I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

184 – Companions (1)

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It was not easy to take a step forward with my tired body.

Each step felt heavier than before.

As the anger and vengeance that had been boiling inside my head like a furnace subsided, I realized that I had probably used up quite a bit of strength in the previous battle.

Not only physically, but also mentally.

Facing the Demon King in this state might have been no different from suicide.

But I kept pulling my slowing steps forward and forcing my eyes towards the Demon King’s castle.

There could be no delay whatsoever.

That’s why Sylvia entered the Demon King’s castle first.

Tonight.

Now, at this moment, an ominous certainty that we must end it all continued to urge us all on.

“Damn it, it was a mistake to start with Sylvia and me breaking up, we should have all gone to the castle together then…!”

We finally reached the vicinity of the Demon King’s castle this evening.

But on that night, Balder brought out Sister Maria and appeared in front of Sister Alice.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way it could be a coincidence.

The Demon King must have noticed that we’ve reached this point.

The Demon King was aware of us, so to relax in front of him was tantamount to suicide.

It is certain that an assassin will appear to cut off our throats while we sleep.

Actually, as the night deepened, Balder did not appear.

Of course, it was true that there was not enough information to fight right away.

There is no way to know how much power the Demon King is hiding or how much has been recovered.

All I knew was how tired and worn out we were.

I’m tired.

Sylvia also hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep for several days.

Sister Alice is dead.

That’s why I couldn’t waste time.

I couldn’t extend this journey any further.

The decision will be made today.

Either we are completely defeated along with the perishing human race, or we kill the Demon King and create our future again.

One of two things will be decided today.

“Ugh, move… you damn legs!”

I swore and shook my creaking knees.

Her thigh muscles were cramping and she wouldn’t listen to me.

“Ash.”

Then Pia spoke to me.

Pia stood in front of me and spoke.

“Hold my shoulder.”

“You want me to support you?”

“huh.”

“… thank you.”

“What, Ash’s current physical condition is also due to anemia. So I have to take responsibility.”

“okay…”

There were a few times before when Pia tried to support me, but I refused every time.

Even though it might not be visible to other people, he himself could not bear to see himself leaning against a girl who looked to be about ten years old.

But now it’s different.

Although Pia still had the form of a woman, she was now a beautiful woman who had grown to a level that was eye-level with her.

The small clothes barely covered her chest area, revealing a firm body, and the balanced muscles were positioned so that they were not too prominent, giving her the appearance of a woman who could be relied on.

In some ways, she seemed to resemble Sylvia.

“Ha… She was like Leila before…”

I wonder if Laila will grow up to be like Sylvia.

No, no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think that would be the case.

Maybe Pia’s appearance follows the appearance of the ideal woman that I think of.

“Hurry up, time is running out.”

Pia straightened her back in front of me, nodded her head, and pointed to her shoulders with the tip of her chin.

I nodded and obediently put one arm around Pia’s shoulder.

“No, that’s not it.”

Pia shook her head and placed my remaining arm on her shoulder.

It was a strange sight, with both my arms resting on her shoulders, facing each other.

“Huh? Like this?”

“That’s right, just hug my neck.”

“…Hug me?”

As I moved my body as Pia said, it looked like I was holding Pia in my arms.

Somehow I felt strange.

It felt like I was hugging my younger sister… no, my older sister.

To be exact, it might be a daughter.

“No matter how I look at it, this isn’t support… Huh?”

Pia bent down slightly, then placed both arms behind my back and knees and lifted me up.

I was lifted up by her, hugging Pia’s neck.

I was momentarily taken aback by the sudden feeling of buoyancy, but soon my face turned red with a strange sense of shame.

This pose is… that’s it.

It’s a pose that came out of a romance novel I read when I was young.

“Pia, wait!”

Pia spoke calmly, pretending not to hear what I said.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

“Okay… Okay, stop for a moment, no matter what, this is too embarrassing!”

