, fall back!”

“Huh? What’s going on? Is there something you’re planning?”

“I have a way to defeat them. Just gather in the center.”

I’m late. Far too late.

But I’ve made up my mind. I’ve decided to save everyone here. So, I’m going to do this.