Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 16 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: At the End of the Desperate Struggle

“How could you...?”

Gerd raised his voice in astonishment. Even faced with that beam, he was perfectly safe. That was because his Barrier of Devotion had withstood the Dragon’s attack. However, the same didn’t go for the underground corridor.

The attack destroyed the walls and ceiling, piercing the foundation of the building and shooting up into the sky. The corridor was beneath the grand cathedral’s dome. The torrent of destruction blew away part of the cathedral and damaged several of its spires as it shot upward. The destructive force rivaled grade 5 magic—the greatest magic known to the world. This boy had demonstrated this with but a breath. However, even this had been nothing more than the prelude.

“Aaah...”

An enormous dragon stood in the aftermath of the destruction. Cold sweat ran down Gerd’s withered face. He’d wrought such devastation just to secure enough space to take the form of a dragon. The next attack wasn’t going to be as half-baked as the one from his human form.

“Vanish.”

The dragon calmly declared the archbishop’s death, then unleashed a torrent of mana that doubled what he’d used before.

“Oooh?!”

The destructive force slammed against the Barrier of Devotion, the transparent wall creaking under the pressure immediately.

“S-So much power...?!”

This was pretty much the worst case possible. Jinguuji Tomoya’s inherent ability was without a doubt among the strongest of any savior who’d saved the world. The purity and strength of his wish surpassed all others. His wish had basically driven him to the verge of madness.

“Still...!” Even knowing this, Gerd clenched his teeth. “I won’t lose! I can’t afford to lose!”

He was protecting the world itself. Even though he knew it was reckless, his only choice was to stop the lethal attack head-on. Naturally, cracks formed all over the Barrier of Devotion.

“Hak...”

Gerd started vomiting blood. His barrier was an unmovable wall that was even capable of repelling a savior’s attack. However, when it was damaged, the wielder suffered from the feedback. This wasn’t a means of defending himself—it was a power that turned his own body into a bulwark to protect others.

Blood gushed out from all over the old man’s body, dyeing his clothes a dark red. If he let the pain loosen his focus even a little, the barrier would vanish in an instant. Nevertheless, the Barrier of Devotion stood strong.

“I protect the world...!”

Screaming hoarsely, Gerd mustered all his strength.

“Shut the fuck up.”

And in the next instant, he heard a terrible noise.

“Gah...?!”

It was the sound of his barrier, his bulwark against the end of the world, cracking apart. Gerd’s eyes shot open. The torrent of destruction pouring out of the dragon’s mouth had grown even stronger.

“Protect the world? And what of it?” The boy’s voice resounded around him. “I’m protecting everyone. She asked me to, after all.”

He possessed a tenacious and pure determination that verged on insanity. No. This had long crossed the line.

“That’s right. She told me to protect everyone. So I’m gonna do it... But that’s wrong... The one I wanted to protect... So why...? Why did she die...? But she said! She said to! She told me to!”

His incoherent rambling exposed his inner thoughts. The mental trauma of losing his beloved had taken his ability to the next stage. Just maybe, it had brought him to the depths of a darkness he could never return from.

Jinguuji Tomoya had acquired power to protect his lover. And yet, he’d let go of his beloved’s hand. He’d only realized his mistake after losing her. He could never take it back.

That was why he only had one path before him now. His departed lover had implored him. She’d told him to protect everyone and bring them home. That was all. There was nothing else to it.

So long as he had the power to fulfill his goal, he didn’t need anything else. He didn’t need to turn back to his original form. He didn’t need human emotion. He’d had more than enough pain, suffering, and sorrow already.

“He’s losing control...?!”

Gerd screamed upon realizing the situation, and in the next instant, he vomited more blood. The dragon attacking him grew even bigger, and the torrent of mana grew even stronger. It was just like an evil dragon threatening the world itself. Not even the Barrier of Devotion could stop it. Fatal cracks ran along its entire surface.

“Ah... Guh...”

In that instant, Gerd had a choice. If he escaped the path of the dragon’s breath and minimized his barrier to protect himself, he could just barely survive this. But he didn’t consider opening the path to an intruder. The worth of what was behind him and the sight of the people who came to the cathedral every day to pray stirred him into action.

“Ooooooh!”

Gerd roared and stood before the torrent of mana. In the span of seconds, cracks ran all over his barrier. At the same time, the withered old man convulsed greatly. It was feedback from his ability. The barrier was his very existence. He wouldn’t get off lightly if it broke. Pain ran through his entire body down to his bones. The blood pouring out of him dyed him completely red. This was a fatal wound. The old man’s figure swayed unreliably like a dead tree.

“Not...yet!”

Watching him, even the Evil Dragon widened its eyes. The old man’s feet supported his swaying body in pools of blood. Using tremendous spirit, Gerd kept his fading consciousness intact. Despite being so wounded that it wouldn’t be strange for him to perish at any moment, Gerd refused to fall over. This was impossible to accomplish without extraordinary willpower.

