Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 4 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Those Who Lead, Those Who Obey

A large number of monsters appeared as if seeping out of the trees. I counted more than twenty of them just from those I could see. Berta wagged her tail and nestled up against the boy who slowly walked our way, leading the monsters. He paid this no mind as a gentle smile took shape on his slender features.

“You don’t seem surprised, Senpai. Did you already figure out it was me?”

“Yeah, I expected this,” I answered with a sigh. “Kudou Riku, to think you were the monster tamer who attacked Fort Tilia...”

Standing before me was the bullied kid, Kudou Riku. He was supposed to have died from Juumonji’s magic atop the inner walls. The fact that he was here meant it had been a doppelganger of him that had been destroyed in that blast.

“How could you tell I was the real monster tamer among all the students who were there? I’d be glad if you could tell me, for future reference.”

“It’s not all that complicated. Anyone there could’ve been a doppelganger, but framing Sakagami as a monster tamer wasn’t something just anyone could do.”

In contrast to Kudou’s calm demeanor, my tone was bitter. Even though I’d anticipated this, seeing him acting like that right before my eyes spurred an unpleasant feeling within me.

“Sakagami truly thought he had the power to call forth monsters,” I continued. “In order to mislead him, one would need to use a similar ability any time he tried to call monsters. Making him think he needed some kind of ritual to do it would alert one to when they needed to use their cheat, but they’d still need to stay close to him.”

“I see. Meaning it could be no one but me, seeing that I was with Sakagami ever since he took refuge in that hut.”

There was one other thing that led me to this conclusion, a conjecture based on my own experiences. Berta certainly looked clever, but she was still a monster and had only gained an ego recently. It would be difficult for her to continue deceiving Sakagami. Such behavior necessitated human deviousness, after all.

“You framed Sakagami to secure your own safety, right?” I asked.

“Yes. I guess you know this already, but the weakness of our abilities lies in the weakness of the tamer themselves,” Kudou answered frankly. “Conversely, there’s no power more convenient for moving behind the scenes, especially after faking your own death and going into hiding. Sakagami might have realized he was a scapegoat, though, if he could no longer use his ability when I wasn’t around...”

“But that’s not a problem if he’s dead, huh? That’s why you rescued him. You should have finished him off right away, then. We discovered you like this because you were being too greedy.”

The reason Kudou had Berta rescue Sakagami was, frankly, to shut his mouth. And yet he didn’t have Sakagami killed right away. Because of that, I was able to talk to Sakagami and confirm that there was another monster tamer who had attacked the fortress. Kudou did of course have a reason not to kill him right away, but we’d already set up countermeasures against that.

“I know you’re trying to feed the students to your monsters. I bet you were planning on targeting the surviving students by luring us out using Sakagami as bait... But too bad. Miyoshi and the others have already escaped into the Woodlands with the Alliance Knights.”

Sakagami had said we were late, but that was only because we had gotten things in order before going after him. Kudou would be wasting his time if he were to search the fortress for them now, and in the event he realized they weren’t there anymore, Shiran was guarding them. Her combat ability rivaled that of the Great White Spider of the Depths, so she could deal with anything that wasn’t too extreme. At the very least, she could deal with Anton, who was likely on the move targeting the surviving students.

The situation was progressing largely how we anticipated it would. There was just one thing I didn’t plan for. I didn’t expect Kudou to show himself like this. I thought we could just defeat Berta and recapture Sakagami.

Now that it had come to this, I couldn’t possibly let Kudou get away. Some of his forces had probably gone with Anton, thinning out his available backup. Now it was a matter of whether the other thing we’d prepared beforehand would go well...

“Magnificent, Senpai.” A dry clapping cut off my thoughts. Kudou lowered his hands, and his gently curved lips opened once more. “Not only did you bring down Juumonji, you even figured out my identity.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble while you’re praising me, but I didn’t take down Juumonji, and it was thanks to Mikihiko that we realized that Sakagami wasn’t a monster tamer.”

“There’s no need to be so humble. All of that is a part of your strength.”

This conversation was making me uncomfortable, like an itching in my brain. Something was strange here. He was very calm for someone whose schemes had been foiled. He actually looked pleased.

