Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? [Novel] Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Next Time (1)

*Wrath is coming.*

[That cannot be.]

*Wrath will come all the same.*

[Why do you think I went so far as to consume that corrupted flesh…!]

*It is coming to kill you.*

[I am Biryuho! I have even obtained the power of an Archdemon! There is no way I could lose to a mere human!]

*An existence you cannot defeat is coming.*

[There is no way I can lose…!]

“Biryuho?”

Whoosh!

Biryuho instinctively wheeled around with his claws bared. He stopped them just in time, a hair’s breadth from the human he had decided to possess.

“…Is something wrong?”

The blood had drained from the human’s face, even as the veins themselves had turned black. Bloodshot eyes stared back at Biryuho, and a fresh red line marked the man’s cheek from what had just happened.

[Oh, dear. I hurt you.]

Biryuho’s heart ached. Part of him liked that the wound had come from him and no one else, yet the thought that he had nearly killed this fragile creature filled him with sorrow.

And Young City Lord Leon, now held in that embrace, thought—

*What a load of bullshit.*

That was not all. Biryuho’s stench was growing more revolting by the moment, and even the beauty he had once possessed was steadily being ruined.

Leon turned an impassive gaze over his surroundings from within Biryuho’s arms. A few more words reached his ears, but none of them registered.

All he saw was the earth rotting around him.

*Maybe killing Biryuho really would be for the best.*

He remembered how abundant the forest had been at first. It had been so rich and dense that he had wondered in disbelief how no one had discovered it before now.

Perhaps that was why the creatures living here, steeped in such potent vitality, had been so large and swift.

They had seemed almost sacred—as if mere beasts carried mana within them, like the creatures that had roamed the world before humankind had even formed a language.

Yet six risings and settings of the sun had been enough to bring all of it to ruin.

Only six days had been enough for those wondrous beasts to reveal the demonic energy hidden inside them, for the entire forest to decay, and for poison to seep into everything.

That made Leon realize quickly enough that he would not live much longer at this rate.

One look at the back of his hand was enough to be certain.

Black veins. The telltale symptom of demonic erosion—something every person learned to recognize at least once in their life—now covered his skin.

Strangely, the prospect came as a relief.

After all, sitting blankly in the middle of a rotting forest while being treated like a favorite doll was unbearable. Not merely because it was dull or uncomfortable, but because he could barely breathe, his head spun, and his entire body hurt as though he had been beaten.

If demonic erosion killed him sooner, it would almost be a merciful death.

With that bitter thought, Leon gently pushed Biryuho away.

[Why are you doing that?]

Biryuho’s eyes turned vicious, taking the gesture as rejection. It was an all-too-familiar pattern.

Without a word, Leon took Biryuho’s hand and led him to a patch where at least some blades of grass remained alive. It looked suitable enough to lie down on.

[Did you wish to rest?]

*Stupid beast.*

Leon lay down in the grass while Biryuho invented his own misunderstanding and resolved it by himself. Though the beast could not even perceive that the forest around him was rotting, he was remarkably indulgent toward Leon and lay beside him.

Even that was painful. The person Leon wanted at his side had black hair, not platinum-blond.

“Why did you leave?”

[Hm?]

“You hid yourself from us in the past, did you not?”

[Ah.]

Idle conversation was the best way to escape one’s thoughts. Leon barely managed to banish the afterimage lingering at the edge of his vision.

[It was nothing. I merely wished to postpone the death that was drawing near.]

“…Pardon?”

He had not expected the answer to fill him with even more grief and anger.

[Yes. Even the turtle that crawls beneath the earth was granted immortality, so why should I be the one to die? I alone deserve the right to enjoy eternity.]

“Then the land dried up because…?”

[I merely took some of the life that ought to have flowed through the world. They should consider it an honor. Becoming my blood and flesh is surely more worthwhile than living brief lives destined to fade away.]

Leon covered his eyes with one hand as misery welled inside him. He could feel the hand trembling even through his skin.

[It is true that mana pooled in the forest I used as my nest and caused several side effects… but does it matter? That is how I came to meet you.]

Even then, the beast never stopped saying things that grated against every nerve Leon possessed.

Leon picked up a fallen branch and wondered whether driving it through Biryuho’s throat would kill him.

He knew it was impossible, but he could not endure this without at least imagining it. If he did not do even that…

[You are going to—]

BOOM!

An explosion rang through the forest, just as one had once before.

“…?”

[What…]

And just like that time, one side of the forest overturned, scattering debris and whipping up a gale of dust.

Black fabric streamed like a battle standard amid the reddish-brown cloud raised by the rotten trees.

“Found you.”

[You…!]

