Chapter 50 (2/2)

「 . . . We still have not talked about the offering for the『passage』, you know?」(Alesia)

These words cause me to feel an ice-like chill running up the back of my neck .

「Oi… Oi, wait . There, there’s . . . more?」(Kaito)

The words formed by my trembling lips have distinct fear in them .

This woman intends to say more . With that delighted, demon-like smile, she intends to say more .

「The threshold between one world and another is the domain of God . There is no way that a human with a body of flesh and blood can cross such a place unscathed . 」(Alesia)

I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it .

To summon me to this world, these people sacrificed something even more .

「Places with under the influence of God apparently etch his power directly upon the soul . That is precisely why that Heroes inherently obtain such powerful abilities . With that said, it would be troublesome to deal with a person who has been crippled by having his soul violated by God’s domain . A『path』is needed to allow a person to pass through to be able to receive that power without being broken . 」(Alesia)

After sacrificing two hundred of my friends and teachers, what more has been sacrificed?

And then Alesia spoke these final words .

With the elegance of biting into a small, soft, pleasant, cherry-like, fruit .

「The『ingredients』used to make that path is the offering . Humans who possess souls that do not reject your soul are transformed into the path itself . About five people, perhaps? For example, yes -」(Alesia)

… Parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins .

I hear a noise that sounds as if my own world has been crushed by the princess’s finger that resembles a venomous claw .

「What are you saying? Eh? That’s, but, it’s . . . ?」(Kaito)

Words spill out of my mouth . I wonder what I’m saying right now .

「They are dead, you know? Your family and the friends around you became sacrifices for the sake of this world . 」(Alesia)

Dead? Father? Mother? Mai? Suehiko, Kenta, Haruto and Oogane-sensei?

Why, why why why why why, I can’t go back now, can I?

I promised her that I would go home to my family and return to my normal life, return –

Return return return AAAAAAAAAHHHH!

「Ahahahaha, that’s the face I wanted to see! I’ve wanted to see that face for the longest time! Ahah, hey, hey, how are you feeling right now? You did say that you wanted to return to your world and meet your family, didn’t you? And your friends? They all died a long time ago; you’re such an idiot! AHAHAHAHAHA!」(Alesia)

The shrill, echoing laughter sounds close, distant, sharp, dull; it creates more and more cracks in my heart .

「I had a lot of trouble suppressing my laughter when you told me that, you know? For just that moment, I forgot my disgust at having to show courtesy to you . 」(Alesia)

The world spins . Round and round . Front and back and right and left and up and down is all scrambled and the brightly-colored patterns mix together .

「Stop it, please stop it already…!」(Kaito)

「『I want to go back to my hometown, back to where my family is . I want to return to the days where I can play around with my friends and eat meals with my family, I want to go back . 』It was something like that, wasn’t it? I tried imitating what you said before you went to defeat the Demon Lord; what do you think? Do you think I am talented at doing impressions of people?」(Alesia)

It breaks; it crumbles .

With crackling, rattling sounds, my world twists and cracks; it transforms into something else .

「If you want to go back, you are free to go ahead, you know? If you forcibly rape and impregnate some Beast-people and make five children or so, you will have enough to create a path, won’t you? Well, I would do my best to prevent you from doing such a repulsive thing . I would kill your『materials』, your『children . 』It is just so, so disgusting for the monster child of someone from another world to live in this world, even for an instant, so it cannot be helped, can it?」(Alesia)

「! ALESIAAAAAAAA!」(Kaito)

With my physical strength and my legs forcibly strengthened by the mana that is responding to my rage, I tear the chains that bind me into pieces .

「Now! Concentrate your firepower!」(Knight captain)

「GUGAAH, MOVE, DON’T GET IN MY WAAAAAY!」(Kaito)

At the knight captain’s command, the knights release their spells . But it’s annoying for these to even be in my field of vision .

I’m burned by fire, struck down by water, cut by wind, beaten by rock, pierced by light and tormented by darkness, but even so, the inside of my head is completely dominated by the thought of impaling Alesia with the sword in my hand .

My thoughts of escape have disappeared somewhere . As long as I’m still able to move, it’s fine . I slip through the openings between the knights’ attacks as they swing their swords at me .

「DIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!」(Kaito)

I swing the tip of my sword down in rage, towards the princess that I have finally reached .

「Gah, gaugaah . 」(Kaito)

「*Giggle* You really are a foolish person, aren’t you? To not even be able to see through this kind of illusion; just how bad can your eyes be?」(Alesia)

The princess that I was supposed to cut to pieces vanishes like mist, and at the same time, multiple arrows pierce me from behind .

With its power drained after I forced myself to run through the storm of spells, my【Dark Spirit’s Attire]couldn’t completely block those arrows .

「Now then, this is the end . As thanks for dancing conveniently for me, I will kill you with my own hands . Think of it as a privilege . Bring me a sword . 」(Alesia)

In response to these words, a knight presents his sword to the princess .

Taking that sword in her hand, Alesia slowly steps towards me .

『Say, Kaito . 』(Demon Lord)

At a time like this, I remember the words of the girl that was called the Demon Lord .

『I would do anything for you, anything you want, if it is within my ability to do so . I would even give you half of this world . So stay by my side, please . 』(Demon Lord)

I couldn’t take that trembling hand .

Even though she probably knew that I would refuse . Even though she probably expected that I wouldn’t take her hand .

I couldn’t take the hand of that girl whose cold tears were spilling down .

I made a mistake, I made a mistake, I made a mistake .

