Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 14 - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Beneath the Mask

The battle between the masked group and Iino Yuna, Rose, and Lobivia continued.

“Ugh...”

Iino Yuna gritted her teeth, frustrated with what was almost an entirely defensive battle. The Skanda could make use of any opening she was given, but the enemy coordinated very well and showed no signs of falling apart. It was more appropriate to call them careful than good. Having witnessed the knights of the Holy Order in battle, Iino Yuna didn’t see the masked group’s coordination as rock solid. It didn’t have the smoothness born of having trained together for years. At most, they were just making sure not to get in each other’s way.

However, their individual strength far surpassed that of the average knight. As such, they had more than enough to make up for any shortcomings. What’s more, none of them pushed too far. If they were to attack just a little more aggressively, maybe it would be possible for them to defeat Rose or Lobivia, outpacing what Iino Yuna would be able to handle. Or maybe in the process of trying to help but not making it in time, she would make a definitive mistake. The masked group managed to avoid being struck down, never risking exposing an opening by taking such a proactive approach. They fought carefully and repulsively. The reason Iino Yuna felt such disgust for their tactics was that they were entirely targeted toward sealing the Skanda.

“Haaah!”

She had no idea how many times they’d clashed now. She pushed back on the enemy just a little, and they backed off right away. In their stead, another enemy threatened Rose and Lobivia. Lobivia fended off the attack with her sturdy dragon arms, and Rose drove in her axe. They were barely maintaining an equilibrium. It wouldn’t hold for long, though. Iino Yuna turned on her heels to help them. This was the umpteenth such occurrence.

Iino Yuna was already out of options. That was why this had repeated over and over. This was one act of dozens in a never-ending play of offense and defense that was sure to continue endlessly. The masked enemies must’ve seen it this way too. It was only after Rose made a move that Iino Yuna realized this had lulled everyone into a cyclical rhythm.

“Hyaah!”

She only had one opportunity to pull it off. Believing she would act just like she had all the previous times, the enemy was caught off guard when seven knives came flying out of Rose’s hand. Majima Takahiro’s servants may have been the weaker party here, but they were skilled competitors at overcoming death. The thrown knives, a skill fostered through real combat experience, exploded due to the imitation runestones in their hilts.

The explosions weren’t all that big. She couldn’t really have expected to deal much damage to the enemy like this. Just by sensing the buildup of mana, some had jumped away and some had taken a defensive stance. However, it was still a lethal attack.

“Haaah!”

Weaving through the gaps in the explosions, the Skanda ran at lightning speed. She kicked one foe, then repelled another by clashing swords.

“Right there!”

“Hgh?!”

And she took advantage of the opening to target a masked man. Iino Yuna had already determined that he was at the core of their whole group. If even one of these masked enemies was defeated, it would become far more difficult for them to keep the Skanda in check. If their leader was defeated, it would be even harder.

“Haaah!”

“Hrgh!”

Faced with a surging wave of blows, the masked man let out a bitter groan. Her sword was like a tempest. He couldn’t keep up. The tip of her blade cut his shoulder and chipped his mask. Tossed about left and right by her attacks, the man showed a clear opening. Thanks to the explosions caused by Rose’s knives, nobody could intervene. Gaining certainty in the outcome, Iino Yuna stepped forth. This would decide things. This would end it here and now.

“Haaah!”

And with a roar of fighting spirit, she lunged forward—

◆ ◆ ◆

At this point, Majima Takahiro’s party was mainly fighting in three places.

Majima Takahiro had defeated Travis after linking up with Kudou Riku, managing to protect Katou Mana the entire time. Despite being thrown into an unexpected predicament at the very end, he’d succeeded in overcoming the knight-turned-horror.

Iino Yuna was working with Rose and Lobivia, and the trio were finally about to bring one of their enemies down. All that was left was to deal a wound that would knock him out of the fight.

Ottmar and his fellow former knights were accompanied by a masked man wielding a strange sword, putting Lily and Gerbera at a disadvantage. The two girls had been forced to retreat, but they were managing to put up some resistance. So long as they didn’t make any major mistakes, they weren’t going to be caught so easily.

Even with the unexpected reinforcements of the mysterious masked group and Travis, Ottmar was unable to kill them. What Majima Takahiro and his servants had built up over their long journey wasn’t so fragile. That was true. It certainly wasn’t. But...

