Sousetsuka

Main Title Drop

This chapter starts from Demon King's POV

The hero and all of his allies have passed out.
Kajikawa Hikaru, the sole person conscious, possesses no strength left to injure me.

My triumph is all but assured.
All that is left is to eliminate them all, decisively and conclusively.


"Ku, ku, kuku..."


Kajikawa Hikaru groaned as if he was sobbing.
Understandable. They had victory in their grasp before it was taken by the jaws of defeat.
...A single misstep, and I might have been in his position.


『Weep not. For you all have fought well... Rest easy now and--』



"Kukuku, ahahahahahahaha!!!"


A laughter suddenly echoed in the chamber.

The groaning Kajikawa Hikaru lifted his face up and laughed like a mad man.


"Ahyahahaha!! Fu, kuhahahahaha!"

『...You have gone mad, I see. Pitiful.』

"Hahahahaha, hahaha, ha... Ah, my bad. Couldn't help myself there."


He settled down after his laughter bout and stood there.
...Is it not due to insanity...?


Kajikawa Hikaru greedily chewed on some sort of white ball.
The sound it made is akin to that of an apple. In this situation, what is he...?


『Do you mean to replenish your stamina now. Or perhaps that is meant to be your last supper.』

"Yea, wanna have a bite too? It's a toxic apple, no wait, toxicless? If you don't mind."

『...You intend to take your own life by poison, I see. That too is acceptable.』

"Naw man, this thing's pretty much a medicine for me. Thing barely works though... Just that."


Kajikawa Hikaru, discarded the fruit core.


"It's the worst possible poison for you."

『....!? Ga, aaaa.....!!!』


An intense nausea assaulted me out of nowhere.

My head is hot. I cannot move my limbs well.

What is this, what's going on!?


"Make sure you enjoy every last bit of your last supper. I'm all too familiar with that pain y'know, yup."

『Poison...!? Inconceivable, no poison should work on me, could it be, some sort of Skill...!!』


Kajikawa Hikaru spoke as he looked up at me groaning.


"Skill? I Got No Need of That Stuff. Not to beat the crap outta you at least."

『Ga, ha...!!』


I couldn't stop myself from vomiting deep red blood.
Not just from my mouth. It's coming out of my eyes, and ears, unceasingly.


『Status abnormality, recovery magic...!"


I cast 'Panacea' magic that can erase any and all kinds of Status Abnormality to no avail.
My head is getting hotter with every passing second. At this rate, my head will melt down...!!







~~~~~~~~POV of Kajikawa who's biting his second fruit while looking up at the suffering Demon King~~~~~~~~







Chew chew. Ah, Efi fruit really tastes divine.
Hmm, looks like he went and cast a status abnormality recovery magic but it didn't work.
Thank goodness, would've been real dicey if it worked, made me sweat a lil' there.


『....Why, how is it ineffective...!!』

"Well yeah, 'course not. That poison don't got any effect on anyone but you. Anyone can just heal it right away."

『I have not ingested poison! Kajikawa Hikaru, you cur, what have you dooooone!!!』


His calm countenance finally crumbled down after all this time. Serves you right, you dumbarse.


"I mean it's just real simple stuff. All I did was sharing my mana to you remotely."

『Wh, at...?』

"I can't use Skills but I can control mana directly. I use it as an offensive mean like Pile Bunkers or I can transfer my mana to others. So yeah, I shared some with ya."

『Shared, mana with me...?』

"You familiar with 'Mana Overfill'? It's an Abnormal Status that occurs when you restore more MP than your maximum allows by various means such as eating this Efi Fruit."

『Overfill...!?』


Yep, I almost got turned into a dirty firework on my first day in this world after eating Efi Fruit thanks to 'Mana Overfill'.
I mean, he could easily vomit it out along with his stomach's content if it was only a minute amount of mana, but I transferred four digit amount of mana to Demon King and all of it concentrated in his head.
I might have used up most of my stamina but I got most of my mana intact.
Such densely packed mana running amok can't possibly be healed with just vomiting.
He could try cutting his head off, but that's exactly where the meltdown is happening. There's no escape.

I only noticed this last resort thanks to Menu-san fetching Efi Fruit with the last bit of its strength among all the noises.


"Your average joe can instantly resolves this conundrum simply by using their Skill Abilities or the likes to consume their mana. But you can't do that, can you?"

『It, cannot be...!!』

"Yep. This poison is the weakest nothingburger poison to everybody in this world. And the worst possible deadliest poison to you."

『GU, OOOOOOOOOOO!!!』


Demon King's head is shining bright red like a scorching iron. Kinda surreal.
It's gonna blow up for sure in a few seconds.


『I will not, I shall never acknowledge this!! Kajikawa Hikaru!! No forgiveness! Unforgivable!! If only you, you never existed!!』

"My condolences. Let me just say one thing lastly."


『GA, AA, I, I! AAAAAAAAAAAAAA"""AAA"""AAA"""AA!』


A scream full of regret reverberated in the chamber.

Demon King's head blew up, scattering scorched brain matter everywhere.

Ah, it's really, such----



"A dirty firework."


My vision went blank after saying that.

Ah, crap, I'm hitting, my limit....



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

~~~~~~~~~~Hero's POV~~~~~~~~~~






"...Uh, is that even legal?"


