Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (WN)

AN: ↑

For those who doesn't understand the meaning of the title, please watch the movie Matrix Reloaded without fail.

Smiths-san's「Me, me, me――and then, me」is strangely pleasing for Shirakome.

The meat lump squirming before the eyes――Berserk Chimera didn't try to chase after Allen who chased after Weiss or Emily and Vanessa who chased after Down.

The Katon flame wall blocking the tentacles' path had already vanished. If it was berserker that was faithful to their instinct, it would at least try to stretch its tentacles to chase, but this berserker didn't even do that and stopped trying. Surely, most likely, that was because it was cautious against the human in black clothes standing in its way.

「Now then, I don't know just how deep you have carried the case of the children, so I won't give any mercy no matter what were you formerly.」

Kousuke unsheathed two short swords. *shaan* A clear voice echoed and the unsheathed swords were held in reverse grip, at the same time Kousuke's body sunk really low to the floor. So to speak it was a stance of a crouching start.

In an instant, the berserk chimera launched countless tentacles. Those tentacles that were fired with speed that resembled even bullet became like a wall that attacked Kousuke.

And then, a hard sound that was really unthinkable to be created by lump of flesh resounded, stabbing on the metal floor.

Yes, they stabbed at a floor where there wasn't anyone.

「Chih. As I thought, even the weakness's position is haphazard.」

A sound of someone clicking their tongue and a curse resounded. That voice came from behind the berserk chimera. There was the figure of unmoving Kousuke there in with his arms crossed. Looking carefully, the top of the berserk chimera's head was entirely cut off, a beat later, that meat lump fell on a distant spot along with a graphic sound *docha-*.

At that instant, Kousuke rushed with a momentum as though he liberated the power he saved up, slipped through the barrage of tentacles, and then he split the upper head of the berserk chimera.

Although, it didn't look like the berserk chimera received any pain, it was spouting out white smoke while the top of its head regenerated in what should be called an instant. At the same time, it created new tentacles and launched them to Kousuke.

(I cannot see the position of its weakness the brain. In the first place there is no guarantee that it only has one brain. It's not like I don't have a method to blow it up altogether, but then the children inside will die with that. And then, that super regeneration is a hindrance for me to scrap off its body……this is difficult.)

Kousuke cut apart the swarm of tentacles, dodged with acrobatic movement, or handled the attack by using the tentacles as stepping stone. He grumbled inside his heart while analyzing the enemy while a wry smile suddenly emerged on his lips.

To say in addition, it was also forbidden for him to get touched by the liquid that was scattered when the tentacle was grazed. No matter even if it was Kousuke, he wouldn't be able to suppress the transformation of his body if he got splashed by【Berserk】.

Then, at that time the senses of Kousuke who was pondering detected an assault from behind him. When Kousuke immediately twisted his body midair, just as he thought, there were countless tentacles the size of a human arm flying toward him from behind.

「Oi oi, so it can also grow from the part that I cut off. Just what kind of organism this thing has taken that it can do something like that.」

What attacked Kousuke from behind was the meat lump that Kousuke cut flying before this. It was squirming separated from the main body and grew out slender tentacles.

There were tentacles and fleshes he had cut apart lying all over the place. As expected, Kousuke's expression couldn't stop from twitching.

The moment Kousuke muttered「This is bad」, a barrage of tentacles approached from all directions, in addition there was also the meat lump clinging on the ceiling unnoticed attacking like a shower, leaving no place to escape. Their number already surpassed three digits.

Normally it would be a hopeless scene. If the one who was here was the troops of the special squad, they would undoubtedly sigh and even made a bitter smile at the same time with their resignation.

But, of course, for the right-hand man of the demon king, something at this level, no, no matter what kind of situation it was, it was an impossible story for him to carry an emotion of resignation.

「――"Juton - Todokienu Kuroki Sei'iki"」(TN: Gravity Escape - Unreachable Black Sanctuary)

Immediately after, four whirling black spheres as big as a pinball expanded around Kousuke. At the same time, all the approaching tentacles crashed to the ground as though they were struck down.

