Chapter 465
Chapter 465: The True Wish
【Previous Summary】
Alex: “To become stronger, I have to keep killing humans.”
Arthur: “Considering the inheritance of the Sacred Eye for the next generation, maybe I should just disappear.”
Bishop Lexar and others: “It’s tough.”
Ante: “Oh ho~!”
――
“Oh ho, hmm!”
Ante clears his throat.
“Hmm. Interesting.”
While we were left speechless by Arthur’s words, Ante continued with a serious tone.
“Does the Sacred Eye also grant permission to use that magical blade—Excalibur?”
“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah, that’s true but…”
Arthur looked a bit confused by Ante’s incredibly casual manner of speaking.
“Can even you use Excalibur as it is now? That big magic, known for trading life force in exchange, is quite the short-lived kind, but it seems like you could swing it around in spirit form since it’s a concentrated mass of magical power.”
Stop messing with humans’ fragility at any opportunity, will you? …But I see, since ghosts have weak physical interference, there might actually be a chance to swing Excalibur around because it’s made of magical energy.
Whoa, that’s strong.
And kinda terrifying.
Ghosts can normally phase through walls and the ground. So, what if Excalibur suddenly sprouts from beneath me? That’s just too vicious…
“I… I don’t know, honestly. Only the inheritor of the Sacred Eye can use Excalibur. It draws on the powers of the past Arthur, but the price is rapidly aging. Yet, right now I have no physical body—”
Arthur also briefly lost his despair at Ante’s question and thought about it.
“—No, I really can’t say. Like I said before, it’s unprecedented for Arthur to be summoned through necromancy.”
“Can’t you just give it a try?”
“Try…try, huh. Yeah, that could be a good idea.”
Arthur nodded, looking somewhat determined, and even brighter.
“—I’ll give it a shot. I’ll see if I can wield Excalibur in my current state. There’s a chance I might consume my life force instead and vanish, but if so, my descendants will inherit the Sacred Eye, so that’s fine. I’ll just accept it as destiny.”
His nonchalant words left me at a loss for what to say. I got the feeling Arthur almost wanted to disappear, and that was evident in the way he spoke.
If Arthur fights alongside me as a spirit, Excalibur would be a powerful asset. There was no option of not confirming whether it can be used here.
But if I fail, and Arthur were to disappear…
I found myself thinking, I couldn’t let that happen.
――I couldn’t accept it. How could I say “Don’t disappear” with what face? After all, I was the one who killed Arthur…! If it weren’t for that…
If it weren’t for that…!!
“Heh heh heh.”
I heard a heated sigh next to my ear. I didn’t need to turn around to know what kind of expression the Demon God clinging to me was making—
“So, this…”
Arthur turned to Bishop Lexar and the others.
“I’m honored to have fought alongside you all. This might be my last, so I should say it. It’s funny, since I’m already dead, yet calling this my last feels odd.”
“Arthur-kun…”
“Well, if I can use it without a hitch or can’t summon it at all, it’ll just turn into a comedy show. That would be a bit embarrassing…”
Hehe…Arthur, looking even younger than when he traveled with me, made my heartache even more.
“So, with that said, let’s do this, Alex.”
Arthur smiled at me.
I didn’t have the right words. “Do your best!” just felt wrong. “Be careful” was a bit off too. After all, I had no right to say anything.
“Alright…”
While I was hesitating, Arthur raised his hand towards his shining left eye—
“Here I go…!”
With a grunt, Arthur braced himself.
“…………”
『…………』
We held our breath and watched carefully.
However, we waited and waited, but there was no next move. Arthur froze with his hand over his left eye.
“Arthur? What’s wrong? Is there a problem…?”
“Um… well…”
Arthur looked up, showing a troubled expression.
“Until now, Excalibur was something you only used during life-or-death moments with utmost resolve… so I’m a bit lost on the vibe for this.”
Arthur…
“But still, it wouldn’t be right to not try. Alright, here goes… I am the sword of the innocent… I will defeat humanity’s enemies… Come forth, blade of destruction!”
Bam! Arthur slapped his hand on his left eye.
“…………”
Nothing happened.
Awkward…!!
“………… Waaaah, this is so embarrassing! What are we going to do now?!”
Arthur covered his face with both hands and rolled around on the ground.
“I want to hide in a hole!”
“We can just phase through the ground even if there isn’t a hole!”
“Hey, that’s true! What a brilliant idea!”