That was the first thing I blurted out after watching everything from start to finish.
The conclusion came far too quick, far too awful.
We won and nobody died yet I just can't bring myself to fully accept it!
What a foul play! Good job Kajikawa-san, you're the worst! Ah no I mean, you're the best!


"Hikaru!"


Alma ran up to Hikaru who collapsed right after saying his clincher line.
She was half dead just a while ago. Can't believe how fast she ran... Ah, she got healed from leveling up after we beat Demon King huh.

I can't check our Status yet, but defeating a Demon King, an over level 100 one at that, must have gotten us an enormous amount of exp.
All of us probably got to over Lv100. We would have put up a better fight against Demon King if only we had this power... No point lamenting now I guess.


"I, is it over...?"

"Is everybody, safe and accounted for...?"

"Yeah, seems all of us survived... Thanks to Kajikawa-san, finishing the work."


I think the hero is supposed to be the one doing that.
I feel bad for making Kajikawa-san shoulder all the weight.
...Man, I really am not fit to be a hero.


"He seriously killed that monster off... Ain't that old man the real Demon King here...?"

Aizawa murmured with a half laughing, half cramping face.
Stop that. You're gonna make me agree with you.


"...Hm?"


As we all enjoyed our moment of victory with the weird aftertaste, the ground began shaking.
No wait, not just the ground, the whole castle is shaking...?


No way, you can't, seriously tell me that cliche is...!?


"H, hey guys, is it just me or is it shaking in here?"

"It's not just you, I feel the tremor as well...!"

"The castle, is coming down...!"


I knew it! Okay, I get that the castle should go down with the demon king and all but you know!
We gotta get outta here pronto! Fast Travel... Can't! Menu's still sleeping!


"We've gotta skedaddle before everything comes crashing down on us! Run, run like your life depends on iiit!!"

"Are you for real, man! I got no energy left here!"

"Alma, make it quick! You'd get crushed if you tardy up!"

"Hikaru, won't wake up...!"

"Ah, geez, let's carry him out! Wait no, Reina should take us with Shadow Dive, argh, she's out cold too!"

『Cluuck!』


Alma is carrying Kajikawa-san, while a huge chicken has Reina on its back.
Sheesh, can't you at least give me an extra service and woosh us outta here, we beat Demon King and all, goddess!

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Next Chapter 

643 Ceiling

Well now that I inspected closely, I couldn't find a single suspicious spot on the ceiling.
Of course. It's supposed to be hidden after all, can't have it be out in the open.
Anything obvious must be either a fake or a trap.
And even if I find a path, I gotta make sure it's the real one.

(Now then, let's get this done. Here you go! There! Whoopsie! Hnng!)

I picked up handy looking debris and kept throwing them at the ceiling.
In Accelerated State of course. The moments those debris got off my hands, they stopped mid air. They should sink in the ceiling right after I undo Acceleration.
The spot that comes off should be the hidden corridor.
Then the core must be deeper inside.

(Alright, think that about covers all? Time to undo Acceleration... or maybe, not so fast.)

I'd likely get crushed under the falling ceiling if I did that.
As such, I retreated to the entrance of this room before undoing Acceleration.

I forgot to close my ears. The ceiling wreckage fell down the ground virtually all at the same time.
The loud booming sound assaulted my ears. I yelped 'Hie!' and crouched down reflexively.

It was over soon, and I timidly looked up. I saw a spot where the ceiling is holey.

"Oh, guess that means I was right on the money? But man, I'd hate it if it was a fake to lull me into a false sense of security and lead me to a sea of traps."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
I don't want to deal with that kind of attraction.

Also, looking again, the hole is going straight above endlessly. I'm not climbing that.
It's so tall I could barely make out the debris I threw stuck in the ceiling of the hidden room at the very end.
The only silver lining is the glimpse of blue glow which indicates the existence of the core there.

"Ah, how do I go about this? Scale it? How? The hole walls don't even look grab-able by hands."

I'm seriously stumped here. How do I even get up there without an elevator.

"...Ah, guess I gotta do that. But... Yeah, it'll work. Alright, guess I'll give it a try. But what if I failed? Don't think I'd... die. But man, it's gonna be a huge pain, a real huge pain."

I'm mulling over executing a certain plan I had in mind.
Leaving this place without doing that plan is a bit, then again the labor that plan demands is way too much.

"Eeei! I've come this far! Tough it up! Gotta tough it up! Why the heck do I even gotta tough up here!?"

I'm under no obligation to get this desperate. I might have poked my nose into this mess myself, but it's not like this duty falls squarely on me.
Yet, I've made the decision already. I'll never get over it if I don't see this through the end.

"Dammit! Have I always been like this? Saving people...? Nah, it's because I wanna. That's right, I'm not doing this for other. I do this because I don't want to have a lingering regret in the future."

I forcibly convinced myself as I made my way back to the maze above.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter 

Last Chance

『Haa!』

"Uiyyy!?"


Demon King activated 'Qi Impact', sending out a shockwave all around him.
This ability allows even ordinary Combat Job blow their opponents away with a strong impact. Used by Demon King and his sky high Attributes, most everything hit by it will get turned into a minced meat.

I got blown and crashed on the wall, stuck there due to the sheer impact.
Not good, I must, move my--


『【Evil Laser】』


A super thick black beam shot out of Demon King's finger... The heck is even a black beam, that's contradictory.
The floor it grazed immediately disintegrated. I would instantly die if that hit me.
It's sliding on surface like it's homing in on me. Half a second until direct hit.

