Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 4 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The End of the Battle

A large spurt of blood scattered as Juumonji slowly fell backward. Standing before him, Shiran was just barely able to support her own body by using her blood-stained sword as a cane. Juumonji wasn’t even twitching. A large crimson puddle spread out on the corridor floor.

“We...won, right?” Lily murmured next to me as she watched this unfold.

“Yeah,” I replied briefly as I retracted Asarina.

The broadsword she’d caught fell to the floor with a clang.

We won. We definitely won. Still, I felt more relieved that it was over than happy we’d won. There were too many victims for me to bask in victory. A large majority of the knights and soldiers of this fortress were dead, along with nine of my fellow students. They were never coming back. Nevertheless, I believed there was meaning in stopping Juumonji Tatsuya here.

“The strong do whatever they want.”

Could I deny Kudou’s words of resignation now? I wanted to offer this conclusion to that pitiful boy and all the victims who’d died here.

“Master.”

I turned around to Lily’s voice. Gerbera walked over, her steps unsteady from having lost two of her legs. Shiran followed behind her, the blood she had coughed up still dirtying her lips.

“Sorry for putting so much on your plate, Gerbera. You too, Shiran. Good work, both of you.”

“Worry not, this is nothing. We simply defeated our enemy. That is all there is to it,” Gerbera said.

“This fight belonged to Fort Tilia in the first place. There is nothing you need worry yourself over, Takahiro,” Shiran added.

Regardless, I couldn’t bring myself to look at their tattered bodies. Even more so considering the cleanup job that remained.

“Juumonji is defeated, but there are still monsters in the fortress. We’re almost there. Please lend me your strength,” I said, and the girls’ blooming smiles returned to me as if to tell me not to worry about it.

“Roger that, Master.”

“Of course.”

“Mm. I shall scatter them with ease.”

My companions’ reassuring replies brought a small smile to my face. I then turned my thoughts toward what came next. We were likely the only force left who could exterminate the monsters within the fortress. We had to sweep them up and shelter any survivors.

Now that Gerbera was with us, however, we needed an easy-to-understand way of demonstrating she was an ally, seeing as how she couldn’t hide the fact that she was a monster. As an elf, Shiran didn’t have much persuasive power in this regard, so our best course of action was to first rendezvous with the Alliance Knights who were on standby a short distance away.

“Lily, heal Gerbera. Once you’re done, we’ll meet up with the knights.”

Gerbera was the strongest combatant among my servants. Even if this was only cleanup duty, it was best to have her fully healed in case of the unexpected. Gerbera’s natural recovery speed was already astounding, but when combined with Lily’s healing magic, even a lost limb or two would recover within minutes.

With that short amount of time to spare, I went to finish off another matter. Since healing magic did nothing for her as an undead monster, Shiran accompanied me. I was grateful. This job wasn’t one I felt good about.

“Ahh... Aaah... No...”

Surprisingly, Juumonji was still alive. He had lost consciousness, but his tenacious vitality as a warrior quickly woke him back up and preserved his life. Still, that wouldn’t last much longer. Shiran’s slash was clearly lethal. If an exploration team member who specialized in healing magic were here, they could probably restore him from this deathly state, but no such person existed within the fortress. All that was left for him was despair and agony. There was only one thing that could save him now.

“Behead him, Takahiro,” Shiran said with a frown. “Even a villain who has stolen countless lives shouldn’t be left to suffer idly like this.”

“Yeah,” I replied curtly as I drew closer to Juumonji with my sword in hand.

“I’m...ack...” he murmured in a gurgling voice. “I’m...going...back... Even...my own...”

He had dragged himself about a meter, leaving behind a trail of blood. Lying before me now was nothing more than a commonplace boy clinging to life.

I was the one who’d brought an end to his life. Shiran was the one to actually cut him, but that didn’t matter. I killed him. Any pity now would be horribly hypocritical. Thinking of what he’d done, there was no room for sympathy.

Still, I didn’t feel like I’d ever be able to feel nothing when presented with such a scene. It was just as I’d said to Rose that evening after we killed Kaga. I gained the ability to fight, even if just a little, but in the end, I still couldn’t become a hero or a monster. This was probably for the best. Just from how Juumonji had acted, I could tell what it would be like to feel nothing at the deaths of others. It made me more aware of it than I ever wanted to be.

“Takahiro. If it is too hard for you, then I can...”

“No.”

I shook my head at Shiran’s anxious suggestion. I was in fact reluctant to dodge my responsibilities, and letting Shiran deal the finishing blow could plant troublesome seeds that could haunt her later. She had already turned into an undead monster. Considering her uncertain future, I couldn’t possibly let her bear the title of Savior Slayer on top of that.

“This is my job.”

I brandished my sword.

The blade felt heavier than usual, now that I was faced with a human.

Right to the very end, Juumonji never saw us as such, but that didn’t change how I saw him.

I had to kill Juumonji.

I would live on in this world carrying that burden.

A sharp blade plunged through meat and unleashed a spurt of blood.

The dull sound of a life succumbing to death resounded through the corridor.