“I heard the details of what happened from Anton. It was a splendid victory,” Kudou said in a lively tone.

“What are you getting at...?”

I stared at his face. Unbelievably, he was being serious. I could tell from his gaze that his praise was no exaggeration.

“That phrase you said to the elf, ‘This is the world where wishes come true,’ it came from the very first savior of this world, right? You’ve proven those words correct, Senpai. Your group was able to stop Juumonji’s violence because of your feelings. This world isn’t simply one where the strong can do whatever they want. Both she and you are truly magnificent. I believe that from the very bottom of my heart.”

This conversation resembled the one I’d had with Shiran when she regained her heart, yet it differed so much it made me feel nauseous. I had in fact denied Kudou’s claim that the strong could do whatever they wanted in this world. I’d thought of it as no more than an offering to his departed soul.

So what was with this conversation now? My feelings were definitely getting across to him. He wouldn’t have brought it up and praised us so if they hadn’t. And yet he felt hopelessly distant from us.

“Why, Kudou?” I practically groaned out. “Why did you support Juumonji’s madness? You know how it feels to be oppressed by irrational violence, don’t you? So, why...?”

“‘How it feels to be oppressed by irrational violence,’ you say. Of course. I know that full well,” Kudou replied, nodding calmly. His eyes were so tranquil one would never think he was backed into a corner. “I mean, I experienced the Colony’s destruction just as you did, Senpai.”

“What...?”

“I was also left on the verge of death in that flaming wreck, you see.”

Kudou’s cheerful confession left me perplexed. This was different from what I’d heard.

“But you were in one of the huts in the Woodlands, and Shiran rescued you together with Sakagami, right? Didn’t one of the exploration team members who’d stayed behind guide you to that hut?”

“That was apparently the case for everyone else in the hut, yes. Not me, though. No one helped me out of the Colony. I merely stumbled by the hut afterward. Sakagami was the only person who knew this, but everyone hated him. Well, even if that wasn’t the case, he probably wouldn’t have told anyone the details.”

Kudou chuckled briefly before continuing.

“As you know, Sakagami was quite the cruel bastard. I knew him even before coming to this world. On that day in the Colony, he escaped by leaving me behind as a sacrifice.”

I didn’t respond, so Kudou went on.

“After being left behind like that...I went through serious hell. The fact that I managed to survive... Well, I can only chalk it up to luck. After I finally got away from the Colony, I wandered through the forest for a few days. Starvation, pain, anxiety, and loneliness all tore my heart apart. Thinking back on it now, it’s a miracle I managed to survive to stand here today.”

I was wholly taken aback as I listened to him retell his story with a smile on his face.

An acquaintance had betrayed him, he’d nearly been killed, but he survived out of dumb luck. Unable to trust anyone, he wandered all alone through the forest. He’d been afraid of being killed by an atrocious monster at any moment, but even if that didn’t happen, starvation and thirst hung overhead.

Whose story was that exactly?

Seeing me speechless, Kudou chuckled once more.

“Could it be that you went through a similar experience, Senpai?”

I gasped. It was like he had read my mind. I stared back at him in wonder. The only ones who knew of what I went through when the Colony fell were Lily and my other servants. There was no way he could have known.

“How do you...know that...?” I asked, my voice growing stern.

“I can tell,” Kudou answered, his smile remaining as it was. “We resemble each other, after all.”

“Don’t screw with me.”

There had certainly been a time I thought Kudou and I might have resembled each other. However, that was only because we had both been trampled down by violence. Nothing more. I never even imagined our experience would be so similar. Even so, there had to be a reason he knew this.

“Kudou, what do you know?”

“Things that you don’t,” he replied with conviction. “Especially concerning our powers.”

Knowledge of the cheats we visitors possessed... How could he declare that, having gone through the same experiences as I had? Just perhaps, the “resemblance” Kudou referred to was actually regarding our ability to tame monsters...? But what relation was there between similar inherent abilities and similar experiences upon coming to this world?