I struck myself with my pile bunker, evasive action!!


"Goha! ...That was close!"


The wall I was stuck on disintegrated.
Seeing that finally made me aware how close I was to death.


『Dodged that, did you. You would have had it easier if you did not.』

"You go ahead and die then, easy right!"

『I am not making a sarcasm. Dying merely means being reborn anew. Even if you cannot inherit memory like I did. Knowing the existence of the afterlife alone must come as a relief, is it not?』

"Screw that to hell and back! You've only got one try in life! You're someone else when you're reborn with your old soul! Like hell I'm gonna give up living this life to head for the next like you (Souma Ryuta), dumbarse!!"


Even that Lava Dragon I fought in the dungeon enjoyed life with everything it had even for a few minutes, it never gave up. It never placed an expectation on the afterlife.
Those who think they have another chance next time are the type that immediately gives up in their next life.
...Ah, my bad, Neora-kun. You're an exception okay. Don't cry on me now. Seriously, sorry.

I gotta forget debating, and think about our situation instead.

Demon King will instantly heal himself with magic no matter how much I damage him.
He'd likely die before he could heal himself if we just aim for his weakness on his forehead, but he's got that perfectly locked down.
Attacks on any other body parts are meaningless. Attacks on his weak point get blocked without fail. The hell you're supposed to do.

I've used up half of my energy. Don't got a lot of potions on me.
Damaging Demon King with my base specs is pretty much impossible. I gotta keep buffing my Attributes to ten times their base.

In contrast, Demon King's HP, MP, SP are all full.
He can constantly go at full power without any limit.


My chance of victory is slim to none. But it's not completely nil.
Besides, I can't afford any other outcome, I have to win this.


I mobilized all my dim-witted brain cells toward coming up with a plan.
All while listening to the opinions of the other four inside me.


『Here, the next one. Try and overcome it.』

"Shut uuup!!"


I kept wracking my brain while cutting down and absorbing magic, farslashes et al with my katana, repelling them with mana control and crushing them with greathammer.
All of it went down in the span of ten seconds, yet it felt like forever.

I may be able to restore my life force and mana with Alma's sword but I can't do that to my energy, the one that matters.
It keeps decreasing by the second from warding off the assault.

There's no time to hesitate.
I'm gonna run out of energy if I don't act soon.


Only Alma was strongly against the plan I came up with because it's 'risky for me', but I can't think up of any other way to defeat Demon King.
I pushed down the opposition and executed the plan.


I discharged part of my mana and converted all of it into 'light energy'.
The entirety of the vast Demon King Chamber turned bright white as if the sun manifested here.

I exhaled all the air in my lungs and screamed as loud as I could.


"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

『Nu...!』


A blinding light and a deafening sound. It should only work for a brief moment against Demon King's eyes and ears, but it worked.
I rushed toward his head and swung down my great hammer.


『A petty trick. And, too light.』

"Kuuuuuh...!!"


Demon King easily stopped my greathammer while sounding disappointed.


『Judging from your feebleness. You must lack the strength to buff yourself further, no? ...Yield now.』

"Gahabaaa!!"


He swatted me like a fly with his palm.
That alone dealt a huge damage on me right now. My HP buffer went down to zero and my entire body felt like it was torn apart.

I crashed on the floor with my limbs bent in unnatural directions.
Blood seeped out of my mouth, I couldn't even lift a finger anymore.


『Now, die.』


He raised his leg in order to trample me down.
I could tell he was solely focusing on me, nothing else mattered.



Decoy plan went well.


『Ga, ha...!?』

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"


A blade of light poked out of Demon King's mouth.
The beauty, I mean Hero-kun in his fused form with me excluded stabbed Demon King from the back with a combo of Extended Mana Blade and Magic Sword.


I was to be a decoy while the other members in their fused form went for Demon King's weak point by using up all of our remaining energy in one single magic sword attack.
The plan carries a considerable high risk, but nothing else crossed my mind.


"Drop, deaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!"

『Gugiyiiiiiiiii!!』


Hero-kun further activated Mana Blade Gale in an attempt to cut Demon King in half.
In response, Demon King gritted his teeth while putting on the most desperate look he showed yet.


『Giiiiiiiiiiigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!』

"Uaaaaaaaaaaa!!?"


Demon King activated Qi Impact as he shouted, blowing Hero-kun away.
He then shot out a volley of Mana Fist Farpunch at the blown Hero-kun.


『Die! Die, alreadyy!!』

"Agaa!! Ugugagagaaaaaa!"


After taking on nearly ten punches, Hero-kun fell down the ground listlessly.
A few seconds later, their Fusion came undone, leaving four bodies there.

W, we failed...!


『Haa, haa, haa...! Well, done...! Had the stabbing point ever so slightly veered, it would have been your victory...』


Demon King healed his wounds while breathing heavily.
We let our last chance slip by our hands.

We've used up all our energy, there's no closing the gap in our Attributes now.
We have no more options left to defeat Demon King.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

So, what.


『! You would still move.』

"I ain't, moving. I made, myself move."


I forcefully fixed my limbs and made them move with Mana Control.
I can't feel anything but pain. My motor functions have mostly died. I'm not sure if I can even breathe right without using Mana Control.


