[Offering the Poor King a Tribute of Flame]

“Oraaa!”

――Blaze!

“Haha, this is so fun! It’s been a while since I was this excited!”

Bang! Our attacks collided with each other, causing a shockwave.

We were currently in the middle of a fierce battle over a forest a short distance away from Lastall.

Before the battle, I’d tried asking him to change location as I didn’t want to damage the town, but Vale had surprisingly accepted the proposal.

I wasn’t sure if it was because he still had a conscience as a human, or because he didn’t want to reduce the number of his potential pawn.

But either way, it worked for me.

Because here, I could beat him without holding back.

Hence, I unleash all the power I had at present and launch an offensive on Vale.

And Vale too, unleashed all the powers of the monsters that he had incorporated into his body and attacked me with the intention to kill.

“Dragon’s Tail!”

――Bam!

“Guh!?”

The hard dragon’s tail came to attack me like a whip.

I received it with a single-edged sword, causing my bones to creak. I then immediately flapped my wings and closed in on Vale.

“Tempest Break!”

――Slash!

“Guo!?”

Vale tried to block my axe with his left arm, yet my axe cut through it, carving a slash into his chest.

As expected of Ophir’s special move—an attribute Combat Art taught by the goddess of wind.

“To think you can cut my arm, which is as tough as a Steel Dragon…

“However!” the moment Vale yelled, his arm immediately regrew and the wound on his chest closed, “You will not be able to kill me if this is all you have, you know? For I am buwah—!?”

In the middle of his speech, I smacked him in the face with a greatsword.

Sorry, but I was fighting with the intention to kill.

Don’t boast about your power with such a smug face.

“Pierce! Purifying Fangs of Light—Sunlight Vermillion!”

――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!?”

Following that, I launched Magmell’s special move, who possessed the rare skill 《Void Staff》, burning Vale’s tainted mind and body.

“Do you really have the spare time to speak nonsense? We’re in a battle now, you know?”

“Ha-haha, that is true, indeed…”

As expected, that pissed even Vale off.

Leisure was gone from his voice.

Then,

“—Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

“Wha!?”

――Bang!

A no motion Breath hit me directly, and a violent shockwave swept in all directions.

Even though I was immortal, the Breath still worked on me.

I knew he wouldn’t be taken down easily.

“Be smashed!”

Boom! As I had yet to regain my posture, Vale swung down a gigantified arm on me.

The ridiculously powerful arm that he displayed back in the castle.

But.

“Lunar Force—Meteorite!”

――BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNGGG!!

“Guooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!?”

I gritted my teeth and launched the “Spear” Saintess’s—Arca’s strongest move.

Back in Leolinea, she had released it in combination with the power of the Holy Spear, but the one I just released was still powerful enough to break through Vale’s strong attack.

“Haah, haah… you’re really strong… but sadly…” Vale tried to regenerate the right half of his body that was blown to bits by my attack.

But, did he really think I was going to give him the chance?

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!” I released a series of attacks with dual swords without even giving him time to catch his breath.

――Slash slash slash slash slash!

“Kh, that won’t work…!”

“Then—how about this!”

――Slash!

“—Wha!?”

I immediately spun my body around and swung down a single-edged sword while putting my weight behind it. The sword cut through Vale’s left arm that he held out in an attempt to block it and dug deep into his torso.

Without killing that momentum, I thrusted him towards the ground like a falling meteor.

But, baaaaaaaaaang! While trees were knocked down and a crater was created on the ground from the impact, he managed to hold out and continued his resistance.

He sure was tough, but—I wasn’t done yet.

“Uoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

――Blaze!

“Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

I followed up with a burst of flames, burning him from the inside.

I thought it would end with this but,

“This is, nowhere near enough to kill meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

――Gubaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

“—Wha!?”

All of a sudden, Vale’s body swelled up like something was trying to break out from the inside, before eerie and unpleasant things that could only be called strange… no, ‘bizarre’ burst out of his torso immediately after.

They ranged from heads of multiple monsters including a dragon to tentacles and crustacean legs.

Furthermore, among them I spotted things that looked like human mouths; he had become a true monster now.

“Is this thing really the figure of king you want to become…?”

“Ge, ge ge… killss… kills…”

Perhaps he had lost his reasoning as he seemed unable to understand my words.

“…I see. Then, I no longer need to hesitate.” I said quietly to myself, before soaring high into the sky.

After which, I turned Hinokaguzuchi into a bow and slowly aimed at the being that was once Vale.

He was still muttering indiscernible words.

To think he would end up like this, he himself must’ve never expected it, either.

However, this was the end.

“—Phalanx Blow!”

――Boom boom boom boom boom!

I mustered all my power and released Zana’s Phalanx Blow toward the being that was once Vale continuously.

“Gigeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

Being barraged by Phalanx Blow, his body had no time to regenerate and destroyed to the point of being unrecognizable. Still, I didn’t stop and continued to release Phalanx Blow.

I of course knew that doing this wouldn’t undo the sadness that Zana had been through.

However, I at least wanted to vent her anger at Vale in her stead.

“Kh…!?”

After Vale became almost nothing but a lump of meat, I stopped, went down and stood in front of him.

Even in this state, he was still breathing.

Perhaps his strong attachment to living kept him barely alive.

At that moment,

――Stab!

“……”

Tentacles extending from the lump of meat pierced my right shoulder and abdomen.

At the same time, a muffled laughter came from the lump of meat.

“K-kuku… that’s, right… I just have to, incorporate your body… Then, I can, become, stronger…”

“……”

It appeared that he regained his ego at the very last moment.

I wondered why he tried to seek strength to the point of becoming like this.

……No, let’s stop thinking about it.

Even if he had his own reason, what he did was unforgivable. I couldn’t give him a second chance like I did King Zestgard.

Blaze! The tentacles stuck in my body burned down, the flames then spread from the tentacles to the lump of meat.

“—Gah!?”

“Stop resisting. Right now, I’m like flame itself. Hence, you won’t be able to incorporate my cells.”

“Agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

“And, you’re mistaking one thing. Monsters will never acknowledge a human as their king. The monsters merely used you as nothing but a seedbed. Take a closer look at yourself. There’s no way you can be a king with such an ugly form.”

“Y-you’re, lying… I’m, the king of…!?”

“Die and take your regrets along with you. No worries, I’ll offer you the minimum tribute. I’ll send you to the afterworld with a brilliant cremation, though you may prefer a burial.”

Blaze! I let out a small breath as I increased the intensity of the flame but,

“—I’ve yet to… be of use… to you…”

“?”

Vale said such a thing all of sudden, causing me to frown.

But he was no longer able to speak, and the lump of meat burned to ash.

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