Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Evil

The dreadful swarm of monsters bared their fangs. If manipulated well, even a group of regular warriors would be crushed under the pure violence of numbers. In fact, three such people had died moments ago in just that fashion.

However, despite his monstrous power, Kudou Riku’s attacks were foiled. He gulped and groaned at the sight.

“A nicknamed cheater of the exploration team... To think he’s this strong.”

“Hey. Don’t lump us all together.”

Hibiya Kouji complained in dissatisfaction as he swung his sword. With each strike, he scattered death all around him. During the days of the Colony within the Depths of the woodlands, this boy had been seen as an equal to Iino Yuna as the strongest in close-quarters combat when faced with monsters. The Skanda boasted of a speed that nobody could catch up to, whereas the Absolute Blade boasted of an attack that nobody could block. Everything his sword touched was cut apart without exception. Solidity and toughness meant nothing to him.

What’s more, Hibiya Kouji was accustomed to fighting. He had the basic combat abilities of a visitor, but he also had skill that surpassed that. Despite fighting so many opponents, he never let himself get surrounded. Sometimes he hid behind one enemy to escape the attack of another. He steadily made his way through the horde.

He wasn’t the type to rely on the combat abilities he’d gained as a visitor. He fought with a technical skill he’d acquired himself. Others like him were the Sword of Light Nakajima Kojirou and the Skanda Iino Yuna, who’d learned martial arts in their old world, or Majima Takahiro and Kaneki Mikihiko, who’d trained after coming to this one.

However, Hibiya Kouji’s movements didn’t come from studying martial arts or swordsmanship or anything of the like. It was more accurate to say he was used to brawling. His agility was like that of a wild beast. It was impossible to describe as polished. In truth, his swordsmanship could be called sloppy nonsense. But that was enough for him. Anything he hit died. That was the terrifying thing about the Absolute Blade.

“Ugh...”

Kudou Riku stifled his breath in pain as the wolf he was riding took evasive action. This was because Hibiya Kouji had launched an attack on him while handling all the swarming monsters. Normal monsters couldn’t stop the Absolute Blade. Not even Dora and the Mad Beast could face him head-on without taking extreme risks. Whenever the leader, Kudou Riku, was attacked, he used monsters to shield himself and had Dora and the Mad Beast hold Hibiya Kouji at bay, somehow managing to stop the cheater in his tracks.

During that time, the wolf Kudou Riku was riding evaded, but each time, his command over the other monsters faltered for a moment. Taking advantage of that, Hibiya Kouji dealt further damage to the demon army.

Kudou Riku’s ability was genuinely suited for battle. With the proper conditions, defeating the Absolute Blade was entirely possible. However, he hadn’t been given the time to create those conditions. Hibiya Kouji even had the time for conversation while taking on so many monsters.

“I heard from Heaven’s Voice,” he said curtly. “Something about getting revenge for Todoroki? You been living to pay me back for that? How worthless.”

Hearing this, Kudou Riku’s eyes flared with rage.

“Guh! Kill him!”

Using the collars of the Lord of Darkness, he spurred several monsters into action. The army’s fangs couldn’t reach their target, though. In an impressive display, they were cut down one after the other.

“Seriously, how pathetic. That’s why you’re weak.”

“Ugh!”

Watching his monsters tumble dead to the ground, Kudou Riku’s expression twisted in frustration. Things were even for now, but if this went on, his forces would be whittled away. He couldn’t refute being called weak.

“So you really did kill Todoroki-senpai,” he managed to squeeze out.

“By the sounds of it, you were pretty convinced from the very beginning, huh?”

Hibiya Kouji didn’t deny it. He didn’t give a proper answer either. In other words, he had no intention of having a proper conversation, nor did he have a need to.

“Why did you kill her?” Kudou Riku asked, grinding his teeth hard.

“Because she plotted to overthrow the Colony.”

His response was immediate, his voice completely disinterested. Emotions could be used to bring out explosive power, but if manipulated well, could also make it hard for one to display their true strength. On that point, Hibiya Kouji was careful. He kept his opponent irritated while remaining calm. Maybe he was bothering to talk with Kudou Riku in a calculated decision to restore his stamina in case of the unexpected. Kudou Riku’s analytical mind had abandoned him, however, and he was engulfed in the moment.

