The Fool, the Idiot, and the Demon God

The Fool, the Idiot, and the Demon God

I saw, in my mind's eye, myself engulfed in flames, and at last my body began to move.

"───!"

I dropped the sword from my slackened fingers, then grabbed the collar-like armor around Tatsumin-san's neck instead. I leaped sideways with all my might.

Just in time. Crimson flames swept past the place where we'd been. The pavement melted into a slurry merely from the vortex approaching, and a blast of hot air brushed my cheek.

Even though we'd put ten meters between us in a single step, the heat was intense enough to burn an ordinary person at this distance. Sweat burst from me for reasons other than fear as well.

"Tatsumin-san! Can you move?"

"Kota-kun... Why...?"

"Get up and run!"

With my right hand still gripping her, I generated 'Water of Rejuvenation.' It flowed over her armor and onto the back of her neck.

Tatsumin-san's shoulders jerked, and she immediately stood up.

At the same time, Furcas was drawing back his spear. The blue-white horse he rode pawed the ground.

"If you can use your ability, use it to get away! If you're out of mana, I'll somehow hold him off! In the meantime, run—"

'Hihihihiii──────!!'

"!"

The horse's neigh rang out. Just as Furcas's horse reared up, it began its charge with terrifying force.

It was moving so fast that I could barely track it with my Demon Eye's dynamic vision. I shoved Tatsumin-san to the right and leaped to the left.

The demon god raced between us at tremendous speed, thrusting out his spear as if in passing. As the lance tip, backed by the horse's acceleration, closed in, I somehow managed to tilt my body aside.

The instant a thunderous roar shook my eardrums, I was flying through the air. I looked down at Furcas, who had covered several dozen meters in an instant, as I fell toward the ground.

The pain came a moment later. An unbelievable agony shot through my chest, and darkness swallowed my consciousness. But the next instant, another wave of pain and impact jolted me awake.

"Gah, aaagh......!"

I leaped to my feet in a panic and turned my gaze toward the monster. Its left arm was already aimed at me, and an enormous amount of mana was gathering there.

That fire is coming again!

I sprinted to the right with all my strength. Feeling tremendous heat at my back, I leaped into a nearby building.

Beyond the cracked window I broke through was a space lined with empty shelves. Perhaps it had once sold souvenirs. A familiar silhouette was depicted on a faded poster pasted to the wall.

"Haa... haa...!"

Unlike when my eyes had met Furcas's, I could hear my heartbeat booming at full volume.

My hand reached unconsciously toward my chest. A slick sensation traveled through my gauntlet, and I realized that my breastplate had been dented.

I understood that the spear had torn me open and gouged the area near my heart. Feeling the blood drain from my face, I gripped my staff with a trembling hand.

"Damn it......!"

Regretting coming this far without thinking, I pressed myself against the wall and looked outside through the window.

Then my eyes met Furcas's as he rapidly approached.

"Wait—"

I immediately ran for the main entrance. The monster smashed through the reinforced-concrete wall and entered the building. Empty shelves were sent flying, and a horizontal sweep of his spear approached from behind.

Following the future shown to me by my Demon Eye, I threw myself forward without losing the momentum of my run. Feeling the powerful pressure of the wind, I somersaulted, then thrust my right hand against the floor and launched myself into the air.

I pointed my staff at the demon god.

I fired without a moment's delay. Furcas calmly spun his spear against the dazzling white light bullet. The shaft knocked the magic aside while the tip sliced through the ceiling and floor as though tearing paper.

I wasn't even surprised anymore. I smashed through the entrance door with my body and escaped outside without stopping.

I gripped the lower part of my staff with my right hand and cocked it with my left. The instant I loaded the next scroll, I heard a horse galloping behind me.

"You—!"

I threw myself directly to the side. Furcas raced past right beside me, and his spear pierced the air.

Even as the pressure of the wind pressed my body against the ground, I pointed my staff at the enemy. But his back was already far away. The cavalryman raced at tremendous speed, kicking apart the iron fence to put distance between us, then wheeled around and targeted me again.

"You bastard......!"

Cursing, I sprang up and started running as well.

This wasn't an opponent I could defeat in a fair fight. In any case, I had to escape.

"Tatsumin-san! Get away while you can! Riko-senpai and the others are at the entrance! Go with them!"

As I shouted that, Furcas came racing toward me again. This time, however, he was readying his left hand instead of the spear in his right.

A sphere of flame appeared in his palm and was aimed at me.

I tensed both legs to dodge. But a steel-colored back cut across my line of fire.

The released vortex of flames was halted by a barrier of mana. I instinctively hid behind her to avoid being caught in the flames streaming past on either side.

The instant the flames stopped, I leaped into the heated air and pointed my staff at the demon god. I 'placed' light bullets along the route I had foreseen with my Demon Eye, but they were knocked aside by his spear once again.

