Chapter 37: End of Our Feelings

Kazuya and Kalif awakened simultaneously and dashed toward the opposing mages.

Nevaska and I each cast our own barrier and protective spells at the same time.

Compared to frontline fighters, mages have weak physical abilities—especially if they’re elves. That makes them the weak point of any party. Which is why targeting the powerful rear-line mages first is a basic principle in combat.

The rear guard knows this too, so the first thing they do is cast protective spells on themselves.

Naturally, human parties understand all of this. So what happens? A direct clash between the two sides' melee fighters occurs along the path between their respective mages. To protect your own rear guard and to take down the enemy's—that’s how it always ends up. And while the frontline fights, this becomes a battle between Nevaska and me.

First, I add support magic—granting resistance to cold and water attributes to both myself and Kazuya.

From there, the goal is to prevent the opposing mage from doing their job. That means launching offensive spells at Nevaska.

I conjure multiple fireballs around her and launch a barrage of flame projectiles. Since she’s bound to have magical barriers, the ideal spell is one with strong firepower and a continued assault to restrict her movements.

As I activated it and encircled her with flames, icy pillars sprang up around me—Nevaska must have chosen a similar spell.

Layering defensive barriers while maintaining offensive pressure and support to the front line—I have to keep the flow of spells uninterrupted.

At times like these, if you're in a party of multiple members, you can divide roles and distribute the load. That’s why parties are generally four members or more.

Not to brag, but I can handle the work of three on my own, and cast strong magic to boot. So I’ve managed somehow—always have. But I never imagined I’d be up against an elf of comparable level.

Our clash of offense and defense continued. But it was a delicate balance—if either side slipped, they'd be overwhelmed.

It seemed Nevaska and I were evenly matched in terms of magical power. I have the highest magic reserves in the village, so I figured I could win if it turned into a battle of attrition.

That meant the types of magic we could use would decide the outcome—but Nevaska could also use ancient magic, so there was no real advantage there either.

I couldn’t ease up on attack or defense. Large-scale spells took too long in a high-speed fight like this. My vacuum blade spell, which activates instantly, scatters indiscriminately and might hit Kazuya—so I couldn’t use it here.

In that case, I’d have to rely on an external factor—Kazuya, who was fighting in close combat.

From what I could see, Kazuya had the upper hand in the central fight.

In addition to his natural advantage in elemental affinity, Kazuya himself was simply stronger than Kalif. Kalif was being pushed into a purely defensive fight.

"Kazuya! You bastard, don’t screw with me!!"

Kalif, under pressure, shouted angrily.

Kazuya locked Kalif’s sword with Takemikazuchi, slammed into him with his shoulder, breaking his stance, and then delivered a sharp kick to his now-exposed abdomen.

“Gahhh!!”

A brutal blow to an unbalanced body—Kalif folded like a hinge.

It was a clear opening.

Kazuya didn’t let it go to waste and charged straight at Nevaska. She stopped casting offensive spells and instead cast a powerful defensive barrier. I also abandoned the spell I had been chanting and began casting a primordial spell.

Primordial magic is the manipulation of raw magical power itself. These days, only elves who have lived for over 3,000 years—elder-level mages—can use it. The strength of primordial magic lies in the fact that modern magical barriers can’t fully block it; it only dampens its power.

It takes a bit more time to chant, but with Kazuya keeping them busy, I could complete it.

Kazuya struck her barrier, significantly weakening its durability.

I seized the moment and released the primordial magic. A mass of raw magical energy shot toward Nevaska.

──But it didn’t hit her.

Kalif dove in at the last second and took the hit himself, acting as a shield.

The spell didn’t reach Nevaska—but I succeeded in damaging Kalif.

Nevaska caught his collapsing body and immediately cast an ancient healing spell. As expected of ancient magic, the cost was high, but it activated instantly with direct contact, rapidly restoring a large portion of Kalif’s health.

He quickly got back up, reawakened, and readied his sword once more.

I cast another spell without pause—this time targeting Takemikazuchi, Kazuya’s sword. Since I had to activate it instantly, it wasn’t a powerful lightning spell, just a mid-tier one, but it was good enough.

My lightning struck Take-Mikazuchi, and the energy was absorbed, strengthening Kazuya. He turned his sword sideways and took a thrusting stance.

“Lion King’s Conquest! Ten-Thousand Thunder Flash!!”

“Crashing Waterfall Secret Art! Great Cascade!!”

Both Kazuya and Kalif shouted their techniques.

The crack of thunder and the roar of a massive waterfall echoed—like a storm of sound from nature itself.

The two clashed with countless blows. Kazuya with a flurry of thrusts, Kalif with sweeping overhead strikes.

The deadlock lasted only a moment. Kazuya quickly gained the upper hand, overwhelming both Kalif and Nevaska with a storm of rapid strikes.

By the time the sound settled, Kazuya stood firm, looking down at the fallen Nevaska and Kalif.

“Kazuya!?”

“They’re fine—I avoided their vitals. They’re just unconscious.”

Just unconscious? They look like they’re bleeding all over…

I hurried over and cast healing spells on both of them. It should close their wounds and restore them to a stable condition.

I never intended to kill them.

