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

191 – The Demon King (4)

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The green lady spoke clearly to me.

The reason why the warrior party couldn’t definitely finish off the Demon King.

And the reason why the fate of this world was greatly distorted.

That is because the saint did not come out.

At the time, I was furious at the fact that all the suffering I had endured was simply because I had not been able to produce a saint.

The fact that my parents and Layla died because neither the Goddess nor the Queen of Spirits could fill that one small crack drove me emotionally, robbing me of the time to think calmly.

Moreover, shortly after, the green lady sacrificed herself to protect the lakeside from the magic, and not long after that, there was a reunion with Sister Alice and Sylvia.

Even after that, the hellish training with Sylvia continued.

As a result, I never thought about the saint in my head.

And now, I… no, we have paid the price.

The warrior party failed because there was no saint.

That means that divine power is an essential element in defeating the Demon King.

“Alice… Sister…”

I reached out and felt the pocket on my waist.

A faint warmth seeped through the leather pouch and reached my palm.

“… Shit,”

Sister Alice died, leaving behind only her mechanical heart, which was the source of her divine power.

From her heart, which was no longer moving, a faint divine power and warmth still flowed out, but in this bitter cold season where the hideous Demon King breathed and spat out the vicious magical energy and his fingers were freezing, it was nothing more than a very faint trace with no real presence.

Rather, it felt closer to a dying ember.

I closed my eyes tightly and felt deep regret.

During the past few months of our journey towards the Demon King, my poor stamina has held us back several times.

Even though it was a journey that I had suggested, he shamelessly complained about resting for the day and that his legs hurt.

It was a mistake.

Even if my two legs were ruined, even if my strength was depleted and I lost my life, I must not stop walking.

At least, from the moment I realized that it wouldn’t be strange if Sister Alice’s heart stopped at any moment, I had to move my heavy feet even faster.

My complacency and stupidity led to this result.

Unlike the previous warrior party where I failed due to a twist of fate, this time it was entirely my failure.

My incompetence, my arrogance, my carelessness, my foolishness.

A vague and complacent feeling that the two strong beings, Sylvia and Alice, would somehow do something.

A very stupid illusion.

“Ash…?”

A familiar pain came to me.

My vision slowly twists into a spiral, accompanied by the pain of cold, thin fingers tightly gripping my heart.

It felt like a big lump of mud was stuck in my throat.

My feelings, blocked by a blocked throat and unable to give voice, searched frantically for an escape route through every nook and cranny of my body, eventually ending in tears.

I can’t feel the ground.

My sense of balance was blurred and my legs were wobbly.

I dropped my head to find my balance and looked down at my feet on the floor.

“… Ugh, crap.”

When was it?

I felt this sensation, this pain, this emotion.

The moment you first heard of Layla’s death?

Was that the first time you saw the grave where Layla was lying?

All of that is true, but the moment when he chanted the spell to burn the living corpse of Layla with his trembling lips seems the most similar.

The harsh whip of self-reproach beats my whole body, and the karma of self-torture burns my insides so much that I cannot even shed tears.

My heart is emptied of all dust, leaving only ashes in the flames that harshly rebuke me.

“ha ha ha,”

grow.

I took the last breath of this world.

“… I’m sorry… Mom, Dad… Layla…”

“Ash, wake up.”

“Sister Alice… I’m so sorry.”

We ran out of time, and as a result, Sister Alice died, and it was all my fault, as the warmth of Sister Alice’s heart engraved on my fingertips calmly proved.

I feel a huge crack appearing in my will, which had never wavered even when faced with that horrible and disgusting Demon King.

No, it must have been shattered a long time ago.

My weak mind, which had been simply getting through each day without any particular crisis or achievement, was already shattered with a loud noise the moment my parents passed away.

He barely managed to hold on to himself so that he wouldn’t collapse, thinking that he had to protect Layla, but even that eventually collapsed when Layla died.

It was the days with Sylvia that helped me piece my torn heart back together, however roughly.

A roommate who has endured greater misfortune than I have, and the savior of the world.

And Maria’s sister’s colleague.

I have relied on her a lot to get me through.

But what good is all that now?

“I’m sorry… Sylvia…”

The weight of great sin crushed me in a suffocating horror.

“Ash!”

Pia called my name, grabbed my shoulder, and shook me gently.

Yeah, I know this isn’t the time.

To be distracted by a haphazard mix of self-torture and self-pity would be tantamount to suicide in the face of that fearful being that transcends human reason.

It is not just a simple suicide, but it is also an act that puts Sylvia and Pia in danger.

Yes, I was well aware of that fact.

But, so what?

Anyway, this expedition failed.

In fact, up until this very moment, that Demon King has not even expressed the slightest intention of hostility toward me or Sylvia.

I just woke up in Kochi and shivered.

And we couldn’t even land a single valid hit on an opponent who was standing there so quietly.

If the Demon King even attempted a counterattack, it seemed clear that we would be finished.

There is no hope.

We lost.

This is how the history of mankind ended.

“Ash.”

At that moment, Sylvia’s voice was heard.

“Raise your head.”

“…”

“Raise your head and look at me.”

As soon as Sylvia finished speaking in a calm voice, a sound like something exploding was heard.

It was the sound of Sylvia kicking the ground.

I looked up in surprise at the loud crash.

“… Sylvia… Miss?”

“Look carefully.”

Sylvia charged at the nightmarish monster, holding a sword engulfed in pale flame.

In the darkness that filled the room, only the trajectory left by her blade lingered in the air like an afterimage.

The Demon King let out another horrible scream and twisted his body grotesquely to avoid the path of her sword.