「Abyss-style Assassination Martial Arts - Sword Form――"Senretsu Kokujou Yaiba"」(TN: Flash Rend Black Fortress Blade)

Furthermore, Kousuke lifted both his arms and he rotated his two short swords like a pinwheel using the motion of his fingertips and his wrists reversal. The tentacles attacking from overhead were shaved off and blown away as though they were hit by an excavator.

Even the tentacles that circled around the shield of slashes and attacked, they were repelled back by the kunais that unnoticed were flying around Kousuke like satellites, furthermore those kunais were rotating in high speed. Not a single tentacle reached Kousuke.

「Burning all these……will put the children in danger I guess. Then, let's smash them apart after freezing them――Rage, silver wind. The breath of eternal world of ice and snow. Hinder the path of the traveler and seize at the cold arm. Thy art the prisoner of the white ice coffin――"Tougoku no Hana"」(TN: Flower of Frozen Prison)

Kousuke lightly made a sound *ton* with his step. Immediately after that, a sound *bikibiki* echoed and the floor was dyed white. Mist was generated. With Kousuke as the center, the white wave was spreading as though it was eroding the world. The tentacles and liquid scattered everywhere were frozen altogether.

And then, it didn't end with that, the meat lump that was dyed pure white and hardened was then enveloped by a prison of ice right after that, like a blooming flower.

A cluster of ice flower was blooming proudly everywhere.

The white erosion also reached the berserk chimera through the floor. Perhaps sensing the danger, the berserk chimera stabbed its tentacles to the ceiling and made its body leaped midair. It already had any composure to launch a random barrage of tentacles to Kousuke.

Even the tentacles needed for attacking were all touched by the chill that froze them. The berserk chimera obeyed its instinct and severed all of its tentacles by itself. The countless tentacles that bloomed into ice flower instantly were falling to the floor.

「There is no way I'll let you get away don't you think?」

Kousuke used the falling ice flowers as stepping stones and jumped toward the berserk chimera. He used the tentacles he cut down and the tentacles approaching wildly as further stepping stones while he somersaulted, then using that momentum he threw his short sword.

The short sword cut straight through the air like a single streak of flash. It stabbed the berserk chimera that had no leeway to evade.

GI, GI, GIIIIIII

A bizarre voice reverberated. Kousuke guessed that it was the scream of the berserk chimera that let alone mouth, it was doubtful that it even had vocal cords. Inside the space where the scream that sounded like the scratching of metal was echoing, the area that was centered around the stabbing short sword was playing dissonant sound *bikibiki* of the berserk chimera getting frozen.

「I don't freeze you until the inside. I'll shave and smash you from your outer layer.」

If its separated part could still move after getting cut off, if it could regenerate no matter how much it got slashed, then he would restrain it using ice coffin, and then froze all of the parts he scraped off and then pulverized them. It was a method that paid attention to the safety of the captured children as much as possible while rescuing them with certainty.

Before long, the tentacles that stabbed into the ceiling and supported its mass were frozen, and they became unable to endure their own weight and snapped. The berserk chimera fell to the floor and its body's outer part was smashed apart from the impact of crashing down.

Squirming meat lump could be seen from inside the smashed meat lump. It was trying to regenerate. But, the stabbing short sword didn't allow that. The mist was coming down faster than the regeneration could start and froze them.

When Kousuke snapped his fingers, the frozen outer layer broke apart once more, and frozen meat lumps were scattered in pieces of small block shape.

「If I continue to smash it like this until those children become visible――」

'I should be able to save them.'

Yes, Kousuke was about to say that, but right after that, his cheeks cramped from the squirming presence at his surrounding. When he quickly looked around, *piki-, paki-* he could see cracks entering the ice flowers.

「O, oi oi. This is a joke right?」

Kousuke unconsciously let out those words. That was understandable. After all, the countless meat lumps locked inside the ice flower were squirming and bloating from inside.

*baki-* Hearing such sound, Kousuke returned his gaze back at the berserk chimera, and there the same sight of it bloating from inside entered his eyes.

