Her emotions spilled out of the corners of her eyes.
“It’s the wish…of regular people…who wanted everyone to be happy…!!!”
I took the coffin and the pride and will that was entrusted to me.
“I swear.”
Through the stick I clutched, I swore to her, “I’ll fulfill that wish.”
“Please…”
Hizumi’s head drooped as she said, “Please… Braun…Ati… It’s what everyone wished for…”
Luri Hizumi laughed through her tears.
“Give me a smile…”
I smiled.
“I swear.”
I heard footsteps.
Alsuhariya appeared, intentionally walking slowly to create a dramatic sense of fear.
To bait her, I went lower and lower into the ship.
I finally reached the bottom of the ship—the rugged engine room—and opened a large door, spilling a massive amount of blood down the wound in my side, and shot a water arrow at her.
“Oops.”
Alsuhariya did not attempt to dodge it, and it landed behind her.
“You missed. I’d like to look forward to the next one, but there won’t be one.”
Alsuhariya’s footsteps echoed in the room as she followed me inside—the heart of the Queen’s Watch.
A special magic device called the Queen’s Pillar continued to spin quietly—and the evil spirit laughed loudly.
“Too bad. You’re at a dead end.”
“……”
“I know what you want to do. This place, where the Queen’s Pillar exists, is filled with a large volume of magical power…and you’re thinking of making it explode so you can kill me, along with yourself.”
Dripping greasy sweat, I stared at Alsuhariya as she scoffed.
“You intend to self-destruct. If this much magical power explodes at once, even I won’t be able to compensate and regenerate in time. I would evaporate and disappear in an instant. The quickest way to kill an evil spirit is to wipe out its existence at once without giving it time to regenerate. You destroyed the safety device with the water arrow you pretended to have removed, didn’t you?”
Alsuhariya walked to the center of the room, bowed deeply, and laughed.
“And? Is that the end of the secret plan that your tiny brain has come up with? Or did you think you could stab my heart with that coffin Luri Hizumi gave you? Aren’t you even going to thank me for standing back and waiting while you played out that moving scene?”
I closed the great door as blood spurted out my side, pulled my trigger, and the magical power in the room was activated.
“Unfortunately…”
Alsuhariya said with a bored look on her face as she spun the tip of her finger around and around. “We have about three minutes before a fatal explosion occurs, and I’m not so stupid that I’d be caught off guard by someone of your caliber. With that much time—”
Her right arm entered my body through my stomach and out through my back. Blood slowly poured down the edge of my mouth. She must have injured my lungs.
“I can kill you like this, then have a glass of wine and a nibble and leisurely walk out of this room.”
Her victorious laugh smacked my earlobes—and I smashed my fist into the bridge of her nose.
She flew off the floor with tremendous force.
Alsuhariya collapsed backward and looked up at me, the guy she’d been sure she’d killed, as she wiped her bloody nose.
“…What don’t you understand?”
With a big hole in my stomach, I looked down at the demon as my eyes filled with light.
“The only secret plan my tiny brain could come up with was to beat you to a pulp in the next three minutes.”
Alsuhariya was shocked.
“Why aren’t you dead…? And…”
I clenched my fist, swaying my entire being while working up a huge amount of magical power.
“What is with that magical power…? That strength…? It doesn’t make sense…but this is somewhat familiar… It’s as if…”
I ran as fast as I could and put everything into my fist—
“As if I’m frightened…”
And I slammed it into the obstacle in front of me.
Spewing blood from her nose, Alsuhariya began spinning to the left. I quickly stepped in and struck her again, this time to the right.
Go right.
Right, right, right!!!
I delivered a straight right, physically reinforced to the limit, and kept punching Alsuhariya relentlessly in the face.
Wobble.
Her upper body tilted to the left, her eyes turned upward—and she persevered, supporting herself with one arm, then stabbed me in the stomach with a smoking knife.
The evil spirit was smiling in satisfaction when I slammed my right fist into her brain.