“She conspired with Heaven’s Voice to pull the trigger on destroying the Colony. I was entrusted with its protection, so I couldn’t turn a blind eye.”

Hibiya Kouji spoke calmly, whereas Kudou Riku hung his head with trembling fists. With this, the Demon King was done for...if he’d truly lost himself, that is. His expression suddenly changed. His eyes hid endless wisdom and sharpened like knives. This was the face of the Demon King.

“You’re lying.”

His words caught Hibiya Kouji off guard like a blade to his throat. He fell silent at the unexpected turn of events. Kudou Riku wasn’t one to let such an opportunity pass.

“If that was the case, why have you been hiding all this time? If someone from the exploration team found out about you and questioned you thoroughly about what happened, was there anything troublesome for you to report?”

Hibiya Kouji said nothing.

“You’re the one who plotted to overthrow the Colony.”

Sometimes a reaction spoke more eloquently than words. Hibiya Kouji’s expression turned grim, indicating that this was in fact the truth. In contrast, Kudou Riku had regained his composure. No. Appearing to have lost it in the first place had been part of his strategy.

“Why did you destroy the Colony? What’s your relationship to Heaven’s Voice? What are you planning by slipping into Jinguuji Tomoya’s group?”

“You...”

“Heh heh. How unfortunate. It seems extracting any more information from you will prove difficult.”

The boy was calm. Anger remained in his heart, of course. The fury he’d given a glimpse of was unmistakably the real thing—he simply had a proper rein over his emotions.

“You asked if I’ve lived to this day for the sake of revenge. Yes. I won’t deny it. However, my fury isn’t directed only at the likes of you.”

The flames of vengeance still burned within him. He hadn’t once forgotten that anger and grudge. It was therefore impossible for him to lose his composure over them. He’d tapered his violent emotions to a point, turning them into a weapon. That was how he was here as the Demon King today.

“In the Colony, I witnessed with my own eyes how hideous human weakness is. Once thrown into an emergency, that weakness drives them to hysterical acts of cruelty, putting to waste everything of value in this world.”

A dangerous light glimmered within the boy’s eyes. The loss of one such valuable treasure had been burned into his mind.

“Cheaters are the very symbol of that. Simply weak humans are one thing, but by possessing strength beyond their means while still remaining so weak, they easily bring about atrocity after atrocity.”

In truth, they’d been the ones to destroy the Colony. Judging by the ongoing conversation, it seemed Heaven’s Voice had plotted behind the scenes with Hibiya Kouji, but they’d only been the trigger. This didn’t erase the sins of those who’d actually dirtied their hands.

Even back then, there’d been those with good sense who’d tried to put a stop to it. However, precisely because they’d had good sense, they hadn’t been able to acquire immense power with as much ease as the warriors. It was tremendously difficult for a normal person to gain power through an intense wish or conviction like the nicknamed cheaters. Given this, their remonstrations had fallen on deaf ears and they’d all been killed.

This didn’t only apply to the Colony either. Even after that, similar damage had been inflicted over and over. The fake savior incidents were the greatest example of such catastrophes. It didn’t need to be said that the daily lives of the locals that had been so desperately established in this dangerous environment were of value. However, that had all been put to waste by foolish weakness.

People like Kouzu Asahi, who’d tried to repent for his foolishness by fighting to protect the village he’d endangered to begin with, could almost be considered on the better side of things. However, those who’d shifted the blame, refusing to acknowledge their own weakness as they headed for the next village without learning their lesson, were in the majority.

“I understand, of course. So long as they haven’t done anything, they can’t be questioned for their sins. Even if they are going to destroy something valuable one day, it’s only right to watch helplessly until something is lost. That’s how the world works. That’s the right thing to do. However...”

A violent fury burned in his eyes.

“I can’t forgive such a world.”

Yes. He couldn’t forgive it. Anger toward the hideous weakness that trampled over everything of value was what spurred Kudou Riku into action. This wasn’t born of justice. At the very least, Kudou Riku didn’t see it that way. He saw it as simple, worthless revenge. Precisely because he knew what true value was like, he’d concluded that his actions were worthless.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t forgive, and he couldn’t stop—not until he completely destroyed all such weakness and repulsiveness, the calamities they would one day bring, and those who would use them for evil.

