Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 6 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Battle with the Mad Beast

Takaya Jun, now a villainous beast, roared as he slammed his left arm down at me. It was a heavy swing. I’d already lost my concentration following what I thought was the battle’s end, and I was shocked by his transformation. By the time I’d pulled myself together, his rock-like fist was already right next to my cheek.

The moment I thought I was done for, something yanked on the back of my collar.

“Majima!”

Someone pulled me back. A terrifying sound buzzed by my nose as Takaya’s enormous fist passed through the air. I fell backward and hit the ground. I could see Iino’s kneeling figure coming into view, but I also saw another blow coming down to destroy us. I heard a thunderous thud reminiscent of a traffic accident, followed by a throaty scream. It wasn’t Iino. It was more akin to that of a beast, and it resonated in my stomach.

I didn’t have the time to figure out what was going on, so I got my body moving. I’d be done for if I stayed put. I tumbled backward and leaped away from Takaya. Fortunately, he didn’t attack again in the meantime. Back on my feet, I looked up and saw him screaming at the sky.

I looked over to the left hand he’d attacked me with. A slender, blood-drenched sword was wedged deep between his thick, hairy index and middle fingers. It was Iino’s sword. I figured out what had happened one beat later. Iino had pulled me backward, and unable to evade in her current state, she had thrust her sword into the incoming fist.

I turned around and spotted Iino face down on the ground a small distance away. Judging by the sporadic blood trail, she had bounced and tumbled all the way there. Her right elbow was bent the wrong way, and blood was flowing from her head. I heard a slight groan spill from her lips, so she was at least alive, but seeing how unfocused her eyes were, she was practically unconscious.

Iino had said that she wouldn’t let anyone die here. She was a dumbass, but not a liar. She had been true to her word. Her actions here had proved that. Nevertheless, this also marked the Skanda’s withdrawal from the battle.

Now that I knew what had happened, I drew the pseudo-Damascus steel sword at my waist and faced Takaya. A prickling sweat ran down my cheek. This situation was tremendously bad.

“Master! Run!” Lily screamed.

She was behind the transformed Takaya, still bound with manashackles and on the ground. I couldn’t sense Gerbera coming back yet. Berta seemed to have lost consciousness and wasn’t budging. I was completely alone in this fight—well, not completely alone.

“Masss—ter! Ter!”

“Right. I’ve still got you with me, huh?”

Asarina purred as if trying to comfort me. I gave her a small smile, then glared at Takaya’s grotesque figure. He bit the hilt of the sword stuck in his left hand, yanked it out in one movement, then spat it out on the ground. His muddy yellow eyes then caught my figure. He opened his giant maw, showing a row of warped fangs, and let out a beastly roar. Sticky drool flew through the air and splattered on the dirt.

“Takaya... You’re not human right now.”

It’s fine, I told myself over and over. I smiled stiffly at him and strengthened the grip on my sword. It was still too soon to give in to despair. Fortunately, I could still properly prepare myself for battle, thanks to Iino’s actions. I had to calm down and observe my enemy.

The important thing here wasn’t the special ability Takaya Jun had invoked. I needed to focus on what hadn’t changed as much as what had. Two things stuck out to me: his tattered clothing and the wounds on his body. They were the same as before his transformation.

Takaya’s injuries hadn’t healed. There was a deep gash running across the right side of his chest that prevented him from moving around freely. His dominant arm was broken above the elbow. Furthermore, Iino had rendered his left fist useless.

Right now, Takaya’s transformation into this mad beast merely forced his broken body to move. Even if his physical abilities were boosted, he couldn’t bring out even half of his strength with that many injuries. Regardless of his inherent ability, he was still much weaker than the average warrior.

To put it simply, Takaya Jun was in a hopeless, irrecoverable position. The problem, though, was that he was still a tough opponent for me. Still, as he was now, victory wasn’t entirely out of sight.

Besides, after Gerbera and I had conveyed our feelings to each other, I was in the greatest shape of my life. Perhaps this was just my mental state, but I could still use it to my advantage here. Asarina was naturally in terrific condition as well, with her roots planted in my being.

