Vol 1 Chapter 40 – Conclusion【Vol 1: The Beastkin Hero Arc】

“—I’m surprised. Truly surprised… You’re telling me your Brave Skill can mimic the Brave Skills of others?”

The two knights, both housing the spirit beasts of dragons within their bodies, faced each other. In response to Helmis’s question, Allen nodded his head.

“Exactly. To be precise, I can use the abilities of every single person who has ever been appointed as a World Knight throughout history.”

“…So that is the reason you’re hailed as the Knight of Knights. Because of your noble spirit and that ability.”

The former was just an act, but the latter was spot on.

However, not everyone who possessed a Brave Core was chosen to be a World Knight. Beast King Leon was one of them.

Furthermore, not everyone who possessed a Brave Core actually had a noble spirit.

Among the criminals Allen had fought in the past, there were those who harbored Brave Cores. Naturally, he couldn’t mimic the abilities of people like that.

“I see. But you made a mistake. A copy can never surpass the original. In the end, it’s just monkey-see, monkey-do. There is no way you can defeat me using my own ability.”

“…Try me and find out.”

At Allen’s words, Helmis drew the crimson sword strapped to his waist. Fire erupted from the blade.

“Enchantment: Breath of the Fire Dragon.”

It seemed that in this form, Helmis was also able to use enchantments.

If that was the case, then Allen could use them, too.

“Enchantment: Curse of the Black Dragon.”

Black flames coiled around the blade of the Thunder Annihilation Sword.

(…This feels somehow disgusting.)

(Just bear with it. I don’t plan on dragging this out.)

(Indeed.)

Allen still only understood his current situation intuitively.

The only thing he knew for sure was that Geofried’s emotions were flowing into him.

He wanted to rampage. An uncontrollable urge to destroy.

The pent-up frustration of constantly being stuffed inside a frog’s stomach. His dissatisfaction with Allen.

Pay more attention to me. Rely on me more. I want to fight more. I want to kill more enemies.

(…Sorry, Geofried. Even back when I was a World Knight, all I wanted was a peaceful life. But you’re different, aren’t you? You wanted those days of endless conflict to last forever.)

The only reason he had patiently obeyed until now was surely out of his affection for Allen.

(For right now, you don’t need to suppress those urges. Let them loose!)

“Here I come, Helmis!”

“Bring it, Allen!”

Piercing through the clouds, the two of them clashed swords time and time again as they soared through the sky. Their speed was approaching the speed of sound, making it impossible for the naked eye to track them.

Looking up at the vast sky from the balcony of his own castle, Beast King Leon and his children could only make out a crimson flash and a black flash violently colliding with one another.

“Ghk.”

“Fuhaha, as I said, it is impossible to surpass the original!”

Losing out in a clash of blades, Allen took a kick to the stomach and was sent flying.

The moment he managed to regain his posture in mid-air, his vision was dyed scarlet.

A heat ray was fired from Helmis’s flame-clad sword. When Allen deflected the heat ray with the Thunder Annihilation Sword wrapped in black flames, a massive fissure instantly formed on the earth below.

The fissure was so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen. It was one thing if it was aimed at Allen, but if it were directed at the royal capital, there would undoubtedly be casualties.

“This time, I will use an output you cannot block.”

“…Then I’ll do the same.”

“What?”

Allen consumed even more Renown Power, drawing out more of Geofried’s strength. Right now, he was at about 30%. Based on how they’d fought so far, Helmis was probably around 40%.

The golden aura was consumed. The jet-black armor enveloping Allen’s body mutated, taking on an even more ominous form.

Furthermore, the volume of flames erupting from the sword increased, and his cape evolved to resemble dragon wings.

Output: 50%.

“…What is that form…!?”

“—Here I come.”

In an instant, Allen’s figure vanished. Barely able to track his movements, Helmis swung his flaming sword behind him.

However, he couldn’t follow through with the swing. Allen’s right hand had caught the blade, stopping it dead in empty space. It wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Impossible!”

“Payback for earlier.”