Kousuke opened his eyes wide. No matter how he looked, the meat lumps at his surrounding and also the berserk chimera were increasing in volume. When a human was transformed into berserker, their super regeneration was caused by the repetition of breaking down and regeneration, it could be said to be similar with the phenomenon of muscle swelling up.

But, even that had limit. It wasn't like a berserker would transform into giant endlessly. It was impossible for them to multiply new flesh from a small fragment of flesh. It wasn't an ability that a human was equipped with.

「No, wait. In the first place, this thing is stretching out tentacles……」

Kousuke suddenly noticed. This thing was stretching out tentacles endlessly――that was an impossible trait for all creatures that he knew about. Even though there were creatures that had tentacles, there shouldn't be any creature that was able to grow several hundreds of it or more.

But, in reality the berserk chimera before his eyes was propagating itself with a force that could even destroy the ice coffin from inside using pressure――

「Propagation……haha, come to think of it, there is this organism called planarian huh. Even if they are cut, they will regenerate the same specimen isn't it?」

That was correct. Certainly the berserk chimera had taken in a lot of organisms. Not to mention animal and insect, it had also taken in plant and so on. Of course, it had also taken in a few human adult and child. And then a lot of planarian was added into that flesh.

Super regeneration wouldn't occur if there wasn't the flesh that became the base. Then, if that flesh was able to multiply automatically, wouldn't infinite regeneration become possible with that? This was the result of such experiment that was carried out with an idea that had gone past madness into exasperation.

The berserk chimera had not even a fragment of the souls of the animals and humans that became its base. What it had was a more primitive instinct. ――Only the instinct to eat and survive, that was all.

Kousuke shuddered while returning from his own thought back into reality, and right after that all the ice flowers were smashed.

「These guys here created something like this, just how are they planning to stop this thing when the time comes?」

What was truly frightening was the deed of man. The spirit of inquiry and tenacity, madness that pushed on ahead until the end of the road without considering the future or other people. Just like the magicians of the former world of another world's mad god――Ehitorujue that invited the destruction of themselves.

It would endanger the children if he burned this thing to ash. It was useless to freeze and smash it. If he slashed it then it would regenerate and multiply endlessly just as much as he slashed. Exterminating it using great firepower would endanger the children. If he was touched then it was game over.

However,

「Good grief. Just when I thought that I finally went home from a fantasy world, this side is also fantastical like this. It seems that I, no, we are deeply loved by the extraordinary huh.」

The expression of Kousuke who was shrugging with an air of "dear me" contained no despair. He also didn't despair to the possibility that he might not be able to save the children.

Why?

It was obvious.

「So you returned, me.」

「Yeah, I have returned, me.」

「I too, me.」

「Bernard……it was seriously just barely for him. That guy is really loved by the death god that it's a wonder he is able to survive until now y'know. But it looks like he is also loved as much by the god of fortune though.」

The berserk chimera had swelled up until twice, no, triple its former size while making a bizarre scream. And then the innumerable number of meat lumps that had already transformed into tiny berserk chimeras. Clones appeared at both sides and behind Kousuke while all those were surrounding them.

These were the clones that accompanied Bernard's group and the other squads.

The clone that reinforced Bernard had a faraway look. Its information was also shared with Kousuke's real body, so he also got a faraway look from the scene「you are already fantasy」where Bernard was continuously collecting death flags per second, though he was also continuously escaping from the hand of the god of death due to strong fortunes that came at him per second too.

GIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!!

A wave of flesh attacked at the same time with the shriek. Yes, it was a wave. The small chimeras were also adding on it, turning the attack into a greatly spreading wave that looked like a thick membrane. It spread out everywhere toward Kousuke and clones.

「Now then, the clones had also come back except of the one guarding Grant family, so let's settle this quickly. ……Haa, I actually don't want to use this thoughh. I rea~lly don't want to use this thoughh. But there is no time, and it's for the sake of the children. It can't be helped, huh.」

Kousuke that leaped on the roof of a large truck looked at his three clones that were at the three corners of the room. They were showing a wry smile, or possible a melancholic expression. He then took out something from his breast pocket.

That was a crimson jewel.

