The Hero Menace Read online

  “My apologies, my lord. I shall do as Sir Veight suggests.”

  “Fear not, I have Veight and my imperial guards to protect me. Between us, we possess the might of ten thousand men. Your duty is to ensure the remnants of the second regiment escape safely. There will once again come a time where their strength is needed.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Sheesh. Finally she agrees to leave. A huge smile spread across her face as the Demon Lord continued to praise her. So this is the charisma of the Demon Lord.

  “Sir Veight.” Vice-Commander Shure turned to me with a serious expression and said, “I understand my powerlessness would only get in your way. So please support the Demon Lord in my place. And please stay safe yourself.”

  Honestly, I had no idea how things were going to end up. If we were even a little unlucky, all of us could end up dead. So all I could say in response was, “I’ll do my best.”

  The castle courtyard fell quiet, and dark shadows covered the forest as night approached. Soon enough, a single figure appeared from beyond the mists. He was lightly armed and lightly armored.

  “All of you, fall back. Unless I give the order, do not interfere!”

  I commanded the Demon Lord’s remaining bodyguards from atop an observation tower on the castle walls. I then had the castle gates opened. Walls and gates were meaningless against a monster who could cut down Tiverit; they’d just be destroyed, and I didn’t feel like wasting resources. Though it still irked me to let him through without a fight. The Hero strode through Grenschtat’s gates without even the slightest hint of fear. As he drew near, I was able to get a measure of just how strong he was. He didn’t appear to be a mage, but he possessed an unbelievable amount of mana. It spilled out in an endless torrent, much like the Demon Lord’s own. I’m certain of it now. That guy’s the real deal. The waves of power he emitted caused the mist to part around him, leaving his path clear. His mere presence was overwhelming.

  “Lord Veight...”

  The palace guards standing around me gave me a worried look. These weren’t the Demon Lord’s elites, but just normal soldiers. However, they’d been in enough fights to know just how dangerous the Hero was. I turned to them and said in a stern voice, “That guy is without a doubt, a real Hero. Even if we all attacked him at once, we’d be struck down instantly. Do not, under any circumstances, engage.”

  “Y-Yes, sir.”

  After entering the courtyard the Hero went straight for the main entrance. He was wearing civilian clothes in the northern style, and outfitted with only the simple equipment given out to conscripted militia. I spotted Bahen’s crest on his leather breastplate, but I couldn’t tell if he was originally from Bahen, or had simply picked up that piece of armor in the city. At his waist hung a lightweight longsword. Aside from that, he had nothing, not even a soldier’s backpack. He doesn’t look like he has any projectiles, maybe we can slow him down a little with arrows. But before I could give the order, another group struck.

  “Revenge for our commander!”

  “Protect his Highness the Demon Lord!”

  Dozens of figures leapt from the shadows, targeting the Hero from every direction. From the looks of it, they looked to be from the remnants of the second regiment. I had expected all of them to run away. Mixed in among them were a few newbie dragonkin soldiers.

  “No, stop!”

  However, my warning fell on deaf ears. They continued their charge, and the Hero drew his sword. He swung it horizontally in front of him, but my attention was more focused on his hands than his sword. Mana flowed from his hands into his sword, creating a second invisible blade from its hilt. The mana-blade had unbelievable reach.

  “Get down, all of you!”

  The only ones who listened to my command were the dragonkin. The Hero’s invisible blade scraped the scales on their back as it passed over them. Those who hadn’t dropped to the ground were cut in half. In a single stroke, the Hero had taken down an entire squad of soldiers. Deep grooves had been cut into the castle’s wall where the Hero’s blade had passed through.

  “Run into the castle, now!”

  The surviving dragonkin scrambled for the gates, but the Hero wasn’t about to let them escape. He leapt lightly off the ground, sailing a good 10 meters into the air. By the time he’d landed in front of them, the dragonkin were all dead. Blood spurted from their chests and they collapsed to the ground. None of them had managed to run away.