Is this my punishment for that? My foolishness has come back to repay me like this .

『I will definitely return to where my family is . 』The promise that she even sacrificed her own life for .

It can’t be fulfilled anymore .

Because the place I was supposed to return to had been robbed from me right from the beginning .

「Die . You monster who came from another world, wearing the same skin as us . 」(Alesia)

Even though I’m on the verge of death, the only thing that surfaces in my mind is a sense of regret .

『Live in a way that you will not have left things undone when you die one day . I am giving you my life; if you live a life that you throw away halfway through, I will never forgive you . 』(Demon Lord)

The moment I get the feeling that these words are ringing through my ears is the moment that the princess’s sword tries to pierce my heart .

「?! W-what is this?!」(Alesia)

What Alesia pierced isn’t my heart . With a crack, the sword that she thrust down crushed… the magic core hanging around my neck .

The magic core that contains the mana of the Demon Lord is unusually dense; currents of mana flow out of it and fill this place .

This immediately provides the Dungeon Core with the mana necessary for the Guardians’ revival, which is normally supposed to take several months .

「「GYARROOOOH!」」

A sharp roar echoes out in the chamber .

Two beasts appear, one is a lion wrapped in red flames and the other is a tiger wrapped in blue flames .

「Kuh, everyone, get into battle formation! We must protect the princess!」(Knight captain)

Despite the chaos caused by the abrupt appearance of these enemies, the knights move quickly .

… If I’m going to run, now’s my only chance .

「UOOOOOOOH!」(Kaito)

「Wha-?! Shit, the hero is getting away!」(Knight)

I don’t have skills, I don’t have shit, I’m just breaking through with only one thing in my mind . I break through the knights’ encirclement . Their ranks have already been thrown into disarray by the appearance of the Guardians; they collapse as I run through them .

Increasing my speed with『Shukuchi*』and『Divine Feet*』, I dash through the air using『Sky Walk』close to the ground . I evade the attacks aimed at me with the smallest amount of necessary movement or simply accept them, suppressing the screams of pain coming from all over my body . And I head towards the only exit to this place .

TLN*: These were initially translated in the previous chapter as “Ground Shrink” and “Godspeed” . I don’t like these translations for various reasons so I’m changing them (and they should be changed on Daily’s version soon as well) . For reference, “Shukuchi” is a fairly common term in fictional works to refer to various techniques of rapid movement .

「No, he must not be allowed to escape! If he is allowed to even take one step from this chamber -」(Alesia)

In response to the princess’s voice echoing from behind me, I tighten the grip of my hand that is holding my Soul Sword without thinking .

Even if I die afterwards, I have to pierce the princess with this sword in my hand . . .

『If you live a life that you throw away halfway through, I will never forgive you . 』(Demon Lord)

「! FUUUUUCK! Scatter them, Cruel Blade – Firebird Burst Lightning Flash Flower!」(Kaito)

「Raise your shields!」(Knight captain)

An echoing, thunderous roar drowns out my voice and the voices of the knights, and an explosion filled with purple lightning expands outwards .

Of course, nobody here is inexperienced enough to be hit by this explosion directly, but it succeeds in delaying the humans that stop it with their shields and magic barriers . And since the guys behind me are fighting the Guardians, they have no time to give chase .

「I will not let you!」(Alesia)

「Gugah!」(Kaito)

A fireball released by the princess scorches my back .

But the victor of this battle is me .

「Wai-」(Alesia)

That’s the last I hear of the princess’s voice .

I turn my head as I teleport using my Soul Sword’s power, and the last thing I see is the princess whose face is wearing an ugly, demon-like expression of fury .

I didn’t have any destination in mind when I teleported other than “far away”, and I find myself in a deep forest that I’ve never seen before . The sun hasn’t risen yet and even the moon was hidden behind the rain clouds . The forest is submerged in complete darkness .

The drizzling rain runs down my body, easing the pain of the countless wounds on it .

My back that was burnt from the princess’s spell hurts a lot . As the thought of treating it runs through my mind, my vision becomes distorted .

Long-distance teleportation consumes an incredible amount of mana . After my level increased, it was almost unlimited, but I suppose I’m suffering from mana intoxication now . At this rate, it seems like it’ll be a while before I can treat myself .

I pull out the arrows, apply pressure to the wounds and try to walk, but I can’t even take the first step .

「 . . . 」(Kaito)

The humans that I asked to help me, the humans that I trusted, were my『enemies』right from the beginning .

I believed that I would be able to return to a normal life in my world . The hope that kept me going until now was nothing but a mirage .

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in this world anymore .

I don’t know what I should live for .

… I don’t know, but –

『Live in a way that you will not have left things undone when you die one day . 』(Demon Lord)

My legs feel like they’ll collapse any minute, but even so, I take one step forward .

Even if I don’t know what I continue living for, I can’t die .

Because of her, I came to like this world .

Because of her, I was able to smile in this world .

That very girl told me that she’d never forgive me if I lived my life in a half-assed way .

Even so, if I were to die, she would probably give her usual laugh and say something like,『You are so helpless; foolish until the very end . 』

That’s why my feet can’t stop here .

If I were to die in a way where I gave up before the very end, I wouldn’t be able to stay by her side even after I die .

That’s why, that’s right, I’ll walk .

I want her to let me cry a little .

「I’m sorry, Leticia . I couldn’t keep my promise . I’m sorry, I’m really sorry . . . 」(Kaito)

These words spill out and disappear into the darkness, never to be heard by anyone .