That was when.

The trajectory of the sword drawn in the air instantly changed its form in the air.

“…!”

It happened so quickly that it seemed as if the white streak of light left behind wherever the sword passed was instantly crumpled.

And the white trajectory passed through the Demon King’s chest.

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I had to spend some time trying to decipher what the surreal sight was all about.

To that extent, the scene was beyond common sense.

Sylvia’s soft voice flew towards me again, as I was bewildered.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Her pale face, reflected in the light emitted by the white sword in the darkness, slowly moved her lips.

The Demon King let out a strange sound, as if he was inhaling while shaking his brow, and rolled around on the floor, spraying a yellowish liquid into the air like it had fallen from a cocoon from his split chest.

At that moment, I remembered a story that Sylvia had told me sometime during the days when I was training and getting beaten by her just before this journey.

‘Because I can change the trajectory even while swinging.’

At that moment, I realized that the boasts I had made that day were not a joke or an exaggeration.

She really twisted the trajectory of the sword in an instant and cut down the Demon King.

“Sylvia… Miss…”

“We didn’t support it.”

Sylvia spoke words as heavy as her sword.

“I may not have as much as that b*tch, but I have enough divine power to hold onto my sword. Your magic could definitely help, judging by the fact that it was able to capture the Demon King. And that uselessly fit vixen is still going strong.”

“I… have a name called Pia…”

Unable to hear Pia’s loud voice, Sylvia swung her sword in the air, shaking off the Demon King’s remains and continuing to speak in a firm voice.

“I can kill you. I can beat you. And…”

“…”

“Humanity will not end. Even if all humans outside this castle die, as long as Ash and I are here, it will not end.”

I was momentarily speechless at the sound of Sylvia’s voice and the fantastic sword dance she performed.

Her overwhelming and absolute skills were amazing, but what was even more surprising were her words.

Her words contradicted exactly what I was thinking.

Even though I hadn’t said a single word, her eyes seemed to clearly read the self-torture that was eating away at my heart.

Sylvia briefly stroked her abdomen with the hand opposite the one holding her sword, then smiled faintly and glared at the Demon King again.

“So if I take that fucking monster down here, Ash didn’t do anything wrong. I told you before. Ash is the world to me now.”

“Ms. Sylvia…”

“I will prove to Ash that he did nothing wrong.”

Again, with a huge explosion, Sylvia’s figure disappeared.

A large crack had appeared in the marble floor where she had just been standing, scattering small pieces.

The white trajectory that had been flying dizzily in the air this time pierced the Demon King’s shoulder.

The Demon King screamed again.

“And then…”

Sylvia’s soft voice could be heard clearly through the screams.

“When everything is over, I’ll punish Ash for calling me by that strange title of Sylvia again.”

“oh,”

My head becomes clearer.

After everything was over, the future that was to come felt scarier than something like the Demon King.

I slapped my cheeks hard with both hands.

Pia smiled faintly, as if relieved, seeing me like that.

“Think, think, Ash.”

I muttered to myself.

Yes, the keyword is not the saint, nor Sister Alice, but divine power.

Miss Sylvia… No, Sylvia’s divine power is clearly far inferior to that of Sister Alice.

However, it is unknown whether her divine power is enough to defeat the Demon King.

Of course, the Demon King was eventually resurrected despite being fatally wounded by Sylvia’s attack, but at the time, he would not have had the information that Sylvia’s divine power was important.

Idiot.

It wasn’t a situation where despair could be felt yet.

I didn’t think I was that irresponsible to let Sylvia and Pia die here, but I felt sorry for myself.

“I’m sorry, Sylvia. I’m just too tired.”

I struck my shaking thigh with my fist and confidently stepped forward with one foot.

I stood firm on the ground and looked closely at the monster that had fallen to the ground.

The Demon King was writhing in pain.

If Sylvia’s divine power can deal enough damage, then he is not an invincible opponent who can never be defeated.

“Adversary…”

Amazingly, as if my trembling just moments ago had been a lie, I was able to look straight into the hideous form of the Demon King.

I guess I was frightened by that scary and bizarre appearance.

Although it was still a horrifying sight that aroused disgust, at least the fear had definitely diminished compared to before.

“… under,”

It’s Sylvia.

She saved my life again.

Sylvia picked me up again when I fell down again.

“for a moment…”

As I looked at the Demon King rolling on the floor with my mind back, my head suddenly started spinning.

If that monster is extremely sensitive to divine power.

If only even a handful of divine power could cause even the slightest harm to that being.

“…!”

I had just the right weapon.

It may not be a sword that can cut through the Demon King’s body, but it is a heart of divine wrath that can infinitely carve out any slashes that offend him.

I reached into my pocket.

The pockets were still warm.

“… Sister Alice.”

I took a moment to plan out a plan in my head.

difficult.

In fact, the chances of failure were much higher.

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a great strategy that would definitely work, and even the ones that did come up were all a mess.

However, if we succeed, we will definitely be able to kill the Demon King.

I opened my mouth slowly.

“Pia”

“Yeah, Ash. What came to mind?”

“A plan… is just an idea that doesn’t work. In fact, no matter how much I think about it, I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m asking Pia.”

Pia said, puffing out her chest and placing both hands on her waist above her hips.

“Okay, just say anything. I’m ready.”

“Pia…”

“I’ll show you that I can do anything for Ash, better than that woman.”

Pia lifted her chin, showing her hostility towards Sylvia.

I nodded and asked.

“Let me approach the Demon King.”

“… ok?”

Pia’s chin, which had been raised with great effort, fell helplessly with a look of bewilderment.

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