“That’s why I’m evil—the Demon King.”

“No way...!”

By the time Hibiya Kouji noticed, it was too late. The time spent on this conversation wasn’t to allow his opponent to regain stamina. It was to prepare one of the Demon King’s greatest attacks—the ultimate army, which couldn’t be cut down by the Absolute Blade.

“Engulf him, Gustav!”

In the next instant, an absurd number of fish swimming over the ground burst into action. What Kudou Riku had named Gustav wasn’t an individual monster. Tripdrill were migratory monsters that resembled marlins. By manipulating a few dozen out of a swarm that could number in the tens of thousands, it was possible to guide hundreds of them away. That was Gustav.

Kudou Riku could manipulate around a thousand monsters at most, but by doing this, he was capable of adding hundreds of monsters to his forces while only controlling a few of them. That said, he didn’t have fine control over a majority of the swarm. He’d had no choice but to separate them from his main force while traversing this fabricated world, which was why he’d needed time to call them over.

“Kudou...!”

Yelling in panic and anger, Hibiya Kouji vanished. In the blink of an eye, the frenzied swarm of tripdrills blanketed the entire area.

◆ ◆ ◆

Every monster in the army aside from Gustav had been divided into groups to clear this fabricated world. To that end, only a portion of the army had slammed into Jinguuji’s group. However, Gustav’s numbers were on a different level. The entire army numbered around a thousand, whereas Gustav numbered around seven hundred. All seven hundred tripdrills had surged into this area at once.

Kudou Riku left just enough subordinates behind to stall Hibiya Kouji, then quickly retreated. The majority of the tripdrills that made up Gustav weren’t under his control, so they naturally attacked his other monsters too. Kudou Riku dominated any who got close to him to create a safe zone, but it was impossible for him to do the same for all his forces in the area, who numbered over a hundred. To avoid friendly fire, he had to withdraw for now.

After the terrifying violence of numbers passed, Kudou Riku returned. The forest was scarred by the stampede. Tripdrill corpses with strangely smooth cross sections lay on the ground. Looking up at the large eagle monster flying overhead, Kudou Riku ordered the wolf he was riding to head to the landing point. There was a large pool of blood in front of the eagle. The wolf sniffed, then howled.

“My king, it seems that man has suffered a serious wound,” Dora said.

Kudou Riku nodded. “Seems so. I don’t see a corpse, though...” He narrowed his eyes. “We failed to kill him. Well, whatever.”

Judging by the amount of blood, he wasn’t in a state to move around much. This wasn’t something he could recover from after some rest, so it would be impossible for him to get out of this world filled with traps and guardian giants. Considering the danger in this world, it was highly likely he would die if left alone. Even if he didn’t, if he had no way out of here, Kudou Riku could just come back to kill him later. Disconnecting himself from his fury with calculated logic, he quickly made his decision.

“First, let’s chase Jinguuji. We can take our time to finish the Absolute Blade af—”

“M-My king?!”

Kudou Riku hunched over in the middle of speaking, nearly falling off the wolf. Dora ran over and supported him in a fluster.

“It seems I pushed myself a little too far...”

He couldn’t put any strength into his body. Much like his already-dead arm, other parts of his body were reaching their limit. Kudou Riku’s power came from his despair at his lack of power. Because of that, his strength as the Demon King actually weakened him.

Before coming here, he’d anticipated this would be the decisive battle and had acquired even more subordinates. Thanks to that, despite expending some of his forces making his way through these fabricated worlds, he still had plenty left. In exchange for surpassing his limits, he’d damaged his own body enough that the end was near. His gaze suddenly shifted to the Mad Beast. Even this powerful monster couldn’t get away unscathed in a battle against the Absolute Blade. It was bleeding all over.

“You did well.”

The beast remained silent.

“But we don’t have much time. The end may be near. I don’t know what shape it’ll take, though...”

There was obviously no reply. He should’ve known that, but the boy stared deep into the mindless beast’s eyes as if there was something there.

“You give it some thought too. Before time runs out, that is.”

“My king...?” Dora raised her voice in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” the boy said, shrugging. “Now then, shall we?”

He was reaching his physical limit, but that was no reason to stop. His journey had been a one-day trip to ruin from the very beginning. The Army of Darkness obeyed his command and began marching deeper into the fabricated world.