It’s just a coincidence. Yes... Nothing more than a coincidence. There’s no relation at all... Is that really, really true? Two people who shared similar abilities and experiences... Was such a coincidence really possible? If this was in fact an inevitability, Kudou knew something I didn’t. Now that I thought of it, Juumonji also seemed to know something about cheats that I didn’t. Meaning, just maybe...

“Kudou, you’ve been in contact with the expeditionary force?”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

This was the first time his constant smile began to fade. His eyes widened ever so slightly while I narrowed mine.

“You...or I guess, Sakagami, had to plan the attack with Juumonji somehow. So it’s a pretty natural conclusion. Not that I have any proof.”

“Oh. It was a leading question?”

Kudou realized his own blunder and smiled bitterly. Just like Juumonji and Sakagami, Kudou had been in contact with a common cooperator within the expeditionary force. This was likely where he’d learned all sorts of things I knew nothing about.

But if Kudou was connected to someone in the expeditionary force, why didn’t he tell them or Juumonji that Sakagami was nothing but a scapegoat? I had a mountain of questions to ask him now.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know.”

This was my chance now that I had him cornered like this. Gerbera’s legs skittered about. Lily gathered her mana. Asarina snarled. Berta growled. All the other monsters Kudou brought with him also postured themselves for battle.

“I don’t mind telling you what I can,” Kudou said, maintaining his transparent smile within the tense atmosphere. Then he shrugged. “I came here planning to tell you everything anyway, depending on the circumstances.”

“What...?” I scowled at him. Though he was willing to talk, his wording made me uneasy. “The way you put it almost makes it seem like—”

“Yes. I’d planned to speak with you here from the get-go,” he said with a grin, confirming my doubts.

Before I could fully understand the meaning behind this, the forest was suddenly astir.

“What the...?”

Trees cracked, thickets snapped, and something gouged out the ground. Blade met blade, and something smashed into a shield, perhaps breaking it. It was the tumult of a battle.

“U-Ugh...”

A woman with gray hair and wearing white clothes and a mask groaned as she leaped out of the gloomy forest. Countless shadowy swords flew through the air and chased her.

“Rose?!”

The woman, Rose, had a shadowy blade sticking out of her collar as she retreated to my position.

“My apologies, Master. I made a miscalculation,” she said in a grave tone, pulling the blade out and throwing it to the ground.

She wasn’t here by coincidence, of course. I had actually rendezvoused with her earlier. One reason we were late chasing Sakagami was because we had gone to meet up with Rose and left Katou with the Alliance Knights.

I had told Rose to hide herself and cut off our enemies’ path of retreat while we drew their attention. However, that plan failed due to the obstruction of a single powerful monster. My eyes shot open at the sight of a familiar-looking shadow coming out from the darkness of the trees.

“Anton...?!” I couldn’t mistake this near three-meter-tall shadowy form for anything else.

The doppelqueen Anton hastened to her king’s side, followed by an army of doppelgangers.

“Why is Anton here?”

She was supposed to be searching Fort Tilia for the other students so she could eat them... One of my predictions was off the mark.

“Everything up until using Sakagami as bait was exactly as you said, Senpai,” Kudou said to me. “However, this wasn’t so I could target the other students while I drew you out. I kept Sakagami alive so that I could call you here and speak with you, just as we’re doing now.”

“Speak...with me?”

I doubted my ears. This was a completely unexpected turn of events. I found it quite unbelievable at first, but now that he mentioned it, this did make sense. Kudou’s amicable attitude toward me hadn’t changed all this time. I thought he was just being confident, but if that’s not what it was, if Kudou had no hostile intentions toward me from the very beginning...

“Is that why you went out of your way to show yourself like this?” I asked.

“I’m glad you understand.”

“No, I don’t. What could you possibly have to speak with me about?”

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment, and this only widened Kudou’s grin. He wasn’t reserved at all. It was as if he was smiling directly at a friend.

“Hey, Senpai. Want to join forces with me?”

Kudou’s suggestion was an unforeseeable request. To me, at least.

“Join forces...?”

