Chapter 119 – Adversary (10)
Escaros, whose name was Acid in the past, was a boy who acted as a leader among the children who lived together in the facility in Kambau.
Compared to other children, there was a younger brother who remained deep in my memory.
The child was smaller than his peers, acted slowly, and was timid. In other words, he was weak.
In an environment where basic food, clothing and shelter are provided and a few strict life rules are set, but children are not particularly interested in the work of each other and do not interfere, a child marked as an underdog is likely to become prey in many ways.
Escaros, who felt quite uncomfortable watching the sight of a child who had naturally become a prey for his peers being bullied for no reason or deprived of more than half of his already insufficient food every day, escalated into anger.
The target of his anger as he punched his forehead was not the perpetrator, but the victim of bullying… It is a young girl.
ㅡ Kkong!
“Ahhh… !”
“Hey! Since you don’t resist once, other guys don’t get tired of it every day and only target you.”
“It gets worse if you act clumsily for no reason. It’s obvious that someone like me won’t win anyway… “
ㅡ Kkong!
Escaros cut off her words as he again punched the little girl in the forehead.
“Just because you can’t win, you say you want to live like that without making a sound for the rest of your life? Do you like that uh?”
“… Shut up… ．Not good.”
The girl who had been hit on the forehead in succession had an unfair expression on her face, but she was well aware of the fact that the boy in front of her was Acid, a solid powerhouse among the children in the facility, so she couldn’t say to stop beating. Because it was scary.
“It’s fortunate, I was so annoyed that I had to keep seeing myself like this from the side, so I couldn’t stand it.
“Wait, why are your fists all of a sudden?”
“What is it?
“Excuse me… It’s just because Acid oppa is the strongest among the children in the facility… Can’t you just give them one word to stop bullying me? I’d rather it be much simpler and faster… “
ㅡ Kkoong!!!
This is her third. The girl, who had the illusion of having a hole in her forehead, had tears welling up in her eyes.
“Ouch… !”
“Take care of your problems with your own hands. Prove properly that you won’t stand still if someone carelessly touches you.”
“… Yes.”
The girl, who was gently tying her swollen forehead, imitated her opponent clumsily and clenched her fists, and the boy asked a question with an expression that he remembered her belatedly before telling her about a full-fledged fist fight. ．
“Oh, you. What was your name?”
“Ro, this is Roxia.”
Starting from the day of her conversation, Esca Ross, who began to regularly teach her fighting skills to Loxia whenever she had time, took special care of her, who showed her good spirit.
When she reached a certain age, she set an unprecedented record through the measurements she received obligatory, and was guided at the facility to become his guardian and educator. Until the day I changed my name because I left for the place where the great wizard Merlin was.
* * *
And now. The two demon men and women stood facing each other.
Loxia is sandwiched between Roden and Escaros, with a face mixed with joy and surprise.
Escaros put down the greatsword he was holding at an angle and let it touch the ground while maintaining the right amount of tension so that he could swing it again at any time.
“I never expected to see you again, Loxia, in a place like this.”
“Rather, that’s what I want to say. Not only has Acid oppa changed his appearance, but also his way of speaking. How to say… It feels solemn.”
“Because a lot of time has passed. And now my name is Escaros.”
Escaros, who was looking straight into her eyes of Loxia, her fate whom she met unexpectedly, felt a lot of wonder from her as he looked at her.
If you look at it closely, your eyes are clear enough to reveal even your intelligence. These are the eyes of a person who has his own firm thoughts and ideologies. Under the influence of brainwashing, he cannot be seen in a confused state of self-consciousness… ．
Before she departed from the Demon King’s Castle, she had been told by Merlin in advance that she had been brainwashed to the point where there was no way to save her, and the situation of Loxia in front of her was distinctly different.
The original plan was for Escaros to inherit the power after the death of the vessel of the demon king who became the hero’s puppet… If the target was Loxia, a relationship that he took care of in the same facility, and his mind was fine, he didn’t want to see blood.
“I’d like to take it easy and listen to what the hell has been going on, but right now there’s no place or time to talk about it.”
Escaros slowly stretched out her empty hand and spread her palm tightly, as if asking the girl to hold this hand.
“Loxia, I won’t say anything bad. Let’s go back to our land with me. Right now.”
“To the Demon Kingdom?”
“To be more precise, it is the Demon Castle. I don’t know if you realize it yourself, but you are a very special being. The place you are supposed to be is not here.”
In any case, if we can regain a clear central point, the demon king, the kingdom of demons will be able to quickly regain stability, and that’s enough. It just needs me and Merlin to lead this child well.
“Demon King…”
Roxia quietly looked behind her. Roden, who was gasping for breath with a very tired expression, met her eyes with her twin sisters Merim and Marill, who were standing side by side right behind her.
The demon girl didn’t want to part with her family, especially her master, so she looked at Escaros again and shook her head vigorously.
But Escaros reminded her of what she had said earlier.
