Mushoku Tensei

Volume 23 Chapter 20: Turning Point 5

Part 1

When I returned back, Eris and the rest had managed to hold on.

Without me and without the Supard warriors, it was like back when Cliff and Elinalize had dropped out.

Yet, the sense of stability was increasing.

Ghyslaine was basically running around the battlefield on all fours.

The range of the Fighting God’s fist was high.

In order to escape that, she was running around with her body extremely close to the ground, and was supporting others by firing Sword Flash from the front, back, and sides.

Her offensive ability wasn’t doing much damage, but the Fighting God was swinging his hands around as if he was being annoyed by it.

Also, Sylphy’s existence played a crucial part.

Her chantless healing magic went quite well with this situation where the demand for faster healing was high.

Even when Zanoba or Doga were blown away by the Fighting God, she quickly ran towards them and healed them.

She's been away from active duty for quite a long time, she probably doesn’t have much stamina.

Yet, as a healer, she was keeping up with Cliff and my portion.

And worthy of a special mention was Isolte’s existence.

She, who stood as the extreme vanguard of this battle, was warding off all of the Fighting God’s attacks and firing counters.

Her actions were fluent and accurate.

The Fighting God’s attack, which was quite capable of dealing a one hit instant kill, looked like the tantrum of a child in front of that skill.

Of course, but of course, he wouldn’t go down with just that.

No matter how many times and how strong the counter she fired towards the Fighting God, even when she cut his arms or legs, there was no damage.

If she were to fight him one-on-one, she may put up a good fight, but she still wouldn’t be able to stand victorious at the very end.

She would eventually be fatigued, leading to her loss.

However, if we were to say that they were only stalling for time until my return, then her presence was overwhelmingly important.

“I’ve made you all wait!”

“Rudi……! Everyone retreat!”

On Sylphy’s signal, everyone took their distance.

“Oh.”

The Fighting God didn’t give chase. There was no need to.

Without even glancing at the people retreating from him, he simply looked at me.

The difference in size wasn’t that much.

The Fighting God Armor was 2.5 metres tall.

The Magic Armor was 3 metres tall.

The difference was only around 20~30 centimetres. Mine was slightly taller.

Since I had stopped some 10 metres away from him, he didn’t have to look up to me.

“Is that the one? The power that was acknowledged by the Dragon God himself, and the one that took down my older sister. Is that the MAGIC ARMOR!?”

“………Did you not see the MK. I on the beach?”

“Hmm, was there something like that?”

“Well, you did break it into small pieces with just one hit.”

Thinking back about that one hit…

I trusted its defense too much and ended up taking a direct hit. However, Eris and Ruijerd took similar hits and were still alive.

This might be the difference between normal defense and Touki’s defense……

If that’s the case, then I’m worried about Cliff.

Although he wasn’t hit directly by a fist, he probably couldn’t wear Touki.

“Then, if that was the 『MK. I』, then THIS one is different?”

“About that, please look forward to it, so…”

While saying that, I looked around my surroundings.

They were looking at us from quite a distance.

They had taken quite a distance, but there still was the possibility of getting wrapped up.

Ah, Sylphy was rushing towards the injured ones as usual.

Then, I’ll entrust Cliff to Sylphy.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

And thus the fight began.

Part 2

The gong of the battle was rung by my stone cannon.

While moving back, I shot stone cannons, and Badigadi chased after me.

I was following the same pattern as when I fought with Orsted.

I fired stone cannons randomly while retreating.

Honestly, I thought that only doing this much would be hard, but when I loaded the Dragon King Sword with mana, the MK. Zero which was supposed to be slow was moving quite smoothly.

So this is what it meant to manipulate gravity.

I hadn’t even practiced doing it to begin with. I wasn’t going to make it any lighter than this.

“FUHAHAHAHAH! It’s not even as effective as a mosquito bite!”

The Fighting God smashed many trees and made holes in the earth, all while drawing closer to me.

It was clear from watching that the effect was weak.

He neither dodged it nor repelled it.

Even in such short distance, his body just kept taking those hits as if absorbing them, and they were just falling in large drops from his back.

It was clear from watching that there was no damage.

It may have worked against Orsted, but it wasn’t working here.

“Are you just going to keep running away!?”

Of course, I had no intention of doing that.

After I finally reached my targeted location, I gouged out the earth from Badigadi’s feet.

As a large part of the ground was removed with the shotgun, the Fighting God’s foothold was taken away from him.

His posture collapsed only for an instant.

I took that opportunity.

“WHooaa!?”

And purged him with the gatling.

I brandished the sword that was attached on my right hand.

The sword cut the armor like butter, and black skin was exposed on the inside.

『Shotgun Trigger!』

I drove the shotgun inside that.

One of Badigadi’s arms was torn off and blown away.

“FUHAHAHAHA! Payback time!”

However, I was hit by four counters simultaneously.

The shockwave ran throughout the Magic Armor, and I was blown back a few metres.

But it’s alright.

It was a direct hit, but I was somehow able to withstand it.

“Hmph!”

I moved my body back immediately and retrieved Badigadi’s arm that was blown away.

The arm was pulsating timidly, wrapped up by the golden gauntlet.

I threw it strongly.

“Fuahahaha! Useless, useless!”

As Badigadi said that, his arm began to regrow.

It popped out like a certain person from N○mek.

“Mngh.”

But it’s quite apparent that it wasn’t useless.

The arm that grew back was bare.

The armor wasn’t attached to it.

“Oh, so that’s how it is……you’ve thought things through!”

Where I had thrown his arm just now…

I had prepared a certain magic circle over there.

Within it, Badigadi’s arm and the Fighting God Armor couldn’t regenerate.

It also seemed that Badigadi’s size had decreased somewhat.

I hadn’t actually thought about it.

But I got a hint.

Fighting God Badigadi.