『...A willpower truly worth a commendation. However, you are now left with nothing.』

"..."

『It is over for you. The end of the road. You have no more means to fight.』


Shut up, be quiet.
I know all that. You bastard don't hafta point that out.


『However, I shall show you my utmost respect. You may go on to the afterlife with nary a suffering.』


Demon King cast an offensive spell.
A black big sphere shot out of his palm, coming toward me.


『You shall disappear the instant that touches you. Die in peace.』


Having no way to stop or dodge it, I could only blankly stare at the incoming sphere.
Nevertheless, I cannot give up. If I do, this world will... Alma, will.


"...Hika...Ru...."


I heard a frail voice in the direction of the four.
She's still alive. She can be saved still.

But she's, gonna die, at this rate.


Alma, dying. That's the one thing I will never compromise on...!!



"Kajikawa-san!!"

"Braat!! Chickeen!! We gonna stop that even if it killed uuus!!!"

『CLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!』


I heard familiar voices just before the sphere hit me.


"Wha...!?"


Reina, Hiyoko and Aizawa-kun are facing off against the sphere in front of me.
Did they come all the way here with Shadow Dive...!?


Aizawa-kun and Hiyoko use Master Skill while Reina has her dagger to stop and absorb the sphere's mana.
The sphere halted for a moment before moving again. It must contain too much energy for them to stop.


"【Attachment - Offensive Mode】 aaaa!!!"


Aizawa-kun shouted that with his sword at the ready.
The sphere is disappearing before my eyes.

Is that his sword's ability? I believe it boosts Master Skill's effect by altering his Attribute values.


"Oy, drink this! Don't you dare die on us!"

"Radia, kun...?"

"It's a recovery potion! You're injured all over! Quick, drink it or you're gonna die!"


Radia-kun who must have come with them pushed a potion vial in my mouth.
I managed to somehow ingest the liquid washing inside my mouth.

I controlled my restored HP to heal my wounds.
That afforded me to move on my own somehow.


『Your, allies are they... What a futile struggle.』

"I-i-it's not futile at all! D-doesn't matter how scary you turn yourself into, Kajikawa-san is still way scarier!"

『Cluuck! Cluuck!!』

"...Uh, don't you think that's a weird comparison to make...?"


Reina and Hiyoko spoke up against Demon King despite looking obviously scared. Don't bring me up in there.
Can't really complain after getting my arse saved though.


『It is futile. Your arrival will change nothing at all!』


Demon King punched the ground.


"Uwaaaaaa!!?"

『Cluuuuuuck!!』

"Ga,aaaaa!!?"


He produced this shockwave without the use of a single Skill, just a punch to the ground.
All of them got blown away before colliding into the walls.

None of them died, yet they all suffered grievous injuries.

No, that's not it.


I can, still, move.


『It is time, for you, to go.』


Demon King gave another ultimatum before walking up to me.
A few seconds, till, he kills me.


Please.


I won't ask for help.

Neither will I ask for a cheap power up conveniently awakening in the middle of a struggle.


I only wish for an advice to beat the crap out of Demon King and go back home with everyone...!!






≪.....・.....≫


!


A familiar blue screen blipped in front of my eyes for a very brief instant.


M, Menu, san?


<<...Demon King・...・...・・・...Subduing...Method..・....Searching.....>>


It's full of noise, but it is the Menu Screen alright.


<<・・..・・..Match found・...■・...・・...Subduing possible...・...・..・..>>


!!?
Subduing, possible!? You're telling me we still have a chance!?

What is that method!?

<<・・・・●・・・・../..・■・..・・・・..・>>


The noise worsened.
Is it getting forced into Hibernation again!?


Please! Do your best! Tell me, how!


Pssh, the screen vanished alongside that sound.
Menu has gone into Hibernation before it could tell me.

D, dammit, dammit! I know there's a way but what!
Just a bit more, just a little bit more...!!


『It appears you held a conversation with your Menu. To no avail as it turned out, I see.』


As I groaned while listening to Demon King


I noticed something has been left behind on the floor in front of me.


This, is...?

Previous Chapter 

Next Chapter 

Foul Play Cheating Rule Breaking

"'Chtuga'! Burn down all those demons!"


The giant of flame I summoned with Advanced Spirit Magic turned the demons into charcoal one after another.
I might end up destroying the town ahead of the demons if I'm not careful with friendly fire.


"Fmph! Ha! Zeiaaa!!"


Duke is acting uncharacteristically serious for once.
He's dual wielding his trusty sword and a dagger to better deal with crowd of enemies.

I wonder when was the last time I saw him with those.
A single sword is apparently better in a one-on-one duel so he never whipped it out against Demon King.
That was his style back in the day whenever he jumped into a swarm of magic beasts. It's kind of taking me back.


"Eat dirt, humans! 'Mana Blade Downpour'!"

"'Mountain Splitter'!"


Sword-wielding demons didn't want to lose and unleashed their Master Skills.
A heavy downpour of mana slashes and a giant slash of mana are coming at us.
Ordinary Combat Job holders can't possibly stand up against these.

What a sloppy way of fighting.


"Naive."

"Wha!?"

"aat!?"


Duke ran past the raining mana slashes and cut the giant mana slash apart with his dual swords.
That's a piece of cake for us. Might be trouble if we were caught in an ambush.
One surprised demon had its throat pierced by a dagger while the other got its chest stabbed through by a sword.


