Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Intruder in the Free-for-All

“Tomoya! Fuck! What the hell is going on?!”

One of the boys who’d infiltrated this world with Jinguuji Tomoya was cursing aloud while panting for breath. The group was in disarray. They’d somehow made it through the first world, and after crossing into the second, found themselves in a place similar to the Woodlands they’d once traversed as members of the expeditionary force. However, the danger in this forest was on a different level.

Due to poor visibility, they were frequently ambushed, so they weren’t permitted to relax their focus for a second. The guardian giants who surged at them one after the other were stronger and more numerous than normal monsters. What’s more, there were nasty traps hidden all over the place. In truth, while Nakajima Kojirou’s opening a path at the fore with his outstanding power played a part in the pursuit force rapidly closing in on their targets, Majima Takahiro’s using the Misty Lodge to neutralize all the traps played an even bigger one.

In contrast, Jinguuji Tomoya’s group was largely made up of warriors, who weren’t really the most cautious of people. As they made their way forward, they’d gotten wounded and fatigued. What hurt them above all else was the fact that Jinguuji Tomoya had exhausted himself before even opening the Dimension Door.

Normally, he was the type to treat his friends dearly, stand at the front in battle, encourage his allies, and keep a keen eye out for danger while proceeding carefully. During his time in the exploration team, he’d risen no further than being a member of the upper brass because of Nakajima Kojirou’s preeminent charisma. But by all rights, he’d had the qualities to become the exploration team’s leader.

However, now he remained transformed as a dragon, losing the majority of his conscious thoughts, wasting away in both mind and body. This was a result of being forced to exhaust himself in the very last moment when faced with Archbishop Gerd Kruger’s tenacity.

Nevertheless, their group had gotten far enough to see the fortress that served as the door to the third world. This made apparent the power of their solidarity to achieve their goal.

“We’re all going back to our world.

“We’re going back without losing one more life.”

This group didn’t have many members, but they all sympathized with Jinguuji Tomoya’s ideals. They also shared his sense of loss. Every last one of them had left someone important behind in the Colony. The moment they’d learned of a failure they could never take back, the majority had fallen to despair. The one who’d gone around calling out to them was Jinguuji Tomoya.

“Let’s all go back to our world together.

“Let’s do anything we have to to pull that off.

“Let’s do it so that no one else has to go through what we did. Lend me your strength.”

Jinguuji Tomoya refused to see any value in anything in this world. He begrudged the world for stealing his lover from him. Human emotions contained many facets, though. On one hand, he refused to see value in this world. On the other, his care for his companions came from the heart. That was why those who shared his circumstances had answered his call.

“Tomoya! You go ahead!”

The boy cried as he wiped away the blood streaming down his face. Just a few minutes back, they’d gotten caught in a huge trap. The ground had split beneath them and a large number of guardian giants had swarmed out. This had split the group up. Jinguuji Tomoya and three of his friends were on one side of an army of giants, closer to the door to the next world. The boy and the three remaining others were on the opposite side of the giants.

“We’ll catch up right away!”

“But...!”

“We’re all going back to our world together, right?! Go!”

The boy dared to launch an attack on the giants to prevent them from chasing Jinguuji Tomoya. He’d made sure to preserve his stamina and mana up to this point, but now he was going all out. The two others followed suit. Jinguuji Tomoya clenched his teeth, his dragon fangs creaking as his tail swept around. He headed for the next world.

“You guys are stuck with us!”

The three boys went wild so that the giants stayed where they were. They were surrounded by enemies, though. No matter how preposterous their strength was, there were too many to fight in an honest battle. If only they coordinated properly, but these boys hadn’t received such training. They were only capable of fighting as individuals. There was no way they could fend off attacks from all sides like that.

Nevertheless, for a short time, they stood firm and fought. If, for example, these were the visitors who’d caused the fake savior incidents, they would’ve been routed long ago and been crushed by the sheer number of enemies.

“Okay! That’s enough! Let’s run!”

After holding out for a few minutes, judging that these giants could no longer catch up to their friends, the boys decided to retreat. They were a little late, though. By this point, they were all far too exhausted.

“Gah?!”

Having attacked the giant in front of him before making his retreat, the boy left himself open and was attacked by yet another giant. A blow from an enormous arm closed in next. He couldn’t get away from it.

“Aaaaaah?!”

The boy screamed...and watched the giant get diagonally bisected.

“Huh...?”

He watched in astonishment as the giant’s body slid apart. Standing behind it was the fourth person who’d stayed behind.

“You okay?”

It was a man wearing a mask. He had a bizarre sword in one hand dangling by his side. That blade was what had cut the giant’s sturdy body as if it were tofu.

“Y-You saved me...”

“Not really.”

His reply was curt. The boy smiled wryly at this. This masked man was the one exception in the group. He hadn’t lost something like the others. He was at most helping out. He safeguarded his identity, so he was treated as an outsider. That said, his role in this was no different from the others’.

“Hmph!”

The masked man didn’t move as fast or with as much strength as the warriors. His sword was powerful, though—far too powerful. It was apparently a magic weapon that could cut through anything it touched. It possessed attributes similar to one of the exploration team’s nicknamed cheaters, the Absolute Blade.

Due to the affinity of their abilities, Hibiya Kouji had yielded the seat of the strongest hand-to-hand fighter to the Skanda, but against monsters, he was in no way inferior. The ability to nullify an opponent’s defense was just that much of an advantage. So long as his sword hit his opponent anywhere, he was guaranteed to deal huge damage. He didn’t even need to put any strength behind his strikes, so it left him with very few openings. All these advantages also applied to the masked man.

