Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 6 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Battle of Attrition ~Lily’s POV~

“Why? Why?!”

Takaya Jun ran through the mountain while carrying my chained body in one arm. He was retreating, but he wasn’t keeping an eye on his enemy. He recklessly dashed away with all his might. I could sense Berta hot on his heels. When it came to a footrace instead of a head-on battle, it seemed the wolf was just about his equal. She maintained a reasonable distance while spitting out fire and hail every now and then.

It would be over the moment Berta caught up to him. Takaya was desperate because he knew this. It wasn’t the wolf he was terrified of, though. What truly frightened him was that if Berta caught up and it turned into a fight, he would have to stop running.

“Why?! Why?! Why, why, why, why, why?!”

“Gh...”

He ran at full speed without a care for the pain he caused me.

“This is impossible! Why is Iino helping Majima?!”

Takaya’s judgment and reaction had been expedient. When he saw Iino, he’d thrown up a pillar as a smokescreen and immediately ran away. It was a remarkably swift decision. That was how utterly afraid he was of her. Given the difference in their abilities, it was perfectly natural he’d go that route.

Besides, thinking back on it now, I realized Takaya had exhibited similar behaviors up until now. For example, when I lost consciousness, he hadn’t harmed my master. Takaya was perfectly capable of killing him if he were so inclined, but he hadn’t. After he captured me, he’d retreated before my master could even get close. Taking into account his calculated behavior, it was difficult to imagine that he’d let my master off because of some moral code, let alone basic human sympathy. He must have had another reason for doing so.

That reason was Iino Yuna. He was afraid of the Skanda, who’d been with my master at the time, so he’d prioritized withdrawing without getting too close. He was doing the same thing right now.

“A-Anyway! I have to get farther away!” Takaya cried.

“You won’t escape.”

“Eek?!”

Iino appeared in Takaya’s path, causing him to change course in a panic. Even though he had been frantic to get away, she’d made it ahead of him. That was to be expected. Iino was the fastest in the exploration team. She might even be the fastest in the world. She was the enforcer of justice. Without a miracle, it was impossible to escape her.

Despite knowing this, Takaya continued to run. He was insane, but he could still make calculated decisions. He knew he couldn’t win against her. If it came to a fight, she would trounce him before he could even do a thing. His only choice was to run away, praying for fate to step in.

“Noooo!”

Every time Iino appeared, Takaya shrieked and changed directions. He continued running recklessly, driven by the fear of losing his reason for living. His mind needed Mizushima Miho to exist, and he’d discovered her within me. For him, this situation was an incarnation of despair. That was why he poured his entire body and soul into shaking off the hopelessness coiling around him. He’d even lost his concern for the “Mizushima Miho” he was carrying in his arm.

“Agh... Ugh... Urgh...”

Because I’d lost my strength, the speed of his flight placed a considerable burden on me. The recoil from his inhuman strength as he dashed across the ground shook my innards. The thickets he charged through tore at my soft skin. The shaking made me want to vomit. All in all...it was pretty bad. I was gradually losing consciousness. If this went on for too long, I would seriously pass out.

Just as I wondered how long this would continue, another thought came to mind.

“Huh...?”

I knit my brows. Something felt out of place. But...what? I gave it some thought, my mind still in a haze. Being carried around and unable to do anything, I at least had plenty of time to think. Yes. That was it. I had too much time.

“Oh.”

Just then, I realized what was bothering me. This chase kept going on and on and on. That was weird.

“No! Never! I’m not handing Miho over! I’m never losing her again!”

Takaya was desperate, but he was already checkmated. I mean, he was a warrior, but Iino was so powerful the others had given her a nickname. The difference between them was night and day. Considering their shared affinity for close combat rather than magic, his continued flight was impossible. She could end this at any moment. The Skanda was just that strong. It wasn’t like her to toy with her prey like this.

“Eeek!”

Takaya kept running, screaming for the umpteenth time when Iino cut him off. No matter how many times he repeated this, the miracle he was hoping for didn’t come. His attempt to escape signaled the end of this chase.

Takaya twisted awkwardly and jumped back. He had finally gotten caught.

“Wh-What is this crap?!”

White spider threads coiled around his body. This was obviously no natural phenomenon, not that Takaya had the composure to consider that. The fact that he’d jumped into this trap meant that he’d been driven to such lengths that he hadn’t even looked where he was jumping to.

“F-Fuck!”

It wasn’t easy to bind a warrior. Takaya used his brute strength to uproot the trees the threads were anchored to. In just a few more seconds, he’d be able to tear the threads around his body. However, with the Skanda hot on his heels, those few seconds would prove fatal. He couldn’t escape anymore.

“Aaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

Takaya screamed as if dying in agony. That unshackled something within him. His already tenuous mind even lost the ability to think normally. He put up a meaningless struggle that was better off not being attempted at all.

Takaya Jun poured all the mana he could muster as a warrior into his bejeweled sword.

