Chapter 26 - Hopeless Situation
[Ryuushin’s Side]
“Gu!!!”
“Ryuushin!!”
Ryuka hurriedly ran towards me.
I clutched my shoulder in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding from my severed left arm.
“It seems I mistook you for someone else.”
The man who had cut off my arm stood there, speaking indifferently.
───***───
Just a while ago, Ryuka and I had been steadily defeating C-rank monsters such as Orcs and Goblin Magicians as we made our way toward the east side of the Steel Forest.
Suddenly, a black-haired, golden-eyed man in a black mantle appeared as if he had torn through the air. He abruptly attacked me.
When I came to my senses, my left arm had already been severed by that guy.
“Wh, what are you!!!”
I yelled at him while enduring the pain.
I had already activated [Dragon Skin], an automatic self-protection skill exclusive to Dragonoids. This defense skill is said to be on par with that of a true Dragon, but he effortlessly sliced through it. His offensive power is definitely not average.
“I do not have any interest in talking to a lowlife like you… Ah, well, consider this a congratulatory gift for my reawakening. I’ll make an exception and converse with you. I am Valf the Warlock.”
The man claimed to be a Warlock—the kind of being that governs monsters and the demon race. Warlocks may appear like ordinary humans, but they possess immense magical power.
Ryuka stood before me, trying to protect me. Her body was trembling from the sheer power of the Warlock.
“Wh, why did you attack us?” Ryuka asked.
“I sensed a nostalgic magic around this area. Ah, well, it’s unfortunate that it’s a mistaken identity, but there’s no need to go into details. Incidentally, do you know a man called Volgano Ryuuden?”
”…Ryuuden is my father.”
“What? So you’re the child of Ryuuden. Is he in good health?”
“Dad… died before I was born.”
“Huh, so that fellow’s already gone. So, you’re the orphan of that guy.”
The Warlock stood there, contemplating.
He suddenly disappeared without warning.
“──!? Guaaa!”
My right arm was so hot it felt like it was burning. Blood spurted, and my right arm was gone.
The Warlock had cut it off.
“Fumu. You’re of a different caliber than Ryuuden. Are you sure you’re his son?”
The demon twirled my severed right arm around the air, showing a disappointed expression.
“Re, Resurrection!”
Luna cast Recovery Magic on me. White foam bubbled from my arm stumps, and finally, both arms regenerated.
“Gu...S, Sorry...Ryuka...”
“It’s okay, but we have to escape, Ryuushin!”
“Hoh, so you can regenerate. But don’t think you can run from me.”
Though my arms were restored thanks to Ryuka’s magic, I don’t think we can flee from this demon.
“Ryuushin, is it? I have nothing against you, but your dear father sealed me for a hundred years. Now that Ryuuden’s dead, I’ve decided to repay my agony to you instead.”
I finally remembered!
It was a story I had heard from the village chief a long time ago.
In the past, a Warlock had come to kill the Dragonoids, who were not under the Demon King’s jurisdiction.
The Warlock was overwhelmingly strong and had slaughtered the warriors of the Dragonoid Village.
It was said that Dad, who was the strongest in the village at the time, bet his life to seal the Warlock.
It seems that the seal on Valf, that Warlock, had been broken.
The embodiment of pure malice stood before us.
“I’ll kill you. Ah, but not immediately. I’ll let you taste pain and despair that’s enough to make you wish you were never born. Then I’ll slowly take my time killing you.”
After that, the Warlock turned his palm towards Ryuka. In that instant, I understood what he wanted to do.
“NO!!! STOP!! RUN, RYUKA!!”
“Hiiiii!!!! ── Guuuu!!!”
Something invisible clung to Ryuka’s neck and started to strangle her. Ryuka squirmed and struggled, but that object wouldn’t break.
“Ku! DRAGONIZE!!!”
My right arm transformed, and I tried to punch the demon.
── My fist didn’t even make contact.
I don’t know how it happened, but I found myself lying on the ground. I tried to get up, but the demon stepped on my head and pushed me towards the dirt.
"What’s with that half-baked dragonification? Are you even his son? Don’t joke with me.”
“R... Ryu..Sh...in...R…run…”
“Hey, this woman has more guts than you. These kinds are the ones worth killing.”
The Warlock raised his arm, and several black stakes appeared mid-air, their sharp, pointed tips facing Ryuka.
“W, wait!! I beg you! Just kill me instead!!”
“Hmpf. Won’t do. You just have to resent your weak self.”
He released one of the black stakes towards Ryuka.
“RYYYUUUKKKKKAAAA!!!!”
Shuu ──
“What!?”
The stake didn’t reach Ryuka.
All the stakes had been burned by a knight blazing in flames standing in front of Ryuka.
“What’s with that? Maybe a demon—no, is that your mana?”
“Guu!”
The Warlock put more strength into his feet as he trampled my head.
── Suddenly, his foot disappeared.
“Gubu!!”
The Warlock made a weird noise as he was blown away. The blazing knight struck that demon at the speed of light.
The blazing knight looked down at me.
D, did it help me?
I glanced at Ryuka. She was sitting on the ground with her eyes wide open. It’s a relief that the invisible thing no longer choked her.
“What on earth are you, vermin!!!”
The revived Warlock attacked the blazing knight, who also counterattacked.
Whenever the demon punched the knight, his fist was burned. However, he healed abnormally fast and immediately struck again.
On the other hand, the blazing knight was stripped of his armor every time he was hit.
“Huff, huff, huff…D...Did it finally go to hell?”
After a few minutes of intense battle, the Warlock finally succeeded in extracting what seemed to be the core of the blazing knight. The knight dispersed on the spot when its core was removed.
The demon looked tired, but his magic was still overwhelming for us.
We didn’t stand a chance.
I was desperately hoping the blazing knight would win, but…
“What was that? Was it you guys who summoned that? Ah, I don’t care anymore; let’s just finish you off right now!”
Desolation was coming.
── Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
"Ah, ah, ahhhhh!"
The Warlock’s face contorted in despair.
The blazing knight that had tortured the demon reappeared.
Not only that, one became five.
“D, don’t mess with me!!!!”
Taking the demon’s shout as a signal, the battle resumed.
── Nope, it wasn’t even a battle. It was one-sided mob violence.
In just a few seconds, it seemed that the demon had already reached the limit of his recovery due to the continuous attacks of the blazing knights.
The demon’s black hair turned white, his skin dried up, and his eyes became sunken.
As a final blow, the five knights pierced him with a spear simultaneously, and the demon crumbled into dust.
After the Warlock was defeated, the knights gave a final glance and ran off in different directions.
“We… We’re saved…”
“Ryuushin! Are you okay?”
“Ryuka, how about your neck?”
We confirmed that both of us were fine.
“What are those knights...”
“I don’t know. But I can’t feel any malice from them.”
“Yeah.”
That’s what bothers me. I can’t help but think that they protected us. Was it Teacher Tina? No, that can’t be. Those knights’ power is at a higher level than hers.
Don’t tell me… Is it Halt?
… Nah... That can’t be.
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