Chapter 54: The Return of the "Spear King"

Having ended her battle with Leila in victory, Hikari wrapped herself in wind and accelerated. The magic “Windstep” scattered and dissolved anything that could hinder her movement—air resistance itself erased beneath the cloak of wind surrounding her body. Yet, unable to shake the terrible feeling gnawing at her, she pushed forward toward Shion as fast as she possibly could.

"Hikari-san!!!"

The fact that she managed to react to that voice at all could only be called a miracle. To catch a sound that should have been swallowed entirely by the roaring wind—perhaps that was due to her monstrous eyesight and hearing.

When she turned toward the source, there stood someone who absolutely should not have been here: her best friend, Alicia the “Saint,” running toward her while gasping for breath.

"Hikari-san!! The ‘King’s Battle’ has been canceled!!! The Dragon King-sama learned about this tournament and, for some reason, ordered it stopped immediately!!!"

"The Dragon King? That’s the ruler of the Draconia Dragon Kingdom, right...? Why would someone like that...? And wait—shouldn’t they be announcing this over the broadcast? Why the hell are you running all the way out here?"

Inside the forest, the humidity—which had already been unbearable—had risen even further thanks to Leila’s “Water Spear,” followed by Julia’s “Heat Haze” and “Flame Wall.” Hikari could block much of it with wind magic, but Alicia could not, leaving her drenched in sweat.

At this point, her usual heavy clothing must have become impossible to endure, because she had stripped down to little more than a shirt. Even so, it was soaked through, enough that her underwear was faintly visible beneath it. Without a word, Hikari held out a towel. Only then did Alicia seem to realize her condition, her face instantly flushing red.

"Th-Thank you very much."

"No need to thank me. If Toma saw you like this, it’d be poison to the eyes. Anyway, what happened?"

"I don’t know exactly what happened, but the gate you all used earlier became unusable. And not just that—the image transmitters operating inside this field also stopped working, so broadcasting became impossible. Every magic tool except weapons has malfunctioned..."

"So that’s why you came running... Anyone else coming? Feels like old man Richard would’ve been the first one charging in."

"No, nobody else made it. They tried, but something interfered when they attempted to enter the forest. Creatures we’ve never seen before attacked them... Right now, only Ciel-san and I are inside."

Those words made Hikari instinctively frown. She couldn’t claim to know every creature in the world, but something so bizarre it defied recognition suddenly appearing in a city chosen to host the “King’s Battle”? It sounded absurd. Still, Alicia wasn’t the type to lie about something like this, so Hikari accepted it as fact.

The real problem was that reinforcements could not be expected despite how abnormal the situation had become. And worse, they had no idea what condition Toma was currently in. The moment she imagined something happening to him, she wanted to rush off and search for him immediately.

But she couldn’t.

Ciel was definitely with Shion. In a situation this dangerous, a noncombatant was standing in what was certain to become a battlefield. If something happened there... if Hikari later learned she could have saved them by being present...

Toma would absolutely blame himself.

He would shoulder responsibility for someone getting hurt because he wasn’t strong enough. Hikari knew without question that the hopeless idiot would think exactly that. And so, with bitter resolve, she made her decision.

"Alicia, sorry, but can you go to Toma? I’m heading straight to Shion."

"Understood. I brought combat-use magic tools with me, so I can at least defend myself. Please don’t worry."

"Yeah. Be care—!?"

Just as they were about to part ways, darkness suddenly erupted from a far-off location.

It was darker—far darker—than the shadow magic Toma normally used. A color so ominous that simply looking at it filled one with dread.

She didn’t know what had happened. But she knew, without a doubt, that something had.

Hikari wrapped herself in wind once more and sprinted toward the place where the darkness had appeared. She didn’t know what she could do there—but she was certain that if she did nothing, it would already be too late.

"No... way...!! Why...? How... how can this even... happen...!?"

Julia stared desperately at the scene before her while struggling to keep her poisoned body upright.

There stood the deceiver and the deceived victim.

Yet between them existed a bond so genuine that they now clung to one another as though they would never let go again.

They wept tears of relief over each other’s safety.

And to Julia, the sight scraped against her nerves like a blade.

Unable to accept it, she forced herself back to her feet.

She had lost everything. Crawled her way back up from the bottom. There was no way she could accept it all being overturned at the very last moment by this cheap, tearful farce.

She had thrown away compassion, love—everything—and survived by feeding only on hatred and rage. Unable to comprehend the bond between them, she screamed.

"Why!!! Why can you accept someone like her so easily!!? She lied to you this whole time!!! She deceived you, mocked you, over and over and over again!!! So why!?"

Her voice sounded like the wail of a lonely child, painfully desperate to anyone listening.

"It’s true that I was deceived. I was lied to. But that doesn’t mean every moment we spent together was a lie."

