Chapter 35: The Monster of Yaiban

“Get back, Levi! You should…”

“I’m the one who’s stepping back, Father. Don’t you understand…?”

Takeru stared at the girl, dumbfounded.

She had interrupted the battle and ordered Levigdard to step back. Based on her appearance and manner of speaking, it seemed she was Levigdard's daughter... but...

“Nice to meet you, boy.”

“Uh, nice to meet you.”

For some reason, he didn’t feel any hostility or intimidation coming from her.

With an attitude as if chatting with a friend, she smiled brightly and spoke to him.

“My name’s Levi.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Takeru.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you. Can I ask you something?”

In the middle of a battle, a girl was approaching with concealed killing intent.

Normally, one should be wary of ambushes or traps, but...

“…Takeru, you haven’t been hitting seriously since earlier. Why is that?”

“Ah, well…”

Maybe she wanted to talk things through.

Takeru, disarmed by her demeanor, decided to respond to her inquiry.

“Well, it’s because my goal isn’t to kill you.”

“Huh, so you didn’t come here to kill us. Then what’s your goal?”

“To drive you away. If the Yaiban army leaves, we won’t do anything.”

In truth, Takeru didn’t want to kill anyone.

The reason he had challenged Levigdard to a one-on-one was in hopes that if he defeated “Yaiban’s strongest general,” they might leave without further conflict.

“Eventually, I even thought it’d be nice if we could get along.”

“Hmph.”

…Takeru had become a royal knight, but his mentality was still immature.

Despite standing on the battlefield as a soldier, he still recoiled at the thought of killing.

“…Is that your answer?”

“Yes.”

“…Hmph.”

Hearing Takeru’s response, Levi’s eyes filled with disappointment.

“So you’re not just arrogant or mocking us… you’re just living in a dream.”

“Excuse me?”

“So, you’re not planning to kill me?”

Levi turned toward Takeru and looked at him with eyes as if she were gazing at something worthless.

To this, Takeru responded with an untroubled smile.

“Yeah. If you leave, I don’t plan on killing you.”

…Immediately after that exchange, the girl put her hand to her face and sighed deeply.

“What if I don’t leave?”

“Then I’ll have to fight you.”

“Hmph.”

Levi sighed with apparent disappointment and then faced Takeru, extending her palm toward him.

Seeing her readiness, Takeru resigned himself and readied his fist.

“You’re really going to do this?”

“…Water armor Wark, activation check.”

The moment the blue-haired girl muttered something, water began to rise from the ground, forming into an armor that enveloped her.

It was the same water armor as Levigdard’s, capable of nullifying all attacks.

However...

“What are you looking at, pervert?”

“Ah, no!!”

Levi’s “water armor activation” was a bit of an eye-opener.

Her robe, which clung tightly to her body, accentuated her figure.

Though hidden under her robe, the girl had surprisingly full curves.

Takeru was blushing slightly.

“Okay, then, let’s do this, Takeru.”

“Ah, this is dangerous. Are you sure you don’t want to stop?”

“I’m not stopping.”

After all, she was still a girl. Takeru tried to avoid seriously hurting her and aimed to incapacitate her without causing harm.

Takeru adjusted his strikes to barely break through Levi’s armor.

That was what he was thinking.

“...Then, don’t get hurt.”

“Try and make me.”

Takeru relaxed and carefully aimed at the girl’s physique.

“...Hm?”

The first strike came. It was the same strength he had used when he first hit Levigdard.

However, his fist came to an immediate stop against the surface of Levi’s water armor.

The impact didn’t transfer at all.

“Oh, what’s this?”

Next, Takeru threw a punch with the same force that had sent Levigdard flying earlier.

A dull, loud splashing sound echoed, and droplets of water scattered in all directions.

“...Still a pervert.”

“Ah!!”

However, once again, his fist didn’t reach the girl’s body.

Takeru’s blow came to a complete halt, and the impact only caused the water armor to ripple.

“...”

As a result, the girl’s robe was lifted slightly.

Her slender thighs and pure white underwear were exposed.

Even the girl, for the first time, blushed deeply.

“S-sorry—”

“Still, your punches have enough force to lift my robe.”

Takeru hurriedly covered his eyes and took a step back from Levi.

After watching him, the girl, with a somewhat amused expression, suddenly faced him and raised her palm.

“Bad kids get punished. Water Spike Bullet.”

“Eh?”

—The sharpness of the girl’s magic far exceeded Takeru’s expectations.

In the brief moment she blinked, water vapor began to condense in front of her outstretched hand.

By the time Takeru realized what was happening, countless water projectiles had been fired straight at him.

“Whoa!”

The time from chant to impact was under a second.

The water projectiles, if they hit directly, had the power to pierce human flesh.

She had launched a high-speed, instant-death attack without any discernible movement.

Takeru couldn’t dodge in time, and the water projectiles struck him directly...

“Ow, ow, ow... That was a surprise...”