“Is something the matter?”

Far away from the main battles, a girl raised her voice curiously. It was Shiran. There was a dubious light in her uncovered blue eye. She was looking at the bald knight, Gordon Cavill.

He was humble and sincere, and had fortitude and vigor. He and his knights had protected Shiran the whole time they were on the move. These knights had received training from their marshal, Harrison Addington. They had a strong sense of responsibility and were devoted to their duty. All of them had suffered some amount of injury, having shed blood in one way or another. Gordon inspired his subordinates, taking up the sword himself and commanding them every step of the way.

Before she knew it, as they proceeded down the corridors, he’d fallen completely silent. At first, Shiran thought this was because of fatigue. Gordon had used the power of the Radiant Wings multiple times now. She’d suggested taking a break, but Gordon had refused and they’d kept going. In truth, his performance in combat hadn’t deteriorated. His tempered body was still capable of more even after overexerting himself. However, the gloomy look on his stern face was becoming more and more pronounced. It was enough that Shiran couldn’t remain silent anymore.

“No. Not at all...” Gordon said, trying to brush her off.

“You’ve been in low spirits for quite a while now,” Shiran said, indicating the knights around her. “Everyone has noticed.”

Naturally, all of his subordinates had already noticed that their commander was acting strangely. This spread unrest and had a negative effect on morale.

“If something is bothering you, then please tell us,” Shiran said.

At this rate, it was possible they would suffer casualties. Because of that, and because she was truly worried, Shiran had spoken up. During her short time with them, she was certain that the man before her and the many knights affiliated with the Holy Order were worthy of respect.

Ever since her childhood in Aker and until her days as an active knight in the Woodlands, she’d always admired the knights of the Holy Order who directly supported the saviors. She’d started to harbor doubts during the incident with Travis, but now it was clear that those knights had been exceptions. Much like the legends, these knights were noble and sacrificed their lives for their duty. If she could help them in any way, she wanted to. Her feelings must’ve gotten across. However, Gordon didn’t react the way she hoped he would.

“Lady Shiran...”

His expression was extremely grim. Bewilderment and confusion were clear in his honest eyes. What’s more, Shiran even saw an unexpected hint of fear in them. She didn’t doubt for a second that Gordon Cavill was a man possessing the highest class of strength in the world, accompanied by an iron will. What could have him so afraid? Shiran felt an unpleasant irritation in her chest. She had a horrible premonition.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Haaah!”

Iino Yuna brandished her sword and stepped in. This was the deciding blow. This was the end. With that thought clear in her mind, just as she was about to slash...

“Man, you really are strong.”

The masked man raised his voice. There was no fighting spirit behind it. It was almost affectionate.

“Huh?!”

His words were like magic. Iino Yuna stood there, her sword held high, her foot planted forward, completely frozen midswing. In that instant, the Skanda was defenseless, as if time had stopped.

“Sorry, Iino.”

“Hgh?!”

The man sounded truly remorseful, and in the next instant, Iino Yuna’s face contorted in pain. An eerie knife, one that looked to be carved from bone, was stuck in her right thigh. He’d stabbed her as if slipping through a gap in her consciousness. The point of the blade went right through and came out the other side of her leg.

“Aaaaagh?!”

Unable to withstand the pain, Iino Yuna toppled over and collapsed. A small pool of blood spread across the floor. The blade seemed to have been coated in something. There was a black liquid mixed in among her blood.

“Aaah...”

Groaning on the ground in the middle of battle, she exposed far too large an opening to exploit, but no finishing blow came. Instead, the man spoke with genuine contrition.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t wanna resort to this either, but you’re way too strong. It was the only way.”

“Iino...”

Seeing the Skanda laid low so tragically, Rose stood there dumbfounded. Things had taken such a sudden turn. Losing their strongest fighter all too fast, they were now in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation.

“It’s over.”

Hearing the man’s declaration, Rose and Lobivia readied themselves with grim expressions. They stood side by side so that they could protect each other. Neither had any intention of giving up to the very end. However, just then...

“H-Hhhhgh!”

“What?!”

Writhing in agony on the ground, Iino Yuna sprang up with a groan of effort. Her slender sword flickered in the air and attacked the masked group’s leader. He evaded by jumping backward, but as he did, she managed to jump one-legged to Rose’s side.

“Iino!”

“Hey, you’re...”

