ch61-ch80 · 074-ch73

Chapter 73

"Jeez... She's seriously a monster, isn't she."

Lugardo was gazing at the "Cleaning Record" stream on his mobile terminal, thinking about the feelings welling up inside his chest.

The race called Demons had been caught up in the "World Fusion" a quarter century ago and transported to Earth — but as Toru had surmised, even back in the other world, Lugardo and his fellow Demons had lived disguised as humans.

Once there was a "Demon King" called the Maou, and the term Demon originally referred to the Demon King's kin — but that Demon King was killed by the "Hero," and they lost their country.

Lugardo himself was born after the Demon King's death, a Demon called the "New Generation" among his own kind. Naturally, he held no loyalty toward the Demon King, and by the time he was self-aware, he could use "Concealment" and "Mimicry" magic. As a matter of course.

Living among humans, behaving like a human, he'd never quite understood why Demons were so reviled.

They spoke the same language, grieved when their comrades were hurt, cherished small children, and felt anger at injustice. They rejoiced in good food and laughed at stupid jokes. They were the same.

The difference was simple.

Compared to humans, Demons had longer lifespans, greater strength, and higher magical power.

In short, from the human perspective, Demons were their "natural enemies."

If they felt like it, a single Demon could wipe out an entire town. The Demon King was said to have been hostile to humans, but which side threw the first punch was questionable, Lugardo thought.

"'Hero,' huh... Bet you didn't have it easy either..."

"So Demons can feel sympathy too."

Caught off guard by the sudden voice, Lugardo started.

The reason being, Lugardo had been leisurely watching the stream on his mobile while using "Concealment" magic, sitting smack in the middle of a steel tower in the city. Power lines ran along the upper section, and the base of the tower was in a residential neighborhood. Though it was a weekday morning in a regional city — past the early hours at least — there was hardly any foot traffic.

Standing beside Lugardo on this tower without a hint of presence, having arrived who-knows-when, was the man in the hunting cap — Soma Kengo.

"Soma, was it? You got asked by Toru too, right?"

"Yeah. Did Hayasaka tell you? Well, that's right."

"An S-rank explorer accepting a personal request. Who'd've thought."

He said it teasingly, but Soma, standing on the steel beam as naturally as the ground, didn't so much as twitch emotionally. As if being mocked by the likes of Lugardo was of no concern whatsoever... no, it genuinely was of no concern.

——This guy is stronger than me.

That was Lugardo's instinct. Naturally, that was while disguised as a human, but even if he unleashed his Demon form and abilities, it probably still wouldn't be enough.

"This Gilgeil you're after — he's a piece of shit, right?"

Soma said quietly, then swept his gaze across the view from the tower.

An unremarkable, ordinary residential neighborhood in a regional city. The only point of interest was that the rundown apartment where Hayasaka Toru lived was about forty meters from the tower.

"Yeah. I don't think anyone in our group ever understood that bastard's true feelings. One thing I can say — that bastard doesn't think anything of humans. Of people."

"Doesn't think anything of them? Then what about Anthem's manager and the prefectural assemblyman he handed the stone to?"

"When you pick up a rock and think about throwing it at another rock or a wall — do you hate the rock or the wall? When you're sitting around a bonfire and a bug flies by, and you happen to catch it. When you toss the bug into the fire, you don't feel any particular way about it, right?"

Not that I'd know, he concluded. He couldn't be certain, so it couldn't be helped.

Soma seemed to furrow his brows slightly — not at Lugardo, but rather at the Gilgeil that Lugardo was describing.

"Lugardo. How do you evaluate Hayasaka's instincts?"

"...Evaluate?"

"Hayasaka said it's highly likely Gilgeil will come after the people involved, targeting a moment when both Hayasaka and the Holy Sword wielder are definitely away. Did he not tell you? Personally, I also think that possibility is high. What do you think?"

"That guy's got a pretty nasty personality, doesn't he?"

Lugardo said after thinking for a moment. Soma briefly lifted the corner of his mouth and gave a small shrug.

"It's probably because the world wasn't kind to him. The fact that he holds grudges instead of lashing out makes him pretty decent, I'd say."

"Humans, I swear... oh, in that sense, Gilgeil might've been interested in the human collective."

"What do you mean?"

"Because they're far more grotesque than Demons. Same in the other world, same in this one. This world only has humans, yet human history is nothing but a history of war. This country's been killing each other among the same ethnicity for about eight hundred years, right?"

Absolute madness, Lugardo muttered, lowering his gaze to his mobile screen.

