Chapter 50
“A famous philosopher once said it. Kill one person and you're a murderer, but kill ten thousand and you become a hero.”
Contrary to what was known, the Hero was a man who loved striking dramatic poses.
The Hero claimed that he had contracted a mental illness called chuunibyou….
Well, for all that, he was quite a cheerful man.
“Hero. Then what happens if you kill several million?”
“Who knows? Maybe I’d become a king?”
And the Hero killed demons by the hundreds of millions,
and became the father of the first Emperor of the Kalid Empire.
If he was the Emperor's biological father, he ranked higher than a king, so perhaps his boast had not been entirely wrong.
If so….
“Kieeeek…!”
- Crrk…!
If he slaughtered thirteen million demons on the Plains of Hell… perhaps he could at least become the king of a great power.
- Pwoosh!!
While entertaining such a silly fantasy, the Saint cut down the neck of the 11,722,113th demon with the Holy Light Sword.
“Good grief.”
He had assumed that even if the boy looked young on the outside, his mind would be mature.
The Saint let out a silly laugh, wondering if even his mental age had gotten younger.
“Hieeek.”
“Monster, it's a monster…!!”
Thus, the demons remaining numbered 1,277,887.
Less than one-tenth of the original thirteen million remained.
Among them, the surviving high-ranking demons were….
“Just as expected of Heaven's Hound.”
There was only one.
A demon in a suit named Olga.
Even his horn had been broken, and blood was gushing from it.
“L-Lord Olga…! Please, save us…!”
As the only surviving high-ranking demon, he was surrounded by lowly demons clinging to him and begging for their lives.
- Crunch!
Of course, they were all turned into pools of blood.
They had tried to curry favor despite being worthless things, after all.
Olga shook the blood from his hand in disgust, then opened his mouth with a cynical smile.
“Hound of Heaven! How about we wrap this up here!”
If they were wiped out like this, it might not stop there—the entirety of Hell itself could be thrown into turmoil.
Of course, low-ranking demons would soon be born again,
but the problem was that the number of high-ranking demons had dwindled far too much.
“You are… Olga.”
“Haha, I am honored that you remember me!”
The mid-ranking demons would then kill one another to claim those positions, and the aftermath would spread throughout Hell.
Olga wanted nothing to do with such a troublesome situation.
It would be much easier to use his power to open a demon gate and stuff the Saint inside it.
“Exactly! Saint Ray. By now, isn't this an astounding feat? Since the Hero's two hundred million, a thousand years ago, this is the greatest number─.”
“Are you in your true form right now?”
“Pardon? Yes. Indeed.”
Above Olga as he tried to negotiate,
- Roar!!!
- Zzzzzzt!!!
“Gyaaaaaagh!!!”
A weakened version of 0.1 Excalibur came crashing down, annihilating 6.66 million demons in a single strike.
Naturally, he was split in half and died.
Slowly.
“Hieeeek?!”
“He made Lord Olga suffer like that…!!!”
The Saint had dispatched the high-ranking demon without a word.
The aura of demon-slaying that emanated from him made the surrounding demons wet themselves.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I'm sick to death of making deals with demons.”
And there stood the Saint, whose skin had burned from his own Holy Light Sword, even leaving his blond hair tanned.
He lifted the sunglasses he was wearing and…
“Are you lot going to propose a deal, too?”
He shot them a look filled with holy power and murderous intent.
- Shake shake!
The demons who did not want to die denied it with all their might.
Even demons knew that their own lives were precious.
- Snip!
That choice was death as well,
but unlike Olga, they died in an instant, without suffering.
“Then I'll send you off peacefully.”
“Hieeek!!!”
“Aaaak!!!”
And so the 11,721,115th demon was cut in half,
while somewhere on a plain in Hell, the wailing of demons rang out once again.
*
“Saaaaaint….”
John, a child from the orphanage, was asleep with eyes swollen from crying.
The Saint had jumped into the demon gate because of him.
The guilt was naturally more than a child could bear.
The clergy felt as though their hearts were breaking, since he had been like that for four days.
- Smack!
And all that anger was directed at the culprit responsible.
Everyone had slapped the culprit once or twice….
“Open the gate. Now.”
The culprit was, naturally—and surprisingly—Hildegard.