The shining jewel the size of a pinky had a metallic vine coiling around it, and it was linked with a thin chain. Kousuke wore that on his neck and then he gripped the crimson jewel tightly.

Perhaps the berserk chimera had its survival instinct stimulated by Kousuke's freezing magic, because ahead of his gaze there was its figure already swelling up until near the ceiling without stopping its regeneration and propagation. The case holding the children seemed tough, but surely it would reach its endurance limit soon. There could be no more postponement, they needed to be rescued even for a second faster.

Then, there was no way he could hesitate.

No matter how much Kousuke himself shirked from it. No matter how much compensation he would need to pay for it.

He liberated it.

That taboo power! It once caused even the demon king to raise an anguished voice, the true and tremendous power!

「Endure this, my willpower! Here we go! ――"Limit Break-"!!!」

Right after that, a crimson magic power burst out from Kousuke. The intense magic power spiraled and blew up violently as though it pierced the ceiling. Magic power and storm howled thunderously. Kousuke's figure was enveloped by the radiance of the demon king and became indistinct.

The berserker chimera pulled back the tentacles that it was going to stretch out. It was as though it was getting frightened of the existence before its eyes.

*Ki, GiiIIIH* The berserk chimera cried. A voice resounded toward it from inside the crimson tornado.

「O pitiful existence. Your time of liberation has come.」

That voice sounded as though it reverberated from the whole space. The crimson torrent was starting to converge, then a shadow of human appeared from inside the dazzling radiance.

The black silhouette took a step forward from the large truck. Naturally, it didn't fall down or anything. A ripple appeared midair and the shadow advanced on it.

「This abyss lord, will save thee.」

The raging magic power torrent dispersed in a flash. In exchange the crimson radiance was increasing in might and enveloped the shadow. The shadow swung one hand widely and turned his body magnificently. The shadow lowered one leg slightly, and his other hand moved toward his chest. His sunglasses glittered with a flash despite the impossible angle.

Shadow.

Yes,

「My name is Kousuke E Abyssgate-! The noble of the abyss, and the right hand of the demon king! The next patriarch of the head reaper rabbit (planned)-! I am the one that bring salvation and the end for thee! Now, welcome it with the shriek of heavy thunder!」

It was the abyss lord who was highly spirited more than usual!

The berserk chimera went, 'anyway, tentacles first!', it attacked following its instinct.

「EE―XCELLEENT-! No matter what is going on, it's a good thing to not hesitate.」(TN: The 'excellent' is said in broken English, 'eeekusereentoo')

The lord who finally used Western language called a clone to appear in front of him. The clone destructed the tentacles using "Enryuuga". Behind the clone that became a shield slashing down the tentacles, the lord pushed up his sunglasses sharply while continuing his words.

「Although, whether it will work or not is a different matter. Fix your eyes. At the true form of the endless abyss!」

Right after that, multiple presences were born. Further four clones were created fromthe clone that became the lord's shield.

Not only that. Beside the original three clones that were evacuating to the room's corners, four clones materialized at each of their sides.

Those four clones leaped toward the chimeras, at the same time, each clones created four clones midair. Those four clones created four more clones further. And from those four additional clones came further four clones. Four clones, to four clones, to four clones, to four clones-!

――Abyss Lord's Exclusive Limit Break Artifact "Last Zell(just don't use it at me okay?) Ver.2.1"

The last derivative skill of "Assassin" vocation, "Abyss Lord", originally it raised the foundation ability of the user, breaking the limit along with the passage of time. The crimson jewel that was bestowed from the demon king blew away this passage of time and forcefully multiplied the user's ability by five times.

And then, regarding this Abyss Lord's activation state――Kousuke divided it into five stages that he called as "Depth I" until "Depth V"――he would be able to create one more clone when he entered the state of Depth III, and when he entered the last Depth, the clones that originally could only be created by the main body of the abyss lord could then be created by the clones themselves too.

It would take a considerable time for Kousuke to reach this final Depth V, but Last Zell cleared away that limitation.