“Yes. You saw Juumonji and Sakagami, didn’t you? The scary part about thugs like that is that there are countless others just like them. They’re the same as cockroaches. And their fears and anxieties are contagious. At first, their paranoia from being teleported to this world made them fear that their neighbor might kill them, but that fear has now become a reality. Even those who laughed it off as a delusion yesterday can’t help but suspect those around them today. Now that it’s come to this, they’re no different from falling dominoes. You shouldn’t be joining forces with people who are liable to tumble over at any time.”

“So I should join you?” I took a slow breath in. I had to, to escape the impact of what I’d just heard. “I understand what you’re saying...but I can’t trust you, and you can’t trust me, right?”

“You’re an exception.”

“An exception? How convenient. Are you trying to tell me to believe in you?”

“Of course, I will put in the effort for you to trust me,” Kudou replied with a nod. Even though the impact from his last words had yet to subside, he then dropped an even bigger bombshell. “How about, as proof of my trust, I tell you about my ability?”

“What...?”

“Just as you know, my power allows me to manipulate monsters. Currently, my upper limit is 735 individuals. I can’t control them remotely, but I can give them set orders beforehand. One big problem is that I can’t manipulate monsters beyond a certain level of strength. It seems you’re somewhat different in that regard.”

His very life hinged on this kind of information, especially considering the nature of his ability. Despite this, Kudou spoke in a light tone as if he were speaking with a trustworthy ally.

“In my case, I need to train them from square one if I want a powerful monster under my command. That’s how I raised Anton and Berta. As for the method... Hmmm. Have you ever heard of the kudoku poison jar? To put it simply, I manipulate them all to kill each other. That way I can sort out the strongest specimens while strengthening them at the same time. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. So about that last part, it’s apparently more efficient to gain strength by eating the meat of the fallen rather than just killing them.”

Kudou unveiled his secrets, including his own weaknesses, as if he were chatting about idle gossip. He didn’t hesitate; he actually seemed proud. I could only assume he had some screws loose. Was his plan to confuse me by saying random things? But everything he was saying felt perfectly logical.

Moreover, his story just now reminded me of something else. I stole a glance down at Asarina. As a variant of a bullet creeper, she functioned by sucking my mana. However, that was nothing more than an alteration of a bullet creeper’s original parasitic behavior. Bullet creepers shot seeds into their prey where new sprouts would form. It was the same as what Asarina was doing to me. In other words, the bullet creepers got mana from the corpse they were preying upon. I had never thought of it this way before, but acquiring mana by eating an enemy actually wasn’t all that strange.

The fact that his words fell in line with something I’d found out independently gave credibility to everything he was saying. It also made sense why he fed Juumonji and Watanabe’s corpses to his servants as a ploy to gain more power. All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. Only now, the giant hole in the final picture stood out all the more.

“Why are you telling me all this...?” I asked.

Kudou stared at me as I stood there in bewilderment. He directed a passionate gaze at me, bordering on innocence.

“Because you’re similar to me, Senpai.”

“This again?” I said with a sigh. “So what if our powers and circumstances are similar?”

I shook my head, but Kudou laughed cheerfully. It was like just speaking with me was unbearably fun for him.

“No, I’m not talking about our powers or circumstances. We’re similar in a much more fundamental way.”

“What do you mean...?”

“This is exactly why I want you,” Kudou said, maintaining his amicable smile. He looked like some sort of unfamiliar and indescribable creature to me. “I suppose it’s reasonable you don’t understand what I’m getting at. So, let me tell you one more thing about the power we all possess. What exactly is it? Haven’t you ever wondered?”

What exactly was this power we visitors from afar were given? This was certainly a question I’d considered during our fight against Juumonji. It was no exaggeration to say that this power had run rampant and caused this entire incident. Incidentally, we knew nothing of it beyond the fact that it was “given to those who descend upon this world.” Even though I knew I was dancing to Kudou’s tune, I couldn’t help but listen to him carefully.

“Majima-senpai, have you ever thought about why your power took on such a shape? To put it another way, why did we end up gaining similar powers?” Kudou cast his gaze over to the monsters around him, then to my servants. “I dislike calling this power a cheat. Calling it a blessing like they do here is also questionable. I mean, these descriptions are far removed from the true nature of this power. Mystical abilities falling into your lap without an ounce of emotion within them? But that only applies to the large majority of the riffraff.”