I couldn't hit him at this distance. He would block them.

I loaded the next scroll by cocking the weapon, then glanced at the person who had shielded me.

"Tatsumin-san, thank you for protecting me. But this place—"

"I will handle this."

"Huh?"

Cutting off my voice, Tatsumin-san—Ryugu-san—stepped forward.

Furcas glanced toward us as he ran, as if watching our movements. She glared at him.

"Even if you have the 'Armor' ability, that thing is bound to have openings. You'll be stabbed to death while trying to escape......!"

I flicked out the empty magazine and replaced it. I didn't know whether it would work, but I loaded the magazine containing a 'Water Bullet' scroll.

There was one 'Demon-Bane' round in the chamber and one in my pouch. If I mixed them in with the other scrolls and made him wary, that would be more than enough.

The fact that he had blocked it meant that 'Demon-Bane' should work on him as well. Now all I needed was to land a hit.

"No. That won't be necessary."

"What won't?"

"I am not running."

For a moment, I couldn't understand what she meant.

She wasn't retreating? And she intended to stay behind alone? That meant──────.

"...Don't screw around, you idiot!"

Almost as soon as I shouted, Furcas pulled on the reins as he rode along leisurely. The blue-white horse's head turned toward us.

Another charge was coming......!

"Stay back!"

"You stay back!"

I dashed out from behind Ryugu-san and ran sideways. As I aimed at Furcas, who manipulated the reins to follow me, I pressed the scroll case at the base of my staff with a finger on my right hand.

A magic circle unfolded at the tip of the staff. Passing through it, the light bullets multiplied to five and flew away.

The magic bullets pursued their prey along different trajectories. Combined with their relative speed, they closed in on Furcas in the literal blink of an eye.

And yet the demon god—and his beloved horse—displayed unbelievable movements.

They moved sharply to the left and right to avoid the first and second shots, knocked away the third with the spear, leaped over the fourth, and evaded the fifth with a barrel roll.

"You monster......!"

I muttered beneath my face guard as I cocked the weapon and loaded 'Water Bullet.' But before I could fire, Furcas had entered spear range.

Ryugu-san cut in between us from the side. Her shield caught the lance tip, scattering fierce sparks and ringing with a thunderous crash.

Perhaps she couldn't absorb the entire impact, because her armored back flew toward me. I somehow caught her with my shoulder and braced myself with both feet.

"Guh......!"

"Tch......"

Following Furcas with my eyes, I saw him crush a bench in his path and continue racing without slowing. He gouged the ground with his spear and began to turn around.

"......I will buy time. So run."

"......Are you planning to die?"

I asked as I moved away from Ryugu-san.

She didn't answer.

"Ooooooooooh!"

Ryugu-san let out a roar and charged. Her acceleration was incredible for someone covered in full armor. But compared to Furcas, she appeared to be standing still.

The demon god turned his face toward her as she charged straight at him. He manipulated the reins and turned the horse's head in her direction.

They collided. The spear and shield crashed together again, and Ryugu-san was knocked away. She somehow kept her footing this time, but before she could counterattack, Furcas had raced far away.

He had no intention of stopping to fight. He was clearly planning to exploit his horse's mobility and rely entirely on hit-and-run tactics.

It was the most basic of cavalry tactics. Even I knew it. But against it, Ryugu-san had no means of attacking him. At best, she could land a well-timed counter when they collided.

'Twilight Armor' took time to activate, while her opponent kept moving. It was difficult to find an opportunity to use it in a situation like this.

Ryugu-san must have understood that too. And yet she intended to continue fighting.

Keeping both her and Furcas in sight, I hid behind the former souvenir shop, which had a huge hole in it. Monsters could pass through walls if they really wanted to, but blocking their line of sight still had meaning.

Once again, I heard a loud clang of metal striking metal.

──────Ryugu-san was prepared to die.

If she couldn't protect this place, the site of her memories with her family, she intended to end her life here with the amusement park as her grave. It was nothing short of self-destruction, but perhaps her life had made such a decision inevitable. As a third party, I had no right to judge her for it, though......

I had thought she was an eccentric oddball, but her heart had surely reached its limit long ago. That much, I knew for certain.

I felt sorry for her. But...... I had no intention of joining her in death.

Even though the wound should have healed, my chest throbbed with fierce pain. That attack...... If I had been even half a second slower in tilting my body, my heart would definitely have been gouged out.

I was afraid. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to die.

Perhaps because of that fear, I realized my hands were trembling. I couldn't call myself pathetic for it. This was only natural.

If she wanted to die, she could do it alone. She was telling me to run, too. I should tell Riko-senpai and the others what had happened, then retreat.

That's what I thought, but......

'The only memories I have left...... are here, gao.'

'I can't remember my parents' faces. I can't remember the voice of the grandmother who raised me. I......'

"......Damn it."

Why had I jumped onto the roof?