“Didn’t you say it with your own mouth? Instead of obediently following him, I asked him not to touch that man. As you wish, I promise on my honor that I will not attack that man again, so hold my hand as it is. If not… “
ㅡSure.
Escaros, who raised the greatsword that was leaning on the ground with one hand, took a threatening posture to attack Roden at any moment. He suffered considerable injuries from the battle with Roden, but he continued to fight and save the lives of others. There is still enough energy left to take away.
Master…Sorry.
The moment when the girl at the crossroads of the alternatives reaches out to Escaros to protect Roden’s life after thinking about it for a long time.
“It’s not enough not to dispose of the dishes, so to say that even the hero will live like this… ．Sama Escaros, the decision you are making now is very difficult for many reasons…”
Merlin, who had been silent all this time, raised her voice with the sound of her wand, and Escaros opened her mouth without even turning her head.
“I checked it with my own eyes, and unlike what you said, I felt that there was a story rather than brainwashing. First, I want to hear the details.”
“I can agree to a hundred steps and capture the vessels alive, but…”
It’s enough to coax that girl out later and kill her.
“It is absolutely right that the hero who is now overpowering should stop breathing right away. He who has a history of killing the previous demon king is very dangerous. If left unchecked, it will be an infinitely dangerous variable.”
“… It’s not wrong, but I’ve already made a promise to this child. I have no intention of saying two words with one mouth. For now, follow my decision.”
Escaros, who heard Merlin’s words, unwittingly felt the great convincing power of his words, and felt that his heart was shaken. ．
After hearing the answer of Escaros, who never responds to persuasion that does not fit his beliefs, Merlin… ．
“Haaa… ．It wasn’t enough that I was caught up in useless affection, so I was so soft. I can’t do it anymore.”
At the same time as she finished her words, she opened her eyes wide and made a bizarre form of hand sign, then started sending mana waves directly into Escalos’s head.
“I’ll tell you in advance, I really didn’t want to use this method. Now, then. Exterminate all enemies in front of you right now.”
“How big?! Ugh… ! Merlin!! What are you doing now… !!! Ugh…”
Then, like a patient complaining of a headache, Escaros grabbed his head with both hands and began to let out a suppressed moan, unable to bear the excruciating pain that seemed like his head would break.
“Acid oppa?!”
Looking at her obviously distressed Escaros and raising her urgent voice, Loxia tried to run to him, but her roden, right behind her, grabbed her from behind her.
“You can’t approach him now!”
“But Master! Acid oppa…”
“I don’t think it’s normal even from my point of view. Even so, if you approach it recklessly, you’ll die at the hands of that guy.”
As if to prove Roden’s words, Escaroth removed his hand from his head and grabbed the greatsword without a word.
The decisive reason for Escaros’ sudden action is to Merlin… To be more precise, it is in the crystal shards that contain Merlin’s special mana, planted in his head.
This crystal shard, which matches the one implanted in the heads of the Black Hounds, evokes feelings very similar to those of the German soldiers who follow the cult leader or the German soldiers who have a strong sense of belonging to the Nazis, so that Merlin’s words are not questioned. , Makes him follow.
Superficially, the effect was minimal for Escaros, who is the lord, and unconsciously adjusted to the level of following Merlin’s words, but as now, by injecting mana, he can forcibly manipulate his will.
Whooping… In order to see the proper effect, there is a fatal flaw that you have to use your hands in advance when you are a child, but it was the most successful study except for that.
Merlin laughed meanly and decided to watch Escaros begin fighting again.
“Brother Roden! Get it here!!”
ㅡHwiriririk!
On the way to the run earlier, Marill, who had prepared the black sword stuck in the ground beforehand, threw the black sword as hard as he could at Roden, and Roden deftly caught it and made a thank you gesture.
He evacuated Loxia to her twin sister and began to confront Escaros, who was striding towards her.
“Kwaaaaa!!”
“Huh… !”
—-Kaan, Kang! Kagagak… !!
The battle between the two men started again. Escaros had a tremendous amount of murder, but because he was insane, he lacked the precision of his unique skills compared to when he fought just a moment ago.
When Roden, who was facing swords with Escaros, was calculating the best option while considering the opponent’s next move, Merlin, who was at an appropriate distance, drew a red magic circle in the air while the two men were fighting.
Since you crossed the line, there is no reason to insist on one-on-one.
“According to my will, the primeval flameEven the enemy’s soul must be burned… Hellfire Blast.”
The flame world’s strongest anti-person magic, Hellfire Blast, which brings the flames of hell to the present world, was fired in a straight line from the side of Roden in a spiral.
“It’s great… ! Damn it!!”
If it was the usual Roden, it was a speed that could be avoided enough, but her evasion was delayed by one step as she was fighting a fierce battle with her rival in a state where her stamina had lost a lot.
ㅡFurrrr
Before long, an immense heat of hellfire passed through Roden’s place like a beam, and part of Roden’s left arm was swallowed up by it.
