-3-
KANATA AND LUNAÈRE successfully defeated Lucifer, and the fighting force that Veranta put together successfully routed the monsters around Cocytus. Things were calming down after the first stages of treating the severely injured and hunting down any stray monsters, and now they were holding a feast as thanks for the warriors’ hard work. There were adventurers scattered about with drinks in hand and cheers ringing out.
“They’re quite loud. Shall we get our compensation from that masked man and make our exit?” said Yozakura with an exasperated sigh as she looked at the rambunctious adventurers.
“No, not yet. I’ve heard a rumor that a certain traveler is here…Kanata…” said Lovis.
“Sir, you don’t mean—!” Yozakura gasped.
“Now I fear nothing. The time has come for me to clear away the shame of my past. I plan to challenge him to battle again, and this time, it will be a fight to the death.” Lovis smiled faintly.
“I was keeping an eye on you bunch of psychos, and it looks like you really are planning something bad,” said someone approaching Lovis and the others.
Lovis turned in that direction to see a man with spiky black and blond hair. There was an unpleasant look to his eyes, a canine poking over his lip, and a massive sword slung over his back.
“Mitsuru, the traveler,” said Lovis.
“Haven’t seen you since Grede’s mansion, pervert,” said Mitsuru. “Nice that I get a chance to give back what you gave me last time.” He pulled the sword from his back and pointed it at Lovis.
In Ploroque, the city of merchants, Mitsuru attacked Lovis after mistaking him for someone working for Grede. A battle ensued. Lovis technically won in the end, but Kanata appeared, leaving the fight unresolved.
“I knew there was something wrong with you,” said Mitsuru. “I’m gonna beat you to a pulp, without a care in the world. You’re not the only one who got stronger from beating those monsters!”
Mitsuru leapt toward Lovis.
Veranta provided them with items and an army of golems, allowing them to defeat a horde of monsters more powerful than them. Mitsuru, with his gift skill that allowed him to easily damage higher-level opponents, was the person who benefited the most from that situation.
With Double, his ability that allowed him to double a specific stat of his, he could earn experience by hiding behind the golems and delivering decisive blows against the monsters, making it easy for him to gain levels.
A yellow light enveloped Mitsuru’s body. “Double…Speed Mode!”
His speed instantly increased. His swift blade rushed toward Lovis and Yozakura, who stood beside him.
And the next moment, Lovis, Yozakura, and Damia disappeared.
“Huh…?”
A scythe blade lay across Mitsuru’s throat.
“Is that the best you can do with your special skill? You’re not even worth playing with now,” whispered Lovis into Mitsuru’s ear.
“N-no way, that’s crazy…” Mitsuru couldn’t accept the difference in power.
He should have been the one with an overwhelming advantage when it came to leveling up at this battle at Cocytus, but Lovis managed to increase his level more than two times as much as Mitsuru simply through his battle acumen and thirst for violence. The greatest difference between Mitsuru and Lovis, though, was in that Mitsuru did nothing more than rely on Double for safe monster hunting. Mitsuru might have talent, but he wasn’t a fiend like Lovis.
“While I might have enjoyed killing you after our fight at Grede’s mansion, killing you like this would be a bit of a letdown. I have high hopes for you, Mitsuru Ijuuin. One day, I hope you’ll entertain me again. I’ll wait until then.”
Lovis slammed the butt of his scythe into Mitsuru’s abdomen, causing him to clutch at his stomach and crumple to the ground.
“A-agh!”
“Ha ha ha… I have finally reached it,” said Lovis. “I have reached the height where the rulers of the world perch. I don’t care if they’re the manipulators of the world or even gods, I will kill them all and take their place! I look forward to you coming to stop me, Mitsuru.”
Lovis turned away, and Mitsuru shouted, “Wait, you bastard!”
“You can’t do anything, not as you are now. Abandon your logic and your fear. Entrust everything to a primitive instinct! If you do, someday, surely, you can become like me.”
