Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 15 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Collision

Swords manipulated by a paranormal power flew about the battlefield.

Using the bonds with his servants as his weapons, a boy handled every strike.

With the Demon King on her back, a wolf ran about, a roaring ogre hot on her heels.

As a result of everyone bringing their full strength to bear, both sides were struggling for supremacy. They were for now, at least. As a participant of the battle, however, Kaneki Mikihiko understood that, at this rate, he was going to be the first to fall.

“Part of it is poor affinity, but...”

He muttered to himself, holding back the throbbing pain in his head. The advantage of Aerial Knight was multiplying his own forces. However, Majima Takahiro also wielded a sword, Asarina, and many magic tools. Each and every weapon was strong, and the man himself was a step or two faster.

Kaneki Mikihiko won in terms of pure numbers, but because of the Misty Lodge, he couldn’t make full use of that advantage. Even now, the twenty weapons—composed largely of swords—rushed in on their target, but Majima Takahiro dealt with all of them with ease.

He repelled swords, parried blows, used magic tools to intercept strikes, and if none of those were going to work, he dodged or blocked. It looked as if Majima Takahiro was being prevented from taking action, but it was actually the opposite. All of Kaneki Mikihiko’s strengths were being suppressed. He had poor affinity with this opponent.

“No... That’s not much of an excuse.”

Majima Takahiro’s defensive fighting style showed very few openings to begin with. To defeat him, the only choice was to meet him head-on with overwhelming attack power and speed. There was no point complaining about affinity against an opponent like that.

The action unfolding before his eyes told him everything. Kaneki Mikihiko was no match for Majima Takahiro.

“What are you doing, Kaneki Mikihiko?!” Losing patience, a voice suffused with irritation played over the magic communication device. “You better not be holding back.”

“I’m being serious,” Mikihiko answered, keeping his focus on the battle. It was pretty hard to pull off. “I don’t mind if you check for yourself. You’ve been monitoring me since the battle started, haven’t you? I’m sure personnel have been dispatched here already.”

Now that the fighting had started, everyone had to focus on the enemies before them, pulling their focus away from their surroundings. Using the opening this created, an assault force had been dispatched to the arena. Kaneki Mikihiko had predicted this far ahead of time. In all likelihood, they were hiding in the corridor.

There were only a few people Harrison could secretly call to arms for this operation. Even if he was the leader of the Holy Order, there weren’t that many people he could make use of for what was essentially an assassination. The few personnel he’d called from the capital were to return to their posts were they not needed, but due to the failure of the planned all-out attack right after the teleportation and the loss of multiple trump cards, they had to be put to use now. Those who had secretly infiltrated this arena had to be sending information to the man who was commanding the whole operation.

“Ugh. It does seem you aren’t holding back...”

“Yeah, this is my limit.”

It was the truth. He felt a tingling sensation deep in his nose. A slimy liquid leaked out. He wiped it away, seeing a red stain on his hand. This was blood from a torn capillary. About ten minutes had passed since he’d started wielding twenty weapons. He could feel his brain burning out from concentrating too much. He’d long passed the point where his headache was unbearable.

In that state, he was keeping Majima Takahiro, fiercely searching for an opening to exploit, at bay. Nobody could accuse him of holding back. He was giving it everything he had.

“I can’t do more than I already am. How’s Sir Edgar doing?”

“He’s also in a stalemate...”

It seemed Kudou Riku was doing well. Standing on even ground against the Battle Ogre, who fought with the same strength as a visitor, meant Kudou Riku’s power when combined with his elite servants’ was significant.

“How can this be? To think it’d go this poorly...” The voice on the other end sounded at his wits’ end. It served him right. “I thought Majima would falter with you as an opponent, but it isn’t going to be that easy, I see.”

“Looks like he doesn’t really care about some traitor,” Mikihiko said, saying whatever seemed suitable.

The truth was the opposite. It was because they believed in each other that they were able to fight at full strength.

“A stalemate...” the voice said.

Even if they had a collar around his neck, they weren’t going to try and force him to do something he was incapable of. Kaneki Mikihiko felt relieved that the hostage they’d taken was safe due to his efforts.

He hadn’t been defeated in an instant, but he wasn’t going to win either. He’d been aiming to push himself to the very limit in a prolonged deadlock to begin with. That was the ideal outcome.

Although, that would only hold for a few minutes. It wouldn’t be strange for the stalemate to break at any moment. As such, he’d predicted his next orders.

“There’s no choice then. Make the gamble.”

After going down a long, long road, the end was finally in sight.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Roger that...”

He’d persevered to his very limit. He’d hung in there for so, so long. He’d done absolutely everything he could. All that was left was to believe.

“Here I come, Takahiro.”

Without even the leisure to wipe the blood dribbling from his nose, a crimson grin painted Kaneki Mikihiko’s features, a sign of grim determination. He pulled back all the weapons he’d been manipulating. Sensing the shift, Majima Takahiro came to a stop. Even after such a long battle, he didn’t have a single scratch on him. That fact brought Kaneki Mikihiko genuine relief.