With this, I would surely win. I believed I could. Still, despite my optimism, I hadn’t forgotten that Iino’s attack hadn’t defeated him. Nobody had expected Takaya to transform like this, so some amount of improvisation was necessary. Right now, I had no choice but to do this myself.

“Ooooh!”

Both Takaya and I roared and charged each other. Because of his wounds, Takaya’s movements were sluggish. His right arm couldn’t move from the elbow down. It was like he was dragging the right half of his body behind him. The only thing I had to watch for was his left hand, which couldn’t form a fist anymore. Certainly, even with this handicap, a strike from that hand would be enough to put me down for the count. I had to dodge no matter what. I suppressed the tension in my body wreaking havoc on my stomach and lunged into the valley between life and death.

“Graaooooooh!”

Takaya howled and swung his left arm. By the time I read the trajectory of his attack, I’d hurled myself to the side. His attack was terrifyingly fast, though it was much slower compared to his original speed. Still, even with my mana-elevated body, I just barely managed to evade the blow.

“Oooh!”

Slipping through into his left flank, I slashed at his waist as I passed by. Despite the lessons from Shiran, my swordsmanship was still immature. Even so, such severe training wasn’t for nothing. The sharp blade of Rose’s masterwork, the pseudo-Damascus steel sword, carved a shallow cut across the beast’s sturdy body. Of course, Takaya didn’t even flinch from such a minor wound.

He swung his left arm back. I stooped down as low as I could. His backhand covered a wide area, but unfortunately for him, his large body worked against him. His arm was fairly high off the ground. I escaped beneath it and rose with force, bringing my blade up with me.

My sword cut across the shallow wound I’d given him earlier, carving a cross into Takaya’s waist. Blood oozed from the wound. Takaya glared at me in irritation, when Asarina suddenly lashed out like a whip at his face.

“Masss—ter!”

She quickly wrapped her long body around his face several times, opened her mouth, and snapped down on his snout. Her bite didn’t cause any visible damage, but it did seem to give him some pain. Takaya screamed and raised his hand to his face.

“Well done, Asarina!”

Using that opening, I got another attack in. Takaya roared in anger. He tore apart Asarina’s vine, but her body regrew in an instant. I straightened myself back out and stood ready to battle the beast once more.

“Oooh!”

I prioritized dodging my enemy’s attacks, making sure not to leave an opening for him. I desperately continued this and gradually got far enough away that I could no longer see Lily and Iino’s fallen figures. From this distance, neither of them would get caught up in the fighting.

I was growing more and more immersed in the sensation of the weapon in my hand and the ferocity of the threat before my eyes. My enemy was covered in thick fur and bulky muscles, so all the wounds I had dealt were superficial. Still, with enough repetition, the damage would accumulate. Moreover, Takaya was already injured. Blood was still flowing from the gash in his chest.

If I forced him to move about, it would exhaust him considerably. That was why I prioritized evading any attack that would take me down while getting in whatever hits I could. This was rather difficult for me...but it was possible. Without a doubt, having now fought him, I knew I had a chance of winning.

“Graaaah!”

Takaya was currently a berserker clad in a beast’s skin. He had lost all sense of reason, which made his attacks extremely monotonous. Normally, he would be so fast and strong that this wouldn’t be a problem, but with his heavy wounds, his monotony became something I could exploit.

Up until now, Gerbera’s practical training had given me the means of evading attacks even when vomiting in pain, and Shiran’s lessons had taught me how to shift my body weight and how to place my feet to swing my sword. Thanks to that, I could evade Takaya’s constant attacks, though it would still be difficult.

“Uoooh!”

My balancing act of offense and defense dragged on. Would I be able to hang on until the end?

Suddenly, a terrifying chill ran down my spine. I could feel death approaching with certainty. My battle-focused senses screamed at me.

“Wha—?!”

In the next instant, an enormous arm came out of nowhere and obstructed my vision. I stopped my attack mid-swing and dove to the side, paying no heed to maintaining my posture. Asarina plunged into the ground to correct my course. I barely managed to evade the blow.

“Wh-What was that...?”

I had been a hair’s breadth away from getting hit head-on.

Was I being careless? No, that’s impossible. A surprise attack? That doesn’t make sense... Did he get faster? Confused thoughts raced through my mind as I backed off to try and grasp the situation.

