98 – Descent

From Ketratuus’s knightly form, now split asunder, a mess of metal scraps spilled out, revealing the machinery within.

He twitched briefly, then ceased all movement, permanently broken.

The trouble was, I couldn’t move either.

“Son… of a b*tch!”

I dropped my sword and collapsed.

The skin of both my palms was completely flayed, and my arms and legs, strained by the excessive body modifications, were trembling, losing all strength.

“…Unsalvageable, huh? This?”

[I TOLD you!! You blithering idiot!! You pushed your body modifications past its breaking point!]

“Just… try to do something, okay, Kon? I’m really hurting here.”

This was the first time I’d felt pain like this since my reincarnation into this world.

Cold sweat poured from me in torrents, and my limbs wouldn’t obey.

My ligaments, muscles, and bones were all screaming at once, an unbearable, horrific sensation.

[You’re not a hero, Amel. Shall I be blunt? You’re just an ordinary man. You’ve only survived until now thanks to those bizarre skills I’ve never seen before. You’ve never had any proper combat training, have you? You don’t even work out regularly! You’re heading for destruction. You’re going to die!!]

Even as I lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for air, I found myself smiling.

“Would you believe me if I said that’s what I wanted?”

They threw acolytes at me, even sent a deathless mechanical knight.

And that flaming sword, melting rock in real-time, couldn’t be just an ordinary blade.

If I still haven’t died, despite all of this, then next time, undoubtedly…

Just like I saw in my dream, three demon lords will personally manifest and tear me to pieces.

[Why? What monstrous crime did you commit? What kind of massive sin are you atoning for? Or is that the price for protecting Kanya? I honestly can’t wrap my head around it.]

Kon was tinkering with my body, using his modification skills. The stiffness in my limbs eased slightly.

I staggered to my feet.

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Because the only way to eradicate Asmodeus from my soul and ensure everyone’s true happiness is by doing this.

As Kon and I spoke,

a tremendous roar echoed in the distance, like an earthquake.

A sound as if the ground itself was sinking.

I gasped and forced myself upright.

“Kon. It looks like we still have more fighting to do.”

[Are you deaf? You’ve already pushed your body beyond its limits! Any more and your limbs might be permanently ruined!]

“But I have to protect Kanya. Can’t you do something?”

Kon was silent for a moment.

Then,

Suddenly, the pain that had been throbbing in my limbs seemed to vanish.

[Pain suppressed. I’ve just nudged your brain a little with absolute hypnosis. You shouldn’t feel any more now. But your body will be pushed harder, sooner. It’s not a good method, not at all. You need to rest, right now. Got it?]

“Don’t worry. I’m not exactly a self-destructive type. I’ll just push myself a bit, until I rescue Kanya.”

Kon laughed, as if I’d said the most absurd thing.

[That’s the funniest lie I’ve heard all year, Amael.]

I felt strength surging back into my arms and legs.

[Pushed your physical modification one more time, forcefully. You should be fine to fight for now. But heed my warning! This is eating away at your lifespan! Some parts of your body might get permanently damaged, beyond any modification!]

“Thanks.”

I looked down at the infernal sword lying on the ground.

The desire to take it burned in my chest.

But my melted palms were still far from healed.

It was a weapon I couldn’t grip, couldn’t wield.

There was no choice.

Right now, getting Kanya to the rocky mountains of Talhaim was more urgent.

I left the burning sword and raced towards the sound of gunfire.

*

Kanya’s revolver spat fire.

Four zealots of Jealousy, rushing at her, were cut down by rapid fanning, barely able to react before their eyes burst and they collapsed.

But that was the extent of her resistance.

Jagged, rocky terrain.

Her frail limbs.

And, above all, the pursuers’ strength surpassed that of mere humans.

“Surround her, left and right! Quickly!! We’re already running out of time!”

The leader snapped, his voice sharp, and the Jealousy zealots began to spread out.

Kanya frantically reloaded, whipping her pistol around and firing, but that only worked so many times.

Some even shielded their eyes with their palms as they moved, rendering her shots ineffective.