“Eat thiiiiis!”

The pillar of earth rushed toward Iino Yuna, her slender sword held at the ready—and it smashed into her.

“Huh?” he muttered in astonishment. “What...is that?”

Iino’s crushed body had turned into a pitch-black shadow. This was a phenomenon Takaya had likely heard about. Nonetheless, it was difficult for him to tie the image before him to the knowledge in his mind.

I could tell exactly what this was right away since I’d seen it before. It was a doppelganger. Now that I thought about it, my master had accepted Kudou Riku’s help. One of Kudou’s servants was the doppelqueen Anton, who was capable of spawning many doppelgangers. This was definitely one of her spawns.

At this point, I had a grasp of what was going on. The reason Iino was uncharacteristically toying around with him in this game of tag was because these were all empty husks taking her form.

Iino hadn’t been going around and cutting off Takaya everywhere he went. Berta had simply guided him to places where doppelgangers were already lying in wait. This was the skill of a hunter, and Berta was a wolf. She definitely excelled at such things.

Now that I knew what was going on, many things made more sense. My memory was a little vague from being knocked out, but when I last saw Iino, her leg was injured. She would’ve needed a skilled healer before she could run around. I had no way of knowing whether one of Kudou’s servants could use healing magic, but if one of them could, then my master wouldn’t still have his small injuries.

Furthermore, Iino had been hostile toward my master. Takaya had said it would be impossible for them to work together. He was right, in that regard. So long as nothing major happened, it was difficult to believe she would help my master. All of this had been a setup. The real battle was just beginning.

“Welcome, Takaya,” a voice said from behind him. “I’ll have you return my elder sister now.”

My master’s strongest servant, the Great White Spider, bared her fangs. She’d lost her astounding mobility due to the wounds she’d suffered in the battle against Iino, but that wasn’t much of a handicap if her opponent leapt right into her reach.

“Y-You f—?!”

“Shyaaaah!”

Takaya swept his sword and turned around, but Gerbera had anticipated this move. She thrust out her leg, piercing his upper arm.

“Gyaaah?!”

His scream resounded through the mountains. The magic sword flew from his hand. I held my breath as I watched it tumble off somewhere.

Amazing... Really. They’re so amazing. I never thought they’d corner a cheater like this. At this rate, maybe... The moment that thought crossed my mind, a beastly roar pierced my eardrums.

“Not yeeeeet!”

“What?!”

Gerbera’s red eyes shot open. Takaya Jun had yet to give up.

“Oomph?!”

He aimed a kick right into Gerbera’s chest. In the blink of an eye, her white figure smashed through multiple slender branches and vanished into the trees.

“No way...”

It all happened in an instant. Had Takaya’s tenacious will stirred him up to such a terrifying degree? He had done this while Gerbera’s leg was still in him, and now his right arm was half torn off. His persistence, which showed no care for his own safety, had caught Gerbera by surprise and repulsed my master’s ace in the hole.

“Graaaawr!”

Without even a moment’s pause, Berta charged in. But it was no good. She was a step too late.

“Outta the way!”

“Grah?!”

Berta ate a roundhouse kick while trying to spit her flames and fell to the ground.

“Wh-Whoa?!”

As a result, my master and Kudou fell to the ground. The two of them, tied together by Asarina, tumbled as one.

“Wasting my fucking time,” Takaya mumbled, turning to face them.

His joyful expression trembled with the expectation of the brutality to come. Fear ran across my entire body. He was mentally exhausted, without his weapon, and could only use one arm, but there was nothing stopping him from kicking my master and Kudou Riku to death.

What was I even doing? How could I just watch and do nothing while my master faced such danger? It was pathetic. How could I even call myself my master’s first servant? Cursing myself didn’t do anything to change the ruthless reality before me, however. No matter how much I disparaged my powerlessness, I couldn’t do anything about my bindings.

“Noooooo!” I screamed.

“Diiiiiie!” Takaya howled, winding up to kick at my master and Kudou on the ground with victory in mind.

The two monster tamers, having lost the servants they depended on, had nothing to defend themselves with. That was to be expected at this point—which was exactly why both Takaya and I couldn’t understand the reality before our eyes.

“Huh...?”

In the next instant, a sword flashed horizontally across Takaya’s chest. One beat later, a vivid spurt of blood gushed out. He fell to his knees, unable to finish his kick.

“What...the...?”

He looked up in a daze and saw “Kudou” brandishing a slender sword. My master was still holding Kudou from behind. The sharp movement from the attack had flung open the mantle Kudou was wearing—revealing the girl hiding underneath it. She was down on one knee, a bandage wrapped around her left thigh. I now understood why they had been riding Berta.

“Iino...? The real...Iino...?”

“Sorry, Takaya. I won’t let anyone die here.”

Iino Yuna pulled back the hood that had been obscuring her face. She looked at the now-twisted Takaya Jun with sorrow in her eyes.