This time, Allen launched a kick. It landed a direct hit on Helmis’s stomach, creating a creaaak as cracks formed in his armor.

He was sent flying as he was, unable to even adjust his posture in mid-air, crashing straight into the snowy mountains on the ground. A tremendous roar echoed, followed immediately by an avalanche.

“This is payback, too.”

Without a moment’s delay, a black heat ray fired from Allen’s sword. That heat ray split into several beams in mid-air, raining down endlessly upon Helmis on the ground like a torrential downpour.

“Don’t underestimate me, Allen!”

He somehow managed to evade them, but the black flames relentlessly tracked Helmis. Helmis desperately slashed away at the countless ribbons of fire, but the ferocity of the attack only intensified.

“Is your mana pool bottomless!?”

“…Unfortunately for you, I’m not consuming mana.”

“What!?”

Using his dragon wings, Allen dove rapidly and closed the distance on Helmis, who let out a muffled voice of astonishment from within his helmet.

As Helmis was preoccupied with dealing with the black flames, Allen caught his desperate, sweeping slash, pushed straight through it, and cut him down, destroying his sword in the process.

The blade of the flaming sword danced into the sky.

And then, Allen pierced Helmis’s defenseless body with his sword.

“…Ghk, damn it…”

Helmis’s crimson armor dispersed into mist, and he fell to one knee, coughing up blood. Nearby, Bloodcliff had collapsed in a battered state.

The ability had been deactivated.

The match was settled.

“…Why did I… the original… lose using the exact same ability…?”

“…The reason, huh.”

Even with this outcome, Allen acknowledged Helmis’s strength. Even among Brave Core holders, there was a clear hierarchy in class.

Among all the abilities of the successive generations of World Knights that Allen could use, Helmis’s power ranked incredibly high.

He was undoubtedly on a completely different level of strength compared to the artificial heroes. Among all the enemies Allen had fought up until now, his power might be second only to the Demon King.

He had managed to overwhelm the Demon King by massively boosting his physical abilities with Asmodeus’s power and subsequently using a Brave Skill, but if he had only used one or the other, it would have been a tough fight.

However, the moment he became a World Knight, Helmis was likely destined to never be able to defeat Allen in his entire life.

“—Unfortunately, it is impossible for you to beat me in sheer ability output, Helmis. Even I don’t know why my Renown Power keeps increasing like this.”

“What are you talking about…”

Well, he probably couldn’t understand. Renown Power was something only Allen could perceive, after all.

And the only one who could consume Renown Power to wield strength was Allen’s Brave Core—the Knight of Knights Core.

“Anyway, the war ends here.”

Allen brought the purplish-blue longsword close to Helmis’s neck.

“…Wait, Allen…”

While clutching his blood-soaked chest, Helmis grabbed Allen’s sword with his other hand. Blood spilled from that hand as well.

“…What? You don’t want to take responsibility for ruining another country?”

Allen looked down at him with a cold gaze, but Helmis didn’t flinch.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“…What?”

“…Even if I die, the artificial heroes will continue to be produced. The nations of the world are obsessed with that power. His Majesty will continue to harbor his ambitions.”

“…”

“If you want to stop that, you have to kill Shedim. I’ll tell you where he is. So let me go.”

He had a point. He had a point, but…

“…There’s a chance you’re lying. Besides, I didn’t kill Null or Vier. I can just get the information out of them.”

“They are in a location those two know nothing about. Only I know. If you miss this chance, you will permanently lose any leads on Shedim.”

Allen thought deeply, then lowered his sword.

“…Then you’ll have to accept my conditions, too.”

Ultimately, the reason the Holy King had harbored these ambitions was because he had secured a military force to replace the disobedient World Knights.

In other words, if he stopped the production of that military force, they wouldn’t be able to do anything further.

And most importantly, Allen hadn’t given up on his slow life just yet!

“—Keep your mouth shut about my survival to the Holy King. Helmis, you were defeated by the masked mercenary, Noir.”

Declaring that, Allen deactivated his ability, then pulled out his voice-altering mask from his coat and hid his true face.