“Grrrrrawr!”

The mad beast bared his fangs and chased me. He was significantly faster than me and very quickly became the largest thing in my vision. No, that wasn’t quite right...

“Are you kidding me?” I muttered, stupefied.

I wasn’t just imagining things. Takaya really was growing larger. Of all things, his inherent ability could still go further. I had totally misread him. This Mad Lycanthropy, for lack of a better term, didn’t just turn him into a senseless beast. The more he embraced his madness, the stronger he got. His yellow eyes grew so wide that I thought they’d pop out. The vast muscles covering his body swelled and tore apart the remnants of his uniform.

The tattered clothes flapped in the air as he charged me, falling away from his bristled skin. The reason his uniform had been a mess to begin with was because he grew when using Mad Lycanthropy. Up until now, he’d just barely managed to keep his uniform from tearing apart completely...meaning this was the first time he’d taken it this far.

The effect was overwhelming. He was clearly much faster than before. This wasn’t just a boon to his elevated strength; it likely dulled the pain from his wounds too.

“Graaah!”

Takaya held his left arm high in the air. He was still quite a distance from me, but I instinctively sensed this was bad. I ignored all consequences and leaped back with all my strength. I still didn’t make it in time. His enormous furry arm stretched out a remarkable distance. His growth had increased the range of his attacks considerably. I couldn’t get away from this one.

“Urgh...?!”

Iino’s sword had severely injured Takaya’s left hand, so he struck my shield with his fingers instead of his fist.

“Gah!”

I couldn’t brace myself, having just leaped back, and went flying backward. The impact was considerable, but it wasn’t enough to significantly injure me. I could still prepare for his next attack after I landed. Coming to that conclusion immediately, I corrected my posture in midair to get ready...and met the eyes of a girl with pigtails looking up at me. I passed over her head in an instant.

“Ugh...”

I was moments away from crashing into the ground, but I just barely managed to absorb the impact by using my entire body like a spring.

“S-Senpai...?”

I looked up, seeing Katou turn around to look my way. She was holding Rose to her chest. Behind them I saw Lily, still bound by the manashackles but sitting up. A little further away, I saw Iino unconscious on the ground with blood oozing from her head.

Crap! I messed up big time. In the unlikely event that Iino wasn’t able to stop Takaya, we’d planned for someone to keep his attention while Katou freed Lily on her own. Katou had been hiding far enough away from the fighting so that she wouldn’t get caught in it before we got started.

After we lost our ace in the hole, I could tell through the mental path that Katou was on the move since she’d been carrying Rose’s body with her. That was why I’d made sure to lure the maddened Takaya away from where Lily was. And yet, while escaping Takaya after he further descended into madness, I’d unknowingly come right back. This inevitably meant that the beast had come back here too.

“Graaah!”

Takaya roared and appeared right next to where Lily was sitting. She was pretty far away from me, with Katou between us.

“Shit!” I cursed, immediately breaking into a sprint.

Not yet! I can still fix this! If Takaya intended on attacking the new intruder, Katou, I could make it to her first considering our current speed. I could still protect her. But if he intended to secure Lily, I definitely wouldn’t make it in time. However, Takaya couldn’t use his right arm. If he had to carry Lily around, he would have to use his left arm. In that case, it would give me an advantage. I kept an eye on Takaya’s movements, preparing to deal with either situation.

Just as I expected, Takaya’s yellow eyes went over to Lily. I silently cheered. I had messed up earlier, but Takaya’s mistake here compensated for mine. He would be better off leaving Lily for later, but he decided to prioritize her.

This was a definite lapse in judgment, but it was pretty easy to predict. Takaya had no sense of reason left; there was no way he could make any sound decisions. The rest was up to me.

Now then, what was Takaya going to do after securing Lily? Run away? Fight me? Regardless of his choice, I just had to hound him down. I readied myself for either eventuality and fixed my eyes on him. Takaya moved toward Lily, then raised his furry arm into the air.

Huh? Hang on. What? What the hell is he doing? Goose bumps ran down my skin. If I wasn’t just seeing things, then he was preparing to pound his arm into the ground. But that was impossible. Why would Takaya attack Lily? In his eyes, she was Mizushima Miho, his precious childhood friend. So, why?

