Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 19

Chapter 19: Aftermath of the Duel

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Minister Niitaka furrowed his brows, then relaxed them as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“It can’t be helped. Hasegawa-san, are you ready?”

“I’m not against it, but…”

A single glance at Samejima-san’s eyes made it clear that I was left with no other choice but to accept her duel request. Hatred radiated from her. A clear and deep hatred. If the illusion Shin had shown in the Sakuradamon Dungeon was real, then Samejima-san’s hatred for monsters ran deep. Even if I told her that I was once human, it wouldn’t change anything for her as long as I was currently a monster.

“I guess I have no choice.”

What would happen if I revealed my monster form here?

“You are a monster, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then show me your true form.”

She actually demanded that I show her my true form.

Hmm…

The place had been cleared of people, but there were still surveillance cameras. It was possible someone was eavesdropping as well.

“I’d rather not, if possible.”

“Show me.”

Samejima-san’s firm stance made it clear that further resistance was a waste of time.

“It can’t be helped.”

The gymnasium had four areas covered with martial arts mats, and we were standing in one of them. I wrapped that entire space in a black barrier. Minister Niitaka was inside the barrier as well.

“What are you—?!”

“It’s to counteract the cameras. Minister Niitaka, if this fight were to be exposed…”

“And if it were?”

“Depending on how things unfold, people might actually believe Godzilla is real.”

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“In that case…”

There’s no point in dragging this out any further.

That said, I couldn’t take on my full form in such a cramped space. I could adjust my size to fit, but that would lessen the impact. I reverted to my original form. I said I would return to my ‘true’ form, but considering how many times I’d evolved and changed shape, even I wasn’t sure what counted as my ‘true’ form anymore. But this… This was the form I had now as a monster.

The EX Magnifique Dragon. The Luminous Glorious Majestic Invincible Supreme Dragon.

“I’m adjusting my size due to the lack of space, but this is my monster form.”

Now that I thought about it, no one had mentioned the time I was thrown out of the dungeon. I was in my true form back then, but it looked like I managed to keep my true form under wraps.

“Now then… What will you do?”

One of my horns brushed against the barrier. I could shrink down further, but that would only make me appear less imposing. As a dragon, intimidation through sheer mass was part of the aesthetic.

“Minister, please step outside.”

“Samejima-kun…”

“Please.”

“…Haah. Understood. Hasegawa-san, if you would?”

“Go ahead.”

The next moment, Minister Niitaka vanished.

“What did you—?!”

“I merely moved him outside the barrier.”

I had zero intention of allowing even a one percent chance that my form could be seen from the outside. Meanwhile, Samejima-san’s wariness toward me had escalated into full-blown hysteria.

Will one fight even be enough to resolve this?

“Alright, come at me whenever you’re ready.”

“Kh…!”

Samejima-san gripped that whip-like sword of hers and closed the distance between us. Her hands flickered. Her blade moved unpredictably. Anyone skilled in swordsmanship might be able to see her movements, but their instincts—honed in reality—wouldn’t keep up with the unpredictability of her movements. Before they knew it, they’d be sliced apart in an instant. But I simply followed the sword’s trajectory with my eyes and conjured small barrier shields at the moment of impact to deflect her strikes.

Samejima-san seemed to realize her attacks weren’t landing, but she didn’t waver. She pressed on with a relentless barrage. I continued to block them. The battlefield was too small for me to focus solely on dodging. Besides, the best way to convince her was to let her go all out. The storm of sword-whip strikes she had unleashed in the Sakuradamon Dungeon wouldn’t work on me. But I doubted that was her only weapon.

Now then… What else will she pull out of her arsenal?

“Uuuuugh… AAAAAAH!”

Samejima-san screamed, completely overtaken by emotion. Her attacks being ineffective against a monster might have triggered her trauma. That said, she was the one who initiated the fight. Even if I let her win on purpose, she wouldn’t accept the outcome of the fight.

Should I aim for a draw instead?

No, I’d already been hiding things enough. It was time to stop. She wanted to see my full strength, so my full strength she would see. At least, the parts she could perceive with her senses. As she screamed, a blue aura-like energy erupted from around her.

“Water?”

The humidity of the surrounding area increased. The blue energy quickly took on a physical form, twisting into floating masses of water. Those water masses slashed like blades, slammed forward with sheer force, and attacked in unpredictable ways. They moved separately from Samejima-san, almost as if they were living creatures of their own.

So, this is Samejima-san’s ability.

I blocked all of it with barrier shields. I kept blocking. But at this rate, it was no different from her punching a wall. Then… I took a small breath in and exhaled. It wasn’t quite a breath attack, but I expelled a concentrated burst of air, sending it crashing into the water masses.

Samejima-san’s water shattered. She could have reformed it—it was water, after all—but she didn’t. She stopped swinging her sword and stood frozen.

“…That’s enough.”

“Is that so?”

Since she said so, I reverted to my human form and dispelled the barrier.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

Minister Niitaka looked at her with concern, but she shouldn’t have suffered any injuries. Though there might be some recoil from having her ability forcibly nullified.

“Do you need healing?”

“No, I’m fine.”

When I called out to her, Samejima-san glared at me.

“One last thing. May I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why do you want to return to being human?”

“Of course it’s because being human is my very essence.”

I was reincarnated as a dungeon monster and spent a hundred years as the dungeon’s final boss. In that time, I lost most of my human memories. Even my sense of morality and ethics might no longer be entirely human. But despite that, if the foundation of my memories was human. If I had the chance to return as a human, I wanted to grab that chance.

“I never lived a particularly remarkable life, but if I can live as a human again, I want to. That’s all there is to it.”

That was my reason.

“I see.”

Samejima-san stopped glaring at me. She took a step back and bowed her head to both me and Minister Niitaka.

“I apologize for the trouble I caused.”

It was good to see she had regained her composure.

“Now then, I’ll process Hasegawa-san’s Awakener registration. You can come back here later to pick up your registration card, alright?”

“Understood.”

And with that, the day came to an end.

But… I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had made a mistake. I would soon find out why.

『Today, the Dungeon Ministry announced the discovery of Japan’s fifth S-Class Awakener.』

As I was eating a set meal of miso-glazed mackerel at a diner, the midday news played from the shop’s television.

『Surprisingly, this man awakened his abilities after turning thirty!』

At that moment, a looming bad premonition washed over me.

『His name is Jiro Hasegawa!』

I looked up at the TV mounted on the wall. My face was displayed on the screen.

“So, Awakeners really don’t get any privacy, huh?”

I recalled the Dungeon Ministry’s registered Awakener database and let out a deep sigh.

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