Kudou looked straight into my eyes.

“For example, how about you, Senpai? You’re different, right? Your power should be charged with plenty of your feelings.”

“How do you know that...?” I couldn’t deny his assumption at all. I had no choice but to urge him to continue.

“I can tell. I mean, that’s the true nature of our power.” Kudou paused and put his hand to his chest. “This power...is based on our wishes.”

“Our wishes...?” I repeated in a daze. It was far beyond my expectations. Or perhaps, exactly the opposite of them.

“I don’t know the minute details of how it works, but mana exists in this world. Thoughts have an effect on reality here. Once a thought grows beyond a certain level of strength, when a wish takes shape deep within our souls, our inherent abilities as visitors manifest. Does this ring a bell to you, Senpai?”

“...”

I had never noticed my own ability to tame monsters back in the Colony. I’d thought this was because I hadn’t met any monsters within the safety of our dwellings and had only become self-aware of it when I met Lily. However, even if it wasn’t that I hadn’t realized it yet but rather that I had obtained it at that time, there wasn’t really any inconsistency with how things turned out. Although, it wasn’t like I could just accept everything he said.

“Hang on, if that’s the case... What about the warriors? They all have pretty much the same power, right?”

“They simply failed to reach their potential. Those who, despite not having a definitive wish, have some groundless conviction in themselves end up like that. Such conviction is no different from an unconsciously formed powerful thought. ‘I came to this world, so doesn’t that make me special?’ ‘I hope it does.’ ‘No, it must be so.’ ‘I’m definitely special.’ Just like that. This is the root of their superhuman strength. Their delusions of grandeur granted them empty power with no emotions behind it.”

I recalled the way Juumonji and Watanabe acted like they were the saviors of the world... I didn’t feel like I could refute Kudou’s claim. In which case, the reason nearly a third of the students became warriors was because...we were high schoolers? High schoolers were old enough to understand a bit about reality. Not all of them had such childish convictions. If perhaps a middle school had been teleported here, the ratio of warriors might’ve been much larger.

“But the saviors of the past all possessed power, right? Regardless of whether they were warriors or possessed more specific abilities, it shouldn’t have been all that easy for every single one of them to secure power like that.”

“You’ve got it the wrong way around, Senpai. We visitors aren’t treated as saviors because we have power. We get treated as saviors first. Humans more or less think of themselves as special. They want to believe they are. So, when they’re treated as beyond special in this world, it’s only normal for them to feel like it, right?”

“So, the order is backward? It’s not, ‘they had power so they became saviors,’ but rather, ‘they were treated like saviors and thus gained power’...?”

“It’s a rather well-made system, in my opinion,” Kudou said with a sarcastic smile. “This is the world where wishes come true.”

“Oh...”

Those were the words the first savior had left behind. Who could’ve possibly thought they had such a meaning behind them?

“This system is meaningless if the saviors know of it beforehand. They have to really feel like they want to do it, after all. That’s why the humans of this world don’t know about it either. The only ones who do know are probably people from that church we heard about. They might have even made the interpretation of the first savior’s words vague on purpose.”

“Now that I think of it, Juumonji said his power was for the sake of returning home. Is this system the reason he believed he could?”

“I bet it is. If his desire to return home were to manifest as power, then he would probably gain the ability to do so.”

“Then he really would’ve been able to go back to our world?”

“Who knows? Maybe he could have. I have no idea. I’m not interested,” Kudou said in a suddenly cold tone and shrugged. “However, regardless of whether it was possible, that’s what he was led to believe. I didn’t take part in any of that, so I don’t know the details.”

“Led to believe... By the person who’s been leaking you guys information?”

“Yes, the person who knows who I am but kept it from Juumonji. I wouldn’t be surprised if they also instigated Juumonji’s actions here.”

A cold chill ran down my spine. Tempting Juumonji to go on a rampage, letting hundreds of people in the fortress die, and keeping silent about Kudou in the process... There had to be some extreme malice behind all that. Juumonji and Kudou had carried out the incident with their own hands, but there was someone out there who had truly set everything in motion.

