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

189 – The Demon King (2)

There was no time to hesitate.

I aimed straight for the gaping hole and fired my magic.

Since I believed that Pia would take care of the detailed adjustments anyway, I quickly recited a magic formula that focused only on power and speed.

The powerful fireball that poured from my hand flew towards Kochi like lava rising into the air.

But the fireball did not reach the target.

A large number of insect-like things flew in from somewhere and surrounded the cocoon, taking the fireball instead and falling down.

“… Damn, what the heck is that?”

Sylvia fell to the ground, rolled away from the falling fireball and got out from under the cocoon.

Sylvia quickly got up and shooed away the flies with confused eyes.

“Careful, Ash, something isn’t right about this.”

“Sylvia, were there any flies like that next to the Demon King when you came here before?”

“No… I’ve never seen it.”

Sylvia said as she slowly walked towards me, her gaze fixed on Kochi.

“A fly… does it really look like that?”

I fixed my gaze on the flies.

Certainly, upon closer inspection, the appearance of those flying insects was very different from that of ordinary bugs.

No, it wasn’t just different from a simple bug, it was different from any other living thing that had ever existed in this world.

These monsters, which ranged in size from the size of a thumb to the size of a palm, looked like human heads with their flesh torn out.

However, in places where there should be holes, such as the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, thorns and protrusions grew densely, and the protrusions were intertwined as if holding each other and flapping like large wings.

If I were to describe it as it appeared, I could only describe it as a small, fleshy sphere flying around in an unsteady, spinning motion, with six or seven bizarre wings flapping wildly.

However, I didn’t want to bring myself to say that description, so I shook my head slightly and said.

“If you look closely, it’s not a bug, but I can’t explain it. It’s just really gross. You’ll know when you see it.”

“Actually, to my eyes, it just looks like a blurry bubble of air…”

“… what?”

“Like a piano.”

“…!”

It was only after hearing Sylvia’s words that I was able to realize what the strange creature was.

“Is it a spirit?”

“huh.”

Pia nodded in response to my monologue.

I was slightly shocked by Pia’s calm voice.

Because the only spirits I’ve ever met were the green lady and Piana, I never once thought that there could be such a strange-looking spirit.

In fact, it may be natural for spirits to have an appearance unrelated to human common sense or aesthetic sense, since their nature is closer to nature itself.

But… still, it is like that.

The grotesque appearance and movements of the spirits surrounding the Demon King’s cocoon in my sight were so creepy and grotesque that it made new goosebumps appear on top of the already creepy ones.

“What kind of spirit is that…”

“I don’t know, Ash.”

Pia spoke softly and shook her head.

As always, Pia knew little about spirits, despite being a spirit herself.

Other than the fact that I was her guardian spirit, I knew nothing about myself, and the spirit techniques that Pia had taught me were only my own interpretations based on my own instincts and senses.

But now was not the time to express regret.

I told Pia.

“Okay, that’s fine. Let’s just hit it one more time…”

That was when.

“…!”

“Ugh!”

“…under,”

Pia, me, and Sylvia.

All of us standing on the floor in this room simultaneously cringed.

A chilling sensation, as if a cold ice pick was cutting off each and every nerve in my body along my spine, spread along my spine and throughout my body.

Although it was a sensation I felt for the first time, I was able to clearly realize what it was.

horror.

It was closer to witnessing the pure source of the emotion called fear itself, rather than fear as a consequence brought about by a medium like death or pain.

A huge thrill ran through my whole body that I had never felt before, but was so clear that I could not ignore it.

I felt so vividly with my whole body that inside the flapping wings of those filthy, flying swarms of chaos spirits, inside the gaps of those horrible, writhing cocoons, the twilight of a dawn from which the sun would never rise, and the chill of a nightmare that would never be forgotten, were writhing miserably.

“Sylvia…”

The magic that dug into my lungs sharply clawed at my chest, and tears flowed from my wide-open eyes.

Through my vision, which was clouded by the moisture, I could see the flies surrounding the kochi slowly sinking to the ground.

No, more precisely, something was slowly beginning to descend, crushing the bugs.

I gazed intently at the terrifying scene, unable to move, like someone whose ankles were caught in cold, frozen mud.

Even Pia’s ears and tail were stiff and the hair on them stood on end, making her look like someone who had been struck by lightning.

Only Sylvia was able to raise her voice and move her feet through the tidal wave of terror.

Probably no one else but her could do it.

“Damn it, Ash. Run away now!”

“…”

“Wake up! Run!”

Sylvia’s scream was almost a scream.

But despite her desperate cries, I just shook my head silently and stood there, transfixed.

Of course, it wasn’t the noble power of love that kept me from leaving her alone.

I just couldn’t move.

I just couldn’t take a single step.

“Ash!”

The room felt like a giant fish tank.