However, naturally there was compensation for it,

「「「「「「「「「「「The abyss is without end――」」」」」」」」」」」

The lord was multiplied to sixty four people almost within an instant. They charged from four directions, while saying something.

The tentacles stretched out from the small chimeras that were scattered everywhere inside the large underground parking area, and the tentacles that were launched from the main body, their number was already enough to form a cage of piercing spears that left no place to escape. Even if some of them got mowed down by the short sword shining with azure flame, it was a herculean task to handle all of them.

Half of the sixty-four lords were cut down within an instant. However,

「「「「「「「「「「「There is no end to the darkness of the hell」」」」」」」」」」」

At the next moment, more than 160 lords manifested. Using their skill and body, they became the shield for the clones behind them and cut open a path of survival.

「「「「「「「「「「「There is no hope to capture the abyss――」」」」」」」」」」」

The small chimeras widened the membrane of flesh in the attempt to swallow the lords. The attack with vast surface was already an area attack. The lords used other clones as stepping stones, or they threw the other to escape from the range of the membrane. The rest enveloped their body with Katon and launched kamikaze attack at the small chimeras.

「「「「「「「「「「「There is no meaning in touching the abyss――」」」」」」」」」」」

No matter how many of them were pierced, no matter how many of them were splashed with liquid, in the first place the clones weren't made of flesh despite having a solid body. There was no way the clones could be altered, the small chimeras were helpless against the overly extravagant suicide bombing skill.

「「「「「「「「「「「It's a pipe dream to destroy the abyss――」」」」」」」」」」」

The number of the lords that disappeared from suicide bombing already surpassed a hundred easily, however, by the time a beat or two beat passed, three hundred lords began attacking in waves.

「「「「「「「「「「「Despair to the resentful――」」」」」」」」」」」

They were pierced and vanished. Twice the number came back in their place.

They were pulverized and vanished. Twice the number came back in their place.

They were smashed and vanished. Twice the number came back in their place!

「「「「「「「「「「「Hope for those who searched――」」」」」」」」」」」

The small chimeras were reduced to ash in succession one by one with certainty by unceasing attacks that had no hesitation of making sacrifice. The berserk chimera was surrounded by more than three hundred lords and got its body thoroughly scraped off from the outside.

「「「「「「「「「「「O you that stand in our way, engrave into that body」」」」」」」」」」」

*GIIIIIII-*, the berserk chimera shrieked as though to drive away the terror it felt. It shrank its body for a moment, and right after that, it launched tentacles to every direction. What was different about it, was that all its tentacles that previously were as thick as a child's arm, were now reduced to the size of a finger.

It might sense the danger of being obliterated. It might be doing this to fulfill its survival instinct. It seemed to optimize its attack method toward the enemy.

The thin and sharp thrusts were appropriate to be called as an intense rain. They were assaulting straight ahead, from the ceiling, or circled from the floor. The flesh thrusts that might reach several thousand were a symbol of despair.

More than a hundred lords were terminated by that.

「「「「「「「「「「「Moan from the endless nightmare」」」」」」」」」」」

And so, it was opposed by a thousand lords.

They wielded a short sword of azure flame. Be that as it may, the weapon they utilized was their own body. Like a nightmare without end, each vanishing was filled with manifestation, and each time the number was increasing in an infinite hell. Even with Last Zell put into operation, it didn't change that he was in "Abyss Lord activated state", his spec that was continuously increasing finally outdone the propagation and regeneration speed of berserk chimera.

「「「「「「「「「「「We art, the incarnation of the abyss. The dream of darkness, the black ephemeral, everything―」」」」」」」」」」」

This was exactly, the right hand of the demon king.

This was exactly, the true form of the one that was said by his comrades as "actually the one who was nonchalantly in the level of humanity's strongest".

This was exactly, what accomplished that grand feat of inflicting a scratch at that demon king.

More than a thousand abyss lords launching unceasingly multiplying chuuni speech and gestu――not that, waves of attack without end!

「Lukewarm-. Do you think you can bring me down with something of that level! If you wish to drive away the abyss, then you need to bring at least a gatling railgun!」

The name of him who spoke of such absurdity, let's say it, one more time.

