I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 26

Chapter 26: The Villainous Knight Commander Defeats the Orc Emperor

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I thought I had finished off the Orc King, but it suddenly evolved into an Emperor. But this was no time to be thinking like that!!

“NUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

I desperately defended against the Orc Emperor’s barrage of attacks with my great round shield, screaming inside my mind.

I’m going to die!! Seriously, I’m going to die!!

Each time I caught the Orc Emperor’s fists with my shield, I used my legs and hips to redirect the impact or bent my knees to dissipate the shock into the ground. If I hadn’t doped myself with the strength potion that Ciel made, I would’ve definitely died by now.

Even with my physical abilities skyrocketing from the potion, all I could do was focus on defense. I had been looking for an opening to counterattack this whole time, but the Orc Emperor kept up its relentless blows. At this rate, even if I survived, my shield’s durability would reach its limit before I could do anything.

“Dieee!! You killed my underlings!!”

“Guh, nuguoh!?”

The Orc Emperor, furious over the deaths of its orcs, was clearly enraged. Well, that was only natural. Anyone would hate someone who killed their subordinates and want to kill them in return. 

That said, fighting while consumed by rage normally left one open to attacks. But this Emperor was using its overwhelming physical abilities to maintain a hyper-fast assault that offered no openings at all. It was a fighting style only possible because its body was fundamentally different from a human’s, denying any chance of counterattack.

“Damn it, at this rate…!!”

Sakuna looked like she was happily locked in combat with the Orc General, and the rest of the private soldiers were fully occupied with the remaining orcs. If this continued, I’d be overwhelmed!! 

Should I retreat for now and slip back into the barrier surrounding Cottolk Village…? No, with the current power of the Orc Emperor, breaking through that barrier would be easy. I had to finish this here and now.

I prepared to accept serious injuries and stepped forward, resolved to sacrifice myself if necessary to take down the Orc Emperor. It was at that moment—

“Th-this presence!!”

I felt a dreadful aura manifesting from the watchtower of Cottolk Village, where Ciel was. I glanced quickly in her direction. Atop the tower stood Ciel, talking with an unfamiliar woman.

“That’s…”

No, it couldn’t be. There was absolutely no way that character could appear here. As the original author, I could say that with certainty. But that long, iridescent hair shimmering like a rainbow was unmistakably that of someone I knew.

“Don’t look away!!”

“Guh!”

The moment I let my attention slip toward Ciel, the Orc Emperor unleashed a powerful strike. I failed to deflect its weighty, momentum-filled punch properly, and a numbing pain spread through my arm.

Ah, crap. I had completely messed up. Because I couldn’t redirect the Orc Emperor’s full-force blow, my arm went numb, and I wouldn’t be able to block the next punch. If I tried to absorb it with my armor alone, every bone in my body would definitely shatter. In conclusion, my life would end here.

As I prayed that death would come before I could even feel the pain, I closed my eyes.

Ciel’s face came to mind. If possible, I had wanted to stay by her side a little longer, to watch how she lived.

What would happen to her once I died? Would she flee Cottolk Village and go back to Handel City, selling potions with Mofumaru and Rei like in the original story?

I really want to see her future…

But no, it was hopeless. The Orc Emperor would surely kill everyone here without mercy. No—if it was a girl, she might not be killed right away but instead used as breeding stock until she could no longer bear children, then eaten when she outlived her usefulness. Either way, she would never make it back alive to Handel City.

That was something I absolutely couldn’t accept!! If I was going to die, I wouldn’t go down without a fight. Even if it cost me my life, I would make sure to sever the Orc Emperor’s head.

If the Orc Emperor, the leader, died, the remaining orcs would become a disorganized rabble. That would create an opportunity for victory. Sakuna would soon finish off the Orc General, and then our win would be secured. That was why—I had to claim the Orc Emperor’s head no matter what!!

As I opened my eyes wide, determined to meet my fate—

“…Huh?”

“…Eh?”

Everyone froze. Me, the Orc Emperor, even Sakuna paused her battle with the Orc General and looked up. We were staring at the watchtower of Cottolk Village, where Ciel stood. A dazzling light, like a sun, descended from the heavens to the ground and…

It was coming straight toward me!?

“Th-this is!!”

The moment the light struck me, it burst and wrapped my entire body in a golden radiance, making me feel as light as a feather. My white armor now gleamed brilliantly, and the weight of my gear, the fatigue of battle, and the pain from my injuries all vanished. My body was healing at an astonishing rate.

I must have had my natural healing and fatigue recovery abilities enhanced to their utmost limits. I immediately realized what this light was. This was Ciel’s true hero’s power—yes, her enhancement magic.

Moreover, it wasn’t the unconscious enhancement magic she’d infused into potions before, but the real thing that stood on an entirely different level of potency. But how could Ciel use this magic now?

She wasn’t supposed to gain full control over enhancement magic until much later in the story. Maybe “that character” had done something to her… I’d have to question Ciel about it later.

“But for now—Haaah!!”

“-!?”

I lunged at the Orc Emperor, unleashing a full-powered thrust. The speed was incomparable to before. The strength potion combined with Ciel’s enhancement magic made an unbelievable amount of power surge through my entire body. And as a result—

“…Fuh?”

GYUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!

Suddenly, a beam was fired from the tip of my spear. A massive ray of heat disintegrated the Orc Emperor’s entire left half. It was a perfectly lethal blow.

“Guh, th-this… Is this an artifact?”

“…So that’s what happened.”

Hearing the Orc Emperor’s faint mutter, I formed a hypothesis. Ciel’s enhancement magic could also affect inanimate objects. After all, the magic water she used in potions had traces of her enhancement magic.

It was possible her magic had affected my spear—an artifact passed down through the Deulaghil family for generations. Though it was originally a powerful artifact excavated from a dungeon long ago, it had been broken and unusable for ages, serving only as a sturdy spear.

But now, thanks to Ciel’s enhancement magic, it must have temporarily regained its original function. I knew enhancement magic could empower objects, but I’d never imagined it could revive a broken artifact.

“…So this is the end…?”

“…It seems so.”

“Guuh.”

The Emperor fell forward, barely clinging to life. I had to finish it.

“Any last words?”

“…No.”

“I see.”

I drove my spear through the Orc Emperor’s head. I had won. It was nothing but a miraculous victory. Thanks to Ciel’s enhancement magic, I had but a scratch. If anything, an overwhelming fatigue weighed on me, probably because the enhancement magic had just worn off. It felt like it would take a while for me to recover from this exhaustion.

“Hmm. Lars-dono. So you finished the King while I was fighting the General?”

Sakuna, covered head-to-toe in blood, approached me with a broad smile. It looked like her battle had concluded as well.

“Yeah. But it’s not over yet.”

“Indeed, I know. I’ll take the heads of the remaining orcs myself.”

“…I’m not going to compete with you, so don’t get yourself hurt again.”

Hearing that, Sakuna’s face blushed faintly.

“Ye-Yeah. I won’t make you worry about me again.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

“Th-then, I’m off!!”

Sakuna charged back into the fray against the remaining orcs. I joined the battle shortly after, but this time, my spear didn’t shoot any more beams. Ciel’s enhancement magic must have already worn off.

Several dozen minutes later.

Though we suffered some casualties among our private soldiers, we successfully surrounded and annihilated the orc army. It was a complete and overwhelming victory on our part.

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