Reincarnated Devil's Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~ - Chapter 94

Reincarnated Devil’s Strongest Hero Training Plan ~The baby he picked up has grown up so well that his father is confused~

Chapter 94   Those who have been saved

Parting ways with his companions and finding himself alone in the surrounding forest, Ars gazed at his own hands.

His hands, reflected in his eyes, were trembling slightly. The fact that he hadn’t experienced any notable failures before, yet failed to save the one surviving boy, left a traumatic mark on his heart.

Furthermore, this failure led to him losing consciousness and being consumed by the powerful force of the Brave Engine. He now harbored doubts about whether he could continue to save anyone.

If he continued to use the power of his golden eyes, would he end up hurting someone? Where was the guarantee that he wouldn’t be swallowed by power again? And what assurance did he have that his friends would be able to stop him the next time he went berserk?

Just as he was grappling with these inner conflicts, as if sensing his turmoil, a presence suddenly emerged behind him, and the voice of someone who shouldn’t be here quietly addressed him.

“Are you afraid of your own power, Ars?”

“What!? Who’s there…?! No, this voice…”

Ars, deeply unsettled, distanced himself from the person who appeared without him sensing their presence, despite being skilled in detecting such things, not to the extent of Amanda, an S-rank adventurer specializing in scouting.

Though he remained vigilant, suspecting the presence of lingering remnants of the demon tribe, as he turned to the familiar voice that shouldn’t be there, he was astonished to find…

“Hey, long time no see. It’s been about a year since you left home, hasn’t it? Seeing you in person again, you’ve definitely grown bigger.”

“Dad…”

The person who appeared there was none other than the person Ars knew best.

It was his father, Kakyu, who was likely spending time with his mother, Elsa, at a base somewhere on one of the four continents.

While Ars questioned why his father was here, he remembered that his father could teleport anywhere, so distance didn’t matter to him. Besides, if his father knew the current situation, he must have appeared to help, Ars thought.

“As you know, Dad, I can’t control this power of mine. It’s scary to think that it might hurt many people. I’m afraid… If this power goes out of control, you might be… even you…”

Afraid of hurting others.

Ars hesitated to say it aloud, fearing that it might become reality if he did. The Brave Engine was powered by wishes. If he imagined the worst-case scenario, it might come true.

However, the low-rank demon, who saw through his son’s fear, smirked ominously and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha… What’s this? My son is troubled by such trivial matters! This is priceless! To think you could show such concern about possibly hurting your own father! You’ve become quite the jester, Ars.”

There was no contempt in his face as he laughed while shedding tears. Instead, there was a sense of ease, as if he saw Ars’ worries as nothing but a joke, given the immense difference in power between them.

To this lower-rank demon, or rather, his father, Kakyu, Ars was still far from being anything significant. It was as if he wanted to say, “Come back when you have the power to defeat a demon king,” given their power dynamics.

“Dad, I’m being serious!”

“…Fine. If you’re that serious, I’ll entertain you. I don’t know about Brave or whatever, but I’ll show you an insurmountable wall that you can’t hurt no matter how hard you try.”

With a sinister smile, Kakyu summoned demon wings, horns, and a tail, inviting Ars to come at him.

Provoked to this extent, even though his nature was straightforward, Ars couldn’t back down due to his competitive spirit. Fighting seemed to be the only option left.

It was a cunning way to provoke his son, knowing his personality well. Truly dirty, just as expected from a lower-rank demon.

“…No matter what happens, I won’t let you win, Dad.”

“Heh heh… Quite confident, aren’t you? Well then, if you can even scratch me, I’ll praise you.”

Well, it would be impossible as things stood now.

Adding one last nerve-wracking remark, the two stared each other down.

On one side, an enraged hero on the verge of activating his golden eyes and transforming his aura into a sword.

On the other, a lower-rank demon with nothing but composure, as if saying he would indulge his opponent by switching to Devil Mode.

And thus, the first move was made──.

“Oops, slipped.”

“Gahh!? W-Wait, isn’t that a bit too dirty for someone who’s so composed!?”

