Chapter 451

451 – Loss

“Iru…shia…”

The ruin’s arm falls into the sea and disappears as though dissolving away.

【42660 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 42660 experience points have been acquired.】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 109 to 122.】

A huge amount of experience point enter me. The amount is clearly an order of magnitude greater than any monster I have defeated up to now. This must be the experience points of a legendary class monster. I never would have thought my level would shoot up by this much when it’s already so high.

But, rather than joy, I feel emptiness. I look out over the water’s surface. But all I see is scraps of her scales and blood, and nothing cohesive. It must be because she was hit by the [Ruin] and erased without a trace.

【Normal skill [Wide Rest] has been acquired.】

【Normal skill [Ligne] has been acquired.】

Magic skills…

【Title skill [Big EaterGiant Killer] has risen from level 3 to 5.】

【Title skill [Hero] has risen from level 9 to MAX.】

【Normal skill [Flash That Drives Away the Darkness] has been acquired.】

I wait dispassionately for the messages to end.

Then, I try using [Autoregeneration] on her neck. The cut section begins to heal, and the bleeding slows. I quickly stop, not wanting the proof that she lived to disappear. In the first place, I didn’t have any hope that revival was possible.

Her will still remained in her severed head. There was no way it would be possible to bring her back so easily.

My body feels unpleasantly light, making it difficult to balance. I fly down to the water’s surface and look at the scraps of my partner. It doesn’t feel real. She’s been with me ever since I evolved in the desert to fight the Hero, so it feels impossible to understand that I’ll never see her again.

I fought the slime, and as a result my partner is gone. But, strangely, I don’t feel any hate for the slime. When I found out it was the mastermind behind the little rock dragon’s attack on the village, I had thought that the slime alone was the one thing that couldn’t be allowed to live. But now, I can only think of the slime as a pitiable being who fell for the manipulation of God’s Voice.

For a while, I do nothing and only remain in place. But I soon realise that I need to meet up with Aro and the others. I wonder if they’ll forgive me for surviving by sacrificing my partner. The nightmare probably won’t forgive me. She really did like her.

…Still, I need to return now. I’ll head back to the Great Alban Mine and report to Aro and the others. It’s possible that Aro, nightmare, and magiatite-jii weren’t able to get out safetly. Besides, now that the Saint is hostile, I’m worried for Volk.

I bow towards the sinking pieces of my partner.

…Thank you for supporting me all this time. I’m definitely not going to let myself die easily. When the end comes for me, I’ll die with stubborn pride like you. So, watch over me please, partner.

Pulling my heavy body through the air, I fly towards the Great Alban Mine. Each time I recover enough MP, I use [Autoregeneration] to repair a part of my wings or body, but it doesn’t make much difference. My automatic recovery is also much slower than usual, perhaps because I’ve overtaxed my body. In quick succession, I fought Rogueheil, the chaos ooze, Lilixira, and then the ruin. The fact that I’m still alive is a miracle.

Knowing that it’s futile, I try using [High Rest]. But of course, nothing happens. It’s not that I lack the MP, but it instead feels like whatever was necessary to activate it has vanished from my brain. If I remember correctly, when I fought the twin head, its skills weren’t erased from its status after it lost a head.

It’s probably similar to being unable to swing a sword after losing your arms. It feels correct to think of it as the ouroboros as being a species that can only use magic skills from one of the heads. If I evolve into a normal, one-headed species, the magic skills might come back to me.

While flying, I check the skills I got.

【Normal skill [Ligne].】

【Missing body parts are regenerated, and HP is restored.】

【The MP consumption is considerably greater than [Rest].】

…A magic version of [Autoregeneration]? It doesn’t sound like it’ll be that useful for me…? No, if it can be used on others, it could be quite important.

【The rare human or monster that has this skill is often captured and exploited to death.】

【In ancient times, there was once a monster that learned [Ligne] at D rank, but as it was incapable of reproduction in its immature form, it was brought to extinction.】

It’s the normal God’s Voice explanation… I can’t laugh though… Anyway, it’s humans again. It seems that in any age, there are always those that do horrible things.