Due to his armour, he possessed both high speed and power.

But his speed, compared to the sword masters I’ve faced before, was nothing special.

Orsted, and even Alek, were probably faster.

Although, obviously, he’s faster than me, when wearing the Magic Armor, it was at a level that I could compete with.

It’s thanks to the training that I’ve received from Eris and Orsted that I was still alive.

What’s troublesome was his ridiculously high defense and durability.

The Fighting God Armor was hard.

It could be boasted that it was even harder than the Magic Armor.

At the very least, if Eris and the others were to hit it with all their might, it would leave a scratch, but the arm or head parts might not get separated.

The armor would instantly restore itself and would keep on fighting as if nothing had happened.

Normally, that would cause damage to accumulate on the inside……

But on the Immortal Demon Lord Badigadi, it does not.

Eris’s slash or Ruijerd’s thrust would normally cause damage on the inside of the armor.

But with Badigadi, it didn’t cause that damage.

Whether it’s a slash or a thrust or a strike, it’s immediately healed.

Before long, the ones who were attacking would become tired, and they would inevitably succumb to the destructive power of those 6 arms.

Then, just how should he be brought down?

This hint laid with Atofe.

Immortal Demon Lord Atofe.

The symbol of fear itself for the various Demon Lords of the Demon Continent. The one who would keep getting up no matter how many times she was brought down and would keep charging towards the enemy.

There were two methods in order to bring her down.

The first was to disconnect the limbs and seal them so that they can’t be restored.

This was the most standard way and Atofe was defeated 2 times using this method in the past.

A barrier which was fit to seal them for hundreds of years would be required, but for now, simply surrounding the parts in an advanced level magic barrier was enough to stop regeneration.

The other way was to make her admit defeat.

The Immortal Demon Lord Atofe, in accordance with her own rule, would fight many opponents.

And so, by that rule, when she realizes that she has lost, she will admit defeat.

Although I didn’t think that it would be a simple matter to make the current Badigadi admit defeat.

So this time, I’d have to go with the former.

For this purpose, Cliff prepared various barrier magic circles throughout the forest.

They were set to activate when Badigadi’s limbs were thrown into them.

I was previously unsure about their effectiveness against the Fighting God Armor, but they were working.

Use the defense-ignoring sword to cut through the armor, separate the arms, and seal them.

By doing this 6 times, I could make Badigadi admit defeat.

I’d like to seal his whole body, but……without Cliff here, I couldn’t use the magic circle to seal his entire body.

“AAAAaaaaaa!”

I charged at him while yelling.

I no longer cared about damage.

Not even I knew just how long the MK. Zero could run at full power.

Thanks to the Dragon King Sword, the operation time may have been extended to some extent, but it wouldn’t be strange if it stopped anytime soon.

There was no path besides a short and decisive battle.

“COME TO ME! HERO!”

The Fighting God spreads his arms wide to my challenge.

And at the same time, he swung his right hand.

In response to the Fighting God's flying fist, I brandished my sword and prepared for a counter.

The movement of those six arms exceeded my expectations.

But I had already gotten used to it during the fight.

I was at my best today.

I could evade it.

I cut into the lower left arm.

At the same time, I aimed the shotgun at the cut and fired, blowing it apart.

But there was an unavoidable opening in that moment.

In the moment that I blew his arm away, I was hit by a fist and sent flying backwards.

"……Ngh!"

The surface of the Magic Armor cracked.

As expected, it couldn’t stand up to the Fighting God’s fist. But the arms not wearing any armor could be ignored.

Four more left.

The Magic armor only had to last until I send them all flying.

"!"

I noticed something else.

(The barrier is…)

The magic circle drawn on the ground was scraped off during that exchange.

From the aftermath of the battle.

How did I not realize something so simple sooner?

Of course, there were still undamaged magic circles left, but I didn’t know which ones were still okay.

"…Dammit!"

I immediately threw away the arm I had cut.

I threw it into the Earth Dragon Valley.

The more beat up Atofe became, the longer it took her to revive, and if her beat up parts were spread out, she wouldn’t be able to revive immediately.

They could probably revive eventually, but it should have some meaning.

(…Hmm?)

For some reason, part of the armor wasn’t getting restored.

Did dismembering the user cause a loss in efficiency?

The restoration seemed to be slowing. Have the many years of not being used caused a drop in performance even in the Fighting God Armor?

Or was it Badigadi's strategy?

No, don't worry about useless things right now.

I should take advantage of the fact that he's not restoring, and simply think of how to send all of his arms flying.

"Grrr…"

Badigadi continued to groan, but a new arm didn’t come out.

And contrary to that, the arm that was restored before was now covered in some turtle like armor.

“!”

I wonder what it is.

In the next instant, from the remaining 4 arms, 2 vanished.

The arms and the gauntlets were sucked into the armor.

And the remaining two arms got thicker.

They got thicker with a gurgling sound.

The remaining two.

Now that they’re thicker, can an I cut them…?

No, I can. The harder the object, the better this sword cuts. There’s no meaning in it even if he reinforced his arms and increased his defense.

After promptly deciding that, I kicked the ground and closed in on the Fighting God.

An alarm bell rang somewhere in my mind.

But no matter what the enemy was planning, I had already revealed my trump card.

With every passing moment, my mana was approaching zero.

If I didn’t attack, I couldn’t win.

“AAAAAAaaaaa!”

I could only shout.

In doing so, power came out.

Denying both fear and uncertainty, a small amount of courage showed its face.

This small amount of courage became profound.

Charging at him to obtain victory, just like Eris.

I rammed into the Fighting God.

He staggered, but took the blow.

I swung my right hand.

Biting into his left hand, I kept cutting.

I brought out my left hand,

And pushed the shotgun against where I cut,

And then shouted. ????????????????e????????. ????o????

『SHOTGUN TRIGGER!』

Both Badigadi’s arm and the Fighting God armor went flying.