"Kah...! It, cannot be...!"

"Randomly dissing out flashy moves just because you've learned them is a sign of third rate. Start over from the basics, foolish demons."


Duke pulled his sword and dagger from the unmoving demons and got ready for next.
...I use plenty of flashy moves like Spirit Magic and all but I don't do it randomly, so I'm safe.


"Guh...! How many of us have been done in, just by these two...!?"

"Cool it! They can't possibly last forever against our number! Do not let up until they've used up all their strength!"


They keep coming at us endlessly no matter how many of their friends we killed.
...Oh dear, having to fight a group of Special Job holder-class opponents with no end in sight does get me a bit sweatier than usual.


"Duke, are you holding up okay?"

"Not gonna lie, it's getting tiring. I'd still take this over fighting Demon King though."

"And our cute little girl is doing her best against that Demon King up there..."

"She's surely, no, definitely gonna do just fine. She's our daughter after all."

"Not to mention our ever reliable in law supporting her, ufufu."

"...I've yet to give him my blessing. He gotta snatch a win over me if he wants my daughter."

"He's already much stronger than us though~."


I have to welcome them once they're back home.
I'm sure they'd be all worn out, have to be ready with warm meals.
Can't have us looking tired if we want that.


"Chaaaaaarge!"


Hundreds of demons are marching towards us.
Nobody but us two could possibly stand up against this.
...I wonder how will we last.


"Let's see how fare you against this many, humans!?"

"Lunati, how long can you keep it up? I can go on day in and out for half a month."

"Oh I'm not good. I don't think I can last more than a week. Ah, I hope I could hold out until Demon King is dead."

"...Wha?"


The demons flinched when they heard our chat.
Their faces scream, 'Are they seriously saying that?'


"Let's keep going now, shall we. Fufufu."

"You lot aren't even worth a warming up. Ufufu, ufufufufufu..."

"D, d, do not, falter! Get theeeem!!"


We won't let them break the home Alma-chan is coming back to.
She still have to get a taste of happiness as a bride, the whole lots of them.
Besides--


"Mwu, Lunati, why are you holding your belly. Are you injured?"

"...Not at all, I'm feeling the greatest in fact. Ufufufu."

"...?"





She's going to be onee-chan soon.



