Chapter 47
With Kagami, whose strength stood head and shoulders above the rest, the battle that had seemed endless was finally drawing to a close. The enemy’s numbers were steadily dwindling, and nearly everyone there could now see the end in sight.
“Just a little longer! Keep it up, everyone! Don’t push yourselves too hard... If you think you can’t go on, fall back at once!”
“Hah... Don’t make me laugh! Who says I can’t go on? I’ve still got plenty left in me!”
With the finish line in sight, the adventurers’ spirits rose even higher at the thought that the battle would soon be over and victory assured. But no amount of enthusiasm could hide how worn out their bodies were. Proof of that could be seen in the many adventurers breathing heavily, their faces drawn with exhaustion.
The mages fighting with healing and attack spells had already run out of magic, while those holding the front line were just barely hanging on with their own healing items. Those who had run out of magic and could no longer fight were making trips between Salmaria and the Atros Wasteland to bring back more supplies.
Even healing items had their limits. Using them repeatedly made them less and less effective, until eventually the adventurers had no choice but to leave the front lines. Many had already withdrawn, leaving those who remained to fight a desperate battle. After coming so close to believing all was lost, they could finally see the finish line. Of course the adventurers’ spirits were soaring.
“Menou-chan... Are you all right? Tch... Can you keep going?”
Even those as powerful as Takako and Menou were no exception. Menou had already exhausted her magic, and was now fighting the monsters hand to hand, back-to-back with Takako.
“But I’m impressed, Menou-chan. You know your way around hand-to-hand combat, too. We might make good rivals.”
“Don’t joke about that, Takako-dono. My skills are merely makeshift. It’s only because I’m a demon that I can put up a decent fight unarmed. I’m nowhere near your level.”
As the two exchanged words, the sight of the battle’s end at last reignited their fighting spirit.
“Rex-san! Are you all right? I brought more potions—healing items!”
Meanwhile, Tina had made a round trip from Salmaria and returned with a large supply of healing items, liquid in glass bottles. She hurried over to Rex and called out to him.
Unlike Takako and Menou, who still had enough strength to fight, Rex had already reached his limit. In fact, everyone wondered how he had managed to fight at the front for so long.
He was so exhausted that he could barely stand without leaning on the sword planted in the ground.
“It’s fine... The potions are useless now. No matter how many I drink, they don’t work... They just make my stomach hurt.”
“Th-then let’s fall back! It’s dangerous to stay here any longer!”
“...I refuse. I’m the Hero. From beginning to end... I have to remain someone’s hope. I can’t give up before he does! I won’t fear death... I’ll summon every last bit of courage I have!”
Rex mustered what little strength he had left, pulled his sword from the ground, and took his stance. But the instant he did, a light tap landed on his head.
Wondering what had happened, Rex turned around. Kururu stood there with a slightly angry expression, holding the staff she must have used to hit him.
“Running away takes courage, too. Rather than pushing yourself to fight, it’s a valid strategy to leave it to those who can still fight and give your body a chance to rest. There’s no need for you to keep struggling alone in this battle, is there?”
As she spoke, Kururu pointed toward the horde of monsters still gathered some distance away. Following her finger, Rex saw Kagami sending monsters flying with as much vigor as he had at the very start of the battle.
While almost everyone else was exhausted, Kagami alone continued fighting as relentlessly as ever.
“...What about him? He’s been fighting alone this whole time, hasn’t he?”
“Kagami-san was taking a break just a little while ago. He even said, ‘Whew, I’m tired.’”
Kururu said it so casually that Rex stared at her in shock and let out a bewildered “Huh?” Perhaps Tina had witnessed it, too, because she nodded in agreement.
“Kagami-san can recover just by resting, thanks to his Skills. He doesn’t even need healing items... It’s not fair. But he’s been fighting while relying on all of us more than anyone else, hasn’t he?”
Kagami had taken a break simply because he trusted the others fighting alongside him. Knowing they could hold their own even without him, he lay down on the battlefield and sprawled there, watching everyone give it their all as he rested to his heart’s content.
“I can’t... compete with that guy.”
With a faint smile, Rex said this and planted his sword in the ground again, settling into a more comfortable position.
“You’re right... Level 999 really is incredible.”
Agreeing with him, Tina gazed at Kagami fighting in the distance and murmured this.
“No... What’s truly amazing about him isn’t his high level. It’s his ability to act without hesitation, free from the assumptions we take for granted.”
Hearing Rex murmur this with deep feeling, Kururu watched Kagami fighting in the distance and quietly agreed. “That’s... true.”
“Don’t be bound by fixed ideas... I think I finally understand what he meant back then.”
Watching Kagami sweep away monsters one after another in the distance, Rex decided he could leave things to him and sat down. Many of their fellow adventurers had been wounded or fallen, but ninety percent of the monster army had already been wiped out. Even with about ten percent still left, just looking at Kagami made Rex feel they would be all right.
“Oh... Taking a break? Good work.”
Parna arrived a little later, carrying a large number of potions in both hands, and joined Rex.
“We really... managed to pull it off.”
Parna murmured this as she watched Kagami still fighting in the distance.
“Why would someone with that much power... side with the demons?”
Parna’s profile showed a mix of astonishment at the unbelievable sight before her and dissatisfaction, as though she still couldn’t accept it.
“Speak of the devil... They’re back.”
After a while, apparently having completely run out of stamina, Takako and Menou staggered over to Rex and the others in search of potions.
“I’m... seriously done for. Tina-chan, was it? Could I have some potions...?”
Seeing Takako—whose usual intensity made it impossible to imagine her ever losing—looking completely drained, Tina hurriedly opened a potion bottle and handed it to her. Takako took it and drained it in one go, but perhaps because she had already used several, there was no visible improvement.
“I-I can’t go on anymore, either.”
Menou said this and sat down right beside Takako. Parna, who had withdrawn from the fight early and recovered some of her magic, looked contemptuously at the exhausted Menou and raised her palm toward her, as if thinking, “I could take her out easily now.”
“At least wait until after you’ve heard Kagami-chan’s story to do that.”
But Takako immediately glared at her and called her out, as if she saw right through everything. Parna stiffened and clenched that hand into a fist.
“...I can’t wait. It’s almost time.”
Perhaps because she had managed to rein in her feelings, Parna pressed her lips tightly together and murmured this.
Meanwhile, Kagami continued to defeat monsters one after another. It was only a matter of time before Salmaria’s adventurers could raise their victory cry.
‘This is a problem... Things have to go according to the scenario.’
At that moment, a voice rang in everyone’s ears, as though it were coming directly from inside their brains. For an instant, they wondered if it was a hallucination. But when they saw the others around them looking just as confused, they realized it wasn’t.
“...Wh-what... is that?”
The instant Rex murmured this with a look of shock, everyone there went pale.
A monster was slowly advancing from the direction of the Demon King’s castle toward Salmaria. Its mere 【footsteps】 made the ground tremble as if cannons were firing nonstop. Its body was covered in metal armor that seemed capable of deflecting any attack, and it was so huge it looked as though it could reach the clouds—perhaps ten times the size of a Cyclops.