However, Levi’s magic wasn’t enough to penetrate Takeru’s body, which had already withstood dragon breaths and stone projectiles.

The water hit his arm, leaving only a small bruise.

“...You’re tough. I thought at least some blood would spill.”

“Well, it still hurt a lot.”

The water magic was weak in power. While it excelled in defense, it lacked offensive strength.

That’s why it was often considered unsuitable for combat.

“You’re better than I thought, Takeru-kun.”

“Hahaha. After that, I was kind of hoping we could call it a draw, you know…”

The Water Spike Bullet from earlier had been nearly Levi’s maximum output.

She had landed it as a surprise attack, striking Takeru directly.

The power that should have been enough to penetrate flesh only left a bruise on Takeru.

“Well then, how about this?”

“If you’re not satisfied, I could fire one more…”

Takeru still hadn’t shown any real intent to fight.

In fact, he didn’t even recognize that he was fighting.

In response to his carefree attitude, Levi gave him a ferocious grin.

“I’m going to aim for someone other than you.”

“Eh?”

The girl, maintaining her relaxed demeanor, now aimed the water projectiles at the Saripa Army that was behind them.

“Ahhh! The captain! The captain!!”

“Ahhh!!”

“—Eh?”

The numerous Water Spike Bullets rained down, plunging the Saripa army into chaos and panic.

Even though Levi’s water projectiles couldn’t harm Takeru, they were more than enough to kill the common soldiers.

Soldiers’ heads were blown off by the water bullets, and blood sprayed, staining the earth.

“Hey! Stop!!”

“What are you talking about?”

Seeing this, Takeru panicked and, filled with anger, rushed toward Levi.

He was frustrated, feeling like he had tried so hard to resolve things without killing.

“You have no reason to be angry.”

“Why…? Why would you do this!?”

“I’m a Yaiban soldier. If Saripa soldiers are in front of me, I’ll kill them.”

However, the only thing reflected on the girl’s face was ridicule.

She continued to taunt Takeru as he approached her.

“If you hadn’t been so calm and taken things seriously, maybe they wouldn’t have died.”

“Well, because I… I thought we could resolve this with words.”

“You’re the only one thinking that. I came here to fight to the death.”

The atmosphere grew heavy, tense, and cold.

Eventually, the calm expression in Takeru’s eyes was replaced with hatred and anger.

“You—!”

“You came to the battlefield, and you’re getting this angry over it? You’re just going to disappoint me even more.”

“...Fine, I get it. I was wrong.”

Tightly, Takeru clenched his fist so hard it began to bleed.

Then, he pulled his fist back, staring straight at the girl.

“If you want to fight that badly, then let’s do it.”

“If you can, go ahead.”

Power surged, oozing and overflowing with limitless magical energy.

Fear appeared on the faces of the surrounding soldiers, but Levi was the only one who remained cool and composed.

“After that last punch, I could withstand a hundred more, you know?”

She sneered, mockingly laughing at Takeru.

---

“I was wrong.”

Takeru’s next strike was unlike anything before.

The movement itself was nothing more than a regular straight punch.

He stomped his foot on the ground, pulled back his fist, and thrust it straight forward as he charged.

“I’m going serious now.”

But the first step—when he kicked the ground with his right foot—caused the world to tremble with the sound of the earth shaking.

The roar of his movement was so intense that cracks appeared in Levigdard’s armor.

“I won’t leave a single piece of flesh behind.”

With the next step, Takeru was already inches away from the girl, close enough to feel her breath.

His planted foot caused numerous cracks to form in the earth beneath him.

“—Eh?”

It happened in a fraction of a second. The only reaction Levigdard could manage was a brief flick of her gaze.

In the next moment, the blood drained from Levigdard’s face.

“Be obliterated.”

Takeru pivoted on his left foot, spinning halfway, and launched his fist at subsonic speed.

The air couldn’t keep up with the movement, and the vacuum created by his punch stirred up a whirlwind of dust.

Consumed by anger, Takeru lost himself as he threw everything he had into the strike.

In just two steps...

He shattered the girl, scorched the trees, blew away the clouds, and split the earth.

“…Heh.”

A ringing sound filled his ears.

When the explosion subsided and the dust cleared, at the center of a crater dozens of meters wide, the girl was laughing.

“What’s this? Looks like you can do it after all.”

Levigdard, her head bleeding and her body covered in mud, was floating inside her water armor.

In the blackened soil, where grass and trees had caught fire from the friction, her body was bleeding profusely, and all her bones had been shattered.

“Amazing... You’re amazing.”

Despite the severe injuries, Levigdard wasn’t kneeling.

Though blood poured from her body, and her bones were broken, she maintained her combat stance.

“Your destructive power is beyond anything I imagined…”

“…No way.”

Takeru had definitely put everything into that strike.

Right after landing the punch, he was certain that he had gone too far—there should have been nothing left of her.

But the reality was that the girl hadn’t been killed.

“Father, I’ll take care of this boy.”

“Levigdard... You...”

