Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 15 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Exhausting Every Last Ounce of Strength

In this fierce battle against his best friend, Kaneki Mikihiko realized something. To be precise, it was something that’d bothered him for a while. After coming here, Majima Takahiro hadn’t once asked why. He hadn’t pressed for an answer as to why Kaneki Mikihiko was an enemy now.

However, he didn’t look like he was so enraged and out for blood that there was no room to question it. He simply looked right at his best friend, ready to attack at any moment. This definitely wasn’t the attitude one took toward a traitor.

There was no mistaking it at this point. Majima Takahiro grasped the situation. He’d figured out that they had a hostage, meaning his best friend was being forced to do as they said. How he had realized was a pointless question. If their positions were reversed, Kaneki Mikihiko would’ve figured it out too.

They both knew each other so well. If one gave some thought to the other’s circumstances, they would know what spurred them on. That was of course only if they believed that the other hadn’t changed, though.

“That’s one thing I never have to question...”

Majima Takahiro still remained Kaneki Mikihiko’s best friend. On top of that, he showed no hesitation in battle. There was no anger or bloodlust in his eyes, but his fighting spirit was honed to a keen edge. Kaneki Mikihiko sensed he was honestly putting his full power on display.

Seeing that, he understood. Majima Takahiro was playing along with his plan. It was as if his eyes were saying, “This works for you, yeah?” Despite having been stabbed, he showed no signs of having the slightest apprehension at Mikihiko’s sudden betrayal. Sensing the wholehearted trust behind this, Kaneki Mikihiko laughed inwardly. His heart was settled now.

“What are you doing, Kaneki Mikihiko?! Fight with all your might!”

“I know...”

He replied noncommittally to the voice coming from the magic communication device. He didn’t need to be told. He would fight at his full strength. However, that wasn’t because he was being forced to. He was going to exhaust every last ounce of his strength to answer Majima Takahiro’s friendship.

“Here I come, Takahiro.”

This was the beginning of the true battle. Kaneki Mikihiko kicked off the ground and broke into a charge. At the same time, he pulled weapons out of his magic bags and threw them in the air. They were mostly swords. A longsword, a shortsword, a broadsword, an estoc, a saber, a bastard sword, a rapier, an arming sword, a scimitar... He seized all of them with Aerial Knight.

“Guh...”

The burden from using his ability ramped up exponentially. Normally, Aerial Knight couldn’t be used to wield two of the same weapon. There was a trick to it, though. By taking the same weapons with slightly different shapes, they counted as different weapons. Using that little cheat, it was possible for him to wield multiple swords, the weapon he was most familiar with, at once.

Still, it felt as if his brain was going to split apart. He held back the pain, creating avatars of himself to wield each and every sword.

“With...this!”

A total of twenty Kaneki Mikihikos rushed Majima Takahiro. His combat strength had been amplified more than twenty times over. Such a wave of violence was likely impossible for even the Battle Ogre to handle, but...

“I can’t hit...?!”

Using the Misty Lodge’s perception and matching it to the mobility granted to him by Asarina, Majima Takahiro’s movements were no longer those of a human. His agility and speed were a wonder to behold. Thanks to Asarina’s complete freedom of movement, it was even possible for him to maneuver in midair.

“It’s this much worse with her...?!”

“Ssster!”

From Kaneki Mikihiko’s perspective, he had to deal with an opponent who was already faster than him now moving in three dimensions. It was beyond his means. What’s more, Asarina was acting like an autonomous whip that bound any attacks.

What was even more troublesome was the magic mist covering the area. An advantage of attacking with many weapons came from simply increasing the number of attacks, but a far larger one was being able to strike from multiple directions at once.

To be able to handle an attack, one had to be cognizant of what was going on, but humans only had two eyes facing forward. There was a limit to how much could be handled at once from the perspective of human cognition.

However, Majima Takahiro had a full grasp of his surroundings because of the magic mist. By sacrificing enough that it had an effect on his internal world, the accuracy of his perception was higher than ever before. Further enhanced by Salvia’s feelings as she watched over him, the connection between them was even deeper, reflected in the precision of the magic. As it was now, the Misty Lodge knew every little detail of all twenty weapons’ movements.

Regardless, if Kaneki Mikihiko was capable of attacking with every single weapon at once, it would likely be impossible to handle. By remaining constantly on the move, Majima Takahiro ensured he was never completely surrounded. His devotion to his training and his experience with deadly battles made it possible for him to fight this way.

