Vol 1 Chapter 8 – M-Murderer!

Keith had never once fought for anyone but himself.

An extraordinary power—a strength that crushed all opposition.

Using that strength for his own sake was only natural, and no one had ever blamed him for it.

What was wrong with wielding his own power for his own benefit?

Among demons—who, while not entirely ruled by might-makes-right, still placed enormous weight on strength—that mindset was commonplace.

Hardly anyone ever said something as soft as “for the sake of others.”

And so Keith had lived however he pleased, spending his power only on himself.

Until now…

“I’m going to kill you—for the sake of my fellow demons!”

For the first time in his life, Keith was about to use his power for someone else.

He would annihilate the threat before his eyes.

The man called himself a “Hero,” yet in truth he was a “Madman.”

Driven by some vague, senseless instinct, he branded others as evil and tried to kill them without a hint of hesitation.

No sane person would act like that.

If Keith fell here—or rather, if this man were allowed to run free—

He would bare his fangs at demons under the incomprehensible logic that all things demonic are evil.

Countless demons would fall to this monster’s hand.

(I’ve never cared what happens to total strangers, and yet…)

Was it demon pride? Apparently some faint trace of that still lingered inside him.

(I will not let a human slaughter demons.)

“Ooooooooohhhhh!!”

He poured his mana into the sphere of lightning until it was on the verge of bursting.

His own magical power drained away at an alarming rate.

Even if he won this fight, he would almost certainly be left with lasting damage.

Even so, Keith never stopped feeding the spell.

Defeat the colossal enemy before him.

If that cost him his body, so be it.

“Whoa, that’s insane. If that thing hit me, I’d be vaporized without a trace.”

Hannah had already carried Rasha to what she thought was a safe distance.

But if that lightning detonated, even distance wouldn’t guarantee safety.

“Crap. How do we even run from something like that…?”

“It might… be all right.”

“Huh?”

Rasha spoke to the anxious Hannah.

Her eyes were fixed on Alvarado, who faced the massive thunderhead without flinching.

“Because that man really is strong.”

Yet in Rasha’s sight, Alvarado didn’t meet Keith’s fighting spirit in kind.

Instead, he nodded over and over, as if he understood.

“I see. I can tell how hard you’ve honed this magic. It’s magnificent—truly worthy of admiration. If only you had walked the path of justice instead of evil, from the bottom of my heart I would have welcomed you.”

“You’ve already labeled me evil just because I’m a demon. What do you expect me to do? Apologize for being born? You’re a first-class bigot, you know that…?”

The Holy Sword eyed him with genuine exasperation.

How in the world had she ended up being wielded by this man? The question plagued her.

So this is the heart of justice and righteousness…?

Ignoring the spirit’s words, Alvarado gave a small laugh.

“Therefore I, too, will face you earnestly—head-on. I will kill you.”

“Wow, a verbal murder notice, huh…”

The “Final Boss” announcement made the Holy Sword’s cheeks twitch.

“Hah! Try it if you can, human!!”

Keith finally stopped pouring mana into the sphere.

It already contained enough power to explode at any moment.

It roared “gogogogo”, its shape warping “wobble wobble” so violently it could scarcely hold together.

“Ooooooooohhh!!”

Keith roared.

At the same time, countless bolts of lightning erupted from the sphere.

They struck almost indiscriminately, tearing the surroundings apart.

A blinding flash flooded the area, bright enough to force eyes shut.

The thunder that followed assaulted their ears, threatening to rupture eardrums.

Not even Keith could keep control of it anymore.

The lightning lanced out, leveling nearby buildings in a single stroke.

“W-wah!?”

“Kya!”

Even Hannah and Rasha, watching from afar, were lashed by the violent discharge.

Such overwhelming destructive force.

Faced with that fury, Alvarado slowly raised the Holy Sword over his shoulder…

“Hnngh!!”

…and swung her down.

The Holy Sword did not grant him her power.

At this moment she was just a normal blade—razor-sharp and nearly unbreakable, but ordinary.

Therefore, what he had just done was nothing special.

He had simply swung a sword.

That was all.

Yet that trivial stroke cleaved apart the raging sphere that had been about to ravage everything around it.

――――――

Beneath it, the body that had supported the spell—Keith—erupted in a spray of blood.

A massive chunk of him was gouged away, and he collapsed onto the ground.

“One more deed of justice accomplished.”

Alvarado nodded, satisfied.

◆

Al stood beside me, legs braced wide like a guardian statue.

The demon man lay face-down on the ground.

…M-murderer!

Well, I am that kind of weapon, so I suppose it’s only natural…

Even so, it has to be said.

M-murderer!

I mean, Al is seriously strong.

Like he himself admitted, demons are generally stronger than humans.

Sure, sometimes they get cocky and let their guard down, but this guy hadn’t—after the first moments he came at Al with everything he had.

And still Al finished it with a single swing.

Honestly…

“If he’d at least gotten badly hurt in this fight, I might have found a way to escape eventually…”

I haven’t given up on running away from Al.

Staring off into the distance, I watched the two women approaching from afar.