Vol 1 Chapter 17 – I Have No Choice But to Get Serious【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

Flavorus was giving off an intense thirst for blood.

She seemed completely enraged that her young had been killed. Six sharp, sword-like protrusions shot out from his—or her—back, whipping forward to pierce right through Eamon’s mansion.

The sound of destruction and a violent tremor assaulted the two men inside the room.

“…Branford. What will happen to… this village we grew up in…?”

Eamon looked over with a lonely gaze, resignation bleeding into his expression.

“We’ll do everything we can…!”

The former knight poured strength into his trembling fists and gave a firm nod.

He leaped out the window, gripping the hilt of the buster sword on his back.

“…Tee-hee, to think a single insect would dare stand against me… Oh?”

Flavorus cut her words short, swaying the antennae growing from her head from side to side.

“I remember you. You’re Branford, commander of the Azure Sword Knights, right? I wonder why you’re in a frontier village like this.”

“…This village is my home…! More importantly, why are you still alive…!? You were supposed to have been slain by Leonhardt-sama!”

Flavorus stroked one of her four compound eyes with an arm encased in an armor-like carapace.

“Right… Leonhardt… Because of that hateful woman… I sustained these injuries and was forced to flee all the way to the frontier… Adult members of the Parashell Tribe are nearly indistinguishable from me. Thanks to hiding among the corpses of my children who were flattened in a single strike, I alone managed to survive.”

And so I dug through the earth, Flavorus forcefully drove the protrusions on her back into the ground.

“Because of the Obsidian Knight, the Demon Lord-sama was slain, and with the death of the Eight Demon Generals’ World-Severer, we demons can no longer return to the Demon Continent either. But, you see, I haven’t given up yet. Out here on the frontier where no one will notice, I’ll quietly rebuild my forces and revive the Demon Lord’s Army. And I won’t let you get in my way!”

In a single breath, Flavorus closed the distance.

Despite her massive size, she was terrifyingly agile.

“Combat Skill: Overlord Slash!”

However, the full-powered strike, infused with mana, was repelled by Flavorus’s carapace-covered arm.

It only left a shallow scratch; she was absurdly hard.

“Even injured, I’m not so weak as to lose to a single human.”

His beloved sword deflected, Branford’s posture crumbled.

Flavorus’s diamond-shaped mouth closed in on his head.

She was trying to eat him.

“Combat Skill: Gale Sprint.”

A few strands of his hair were bitten off, but at the very last second, he concentrated his mana into his legs and expelled it forcefully from the soles of his feet.

Branford temporarily drew out a speed beyond his normal limits and dodged, but—

“Too bad. You can’t escape.”

The elastic, sword-like protrusions shot out rapidly from Flavorus’s back once again.

Their sharpened tips tore through the wind, tracking Branford down.

Against those six blades,

“—Combat Skill: Eightfold Severing Strikes.”

With eight slashes unleashed in an instant, he barely managed to deflect Flavorus’s attack and throw it off its trajectory.

However, despite it being a Combat Skill meant to cut targets to ribbons, every strike was blocked by the carapace and failed to reach her flesh. Deflecting them was the best he could do.

The enemy’s carapace clashed against his sword.

Sparks flew, and his sword began to chip. In contrast, his opponent was completely unscathed.

(She’s injured… and still this strong!?)

Flavorus’s onslaught grew increasingly fierce, leaving him no time to even breathe.

She whipped her elastic protrusions, spinning them at high speed and bringing them crashing down onto Branford over and over.

One grazed his cheek, sending blood spraying. His flank was gouged. The hand gripping his sword was going numb. His grip strength was failing.

“You held out tolerably well.”

“Gah!”

Flavorus attacked, and Branford desperately deflected. That stalemate didn’t last long.

Finally, his greatsword was knocked away, leaving him unarmed.

“As expected of the top of a nation’s military. You did quite well for a human.”

Flavorus casually swung an arm armed with long, sharp claws.

Right before those claws could decapitate Branford,

“—That was a close call.”

A masked mercenary, appearing from out of nowhere, pierced Flavorus from behind, aiming squarely at the old wound on her abdomen.

*　　　*　　　*

Immediately after slipping into the village, the first thing Allen saw was Branford fighting a demon.

And her strength wasn’t that of an ordinary demon.

Every World Knight had been given a dossier compiling information on the Demon Lord’s confidants who had invaded nations across the world—the Eight Demon Generals.

He recalled that the appearance of the demon before his eyes bore a striking resemblance to one of the figures in that dossier.

(…You’re my disciple, Leonhardt, but you’re too careless. You said it was an easy win, but come on, confirm the kill properly…)

It was the absolute worst-case scenario.

He just wanted to be a NEET.

He just wanted to live a quiet, carefree life in a rural village.

What were the odds that the village he happened to wander into was being controlled by one of the Eight Demon Generals who just happened to survive?

Calling it bad luck was an understatement.