“Who else could handle this?”

At that moment, Takeru stood there, trembling, staring at his own fist.

He regretted having let himself be provoked, overwhelmed by emotion, and truly delivering a full-force punch.

Yet, despite the devastating blow, the girl had survived and was now calmly rising to her feet.

And more than anything...

“Ah… You’re amazing, Takeru.”

“Wha?!”

“I see, so this is as far as you go… It’s so... much, isn’t it... ♪”

Despite her grave injuries, Levi wore an ecstatic smile that filled Takeru with fear.

“Takeru. Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Wha-... What is it?”

“You have this strength, yet have you never been hated for it?”

The girl continued laughing, but there was something in her expression that seemed almost redeemed.

Even though she was clearly injured and on the brink of collapse.

She had been punched by Takeru, nearly killed, yet...

“You must have been feared. You should have been avoided, disgusted by others.”

“You, why…”

“Then why, with all that, are you still fighting for someone else?”

Levi was happy to have met someone stronger than herself.

“Stop it. I don’t want those pointless answers like before. I don’t need any ‘good child’ responses.”

“…“

“Tell me. How could you swing such a violent, demonic fist at me?”

Takeru, upon seeing her attitude, began to understand Levi's feelings.

No. In all likelihood, in this vast world, only Takeru could truly understand Levi's emotions.

“Did you also live your life being feared by those around you?”

“Well, yeah.”

Levi was a “Takeru” born in Yaiban.

She had been recognized and feared for her talents by her father, Levigdard.

And raised with both praise and fear as a hero/monster.

“Everyone cowers and flatters me. They ask me, ‘Why do you have such power?’”

—In truth, Levi had been raised as a secret weapon to be used against the Deken front.

She was feared for her monstrous strength, yet raised to be used as a tool.

“Why do I have to obey those weaker than me? Why do I have to fight?”

“…”

“Please, tell me…”

Levigdard never intended to reveal his daughter Levi in this way.

But seeing Takeru defeat the mighty warrior Levigdard in an instant...

He had been lured out, swaying as he followed.

“I... I have someone I care about.”

“Huh?”

“For that person, I’m fighting.”

Takeru answered without lowering his guard, still cautious of Levi.

He had intended to answer with sincerity, despite his wariness.

Upon hearing his answer, Levi looked pleased.

“Good. That’s a much better answer than before.”

She blushed, looking genuinely happy.

“…I’ll ask you this, though. Why are you fighting for Yaiban?”

“Eh, me?”

The two monsters, through their brief exchange, had connected on a deeper level.

And, with mutual understanding…

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“Right.”

Once again, Takeru thrust his fist forward.

“How pitiful.”

From Takeru’s face, the arrogance and carelessness vanished.

The monsters had now fully immersed themselves in a life-or-death battle.

---

“You took Takeru’s full-strength punches and didn’t die?”

“Yeah. That girl, Levi, was also a monster.”

Takeru and Levi’s battle continued for a long time.

Afterward, Takeru never let his guard down or became complacent.

He acknowledged Levi as a threat and continued to strike with the intent to kill.

“So, what happened? What about Takeru?”

“Well, apparently he won against Levi.”

“Then why did Takeru end up injured and hospitalized?”

Levi had fortified her defenses and managed to deflect Takeru’s punches several times, enduring his strikes.

However, facing Takeru’s overwhelming firepower, she slowly started to be cornered and eventually pushed to her limit.

In front of Takeru, who was ready to deliver the final blow, Levi committed a forbidden act in order to survive.

“A no-motion, surprise attack aimed at the groin.”

“The groin?”

She shot a Water Spike at Takeru’s groin as a surprise attack.

Even though the firepower was only enough to cause bruising, a hit there would still be a fatal blow.

Takeru groaned in agony on the spot, and during that moment of weakness, Levi managed to escape.

“Thanks to Poulie’s efforts, Takeru’s ability to sire offspring remains intact.”

“Efforts?”

Afterward, Poulie treated him, ensuring that nothing serious happened to Takeru’s... important parts.

Takeru had been incapacitated by a girl’s attack on his manhood, and then treated by a girl his age.

I wonder how his mental state is holding up...

“Well, the bottom line is, we achieved a complete victory.”

“I guess we can call it that?”

Afterward, both armies continued to face off, but no further fighting took place.

Since Saripa had no need to advance, it was indeed a complete victory.

“So, with that in mind, I’m going to head to the capital of Deken with the prince.”

“Please, do.”

The prince seemed to agree with the Yaiban invasion, so the two of them would be heading to Deken’s capital for negotiations.

Unless something major happened, they were confident the army would be moved.

“Once we get past this, the future will be secure. Rishali, don’t let your guard down until the end.”

“Understood.”

I don’t exactly hate Yaiban as a nation that much.

But since they view Saripa as an enemy and keep pushing forward, there’s no choice but to fight.

“Finally, the time has come to destroy Yaiban.”

And after this war, I truly believed that a peaceful future awaited.