Finally, beset on all sides – left, right, and center – by three squads of Jealousy zealots, Kanya was forced to give ground.

Her pistol was knocked from her hand, scraping against her nails as it fell, and one of the zealots seized her small head in his hand, lifting her off the ground.

“Let… let go!…”

“Filthy b*tch.”

His voice dripped with murderous hatred, but the zealot said nothing more, simply invoking black magic.

Immediately, thorn-like tattoos spread across Kanya’s limbs, tightly binding her.

Kanya struggled fiercely, but with every movement, the thorns tightened their grip, sinking deeper into her flesh.

Overwhelmed by the pain, Kanya couldn’t hold back a scream.

“Better not move. Unless you want it to be even more agonizing.”

Ripping off the bandoliers strapped across Kanya’s body, the zealots threw them to the ground and crushed them beyond use, then hurried back towards the portal they had emerged from.

Kanya wanted to scream, but the thorn tattoos were concentrated around her mouth, and even slightly opening her lips caused excruciating pain.

She couldn’t writhe, couldn’t cry out.

“Hurry! Hurry! Get back here! …Goddamn it!”

The leader, waving his arms frantically as he directed the others, swore under his breath.

Almost simultaneously with him, a jagged stone flew toward the Head.

Perhaps traveling at a speed exceeding sound, the Head, despite quickly raising his arm to defend, visibly staggered.

Kanya’s eyes widened.

It was Jericho.

“Run! Run and return to the portal! I’ll hold them off!”

The Head bellowed as he charged forward.

“Jealousy, descend!!”

The tattoos etched onto the Head’s body pulsed with a ghastly gray light.

A brief barrage of stones shattering the sound barrier erupted, bursting the minds of several followers before fading into silence.

Then, a deafening clamor and the sound of brutal blows echoed from behind.

Jericho, quite literally, was fighting with everything he had, trading blows with the Head.

With each punch, blood splattered from his hands.

Though clearly in immense pain, he didn’t cease his assault.

Seeing this, Kanya felt utterly pathetic.

A stranger, knowing nothing, was doing so much for her.

And what was she doing?

Captured, being dragged along, unable to do anything.

Kanya scraped together every last dreg of Belia’s divine power remaining within her.

And, carefully observing her surroundings, she desperately considered what best she could do.

A decisive moment.

She explosively unleashed all her remaining divine power in a sudden burst.

“Agh!”

The follower carrying her cried out and released her.

Of course, even so, the thorny tattoo coiling around her body didn’t disappear.

The slightest movement sent jolts of excruciating pain through her.

And the place where she’d unleashed her divine power was a slope.

Driven by gravity, Kanya tumbled downwards, colliding with everything.

Each impact against the rocks forced her body into involuntary movements, and she couldn’t gather her wits against the torment emanating from the thorny tattoo.

Finally, she rolled to the bottom of the slope, crashing violently against a rather weighty boulder, and lost consciousness.

Before losing consciousness, the last thing Kanya saw was Jericho frantically rushing toward her.

*

He had clearly come thoroughly prepared.

Nothing worked on the man before me.

[Absolute Hypnosis won’t work!! Even Sensitivity Times 3000 is impossible!! The system says it cannot be used on this target!!]

The grey tattoo etched onto the man’s body pulsed with frenzied light.

Of course.

The three Demon Lords surely knew of my abilities.

This was our second encounter, they must have come prepared with countermeasures.

Hypnosis and Sensitivity Times 3000 won’t work, and I can’t use Time Stop.

As for body modification, I’ve already pushed my body beyond its limits, leaving it dangling by a thread.

I feel my body isn’t obeying me as I will it.

Despite the augmentations Kong did, I sense my physical abilities have deteriorated.

Yes.

That’s right.

I’m not someone who has been properly trained for combat.

There was a limit to forcibly enhancing an ordinary person’s body through cybernetic alteration to fight.

“What are you doing! Get her away from here!!”

The follower blocking my path screams.

Kanya comes into my view.

She must have slipped and fallen down the slope; she’s unconscious and completely a mess.