Even so, Shion did not waver.

Because she knew her mother’s love had been real.

Because she believed the King’s words—that her mother’s love truly had been genuine.

"I still have feelings I can’t forgive. But there was even more love than that, and I was able to accept it. I can believe I’m not alone. I can believe someone will walk beside me. That’s why there’s no need for despair."

Stepping protectively in front of Ciel—her mother—Shion leveled her spear toward Julia.

Though the poison made even moving her body agonizing, Julia still forced herself upright.

"Those who possess emotional bonds are strong. Toma-dono... my King... taught me that during the ‘King’s Battle.’ And now I can say with certainty that I too possess that strength. That is the difference between you and me—you surrounded yourself with people, yet never allowed yourself to trust anyone."

"SHUT UUUUP!!!"

Rage. Hatred. They erupted at the sight of Shion standing there, filled with hope.

Because they were complete opposites, Julia understood Shion’s words were true.

And because they were true, Julia knew she herself could never obtain that kind of strength.

"Like hell I’ll lose over something like that!!! After everything I’ve done to get this far!! If I admit that, then what the hell was I!? Spending all this time making sure I never relied on anyone, never looked weak, never let anyone look down on me!!?"

Shown something she could never possess, she screamed like a child throwing a tantrum.

And by the end of that scream, despair outweighed even anger and hatred.

"I came this far without even knowing my purpose for living, chasing happiness that might not even exist!!! I was so close to finally getting it, and now it’s all overturned by this ridiculous farce!? No way... absolutely no..."

But the poison coursing through her body was too much. She collapsed to her knees, breathing raggedly. Within her flickering consciousness, memories of her life flashed by like a lantern procession.

She had crushed countless people beneath her.

Kind people. Jealous people. She struck down everyone equally if they stood as fellow candidates for the title of “Spear King.” Some had even offered her a hand.

But Julia, having decided never to trust anyone, had slapped every one of those hands away.

She became alone. Became stronger. Reached the point where using others for her own sake no longer brought guilt.

And yet the coldness at her back never vanished. She spent her life desperately ignoring the pain of standing alone.

Was this the end result?

The fact that she had been defeated by the very thing she had denied filled her heart with inescapable darkness.

The undeniable reality of defeat pressed down heavily upon her.

"—!! What the hell? Darkness!?"

"Huh...?"

As if drawn toward her heart, the darkness that had clung to Shion now began drifting toward Julia instead.

Seeing it, her face turned pale. She tried to flee, but the poison tangled her legs and sent her crashing to the ground.

"No!? Stop—why is it always me!!? No, I don’t want this!! I DON’T WAAAAAANT IIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!"

She desperately stretched out her hand to escape.

But nobody could take it.

Just like all the hands once offered to her—hands she herself had rejected—her own hand found nothing as the darkness swallowed her whole.

"Because there was no other choice!! If we didn’t sacrifice her—Shion—we would’ve stayed trapped forever!! That’s why I did it, so why am I the only one losing everything!!! Why is she the only one who gets everything!!!"

There had always been jealousy.

Shion had a family. She grew stronger for their sake. Julia had always envied her, always carried an inferiority complex toward her.

But she could never admit it.

Because admitting it felt like something inside her would break. Like the truth that she couldn’t rely on anyone would finally shatter her.

"I don’t even know what I want!! I don’t know what I wanted anyone to do for me!!! Being around other people terrifies me, and that just became normal!! And yet that girl wouldn’t stop going on and on about her mother like she was denying everything about me—and she still became stronger than me!!!!"

Unable even to recognize her own jealousy, Julia’s screams vanished into the darkness.

As it invaded deeper into her body, the light faded from her eyes, and her brown hair slowly shifted into a dark golden blond.

"Someone... please... love me..."

Those were her final words.

Then all of the darkness settled completely inside her.

Her body convulsed violently, again and again, and an eerie presence began to emanate from her small frame.

Shion and Ciel both recognized it instantly from that aura alone.

A being who had once dominated all others with nothing but a spear.

Seeing that dark blond hair, feeling that overwhelming presence, they barely managed to remain standing by supporting one another.

"――――Hm. As a vessel for my body... I suppose this will suffice."

The voice came from Julia.

Yet the words were unmistakably not hers.

Hearing that familiar voice—the one she had once heard nearly every single day—Shion immediately understood. She gripped her spear and tried to strike first—

—and in the next instant, she was blown away.

"How rude, Shion Ace. Surely you have not forgotten who I am."

Shion smashed through countless trees before finally stopping, collapsing to the ground as she glared at the being that had possessed Julia.

It stood there with its spear already extended, staring back at her despite her refusal to yield.

"I am the ‘Spear King.’ The one who stands at the pinnacle of all spearmen, and the one who shall live for eternity."

And thus, the worst King descended upon the world.