<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >



~~~~~~~~~~Hero-turned Kajikawa's POV~~~~~~~~







I push my katana on Demon King's body before hitting its back with my great hammer, combining sharpness with weight.
Ordinary katanas would have gotten bent by this but this one's indestructible, all good.

I'm doing this to counter Demon King's body trait of being elastic yet sturdy and it seems to be doing great. I've managed to create a deep gash on it.
The arm I cut is loosely hanging yet his face looks perfectly composed.


『I believe nobody else in this world wield both a katana and a great hammer at once.』

"I'mma take your right arm next."


Aiming straight for his vital at the forehead seems like a tall order so the plan is to crush all of his limbs first.
Can't believe it consumes half of the energy buff I got from Aizawa-kun's group just to get an arm.

But at the pace this is going, I should manage to destroy his vital point with my own energy buff.
Thanks to Alma sword's mana draining trait being fused with Hero's Katana, I've barely used up a sliver of my mana either.
I put all my focus on evading his attacks so my HP is pretty much unscathed as well.

...No, I dunno if it's just me but I feel like Demon King has been slacking up with his barrage of attacks.
Is he pulling punches, or is he still in a wait and see mode?
But how can he stay calm after losing an arm?

...It's eerie.
What's he got in mind anyway.


"Shiiaa!!"

『...Fumu.』


I struck my katana with the great hammer once again and added more propulsion by bursting the Combustion Engine.
That managed to cut off his right arm. He's lost both now.
Yet, Demon King still keeps his default dour look.


....
That attack used up all the energy I got from Aizawa-kun's group.
I immediately buffed myself back with my own energy and went for the leg.


『Hmph!』

"Nuoooooo!!"


Demon King trampled down with his leg to assault me with shockwaves and floor splinters.
Can't believe this castle is staying intact. That thought crossed my mind when suddenly the scenery in front of me became a wide open area!?

The room itself seems to have changed structurally. It's more spacious than the castle looks outside. 
Maybe some sort of Space Magic. Guess that means no meltdowns will destroy this castle.


I protected myself from the flying pebbles with mana armor and hid myself in the cloud dust before swinging my great hammer at the right leg.
A furious strike at the knee. Humans would have lost their knee down if they were hit by this.


『...!』

"Gotyaaaaaaaaa!!"


I flew straight for his face and attacked!
I let out a barrage of pile bunkers on top of great hammer and katana to deal with his Blocking!
Doesn't matter how good he is at it, there's no way he can manage to defend against this high density barrage!


"Dieeeeeeeee!!!"

『...Hmph.』


Demon King is smiling like he's at peace as I've got right in front of his face.
...Has he given up? Or maybe just maybe, is he losing on purpose--


『Have you had enough?』


...Eh?


Something stopped my attack just before my pile bunkers landed on Demon King's face.
This something repelled my great hammer, katana and all of my piles.


The right arm that I cut earlier stopped my attack.
H, how did his right arm grow back...!?


『Haa!!』

"Gugaa!!?"


Demon King's fist made a clean hit on my body while I blanked out for a brief moment.
Not the right arm, it was his left fist.
He's gotten both his arms back...!!

I got blown away and crashed on the wall. I could tell my HP saw a drastic decrease.


『Did you know? All previous Demon Lords gradually weakened every time the heroes returned from death to challenge them.』

"What, are you...!?"

『The reason for that being Demon Lords and their inability to recover themselves, originally. They do not possess magic or Skills to that ends, nor will taking potions have an effect. That is to say, their HP kept decreasing until their eventual defeat while heroes were afforded with unlimited retries... However--』


Light glowed on the leg I crushed earlier before it returned to normalcy. 
That, can't be...


『I am the reincarnated form of a hero. Souma Ryuta was highly trained in Healing Magic, capable of even restoring missing limbs. And I inherit that ability flawlessly. Hence, losing limbs means nothing to me.』

"What, the..."

『Ordinarily, a continuous and unimpeded usage of such powerful Healing Magic shall consume your mana in its entirety. However, those who bear the Title 'Demon King' consume not their mana.』


I recalled what Black Dragon said to me at this point


【No matter how great your power is, there is no winning against 'Unlimited'.】


He was referring to Demon King's unlimited MP and SP on top of his ability to heal his HP...!!


『It appears you have grown weary. Allow me to get serious.』

"You, gosh, darned cheating Demon Kiiing!!"


Screw that! How the heck am I supposed to win this!
The last boss being able to use full heal is the one cardinal sin you must not do... Uh, I guess that kind of last bosses do exist. Like a certain famous RPG 2 or something.
He'll block me if I go for his vital. He can regrew missing limbs.

To top it all off, I don't have much energy left.
Lost a lot of HP from that attack as well. The few potions I've got left won't do much.

How, what, how do I even defeat this cheating Demon King...!?

As I was panicking inwardly trying to figure out the path to victory, I recalled the word Black Dragon left behind.


【'Unlimited' is by no means 'Invincible'. The most trivial thing might very well be Demon King's weakness.】


That's the vaguest piece of advice I've ever heard! I bet that stupid lizard just made crap up!

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642 Springing, Fluttering About

It's one thing if the core is hidden somewhere in this room. But I'd throw in the towel if it were located someplace else in this dungeon.

"Psychologically speaking, you'd rather keep something that important close to yourself. I have no idea how that guy's mindset works though so the possibility of it being hidden in another spot is not zero."

Finding the thing would be an ordeal if so.

I mulled it over for about five minutes. Then I noticed how dumb it is to even worry.
I might as well start working my way with this room.

"I'll dig up all the walls here first thing first. I'm not gonna leave it be anyway. Might as well look in every nooks and crannies till I find the thing."

The idea of asking for help never crossed my mind.
Normally, the more manpower helping the faster you'd find something.
But my head was full of that 'Happy Time' on my way here so that idea just never manifested.
I would have come up with it if I only I cleared my head, but I spent a long time in Accelerated State to defeat Dyulden as well. It's inevitable.
I never managed to collect my thoughts back.

And thus the theater of destruction begins. The walls in this room are gradually crumbling down. They're mostly five meter thick.
I went straight to digging after entering Acceleration.

(A hidden door should be pretty sturdy, it's gotta be camouflaged to look indestructible.)
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
My effort would be for naught if it was the 'transport by a magic circle' type like you often see in fantasy work.
