Pawahara Seijo no Osananajimi to Zetsuen Shitara, Nanimokamo ga Umaku Iku Yō ni Natte Saikyō no Bōke

[The Hero Who Vanquishes Evil]

“Guoah!”

――Clang!

“Gh!?”

I blocked the attack of a guard who had transformed into a monster with dual swords Hinokaguzuchi.

But its physical strength was actually equal to that of a real monster, so I immediately turned his attack sideways and, at the same time, had Hinokaguzuchi turned into a spear, before sending out a thrust with the handle.

“Geez, what’s the deal with these guys!?” shouted Ophir.

Arca said in response, “Just focus on immobilizing them for now! Breaking one of their legs should do. That way, it won’t be too hard to treat them!”

“Even if you say so… kya!?” cried Magmell, a monster creeping upon her from behind.

Zana struck it and said, “Don’t let your guard down! These people have completely lost their reason!”

The girls seemed having a hard time, and they all had a sour face as if having consumed a bitter bug.

Meanwhile, King Vale, who still had a smile on his face and an air of composure about him, tilted his head, and said, “Oya? Why wouldn’t you just kill them?”

The wounds we inflicted on him earlier all had completely closed, it seemed.

He probably had incorporated some monster with high regenerative power, too.

“Of course we wouldn’t!? These people were humans until just a while ago!?”

“But they are currently nothing but monsters. Heinous and vicious monsters that attack humans—there is no need to hesitate when dealing with them, is there?”

“That would only be the case when it comes to you!?”

Blaze! Being cladded in Vermillion Bird Form, I slashed at King Vale with a single-edged sword.

But.

――Slash!

“Gigeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

“—Wha!?”

Just before the sword landed, a monster wedged itself in between us.

――Yes, it became shield

As I was dumbfounded at the large-built monster who collapsed with a thud, King Vale said with unperturbed smile, “It is natural for a soldier to protect his king even if it means sacrificing his own life. His end was wonderful. I shall send a compensation to the family he left later.”

“You…”

――Blaze!

Flame overflowed from all over my body as if responding to my anger.

Then, King Vale said as if he just recalled something, “Oh, come to think of it, you have the power to resurrect the dead. Then you can resurrect him, can’t you? Yeah, that’s a good idea. I mean, that way his family will not have to be sad, and once he fully recovers, he can protect me again. What do you think?”

“……”

――I got it now.

This King… no, this jerk was no human.

He was just a—‘fiend’!

So I made my decision,

“…Yeah, I think I will. But—that’ll only come after I kill you!”

That right here and right now—I’d take down this man!

◇ ◇

――Bang!

After breaking through the wall of the throne room and flying outside, we both flapped our wings and glared at each other under the full moon.

Vale’s wings were broad like those of a Flying Dragon, they looked slightly disproportionate to his lean body.

“These wings are beautiful, don’t you think? I went through great amount of trouble to obtain this power, you know? Even after we obtained the technology to incorporate monster’s cell into a human’s body, we still had to do countless hours of research to find a way for a human’s body to adapt to the monster’s cell.”

“And you had innocent people become the test subjects!?”

“That’s not the case. I had them become the foundation of their beloved homeland. It is only thanks to their precious sacrifice that I’m now able to wield this power and the people you fought earlier were able to escape the fate of death.”

He probably had used the technology on them by tricking them into believing that it was for treating illness or something.

But, given Vale’s regenerative power, it wouldn’t be strange if that was possible.

“Even if that was the case, you’ve now turned them into monsters!?”

“That’s because you and your companions tried to kill me.”

“What!?”

“If you hadn’t gotten in my way, they would have spent the rest of their lives as humans. —Yes, if only you didn’t get in my way.”

“Kh…”

True, as Vale said, those people were turned into monsters because we had drove him into a corner.

But—.

“Your way is wrong! That’s no way to save people! You’re just increasing pawns that’re useful to you!”

“Good grief, we can’t come to an agreement, it seems. It’s unfortunate. With your help, together we could’ve created a peaceful world.”

As he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, Vale’s appearance gradually went through a transformation.

His skin took a black color, his body enlarged, and something like exoskeleton appeared and covered all parts of his body; he seemingly became a dragon in the shape of human.

“In the past, I couldn’t control my power and my body enlarged out of control, but—now it’s different. That is because I’m the ‘Demon King’—the king who rules all monsters.”

“…Really? Then as the world’s strongest man, the agent of god, and the hero of salvation—the ‘Brave’, I’ll vanquish you!”

And so, our battle began.