He was without a doubt the world’s guardian. He protected the world to his very last moment.

A few seconds later, the Evil Dragon exhausted itself by using all the mana it had, and the barrier shattered.

◆ ◆ ◆

With the short yet intense collision over, silence returned. Gerd was nowhere to be seen. The only thing left was a growling dragon.

“Oh. You defeated him.”

Several boys showed up just then. They gathered around Jinguuji Tomoya and called out to him. They were his supporters. There were only five of them, but they were all warriors who used to be part of the exploration team.

“That sure was flashy.”

One of them smiled at Jinguuji Tomoya, who was still in the form of a dragon. He got no reply, though.

“Hm? Jinguuji?” the boy asked curiously. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...” Jinguuji replied, remaining somewhat reticent from exhaustion.

The dragon shook its head. Its enormous body then stooped over and its clawed hands swept the floor, revealing a Dimensional Cornerstone.

“That was...”

Jinguuji Tomoya recalled the last moments of the clash. When the barrier shattered, a figure had run over to Gerd as the torrent of destruction was about to engulf him. It had been the Holy Order’s marshal, Harrison Addington, and the exploration team dropout, Kouzu Asahi.

Seeing them getting caught in the attack, Jinguuji Tomoya had stopped at the last second. Setting aside Harrison, Kouzu Asahi was one of the visitors he’d sworn to protect. They were probably severely wounded, but definitely still alive.

The Dimensional Cornerstone on the floor was the one Harrison had dropped upon getting caught in the blast. This was a mistake on Harrison’s part, but in a certain sense, it was fortunate for him.

After all, the Dimensional Cornerstones resonated with each other. Jinguuji Tomoya was in possession of Draconia’s Dimensional Cornerstone, just as he’d shown Gerd, which was why he’d been able to find Harrison’s stone so quickly. Had Harrison not dropped it, Jinguuji Tomoya probably would’ve hunted him down and killed him.

“Hey. What’s wrong? Why’re you still in dragon form, anyway?” one of the boys asked casually.

Jinguuji Tomoya looked down at him. He didn’t mind explaining, but it felt like it’d be a huge pain to do so. There was a haze over his thoughts. His emotions felt so distant, as if a thick cloth had been draped over them. His ability to focus on anything aside from his goal had been sacrificed for strength. And that wasn’t all. He was significantly exhausted. He’d used far too much mana to remove Gerd from his path.

“Whatever, it’s nothing.”

In the end, he kept his reply brief. Gerd had definitely suffered a fatal wound. And seeing as how Harrison wasn’t coming out, he was probably unconscious under the rubble. If they weren’t getting in his way, there was no reason to dig them up. It was a waste of time to talk about it. That was what he believed, and he didn’t feel any emotion about it either.

His desire to speak with his comrades had dried up. But that was fine. He didn’t need anything unnecessary. Nothing mattered anymore except for his goal.

“Shall we, then?”

The one to speak up was the last person to show up. He was wearing a mask much like Jinguuji Tomoya had and held a bizarre black sword in one hand. The eyes beneath his mask narrowed sharply as if he understood Jinguuji Tomoya’s current situation.

“We don’t have time to waste, right?” he said.

“Yeah...”

The boy’s desire to get things moving matched his own, so Jinguuji Tomoya had no reason to object. He ignored his exhaustion and advanced while still in dragon form. One of his objectives was down this hallway. It was a door—the door to the Dimensional Cornerstones’ vault.

◆ ◆ ◆

A boy beneath the rubble stared at the group departing, stifling his breath.

“S-Sir Harrison, they’re gone,” Kouzu Asahi whispered in a fluster. “I’ll go after them. If necessary, I can at least take one with me...”

His will was the real thing. This wasn’t the flimsy sense of justice he’d once possessed. He seriously wanted to stake his life on this. However, Harrison stopped Kouzu Asahi from acting rashly.

“You’ll only die in vain if you face them all at once. Well, Jinguuji Tomoya might not kill you, but it’ll still be useless on your own. You have to survive...”

His voice was calm, but his mind was full of anger and panic. Harrison clenched his teeth hard, holding Gerd’s corpse in his arms. He’d saved Gerd from Jinguuji Tomoya’s attack, but the feedback from the barrier being destroyed had been fatal for the archbishop.

Still, Gerd had resisted to the very end. In the short time before his death, he’d left behind a message. Someone had given Jinguuji Tomoya information about the Dimensional Cornerstones. Jinguuji Tomoya was planning to destroy the Dimensional Cornerstones. And...

“There’s still hope.”

Already suffering from severe injuries before this, Harrison’s wounds were even deeper now. Nevertheless, he resolutely spoke his will.

“The world will be destroyed at this rate. None who live here can claim to be unaffected. So, we must tell him—we must tell the one who holds the key and compass to save the world.”