But I'm not stopping. Whenever I destroy a portion of wall and find there's no more, I move on to the section next to it. I got too much into this repetition.

Eventually the room became almost twice as large than it was initially. Yet, I couldn't find any hidden path.

(Could it be, like you know? Guy was hiding it in a blind spot... The ceiling perhaps?)

That line of thinking should naturally bring you to the ceiling.
People don't tend to focus their attention upward. Up or down, anything that's not in front of their vision easily gets ignored.

(Alright! Let's try the ceiling next! But how do I reach it, my jump won't be high enough.)

I undid Accelerated State for now. Which prompted the wreckage I had set aside to start shooting off randomly in all directions.
I shoved aside all the sections I dug out without thinking, so there is no order in their trajectories.

"Oh craaaaaaaap! Uoo! Uoo! Uoo! Oooooo!?"

I shoved the wall I dug backward when I was digging a straight path in the upper floor but the wreckage flying here kept hitting each other and changed trajectories which added to the chaos.

I really had to sweat until the chaos subsided.

"T-thought I was a goner there... I was about to get offed by my own doing, an incredibly stupid one at that...?"

My body may be monstrously strong but I never want to test how far can it take.
I don't want to get hurt. It's probably never happening all my life.
Luckily, none of the flying wreckage hit me. It wouldn't be a laughing matter if a random debris hit a vital spot and killed me. Like, seriously.

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Final Battle

...........


I could tell the Fusion was done once the light enveloping me subsided.


『Oaa!!』


The black barrier covering Demon King broke apart at the same time.
Revealing his Final Form in all its glory with a grand shout.


Put in one word, it's a giant.
The metal and porcelain-like matter covering his whole body has a luster to it with black patterns all over it.
It looks hard at a glance but considering it's pulsing along with the muscles, it seems to be a form of elastic skin.

His elbows and knees have got sharp thorn-like things protruding on them.
Each of those thorns must possess enough attack power that far outstrips the best Unique Magic Beast's equipment.

His stature easily exceeds 20 meters.
'Cthuga' Spirit that serves Alma Mama may be bigger, but the presences he exudes is in a whole other dimension.
Demon King would easily decimate Cthuga in seconds.

A super heavyweight, super sized, simple and offense-oriented design.
You might think it lacks that last bit of sinister oomph for being a last boss, but try standing right in front of this thing, I bet you'd struggle to stand faced with its pressure.


The Demon King's original face is buried on its forehead.
That's the weak point huh... How am I even supposed to land a hit there.


The large mouth of demon king's head where the small face is buried flapped open. 


『...Now then, I have kept you waiting. I beg your pardon.』

"I don't need your apologies. Gimme your head on a platter."

『That I cannot comply. For it is your head that shall be severed.』


We're both probing each other's strength while hurling sarcasms.
Our fight has long since started. The slightest let up would bear a dire consequence.


『I ask thou.』


Perhaps he's starting with a feint by throwing a question.


"What is it."





『Where has Hero, gone to?』


....

Eh, what is he even saying.

His word prompted me to check on myself for the first time after fusion.


It's the same eye level, nothing feels off.
My clothes changed from looking adventurer-like to a business suit. What the heck.
Nothing seems amiss besides the sudden suit.

Hold it, hold up. All of us did fuse. I'm sure of it.
But my gender hasn't changed, I probably look the same as usual too. What's going on.


『...It matters not. Die.』


Demon King's fist was right before my eyes not a moment after he uttered that.
Fast!? I couldn't see him moving at a--


"...Eh?"


My body reflexively moved away before the fist hit me.
I didn't even realize I had already drawn the katana on my waist and slashed at the fist while dodging the attack.
I never swung a katana in my life before yet it felt so natural in my hands like I've been at it for decades. 


『...I suppose it shan't be quite simple.』


Demon King murmured like he foresaw this.
Uh yeah go on and get it on your own when the person in question himself is full of questions.


...Could it be that Kajikawa Hikaru has become the fusion's base form? And without my appearance changing in the least at that.
As I tried to cool my head off, I sensed the feelings and consciousness of Hero-kun, Alma and the girls inside.

Is it because my body is not that of this world's human, so the Fusion ended up incomplete and their Status gets added to my buffer Status instead?
That hypothesis is kinda pushing it but I can't think of any other explanations considering our situation now.


"T, thank goodness...!"

『...What makes you put that look as if you have narrowly overcome death.』

"Well y'see, I really don't want to turn into a woman which would be the case had Neora-kun been the base. Just so we're clear here, I absolutely am not a misogynist, but getting turned into one myself is a bit..."

『....』
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >

Demon King is glaring at me like he can't believe it.
It's a grave problem for me you know.


"I've got a suit on somehow but asides from that, all good. Praise be."

『What are you relieved about.』

"...If by any chance that frilly dress stayed on, do you really want to have a front row look at a spare old man unit wearing that dress in all its glory?"

『I shall deny it with my all.』


Even Demon King frowned at the though of that nightmarish sight.
Hmm, this suit is so easy to move around despite how it looks. I don't feel restricted at all.
I can tell it's real sturdy too. It's soft yet I can't see it ever tearing off. How'd that even work?


『To think that you took over the hero as the fusion base. I do not believe such a case has ever occurred in all history... Truly you are incorrigible.』

"I'm just as surprised y'know. Haa, it's good that I don't get to be a woman but having to deal with this mess myself instead of pushing it all on Neora-kun is a pain."


...Ah, I can sense Neora-kun protesting in my mind.
'Why aren't you a woman, that's unfair!' or something. Don't ask me.

Leviara isn't keen on having to fuse with me.
'...Why does it have to be with this monster.' Stop that, you're gonna make me cry.

Olivie is as anxious as she is gritting her best to support Neora-kun.
'No matter what, no matter who I'm up against. I'll give it my all for my dear Neora-san.'
This girl sure got the guts... It makes me look like I'm peeking at someone else love affair. It's not a good feeling.


And, Alma.
...I almost regret fusing now.

It's the worst.

The worst.

I should have conveyed my feelings to her sooner if I knew I'd end up peeking at hers.


『Please don't worry about it. I can sense how you feel as well, Hikaru.』


It's as if I could hear her say that without a voice.
That was probably Alma's thought.
...Ah, crap it's the final battle and here I am feeling both embarrassed and happy, aah, no, aaaahh!!