“Shh, Ash, shut up. You’re biting your tongue.”

“No, that, this position…”

“It was like this when I teleported to Ash’s room before.”

“I made a little kid hold the princess like that? If I had known, I wouldn’t have done it!”

“Six years old? I’m as old as Ash.”

“No, but!”

“Oh, it’s okay. You know no one can see me.”

“I’m embarrassed…”

“I’m going. I told you. You won’t know even if you bite your tongue.”

“What a pity!”

＊

Although it was not the way I had wanted, thanks to Pia’s consideration, I was able to arrive near the Demon King’s castle in no time.

Unlike before, when it was almost like teleportation, this time he just carried me and ran quickly.

This was because teleportation could only be attempted at places that Pia and I had spent a long time and had become attached to.

Sure, like Pia said, I almost bit my tongue a few times and couldn’t breathe properly because of the speed, but I was definitely able to conserve my energy.

As Pia put me down, I heard a boy’s voice.

“Oh, that’s a surprise.”

I staggered to my feet.

“Ugh, I’m thirsty. My mouth is parched.”

“…Ash? Why are you here already?”

The owner of the voice was the peddler boy who had left with Sylvia.

He was laying out on the ground the corpses he had pulled out of the large pit surrounding the castle.

The body appeared to be in a state of decomposition, but it still gave off an extremely foul odor.

The boy said, carefully putting down another corpse from his shoulder.

“It hasn’t even been two hours yet, why are you here already? Where is that knight woman you were with?”

I said, shaking my head.

“I was attacked.”

“what?”

“It’s a long story, so I won’t go into detail. We were attacked by the Demon King’s subordinates. We defeated them all, but… Sister Alice…”

As I trailed off, the boy nodded as if he understood.

“… Okay, I understand.”

“What were you doing? Sylvia?”

“She sneaked into the castle. It must have been less than an hour. I… found my comrades.”

The boy’s gaze swept over the corpses lying on the floor.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the corpses lying on the floor were not human, but demonic.

Was he sacrificed to the Demon King? Or to Balder?

If he was sacrificed to Balder, then Balder may have been periodically killing those who approached the Demon King’s castle.

Perhaps Balder was just looking around and happened to spot us and attack us, and the Demon King hasn’t noticed our presence yet?

Even though the possibility was small, just making a hopeful guess made me feel a little better.

“…”

I tried to control my expression.

Even though they were demons, they were clearly victims who had been sacrificed by the Demon King. It was an inhumane thought that surprised even me.

Aren’t these people even precious to this boy?

Certainly, there was a great sadness in his eyes that was difficult to ignore.

I was silent for a moment, then spoke to the boy very cautiously.

“I’m planning to follow Sylvia in too. Could you please give me some directions?”

The boy shook his head slowly.

“… Please wait a moment. I have a favor to ask of you too.”

“ask?”

“I overheard you say you know how to use magic during the day, right?”

“…My skills are poor.”

“Still… would you please take a look?”

The boy slowly lowered himself and lifted the clothes of one of the corpses lying on the floor.

It was the corpse of a female demon who had died with a painful expression on her face, and on her back was a large magic circle drawn by tearing the skin.

The boy spoke in a trembling voice.

“Can you recognize this magic circle?”

“…”

Pia created light by lighting a small spark before I could even ask.

I slowly looked at the body.

“I’m sorry, but it’s written in a language I don’t know.”

“I know the language. It’s the language of the Demons. But I don’t know the magic formula, so I don’t know what happened to these people.”

“…Okay, read the part I’m pointing at from the side.”

I slowly began to analyze the composition of the magic circle by pointing my finger at the engraved texts on the corpse.

The boy calmly read the letters engraved in the place I pointed.

After a while, the boy and I realized the meaning of the magic carved into their bodies.

And then I realized why they had such painful faces.

“oh my god…”

“Fuck…”

I was horrified, and the boy was furious.

This was a type of command magic.

