Chapter 18
The chains kept multiplying.
That meant the weakening curses were increasing as well.
After capturing the two of them, I slowly rose into the sky. They were now beneath even insects. All that remained was to exterminate them.
"A vampire's strength comes from their immense magical power. They live long lives, but physically, they're not that different from humans once you exclude magic. In other words, if you seal away their magic, they're nothing to fear—"
"Hey!!?? This chain! It's following me too!?"
"..."
I was finally trying to make a cool declaration, and this woman had to ruin it.
When I glanced over, the chains were indeed following Erna. Perhaps it was because I had made them automatically capture anyone who held hostility toward me.
For that matter, why hadn't she been caught? Was she even human? I could have sworn I'd activated it completely by surprise.
"Sorry. It's because I made it capture anyone hostile to me."
When I stopped the chains with a glance, Erna, panting heavily, glared at me with a fierce expression.
I snorted at her, and Erna's face turned bright red.
"You! Are you seriously trying to capture an ally with those chains!?"
"The chains don't react to anyone who considers me an ally. You're simply far too hostile toward me. Besides, those chains wouldn't have been much of a problem for someone as uncool as me, would they?"
"You! You're still holding a grudge over what happened earlier!? Talk about petty! I was worried about you when you were getting beaten!"
"Do you insult people when you're worried about them? The people around you must have a hard time."
Erna's face turned completely red. It was obvious that she was furious by now.
It was amusing to tease Erna like this, and I would have liked to keep going, but I had guests waiting.
"Sorry. I got distracted dealing with the tomboy Hero and ended up putting you on the back burner. Where was I? Ah, yes. I was saying that vampires are nothing to fear once their magic is sealed."
"You bastard! How dare you insult us!"
"Undo it! Undo this, and I'll beat you to death!"
"If you want it undone, undo it yourself. Though I doubt you could manage it even if you spent your whole life trying. Now then... it's time to repent. Do you have any last words?"
As I spoke, I began concentrating a massive amount of magical power in both hands.
I was about to use a spell on an entirely different level from anything I had used before.
Seeing this, Sam and Dean began to break out in a cold sweat.
"W-wait...! You don't hold a grudge against us, do you!? Let us go, and we'll reward you!"
"A grudge...? I can't say I have none."
Dean had been the one who targeted Fiene earlier. If I recalled the anger I had felt then, I could kill these two thousands of times over.
They had targeted her. She had been in danger. Even if Fiene had escaped without injury, those facts alone were enough to warrant the death penalty.
"W-what did we ever do to you!? You didn't come here on a guild quest, did you!? You should only hunt us after accepting a guild request!"
"Humans are complicated creatures. You never know where a grudge will come from. Besides, while this isn't a guild request, I am an adventurer. That fact doesn't change wherever I am. Whether or not there's a request, I have a duty to protect the people of the entire continent from monsters."
"W-we're not monsters!"
"The guild has classified you as monsters, and what you're doing is no different from what monsters do. So? Anything else you want to say? If you tell me who gave you your orders, the Hero beside me might stop me."
As I spoke, my magical power continued to rise.
It was obvious that I was preparing an attack that was complete overkill. The two of them must have realized they were certain to die.
Even so, Sam and Dean kept their mouths shut, their faces twisted in terror.
Were they bound by honor, or were they simply that afraid? I couldn't imagine these two being motivated by compassion or loyalty. It had to be the latter.
Whoever was behind this was someone feared even by S-rank wanted criminals.
Who could it be?
"Spit it out. If you don't, I'll kill you."
"W-we're proud vampires! We will never submit to a human!"
"I see. Then let's end this. I'm ready as well."
Her words startled me more than anything else had.
The vampires didn't seem to realize it, but when Erna said she was getting ready, there was probably only one thing she could mean.
"Erna von Amsberg!! Don't tell me you're going to summon the Holy Sword!?"
"So what if I am?"
"I'm enough on my own! Are you trying to destroy the city!?"
"I'll adjust it, so it'll be fine. Some certain someone went and restrained my opponents for me, so now I can summon it without holding back."
"H-hey..."
"I'm an Amsberg. Defeating the Empire's enemies is my duty. I'm not yielding to you!"
With that, Erna raised her right hand high toward the heavens.
And then.
"Hear my voice and descend! Radiant Sword of Stars! The Hero needs you now!"
White light fell from the heavens.
It was caught in Erna's hand, and the white light gradually faded, transforming into a gleaming silver rapier.
Five hundred years ago, when the Hero defeated the Demon Lord, they wielded the legendary holy sword Aurora. Said to have been forged from a meteor, it can cut through all things and allows no demonic being to exist.
Because of its overwhelming power, it was sealed by the first Hero Duke of the Amsberg family, and only those with talent could summon it.
The fact that she could summon it meant she possessed the qualifications to be a Hero.
Erna had summoned it at the tender age of twelve. That was why people called her a prodigy.