"It's all your fault you stupid demon king!! I'mma beat you up!"

『...You appear to harbor a misplaced anger toward me, but it is you that shall meet your end.』


He clapped at me like he was trying to flatten a mosquito.
PAAN, a huge shockwave that could easily kill 20-30 people spread out along with that loud booming sound.


It was super easy to dodge though.


『...!』

"Raaa!!"


I went straight to Mana Flight from my jump to dodge the clap, heading for Demon King's weakness (probably) on the forehead.
I cut at Demon King's head with an iai slash while simultaneously striking it with my great hammer via Remote Mana Control.


Two shrill metallic sounds resounded just before they hit, repelling both my katana and great hammer.


...That pseudo-blocking again huh.
Guess I can't expect to hit his weak point willy-nilly.


After moving around a tad, I see that I seem to have gained the effects of Hero's Brave Skills.
I can finally use Skills too, or so I thought before I found out there was no particularly flashy move I could use.

By the way, 'Skills', 'Master Skills' and 'Unique Skill', Gravity Magic from Alma's accessory are all apparently gone.
As it looks like, ※Unobtainable※ still works its magic on every Skills besides Brave Skills... I was kinda hoping for it too.

Brave Skill is probably an exception to avoid the paradox of 'Fused via Valorous Fusion, but Valorous Fusion is unusable.'
Or maybe they're treated as a different category from ordinary Skills or something.


！


『Haaa...!!』


Bird shaped flames showed up all around Demon King as he growled.
A type of Offensive Magic huh... I can tell each and every one of those is loaded with much much higher firepower than Alma Mama's Advanced Magic.


『Hmph!』


Those flaming birds flapped their wings and flew toward me as if they had wills.
They're fast, hard to predict and I also have to deal with Demon King himself.


All the better though!


I folded open giant hands made of mana cushion and grabbed the birds with them.


"Guoooooooo!!"

『Wha...』


I threw them all back at Demon King while he was dumbfounded!
Fuhahahaha! Fool, half-baked Offensive Magic Spells are easy pickings for me!

The flaming birds landed on Demon King, but it didn't seem to do a thing.
His skin got some burn marks but I can tell it's fine inwardly.
Even though the floors and walls where those birds landed melted.

I couldn't have thrown back Offensive Magic that powerful if it were me before the fusion. It's a simple matter now.
I've got the fused boosted stats of Hero's Party Members and all the buffs from Aizawa-kun's Energy Control. It's just a dizzying amount.
My Attribute values are probably around 200,000 right now. Same with Demon King I bet.

I'm smaller which means more maneuverable.
Meanwhile, even though a lot of attacks don't work well on Demon King due to his sheer size, stuff like air resistance must make him slightly slower.
It's very slight yet enough to be a decisive factor to give me the upper hands in mobility.


But that doesn't change the fact that I'm still at a disadvantage.
The moment the buffs I got from Aizawa-kun's group end, my defeat is all but assured.
I don't have unlimited mana or stamina either. No replenishing them either since I can't use Item Screen. I've only got a few vials of Recovery Potions on hand.

Meanwhile, Demon King can use stamina and mana without limit thanks to his Title.
His body is paradoxically sturdy and elastic. Both my katana and great hammer don't work as well.
To top it off, attacks on his vital get blocked and nullified with extreme precision.

It's an opponent I'd have to take my time on yet that's the one thing I must avoid.
A protracted battle would only put me in a bad spot.
It's a crappy game where Demon King has access to unlimited resource while I've got very little.
It's gonna be a real pain in the arse trying to find an opening to land a decisive strike on his forehead.


...But, it feels like I've overlooked something important.
Not just one, around two at that. Maybe due to all my boosted Attributes, my intuition, the ghost in my head is whispering me that.
Something hopeless. Something something overturn.

...Menu-san could have told me what if only it were here.

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641 What To Do? What Do?

(What have I done... Well, whatever, I guess?)

I have to take care of this thing if I want to keep going anyways. I'm just doing it sooner.
Another question pops up in my mind. How many times have I hit this giant boss's chin?

I have never hit the same place for so many times in Accelerated State before.
I can't imagine how will it end, and this Dyulden Second Form is pretty tough.
No telling how much tougher he is compared to ordinary men. You can't really tell someone's endurance without testing it firsthand.
Yet I'm sure the end result won't be less even against a monster like this thing. I shiver at the the possible outcome of someone eating this many hit.

I'm afraid of undoing Acceleration. But I can't progress if I don't.
I steeled my resolve and undid Acceleration.

The scene was straight out of a nightmare.
His neck instantly twisted off and spun high into the air.
Then it stopped mid-air before it immediately, BAM!, popped off.
The leg I used as a foothold broke into pieces and the arm I one-two punched crumbled down.
Having lost its support, the gigantic body fell down with a loud thud.

"The expression he had when the head stopped was like... 'Ugeeeh'... It looked so gross."

I'm sure he couldn't understand why he was suddenly spinning or how he died.
I feel bad for doing something so cruel. Yet I don't regret it.
Just gotta be careful next time.

"Ah, figured that killed him off for good. They're starting to vanish."

Dyulden's body turned translucent as it crumbled down into blue light particles.
Same goes with pieces of his organs that got splattered everywhere.
It looks beautiful especially after that grotesque showing.

"Ah, right, this doesn't solve everything yet. What to do about... The dungeon core?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
The most important thing had slipped my mind. That is how to take care of the Dungeon Core.

I can't opt to just leave it alone.
Best thing to do is to take Dungeon Core out and let the dungeon collapses on itself but that's gonna draw all the attentions to me. I don't want that.

I alone went in the dungeon, beat the Dungeon Master and took the Dungeon Core out even though I'm not an adventurer.

I can't even imagine how much problem would that cause. One thing for sure though, nobody else has ever done the feat.
There will be no stopping the news from traveling far and wide, which includes my existence. Rumors about Griffon have probably spread, but I don't want to bolster that further.

What do then?


"...Destroy it I guess? But then, this dungeon will self destruct, no? I'd probably get caught in it if I don't get away right after..."
This space will turn into nothing. Me included if I'm still inside.

"Ah, but I do posses the 'Power' to avoid that."

After realizing that, I come face to face with another snag.

"So, where is he hiding the room that houses the Dungeon Core?"

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