The massacre continued. The Army of Darkness dispersed as they closed in on Nakajima Kojirou in an attempt to avoid the Swords of Light and Darkness. The greatsword was the primary threat. One wrong move could see the entire army annihilated.
However, the scattered monsters were instead dispatched by the far more adaptable dagger. It possessed less power over a wide range, but still bore sheer force enough to blow away the pockets of monsters that were moving as groups, dealing plenty of damage to the army. Naturally, the magic the other visitors were firing was nothing to scoff at either.
Even as they intercepted the swarm of monsters, they threw out attacks against Kudou Riku, who was moving about the battlefield at high speed in Dora’s arms. He was a decoy. Just by having attacks aimed at him, he could reduce the damage to his army. It was an extremely dangerous tactic, though. Dora was a powerful combatant who was capable of teleporting from shadow to shadow, making her ideal for this job, but she had her limits.
“Ugh...”
“My king?! Are you all right?!”
Despite dodging a direct hit, a rock that had been sent flying by the shock wave coincidentally gouged a scar across his brow. Kudou Riku’s body was that of a fragile civilian. Blood poured down his face.
“Don’t mind me. Focus on the enemy.”
“Ah! As you will!”
Even as the chaos continued unabated, he maintained his control over the army. The moment he stopped controlling them, it would all be over. Still, what change would come from his resilience? His army’s attacks couldn’t reach their enemies. The sporadic magic unleashed by Friedrich was unfortunately being blocked. As he continued acting as a decoy, Kudou Riku was gradually getting injured. He was at an overwhelming disadvantage here, something anyone could see. The Demon King had thrown himself into a hopeless battle.
In contrast, the visitors had strength to spare. Regardless, they weren’t being careless. They simply saw this as a one-sided massacre. They handled it with disinterest as if it were just busywork. It was only natural for them to see things this way. At least, under normal circumstances, it would be. In this case, perhaps they hadn’t thought it through enough.
Or perhaps they were simply normal. If there was one exception to this laissez-faire attitude, it would be Nakajima Kojirou, swinging his Sword of Light from the back. His onslaught against the approaching army demonstrated amusement rather than mere obligation.
“Ah...?”
It started with a slight sense of unease. By the time this escalated into realization, it was already too late to ignore it.
“Hey. Are we...?”
Gradually, and certainly, the monsters getting in range of them were multiplying. The reason for this was simple.
“W-We can’t keep up?!”
It was just a matter of volume. The Sword of Light blew away small packs of monsters. The visitors were also using high-level magic to inflict massive casualties. But what of it? The Lord of Darkness single-mindedly piled up a mountain of blood, meat, and corpses. He did so until his enemy couldn’t keep it up anymore. The price for this was great, of course. The losses his army suffered could no longer be disregarded. Only sixty percent remained. Faced with these enemies, who all possessed extraordinary individual power, the only thing Kudou Riku had to rely on was numbers. As the one manipulating these numbers, it could be said that what remained of his army was what remained of his life.
Even a candle posed a threat when burning fiercely. However, this act shortened his own life. If he were to consider the consequences, there was no way he would act so recklessly. And yet, he showed no hesitation to do exactly that.
“H-Hey! N-No way!”
Pushing through the long-distance attacks, more and more monsters got their own attacks in. In the beginning, one or two getting through had been instantly killed. A few moments ago, one had gotten two attacks in before being killed. Now, an attacking monster survived.
It was getting harder and harder to deal with the monsters. By using one of the shortswords he had in reserve, Nakajima Kojirou was able to rally his group at fixed intervals. From another perspective, he was being forced to use his shortswords, which weren’t cost-effective against dispersed enemies. By all rights, Kudou Riku was far too fragile to stand on the battlefield. However, by serving as a decoy and wearing himself to tatters, he was slowly cornering the group of heroes who’d been given tremendous power. It was an impossibility. It couldn’t be happening.
“Aren’t you frightened?”
It was simply abnormal. Those who realized this lost their composure. They even felt fear. That was natural. No normal person could understand him. Kudou Riku was broken. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t be stopped. So, he kept going. He would keep going until his entire army was gone. Kudou Riku didn’t show the slightest hesitation to shave away everything he’d built up, everything he was.
The visitors opposing him were forced to realize this. The Lord of Darkness’s inherent ability was of course fiendish, but the way this boy wielded it was the most terrifying part about him. And by the time they realized this, it was already too late.
“One down.”
“A-Aaah! Help...!”