Arthur dove straight into the ground at Barbara’s blunt words. I mean, I’ve never been a ghost or experienced astral projection, but wow, that’s something you can do just like that!
“Um, Arthur, does that mean you couldn’t use it?”
“U-uh, well, I… don’t really know.”
As I cautiously asked, Arthur popped his head out halfway from the ground. “Oh, look, a hermit crab. But that’s not what matters right now!”
“It didn’t activate… Rather, it felt like it wasn’t reaching at all. Have I lost the qualification of a wielder? Or do I just need to feel more desperate…?”
“Desperation… huh. But, didn’t you practice at all back in the day?”
As I heard myself say that, I wanted to die. That’s not something a killer should say.
“Was it all just off the cuff…? Since it shortens your lifespan, I guess you couldn’t practice casually anyway.”
“Yeah, it was off-the-cuff. The word was passed down as ‘you’ll understand when the time comes.'”
That can’t be true for such a massive spell.
“Well, let’s say if you can’t use Excalibur… what should I do then? But it might be a relief in a way; if I lost my qualifications, I could just ignore the deaths of my allies…”
As if he were seeking refuge underwater, Arthur lay on the ground, looking up at the sky, mumbling to himself.
“Oh, but the problem of whether the Sacred Eye would be inherited hasn’t been resolved… What should I do? Should I self-destruct or fight alongside Alex until my soul reaches its limit? If I do self-destruct…”
Arthur looked at me.
“I could use a healing miracle on Alex and disappear. If I can return the hope of humanity to you and restore you to perfect condition, that would surely be a contribution to humanity. Don’t you think it’s a very heroic act?”
As he got up from the ground with a huff (or floated up?).
“And if I could grant my child power in the meantime, it would be perfect…”
――At that moment, I realized something suddenly.
I see. Arthur truly is…
A natural-born hero.
Just like how I was raised to become the Demon Lord.
Arthur must have been raised by those around him to be that way too.
But regardless of whether it was artificial or natural, there was no denying that Arthur is now a hero.
And heroes unleash their true worth by fighting for others.
Then, to wield Excalibur, the sword of the true hero—
“…Arthur. It’s only been just over a year since I contracted with Ante.”
『『Huh?』』
At my unexpected confession, not just Arthur but even Bishop Lexar made strange sounds. Ignoring them, I continued.
“But I’ve become this strong. I’ve managed to become strong. And I will continue to grow stronger from here. If so… I don’t know how far away it is, but perhaps much sooner than I think—in just over a decade, I could gain the power to reach the Demon Lord.”
――So doesn’t that mean I don’t need to be here at all? Arthur gave me a look that said so.
That’s right. In extreme terms, if I could take all the time I needed, I might not even need help from Arthur or the Bishops at all.
But that’s not the point.
“Arthur. If the Sacred Eye is passed down to the next generation… when would the next Arthur be ready for real combat?”
“…At the earliest, it would be in a decade or so. My last child hasn’t even been born yet, and that’s under the assumption that it’s inherited at this moment.”
“In other words, that means we have a grace period of a decade.”
I stepped closer to Arthur and looked up at him, the young hero with a puzzled face.
Right now, I was still a boy, so Arthur was taller than me.
“Even if I acquire the same amount of magical power as the Demon Lord, that would only bring me to ‘equal footing’, and I don’t know if I could actually win. I don’t know what kind of trump card lies with the Demon Lord’s spear. I need to explore every possibility.”
So, Arthur.
“If you can maintain your existence to the very limit and fight the Demon Lord for me…”
Denying the peaceful sleep of death, enduring the pain of a soul wearing thin due to becoming a spirit, pushing through to swing Excalibur for me…
“If we boost the odds of winning against the Demon Lord.”
Ordinary magic won’t cut it against the Demon Lord. But if Excalibur were brought to bear, even the Demon Lord would surely suffer!
“And if that leads to the defeat of the Demon Lord…”
If we could destroy the Demon Lord Kingdom successfully.
“Your descendants won’t have to face the Demon Lord again. They won’t be sent to the jaws of death.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“You will be able to protect your children. Arthur.”
――His eyes changed color.
『I am…the sword of the innocent…』
Arthur extended his hand.
『…I will defeat my children’s enemies!』
Towards his brilliantly shining silver eyes.
『Come forth, blade of destruction!』
The overwhelming power responded to him.
『Absolute Annihilation Blade――!!』
The world, like the surface of a lake—
Expanded.