On the stream, the "Hero" was tearing through the nineteenth floor of Sugai Dungeon. Watching S-rank monsters being trampled by the Hero, he could only call her a monster.

"Because their lifespans are short."

At the curt answer, Lugardo furrowed his brows deeply. He didn't understand.

Soma traced the brim of his hunting cap with his fingertip and gave a small shrug before continuing.

"I hear you and elves are long-lived. So you don't reproduce much. If you'd reproduced the same way humans do, you would've wiped out humans long ago in your original world. The reason that didn't happen is because you didn't increase your numbers."

"...I don't really follow."

"Humans are weak. That's why they're strong. You're strong. That's why you're weak. That's what it comes down to."

"Weak? You're full of it. You're stronger than me, aren't you?"

"Probably, yes. But to produce a single human stronger than you — whether by chance or inevitability — requires roughly eight billion humans weaker than you. Can you truly call that 'strong'? I certainly can't."

"...Beats me. I don't get the complicated stuff."

"Well, I don't know much about your kind either, so I was just talking out of my ass."

Soma delivered that with an unchanged expression, and Lugardo couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

This was the man who had subjected Lugardo to unreasonable violence, but there had been no sign of enjoyment. He'd done it because he thought it was necessary. There was even a possibility he'd been reluctant. But he did it because it was necessary — if so, that spirit was commendable.

"Oh, the nineteenth floor boss looks like a black dragon. How many minutes do you think?"

On the terminal screen, Toru and the others had entered the boss room and were having a brief exchange in front of the black dragon in its standby state. Then the Hero stepped forward, making the Holy Sword glow pale blue, and the black dragon responded by majestically spreading its wings, shifting into combat readiness.

"Five seconds."

Soma said. Lugardo was about to retort that that was ridiculous — but after watching the black dragon literally get instant-killed by three slashes and one meteor, he had to admit his own estimate had been far too generous.

Which meant Soma's estimate was more accurate than Lugardo's.

"And you've still got the nerve to call humans 'weak.'"

Shrugging, he went back to watching the stream, which was wrapping up about now. The blonde drill girl made a spirited declaration, and shortly after, the screen went dark. A few seconds later, the video site displayed its "This stream has ended" screen and casually promoted "Recommended Videos," but of course, neither of them had any interest.

Stuffing the mobile terminal into his suit's inner pocket, Lugardo stood up on the steel beam. He lined up next to Soma, who had been standing from the start, but felt no particular discomfort.

——Here it comes.

Soma said.

The next moment, centered on the rundown apartment that was Toru's home, a section of the city felt as though it had been cut off from the world.

A dissonance, as if a dim filter had been draped over that area.

"It's a perception-blocking 'barrier.' Basically a large-scale 'Concealment' spell, but from the outside, whatever happens inside won't be detected. Even if there's an explosion."

"'Concealment' — I see. So that's how it's applied."

Soma nodded as if impressed.

Lugardo almost felt pleased about having taught this man something, but then spotted a figure above the rundown apartment and stiffened his resolve.

The figure was pale purple.

Wings sprouted from its back — black feathers like a crow's — but of course it wasn't flying by flapping them. They merely served as a medium for flight magic. Lugardo, too, could sprout bat-like wings in his Demon form. Though not all Demons could do it.

"He seriously came. And he's planning to blow up the whole apartment."

Saying that, Lugardo released his human disguise and reverted to his true Demon form. Seeing the hovering Demon concentrating magical power, he read the intent and clicked his tongue.

If he flew out, he'd literally intercept the attack, but it would mean blocking the magic that had already been released. Wasting a perfectly good opening by not attacking was a shame — but he'd made a promise to Toru, so he couldn't let that apartment be destroyed.

"Leave the defense to me."

Soma said. No bravado, just a matter-of-fact tone. At the same time, he extended his left hand toward the apartment, raised his index and middle fingers together, and flicked them upward.

————GABANG!

In an instant, the apartment was covered in stone. Earth-type magic, no doubt, but it was an instantaneous activation with no magical concentration or incantation, on a scale that completely enclosed the entire apartment building.

"He's already primed to fire. He has no choice but to shoot. With that level of magical power, he won't pierce my stone wall. Go."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Heh — Lugardo snorted, extended his awareness to the wings on his back, and launched off the steel beam into flight. The hovering Demon was, as Soma said, left with no option but to fire his magic light sphere. Like a bullet whose primer has been struck, magic and sorcery that have been woven past a certain threshold can only be unleashed.

