Chapter 7 Part 4 - Second Coming

TL: Xean || ED: Chaos || PR: Riciel

“But first, I have to get revenge on the human beings who’ve hurt and killed me. It would be boring if you were to die right away, after all!”

Agaliarept kicked Instructor Miya away. The instructor, who was about to get up, rolled on the ground again and coughed violently.

And I somehow felt more crushed than I had ever been.

I desperately tried to crawl towards the Instructor, whose body was now more immobile than ever due to the impact of being blown away.

“Stop…”

“What is it, kid? It’s not like the last time you hunted me down, is it? It feels so good to be able to crush you guys like an overwhelming entity. But you’ll have to wait. I’ll kill this woman who killed me first. I’m the type of person who gets the delicious food first. That’s my way of showing you mercy. At least let me delay the moment of your death, my red-eyed compatriot.”

Agaliarept’s feet were pressed against the instructor.

And then, I saw her the instructor, still coughing.

The instructor was definitely weakened.

She was starting to collapse.

“Stop it…”

In front of me, I watched as Agaliarept punished the instructor.

“Stop it…”

His index finger was thrust out, and the magic circle that had shot appeared and killed the South Branch personnel unfolded.

“Stop it, please…”

Ignoring my voice, Agaliarept was going to kill the instructor. So I couldn’t stay still and watch.

I stood up and ran with the last of my strength. My body no longer mattered.

I don’t care if it shatters into pieces. I don’t care if my existence itself disappears.

Even if this body was to disappear, I’m still going to do it for you.

“Disappear.”

The bundle of black light was illuminated once again. It was a straight shot to the instructor. It was supposed to hit her immediately. However, that didn’t happen. It was because I’d interrupted and redirected it.

“Gafuh…!!”

It passed through my abdomen.

It went right through my abdomen. I could feel the organs that had been uprooted and wiped out. I felt a strange numbness around my abdomen. The wind blew through it. Blood rushed out. I lost the strength to stand and fell to the ground.

“What a waste of my mercy! Poor fellow.”

While Agaliarept spat this out, Instructor Miya tried to crawl over to me. She was crying. She was in tatters, looked sad, and in pain.

“What… are you doing…?”

She stroked my face and rubbed away my tears. Her face was beautiful.

“Idiot… why did you do that… again?” I regretted seeing those tears.

Ah… did I cover for the instructor again? Will I give the instructor another negative impression? I’ve been trying to get rid of it, but I guess I’m a fool. But it’s for the sake of her protection, so it’s inevitable…

“…”

It can’t be helped…? Is this really it? Is this really what I want? Even if I do this, it’s only a temporary fix… and yet, is it really okay for me to be the only one who feels relieved?

“You’ve been protected, but you can’t escape me. It’s pathetic. Next time, it will be your turn, woman.”

As my consciousness began to fade, I heard Agaliarept’s voice. His voice was aimed at the instructor. Immediately after, there was the sound of kicking earth, accompanied by a hoarse cry from the instructor.

In my blurred vision, I could see the instructor being kicked in the abdomen. On the other hand, Agaliarept declared, “I won’t let you die easily. I’ll beat you to death as hard as I can”.

Every time he kicked, the instructor’s pained voice echoed. I couldn’t even manage to say the words, “Stop”.

The instructor was being kicked left and right. Only the sound of her weak breathing and groaning reached my ears. The damage to the instructor was piling up. If I don’t do something, she’s going to die.

She looked so beaten up like an unrecognizable doll.

And I, myself, was dying. In fact, I was probably closer to death than the instructor.

And yet, I was not afraid. All I felt was anger.

The sense of impending death was dragging me into the abyss of darkness, and the color like red lotus was bubbling up from the depths of my heart. The feeling of outrage.

“In front… me…”

Unacceptable. Forbidden. An attack on the instructor. Abuse.

That person is someone I care about. She was the one who gave me hope as an abomination. And I wanted to show her hope this time.

I’ve scrambled, I’ve struggled, I’ve come this far. And now it ends here?

“… This is wrong.”

I felt the heat rise along with my anger. My body was burning. Death was imminent, so my body should be cooling down. However, right now, my blood was boiling hot, and it’s bringing a new possibility.

“I still…

… haven’t come back.”

And so, I decided to fight against my fading consciousness.

I’m still alive. I can’t die yet. I have to protect the instructor. I have to protect her. If I die here, I will have regrets. I won’t let the instructor die.

I don’t want the instructor to bear sadness.

I want the instructor to smile.

“I want…”

My body is not just human.

The blood that flows inside me is mixed with the demons. I’m an abomination, and even I hate it. I’m not like a normal human. I’m different in every way.

A mixed subspecies. A different being outside the bounds of humanity. A variant beyond the boundaries. That’s why.

“Aaargh…”

I was crying out weakly, but my hands were clenched together as I tried to get up.

This is no time to rest. I have to get up. Protect. Protect her. I have to protect her.

I can’t allow the instructor to die in a place like this…!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

At that moment, my eyes lit up with a radiantly red light and I felt something activate inside of me.

“What’s with you, kid…?”

It was as if my repressed urges were swelling.

“You…!”

It felt like the shackles around me had been removed.

“It can’t be…! That’s blood activation…!”

The next thing I knew, my body was fully recovered. As if my broken body had been a lie, I was back on my feet. Even the cause of my weakness was completely healed. I was back on my feet with the same power, no, with even greater strength than I originally had possessed.

“Theo…-kun…?”

Agaliarept looked with irritation while the weakened instructor was looking at me in astonishment.

“You… What’s with that resilience of yours…!?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Whose blood is that you’ve inherited in your veins!?”

“I don’t know.”

“Blood activation caused by mental stimulation is something that only high-ranking demons can manifest, and we rarely see such overwhelming healing abilities! What are you!? Who are you descended from!? Someone of higher rank than me!? Who the h**l is …!? No, it doesn’t matter!”

Agaliarept deployed a magic circle from his index finger again.

“Just die! It won’t matter where you came from as long as you’re dead!”

A stream of black light was released. It seemed inescapably fast earlier, but now it appeared as if it wasn’t moving. I was able to avoid the light and walked closer to Agaliarept.

“You… just when did you…!?”

I just walked up to him, but from Agaliarept’s point of view, it looked like I was approaching at high speed. Well, I guess so. I’m not the same person I was before.

“The more feathers a demon has, the stronger it is. Because the feathers are the visible embodiment of a demon’s power. Therefore, the number of feathers is a good indicator of strength. This should be common knowledge to both humans and you demons.”

“So, what about it!?”

“Look at my feathers. So you can see the difference.”

“What the heck…!”

I put some power onto my back. I’m not sure if it was the effect of the blood activation, but I could manifest it now. It was just a matter of time.

“Haaー!”

As my back was swollen and skin broke, jet-black wings spread out on my back.

“I don’t know the exact number of my feathers, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than yours, Agaliarept…”

At that moment, his expression changed completely. It was as if he was terrified.

“That can’t be…!”

A look of surprise. An inexplicable fear.

“W-What are those feathers…?”

The surprise turned into astonishment, and the fear turned into trembling.

“It’s a lie… That’s not possible… This c-can’t be true… Three pairs of wings, a total of six hundred sixty-six feathers…

… Three pairs of… wings. Just like… our king…!”

“Shut up.”