With his back to Mitsuru, Lovis walked away. Yozakura and Damia rushed after him.
“Sir!” called Yozakura happily, but the scythe’s blade flashed before her eyes. It slashed into the earth as if refusing her and Damia. “S-Sir…?”
“I have no need anymore… No need for opening acts, no need for organizations, and no need for companions. The two of you will never become stronger than you are now. I can obtain everything I desire with my own power now. I will no longer maintain relationships that hold me back,” said Lovis coldly as Yozakura and Damia stood in disbelief.
“B-but! I don’t need anything more than to be beside you and see where you go!” cried Yozakura desperately as she lost her composure and tears streamed from her eyes.
Damia looked sad, but it seemed like he knew this was going to happen someday. All he did was bow his head and say, “Thank you for everything, Sir. No matter where you go or what you do…I pray you find satisfaction wherever you end up.” Lovis didn’t even turn back at Damia’s last heartfelt words.
“Hi, Mister…what are you doing? Are you fighting?” came the voice of a small girl who appeared in front of Lovis. She had very unique hair—wound up into uneven spirals, a divide on the left and right between pale pink and lime green curls.
Lovis smiled slightly at the girl and crouched down so their eyes were level. “Little miss, do you know a man with black hair and a gold sword?”
“Kanata…? Philia knows Kanata! He’s Phila’s friend! He’s over there! Philia will take you!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“That makes our conversation quick, then. But it’s okay, you don’t have to show me—just tell me where he is.”
“Hey, Mister, what do you want Kanata for?”
“Hm…? Oh, nothing really.” Lovis’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth curled up. “I just thought I might go kill him.”
And then a huge white fist erupted from the ground and nearly punched him to death.
✦ ✦ ✦
-4-
LOVIS SAT ON A BED in the makeshift first-aid facility near Cocytus with a dreary expression on his face.
Three days had already passed since the mysterious girl named Philia punched him, but he hadn’t slept a single night since. Every day he spent without sleeping and without eating. The facility had a cohort of white magic users, and they’d treated him several times, but his body wasn’t recovering.
There was no doubt emotional damage, because of course there would be. He had been so overjoyed to attain the power to allow him to fight against the rulers of this world, and then a random little girl sent him flying and he couldn’t do a single thing about it. It was incredibly difficult to handle the shock that gave him.
The absurdity of Locklore ran so much deeper than Lovis originally realized. The growth he achieved was like if a tiny frog living in a small puddle moved into a well instead. This new world was incomparably vast and deep, and there was still the ocean out there. Lovis didn’t even have the right to dip his toes in the ocean.
“Sir, pull yourself together! Y-you just happened to run into a bad opponent! It was just happenstance!” said Damia, desperately trying to reason with Lovis, but he wouldn’t listen at all. He just stared up at the ceiling with a vacant look on his face. “Th-the world looks like it’s going to be a mess soon! I’m sure you’ll get plenty of chances to raise your level! You just have to get over—!”
“I’m just…tired. I don’t want to fight anymore…” said Lovis, his expression devoid of emotion.
“What are you saying?! I don’t want to see you like this, I don’t!” Damia slumped to the ground, his head in his hands.
“Sir… I brought you some fruit. I’ve cut it up nice and small, I’m sure you can manage to eat this. Here, let me feed you,” said Yozakura. In complete contrast to Damia, she was beaming with an affectionate smile. She softly placed her hand on Lovis’s back, though he didn’t respond, and gently brought a piece of fruit to his mouth with her other hand.
“Yozakura…doesn’t seeing him like this make you sad?” asked Damia.
“…I realized something. I might have complained the whole time, but I really enjoyed our time traveling the kingdom, just the three of us.” Her smile was full of warmth, but then she turned a cool gaze on Lovis. “Which is why I am much happier caring for him like this than I would be if he abandoned us and went traveling alone.”
“I don’t like it! Sir! Please go back to normal, Sir!” Damia grabbed Lovis by the shoulders and shook him vigorously.