【Flash That Drives Away the Darkness】

【The sword is coated in holy light to cut the enemy.】

【Before this flash, all deception is meaningless.】

【All forms of damage abatement from resistance skills, characteristic skills, normal skills, or special states are ignored to deal massive damage to the target.】

So this is the max-level Hero skill. Unfortunately, I don’t fight with a sword. It looks like it’s only intended for humans. I don’t think there’ll ever be a time when it makes sense to humanise in order to use it, but… If I ever find myself fighting an opponent who uses special skills to protect themself, it might be worth it…

Of course, I haven’t seen any monsters like that up to now. The reason it was hard to deal any real damage to the vase turtles wasn’t because of a skill, but simply because their defence stat was so high. It seems unlikely that there’ll ever be a time when it makes sense to halve my attack power by humanising in order to use it.

『I’d had my hopes up a little, but it’s not as useful as I was expecting. I had hoped for something that could be used against opponents of the same rank…』

Without thinking, I use [Telepathy]. I consider speaking more to my partner, but then realise it’s pointless and stop.

Suddenly, Lilixira pops into my mind. Perhaps, just maybe, could her [Spirit Servant] call back my partner’s soul?

I don’t know if it’s possible. Or rather, it’s probably impossible. If I remember correctly, the seraphim had her soul sealed in a stone statue for the day the Saint would call her out. It’s seems plausible that the only reason a long-dead dragon could be revived was because of the specific preservation techniques they used. In the first place, I don’t know what sort of state the target has to be in, nor do I know in what sort of state she’d be revived in. In addition, since she isn’t a whole monster, it seems unlikely that [Spirit Servant] would work on her. But, the possibility isn’t zero.

…It’s possible that, after I gained the Demon Lord’s divine skill, Lilixira feared that I would betray her, and so attacked me first. If the records in her Holy Country detail the creation of monsters like the ruin, then her fear is understandable and it’s not impossible for me to understand her actions. As the strongest human, she might have feared that I would turn into an untouchable threat.

If so, then it’s possible her antagonism to me has faded after I lured the ruin away to protect the capital. I know that might be naive to think. But, if her reason for attacking me was out of a worry of me betraying her, then she should no longer have a reason to consider me her enemy. My partner and I have achieved that much, and I am proud of it.

Although, as her actions lead to my partner’s death, I probably won’t ever forgive her. If she had cooperated from the start, the slime might never have escaped and evolved into the ruin.

But regardless, I don’t want to carry out a meaningless feud. If, after trying, we find that Lilixira’s skill is unable to revive my partner, then… If she really tries to revive her… Then, even if I don’t forgive her, I won’t try to seek revenge. That is how I feel.

“Hahha, there you are! You’re Irushia? Kahhahahaha! Half of you is missing! I didn’t think you’d be this close to death! It doesn’t look like there was much point in me coming!”

A shrill, grating voice reaches me from a slight distance behind… W-what? A human voice? Perhaps because of the state of my body, it doesn’t seem that my [Presence Perception] is functioning.

Turning around, I see a man wearing revealing black clothes, flying on a set of six insectile wings. He’s clearly not a normal human. He has four arms, ashen-grey skin, elf-like pointed ears, a mouth lined with teeth, and strangely long fingers, each of which ends in sharp nails.

Around him fly three human-sized flies. I recall the Saint’s words.

『Earlier, with the help of the Holy Knights, I was able to bind the soul of the fiendish monster, the Magic Beast King Beelzebub. However, controlling it is difficult for me, and ideally I would prefer to avoid using it as much as possible.』

Is this…!?

“Don’t think badly of me, I can’t go against Saint-sama’s wishes! Kuhahahahahaha!”

The man opens his eyes wide. In his eyeballs, I see several bright red pupils squirming.

I understand now. Her claim that the Magic Beast King’s soul was difficult to control was just a convenient excuse. If I consider that she wanted a justification for holding back her strength, I can understand the current situation. In order to be thoroughly prepared, she kept her Magic Beast King card hidden.

『…I see, so that is her way of doing things. I understand now that she has no intention of reconciling.』

Lilixira is still trying to eliminate me at any cost.

“With how tattered you are, even without this form, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to get away. The agility is nice, but I can’t put any strength in, and it makes me feel sick…!”

The man’s body shines slightly. The next instant, he rapidly grows, gaining in mass.

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