The Demon curved its wings, and countless "feathers" rained down toward the apartment. In terms of human weaponry, it was on the scale of a machine gun. The destructive power was probably even greater.

But they didn't pierce Soma's stone wall.

With an earsplitting GAGAGAGAGAGA—, they merely gouged the surface stone, and the magical "feathers" never reached the apartment.

And Lugardo had more than enough time to reach the bastard.

"You're one of Gilgeil's flunkies."

"Concealment" magic was no longer necessary. As he closed to point-blank range, the Demon's eyes went wide at the sight of Lugardo. Genuine shock was written there.

"Lugardo—!? You, why...!?"

There was no reason to answer such a question. Riding the momentum of his approach, Lugardo concentrated magical power in his right fist and slugged the bastard with everything he had.

Power that would effortlessly pulverize a block of concrete. He felt the impact break through the magical defense, but it wasn't enough to knock him out.

The Demon was sent flying in an arc like swatting away a gnat, and Lugardo channeled magical power into his wings to give chase.

But he noticed a sniper shot from another direction and stopped in midair.

Near the edge of the "barrier" cast over the residential area — on the roof of a two-story house. A magic cannon shot using a short staff held in hand.

"...That one's not Gilgeil either...!"

When Gilgeil had left the Demon group, several had gone with him. That meant two of them had been deployed.

The winged Demon was Gaidorl, the cannon Demon was Bargas... probably.

Without allowing even a moment's thought, the next cannon shot came.

The scale and power were different, but it was the same principle as the "meteor" the Hero used — a technique and magic that fired a magical shock. The Hero's was technique, but Bargas's was sorcery. Like the bullets of firearms humans used, the cannon shot exceeded the speed of sound — but before firing, there was a concentration and convergence of magical power. Midair was a difficult position to maneuver in, but it was manageable.

If it was purely a matter of evasion, Kagurazaka Chizuru's swordsmanship was more troublesome, Lugardo thought as he spun in midair and glanced at the "Hunter" on the tower.

Soma, reading Lugardo's look, pointed at the sky as if to say you handle that direction. Then Bargas was the "Hunter's" problem. Lugardo poured power into his wings and closed in again on Gaidorl, who had stopped in midair after being knocked back.

Naturally, that was when the cannon shot came — but the supersonic magical shock was intercepted by Soma's "stone bullet." It was a godly feat like shooting down a bullet with a bullet, but Soma had already vanished from the tower as if it were nothing, using rooftops and power poles as footholds to close in on Bargas.

"Traitor——!"

Gaidorl, who had turned both wings toward Lugardo in midair, spat out curses with pure venom and concentrated his magical power. Getting hit by that machine-gun-like "feather" barrage would be bad — Lugardo started to accelerate, then stopped mid-motion.

He spread his wings and hovered in place, then threw both arms wide and stuck out his tongue. A mockery so obvious even the biggest idiot could understand it.

"A traitor? That's our line, old man. I don't know what you were so bitter about that you left, but from where we're standing, you're the traitors."

"What would a new-generation brat like you understand—!?"

"That's why I'm saying I don't get it. You never even bothered to explain properly, did you. And then, on top of everything, you try to kill the family of some human you don't even know. You've really hit rock bottom. The Demon King's probably crying in his grave, isn't he. What a pathetic bunch of subordinates pulling stupid stunts, and you thought you were being clever but it was obvious from the start."

"Shut up, you little shit!"

"Okay. Then I'll shut up. Though — you'll be the one shutting up."

Waving his spread arms, Lugardo gestured toward somewhere far away. It wasn't any particular somewhere. From sixteen meters up, no matter where he pointed, the meaning was clear.

The color had returned to the world.

In other words — the "barrier" had been dispelled.

————Fwoooo—WHAM!

Like a mortar shell being fired, a human-sized something slammed into the hovering Gaidorl. It looked like a traffic accident between a person and a motorcycle — but Gaidorl, having been run over, was blasted straight downward.

The Holy Sword wielder, who had come flying at tremendous speed, had smashed Gaidorl downward with the Holy Sword from above.

"Yahoo! You actually listened to Toru's request, didn't you."

Tia said with a bright smile, then began falling in accordance with gravity. Her golden hair, tied at the back of her neck, fluttered about — it felt terribly out of place somehow.

"...Come to think of it, humans can't fly, can they."

Muttering with a sigh, Lugardo turned his gaze to where Bargas had been. Then, remembering the "barrier" had been dispelled, he reapplied his "Concealment" magic on himself.

Soma alone would probably have been more than enough.

With the "Cursed Blade" wielder added to that — wasn't it more than sufficient.