「Now-, this is the closing of the curtain! You can boast to king Yama in that world-. You can say, that the one who granted me my end is that person! Yes, it's by this me, Abisuuge―to-!」

The lord yelled his own name a bit like a native speaker (?), or rather his pronunciation sounded like his tongue got rolled up. The lord then crossed his arms with the short sword still in a reverse grip, his body bent forward with tension.

The small chimeras were already annihilated. The regeneration and propagation of the berserk chimera also couldn't catch up anymore, its body had been reduced until the size of a big truck.

Like that, one of the clones scraped off the flesh even while its body was pierced by tentacles. At that scraped place, a solid glitter could be seen faintly. Without any doubt, that was the case where the children were locked into.

「Gather-, my compatriots-. This is the time for salvation!」

The lord's order thundered. Several dozen clones lined up instantly in front of the lord and took the same stance.

The lords grinned broadly with fearlessness, and his eyes opened widely in a snap (Warning: It was done behind the sunglasses, so other people couldn't see it).

「Mine abyss, can you see through it? ――Abyss-style Martial Art - Attack Form Secret Finishing Move【Kokusou - Arashi Kage Ryuuha(Surging fang, shadow claw, know the nightmare of the dark abyss)】–!!」(TN: Black Phantom - Storm Shadow Flow Rending)

The abyss lords sprinted. They became a single vertical row and charged the berserk chimera.

The berserk chimera tried to launch its tentacles, it tried to leap to become a cannonball with its meat lump, but the clones at the front row handled it, and even if they couldn't handle it and vanished, the next lords would eliminate it.

And then, the clones that arrived at the berserk chimera in the blink of eye used their body to whittle the flesh wall and got annihilated. The following clones each recklessly hurled themselves to the berserk chimera and opened up a hole with certainty in one point of the flesh body!

It was a storm-like assault without any pause by the black shadows. That waves of attack that could be mistaken as a single great lance, it looked like, yes……

Jet Strea○ Attack!

At the next moment, a sound *boba-* came into hearing, and the flesh at the other side of the berserk chimera was blown away. At the same time, a lord flew out from there. A beat later, a case that was wrapped around with steel string flew out.

The lord rotated midair and swung his short sword at the case that was flying following him. The case was instantly split apart into pieces, and three screaming children flew out from there.

It seemed that they didn't faint even now after getting swallowed by the berserk chimera. Normally anyone would lose consciousness from excessive fear but……. What could be done now was only praying so they wouldn't get traumatized with this.

The lord along with his clones caught the children that were thrown out midair and landed lightly.

「Boy, it's safe already.」

「E, eh?」

The boy that was let down was looking around with greatly restless eyes due to his great confusion. And then, the boy witnessed the unrealistic scene of countless humans with the same appearance surrounding the berserk chimera and he exposed his shock with「EeEEEEH!?」.

The boy and girl that were let down by the clones beside him were also similarly flustered while in the verge of tears.

「Hmm. I guess this is a bit too intense for children. But, I ask you to be relieved. This nightmare is over already. I'm ending it!」

The lords spread out. At the center was the berserk chimera.

While the eyes of the boys and girl turned into dot, the lords simultaneously touched one hand on their sunglasses (of course, the stylish pushing up motion couldn't be forgotten), they averted half their body slightly behind, and then their other hand pointed quietly toward the berserk chimera.

「「「「「「「「「「「The sky of hell, the world of fabrication, the revolving black sun――」」」」」」」」」」」

That was a chanting. The only magic that the lord learned, the magic of destruction that once tear down the logic of the world.

「「「「「「「「「「「The night sky collapse, the star of calamity shine darkly. What is released is a fragment of abyss――」」」」」」」」」」」

A finishing move among finishing move that couldn't even be invoked by the lord if he wasn't in a state of Depth V.

「「「「「「「「「「「Converge, disintegrate, swallow without pause, smash without stopping――」」」」」」」」」」」

Sparks surged. It was a phenomenon of electrical discharge that looked like black lightning. It was generated with the berserk chimera as the center.