It was a moment strikingly similar to the one in the castle garden.

“This time, I won’t let you escape.”

There was only one difference.

“Vermin.”

This time, the knight would not let the tiger get away.

* * *

[GRRROOOAAAR!]

“Not so fast!”

A shield slammed into the middle of the forest, now stained reddish-brown and purple and reeking of decay.

At once, an enormous golden barrier spread from the shield and stopped the tiger’s forepaw.

BOOM!

The impact thundered through the forest.

Thoom!

Stopping the blow was not enough—the barrier of divine power shoved the tiger backward. That was when my sword moved.

Its edge cut through the air and into the flesh beyond it. Had Biryuho not immediately shifted from a colossal beast back into human form, the wound would have been much deeper.

[Humans!]

“Liar! Comrade is a liar! You said you’d leave the tiger to Berserker!”

My sword was not the only thing Biryuho had to avoid. Berserker swung her halberd in a massive arc and brought it down where he had stood.

When he leapt back, she used her monstrous strength to wrench the halberd onto a new path and chase his retreating body.

Clatter!

“Whoa!”

Meanwhile, a pale-blue chain—accompanied by a sound liable to trigger someone’s trauma—snared Young City Lord Leon and reeled him away.

From experience, I knew that being hauled through the air by a rope around the waist made you feel horribly sick and left spectacular bruises. Still, it was better than remaining over there.

Being an ordinary human caught between an entity that kept shifting from man to giant tiger and the three people fighting it would have made for the far worse horror story.

[How dare you! He is mine!]

“Hrahaha! Where do you think you’re looking?”

“Fool! He does not belong to you!”

It also drew Biryuho’s attention away.

“Now.”

[…!]

“Do you understand your place?”

My sword spat out three black crescents.

Biryuho had been rushing toward us to reclaim the young city lord, but the attack forced him back again. The creature, its colors murkier than before, bared its teeth.

[You mere humans!!!]

He seemed to have forgotten that the object of his obsession was also human. Though if Leon was his one special rose, perhaps that was different.

“His condition is grave. Take him to the rear at once.”

“Good grief. Shouldn’t we give him medicine first?”

“I have medicine here.”

“…Mia?”

“You promised you’d be a low-maintenance man, yet you’ve broken that promise before we’re even married?”

“M-Mia.”

The young city lord was already on our side, and there was no chance of him returning to Biryuho.

I watched as Dev and the Young City Lord of Camborough carried Leon away. I had been rather surprised when Mia appeared with a sword and declared that she would come with us, but in the end, I could hardly refuse her determination to represent everyone who sought vengeance.

Once I confirmed they were clear, I swept my sword in a circle.

Held perpendicular to the ground, the blade moved as though I were doing an arm exercise and left black stains hanging in the air. They were traces of mana, like sword-shaped marks stamped into empty space.

When my sword had completed half a turn and stood upright, I raised it horizontally.

Whoosh. The black marks suspended in the air rotated ninety degrees and aimed straight ahead.

“I’ll kill you.”

*Kill it.*

Like someone lashing out at the first target in sight over an old grievance born elsewhere, resentment that had nothing to do with this place crept into the stains.

*Damn it. If even half that sorrow had been anger instead, by now…*

SHWAAK!

The blades of mana hurtled forward like dozens of arrows.

Mana spears drove into the shoulder and forepaw of the enormous beast as it sought an opening in Berserker’s attacks.

“Hahahaha!”

A golden barrier immediately pressed down upon Biryuho when he returned to human form, and Berserker smashed through that barrier with her descending halberd.

Biryuho flung up an arm to block. The dark blade sank halfway through his forearm.

“Good, good! A target should have some substance when you cut it!”

“Hah! Here I go!”

Ah. Did our attacks overlap?

I had leapt to match Berserker’s timing, only to see the Inquisitor swing a golden barrier like a baseball bat.

Should I dodge? No. I did not feel like it.

Slash!

“Demon Knight!?”

I poured all my forward momentum into my sword and cut Biryuho’s leg.

In exchange, the Inquisitor’s barrier struck me too, but it did less damage than a direct hit from her mace would have.

Sssssss.

So it was fine. Even the scorched parts of my clothes would eventually restore themselves.

“Stop getting in the way! Both of you!”

“Demon Knight, are you all—Berserker! This is not a game! We must join forces!”

“Grrrr!”

Our teamwork really was a complete disaster.

That was only natural, considering how rarely the three of us had ever fought a single enemy together.

The only opponent we had all faced at once was Moby Dick.

Even then, Moby Dick had been so huge and moved so little that it felt more like each of us was attacking separately.