After putting out the orphanage fire, she had remained at the cathedral, waiting for someone.
So not only had she been captured by the enraged holy knights, she had also been subjected to a group beating, leaving no part of her uninjured.
“Hmm, no.”
Even so, she was still waiting haughtily for someone.
“A woman is supposed to wait demurely until her husband comes.”
That someone was the Saint.
She seemed to firmly believe that he would defeat all thirteen million demons.
- Smack!!
Of course, to the Saintess listening from the front, it was an utterly outrageous statement.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Demons were a race that endlessly exploited others for the sake of their own greed.
To that end, they abused contracts, deceived their contractors, and toyed with their victims. Even with other demons.
For such a demon to speak of love and claim to be his wife was utterly repulsive from the Saintess's perspective.
She wanted to kill her on the spot, but….
“Cough, cough! Hngh, but if you kill me… I won't be able to make the gate for my husband to return through.”
“Tsk.”
With no clue as to how the Saint would return, killing Hildegard—the only available means—might cause a major disaster.
All they could do was suppress their anger and wait.
“If he can't return, you'd better prepare yourself.”
“Oh my. You mean my husband might not return?”
Hildegard found that threat not merely laughable, but absolutely delightful.
“You seem not to know anything about Saint Ray's past exploits.”
“From what is recorded in the history books to the classified documents in the Papal See's library. And even his true identity. I know everything.”
“No, Saintess. What I mean is….”
- Crack!
And at that moment, a rift was forming in the space before them.
- Crack! Crrrk!!
“Th-this is…!”
“Impure and holy energies are mixed together…!”
“Everyone, prepare yourselves!!”
As the holy knights waiting nearby heightened their guard,
“Saint Ray was the Hero Party's healer. But in the chaotic age of that time, even he lived in a harsh era where he had to take up sword and spear.”
Only Hildegard gazed at the steadily widening rift with an ecstatic expression.
“What was my husband's role there? From the party's formation to its end… he was not only its healer, but also a monster who served as Elena Enersis's bodyguard.”
“What does that mean?”
“Who do you think single-handedly held back the tens of thousands of elite demon troops that bypassed the Hero and warriors on the front line?”
- Crack! Crrrck!
- Crrr…!
The first thing to poke its head out of the rift was,
- Roar!!!
- Clatter clatter!!
“Kieeeek─!!”
“A lich!!!”
“Everyone, battle formation!!”
A lich with cracks running through the bones of its entire body.
The holy knights, who had initially thought it was an invasion by demons, soon….
- Grip!
“I-I opened it, so please, spare my life─!!”
They were bewildered when they saw a tanned hand that looked like it belonged to a ten-year-old boy tightly gripping the lich's head.
A lich was afraid of a being with a hand like that?
- Hummmm!!
- Crrr…! Crack, crack!!
“Gk, gk, g-gueee…!!!”
The lich was fried and smashed apart by the holy power rising from that tanned hand, and soon,
- Pook!
- Sssrrl….
“Gk.”
The Holy Light Sword that pierced through its immortal heart finally ended its life.
Behind the lich, which had turned to dust,
“Whew. It feels good to be home.”
stood a heavily tanned blond shota.
In one hand, he held the Holy Light Sword… no, the flashlight.
He wore sunglasses over his face.
- Kiiing….
Of course, when they saw the halo floating above his head, all the clergy nearby vaguely realized who he was.
“...And who might you be, honored sir?”
“Hmm?”
Still, one could never be sure.
In response to those who asked once again, the blond, tanned shota lifted his sunglasses and─
“I am Saint Ray. Have you already forgotten what I look like?”
He grinned, his distinctive blond hair and golden eyes shining.
“D-Did you really defeat all those demons by yourself?!”
“Defeat? Correct yourself: annihilate. Anyway, what a trial this is at my age. Ngh….”
He had truly exterminated thirteen million demons all by himself in less than a week.
“Ahhh, my husband!!”
Hildegard, who had been watching this,
“Even your burned skin looks so wonderful─.”
- Bonk bonk bonk!!
“I had no idea it would really be thirteen million, you little minx. Let's have a little inquisition, just the two of us.”
“Gueee….”
After being hit a few times by the Saint, she was dragged half-conscious to the Inquisition.