And I see other demon worshippers rushing to get to her.

If this keeps up, she’ll be caught.

She’ll be taken away from me.

I had to save Kanya.

I grit my teeth and glare at the follower standing in my way.

He clearly had systematic martial arts training; he didn’t take a single one of my attacks, just relentlessly pummeling me.

And a strange sense of unease I feel as I fight him.

‘This b*stard isn’t trying to end my life.’

I’m forcibly augmenting my ruined limbs to fight, my strength, agility, and reflexes all inferior to the one before me.

On top of that, my very sense of how to engage in combat is different from his.

If he wanted to kill me, he could have done it any number of times.

But he hasn’t.

Just like that chunk of metal, Ketratu, from before.

The guy in front of me too.

They hesitate to kill me.

In that case?

“Uaaah!!”

I thrust my head forward and charge.

If his claws were to strike my skull, it would instantly split like a melon, spilling its contents.

That posture of me desperately offering my vitals while charging head on, the guy who had been fighting with such momentum suddenly recoils, pulling his claws back.

“You son of a–!!…”

I accelerate in that state and slam my head into the follower’s gut.

A magnificently delivered headbutt.

Even with my limbs ruined, my strength has been augmented, so the impact should be pretty substantial.

I tumble forward, rolling for a while, tangled together with the follower.

After that, I stand up and try to run towards Kanya.

“Where do you think you’re going!!”

A searing pain erupts in my Achilles tendon, and I collapse forward.

Judging by the feeling, the guy I was tangled with must have severed my tendon with his claws.

I was trying to run with all my might, so I crashed into the stone ground, rolling chaotically.

In the distance, I could see the followers rushing Kanya towards the portal.

“[Amael! If you keep using bodily augmentations any further, your limbs will be permanently damaged! This is enough!!]”

I heard Kohn’s voice, frantic as he tried to reattach severed tendons.

I know.

I knew my own body’s condition better than anyone.

Even if I could manage to stand again, the b*stard behind me would do everything in his power to stop me.

I could try to hypnotize those followers taking Kanya away, but just like the one I fought, there was a good chance it wouldn’t work on them.

They seemed to have come prepared.

I watched Kanya receding.

As she tumbled, her thin, emaciated limbs snapped horribly, flailing limply.

If she were captured, she would suffer treatment far worse than what she was currently enduring.

And right now.

For the first time since being reborn into this world.

There was nothing I could do.

In that feeling of powerlessness, I felt pity.

Kanya.

A child who had never known happiness from her infancy until now.

I wanted to save her.

I wished for her to be saved.

But now.

I had reached my limit.

“Yes! Just go in!”

A voice full of glee came from behind me.

Kanya was so close to the portal now.

The distance was beyond my reach.

Rage swelled within me.

Why must this innocent being suffer again?

I want to save her.

I wish she wouldn’t be captured.

And…

I knew the name of the being who could grant this wish.

The name I so desperately wanted to erase.

The name I hated and loathed.

But the name I needed right now.

“Asmodeus!”

I shouted.

“Save Kanya!!”

That cry was my last.

I felt a sharp blow to the back of my head, and then I lost consciousness.

*

The Selector of Envy kicked the saint, who’d just let out a near-scream of a final word, square in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

“You pathetic fool. Nothing changes, no matter what you do.”

The Selector laughed, and began to sprint toward the portal.

Success.

He’d accomplished the perilous task Envy had so earnestly entrusted to him.

All he had to do was enter the portal with Kanya in tow, and a magnificent demon lord’s reward would be his.

He couldn’t help but grin, but then, abruptly,

he sensed something was wrong.

His body felt sluggish.

No matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t move forward properly.

And it wasn’t just him.

“High Priest… sir.”

The other followers, hurrying towards the portal carrying Kanya, were the same.

All their movements were leaden.

It was as if their minds remained intact, but the passage of time for their bodies had slowed to a crawl.

The head follower.

“What… in the world?…”

The being called High Priest stiffly forced his head to turn backwards.

The saint, who should have been unconscious, was standing.