But at the same time, I was also sent flying.

I was knocked back.

Badigadi’s remaining arm.

I was hit by it.

The entire front of the Magic Armor was completely destroyed.

The shockwave traveled to the interior and my body was assaulted by a pressure that felt like it would crush me flat.

I fell on my back.

“Ghaough……ghaohu……”

I coughed up blood.

My heart screamed ‘not yet!’ in vain.

I had misread him.

The reason Badigadi reduced his arms to two was for a single devastating attack.

Let your opponent cut your flesh so that you can cut him to the bone, was it?

He drove his fist accurately into the crack, breaking the Magic Armor apart.

But not yet.

Not yet.

Just one more.

“!”

I can’t move.

The movement of the Magic Armor is faltering.

The damage can’t be fixed.

Right underneath the main body(me), is what could be called the core of the Magic Armor.

If that was broken, the Magic Armor will begin to fail.

I won’t say that it couldn’t move. It wasn’t constructed that simply.

But it could only move.

In this battle, it’s fatally slow.

I began transmitting mana in a hurry.

Right, I still have mana left.

It could still move.

My mana hadn’t dried up yet.

I could still fight.

Then why couldn’t I move?

“Good plan, good fighting spirit……”

Badigadi approached me as I couldn’t move.

“And a good match. Farewell Rudeus. Not even Laplace thought this elaborately.”

Badigadi raised his fist above his head.

A fist like a cannon.

And it was thrown off─

“GAA!”

Something red flew in from under his arm and knocked the fist off course.

The arm was cut off at the base and flew in midair.

“Mngh!”

There were only a few things that had the color red in this forest.

It’s Eris.

Was she following us? Had she been right behind us?

I didn’t know.

There’s no other backup.

Only Eris jumped in.

But in the next instant, I realized something was out of place.

The sword.

Eris’s sword broke.

The famous 『Elegant Phoenix Dragon Sword』 broke at the base.

Of course, up until now, even when damage was taken on the surface, the base was never broken.

If it’s forcefully cut from the base, then it’ll obviously break.

“GAAAAAAaaaaa!”

But Eris did not cease.

As if she hadn’t realized that her sword broke, while crying out, she continued to face the Fighting God.

Looking again, it’s not just her.

Coming out of the forest one after the other as if chasing Eris were Sylphy, Ruijerd, Ghyslaine, and Isolte.

But it’s too late.

“It’s foolish to stand before me alone!”

Badigadi approached Eris.

There was nothing to protect her.

In that instant, I activated the escape function and slipped out of the Magic Armor.

And from the back of the Magic Armor, I took out the single sword that I had stored there.

The second I grabbed the handle, a tremendous feeling of omnipotence ran through my body.

An overwhelming amount of mana.

Upon which I poured in even more mana.

With the intention of filling the sword with all of my remaining mana.

I didn’t think of using it myself.

But in front of me, there was a family member whose sword broke.

Who, in order to protect me, was brandishing a broken sword.

I threw the sword with her as the target.

“Eris!”

In a loose arc, the cursed sword flew.

Eris turned around and grabbed it.

Dragon King Sword Kajakuto.

The world’s strongest and most famous cursed sword. The peak of the cursed swords forged by the blacksmith master Yulian.

Eris held it above her head.

“GAAAAAAAHH!”

“GH, That’s……!”

A downwards swing.

Right before impact, just for an instant, the Fighting God’s body floated.

The sword bit right into the Fighting God’s body.

And at the same time, a bright flash filled my vision.

The explosion numbed my eardrums.

Something overwhelming dominated the place.

Destruction unfolded before me.

But there was no blast.

Nor a shockwave.

Only silence came.

The destruction headed towards the interior.

The mana driven into the sword became a sphere and enveloped Badigadi.

It wasn’t just Eris’s power.

The mana I had loaded it with was being released by the cursed sword.

And inside the sphere of magic…

I saw it.

While slowly rising up to the surface, its interior contents were being destroyed.

The Fighting God Armor was cracking and breaking.

Badigadi, without a sound, was being compressed and disappearing.

I thought that Badigadi would struggle.

But he couldn’t do anything.

The Fighting God Armor stopped functioning, and Badigadi was being destroyed as soon as he regenerated.

……………

The sphere disappeared.

The fragments of the armor left in mid-air fell towards the Earth Dragon Valley.

While making cling and clang noises, the fragments rolled down into the valley.

With the Dragon King sword stuck in it.

In just the armor.

Badigadi’s black body had disappeared without a trace.

I gazed at it.

I gazed at it for a while.

Until the sound was lost in the valley and the armor disappeared.

Close by, Badigadi’s arm still remained.

It wasn’t moving.

It wasn’t even twitching.

There was no sign of restoration.

Was he dead?

Did we win?

Is there still something else?

Is it soon?

Something’s not going to rise up and appear with a FUHAHAHA is it?

With those feelings, I simply stared at the valley.

Nothing rose up.

There’s no sign of anything rising up.

Only stillness was left in that place.

I heard someone falling from behind.

When I turned around, Eris was on her knees.

With a ghastly pale face.

“…………”

I rushed over in a hurry.

An injury?

Was she countered?

I immediately stretched out my hand to cast healing magic, but I also fell to my knees.

“…aah.”

It’s not an injury.

What I’m feeling, and the look on Eris’s face, I recognized them.

Mana exhaustion.

The Dragon King Sword Kajakuto had sucked up all of my mana and exhausted Eris’s as well.

This was probably the first time since childhood that Eris’s magic had been this exhausted.

While blinking in surprise, she sat down.

“Eris.”

“Rudeus……your hair has gotten whiter again.”

She said so and touched my head.

I don’t know about myself.

But some portion of Eris’s hair had also become white.

Her hair now had white streaks.

“Yours is too.”