"Ngh!?"
As expected of the holy sword that had defeated the Demon Lord, its mere presence exerted an incredible pressure.
In the hands of someone as powerful as Erna, it was enough to make her invincible. That was also why the Amsberg family was feared by other nations. If this holy sword were summoned against an army, it could annihilate it with a single blow. That said, it had only been summoned against an army a handful of times in history.
In the first place, it was rarely summoned at all. Erna was probably the only person who would summon it needlessly just because she was irritated.
"Now then... prepare yourself."
"Fine... I'll leave that side to you."
"Hmph! They were my prey to begin with! I'm the one giving you that side!"
"Sure. We'll go with that."
Yielding the point, I began my incantation.
I had made it this far without using chants, but to dispose of them for certain, the best option was to chant and unleash the spell at maximum power.
≪I am the usurper; I usurped black from the depths of the underworld; that black is darker than darkness; that black is deeper than night; primordial darkness; ultimate black of the end; all things are born from that black; all things return to that black—Infinity Darkness≫
A massive black sphere appeared above my head.
As if to oppose the blackness that swallowed everything, the holy sword raised by Erna sent a huge white light stretching toward the heavens.
Black and white. Darkness and light.
They were attacks of elements that could never coexist. Yet the fate of those struck by them would be the same.
We adjusted the direction of our attacks. It would be easier to simply blow away the monsters. Leo and the others had just broken through the monster horde once and were preparing to charge again.
At a glance, there didn't seem to be any humans among the monster horde.
Still, I called out just in case.
"Anyone in the monster horde, get away immediately!"
"I can't guarantee you won't get caught in it!"
We warned each other in turn.
Perhaps realizing how bad things were about to get, Leo and the others immediately put distance between themselves and the monsters, while the guards atop the castle walls also began to flee.
Meanwhile, the targeted monsters merely stared blankly up at the sky.
Some of them may have lived quietly without ever harming humans. But forgive me. Even if they were being used, I couldn't spare them once they had attacked humans.
Just as they attacked humans to protect their comrades, we had to fight to protect humanity.
That was all the apology I had in my heart.
I had no apology to offer the two people before me.
"Now... grit your teeth."
"Repent!"
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!?"
"Uwaaaaaaaahhh!!??"
The black sphere swallowed Dean before engulfing the monster horde as well.
Erna's holy sword swallowed Sam, then engulfed the monster horde as well.
Then the two attacks competed with each other, canceling everything out until nothing remained.
There was no victory cry. When I glanced over, the Emperor was looking at us with exasperation. He must have thought we'd gone too far.
Well, Erna was the only one who would get scolded, so I decided it was fine.
Oh, right.
"Your Majesty! I acted on my own this time, but... if this has taught you a lesson, please refrain from treating the guild with such disregard in the future."
"Heh... understood. You have my thanks for your assistance, Silver."
This should save the guild's face, and they probably wouldn't press the Empire over this matter either.
I bowed to the Emperor and began preparing a teleportation spell.
In the meantime, Erna called out to me.
"Silver."
"What? Do you still have more complaints?"
"Yes, plenty. But I'll let them go for now. You were a great help this time. And thank you especially for saving Fiene. She's... a friend of my childhood friend."
"By childhood friend, do you mean the Dull Prince?"
"You... After seeing what happened to the vampire who said that, how can you say it so casually? Take it back. My childhood friend is the greatest prince. I won't allow anyone to mock him in front of me!"
With that, Erna pointed the holy sword at me.
Her eyes were serious.
For the sake of my honor, she really intended to fight an SS-rank adventurer.
I gave her a wry smile and offered a correction.
"I apologize. If that's how strongly you feel, then calling him the Dull Prince was indeed rude. But at the same time, I can't help feeling sorry for him. With a childhood friend like you, he must have a difficult life."
"What!?"
"Then, I'll be going."
I teleported away before I could hear any of Erna's complaints.
When I arrived in the room where Sebas was waiting, I forced my weary body onward and stripped off my mask and robe.
"You must be exhausted, my lord. I have tea ready for you."
"Thank you... Sorry to trouble you..."
"You are quite fatigued."
"Yeah... as expected..."
In addition to repeatedly using teleportation magic, I had used a healing barrier, a curse-chain barrier, and that final attack spell. I had spent a considerable amount of magical power on other things as well. Honestly, my reserves were nearly empty. My stamina was in much the same state.
"I'm tired... I'm sleepy..."
"Leave everything else to me."
After drinking a little tea, I began to nod off in my chair. I wanted to make it to bed somehow, but my body wouldn't move.
Then Sebas spoke gently into my ear.
"You truly did well. You were magnificent, Arnold-sama."
"Is that so...? Then I won't feel guilty resting..."
I wondered when the last time Sebas had praised me was.
Thinking that, I let consciousness slip away in a comfortable doze.