Malice's True Intent Lies in Friendship: A Girl's Dawn and Her Father's Cold Blood (43)

(Oh, cra—)

The instant I thought that, I leaped to the right. Something enormous and horribly long swept past me with a tremendous rush of wind. The wind blew me off my feet and sent me rolling. It was like a bullet train passing right beside me.

Long.

Long, long, long, long.

Is it still going?! I can't see the end of it. It's a snake.

Its head was already far away, and its body was covered in dark brown scales tinged with blue. Its body was about as thick as a train.

And an indescribably charred smell hung in the air.

(The Ouroboros...!)

It was a being known throughout the world since ancient times for devouring its own tail.

Its circular form evoked "death" and "rebirth."

But this snake was still emerging, more and more of its body coming through. There was no sign of it getting any smaller.

"Hyaaah!"

I got to my feet, rushed toward the gate of black, wavering flames, and brought the old knife in my hand down against it. Blue light gushed from the blade, and I could feel fine vibrations in my hand as cracks began spreading through it.

(Please hold together—!)

El-san said this could defeat the Mediator. I still had so much to learn, but this Ouroboros—and the Mediator—must be beings that did not belong to this world. We had even needed the stone Count Slyries brought with him to destroy the dome of darkness. There had to be some mechanism that prevented ordinary weapons from interacting with things like them.

The hand holding the knife began to grow hot. It even felt as though I were holding fire. My right hand had been overworked today.

But that didn't last long. At a certain moment, the black flames suddenly contracted, squeezing the Ouroboros's body.

'—Giiiiieeeeeee!'

A scream reached me from far away.

No way... Had it already gone that far? That way was well past the Third Holy District—was it in the Fourth Ward, or, if things were really bad, all the way to the Fifth Ward?

The black flames squeezing its body with a grinding sound eventually shrank to the size of a basketball hoop, then contracted all at once and severed the snake's body.

"Gaaah!"

Black bodily fluid sprayed out. I leaped aside, but half my body was spattered with it. It smelled rank. It was disgusting.

The snake's severed body writhed and flopped, and at that size, its thrashing dug up the surrounding garden and sent tremors through the ground.

"W-what's going on?!"

Arteur-sama came running over, looking alarmed.

"Um, well, it's—how do I put this..."

"A monster here?!"

"Yes, that! It's a monster! For now, don't let anyone get close!"

"They couldn't get close even if they wanted to!"

"True!"

I took off running.

"Where are you going?!"

"To bash its head in!"

The snake's body was still alive. From a distance, I could see it had climbed over the walls of a noble's estate, draped itself over the neighboring building, and continued on far into the distance. If something like this went on a rampage, it would be a catastrophe.

I had to subdue it as quickly as possible, no matter what.

That damn Mediator had left us one hell of a parting gift...!

"Young lady, when you said 'protect everyone,' did you really mean everyone?!"

Now that it had grown this huge, I didn't think there was anything I could do if it caused any more casualties.

But even so, the young lady would surely expect me—

She would expect me—her bodyguard Reiji—to give it everything I had.

"This is basically a curse now...!"

I shoved the knife, its blade scorched and on the verge of breaking, into my breast pocket and sprinted at full speed. This time, in addition to the numerous physical-strength-enhancing Talents, I was using 【Support Magic】 too. I also had to keep casting 【Healing Magic】 or my body would probably come apart.

The shortcut to the snake's head was, naturally, to follow its body. I ran and ran and ran along its back, crossing "Wall Three," "Wall Four," and "Wall Five." Some houses were half-destroyed, but I didn't have time to help them now.

"Damn... Just as I thought..."

The Fifth Ward was where the common people lived.

Compared with the Noble District, its buildings were far less sturdy, and they were packed closely together.

The Ouroboros's head had crashed right in the middle of a crowded main street, while its body had crushed dozens of houses.

Cries and screams rang out everywhere as people fled in panic.

It was utter chaos.

'Giiiiieeeeeeeee!'

That was the first time I got a clear look at the Ouroboros's face.

Its raised head towered far above the surrounding houses.

Its skin was the same color as its scales, and it had six red eyes. Four jagged horns grew from its head. Its mouth was huge and full of countless sharp teeth, and it flicked out a long tongue with a slithering sound.

"Eek!"

A woman had fallen on her backside, a child clutched in her arms. The Ouroboros was clearly targeting them.

"—I won't let you do this anymore!"

I ran along the Ouroboros's body, leaped, and used the momentum to spin once in midair.

I had trained the 【Kick Technique】 I'd learned until it was ingrained in my body.

"Haaaaaah!"