Sylvia’s screams were muffled and did not hit my eardrums hard enough, and fear filled the room like water filling a tank and weighed on me.

Under the weight of that fear, I couldn’t even muster the strength to move.

“…Fuck.”

Sylvia spat out a curse and blocked my path with her sword in her hand.

It was obvious what was going to happen.

The Demon King will appear.

Is it to protect me, or is it to feel my warmth one last time in case something unfortunate happens?

Sylvia slowly backed away, pressing her back against mine.

But I continued to look over Sylvia’s shoulder at the horrible scene.

Just as I instinctively knew that turning my back on a wild beast was an extremely foolish choice, my instinctual warning that I would die the moment I looked away rang loudly in my head.

“ah…”

The floating cocoon gradually began to appear thanks to the flying insects following the falling object towards the ground.

The place was terribly empty.

What is now falling to the floor must be the contents of that empty cocoon.

Slap.

The sound of something wet hitting the ground echoed throughout the room.

The flies scattered in all directions, slowly revealing the presence they had been hiding with their strange fluttering wings.

It’s the end.

We finally faced each other.

The natural enemy of mankind and the nightmare of the demon race.

Adversary.

“…”

The body that finally appeared slowly rose up on staggering legs like a newborn deer.

The face had a long, extended snout, befitting its nickname of a lizard, but it had no eyes or nose, and only a small breathing hole was barely visible at the end of its cylindrical face.

Even the hole was repeatedly contracting and relaxing, and inside it, a crazed red eyeball was moving in and out.

The body, which was naturally connected to the face, was covered with pale, saggy skin, and the saggy flesh, unlike human skin, seemed more like a moist jelly with no elasticity whatsoever.

The long, skinny arms and legs that stretched out between the sticky skin, and the fingers and toes that ended in them, were so long and thin that it seemed incredibly unstable to even stand.

For a moment, I was shocked by the shockingly ugly sight, but then I suddenly felt dizzy.

I barely managed to hold on to my consciousness, which seemed ready to fly away at any moment, and spoke in a crawling voice.

“That’s… the Demon King…”

Sylvia nodded and answered.

“He’s uglier than before, but there’s no doubt about it. It’s that kid.”

“It wasn’t like this before?”

“Back then, he looked like an ordinary lizardman.”

At Sylvia’s words, I looked at that hideous sight once more.

The Demon King’s appearance was not natural.

Even by human standards, let alone the standards of the demon race, it was an appearance that could never be called normal.

The form that makes you feel the fear that freezes your whole body the moment it appears is slowly adapting to gravity.

“… Then that appearance,”

What does that ugly sight mean?

There’s no way the Lizardman would have ended up like that just because he usurped the Demon King’s throne.

Most likely, that horrible sight was the result of the cocoon he had been in just a moment ago.

“… Ha, it looks like reattaching the severed head didn’t go well?”

Sylvia spat out mockingly.

It was a laughter that was clearly intended to mock the other person, but I could clearly feel that there was a desperate attempt to overcome fear in the voice.

But at the same time, Sylvia’s provocation was also an obvious fact.

There was no doubt that the Demon King who had his throat cut by Sylvia had somehow managed to survive, but had lost his strength and become weak, as this was something the Green Lady had personally relayed.

In other words, that hideous appearance must have been an error that occurred during the Demon King’s process of regaining his power.

Hearing Sylvia’s voice, I too mustered up my courage and opened my mouth.

“Pia, get ready.”

Even though I was so scared that I felt like I would collapse at any moment, I couldn’t run away.

The Demon King must die.

For humanity, for the vengeance of Sister Maria, for my parents who sacrificed themselves for the resurrection of that monster, for my poor sister Laila who was caught up in this damned fate, for Sister Alice, and for the happiness and compensation appropriate to all of Sylvia’s journey and suffering who has been afflicted by this damned curse.

We have to overcome that fear here.

“…”

Unlike his body, which was still completely frozen, his head began to slowly turn.

Could the current monstrosity be stronger than when it was cut by Sylvia’s sword in the past?

Or maybe it’s just as weak as that unstable appearance?

Sylvia seemed to be having the same concerns as me.

However, no matter how hard we thought about it, we could not read any useful information from that appearance that was beyond human common sense.

In the end, there was only one way to find out.

“Can you move?”

“I may not be able to jump, but I can use magic.”

“Okay, tie his legs, Ash. Even if it’s just for a little while.”

“No problem.”

“Yeah, because Ash got stronger.”

Sylvia slowly began to bend her legs and waist as if she were a spring that was about to pop out at any moment because it was pressed down so much.

“I’ll give you the signal. We’ll do it in three.”

Sylvia slowly extended her sword-holding arm behind her back.

It seemed like he was thinking of ringing the bell as he rushed towards it.

“One, two…”

“Pia,”

“three!”

As she recited the spell, Sylvia ran forward and kicked her head, causing a gust of wind to blow her hair.

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