After talking before the battle, we realized we were in the same situation. They still had their minds and spoke like humans. If we defeat the Demon King, maybe the crest will disappear and they can be free. That’s why I wanted them to join us.

Kazuya felt the same. That’s why he stopped just short of killing them—he only knocked them out.

After that pre-battle exchange, Kazuya and I were already on the same page.

After a while, the two regained consciousness.

“Huh… I’m… alive?”

Nevaska said that aloud, propped herself up, ran her fingers across her brown skin and silver hair to check her condition, then glared straight at us.

“What are you trying to pull?”

“Well, actually, we—”

“Kazuya!! You weren’t fighting seriously at the end, were you?! Why didn’t you go all out?! …Don’t look down on me…!!”

Kalif, who had gotten up at some point, shouted furiously and glared at Kazuya.

“N-No, it’s not like that…”

“Don’t lie to me, idiot. I could tell the moment our swords crossed—you were holding back the whole time. If you’d been serious from the start, I’d have been dead in that first clash. Why would you do that!?”

It turned out that Kazuya had been holding back against Kalif even during their opening duel, before any support spells were cast.

I had no idea. From my perspective, it looked like he was going all out. After all, Kazuya had seemed furious at Kalif for turning Nevaska into a demon. I thought that was why he shouted like that.

But apparently, something changed once they crossed swords. I’d been completely fooled.

And what’s more—if that was him holding back, then Kazuya had grown even stronger than before.

It was a terrifying pace of growth. He’d already far surpassed me.

“I thought… if it were Kalif and Nevaska, we could fight together. That’s why—please! If you two are willing… let’s defeat the Demon King—”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

He cut him off—flatly, without hesitation.

“We’ve killed a lot of humans. More than you could possibly imagine, Kazuya. We didn’t survive in the Demon King’s army for over a hundred years for nothing. Even if you’re a Hero, how could you walk around with people like us?”

“That… might be true… but…”

“Besides, when we became demons, we received the Demon King’s crest. It doesn’t allow rebellion. If we so much as think about turning against him, it alerts him. And depending on his whim, we die. If the Demon King dies, we die. That’s the kind of crest we bear. We can’t betray him. So give it up.”

I had a vague sense of it from the moment they mentioned a “crest.” I figured it was some kind of forced loyalty. But hearing that it wasn’t automatic—that it was left to the Demon King’s mood—really revealed his character. It was just the kind of cruelty you'd expect from a Demon King.

“No way! Isn’t there something we can do?”

“There isn’t. We looked into it. Only the Demon King can remove it. That’s why—we have a favor to ask of you, Kazuya.”

“!!—What is it!? I’ll do anything!”

Kazuya leaned forward, ready to help. Maybe he thought he saw a glimmer of hope. But from Nevaska’s expression, I didn’t get that impression. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud.

Nevaska and Kalif looked at each other and nodded. Then they turned to face Kazuya directly.

“We lost to you and Miki. That’s why—we want you to kill us.”

“!!!?”

The words weren’t exactly shocking. To be honest, I’d already imagined as much.

Kazuya was clearly stunned, though.

“W-Why would you say that?!”

“Just like you said, Kazuya… After five hundred years, I kept thinking about what I’d do once Kalif was gone. We talked about it. That if we couldn’t go on living together, then at least… we wanted to die together. We’ve been waiting for someone who could do that. Someone who could defeat us. Someone with a similar fate. We thought—we’d be okay dying by the hands of people like that. No, we wanted to be killed by them. And we want to be buried together.”

“That’s our final wish.”

Kazuya fell silent. I couldn’t say a word either.

Nevaska and Kalif had made up their minds long ago. That’s why they’d tested our strength—Nevaska with her blizzard spell, Kalif with his challenge. They wanted to see if we were strong enough.

And we had proven ourselves, defeating them with everything we had.

But we didn’t know. We held back. We healed them.

So they asked us again—

To kill them.

“We’re demons, Kazuya. What are you hesitating for? Aren’t you a Hero?”

Kalif addressed Kazuya.

Kazuya lowered his head and bit his lip.

Then slowly, he looked up.

“…All right.”

After a long silence, Kazuya answered.

He wore an expression of solemn resolve.

“We were happy, weren’t we, Nevaska?”

“Yes, Kalif. We truly were. Dying together like this… it feels like a dream. I’d already given up hope.”

I couldn’t tell if she meant herself—or Kalif.

“Miki, you earned this by defeating me. Take it. I never had the right to use it, but I know you can.”

Nevaska handed me a ring.

Then she looked at both of us and said:

“Miki, Kazuya. I’m glad we met you in the end. I know there are more hardships ahead, but you’ll overcome them. I wish you happiness.”

The two embraced and kissed.

“Please.”

Kazuya raised Takemikazuchi

──!!

In a single stroke, he severed both of their heads.

They looked at each other, smiling until the very end—not with the faces of those who feared death.

And I thought I heard them say—

“Thank you.”

The Hero had defeated two of the Demon King’s officers.

That should’ve been a victory.

But we didn’t feel victorious.

In fact, we were overwhelmed with grief.

Of course we were. Even if they were demons, they were once a Hero and an Elf. We could talk to them, understand them. We even hoped they’d become our allies.

And in them, we saw… our own future.

But whether we liked it or not, the world around us began to stir.