My rolling sobat landed squarely on the back of the Ouroboros's head. It was absurdly hard. I felt as though the bones in my foot had shattered, but I immediately healed it with 【Healing Magic】.

The Ouroboros toppled forward from the sudden impact. It crushed two stalls set up along the street, a fruit stand and a skewer stand.

"Can you stand? Hurry and run."

"Eek!"

When I approached the woman and child who had been targeted, they recoiled in fear. Ah... Well, my clothes were pretty tattered, I was bleeding, and more than anything, half my body was covered in the Ouroboros's bodily fluid.

(Ah... When Lark saved me, I panicked and ran away too...)

I remembered that bitter memory from four years ago. Though I still regretted it, after four years I even felt a little nostalgic.

Watching the woman flee with her child from the corner of my eye, I raised my voice.

"Everyone, run as far away as you can!! This monster's body stretches all the way from the Second Holy District to here! If you only put a little distance between you, it'll catch up in no time!"

My warning seemed to work; the people cried out and fled in a rush.

"So... yeah, it's locking onto me now."

The Ouroboros slowly raised its head and looked down at me.

It seemed to have recognized me as its enemy beyond a doubt.

(...What do I do?)

I thought. Was there any effective way to attack an enemy this huge? I wanted a weapon, but I didn't have time to go fetch one—

"Huh?"

A shortsword came spinning through the air and flew into my hands. When I looked toward the direction it had been thrown from, Jelly-san was waving one small hand from behind a building.

Ohhh, nice one, Jelly-san! You'd be perfect if only you didn't gamble! And clean your room properly! Take a bath, too! Don't drink so much! Ah, no, now all I can think of are insults!

(I'd asked Jelly-san to keep an eye out.)

Because something might happen during today's Talent Jewel Award Ceremony, I'd made the unreasonable request that Jelly-san be ready to respond to anything. Then all this commotion broke out, so Jelly-san must have brought me my weapon.

I'd used this sword in training and actual battles, so it fit my hand perfectly.

(Now... let's see how far I can go!)

The instant I got the sword in hand, the Ouroboros thrust its head at me. Fast. How was something that ridiculously huge already right in front of me?!

I rolled to the side to evade the attack, then slashed with the shortsword as I rose.

Too shallow.

And it was still just as hard as ever.

"Huh?!"

I'd let my guard down after its head passed by. Its body twisted and slammed into me.

After the sensation of floating lightly through the air, I was slammed into the ground and sent rolling.

"Owwww..."

I'd leaped backward at the last possible moment, which softened the impact, but I was still hurt.

This was troublesome. I'd never fought a snake this size before, so I couldn't even predict what kind of movement it would make.

On the other hand, if I took too long, the snake would destroy the surrounding buildings—after all, it was big enough to easily destroy one or two houses just by rolling over.

I needed to end this as quickly as possible.

(But how—can I really do this alone? If I put my full strength into this weapon, it'll break. But if I hold back, I won't be able to inflict a fatal wound...)

Then I had no choice but to strike with everything I had, ready for it to break.

(One chance. Two at most.)

A prickling tension enveloped me.

(What do I do...? I need to somehow create an opening, but my magic reserves are running low. It'd be hard to even feint by myself... There has to be something, some way...)

And then it happened.

I heard footsteps.

Thanks to 【Enhanced Hearing】, my ears could pick up even faint sounds quite well. And because of 【All Creation】, I could never forget anything I had once learned.

The footsteps of the three people approaching were ones I knew—but to be precise, they were slightly different from my memories. Of course they were. Change where someone walked or the shoes they wore, and the sound would change too.

Besides, more than anything...

Four whole years had passed.

...I heard a giant monster had appeared, so I came to see for myself. I never expected we'd meet again like this.

The adventurer carrying a heavy mace and a great shield large enough to hide his huge frame was Dantes-san, who even bore the nickname "Hard Silver Greatshield."

I had a feeling we'd meet in this city. The gods guide us, after all.

She was now a fully grown woman, and furthermore—n-no way, had her breasts gotten even bigger...? I couldn't help staring at her chest. The person in question was Non-san.

"...You're Reiji-kun, right?"

And the third person was.

"Yes, that's me."

Four years had passed, yet she hadn't changed at all. She hadn't grown any taller, so I'd overtaken her—and the person desperately holding back tears as her adorable face crumpled was...

"I've got so much to say, and so much to talk about!"

"Yes."

"But for now, we're taking this thing down, right?"

"Yes. Please help me."

It was Mimino-san.

"If that's what you want, Reiji-kun, then I guess it can't be helped!"

Even after meeting her again after four years, she was still Mimino-san through and through.

I no longer thought I could lose to the Ouroboros.