I had always thought of myself as a fool, but this was beyond anything. On top of that, I was such a pushover that I could only laugh.

I removed the magazine while kneeling, then cocked the weapon to eject the 'Water Bullet' scroll from the chamber. I put it back in the magazine and loaded a single 'Ground Manipulation' scroll through the ejection port.

I loaded the 'Psychokinesis' magazine and took up a firing stance.

Even I had to admit this was foolish. I took a deep breath and reconstructed the sword inside its scabbard.

I was starting to get angry. Why did I have to agonize so much over that idiot and that damn monster?

I would show them that there was another fool here. This probably couldn't be called a rational course of action, but......

It would feel damn good.

'Scroll: Magic Expansion'

'Scroll: Ground Manipulation'

The deep green light passing through the tip of my staff multiplied to five and flew away.

I didn't need to hit Furcas, who had kicked Ryugu-san aside as he passed. I only needed to shoot at his feet.

The demon god turned his face toward me, and his spear swung up to intercept. But the magic activated just outside the spear's range.

The ground, trampled by hooves until its pavement was beginning to peel away, split open.

In an instant, the terrain transformed. Stone stakes thrust up in some places, huge holes opened in others, and still more became quagmires that ensnared the feet of anyone standing on them.

It was terrain entirely unsuitable for a horse to run across. With an improvised spear barrier and trenches appearing before it, the blue-white horse stopped with a whinny.

Furcas lost his balance, but drove his spear into the ground to keep from falling. The monster with the skull-like face glared at me and pointed its left hand.

Without even an incantation, a vortex of hellfire was released. I accelerated on my first step, then kicked off the roof with my second and leaped.

At the same time, I cocked the weapon and loaded a scroll. I extended a 'Psychokinetic Arm' toward Ryugu-san's shoulder as she rolled from the collision.

I pulled myself toward her to evade the flames, then, with my skin singed, used my momentum to kick the idiot in the back.

"Gah!?"

"I'll let that idiotic behavior slide this time. You idiot. Don't say that again, idiot."

Ryugu-san briefly lost her balance, then immediately turned toward me.

"Are you screwing around? At a time like this!"

"It's coming, idiot! Block it!"

"You little—!"

'Hihihihiiiinn──────!!'

Furcas kicked aside the stone stakes, leaped over the trench, and charged.

But his charge was slightly slower than before. She could stop it.

With that certainty in my chest, I let go of my staff as though throwing it aside and drew my sword. As I held the blade at waist level, the shield in front of me received the cavalry's charge with a tremendous crash.

Ryugu-san's back rocked violently. But she didn't fall.

The spear bent for an instant, and Furcas swung his arm as he raced past, trying to disperse the impact.

I wouldn't let him escape.

"Hng......!"

I gripped the hilt with both hands and swung the hand-and-a-half sword. I would probably get only one chance.

I aimed for the horse's hind legs. Reading the trajectory with my precognition, I aligned the blade with its left rear leg as the blue-white horse tried to pull away.

At that instant, a tremendous impact struck both my arms. I couldn't withstand it; my hands were torn from the hilt, and my back was slammed into the ground.

"Gah......!"

As I rolled across the ground, I heard the horse's scream.

Using all four limbs, I somehow stopped my roll and raised my body. When I lifted my head, there it was.

'Brrrr......!'

The blue-white horse's left rear leg was attached only by a strip of skin, and dark blood stained the ground. After a brief pause, the leg tore free under its own weight.

Furcas seemed to glare at me when he saw the state of his beloved horse. Even without eyes or an expression, I could tell. A harsh creak came from the hand gripping his spear. It sounded strangely loud.

......This was bad. I had made him incredibly angry.

Fear twisted my features, but my face guard hid them. I stood up and drew the reconstructed sword from its scabbard.

"I have a lot to say. But for now, we're going to win and go home, Ryugu-san."

My voice must have been trembling. I was truly pathetic.

The speed at which I went from acting on impulse to regretting it was incredible. I wanted to blame the neurochemicals flowing from my demon horn, but this felt like my inherent nature, so I couldn't even use that as an excuse.

So, once again, I let momentum carry me to the end.

"Fight alongside me."

"......At least say it in a more dignified voice, gao."

Her reply came back in a thoroughly unenthusiastic voice.

Then I heard the clatter of armor from beside me.

"At a time like this, if you could look cool, you'd be popular, gao-yo."

"Please spare me. This is the best I can do."

As if to interrupt our exchange,

'■■■■■■■■■──────!!'

Furcas's war cry shook the air.

It was accompanied by a shock wave, and my arms and legs nearly trembled with fear. I poured strength into both hands gripping the hilt and somehow endured it.

Even after losing one leg, the blue-white horse still stood with imposing dignity. It snorted heavily, its eyes full of battle lust. The demon god riding it held a spear in his right hand and flames in his left.

There was no obvious gong to mark the start.

The second round began.