  After the slaughter was over, the Hero looked down at his sword. The cheap weapon hadn’t been able to withstand the ferocity of its mana, and the blade had shattered. He kicked a nearby dragonkin corpse, rolling it onto its side. He then bent down and retrieved the soldier’s sword. Dragonkin swords were weighted differently than blades meant for humans, but it seemed anything with a sharp edge would do for the Hero. All he needed was a core to wrap mana around.

  The Hero looked up and glared at me. The dragonkin surrounding me flinched and backed up a few steps. Of course, I was just as terrified, but I had my pride as a vice-commander. Determined not to be overwhelmed, I glared back. However, I knew if I tried to get close I’d be cut down. After a brief staring contest, the Hero turned his back to me and headed toward the castle entrance. As I’d feared, he was far beyond our capacity to handle.

  “I’m heading back to the castle. You lot check to see if there are any survivors in the courtyard. After you’re done, take anyone who’s still alive and run.”

  Chances were everyone was dead, but I needed to give these guys something to do or they might try something reckless as well. Once I’d given my orders, I ran down the corridor connecting to the castle, and headed for the audience chamber. Before I could reach it though, I spotted a figure running toward me from the opposite direction. It’s the Hero! Somehow, he had managed to beat me to the audience chamber. Despite never having been in this castle before, he’d known where to go, like some kind of hunting dog. I swallowed my fear and glared at the Hero. If I was going to die anyway, I’d at least die with pride. However, the Hero came to a halt when he spotted me. He didn’t seem to be getting ready to attack.

  “The Demon Lord’s in there?” he asked in a voice colder than ice. Though he was human, he didn’t seem to have any humanity in him. His voice was filled with anger, hatred, and bloodlust. Those were the only human emotions I sensed from him. His inhuman tone left me momentarily taken aback, but it seemed the Hero wouldn’t move until he heard my answer. Not like I can hide it from him, so I may as well be honest.

  “That’s right. Face him if you dare, human.”

  Terrified as I was, I still refused to call him “Hero.” As far as I was concerned, the only true heroes were people like the Demon Lord. I pushed the double doors open and stood aside to let the Hero pass. As he walked past, I sensed a wave of bloodlust roll off him. All of the mana surrounding him was molded into an attack, ready to be loosed at any moment. I instantly leapt back and readied myself for a fight. But the Hero did nothing. Was he trying to test me? Damn It, stop scaring me like that. Don’t think I’ll just take your threats lying down!

  “Do you wish to face me, human?”

  The Hero ignored my threat, and silently continued into the chamber. Had I let my guard down for even a moment, I likely would have been cut down.

  The Demon Lord’s imperial guards flanked the throne, each of them fully armored. Sitting in the throne was the Demon Lord, dressed for battle. The pressure he was emitting rivaled the Hero’s. The Hero ignored the Demon Lord’s guards and walked straight up to him. It looked like he was tired of dealing with small fry like us. He shot the Demon Lord a gaze filled with pure hate and growled, “Arshes.”

  Apparently that was the Hero’s name. He hadn’t announced himself as the Hero. The Demon Lord nodded and replied in a calm voice, “Friedensrichter.”

  Like the Hero, he gave his name and not his title. He pointed at the Demon Lord with his sword and spat, “I’ve come here to take revenge for Meltia.”

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sp; That was a name I hadn’t heard of. It wasn’t the name of any of Meraldia’s villages, so I guessed it was a person’s name. Probably a woman’s. The Demon Lord eyed the Hero silently for a few seconds, then rose to his feet. Neither of them said anything else. Likely because they had nothing more to say.

  The Demon Lord grabbed the short spear leaning against the throne. A smaller weapon like that would be easier to maneuver. There was one thing that differentiated it from a normal short spear though. Its butt had been flattened like a sheet. On top of that, the cylindrical shaft leading to it had been hollowed out. It reminded me of the old muskets I’d seen in history books. The Demon Lord lowered his spear and said, “Whatever your grievances are, this is my only reply.”

