Chapter 98

“This cursed blade which drank the blood of countless monsters and finally gained the power to unleash the ultimate special attack… It was destroyed with such ease…?!” The giant takes a step back in consternation. Not only has he lost both arms, but his whole body is starting to crack. “My…! My vessel—it’s breaking…!” “Arwf? (What? You attacked me without warning, and now you’re self-destructing without warning. Serves you right.)” “Squeak. (Because it possesses special-attack effects toward monsters, the effect must have been deflected off the sword the moment the attack itself didn’t work on one.)” Actually, I’m a dog, not a monster. So Len’s explanation is wrong. There’s probably just a spell on it that prevents it from harming cute doggos. “Squeak? (Aren’t you beginning to grow tired of constantly averting your eyes from reality?)” Sh-shaddup. As long as I don’t accept it, the possibility that I’m a dog will never disappear. “Heh-heh-heh…” The collapsing cursed sword begins cackling. “Heh… Fwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Acting like you’ve won already, are you?!” Ugh. He’s still not dead? Some sort of black haze is starting to come out of the cracks of the broken blade. “This sword was only a vessel to seal my power! You’ve just saved me the time and effort of removing the seal completely!” The amount of haze leaking out rapidly increases, and it collects on the ceiling like a cloud. “I am a devil—a being with no corporeal form! No matter how tough or strong you may be, physical attacks will have no effect on my body! I’ll whittle you down slowly, and then, at the very end, I’ll possess you!” The gathered haze coils around itself, spinning like a drill, then attacks me. “Arwf! (Physical attacks won’t work? That’s against the rules!)” I ignore Len quipping that I’m not one to talk. “Fwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! It’s difficult for even magic to affect demons! If there is anything that could possibly affect me now, it would only be the ultimate destruction magic of eld!” Oh? That works. “Woof. (I can do that.)” “Huh?” “Woof, woof. (I can shoot ultimate destruction magic.)” The haze stops moving when it hears my answer. “Huh? Wait, really?” “Arrrwf! (Hell yeah!)” I say, preparing to barf up a beam. I open my mouth wide, and a point of light appears inside it. Mana, veiled in lightning, coalesces at that point. “S-stooooooop!!” Who would stop just because the bad guy told them to? “Grrrrrrrroooooohhhhhh!! (The price of harming my licky-licky target is a heavy one, asshole!!)” The girthy beam annihilates the entire cloud of haze as it tries to flee, then pierces through the ceiling, shooting all the way up into the sky. The flash of light and the roaring noise fade, returning silence to my surroundings. “Arwww… (Phew… That had to have killed him.)” I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t hear yet another round of laughter this time. “Arwf! (Oops! I have to go check on Zenobia and the Hero.)” I run over to the Hero, whose jaw is practically on the floor. “Arwf, arwf? (How is she?)” “Mew… (Well…)” Nahura doesn’t let up with the healing magic, but Zenobia’s eyes won’t open. There’s a big hole in her breastplate, and she’s not moving one bit. “Arwf…? (Huh…?)” “…It’s… It’s my fault… I’m so sorry, Zenobia…” The Hero again breaks down into tears, which fall onto Zenobia’s face. “Arwf…? (This can’t be, can it…? Zenobia…?)” “Mew… (Well… I’m still using my healing magic, but…)” It’s not having any effect? “Meow. (Nope, it’s not that. She’s just not wounded anywhere.)” “Arwf? (Huh?)” In response to my surprise, Zenobia’s right hand rises, grazing the blubbering Hero. “Don’t cry, you idiot…” “Z-Zenobia…?! How?! You’re all right?!” In front of the Hero, who is even more astonished than I am, Zenobia sits up. Her armor and clothing have been torn, but she’s not even bleeding. “Sheesh… Just look at your fur,” says Zenobia, after taking out a stuffed animal whose head is hanging on by a thread. Sticking out from the seam is not cotton, but my own fur, gleaming with silvery light. “It looks like this shielded me. I’m ashamed of having lost consciousness from the impact, but I’m not injured.” “Thank goodness… Oh, thank goodness…” “Didn’t I just tell you to stop crying?” Zenobia is scooped up into the Hero’s arms. He bawls as he clings to her. “Arwf, arwf. (Ugh, damn pretty boys. I can’t allow you to have a monopoly on Zenobia’s chest!)” “Squeak. (You keep saying that word ‘pri-ti-boi.’ What does that mean?)” “Mew. (Who knows? This is Routa we’re talking about, so it’s probably something vulgar.)” “Arwf, arwf! (It is not vulgar! It means a good-looking guy!)” “Squeak? (‘Guy’? What are you talking about, beloved?)” “Meow? (Who knows? But it seems like there’s a decent laugh at the end of all this, so let’s ignore it for now.)” Why are those two giggling like that? Anyway, it’s great that Zenobia is safe, but now my identity is under even more suspicion. “Arwrw… (Haah, how depressing…)” I give a sigh, and Zenobia looks over here. “Don’t look so concerned. I’m not going to do anything to you anymore. Not after I saw that incredible magic anyway. I doubt I could do anything to you to begin with.” Shit, she even saw the beam? It’s over. It’s all over! “I completely understand now. You’ll never, ever do anything bad in your entire life.” Even convinced I’m a monster, Zenobia doesn’t seem at all hostile toward me. In fact, she comes over and pats me on the head. “I’m alive thanks to you. You saved us…both me and Alstera.” And then she gives me the warmest smile I’ve ever seen on her face. “Thank you, Routa.” The moonlight filters in through the hole in the ceiling, lighting up her smile. When I see that, I… “Arwrw… (Eh-heh-heh… You’re making me blush…)” …I squirm, putting a paw over my face to hide it. “Squeak. (To respond thus to the exceptional smile of a woman… It truly is unsightly of you, milord.)” “Meow. (Ah-ha-ha. It’s something good about him, huh?)” Len and Nahura jump onto me. “Arwf, arwf. (It’s not like I can say anything considerate, is it?)” I’m just glad I didn’t politely ask to lick her. “Squeak. (More importantly, we shouldn’t stay here for very long.)” Huh? Why’s that? “Squee-squeak. (The Hero destroyed the labyrinth’s core earlier, right? The labyrinth should be collapsing any second now.)” “Arwf?! (Huh?! You should have said that earlier!)” We all gather in one spot, and Nahura uses spatial magic. The scenery fades to white, and a moment later, we’re right in front of the mansion.