“Who is it...?”

It would take a fairly large sample size for someone to realize that cheats were influenced by our wishes. In other words, someone would need to know a lot about the exploration team members who had special abilities in order to see how their desires and powers matched up. However, there weren’t that many of them. Among the three hundred cheaters, there were around ten like the Skanda Iino Yuna who possessed warrior-like physical abilities plus an inherent ability. Even including those like me who had no physical abilities, there were maybe thirty of us.

Pretty much all of them were part of the exploration team’s leadership. No one but the upper echelon could mingle with the majority of them. This was a nightmare. The first expeditionary force, comprising over a hundred cheaters, definitely had the most potential for violence in this world. Now, their brass had already been infected by malice.

“Are you interested? If you cooperate with me, then I will of course tell you everything I know, including about the one who connects us all.”

“Aren’t they your ally?”

“The only one I want as an ally is you, Senpai,” Kudou said, stretching out his hand to me. “Have you begun to understand yet? We went through similar circumstances, and we obtained similar powers; we share the greatest turning point of our lives. That’s why I want to join hands with you.”

“Join hands, and do what? Are you planning on picking a fight with the expeditionary force or something?”

I couldn’t deny we were somewhat similar. If Kudou awakened to his ability because he went through hell and lost all trust in humans, then we were one of a kind. However...

“What wish gave you your powers?” I asked.

Kudou’s smile deepened. “Do you remember when we sank into despair, when our wishes transformed into power?”

“Of course I do...” I couldn’t forget it, not the despair nor the joy.

“Then try recalling it, that very first memory of ours.”

He stimulated memories of my past. Before I knew it, I was no longer in the forest. I was now where my story truly began, inside that cave. I was in tatters and all on my own. The only difference from back then was that Kudou was standing before me. His eyes reflected his own hopeless experience.

His smiling lips began retelling his own despair. “My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My whole body hurts. Still, the pain in my heart is the most unbearable.”

It hurts. It’s agonizing. This despair will shatter my heart far before my body breaks.

“This is where my life ends.”

Death is closing in on me.

“I don’t want to die in a place like this.”

No. I don’t want this. I don’t want to die.

“At that time, a certain thought came to mind.”

Yes, a thought did come to mind. That was the very beginning of the story that brought me here. No matter how much time passed, I would never forget it.

I prayed. I prayed for one single thing.

Someone...save me.

Both my body and heart were shattered. I couldn’t trust anyone. Nevertheless, I wanted someone by my side. I prayed from the bottom of my heart, and Lily answered. That led me to who I was today. That logic also applied to Kudou, in a manner of speaking...

“The world that made me go through this hell is better off destroyed. That’s what I prayed for.” That was exactly why he had attacked Fort Tilia. “With monsters at my beck and call, I’ll be a Demon King, in a sense. As such, I can understand why everyone hurt and nearly killed me back then. That’s why I need to kill humans too, and destroy this world. Such weak beings, who so easily degenerate into such repulsive creatures, have no value left alive.”

I figured it out as we spoke. Kudou Riku was odd. He looked calm, but he was missing a screw in his head. Something wasn’t working right anymore. Furthermore, he affirmed this himself.

For example, I took pride in being a master, leading the girls and living by their side. I’d only really realized it after that night in Fort Tilia with Lily, but this pride was the pillar that supported my life here in this vastly different world. For their sake, I would even cast my life away. That was why I was here and breathing today.

Kudou Riku was the same. He was proud of his hopelessly broken way of life, somehow maintaining his sense of self. He was standing here today because of his hatred toward the world that ran him down, because even his own life didn’t matter so long as he could destroy it.

I came to understand Kudou. He was a lunatic, but I could still get his logic. I could’ve ended up just like him if something had gone amiss. Just as he said, we were in fact similar.

It could be said that we shared the same starting point. We shared the same foundation. Because of that, we could understand each other better than anyone else. Even Kudou’s fixation on me made sense.

“Fortunately, we’re highly compatible. In this forest overflowing with monsters, we can surely destroy the very world itself.”