“Really……then we match.”

Eris said that and fell forward.

She didn’t lose consciousness.

She had simply used up all of her power.

I wanted to fall down on top of her, but I held on.

“Rudy!”

Sylphy looked worried when she saw our faces.

Not just Sylphy.

Ruijerd, Ghislaine, and Isolte……

“Sylphy, where’s Cliff!?”

“Umm, after healing the wounds of others, he was carried by Zanoba and Doga to the village. We immediately chased after you, but thought that we'd be a bother, so we hesitated…but then Eris jumped in alone……huh?”

When Sylphy felt Eris’s head, she tilted her head in confusion.

She probably immediately used healing magic.

But Eris wasn’t injured.

She wasn’t going to get up anytime soon.

“It’s magic exhaustion. That sword sucks out all of the wielder’s mana.”

“…Ah, so that’s how it is.”

“For now, Sylphy, can you put the arm fallen over there in one of the undamaged magic circles? After that, I want you to take Eris, return to the village, and report to Orsted about the current details and bring Cliff back with you.”

I stood up.

The MK. Zero was destroyed.

I myself was basically entirely out of mana……but I could still move.

We don’t how much time lag there is before Badigadi revives.

At the very least, with that much compressed magic, it looked like he was obliterated.

There’s no sign that the arm will regenerate.

I’d like to think that we have a lot of time.

However, wishful thinking like that may be presumptuous.

But the MK. Zero was destroyed. The MK. I was no more. In addition to my almost exhausted mana, in this situation where the barrier magic couldn’t be activated without Cliff, we couldn’t have Badigadi reviving from the bottom of the valley.

If we descend to the bottom of the valley and he’s waiting for us, victory would be far off.

There’d be no option but for Orsted to take the front line.

I wanted him to not use magic until the very end, but we may not have a choice.

I lacked the ability.

But I’d like to wait until we’re driven into an absolute corner.

I did all that I could.

It’s unknown whether or not Badigadi was moving at the bottom of the valley, but we should have restrained him at the very least.

“Ruijerd, Ghyslaine, and Isolte too, please follow me.”

“What will you do? Rudy.”

I’d done all I could.

But there was still something that I must do.

With my almost exhausted mana, there was something that I must do.

“I’m going after Gisu!”

Part 3

We immediately found Gisu.

Very easily and quickly.

I didn’t even have to use my almost exhausted mana. We found him that easily.

The moment we crossed the valley and entered the burnt-black forest.

Within the shadow of a big burnt tree.

Gisu had fallen there.

He had large burns all over and he was lying there with his body completely black.

The 『Flashover』 I casted over the forest seemed to have burnt him as well.

He looked pretty dead to us when we first found him.

He didn’t move a muscle and looked like a black stone.

But the one who found him was Ruijerd, using his third eye.

It wasn’t a corpse.

“……Gisu.”

“Yo, Senpai.”

He hadn’t become a corpse yet, but it was clear that he was at death’s door.

I didn’t feel like curing him either.

This was why I came here.

But I didn’t feel like finishing him off right away either.

“Hehee, Water Magic, Earth Magic, Demon Eyes, and Magic Armor……I had countermeasures for each one of ‘em and yet look at me now.”

Gisu was wearing many things.

A blue vest, a light brown chest protector, and something like a chain-mail.

Each of them was burnt now, but they were probably countermeasures for each type of magic.

This meant that him being able to withstand the Thunderfall in the Third City was not because of the Fighting God Armor’s power.

“Now that you’ve come here, this means……that even the final plan has ended in failure……”

Gisu was straining his now burnt cheeks.

The final plan.

Would it be okay to say that sending Badigadi out alone was a plan?

“Sword God, North God, Ogre God, Dark King……if any one of ‘em were still left, it would’ve been different……if they had listened to me that is……”

“Well, they seemed like the type who wouldn’t listen to others.”

I responded to Gisu’s delirious talk.

“Hah, you say that but… Eris, Atofe, and……is that Ghyslaine I see over there? You have nothin’ but people who listen to you.”

“That’s……probably because my luck is good.”

“Nope, that ain’t right, Senpai. It’s ‘cause ya did it properly. Ya told ‘em the whole story, earnestly gained their trust, and in turn, they became your perfect allies. It’s all ‘cause of the effort that ya put in.

That’s why, in the time of need, they listened to ya properly, and they accepted your instructions properly.”

Certainly, that may be true.

Atofe and Malta.

It was necessary at that time so we took them in as allies, but they didn’t listen to my instructions at all.

Sándor and Doga were exceptions, but Ariel would listen to me.

“In the end, preparin’ with war as a motive, gatherin’ up forces, cookin’ up strategies, and stealthily movin’ behind people’s backs…… by only doin’ things like that… it was impossible after all………”

Neither the Sword God nor the North God listened to Gisu’s instructions.

They simply prioritized their own motives.

As a result of that, I was alive.

“I knew that this was happenin’, but didn’t thought much about it.

I thought that I’d somehow be able to pull through.

Not to mention, the one who didn’t understand it at all…… ain’t me.”

Gisu laughed.

“It’s Hitogami. He shouted ‘til the very end.

He said - Why? Why? It’s because of you. If only you acted more cleverly.”

While laughing foolishly, a scoff-like smile floated on Gisu’s face.

“Ain’t that obvious, eh? Just who would work so hard for someone like YOU who deceives people…… someone like YOU who keeps sneerin’ at other people… just who will lend the likes of YOU a hand upfront?”

“Then……Gisu, does that mean that you were cutting corners as well?”

“Don’t know… you think so? Was it that easy? I intended to go all out for once, ya know?”

Gisu coughed violently.

Something black like soot passed through his lips.

“Well, me and Badigadi were the exceptions because we’re softhearted. This late in the game, a person who would lend a hand to someone who shouts and calls their own allies useless would be soft hearted.”

