Vol 1 Chapter 48 – I’m Still Gonna Punch You, Though

“L-Love…?”

This might have been the first time in Alan’s life that he had ever worn such a dumbfounded expression.

Words he had never expected had just flown from Melia’s lips.

Moreover, she had said them—words one would normally feel shame in saying so openly—as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Completely oblivious to the incredulous way Alan was staring at her, Melia continued to speak with giddy excitement.

“Yes, love. It is the most precious and wonderful thing in this world!”

Her eyes spun as she spoke, making her look like a religious zealot.

In this world, religion held a considerable amount of power, so Alan had seen his share of such people before.

And right now, Melia felt just like one of them.

“It is because of love that the world has developed as it has! People are born by loving one another, their growth is spurred by being given love, and then they become the ones who give love. At the center of everything in this world, there is love!”

“Uh, yeah… umm…”

Alan chewed on Melia’s words, swallowed, and came to a conclusion.

“What’s with you? You’re kinda creepy…”

“…I knew you wouldn’t understand. You are, after all, quite selfish. However, since you also surround yourself with many women, I had held out a sliver of hope.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m surrounding myself with them because I want love or something…”

It was a problem, having his actions, which were born from a much more primitive desire, rephrased with pretty words like “love” and “romance.”

So this is the kind of person Melia is…

He’d barely interacted with her until now because their personalities were a complete mismatch, and this just reaffirmed that he’d made the right choice.

It was supposed to be Ruru who drew the short straw like this…

An image of Ruru snapping flashed in his mind, but he shook it away and looked at Melia.

“Ah… I can’t believe a Hero fell for a honey trap. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you don’t actually enjoy life like I do.”

A total honey trap.

He figured there might be a different term for it when the target was a woman, but Alan couldn’t be bothered to think about it.

If she was planting bombs in a city on the front lines, then the enemy had to be demons… the Demon Lord’s army.

How was he supposed to explain to the bigwigs of humanity that one of the Heroes had been taken down by a honey trap?

Well, that part’s Ruru’s job, anyway, he decided, foisting the responsibility onto her.

He had no intention of babysitting her that much.

If anything, the fact that he was here now, trying to at least retrieve the Holy Sword, was him being a pretty great Hero.

“This is no honey trap! I… We… have a true love…!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard enough. For now, I’ll spare you the killing. A Holy Sword wielder is a rare thing, after all. But I’m still gonna beat the hell out of you and throw you in a dungeon, so be ready for it.”

As Melia’s anger exploded, Alan declared that he had nothing more to say.

Let’s just get this over with. Talking to psychos is exhausting.

It was the whole reason he kept his distance from Antares…

In response, Melia turned eyes filled with killing intent on Alan.

“There is no way I could lose to the likes of you, who knows nothing of love. All who stand in my way shall be killed.”

◆

The battle between Alan and Melia unfolded with a fierce and spectacular intensity, destroying buildings as they fought.

They clashed as Heroes, each wielding a Holy Sword.

Their power was truly immense, and they showed not a shred of hesitation in using it.

Because their heads weren’t so far in the clouds that they thought they could defeat their opponent without using their Holy Sword’s abilities.

The one fortunate thing was that the noise Alvarado had caused had made most of the residents vanish.

If not for that, the aftershocks of the battle between these two Heroes would have undoubtedly claimed hundreds of victims.

“Tch! It’s a real pain when you just jump around all over the place…”

It wasn’t exactly a fierce exchange of sword blows.

Their Holy Swords almost never met.

Or rather, that only happened when Alan was defending against Melia’s attacks.

In truth, while he launched his own attacks, he never came close to actually catching Melia.

“Seriously, this is annoying! Fight me fair and square!”

“The words ‘fair and square’ are the last words that would ever suit you.”

Melia showed an involuntary, bitter smile.

Seeing it as an opening, Alan rushed her furiously.

Cowardly? Who gives a damn.

His speed was something to behold; most would be cut down, unable to do a thing.

However, Melia calmly swung her sword into the empty air.

A rift appeared, as if she had sliced through something soft, and Melia jumped into it.

In an instant, it was as if no one had ever been standing there at all.

“Guah!?”

Alan somehow managed to block the Holy Sword that attacked him from a blind spot.

It had been a repeat of this, over and over again.

“Ouch…”

Though he could defend against a fatal blow, he couldn’t completely prevent the minor cuts that grazed his skin.

It was Alan whose damage was accumulating.

“Your Holy Sword’s power is a real pain in the ass.”

“It’s a rather difficult ability to use without effort and training, you know?”

Melia said with a wry smile.

Her Holy Sword’s power was the ability to slice through space and enter the rift.

By creating a subspace and staying within it, she was, of course, immune to attack.

She was, quite literally, in a different dimension.

Of course, if not handled properly, it was a dangerous power that could trap its user in that space, never to return.

In the past, many bearers of this Holy Sword had gone missing in just such a fashion, with only the sword itself ever returning.

“Your Holy Sword’s ability is quite impressive as well. Though it seems you’re fighting a losing battle.”

“That’s a hell of a thing to say… you little brat who can do nothing but run.”

Alan laughed, though his irritation was plain to see.

His body was covered in countless wounds.

Yes, it was covered.

Those wounds were healing at an impossibly high speed.

They recovered in the blink of an eye, to the point where it was hard to believe there had ever been a wound there in the first place.

This was the power of Alan’s Holy Sword: super-regeneration.

A minor wound like this would heal in less than ten seconds.

In other words, for him, anything less than a mortal wound… no, even a mortal wound was not enough to impede his movement.

“But you’re not entirely wrong. This is a battle of attrition. And in that case, I’m the one with the advantage. Get it? Moron.”

“…………”

Alan smirked.

Melia, on the other hand, wore a bitter expression.

What he said was true.

The power of Alan’s Holy Sword didn’t just heal physical wounds.

It could even restore things like stamina, which normally couldn’t be fixed even with magic.

That was precisely why he was one of the Heroes feared by the Demon Lord’s army.

“To you, this is enemy territory now. And at a time when every other Hero is gathered here. Lois is a wild card, but Ruru will come running when she figures out the situation, and before that, the absolute-justice freak Antares will show up. You plan on fighting multiple Heroes and winning?”

It wasn’t as if Alan had to defeat this woman with his power alone.

A clash between two Heroes.

The impact was great enough to be felt by the others, even far away.

With the help of the others who would rush over upon sensing the disturbance, Melia would be powerless.

…He chose to ignore the fact that, given his usual behavior, their attacks were just as likely to be aimed at him.

They couldn’t possibly be that stupid.

…Probably… hopefully…

“…I am not so arrogant as to think that.”

“Oh? What’re you gonna do? It’d help me out if you surrender quietly. Well, I’m still gonna punch you once, though.”

“To think you can so casually talk about hitting a woman… that’s just like you…”

He was a firm believer in gender equality.

He wouldn’t be satisfied unless Melia, who had dragged him into this goddamn mess, received her just deserts.

Thinking she had given up, Alan’s mood brightened.

But Melia just laughed it off.

“That’s fine. I was able to scatter the Heroes, your special war assets, so that is enough. For me, this is good enough for now. The catalyst is what’s important.”

“Huh? The hell are you talking abou—”

Cutting off Alan’s words, a massive explosion roared.

Simultaneously, multiple plumes of black smoke began to rise from all over the city.