According to Kudou, his ability allowed him to manipulate a large number of monsters to his will, but he couldn’t manipulate powerful ones. Basically, he could only control anything lower than a rare monster. In contrast, the nature of my power granted hearts to monsters who were rare and beyond. We were rather compatible. We covered for the deficiencies in each other’s abilities. It would take time, but we could acquire enough power to match the other students by building up strength within the Woodlands.

“It’s true. We could probably destroy the entire world if we joined forces,” I said.

“Yes! I’m sure of it!”

“But... Have you ever thought of it this way instead?” I asked, watching Kudou brace himself for my next words. “We could also save the world.”

This entire world was under constant threat from the expanding Woodlands and the monsters that dwelled within. They had no way of surviving other than relying on the “saviors” who descended upon them once a century. If there was a king who could make all of the monsters obey him, it would be a different story. I was hoping such a prospect would open his eyes, just for a moment...

“Save the world? Why would we do something like that?” he answered. It was just as I feared, but I wasn’t disappointed. “I’m the Demon King. I’m not the one to save humanity. I’m the one to destroy it.”

There was no hesitation in his voice, but I already knew there wouldn’t be. I knew it all too well. Much like how I would always continue being those girls’ master, Kudou could only bare his fangs at the world as the king of all monsters. In any case, I cursed Sakagami’s foolishness for creating such a monster.

“There is nothing we can’t accomplish as fellow Demon Kings. Come with me, Senpai.”

Kudou stretched out his hand once more. I looked at his unchanging smile, then shook my head.

“I’m no Demon King. So I can’t go with you.”

“What are you then?” Kudou asked, his amicable smile still unchanging. “Do you mean to say you’re going to live on as a savior?”

“No. I don’t plan on doing that either.”

I wasn’t a hero. However, that didn’t mean I was a monster like Kudou. So what did that make me? The answer was obvious.

“I’m not a savior, not the Second King; I’m just their master. Nothing more. That’s all I need to be.”

“Is that so...?”

Kudou sighed. He still had a faint smile on his face. Even though he’d hoped I would give him a favorable response, he came here expecting that I wouldn’t, much like I did with my earlier question.

“How unfortunate,” he said. Then he straddled Berta’s back. “I won’t give up, though.”

He turned his back to us. He was planning to run away.

“Tch. Gerbera!”

Gerbera charged in at my command. Countless shadowy swords and monsters moved to block her path. Considering the massive losses Kudou’s forces had suffered, we had an advantage here. However, with Anton and Berta present and dozens of monsters ready to fight to the death, we wouldn’t be able to catch him if he ran away. Kudou’s figure rode off deep into the darkness of the forest.

“When you’re no longer able to endure the cruelty of this world, then come and see me! I’ll welcome you with open arms!”

He maintained his friendly attitude to the very end. And just like that, the other monster tamer vanished from sight.

◆ ◆ ◆

“I guess he got away...”

Just from the fact that I’d miscalculated Anton being here, I already knew we couldn’t capture Kudou anymore. Regardless, I still regretted letting him get away. All that was left before us was a pile of dead monsters that Kudou had used as sacrificial pawns. Not even Sakagami’s half-eaten corpse was here. He was quite thorough.

Unable to repay the debt for injuring Ayame, Gerbera stomped her legs about. Rose lowered her bloody axe and appeared to be deep in thought beneath her mask. Asarina sank back into my hand, while Lily leaned against me and called out to me anxiously.

“Master...”

“Shall we head back? It’s finally over. We’ll have to let Shiran and the others know.” I let out a small sigh, then smiled at Lily. I was keenly aware that it was not actually over.

I urged my companions on and began walking, but I suddenly looked back in the direction Kudou vanished. This was actually the beginning of our battle with Kudou. Was I to yield to the cruelty of this world and take his hand to become a Demon King? Or would I be capable of stopping him? Even if we didn’t directly cross blades, my battle with Kudou was sure to continue from this day onward, until the time things were settled...

Lily sensed the feelings coming and going through my heart and strengthened her embrace around my arm. As I focused on her warmth, I walked back toward the fortress.