The black soot looked like Gisu’s soul itself.

It was clear that Gisu was losing strength.

“But you know, Senpai. I was still saved by that guy, Hitogami. There were some bad things, but lookin’ at the total sum of it, I was still saved.”

“………”

“You wouldn’t understand, Senpai. For someone like you who can do anythin’ and can walk the world alone. You wouldn't understand the feelings of someone like me who can’t do anythin’ at all, you just can’t…”

I understand.

I feel like I understand.

About the ordinary things, the feelings of someone who couldn’t do things ordinarily……I could understand that.

Gisu was me. The me from before.

But a little different from me.

The me from before didn’t even try.

I just slammed the door and ran.

I only ran.

But Gisu was really not able to do it.

Within this world where beasts and violence dominated, the thing which can be said to be the most important…『Fighting Power』, he couldn’t attain that.

He was able to do anything besides that, but he couldn’t keep on living.

“Wrong, Gisu. You’re wrong……”

That’s why I couldn’t say anything but that he was wrong.

I couldn’t say that I understood.

I don’t even want to.

The only thing I could do was to deny him.

“Heh, Rudeus.

If you’re goin’ to deny me, then do it while puffin’ up your chest.

Since you’ve won anyway.

You’ve defeated me.

In this world, the one who wins is right and the one who loses is wrong.

That’s why, puff up your chest and say, “That ain’t right, Gisu. That ain’t how it works.”

And then, well let’s see, scold me or somethin’ for my sake since I’m about to die.

You should’ve done this, leavin’ Hitogami’s side, you should’ve joined my side. Somethin’ like that.”

Gisu said this and then breathed out with a puff.

And then spoke with a blank expression.

“Me, Badigadi, and the Dark King are no longer. There ain’t anyone left who would personally and assertively help out Hitogami anymore.”

“It’s a loss. There ain’t anyone left in this world who can deal with Rudeus Greyrat in some way or another.”

“Actually, Hitogami said this as well. He said that if we lost here, then nothin’ can be done about Rudeus.”

“That’s why, Hitogami will probably remain silent until your death. But he’ll probably work in the shadows.”

And then something came out of my mouth involuntarily.

“……That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Gisu laughed.

“If you think that’s how it is, then why not?

Somethin’ like remainin’ silently is, well……that’s a bit too much even for my expectations after all.

You should just move with the flag of overthrowin’ Hitogami from now on.

That would be inconvenient for Hitogami, but it wouldn’t be an inconvenience for you, right?”

“Oi oi, that’s some gloomy face ya got there.

Aren’t ya Paul’s son?

If Paul was here, he would’ve laughed out loud, ya know?

Nah, even he wouldn’t laugh at the verge of my death.

Since I looked after him for a short while as well……

But, you know, you should be more proud.

It may be a short-lived elation, but you should still rejoice.”

“If you don’t, it wouldn’t look overwhelmin’.

I had finally won over the Sword God, North God, and Ogre God as companions by goin’ around the world.

So you should be enthusiastic about overthrowin’ them, and for me, since it didn’t go well, I look like an idiot.”

“That’s because I couldn't control my allies properly.

I burdened Badi with the final risk, and sent him out……just look at me now.

But at least think of me as a strong enemy.

Just give me that recognition.”

Gisu had started crying at some point.

Tears trailed down his soot-stained face.

When I saw that, I understood that Gisu would never have cut corners.

“I get it. Gisu, you were strong.

It’s true that I’m standing here like this.

But if even a single gear had fallen out of place, I’m sure that our positions would have been reversed.

This has been the single most painful and difficult fight of my life.”

“Heh……hehe. Thanks, Rudeus.”

He was without a doubt, strong.

It took me a year to beat him.

I fought for a year.

There’s no way that he wasn’t strong.

“Gisu.”

Ghyslaine stepped forward thereupon.

She looked down at Gisu.

Her expression was behind her hair, so I couldn’t see it.

“Yo, Ghyslaine, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be headin’ on first.”

“Yeah, give my regards to Paul.”

“Sure……maybe, when you come too, at that time, let’s drink together. Paul gettin’ drunk and shovin’ his face in ya chest and Zenith gettin’ all sullen… I’d like to see that again……”

“Zenith probably won’t be there for a while. I’ll probably come first.”

“Heh, I get it……well, ‘til we all meet again……”

Gisu stopped moving.

He fell to the side.

Suddenly, in the middle of his talk.

“……”

Ghyslaine’s ears twitched.

Her tail drooped.

“…He’s dead.”

Gisu died.

Part 4

Gisu was defeated.

That notion should be good enough, but my heart was still unclear.

I knew that I had gotten a shock.

Someone that you know dying in front of you like that is something incomprehensible.

He was an enemy. I was aware that he must be defeated.

But it’s not like I hated Gisu from the bottom of my heart.

Although, if we had lost in this battle and Eris or someone close to me had died, then it was possible that I would harbor hate.

If things had turned out that way, would my heart feel refreshed then?

Thinking that I would have been paid back by defeating the one who I hated the most.

I don’t know.

The only thing I could say was that the reason I was able to think like this while being exhausted was because I didn’t lose any of my loved ones during this battle.

I met the conditions for victory.

While preserving Orsted’s mana capacity, I was able to finish off every apostle.

We had hard battles and there were failures as well, but it was a complete victory, that was unusual for me.

It’s possible that I've embarrassed myself by letting Gisu die like that.

Perhaps I could’ve brought Gisu to my side. I had taken that matter into consideration somewhere deep within my heart.

Even if I say this now, it’s something that can’t be helped.

Well, I’ll make sure to at least carry his bones to the graveyard.

I guess it’s fine if I put him next to Paul.

I thought about doing that as I burnt Gisu’s body.

“………”

Ghyslaine was staring at us cremating Gisu.