Standing before the two as they raised their voices, Iino Yuna clenched her back teeth hard, withstanding the pain running up her leg. She was gasping for breath. The knife was still in her leg. Nevertheless, her fighting spirit hadn’t broken.

“You really gonna stand and fight with that wound?” the masked man mumbled in astonishment.

“You should’ve broken both my legs while you were at it,” Iino retorted.

This wasn’t the first time her leg had been injured. Last time both had been mercilessly taken out, but this time she still had her left leg. She was just barely able to remain on her feet.

“Take off that mask,” Iino said grimly, looking at their leader. “There’s no point hiding it anymore, right?”

She wasn’t clenching her teeth only to endure the pain. The enemy had no obligation to do as she said. They didn’t, but as the masked group was about to attack without paying her any attention, their leader raised his hand to stop them. He then reached for his mask with resignation and took it off.

“A-Aah...”

A grief-stricken sound slipped through Iino Yuna’s lips. What was revealed beneath the mask was a virile and likable face. Now, that face was making a bittersweet expression. She’d never expected to see him in a place like this.

“Jinguuji...”

“Yo, Iino. I didn’t wanna see you here.”

Jinguuji Tomoya—nicknamed the Dragon in the exploration team. He was one of those who’d quit the team, a comrade in arms she’d explored the Woodlands with. After leaving the exploration team, she’d met him during the fake savior incidents. The reason she hadn’t noticed during the battle was likely due to some kind of concealment magic on his mask. However, that effect hadn’t extended to his voice. After taking several seconds to accept the reality before her, Iino Yuna began speaking with trembling lips.

“Why are you in a place like this...? Why are you doing this?”

She’d known it was him the moment she heard his voice, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it. Even now, she didn’t believe it. The members of the exploration team were comrades unlike any other. Among them, Jinguuji Tomoya and the other members of the upper brass were especially reliable comrades in arms. She’d never imagined meeting him like this. She felt as though she heard the sound of something important cracking apart—an auditory hallucination of her world crumbling to pieces.

Until now, she’d always fought for what she believed was right. Such had been the case when defending the Colony, exploring the Woodlands, setting out with the first expeditionary force, rescuing the survivors of the Colony, chasing the fake savior in the eastern Empire, and protecting that village from those rampaging monsters. She’d endured all the pain to fight, and fight to the bitter end. The reason she’d managed was because she believed her actions were meaningful.

She’d given it her best. Even when things were hard, even when it hurt, she’d kept running without ever coming to a stop. So how had it all come crashing down like this? If it was going to end up this way, what had she been doing all that for?

“Answer me, Jinguuji...” A terrifying thought came to mind, and unable to stand it any longer, Iino screamed. “Why?! Why are you helping the likes of Ottmar?! Why are you trying to kill Majima?!”

The two who had once fought shoulder to shoulder exploring the Woodlands now locked eyes. The girl showed extreme agitation, while the boy’s gaze remained steadfast. In other words, he’d long resolved himself for this.

“To get everyone back to our world,” he answered.

“Huh...?”

“If I help them, they promised to send us back. That’s why I’m here.”

He spoke calmly, contrasting greatly with Iino Yuna’s confusion.

“Wh-What’re you saying?” Iino asked. “Get everyone back to our world?”

That was in fact what he’d told her when they last met.

“To tell the truth, I haven’t just been lazing around. I... I plan to somehow get back to our world.”

He was being consistent, but that wasn’t the main problem here.

“Do you really believe Ottmar can do that?”

It was common sense in this world that saviors couldn’t go back to their own world. Iino Yuna didn’t believe some lowly former knight of the Holy Order could do something like that.

“That’s not all. Jinguuji, you said you wanted to get everyone back, right? You’ll kill Majima to do that?”

She remembered the last conversation they’d had.

“I’m different from Juumonji. He was an idiot. Kill our friends to go back home? That’s goddamn crazy. How many of us are left? A hundred? Two? How many of the original thousand are already dead? I’m different from that asshole. I’m getting back home with everyone.”

His voice had been filled with righteous indignation. Those words had come from the heart. However, his actions now contradicted them. They couldn’t be interpreted any other way. And yet, his next words were ones of denial.

“You’ve got it wrong,” he said. “I’m not gonna kill Majima.”

Iino Yuna couldn’t understand what he was saying. The frustration of being unable to get through to each other was tearing away at her heart.