No, of course not. Strangely, it was Kakyu, the lower-rank demon, who initiated the attack. He took advantage of his son’s concentration on their standoff, teleported a magic bullet behind him, and aimed for the back of his head.

Dirty, incredibly dirty. It seemed like he was conceding the first move, but in reality, he was aiming for a preemptive strike…!

“What’s dirty about it? Sneak attacks like this are common practice in Dad’s homeland.”

“Dad’s homeland…?”

But perhaps the preemptive strike was just meant as a greeting. Ars, who hadn’t taken much damage, regained his composure and once again poised his sword.

Draped in golden aura, Ars closed the distance in an instant and swung his sword with full force towards his smirking father.

“Brave Blade!!”

“Very well. Then, Devil Blade.”

“Hah!?”

With a grating metallic sound, the red-black demonic sword blocked the golden sword. The demonic sword, much like Ars’s golden sword, was formed from condensed aura, shrouded in mystery. However, it was clear that it contained energy that Ars’s current level of Brave Engine power couldn’t overcome.

As evidence, the red-black demonic sword gradually pushed back the golden sword, eventually shattering it into pieces.

“I’m not satisfied with just this. Come at me with that so-called berserk state of yours without holding back. I’ll knock you down solidly.”

“Kuh…! If you say so…! It’s too late for regrets now, Dad!”

Taking the provocation to heart, Ars’s emotions surged. He recalled the sense of powerlessness from not being able to save that boy and the malice of the demons that destroyed the village, plunging into a berserk state. Black lightning surged around him, darting relentlessly towards his target, Kakyu.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!”

“Hohoho… That’s something…”

“… Completely incomprehensible.”

Immediately after, Kakyu, with a single swing of his demonic sword, dispelled all the lightning. He reached Ars, who was in a state of frenzy, and delivered a serious blow to his solar plexus.

The merciless impact instantly brought Ars back to his senses. He gasped for air, overwhelmed by the serious damage.

“Sigh, honestly. Are you satisfied now? To think you were joking about injuring others with this level of power, my dear son. If anything, you’re much stronger when you control the power of your eyes as usual, a hundred times stronger.”

“T-That’s…”

“Moreover, your true ability isn’t about harming others. Think about the people you’ve saved with that power… For example, this.”

Before his son, still reeling from the powerful punch, Kakyu pulled out a mysterious item and began to speak. The item projected various scenes from Ars’s journey where he had saved people.

The first scene showed a boy in the Kingdom of Rulans, about to be run over by a carriage. After being saved, he aspired to become like that hero who saved him, swinging his wooden sword every day, aspiring to become an adventurer. The sword already held the flame of justice and courage, depicting the image of a future hero.

The second person was the jeweler and his daughter. Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth…

One by one, the smiles of the people Ars had helped and their subsequent progress flashed before him. Indeed, there were people who had been saved by Ars’s journey, and not just a few; they had become a mighty force enveloping the Southern Continent with flames of courage.

“Everyone…”

“Well, Ars, do you understand now? Your journey, your power, has continued to save so many people. And yet, here I am, your father, taking a nap, and you’re talking nonsense about losing control. What’s the point of worrying about the power of those golden eyes? You have the ability to harness it with your own will.”

Harness the power of the golden eyes with your will. That’s something you should be able to do.

Emotions, after all, are determined and controlled by will. In short, whether or not there’s a berserk episode depends entirely on the individual’s will.

Therefore, what Ars lacked at the moment was the courage to overcome fear. Perhaps, consumed by the fear of potentially hurting others in the unlikely event of such an episode, he had overlooked the need to muster the courage to confront himself. Hence, Ars’s recent outburst was nothing more than that of a defeated dog, fleeing from confronting himself, and that was why no attack had any effect.

“I see… I guess I’ve been losing to myself without realizing it…”

“Well, that’s how it is. If you understand, then go back to your friends.”

“… They were watching your battle nearby and seemed worried about you.”

With just that parting remark, Kakyu had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

“Thank you, Dad. I’ve awakened a little. I won’t lose to myself anymore.”

Ars bowed deeply in the direction where his father’s voice had disappeared, his face devoid of the timid expression from earlier…