No way... I came to a conclusion and felt my soul freeze over. Had Takaya lost even that due to his Mad Lycanthropy? Had he gone toward Lily not because he was reacting to the sight of Mizushima Miho, but because she was simply the closest?

Takaya’s transformed state was strong enough to strike down the thirty monsters Kudou had set upon him. At that time, he hadn’t laid a finger on Lily. He’d still had at least a fragment of reason that had prevented him from doing so. This was the first time his madness went this far. That meant he couldn’t even reason with himself. In that case, Lily would...

Her face went pale as she suddenly turned my way.

“Sto—”

I stretched my hand out. She was so very far away. I would never reach her.

“Graaawr!”

Takaya unleashed a beastly roar and swung his arm down. There was nothing I could do about it. No matter how hard I pushed myself, there was a limit to what I could do alone. But I could never forget that I wasn’t alone here.

“Sister!”

A girl’s voice echoed in the air. The next instant, a pillar of earth shot up from the ground between Takaya and Lily. Takaya’s arm plowed through the pillar on its way down. Lily yelped and tumbled to the ground, still bound by chains.

“Lily?!” I yelled, but she was face down on the ground and couldn’t move. Thanks to the pillar, it looked like she’d avoided a direct hit and had merely lost consciousness.

Takaya’s head swiveled about in irritation, looking for what had gotten in his way. His gaze fell upon Rose. Her body was missing from the waist down, and Katou was supporting her. In her hand was Takaya’s bejeweled sword, the magic weapon known as the Landslide Blade. She’d apparently retrieved it at some point.

“I won’t let you kill her!” Rose declared gallantly, fanning Takaya’s anger.

Just as the beast was about to roar back at her...

“Shyaaah!”

A white spider came flying in. Takaya dodged her deadly thrust by ducking, but Gerbera kept her momentum and grappled his enormous body.

“You lowly beast! What were you trying to do to my sister?!”

Gerbera used her slender arms and the legs she had left to restrain both of Takaya’s arms. However, perhaps because of the hit she’d taken earlier, blood trickled from her mouth, and her movements were much duller than I’d ever seen. The way I used mana was very similar to her, so I could tell that her mana flow was a mess right now. It was possible she was suffering from internal hemorrhaging. Regardless, she tenaciously held on. She was a spider. Capturing prey and tying them up was her specialty.

I sensed more mana in action as another pillar shot out of the earth into Takaya’s abdomen. Rose was lending her support. She couldn’t unleash a nonstop barrage like Takaya could, but this allowed her to fight in her current state.

Their great efforts definitely slowed Takaya’s violence. Be that as it may, their wounded bodies had limits.

“Graaaah!”

“Hwah?!”

Takaya started by shaking off Gerbera. He grabbed her wrist with his furry hand and he swung her around like a toy before flinging her right at Rose and Katou. Having no lower body, Rose couldn’t move freely, and Katou’s reactions were far too slow.

“Mana!”

“Eep!”

Rose suddenly thrust Katou aside. Propelled into the air by the force of her push, Rose collided with the incoming spider.

“Oomph!”

“Urgh!”

The two of them entwined together and tumbled about. The magic sword fell to the ground with a thud.

Takaya let out an irritated groan and once more turned to face Lily. His muddy yellow eyes...met mine, glaring right back at him from up close.

“Grrr?”

“I made it...”

Using the precious time Gerbera and Rose had bought, I managed to run all the way up to Lily. Finally... I finally had her back. The warmth in my arms even felt nostalgic. I wasn’t going to let her go ever again.

I looked up at Takaya’s beastly visage, high above me. He’d lost all reason. The only thing left was a burning madness that had to destroy the enemy—or the reality—right before him. In the end, even Mizushima Miho had vanished from his mind.

He was going to pulverize both me and Lily without any hesitation or guilt. Gerbera and Rose had really done their best, but there wasn’t enough time for me to take Lily and escape. I couldn’t fight with her in my arms either. And now that Takaya saw Lily as an enemy, I couldn’t leave her here. Thus, I silently made my resolve, faced with the hopeless crisis before me.