After it ended and we collected his bones, somehow, her ears and tail didn’t seem energetic.

“Let’s head back, shall we?”

“Yeah.”

We crossed the valley.

Anyway, now it’s finally over.

I’m tired.

I only had a scarce amount of mana left.

My stamina was completely drained as well.

I’d lose consciousness the moment I hit the bed.

Though I couldn’t just sleep before completely sealing Badigadi……

But I want to return back to Sharia as fast as possible.

I want to sleep tight on my bed.

When I wake up, I’ll eat.

I’ll eat rice.

Oh right, this country had soy sauce.

I can eat a perfect egg-rice mix.

I’ll eat it when I get back.

I’ll eat to my heart’s content.

After that, it’s sexy time.

The abstinent Rudeus had died along with Gisu.

Sylphy, Roxy, or Eris……who should I choose?

How about all three of them together?

Eris might dislike it, but, it should be fine to try it out just once, right?

It’s my long-awaited moment.

Yep, long-awaited.

Let’s postpone the review for this battle.

I’ll try to forget what Gisu said this time.

Anyway, I’ll take a day-off.

I’m tired.

“……Rudeus.”

As I walked dragging along my now completely exhausted body, someone called out to me from behind.

It was Ruijerd.

The one who was walking at the very back, had turned around.

Behind him, towards the valley.

“What’s the matter?”

“Enemy.”

“Huh?”

A hand was rising from the edge of the valley.

Hand.

It’s a hand.

Something was climbing out of the valley.

Something?

No, giving it a vague description like ‘something’ would be a grave mistake.

That hand.

The color of the hand was gold.

It was a golden gauntlet.

“Are you serious?”

Badigadi.

This is too fast.

But I see.

Come to think of it, after throwing a number of his arms down the valley, his body was dropped into the valley as well.

It looked like his body was completely annihilated, but big parts like his hands still remained.

So it’s possible that the remaining parts gathered together and regenerated in a short amount of time.

“………”

The armor climbed up from the valley as our petrified bodies gave sidelong glances.

But its shape was different.

It had 2 arms, similar to when we brought it down, but its overall design had changed.

Its helmet was different and it wasn’t that tall either.

It wasn’t even 2 metres.

On top of that, it was holding a sword.

A large sword.

The world’s strongest sword made by the King Dragon King himself.

Wrong.

This one was different.

This guy wasn’t Badigadi.

“The hero will revive no matter how much he’s cornered and then turn the situation around. I guess that’s just how a hero’s style should be.”

That voice and the word hero.

I could never forget that.

“North God Kalman the Third Aleksander Ryback……!”

He was still alive?

Even though I thought that he had died.

Even though he didn’t even twitch at that time.

He was still alive?

But I see.

Come to think of it, he’s from the lineage of the Immortal Demon clan.

Which meant that given enough time, he would regenerate.

No, that’s wrong.

It’s that.

It’s the 『Final Plan』 Gisu was talking about.

So this is it.

Did he intend to do this from the start?

Or did he change it mid-way?

I thought it was strange.

I thought that it was strange that the Fighting God Armor wasn’t restoring itself.

It was intentionally not restoring itself.

And then, Alek wore the Fighting God Armor at the bottom of the valley and it was restored.

It was possible that they were making preliminary arrangements during the time Gisu was playing dead.

Something like dropping a part of Badigadi and the Fighting God Armor down the valley, resurrecting Alek……

Damnit.

Must we do it again?

Must we fight again?

We’re bored already.

Shouldn’t it be fine to just end it at that?

Cut it out already! Why did someone who already died come out now of all times!?

No, it’s my fault.

I didn’t properly dispose of Alek’s body.

I left it as is, thinking that I had defeated him, that I had won.

It might be different if I had burnt his body, but I left it as is.

But, just how was he still fine? Within those conditions. Beyond that state.

Well……it’s fine.

The past is in the past.

What to do now?

I don’t even have the MK. Zero now.

No allies.

Ghyslaine, Ruijerd, and Isolte.

And I, with almost completely exhausted mana.

With no weapons and no shield.

No method.

I don’t think we can win.

What should be done?

What to do? Could we win against North God Kalman the Third wearing the Fighting God Armor?

Could we at least shave off some of his power?

“………”

Alek looked at me as I gazed with my dumbfounded face.

As if to say that he had no questions as to why I was standing there.

As if to say that he had been looking forward to this as a matter of course.

“Rudeus Greyrat………I apologize that I called you a novice.

You’re a splendid warrior.

Unlike your looks, you’re an enemy worthy of me.

Thanks to you, I have once again levelled up and have become stronger. You have my gratitude.”

I turned my completely exhausted body towards the golden armor.

He’d just catch up to us if we ran away.

We didn’t have enough of a fighting force to even stall for time.

Then, I’ll struggle.

I’ll struggle while putting everything on the line.

While thinking that, I stepped forward─

“……Ah?”

When I realized, I had already fallen to the ground.

“Overwhelming. The current me can win against anyone.”

I realized that we were blown away by the Fighting God when I saw the three of them fall over.

Ruijerd, Ghyslaine, and Isolte too.

They were knocked down with just one hit.

“I give you my gratitude for making me even stronger, Rudeus. I’ll spare your life in return.”

Delayed pain ran through my body.

My leg was broken.

He’s too fast.

Although he wasn’t a match for the foresight eye, I still couldn’t react at all.

Except for me, the other three couldn’t even respond.

So that fact wouldn’t change even if he was a match for the foresight eye.

I wonder if this was the real power of the Fighting God Armor.

If the one inside was strong, then it would strengthen……

No, that’s wrong.

It’s not like Badigadi was weak.

Despite his appearance, he was strong.

The only difference was that if the user changed, then there would be a sudden change in performance.

Depending on who’s inside, it’ll change its shape……

“Well then, good-bye.”

Alek walked off.

There was no time to be surprised.