“Kyaaaaaaa!?”

The insect monster let out a high-pitched, girlish scream in response to Allen’s surprise attack.

To be blunt, it was gross.

Blood dripped from her abdomen, but Allen knew a wound like that wouldn’t be enough to kill her.

Without a moment’s delay, the sharply pointed protrusions on her back swung toward Allen.

He pulled his sword out and rolled away to dodge, letting the attack dig deeply into the earth instead.

Allen immediately stood up, grabbed the stunned Branford by the scruff of the neck, and forcefully dragged him back to gain some distance.

“—So you came… You’re a reckless youth.”

Sounding somewhat exasperated, Branford smiled bitterly as he pressed a hand against his bleeding flank.

“Noir-dono, I thank you for saving my life, but… you need to fall back immediately! I need you to rush to the Central Capital and inform them that the Eight Demon Generals’ Parasitic Eater is still alive!”

“…So that thing really is a Demon General.”

“Yes, it is. I’ll hold it back somehow, so please make good use of the time I buy. If we stay, we’ll both go down.”

“…No, Branford. Don’t give up, aim for the old wound. You can win. You can defeat her.”

Allen desperately pleaded with him.

If Branford didn’t defeat her here and now, it would be a huge problem.

If Allen went all out, his true identity would be revealed. That was the one thing he absolutely wanted to avoid. And because he wanted to avoid it so badly, he needed Branford to kill her.

However,

“No, it’s impossible for me.”

Branford bit his lip in frustration.

Glancing at Branford’s flank, where blood flowed out in a pulsing stream, Allen made the exact same frustrated expression beneath his mask.

“I won’t forgive you! I’ll torture you to death! Gather, my precious, lovely children!”

Following her command, every resident of the village stepped out of their homes and began marching toward the plaza where Allen and the others were fighting.

All of them had the whites of their eyes exposed, shuffling forward with a ghost-like gait.

Yet, without exception, tears were streaming from their eyes.

“…Uh, what’s going on here?”

Allen accidentally broke character.

Branford explained concisely.

“Their bodies have been taken over by Flavorus’s young… Once they reach that state, the only option is to kill the villagers along with the parasites inside them…”

Allen cast his gaze around the area.

“…To think you still had an ally. And to think I’d be injured by a mere commoner, not even a hero.”

Looking thoroughly annoyed, Flavorus stroked the hole in her abdomen.

The wound was already starting to heal, emitting a faint white smoke as it closed.

Against enemies on the level of the Eight Demon Generals, attacks that didn’t utilize an ancient artifact were practically useless.

“Well, whatever. Playtime is over. Now, my children. Control your hosts and kill these two.”

Surrounded on all four sides by the villagers, they faced a completely composed demon right in front of them.

“…I’ll buy you as much time as I can…! So please, Noir-dono, you have to run—”

Branford stepped forward with a desperate look on his face, but Allen placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What are you doing, Noir-dono!? Hurry!!”

Allen let out a sigh.

Branford, the villagers—if Allen didn’t do something right now, they would all be massacred.

The demon would survive, assault some other town, and give birth to another tragedy.

To stop that future from happening, he had no choice but to use it. His power as Allen Norsh.

(More than anything, cleaning up my disciple’s mess is my responsibility as his master.)

“—Branford. And you people living in this village. You are forbidden from speaking a word of what is about to happen.”

“…?”

Branford was merely confused.

Even the villagers, whose bodies were being controlled but still retained their consciousness, could only tilt their heads in internal bewilderment.

Flavorus mocked him, letting out a snicker,

“What’s a lowly mercenary acting so tough for?”

“…You’re the one acting tough.”

Before anyone realized, an adorable little girl with violet-blue hair, Asmodeus, was standing right beside Allen.

She let out a soft tee-hee, and held Allen’s hand.

Instantly, her body transformed into particles of light.

Within his hand, the particles began to reconstruct themselves into the shape of a sword.

“W-What…? A person turned into a sword—”

“…Have you ever seen a Sin Armament?”

Allen smiled fearlessly.

Upon seeing the fully manifested blade, Flavorus couldn’t help but stagger backward.

“…W-Why… why do you have that sword…!?”

It was the Lightning Annihilator Sword Asmodeus.

A beautiful longsword with a blade dyed in violet-blue.

Resting on one knee, Branford lost his words.

“…N-No way… you are… no, You are…”

The seven weapons known as the Sin Armaments.

Commanding and wielding one of those blades was the First Seat of the World Knights, the hero hailed as the Obsidian Knight, Allen Norsh.

Thick clouds rolled over the brightly shining moon, and thunder began to rumble.

“T-There’s no mistaking it…! That sword that commands violet lightning… Why do you have it…!?”

Staggering back, Flavorus tangled her feet and fell on her rear.

While everyone stared at Allen in wide-eyed shock, the hero was entirely focused on thinking up an excuse for why he was still alive.