  At that, the Hero charged the Demon Lord. The struggle between the Hero and the Demon Lord was truly a battle of the ages. The Demon Lord’s spear shot out toward the Hero faster than my eyes could follow. Swirling tendrils of mana wrapped around it, enhancing the power and reach of his attack. The Hero took the Demon Lord’s attacks head-on. His sword moved like a hurricane, blocking each and every one of the Demon Lord’s thrusts. The Demon Lord unleashed a flurry of blows in the span of a second, and the Hero parried them all. Every time their mana-infused weapons clashed, the nearby pillars shattered. As I watched, awestruck, I noticed something about the Hero’s movements. He was purposely trying to draw the Demon Lord’s imperial guards into the fight. The Demon Lord reduced the scope of his attacks, ensuring that he didn’t accidentally hit his own men. The moment I realized this, I hurriedly shouted, “Imperial guards, get back! Don’t be fooled by their weapon’s appearances. They’ve both lengthened their reach with mana!”

  The Demon Lord’s men reacted instantly, and retreated toward the walls. These guys really are elites. However, they weren’t mages, meaning they could only see the physical weapons the two were wielding. Meanwhile, I could clearly see the flow of mana surrounding both of them.

  On the surface, it seemed like the two were just trading fierce blows. In truth, though, they were chipping away at each other’s mana reserves, trying to exhaust their opponent. Even a glancing blow from the Demon Lord’s spear shaved away large quantities of the Hero’s mana. Likewise, even a scratch from the Hero’s sword drained staggering amounts of the Demon Lord’s mana. The smallest of cuts could become a decisive blow in this battle between titans.

  Honestly, I wanted to help, but I knew if I got close I’d be ripped to shreds. Nor would the Demon Lord appreciate my attempts to aid him. I couldn’t even cast support magic, since the Demon Lord’s strength was so far above my own it wouldn’t have any effect. My meager mana was nowhere near enough to raise his abilities.

  All I could do was keep an eye on my surroundings and watch the battle unfold. I was as helpless as the Demon Lord’s guards. The most I could hope to do was put my life on the line to get close and maybe cast healing magic on the Demon Lord.

  As far as I could tell, the two were evenly matched. The Hero blocked the Demon Lord’s thrusts, and the Demon Lord blocked his swings in turn. The pair swung back and forth between offense and defense. However, as the Demon Lord pulled back from his latest thrust, his lips twitched. For the briefest of instants, his movements dulled. I knew exactly what must have happened.

  The Demon Lord had told me before about the one curse of being reincarnated. Both me and the Demon Lord had gone from being human to being demons. Naturally, demons had a very different physique from humans. As I’d never really been much of a fighter in my past life, the only martial techniques I knew were the ones I’d learned as a werewolf. So for me, the difference in body type wasn’t much of a problem. The spear techniques the Demon Lord used, however, were ones he’d learned in his previous life. They were completely different from those used by other dragonkin. But those techniques were meant to be used by a human. Humans and dragonkin had arms of different lengths, and their joints were connected in different places.

  Forcing yourself to use human techniques in a dragonkin body would inevitably put undue strain on your body. In truth, the Demon Lord was most skilled with a sword, but the sword techniques he used would destroy his wrists in a prolonged fight. After testing different fighting styles, he’d eventually settled on the spear. Of course, even his spear technique was miles above everyone else’s. And even that slight lapse in his movements had been so small as to be barely perceptible. But in a fight between two monsters of this caliber, that slight lapse proved fatal.

  “DIE!”

  The Hero instantly went on the offensive. The Demon Lord attempted to evade the Hero’s stroke, but he was a second too late. The Hero’s sword bit deep into the Demon Lord’s shoulder, and passed diagonally down through his body. I watched as mana drained from him at a prodigious rate. This can’t be happening. There’s no way the Demon Lord could lose. But the blood spurting from his chest proved that he could.

  “Well... fought...” The Demon Lord rasped as he fell to his knees. He wasn’t in any condition to fight anymore. Though he may have won, the Hero didn’t come out unscathed. Right as he’d been cut down, the Demon Lord had stabbed the Hero through the stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a deep enough wound to fell the Hero. Despite his wounds, he raised his bloodstained sword and ran toward the prone Demon Lord.