However, at the same time, it was just a little frustrating. Even though they were best friends—no, because they were best friends—a part of him didn’t want to lose. Naturally, he wasn’t going to fuss over winning at this point. He wanted to be someone he could take pride in before his friend. As such...

“This is the ace up my sleeve.”

He’d made his preparations ahead of time. Shifting his focus, the weapons lying in the corridor floated up and swarmed together. At the same time, he grabbed the magic bags dangling at his hips and destroyed their runestones. By doing so, the weapons within scattered all over.

The manipulation of multiple weapons at once—the main difference now was the sheer number of them.

There were bladed weapons, from swords of all sizes to crude knives.

There were poled weapons, from spears, to halberds, to battleaxes.

There were even weapons like whips and flails—weapons that had been nothing but failed ambitions.

A visitor’s ability was a reflection of their wish. As such, it was greatly affected by the visitor’s subconscious. He wanted to be a knight who could protect the woman who was dearest to him. It was because he’d truly fallen in love that he’d wished for that. However, this was a dream that could never come true.

Kaneki Mikihiko couldn’t become a knight.

He wasn’t suitable. He didn’t have the caliber. A man incapable of protecting his beloved couldn’t possibly become a knight, no matter how much he wished for it.

If he could, he would at most just be able to imitate one. That was exactly why his ability had manifested as Aerial Knight—a sham of a knight with no substance.

Regardless, even if he couldn’t become his ideal, there was something he wanted to protect. He didn’t care if he was some cheap imitation. So long as he protected her, it didn’t matter. With that resolution close at heart, he gave his power form.

“Ooooh!”

The weapons he manipulated numbered roughly 250 in total. It was no coincidence that this was pretty much the same number of knights who’d once made up the Third Company of the Alliance Knights.

This was the true form of Kaneki Mikihiko’s inherent ability. In short, it was the empty, hollow sham of a knightly order commanded by the boy who couldn’t become a knight. Nevertheless, with the desire to protect someone deep in his heart, he brought it to its final stage, still so far from perfection.

“Aerial Knights!”

Leading a tremendous company of weapons, the boy made his final charge.

◆ ◆ ◆

The human brain had a processing limit. The manifestation of his inherent ability had come with the sense to manipulate many weapons in parallel, but that had a ceiling too. Twenty was really pushing it in terms of continuous use. Using ten times that number was insanity. It wasn’t as though he could freely wield this many weapons. Well, perhaps that would’ve been possible one day, but at the very least, it wasn’t now.

“Gah...?!”

Even just getting them to float in the air dyed his vision red. Assaulted by a pain that felt like it would tear his head apart, his consciousness flickered in and out. He endured all the agony and simply ran forward.

“Aaaaah!”

He could only keep this active for a very short time. He couldn’t make minute adjustments or manipulate them at range. As such, he had to lead the charge himself. The scene was like a knightly order holding their weapons high, lunging forward to destroy their enemy.

The rushing swarm of weapons would surely even be able to kill a warrior with their overwhelming numbers. If visitors with inherent abilities were categorized as premature and late bloomers, Kaneki Mikihiko definitely belonged to the latter. Compared to warriors, who’d manifested violent combat abilities right off the bat, his road to strength was so very long. As such, the fact that he’d taken his ability to such heights in so short a time was worthy of admiration.

It was true he had an outstanding talent for fighting, but that wasn’t enough to take him this far on its own. The ferocity of his passion and the wish in his heart had driven him to this stage.

Just maybe, given another year, his ability would’ve reached completion. Given five years, it was possible he’d have been able to wield this many at once as if it were perfectly normal. However, he hadn’t been given that much time. Perhaps that was the greatest factor that brought the boy in front of him victory.

“Asarina,” the boy called quietly.

Inside his red-dyed vision, Kaneki Mikihiko witnessed his best friend’s arm wrapped by vines, transforming into something grotesque. This was an imitation of Lily’s Devil Arm. This was the strongest attack Majima Takahiro was capable of on his own.

“Salvia.”

Another quiet word. In that instant, Kaneki Mikihiko sensed an abnormality in his Aerial Knights. He didn’t know what had been done, but he knew something had happened. The majority of the weapons under his command slowed down as if caught on something.

Normally, this slight delay wouldn’t be a problem. However, right now, he was in the middle of an all-or-nothing suicide charge.

“Guh! Oooh?!”

The all-out attack, all aimed at the same point, broke down. Kaneki Mikihiko reacted instantly, trying to break through what was holding him back—something he was only capable of because of his great sense for combat.

The Aerial Knights that followed him numbered around fifty. There were fewer of them now, but this was still more than double his usual limit.

However, the Devil Arm was held aloft waiting for him. The strength it was capable of exhibiting was eighty percent of the tyranny wielded by the Great White Spider of the Depths. It was weaker than the original, but because the grotesque arm was shaped by Asarina, it possessed a certain level of flexibility. The arm grew prodigiously, covering a terrifyingly vast and long range.

It came crashing down.

“Aah...”

Kaneki Mikihiko let out a relieved and bloody sigh.

“It’s my loss.”

The Devil Arm mowed down the boy and all his weapons.