Her head jerked, and her face contorted in anguish.
“Wh-why…?!”
Alsuhariya’s eyes were full of confusion she couldn’t hide.
“Why aren’t you dead…? Wh-why…? Why…?!”
The knife slashed open my upper body, and I tore off my bloody jacket, which was getting in the way—and Alsuhariya stopped breathing in shock.
“Y-you…”
Stabbed into my left chest was a keepsake.
A keepsake, talisman, and my trump card—the coffin. The evil spirit stared at it, and her mouth hung open.
“Y-you stabbed your heart with the coffin… You drew on the magical power of the tiny ants…those self-proclaimed heroes…who put their homeopathic magic engraved with hero regalia into that… With one mistake, you would have burst from the inside and died… How…? How can you put your life on the line at a crucial moment like this…?”
“Easy,” I said. “Because Luri Hizumi’s crying.”
I shot my right fist up from the waist.
The uppercut sliced through the air in a scooping motion, made Alsuhariya’s stomach cave in, and her back bulged out. The evil spirit’s body floated in the air as she spat blood.
Punch.
Punch, punch, punch!!!
That was my only focus.
I continued to smack the demon in front of me, and the frustration of knowing her life was draining away was evident in her face.
“B-bastard… You no-good bastard… Th-this is bad…I don’t have time… To think a kid like this, a would-be hero…would…take my life… Bastard… Aaahhh!!!”
Alsuhariya released her Magic Eye and tried to obliterate me—and the Queen’s Pillar’s magical power reacted. She clicked her tongue and gritted her teeth.
“I—I have to get out of here…call Sylphiel and the others… B-but no… The location…is too unsuitable… I-is this…what this guy intended from the start…? Ngh…! Ah…!!!”
Another punch to the right, then the left.
My fist continued its dance and made the evil spirit crumble.
“You!”
Pure horror overcame the evil spirit’s face as I continued to deliver blow after blow.
“The girl you treated like a toy… The girl you used, the girl you harmed, to pass the time… She fought a disease that plagued her tiny body…desperately…made herself smile…as she tried to be a hero…and attempted to seize the future… And if you…a mere being like you…want to ruin her smile…her will…her life, then I’ll—”
The knife she thrust out slashed through my right fist—but I ignored the excruciating pain and followed through with my swing.
“I’ll punch you to your death!!!”
My fist shot into the demon’s face.
Her body flipped vigorously in the air.
Staggering from side to side, Alsuhariya repositioned herself, baring her hostility.
“S-stupid kid…don’t get carried away… I have higher specs than you… You’re nothing but a mortal…a toy… Don’t think you’re a match for an evil spirit… If you say magical power can block the fatal blows I give you, I’ll simply… Ngh!”
A huge number of knives flew out from her trench coat. She grabbed one and pointed the blade at me.
“I’ll shred you to death!!!”
“Try it, you demon… It’s a good opportunity…for us…to go head-to-head…”
I steadied myself on my wobbly legs, and through my blood-soaked hair, I glared at the evil spirit. Extending my right arm, I gestured for her to come to me with my index finger.
“I’ll show you what it’s like to be human.”
Alsuhariya stepped forward, as did I.
Right versus right, it was a clash of blade against fist as our killing intent seemed to be sucked into the other’s weak point.
Bright red blood stained the floor in a violent duel with ferocious force.
Her blood mingled with mine as mortal and demon entwined, and we reveled in killing each other.
Fist and blade swung with tremendous fury, roaring through the air and shaking the room as the Queen’s Pillar creaked, gushing out a pale flash of light.
It was a clash of will versus will, teeth biting teeth, and cries leaking out of both mouths.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”
Both our lives were on the line as we continued to chip away at the other’s pride.
Overconfident in her abilities, Alsuhariya’s expression gradually changed and became distorted with anguish.
“Why?!”
Her voice trembled as she saw that no matter how many times she slashed, cleaved, or stabbed me, I wasn’t going down.