“Th-Then why are you attacking us?!” she screamed.

“That’s part of the promise I made,” Jinguuji answered calmly. “‘Annihilate Majima Takahiro’s servants and make Majima Takahiro vanish from the public stage.’ Those were the two conditions presented to me. I’ll have his servants slain. However, I’ll secure Majima and keep him silent. That’s all. I’m not gonna kill him.”

“Wha...?!”

Iino Yuna’s eyes shot open in shock. This was in fact consistent with his claim of going back home with everyone. Regardless, she couldn’t possibly accept that.

“Why’re you so surprised?” he asked. “They’re monsters. You’ve killed tons of them already, right?”

“Y-You’re wrong! You’ve got it wrong! I told you before. Majima’s servants are different from the monsters who just go around attacking people. They have hearts, just like us.”

“Even so.”

Iino had pleaded desperately, hoping this was some kind of misunderstanding, but her old comrade shook his head.

“My objective remains the same,” he said stubbornly. “This is so we can all go home. To that end, this is necessary.”

“Why...?”

She couldn’t persuade him. It was as if his heart were shut away behind lock and key. The joyous reunion they’d had in Bann Viscounty felt so far away now. No matter what she said at this point, it would be useless. Coming to that conclusion, Iino Yuna hung her head.

“Why do you act like we’re the only ones who matter...?” she said. She felt a rift between them, one that hadn’t been there before. “We were about more than just protecting everyone, weren’t we? That went for joining the exploration team and the first expeditionary force. We never thought of having to sacrifice anything, right?”

During the days of the Colony, the two of them had explored the Woodlands under their leader, Nakajima Kojirou. At the time, they still had no idea what danger awaited them. They’d fought for the sake of protecting the ones who needed protection. They’d felt the same. Back then, they were fellow comrades who’d definitely understood each other. But now they seemed so distant.

“So why...?”

Tears poured from her eyes, ran down her cheeks, and fell to the floor. Nothing would change because of this. However, maybe a little of her feelings had reached her former comrade’s heart.

“It’s just as you say, Iino,” Jinguuji muttered. “That was definitely the case back then. But it didn’t work.”

With that, he let out a long sigh. She felt a deep sense of regret behind it. It also seemed like a gesture to hold back his own tears.

“Hey, Iino. I had a girlfriend.”

“Huh...?”

“She was part of the home team. I figured I had to protect her.”

Iino Yuna hadn’t been aware of this. A Jinguuji Tomoya she didn’t know wrenched open his old wounds.

“‘Go protect everyone,’ she said. ‘You have the power to protect them, Tomoya,’ she said. Yeah, it went the same as what you just said. I joined the expeditionary force. And then, she died in the Colony.”

Iino was speechless.

“That’s why, Iino. I’m not gonna mess up my priorities anymore.”

Loss and regret he could never recover from were Jinguuji Tomoya’s driving motives. Perhaps it was even an obsession. Iino Yuna had no idea what to say to him. After all, she couldn’t do anything for him at this point. No matter how much she ran around, no matter how hard she tried, there was nothing she could accomplish. That was the truth.

“And one more thing.”

Overwhelmed by all this, she listened to what he had to say.

“Earlier you asked if I really think we can go back. Yeah, I do. We can all go back. That’s why it’s my one and only goal.”

Iino Yuna didn’t understand. Was this a conclusion reached through logic? Or was this the reckless behavior of a boy who’d lost his lover? She didn’t get it. It didn’t make sense. All she knew for certain was that he was her enemy now. That was the one and only thing she understood after being knocked down so far—

◆ ◆ ◆

As such, Iino Yuna failed to notice one more thing.

The most terrifying fact at this point wasn’t that the powerful Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya was now her enemy. Her attention should’ve been drawn to the details that’d brought him here.

Whether by cordial invitation, by trickery, or by driving him mad, they’d enlisted the Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya to their cause. They’d done something Iino Yuna had considered impossible. That was the crucial fact that passed her by, as well as the true threat. It meant the enemy possessed something capable of accomplishing such a feat. As such, no betrayal could be considered impossible now.

That was why things had turned out like this...

No matter how hard it was to believe...

“Miki...hiko...?”

“Aw, come on, Takahiro. You can’t go dropping your guard like that.”

The boy who was supposed to be his best friend gripped a blood-soaked knife and smiled.