I immediately used Healing magic and healed the three in my surroundings.

The three had fainted.

They were at the verge of dying, but hadn’t died yet.

Was it Alek’s mercy? Damnit. Was he still underestimating us?

Well, fine.

After healing the three of them, I hid them in an Earth Fortress and then chased after Alek myself.

I just chased after him, with no idea what to do. I didn’t have any plan.

Did Sylphy already reach the village? What would Orsted do now?

I didn’t know.

But that destination must be protected at all costs.

To protect Eris, Sylphy, and Norn.

And the same applies for every Supard.

We mustn’t let him trample it all down.

There was no reason not to chase after him.

My legs weren’t moving well.

I was getting feedback that something was coming loose.

But I still ran.

While chasing after the golden armor, I advanced forward.

Part 5

The Supard village was far too quiet.

So much so that, when I arrived, I thought it was already over.

"…Why!? Why isn’t anyone here!?"

Alek shouted out.

When he passed through the entrance, there was nobody there.

The Supard race wasn’t here.

Neither was Julie or Norn.

Nor was the injured Cliff who should have been carried here.

Neither was Eris or Sylphy who should have delivered the message to Orsted.

There were no traces at all.

The people had disappeared like a magic act.

"What is the meaning of this!? Wasn't this the place that Rudeus was protecting!?"

Yes it was.

I was protecting this place.

It's odd. Until now, everyone was right here.

How much time……had passed?

It's about three hours from here to the valley.

Aboard the MK. Zero, it's faster, taking only one hour.

Fighting Badigadi, after that looking for Gisu and returning……so about 5-6 hours?

At that time, everyone was indeed here.

I was in a rush so I didn't get a good look at the surroundings, but everyone should have been there.

Huh?

No, wait. Wasn’t that a bit too much?

There’s someone who should be here, right?

"Dammit……Does this mean that I have been successfully deceived by you……Rudeus Grayrat!?"

Alek turned around.

While radiating an angry aura, he turned around.

It's a misunderstanding

Even I didn’t know.

If Orsted wasn’t here, then why did I follow such a dangerous guy here?

Wasn’t that stupid?

I should have taken advantage of my luck and ran somewhere else in the forest.

"Orsted and the Supard race weren't here from the start. Is that how it is?"

"……No, the Supard race……and Ruijerd-san were here, right?"

While he was still giving off a feeling like he was about to attack at any moment, I took a step back.

I couldn’t tell what's what anymore.

Could this be a dream that I'm seeing?

Did the Dark King survive and was now showing me a dream after I had defeated Badigadi?

"I thought I'd let you live, but I'll take that back. If you choose to fight me until the end, I'll let you have your wish…"

Not good.

I didn’t get the meaning.

I had to get away.

There's no reason to fight. I had to run.

When I thought that and turned around─

Suddenly, my back froze.

My legs stopped.

Did Alek do something?

No, that’s wrong.

He's also frozen.

"Wha-what's this chill!?"

He let out a frightened voice and began looking around in a frenzy.

How could he still be this frightened after obtaining the Fighting God Armor?

Why?

It's because of the curse.

A curse that fills every human with fear.

Though I was immune to that curse.

But I understood that the person emanating that curse was radiating killing intent as well.

I possessed a great trauma in relation to this killing intent.

That was why it's frightening.

"………"

The origin of the bloodlust made his appearance.

From the depths of the Supard village.

It's not the black-helmeted figure I was familiar with.

Silver hair and cruel sanpaku eyes.

The man with a terrifying face, slowly headed this way.

"Rudeus."

"Orsted-sama……why……"

Orsted.

He threw the helmet he had in his hand towards me.

I caught it in a hurry.

"When I heard the story from Sylphiette, Cliff Grimoire’s mana had already run out.

Therefore, I judged him inadequate to seal Badigadi the Fighting God and bowed my head to a certain man.

That’s why I was a little delayed. Forgive me."

No, it’s not about that.

I didn’t want to hear why you're late.

I want to know the reason why nobody is……

"But I never thought that this would happen……"

Orsted said that and looked at Alek.

He looked at North God Kalman the Third wearing the Fighting God Armor.

"Leave the rest to me."

Orsted took a single step forward as he said that.

Alek, looking frightened, took a step back.

I couldn't tell what was going on.

I only asked Orsted.

"But, Orsted-sama, your mana……"

"It's fine. You've done enough. I’ve resolved myself as well."

Orsted shook his head.

"Resolved, about what……"

He saw me and smiled a little, but his face was also slightly stiff.

The man with the most frightening face in the world declared.

"I too, want to try fighting believing in my comrades for once."

The exchange was short, so I couldn’t understand.

But for some reason, it remained in my heart.

I understood that Orsted had decided on something with those words.

"……I understand. Then I'll leave the rest to you."

I stepped back.

There was nothing else to say.

I had thought that I must absolutely not let Orsted fight, but when I saw that slight smile on his face, I understood.

I had been slightly mistaken.

It's not something that needed to be said, but Orsted cared for me far more than I had thought.

Not for his own self interest, but through his feelings, he thought of me as an ally.

And Orsted wanted to fight for that ally that he believed in.

From here on out, he's not alone, but with me.

Not using me to fight, but fighting alongside me.

That was something that I was happy about.

"Now then, 『North God Kalman III』 Aleksander Ryback."

"Are you……the 『Dragon God』 Orsted…?"

Upon hearing his name called, Alek gripped his sword.

That was the Dragon King Sword, Kajakuto.

I see, so he was going to fight with that.

The Dragon King Sword and the Fighting God Armor.

The strongest despair-inducing equipment.

If we could at least prevent him from using one of them…

Was there anything I could do?

"This is perfect."

Orsted spoke.

I was thinking that, but it seems that Orsted had something different in mind.

In response to Alek's raised sword, he showed a composed smile.