Inferior in terms of speed and mobility, Kaneki Mikihiko couldn’t keep up. Even when he managed to somehow go around and cut him off by relying on numbers, it took everything he had to attack with just a few weapons. To Majima Takahiro, that was well within the realm of what could be handled.

“Oooh!”

He repelled the two swords coming from the front with a sweep of the blade in his right hand. At the same time, he used the shield in his left to block an attack from the side, relying on Asarina to help him get away from the attack from behind by flinging him into the air. He shot a fireball from the runestone in his bracer at another sword that came thrusting at him, sending it flying away. Without even looking, he repelled the spear that was waiting for him at his landing point. Kaneki Mikihiko couldn’t even scratch him. On the contrary, Majima Takahiro had the leisure to turn his attention elsewhere.

“Look out, Kudou!”

He fired a wind bullet from his bracer, attacking Edgar’s flank.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Gah! Fuck! You really did it now!”

The surprise attack slammed into Edgar’s ribs. It was supposed to be fairly powerful, but the ogre’s metallic black skin and tenacious muscles didn’t seem to suffer much damage. Still, it was enough to interrupt him, allowing Kudou Riku to barely evade the attack that had nearly struck him directly.

“Ugh...”

“C’mon, what’s the matter?!” Edgar roared, hot on Berta’s heels as she sprinted away. “All you’ve been doing is scurrying around! I don’t see the other one that’s supposed to be with you. You aiming for an opening or something? You’ll get crushed before that happens!”

Dora was nowhere to be seen. It did seem that she wasn’t going to be able to strike Edgar from a blind spot anytime soon. Far from making an opening, Kudou Riku was gradually being driven into a corner.

Having been struck multiple times, his breathing was ragged. Caesar had defended against every strike, but Kudou Riku’s body wasn’t even mana-enhanced. The simple shock of being tossed about was enough to drain Kudou Riku’s stamina.

“Seriously, how pathetic...”

Kudou Riku flashed a cynical and bitter smile. This was inevitable. His inherent ability was extremely powerful, but the same power shaved away at his health. Beyond the apparent strength granted by his menagerie, Kudou Riku himself was weak. He was actually getting weaker by the day. It was like some kind of curse.

“My king, are you hurt?”

Despite being in the middle of combat, Berta raised a concerned voice. In truth, she’d been against his participation in this battle. She’d voiced her opinion, fully prepared to be punished for it. However, while Kudou Riku had refused her suggestion, he hadn’t punished her. This was unexpected for Berta. Perhaps it was even unexpected for Kudou Riku himself.

“Berta...”

If there was a reason for this, then it was the conversation he’d had with Majima Takahiro here in this fabricated world.

“What does it matter what I think about anything? I’m the Demon King who resents the world. That’s all there is to it.”

“That’s wrong. Even if that’s all there is to you, there are those who don’t think so.”

That was how Majima Takahiro had refuted him.

“Aah... Seriously, this is so stupid.”

Things he didn’t know. Things he now knew. Majima Takahiro had told him of Berta’s desire. What did that bring about? Did Kudou Riku’s mumbling reach Berta’s ears? At any rate, they were in the middle of battle, so now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Even if they were at peace, Kudou Riku wouldn’t have expressed his innermost thoughts. Instead, he told her something else.

“Fight at full strength, Berta.”

“My king...?” Berta said, shaken by his words. “What did you just say?”

“I’m ordering you to fight at full strength. From here on out, shed that false form and bring out everything you have.”

Berta had a true form, but Kudou Riku had prohibited her from revealing it. By breaking that ban once, she’d been horribly punished. So what had changed his mind about it?

“Do it quickly. We can’t take up any more of Majima-senpai’s time.”

As expected, Kudou Riku didn’t explain himself. Still, Berta sensed this was an omen of a definitive change within him.

“As you will, my king. I’ll display my full power,” the wolf replied reassuringly.

“The hell’re you two mumbling about?!”

Edgar lunged forward and swung his sword. However, this time, he hadn’t stepped in deep enough. This wasn’t due to poor swordsmanship or anything. Berta’s movements were clearly faster than before.

“Wha?!”

A wall of tentacles and sludge dulled the attack, but unlike before, the sword truly didn’t reach its target. Fiery breath licked the tip of his nose in a counterattack, getting Edgar to step back for the first time. He then realized that the wolf before him had transformed.

“You bastard...”

“It’s my king’s command. I’ll be fighting at full strength from this point onward,” the woman sprouting from the wolf’s back declared proudly.

Berta the scylla. This was her true form as the most powerful of the Demon King’s subordinates. Released from her self-imposed fetters, the wolf began dashing at full speed.