It was difficult to cut through the sturdy bodies of the guardian giants with a normal sword. Even a warrior found it hard to deal a telling blow by putting all their strength behind a heavy weapon. But this sword went through them smoothly like a hot knife through butter. If he hadn’t been helping, it would definitely have taken the group a lot more effort just to get this far.

Before coming to help the boy, he’d apparently been helping the two others. They’d already retreated away from the giants. Even now, with each swing of the masked man’s sword, things got easier and easier for the boy.

“Now I can...!”

Get away, so he wanted to say. If he were only facing this world’s defense mechanism, he probably would’ve managed. However, in the next instant, he swallowed his words and turned around. Beyond the turmoil of battle, through the dense trees, he sensed something approaching.

“What...the...?!”

The boy was speechless. An enormous swarm of monsters leaped out of the trees. They weren’t guardian giants. They were a mishmash of all kinds of monsters. The truly terrifying part was the density of them. They were more of a river or a flood than a swarm. The boy held up his sword on the spur of the moment, but this was a meaningless act. It was impossible to handle this many monsters without grade 5 magic—which required time to prepare—or some other explosive attack that covered a wide area. Unable to do anything, the boy, his two friends, the masked man, and even the guardian giants were swallowed by the tide.

Watching this unfold was a slender boy sitting atop a wolf. His lips curved into an inhuman smile.

“I finally found you...”

The Lord of Darkness, Kudou Riku, leading an army of over a thousand monsters, had caught up to Jinguuji Tomoya’s group before the pursuit force could.

◆ ◆ ◆

“Ugh...”

By good or bad luck, the boy had survived. He had no idea how many times monster fangs and claws had torn through his flesh. He’d only managed any form of resistance in the first instant. After that, he’d lost track of what had happened, and before he knew it, he found himself on the ground. He didn’t know what happened to his friends. It’d taken him everything to focus on himself. He was surrounded by monsters. There were no allies in sight.

“Oh? You’re still alive.”

Looking at Kudou Riku approach atop a wolf, the boy staggered to his feet. He grasped his sword with trembling hands.

“Who are you...?”

“So you still wish to fight,” Kudou said, narrowing his eyes. “I see, you’re one of the ones Heaven’s Voice mentioned—one of those loss-stricken souls that Jinguuji leads. You’re a little different from the riffraff I met during the fake savior incidents.”

“What’re you getting at...? And did you just say Heaven’s Voice?”

The boy’s bewilderment was clear. This wasn’t because the name made no sense to him. It was the opposite. Jinguuji Tomoya’s group was a gathering of those who’d suffered from loss and had sworn to stake their lives on getting everyone back home. However, it wasn’t like they’d known about their shared circumstances at first. So how did people who’d been scattered across the world find out about their commonalities and gather together? The answer to that was that they’d had help.

“Go save your pitiful friends, Jinguuji.

“That’s the wish she made as she called out your name in her final, cruel moments, isn’t it?”

Jinguuji Tomoya had received information from Heaven’s Voice. He’d used this information to find his friends. He’d been the only one to interact directly with Heaven’s Voice, but he’d told the others about them.

“Is it strange that Heaven’s Voice provided me, the Demon King, with information about you?” Looking at the boy’s expression, Kudou Riku smiled faintly. “Aah. I’m sure it is strange to you. From your perspective, they were a helper who had nothing to hide. You’ve made it this far thanks to all the information you’ve received from Heaven’s Voice. In truth, they never betrayed your trust once. Am I right?”

There was a reason he could see through the boy so easily. The same thing had happened at Fort Tilia. Back then, Juumonji Tatsuya and Sakagami Gouta had both trusted Heaven’s Voice for bringing them together. It was partly because of how utterly dense the two had been, but Heaven’s Voice’s outwardly sincere behavior had played a large part too.

However, behind the scenes, Heaven’s Voice had made a connection to Kudou Riku and had told Sakagami Gouta a tremendous lie, tricking him into thinking he was a monster tamer. The boys accompanying Jinguuji shared many of that case’s circumstances. They trusted Heaven’s Voice, since they had provided useful information to them. Only Jinguuji Tomoya hadn’t trusted them fully, but thanks to being told the truth surrounding the Dimensional Cornerstones, he’d finally come to the conclusion that Heaven’s Voice wasn’t lying.

Or maybe he’d had no choice but to believe. After all, despite looking for information all over the world, he hadn’t found the slightest clue about how to return to their world. Heaven’s Voice had grasped his weakness and had accumulated trust only to betray him at the worst possible time. The moment he lent them an ear, he was doomed to perish.

“Heaven’s Voice is more like the snake of temptation...the same as always.”

Watching the Demon King mutter to himself, the boy steeled himself to start negotiating.

“You’re...Kudou Riku?” he asked. “You have the power to manipulate so many monsters. You’re the guy they call the Lord of Darkness, yeah?”

“Yes. That’s right. What of it?”

“Thought so!” The boy smiled as if he’d found an oasis in the desert. “I know about it. You wanna destroy the world, right? That’s why you’re here. In that case, you should be able to work with us. We might have different objectives, but we’re doing the same thing.”

A Demon King bent on destroying the world, and those who were prepared to destroy the world just to get back home. Their interests were in alignment, so there was no need to fight. He was right in that sense.

“We might’ve had a bit of a misunderstanding, but it’s not too late. Let’s work together.”

Here in this moment, Jinguuji Tomoya’s group had acquired the possibility of getting a wild card in the form of the Demon King.

“True... I do believe my objective is somewhere inside here.”

Kudou Riku nodded quietly, and the boy smiled back at him.