TWEM Vol. 7 Chapter 10 Part 2
“Now, let’s do it.”
With my words as a signal, the Ogre kicked the ground and rushed at me at an incredible speed.
The ground the Ogre stepped on shattered, showing its strength.
The Ogre moved into range and swung his greatsword.
I tried to parry the incoming greatsword, but he must be using a skill, as it was stronger than I imagined and I almost failed to parry it.
“What!?”
I couldn’t help but be surprised. However, I somehow managed to parry it, so I kicked the ogre’s torso.
I swung my sword at the ogre’s body, which was full of openings.
I thought I’d cut it completely in half, but…I only managed to inflict a few serious wounds.
“He’s strong. I’m glad it’s me and not Tendo.”
If Tendo had been up against this guy, he would have most likely lost.
That’s how strong this ogre was.
But I won’t lose, and I had no intention of losing.
I landed and, as I approached the ogre, which was distancing itself from me, I returned my sword to its sheath – and drew it.
At the same time as a satisfying click rang out, the ogre was really cut in half this time, and it died.
After defeating the ogre, I turned towards Tendo.
It looked like he had just finished defeating the Black Tiger.
Tendo’s body was in tatters, so I approached him and used recovery magic to heal his wounds.
“Thanks, Haruto.”
“Don’t worry about it. And you did well to defeat it.”
Tendo’s eyes widened in surprise at what I said.
“What is it?”
“Well, I never thought I’d hear you praise me, so I was just surprised.”
“I’d give you a compliment, too.”
“Right.”
As we were having this conversation, I removed the barrier and looked in Lauren’s direction.
There, Lauren looked stunned.
“So, the disaster-class monsters were defeated by just two people?! That’s impossible! That’s impossible! There’s no way something like this could happen—”
“There’s no way monsters that weak could defeat us.”
“Weak? You say? They’re disaster-class!”
Lauren asked me again, but it was true that they were weak.
“I was just stating the facts. But that ogre was strong. I’m surprised you managed to gather all those. Oh, I might have said a bit too much.”
“Haruto, what are you planning to do?”
“What? I can’t kill him. I’ll leave that to Fran.”
“That would be wise.”
Tendo also seemed convinced.
However, Lauren had a fearless smile on his face.
“You think I’ll be caught by you guys who only defeated disaster-class monsters?”
It seems he thought he could get away.
But that was impossible.
The reason was simple.
Lauren stepped back and bumped into something on his back.
“Wh-What is this!”
Lauren shouted, hitting that something – the transparent wall.
This transparent wall was the barrier I’d set up, the space-cutting barrier Aegis.
I’d removed it earlier, but I’d put it up again to stop Lauren from escaping.
I glared at Lauren.
“You think you can get away?”
“Tch! Destroy this barrier!”
Realizing that he couldn’t escape, Lauren manipulated the monsters around him to try to destroy the barrier.
The monsters surrounded the barrier and attacked, but the Aegis barrier didn’t budge.
“Why can’t I destroy it?”
“Why… Well, there’s no way someone like you could destroy it?”
“Dammit!”
Lauren charged at me, but there’s no way he could win.
I punched Lauren in the stomach as he came at me.
“Kaha!?”
I then delivered a spin kick and sent him flying.
Lauren’s back hit the barrier and staggered to his feet, while he was about to unleash his magic.
I’d like to say that he’s truly one of the Four Heavenly Kings, but…
“I’m not going to let you do it.”
“Ugh!”
I turned my palm towards him, and the earth rose at his feet, binding his entire body.
I poured more magic power into the binding, and he passed out, unable to withstand the force of the binding.
“Is this good enough for now?”
“I can’t believe you caught one of the Four Heavenly Kings so easily…”
Tendo was stunned, but it’s easy for me to take on one or two of them.
“That’s right, Haruto. What should we do about Gyuray?”
Tendo asked me, but what should I do?
Seeing that I was having a hard time deciding, Tendo made a suggestion.
“Then shall we deliver him to Fran first? That was the original intention, right?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
There’s no point in leaving Lauren here, so I’ll hand him over to Fran when I report to her.
“If that’s the case, let’s return now.”
“Wait, Tendo.”
Tendo tried to run off, but I stopped him.
“What’s wrong? We have to hurry.”
“We can teleport.”
“Ah…”
It seemed that Tendo had completely forgotten that I could use teleportation.
Well, that’s fine.
I touched Tendo and Lauren, activating the teleportation.
In an instant, our field of vision changed, and we were in front of Fran.
“Who are— Haru and Ten?”
“We defeated the monsters. And this is a souvenir.”
Saying that, I threw the unconscious Lauren to the ground, and the impact woke him up.
“W-Where am I—!?”
Lauren froze at the sight of Fran.
“Lauren, can you explain?”
Lauren was surprised at first, but soon smiled with composure.
“What are you talking about now? No need to explain.”
“I see. It seems you’re prepared to die.”
Fran said coldly, but I sensed sadness deep in her eyes.
Her comrades, her countrymen, have betrayed her, and she was going to execute them with her own hands.
There couldn’t be anything more sad and painful than that.
“Even if I die, no one can stop it. Our souls are dedicated to God.”
“What did you say…?”
Fran’s eyebrow raised at the words “dedicated to God.”
“Do you understand what that means, Lauren? It means that you will never be able to reincarnate.”
“What are you saying now? I’ve given my all. And even if you kill me here, it won’t change anything. It’s already begun – a war that will involve the whole world.”
“I see.”
Fran said just that, and pointed her palm at Lauren and unleashed a spell.
“–Dark Flame.”
Black flames engulfed Lauren.
“Ahhh, ahhhhhhhh!”
Lauren let out a pained cry, but in the end muttered in a strong, clearly audible voice.
“I will give my all to—…”
At that moment, Lauren’s body turned to dust and disappeared, and the black light that remained there disappeared as if it was sucked into the sky.
What on earth was that…?
Plus, Lauren’s last words were bothering me.
Just to be safe, I’ll ask Fran.
“Fran, do you know what the last words Lauren said mean?”
“It’s just a rumor, but I’ve heard it before. Those words are to offer the soul of the person who chants them to the Evil God. Normally, the soul of the dead returns to the cycle of reincarnation, but the soul offered to the Evil God can never return… Nothing good will come from offering it.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“I think so too.”
Tendo seemed to be thinking the same thing.
I didn’t know what would happen if you offered your soul, but since the evil god seemed to be sealed, maybe it would release it.
Well, there’s no point in thinking about things you didn’t know.
“Anyway, our first priority is to end this battle. To do that, we need to stop Gyuray.”
“Haru’s right. We need to do something about Gyuray first. However, right now we’re somehow holding back the invasion of Gyuray’s army, and we don’t have the time to deal with Gyuray personally…Haru, can you help me?”
I nodded at Fran.
“Oh, I’m off then. Tendo, what about you?”
“I’ll go with you, Haruto.”
“Okay. That’s it. Fran, I’m off.”
“Sorry, I would have liked to go myself…”
Fran looked apologetic, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why did you laugh?”
“No, no, I don’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just that you’re the Demon King, so you should be more patient while you wait.”
“Hmm… So Haru says that too. But I guess this is the Demon King’s role.”
I nodded reluctantly, and Fran cleared her throat.
“Then I’m counting on you two.”
“Leave it to us.”
Tendo and I teleported away, disappearing from the scene.