Besides, the Inquisitor had been too busy stabilizing the environment to participate fully in the battle. It would have been stranger if that one experience had somehow perfected our coordination.

“I said I’m taking it!”

I adjusted my grip on my sword as I watched the entirely predictable chaos unfold.

Biryuho, meanwhile, looked more furious than ever.

The harassment kept him from breaking through. With three of us watching for openings, he could not easily exploit ours. And the people fighting him were squabbling over who would get to kill him.

Anyone who could remain serene under those circumstances deserved sainthood.

[First I will chase those humans— The beasts of the forest!]

To make matters worse, even his minions would not obey him.

Or perhaps they simply could not. We had killed every corrupted beast we encountered on the way here.

They had all been thoroughly steeped in mana and divine power by the time we were done with them.

That at least spared us the trouble of searching for the source of the demonic energy—or mana, or whatever had altered those beasts. Anyone could see that this place was the origin.

Slash!

In any case, whether Biryuho was angry or not, I had no intention of letting him off.

[Kgh!]

“Ah! Comrade!”

I drew my longsword instead of the zweihänder and flooded it with mana.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Every clash between Biryuho’s claws and my blade rang out like an explosion.

“I’m never believing you again! You said you’d hand it over to me!”

When did I ever say that? She had merely shouted for me to leave it to her on the way here. I had never agreed.

And she was already helping herself just fine.

I saw the halberd sweep toward both Biryuho and me and quickly leapt away. Our two-on-one had abruptly become a three-way free-for-all, but so what?

“W-What am I supposed to do?”

The Inquisitor, afraid she might hit us again, stamped her feet and stopped attacking.

“Must I assign you an order in which to fight now?”

The Archmage, who had never found a chance to join in from the start, had long since begun lamenting the situation.

“Berserker will cut it first.”

“Try it, if you can.”

At my declaration, Berserker held her halberd along the outside of her forearm, like a tonfa forming a guard.

She choked up on the shaft until only the length of an ordinary sword projected forward, while the rest extended far beyond her elbow.

BOOM!

A thigh thicker than mine kicked off the ground. The ax-like blade traced a diagonal line from low to high.

When Biryuho retreated, she bent her arm and used the shaft jutting beyond her elbow to strike at his waist, then drove it toward his solar plexus. In one fluid movement, she changed her grip again and followed with a downward chop of the ax head.

The very fact that she gave Biryuho no room to breathe made it easier for me to intervene.

I found a position where neither Berserker nor I would obstruct the other and swung my sword just after Biryuho evaded her descending strike.

Slash!

[You insect…!]

Rather than launching sword aura and risk catching Berserker in it, I wrapped the blade itself in mana and cut.

But Biryuho sensed the danger, transformed into his gigantic bestial form, and sacrificed a forepaw. That made my judgment slightly less than ideal.

Had he remained human, the blow would have split his body in two. In his beast form, it only carved through roughly seventy centimeters of his forepaw.

It was a deep wound, but perhaps not when measured against Biryuho’s sheer size. Still, this would hardly be my final strike, so there was no need to mourn it.

“You!”

Berserker rounded on me, furious at my underhanded maneuver. I could not have cared less.

I poured even more mana into my longsword, drew it back, then thrust it forward.

Bombard, compressed into a beam as narrow and precise as the blade itself, pierced the side of Biryuho’s nape.

It had not struck through the center, only gouged deeply along one side, but the near miss must have sent a chill through him.

“That one’s Berserker’s!”

Berserker did not stand idle either. While the recoil from Bombard held me still for a fraction of a second, she rushed past and swung her halberd.

Once. Twice. On its third revolution, the halberd lashed across Biryuho’s front.

BOOM!

The forepaw Biryuho had thrust out to attack me before Berserker charged met her halberd head-on.

RIIIP!

The halberd blade punched through his paw and tore onward, splitting it in two like a goat’s cloven hoof.

Biryuho took a long step back and let out a thin cry at the agony of having the top of his paw ripped open between the toes.

[Mere humans… Mere humans…!]

And on top of that pain came the humiliation of being ignored and dismissed by both Berserker and me.

[I will not forgive you!]

At last, Biryuho began to unleash his fury.

His platinum fur—beautiful, for all his vile nature—gradually turned blue-gray.

[Never. Never!]

Crack.

From the middle of his belly, a pitch-black fissure that devoured even light began to consume his true body.

RUMBLE—!

Then he finally used the power I had wondered why he was holding back.

Dozens—hundreds—of vines erupted in explosive growth across a vast area, including the ground beneath Berserker and me.

[I shall bestow death upon you!]

What had we even done to trigger phase two?

The thought flashed through my mind.