I had never seen this kind of magic in any book, as it was a crudely modified and twisted homemade formula, but since I had studied the theory thoroughly, I was able to interpret it somehow.

It was a truly crude and evil magic ritual.

“It’s terrible,”

The magical effect was roughly as follows:

After inflicting pain by carving this magic formula, the soul of the sufficiently tormented target is consumed, and the soul of the dead person is called back and forcibly bound to the corpse.

And then he takes away the consciousness of the resurrected corpse and controls it.

Although this was obviously a more labor-intensive method than regular necromancy, the undead created this way were different from regular undead.

Unlike undead that are only capable of biting and scratching, with only beastly instincts remaining, undead created in this way retain their souls in their bodies and can retain the skills and talents they had in life.

And because its soul remained, unlike other undead, it could rise again even if burned or its head was cut off.

“Our demon tribe is just creating undead, and you’re not even creating them directly, you’re using them as materials to create other undead! And you, Demon King, call yourself the king of the demon tribe!”

The boy screamed in anger as if possessed by evil.

But, that angry, cold rebuke fell on deaf ears.

Because I already knew.

Because I had already seen the results of this cruel and ruthless magic recipe.

“Sister Maria…”

Are you saying that Maria’s soul was inside the body that we fought in just a moment ago?

And, does that mean that the body of Sister Maria, whom Sister Alice sacrificed her life to destroy, could rise again?

I couldn’t help but stick out my tongue at the deep malice and cruelty embedded in each and every stroke of this magical formula, which was created by tearing at the skin with the sharp tip of a knife.

Then Pia came to me and said.

“No, Ash… Sister Maria will not rise again. That’s for sure. Her body was completely reduced to ashes. I saw it. I’m sure of it.”

“It turned to ashes?”

“I’m sure of it, I could tell by the smell. Sister Maria, who came back to life, was definitely dead.”

“… okay.”

I nodded.

“Because Sister Alice worked hard…”

Perhaps it was her immense divine power and the power of the holy sword to burn away all evil that brought peace to Sister Maria.

Sister Maria will never come back to life.

But now, Sister Alice is not here.

“… for a moment.”

As soon as that thought occurred to me, I quickly turned my head and looked around.

More than thirty corpses were strewn about.

I asked the boy in a trembling voice.

“You see… By any chance… This magic circle, was it engraved on everyone here?”

“okay…”

I looked at the magic formula engraved on the corpse once again.

I read the magic formula, praying fervently that I was wrong.

But as always, the miserable reality extended its malevolent hand toward me without leaving any room for error.

“… shit,”

The formula engraved in this magic ritual was clearly intended for one person per corpse.

That is, it wasn’t just Sister Maria who came back to life.

I grabbed the boy’s shoulder and shouted.

“We have to get into the castle, right now!”

“What is it? What did you notice?”

“People who have come back to life. Not one or two. At least as many as these corpses have come back to life!”

“… however?”

“One of the people who came back to life was Maria. The wizard of the warrior party!”

“…”

The boy still seemed to not understand the situation.

I screamed in frustration.

“Sylvia is in danger!”

“That woman?”

“You still don’t get it? The people who came back to life are the warrior party! They were Sylvia’s comrades!”

“…!”

I don’t know.

Actually, neither Alice nor I felt much resistance in destroying the revived Maria.

But what about Sylvia?

Given Sylvia’s personality, it seemed like she would cut down anyone, no matter how old they were, who got in her way.

But on the other hand, I also knew how much guilt she felt for losing all her comrades and being the only one who survived.

You know you have to kill him, but you might hesitate.

Even if you hesitate, you might end up cutting it.

However, Sylvia was not Alice’s older sister.

No matter how many times you cut her, unless it’s a holy sword, Sylvia’s old comrades will come back to life and attack her again.

How long can Sylvia endure?

A hell where your own guilt constantly comes alive and engulfs you?

I lifted the boy up with force.

“Please, hurry!”

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