  I leapt forward to stop him, but it was already too late. The Hero slashed downward, ending the Demon Lord’s life once and for all. His massive frame collapsed onto the polished black floor, never to rise again.

  The Hero tossed aside his broken sword and wiped the blood on his face with his shirt. He didn’t seem to feel anything at defeating his fated foe. He turned toward us, already having lost interest in the Demon Lord.

  “Don’t think any of you will be leaving here alive. You’re next.”

  It appeared the Hero had no intention of letting any of us escape. His goal was the wholesale slaughter of demonkind. The Demon Lord’s imperial guards lowered their spears, but I held out a hand to stop them. They’d just get themselves killed.

  “Get back. I’ll take care of this bastard.”

  The Hero turned to me, confused. I didn’t like the look in his eyes.

  “You look just like a human. Are you really a demon?” he growled.

  Instead of replying, I transformed and howled with all my might, casting the strongest Soul Shaker I could. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling shattered, and the torches lighting the room went out. The audience chamber grew a few shades darker, the light of the moon the only remaining source of illumination. I looked down at the Hero and spat, “You’re the one who’s not getting out of here alive.”

  To be honest, I had no confidence I could back those words up. But I didn’t regret uttering them. Regardless of what the consequences might be for the demon army, I refused to let this bastard leave here alive. The Hero looked at me like I was an idiot, then threw away his broken sword.

  “Do you really believe you stand a chance just because I’m injured?”

  He covered his wounds with his hand, and a second later his injuries disappeared. The Demon Lord’s guards staggered backward in shock. The Hero then took a knife from his belt and held it in an underhanded grip.

  “What’s the matter? I thought you wanted to kill me?”

  That bastard’s really looking down on us. While it was true that his wounds had healed, he was nowhere near peak condition. The Demon Lord’s final attack had drained a gargantuan amount of the Hero’s mana, and he’d used up even more to heal himself.

  He wasn’t the superhuman monster he’d been before the battle. The near infinite amount of mana that had been swirling around him when he’d first entered the chamber had been reduced to a measurable amount. In fact, I doubted he even had enough to heal another injury of that caliber.

  Weakened as he was, he was no longer invincible. Even I had a chance to beat him. However, I needed to be prepared to die to do it.

  I activated all of the body-strengthening spells I knew, rai
sing my abilities to their utmost. Thanks to Soul Shaker’s secondary effect of gathering mana around me, my strengthening spells were even more effective than usual. On top of that, I also cast my final trump card.

  “O sleeping madness, sear unto my body your boundless strength!”

  This was one of the few forbidden spells, Fanatic Burn. For a short time, it gave the caster strength that overcame their physical limitations. Whether my bones broke or my muscles tore, I’d be able to continue fighting at full strength. If I wasn’t careful, the aftereffects of the spell would kill me. Granted, I’d die anyway unless I won this fight, so there was no reason to hold back.

  When he saw me using magic, the Hero leapt toward me and thrust his knife forward. Even with my vision heightened, I could only barely follow his speed. I dodged more on instinct than anything, then launched a kick toward his stomach. While it landed where I wanted, I could tell it didn’t have much effect. All it managed to do was punch a hole in his leather armor.

  “Curse you!”

  The Hero countered with a horizontal swing, which I narrowly avoided. I possessed neither the enormous amounts of mana or the powerful physique of the Demon Lord. If one of those swings so much as scratched me, it’d be the end. I aimed a punch toward his face while he was off-balance from the last swing. It was another clean hit, but once again my attack had almost no effect. This guy’s insane! That punch was strong enough to kill a bear!

  If I continued fighting in close quarters like this, it was only a matter of time before I was caught off-guard. I leapt back and put some distance between us. Calm down. You’re a werewolf. Werewolves are merciless hunters, not proud soldiers. This wasn’t some noble duel. No, it was just an enraged werewolf’s hunt for revenge. A cowardly attempt to strike down a wounded foe. After returning to my senses, I hid behind one of the chamber’s pillars.