As if to freeze everything, a terrifying smile.

"Possessing the Fighting God Armor and the Dragon King Sword. I assume that you'll have no excuses when you lose with both?"

"Wha!?"

Alek's bloodlust swelled.

"Are you making fun of me!?"

"That’s not it."

Orsted said that and pressed his hands in together.

And then separated them slowly.

He extracted something from his left hand.

A single katana.

The moment I saw that, I felt my legs shake.

I had only seen that katana once.

Orsted called that katana a single word, 『Godsword』.

All I knew was that it used a great amount of magic power.

“The only thing I want to do is to thoroughly defeat you and completely break your spirit into pieces.”

Orsted held out the katana right in between his eyes.

Alek was openly outraged.

Releasing a prickling bloodlust, he held out the Dragon King Sword.

"Try me if you THINK YOU CAN!"

『Dragon God』 Orsted and the 『Fighting God Armor』 clad 『North God』 Aleksander.

The be all, end all, final battle began.

Part 6

10 minutes later.

A fourth of the forest of the valley was annihilated.

The wilderness had become a burnt area, with a heap of large broken trees scattered about.

A boy with both of his arms now gone was on his knees.

A sword was put against that boy’s neck.

The boy looked in amazement at the wielder of that sword.

The wielder of that sword was one man.

With silver hair and sanpaku eyes.

His entire body was completely unscathed.

He was standing spotless as if he hadn’t even fought yet.

Only his clothes were a little bit torn.

“Will you die here or become my subordinate? Choose.”

“………”

The Dragon God and the North God who wore the Fighting God Armor.

There may not be any objections to calling the matchup a legendary battle.

Perhaps they would form a companionship in their remaining lifetime.

But calling the actual battle a legendary fight would be too lame.

It was too one-sided and overwhelming.

Honestly, it’s difficult even for me to explain the fight with my meagre mouth.

Indeed, I witnessed that fight.

While getting wrapped up in it and getting close to death, I witnessed it.

But it was too fast and I couldn’t see most of it.

Even using the foresight eye, I didn’t know what the two of them were doing.

The only thing clear to me was that Orsted constantly dominated the fight.

It was clear that even if Alek tried to reverse the situation, and each time that he did, he was thoroughly crushed.

There was a complete difference in power.

Even with the Fighting God Armor and Dragon King Sword, he couldn’t even lay so much as a finger on him.

The Fighting God Armor had completely broken.

The armor itself started restoring, but it got separated from Alek’s body.

The Dragon King Sword was lying with Alek’s hand in his immediate vicinity.

Alek no longer had any fighting spirit left.

With the eyes of a loser, his mouth partly agape, fear clinging onto his face, he was looking at Orsted while shedding tears.

It was no longer the face of a boy who was enthused at the concept of becoming a hero.

With his spirit thoroughly broken into pieces, he had become a dog with his tail in between his legs.

“……………I’ll become……your subordinate.”

At the end of the long silence, Alek spoke at last.

Now, this time for sure, the final battle had finally come to a finish.

Author's Q&A

Q. The number of comments has already passed 25,000, eh?

A. This, too, is all because of everyone’s patronage.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Q. The President’s 『Godsword』 was used a lot in this battle, but didn’t it consume a lot of mana?

I think that instead of using a huge amount of mana, if the sword can obtain a terrifying sharpness, then Rudi should just use it………

A. A lot of mana gets consumed just by summoning it and it also has a time restriction on it.

This is the truth about the Godsword!

Q. Was Cliff-Senpai living a stressful life in the Religious Organization where he had to remain vigilant everyday for poisons……?

I think that’s how it is since he examined the food with the Identification Eyes many times……

A. Even if Cliff-senpai himself doesn’t become the prey of poison, he still possesses the Identification Eye, so there are many times when he’s chosen as a tester for poison during meal times, or something like that.

Q. The Fighting God Badigadi or Fighting God Alek, which one would be stronger?

Is it Fighting God Badigadi after all?

A. If the capture method is not known, then it would be Badi.

If it’s known, then Alek.

However, if Alek has 50 years of fighting experience against Orsted from now on…

Q. Growing out of a one-man administration.

A. And Rudeus becoming a board member!

Q. What about the possibility that nobody knew that Rudeus-chan’s vast mana would finally activate the Dragon King Sword’s true power?

A. That possibility is high.

Q. Was clairvoyance ever needed?

A. In the future, if there are many occurrences of baths, then it will surely become useful.

Q. I really wanted to see the grand monster play-off between the Fighting God vs. Magic Armor MK. Zero.

A. When the timer on the MK. Zero man’s chest starts beeping after 3 minutes……!

Q. Gisu or Vita or His Majesty Badi was treated so badly by Hitogami but they still obeyed him because they had to repay a debt……was this Hitogami’s curse that every living creature would like him that the President spoke of?

A. Normally, it's true that no one would want to work with such trash, but if you change the background and context, friendship may result.

Q. Perhaps Turning Point is ~

A. Turning Point basically happens the moment that the history of the fight between Orsted & Hitogami changes dramatically.

At the very least, it's not for knocking down the reader at the bottom of despair.

Q. I’m worried about Doga! I think that such a na?ve young man might’ve been invited by Sándor to enroll in the Golden Knight Party, but I wonder if his innermost thoughts are that that this was not what he signed up for?

A. Doga-kun is honest and na?ve so he won’t raise those types of those questions.

Q. Was there some kind of grudge depicted towards the Dragon God?

A. The one who fought Fighting God Badi was the vanguard of the Dragon God’s side, that is Laplace.

Q. Leaving Kajakuto as it is and then leaving to look for Gisu was unnatural.

A. It fell into the valley, so it can’t be helped.

Q. Is the President’s 『Godsword』 Laplace’s work too?

A. No, it was the work of the founding Dragon God or the founding 5 Dragon Generals.