The berserk chimera launched its tentacles looking somewhat desperate, but the clones blocked them in front of the chanting lords and cut them down altogether.

「「「「「「「「「「「That is a world of interstice without light. The embrace of demise. The birth of new providence――」」」」」」」」」」」

And so, that thing propagating into the world, it destroyed even the Holy Precincts――the attack of the protector that brought about the dawn.

The main body of the lord made a beautiful turn that was without any meaning, and then along with a really magnificent pose, he spun the last sentence, and let it resound to the world.

「Be swallowed by the infinitude darkness and perish――Gravity magic ultimate secret art【Kokutenkyuu(black whirling darkness of abyss)】」(TN: Black Heaven Suffering)

At the center of the surging black sparks, a small black sphere manifested.

The sphere was whirling in disorder, right after that, it swelled up to a size with diameter of a meter and began to suck anything and everything at the surrounding with a fierce might. No, perhaps it should be said that rather than sucking, it was already twisting off the space altogether while compressing it to the center part.

――Gravity magic "Black Heaven Suffering"

It was the gravity magic's secret art that the liberator Miledy Raisen once used in order to save the world.

Compared to what she used, this magic here was a shoddy one where its immatureness was standing out. But, even so, here in this place it possessed enough strength to destroy this monster that could possibly regenerate and propagate if there was even just a fragment of its cell remaining――it was truly a legendary magic.

GIIH, GIIIIIIIIH!!

Perhaps that should be called as its shriek of death agony. The berserk chimera was pulled in as though the meat lump was crumbling from the edge, expulsed toward a world of super compression and destruction.

A beat.

The large truck that was entangled by stretched out tentacles so the berserk chimera wouldn't get pulled in, it was sucked in without any resistance and crushed by the pressure. In the end the berserk chimera became completely terminated.

The black celestial sphere shrunk before vanishing as though it melted into space. At the same time, the many clones also dispersed, as though to say that they had finished their role.

The end was very silent.

「……Onii-chan, who, are you?」

The boys and girl forgot their trembling, their crying, and also their huddling at each other. Their heart was stolen by a piece of legend before their eyes. One of them asked with a small voice toward the lord while still feeling astonished.

The lord looked back over his shoulder. The gaze of the little children turned toward him.

The lord went「fuh」toward them, and then he answered while sharply pushing up his sunglasses.

「Oneself? I am…………just a hero, that you can find anywhere.」

Thinking that it would be inappropriate to say things like "demon king" or "abyss" toward the cornered children, the lord answered after showing a thinking gesture for a while. Hearing that, for a moment the children looked puzzled and they looked at each other's face.

But, the next moment, they showed a smile that was like a blooming flower. It was the greatest sparkling bright smile, one that children would show toward a hero just like in a movie. It was a smile that was overflowing with conviction, that hero certainly existed, with admiration, and with hope filling their heart――it was the greatest reward there was for a hero.

The lord that received that――crumbled down right after.

「O, Onii-chan!?」

「Hero-san!」

「Ninja-lookalike something-san!」

The children rushed in panic toward the lord that abruptly fell on all four with his head hanging down. And then, their face approached looking worried and they heard that whisper.

「Hahah fuhihih, I messed up saying "oneself". Even I don't understand what I'm saying……it hurts, my heart hurts~」

The children lifted their face and exchanged gaze once more. Even though they had no words, but what they wanted to say was conveyed to each other clearly.

That was,

――Just what is hero?

AN: Thank you very much for reading this every time.

Thank you very much too for the thoughts, opinions, and reports about misspelling and omitted words.

When I wrote in high spirits, the number of letters become like this……

I will post one more chapter today or tomorrow.

=>Was what I thought, but I forgot my Sunday work……

I'm sorry, looks like the update will be like usual.

I also wrote this in my activity report, but Overlap-sama's homepage is uploaded with the newest chapter of the comic version.

Kick rabbit is really bad news.

If you are interested, please go take a look without fail.

Also, it's also uploaded at the homepage, but volume 4 seem to be for sale.

Please treat it well.

It seems the next update will be at 6 P.M. Saturday too.