One of the visitors finally failed to block an attack and was engulfed by the charging army of monsters. His figure vanished under a tide of beasts in the blink of an eye. The others turned pale. They started to hear the dreadful footsteps of ruin approaching them. This was what had tormented Kudou Riku ever since the Colony’s destruction. Now, he was dragging the visitors who’d been responsible for it down to the pits of hell.
“That’s two.”
“Y-You should’ve died back then... You should’ve died... Aaaaaah?!”
Another boy was engulfed by monsters as he wailed in terror.
“Should’ve died...? I have been dying. I’m already dead.”
Kudou Riku discarded the statement with chillingly resentful eyes. He should’ve died that day. He’d heard the footsteps of ruin approaching him ever since. His doom was closer to him than ever before. It was already within reach. Only forty percent of his army remained. But it wasn’t over yet. He wasn’t going to die until he killed all the ringleaders. It was precisely because he believed that...
“Nice, Kudou. You’re great.”
That the mastermind behind everything seemed so hatefully far away as he smiled at Kudou in delight.
“Three...”
“M-My king!”
Dora raised her voice in a fluster as she continued running about from shadow to shadow with Kudou Riku in her arms. He was steadily killing them, but even now, only Nakajima Kojirou remained perfectly composed. He continued mowing down the incoming army while still taking precise shots at Kudou Riku.
He unleashed a shadowy shortsword, obliterating several monsters a good distance away. A bear monster charged in to match the attack, and was decapitated by the radiant dagger in his other hand. Without pausing, he grasped Kudou Riku’s location and unleashed a beam of light at him.
“Ugh...!”
Because of the losses to his army, he hadn’t evaded or blocked in time. Failing to intercept the strike, half of Friedrich’s right wings were smashed to bits, and a majority of Caesar’s body was scorched.
Kudou Riku had wounds of all sizes all over his body. The casualties they were suffering were severe, but because they were supported by the absolute pillar called Nakajima Kojirou, the other visitors weren’t routed. If only he weren’t here, the Army of Darkness would’ve already engulfed the visitors and won.
Kudou Riku didn’t have an inexhaustible supply of monsters. It was apparent from the number of monster corpses that not all that many of them remained. He was down to twenty percent. At this pace, he would be out in a few more minutes.
“It was fun, but...you’ve reached your limit, Demon King.”
“Ugh.”
After coming so far, Kudou Riku’s frozen expression twisted bitterly. Nakajima Kojirou really was far too strong. Kudou Riku had been at a disadvantage from the very beginning. Having overpowered the visitors for a short period could be considered abnormal. At this point, his only choice was to dive into the depths of ruin. It was only a matter of time until he fell prey to the Sword of Light.
“Not yet...!”
Nevertheless, giving up was one thing he refused to do. He was never going to accept going down without a fight when the mastermind behind everything was in sight.
“Not yet!”
Ten percent left. Anton had been left in command of the army and had finally been forced to take to the front. From the very moment he chose to stay here in Majima Takahiro’s stead to allow him to escape, Kudou Riku couldn’t run away himself. However, with his army depleted to such an extent, retreating would be meaningless either way.
“Dora! Forward!”
So, he chose to advance. He gave the command to link up with the remaining army to close the distance. At this point, he could do nothing more than delay the inevitable. Thus, he chose to charge forth to bare his fangs in hatred and resentment. It didn’t matter how defenseless that left him.
“Nakajima Kojirou, you’re the one person I’ll...!”
He couldn’t die yet. He had to get revenge. He couldn’t die until he plunged Nakajima Kojirou into the depths of despair to match all those the man had tossed into the pits of hell. As if inspired by her master’s tenacity, Dora charged with terrifying vigor. She dodged, intercepted, and defended against magic from the visitors, forcing her way forward. Watching her ghastly figure, the personification of calamity laughed.
“Wonderful!”
His expression was one of pure joy, yet a shadow of envy lay over it. With devilish timing, he unleashed a Sword of Darkness.
“Ah...”
There was no escaping it.
“My king!”
“Guh?!”
Darkness engulfed one of Kidou Riku’s arms. He’d gotten off lightly because Dora had covered him. In exchange, she’d practically taken a direct hit.
“My king... Forgive...me...”
Having taken a fatal blow, her apology vanished into the air. Having lost his means of teleportation, Kudou Riku pitifully tumbled to the ground.
“It’s over.”
“Ugh!”
Nakajima Kojirou already had the Sword of Light in his other hand at the ready. There was nothing Kudou Riku could do. He knew this, but still stretched his hand out toward his sworn enemy.
“Aaaaaah!”
Naturally, his hand didn’t reach. The end finally came for him, with no hope of salvation. A vast ray of light swallowed everything in sight.