Even as her consciousness slowly faded, Hildegard said,
“My husband is so cool…….”
She was delighted that becoming a wife who got beaten was not so bad after all.
* * *
Several weeks later.
In the summer weather, with the sun beating down fiercely,
“Not bad.”
“Right?”
Delphord and Akion were out by the river, sunbathing.
It seemed that doing this would increase their risk of skin cancer,
“If we get this frame design right, we can sell it quite profitably. And turning it into a luxury brand….”
“We'll figure out lens technology eventually, so if we're selling to nobles, we should give them something distinctive.”
Apparently, mana meant that sort of thing did not exist.
Even Akion was supposedly safe for now because he possessed mana. He had even confirmed it with the Magi Tower Master.
Thanks to that, the two were remedying their lack of sunlight.
“I understand your opinion to some degree. Products from famous boutiques command high prices simply because of their existence and scarcity. Selling the scarcity of something that not everyone can possess is truly an excellent strategy.”
While wearing sunglasses, of course.
Delphord was wearing the noble version, while Akion had on the commoner version.
“For commoners, we can make them cheap, like provisions.”
“Ho ho. There can't be another noble who looks after his people as much as you do.”
For reference, the noble design was the version the Saint had worn.
They were planning to sell it in different colors, but since the Saint had worn it, its value was bound to skyrocket.
“So, you said we need to decide on a brand name…. Have you thought of anything?”
“Absolute Cinema. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like praise for some master's work.”
And so Delphord and Akion
were gleefully plotting to siphon away the sweet pocket money of nobles who loved indulging in luxury.
“Young Master!!!”
“Huh, Goldie.”
“Ho ho. That child is always so energetic. But what is she holding─.”
Until Goldie came running from far away, brimming with excitement….
“...Son. That's from the Papal See.”
“Pardon?”
She was carrying a box that looked extremely expensive.
“Young Master, Young Master! Look at this! The Saint sent you a present!!!”
“……”
- Click!
Akion opened the box without asking questions or raising objections.
There was no point agonizing over it; that would not solve anything. He might as well charge in headfirst like a headbutting dinosaur.
- Shhhhh…!!
“Gasp.”
Then he saw the holy cross inside the box and immediately regretted it.
It contained such an enormous amount of holy power that even Akion, whose sensing abilities were poor, could tell.
For a moment, he wondered if it was a holy relic, but he was relieved that it could not possibly be one.
“What a scare.”
Holy relics were not supposed to be taken out of the church!
The previous Saint-exclusive Holy Light Sword─ no, flashlight, had also been made using Johannes's remains, which were treated as a holy relic.
They had been taken out in accordance with his will, but the Saintess had said the process was extremely complicated, hadn't she?
“Son. Don't be alarmed.”
“I'll prepare myself to be alarmed.”
But when he saw his biological father trembling beside him, Akion gave up on the matter completely.
“Your father saw this when I visited the Papal See before.”
Come to think of it, when the Saintess had summoned him for the first time, she had been wearing a rosary of exactly the same shape around her neck.
“This is… undoubtedly the Lord of Heaven's Rosary, granted only to His Holiness the Pope.”
“Yes.”
“It has powerful holy protection magic inscribed on it, not only to ward off ordinary minor illnesses, but also to protect you when you are threatened.”
Given how seriously injured she had been at the time, such a means of protection must have been essential.
But something like that had ended up in Akion's hands?
“Above all….”
“You mean this isn't the end…?”
That alone was already absurdly overpowered, but there was more besides?
Wondering what on earth it could be, Akion strained his ears,
“It works permanently….”
“Wow.”
The appearance of a perpetual-motion machine left him breathless.
As a man of science and engineering, he wanted to throw a fit over the existence of a perpetual-motion machine, but what could he do when it was right before his eyes?
“Still, judging by the minor scratches, it may have been made long ago rather than used by the Pope. In any case, this is such a rare treasure that even selling off the ducal family would not be enough to obtain one─.”
“Grrrrrroul.”
“S-Son? Son!!”
“Whaaa?! Young Master, breathe! Breathe!!”
He had only made and sent the Saint a flashlight that he had put some effort into. Why had something like this ended up in his hands?
Akion wanted to resent the Saint.