65 – The Moment My Heart Was Pierced, I Had a Premonition.
Dozens of sword strikes intertwined in the air before falling. Iris stepped back, biting her lip so hard that blood dripped from it.
“He’s not an opponent.”
She could clearly feel the difference in skill. But she couldn’t give up.
“Huuaaah!”
Iris shouted with determination as she swung her sword. The rough swing of the sword only cut through the empty air. The man’s figure disappeared like an illusion.
“Clang…!”
At the same time that Iris realized something was slashing her back, she was rolling on the ground.
“Grr…”
In no time, a man had climbed onto Iris’s back and was pressing her down with his knees. Iris gritted her teeth and tried to get up.
***
“…Can’t we just end it like this?”
I sighed softly as I looked down at the struggling Iris. At the same time, I heard a voice coming from a round camera-like object flying around me.
[The match can only end when the opponent is dead!]
[If you want to end it, stab their heart or cut their throat!]
The excited voice was familiar. It was the voice of the announcer.
[If you don’t take the opponent’s life, a powerful demon will be unleashed every five minutes!]
[I recommend finishing the match quickly!]
As I debated whether to give in to the annoying voice telling me to kill Iris, I heard the voice of the Dark Sword.
[Tsk tsk, so that’s their goal.]
“Huh?”
[They want you to be distracted by Redia Holson and kill my little sister with your own hands. That’s what they want.]
“How do you know that?”
[It’s obvious, considering the twisted minds they have.]
As I listened to the grumbling voice of the Dark Sword, memories of the blood-stained history of the sword suddenly came to mind.
“So a twisted one recognizes another twisted one.”
Thanks to blocking my thoughts, the Dark Sword didn’t go on a rampage.
“What are you going to do, partner? Are you going to kill her?”
“No, I have no intention of killing her.”
Hm… It seems like they don’t plan on ending the match until they kill each other. How about we destroy the entire arena and make a run for it? There will be even stronger enemies waiting outside… hehehehe.
“That’s difficult. Can you see this collar around my neck? It’ll explode if I go too far.”
“But you can recover from that, right?”
“Iris can’t recover from it.”
“Oh… I didn’t think about that.”
At that moment, while they were having a peaceful conversation.
Thunk!
Iris, who had fallen to the ground, staggered and swung the knife in reverse. My body quickly moved back as Iris stood up abruptly.
“What is that guy? I can’t understand how divine power can flow through a human body. Just by my power coming into contact with that guy’s body, it disperses because of the divine power.”
“As expected…”
There was no doubt that Iris, the last descendant of humanity, the only hope and the sole warrior, was capable of such a feat.
“But can we subdue it?”
“It’s possible, but…”
Clang, shrrrk.
After about five minutes of conversing with the cursed sword, they heard the sound of one of the doors in the arena opening.
Creak.
They could hear the low growls of beasts, but due to the thick poisonous fog, they couldn’t tell where they were coming from. They could only sense them through the sound.
Iris, startled by the sudden unfamiliar sound, turned her head towards the direction where the sound was coming from, not towards me.
“This is getting annoying.”
“What do you see?”
[Judging by the presence… one of the most dangerous beasts in the Demon Realm, Creada.]
“Creada?”
As I asked the question, a large silhouette appeared beyond the mist.
“Huh? That…”
Simultaneously, a short exclamation escaped.
“Kieeek!”
Without a doubt, it was a dinosaur-like monster that I had seen somewhere before. Could it be that there are monsters in the Demon Realm that resemble dinosaurs?
[What is that?!]
Seems like it.
Kwoong! Thud!
The monster began to charge so violently that the ground trembled. I immediately assumed a stance and tried to swing my sword, but the monster swiftly turned its body and started running towards Iris.
“Hey, shouldn’t you go the other way? Hurry up and kill Gargantua!”
[Right, right!]
Even the Demon Sword seemed surprised as it swung the sword without uttering any special lines. As the mist swirled, the crimson slash of the sword flew and sliced through the air instead of the gigantic monster’s body… and missed.
The monster lowered its body to avoid a leg chop.
“What is that?!”
[What is that?!]
Gargantua and my voice overlapped.
“Kieeek!”
The monster raised its voice again and lunged at Iris, mouth wide open. Its focus solely on Iris exuded madness.
Kwaang!
The giant mouth of the monster narrowly grazed Iris with a fierce swipe. Iris, not one to stand idly by, stepped back and swung her sword.
Blood gushed from the wound, but it soon ceased flowing.
“It seems like this is my fault…”
The appearance of the monster, the way the blood stopped flowing—it all resembled the giant robots that often appeared in the world of comedy.
“Why all of a sudden?”
While the comedy filter had been applied in various ways, it had never threatened anyone around me before.
“Did Iris attack me?”
Not knowing the exact mechanism was frustrating. Unable to stay still, I swung my cursed sword vertically.
A long vertical line appeared on the monster’s body.
“Ke…eek…”
The monster let out a short scream.
Kwakwang!
It exploded and disappeared. I was certain as I looked at the motionless mist. It was definitely caused by the comedy filter.
Normally, when an explosion like this occurs, the surrounding mist should dissipate in the gust of wind. The fact that it didn’t disappear meant that the explosion was the monster’s exit impact.
Clang, shhrrr!
Clang, shhrrr!
As I killed the monster, some time passed, and I heard the sound of iron bars opening. This time, I heard the sound from two different places.
“Kieeek!”
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“Kiek?!”
The creatures that appeared this time were yellow and pink monsters. They started running towards Iris just like the first monster did.
[What the hell is happening?!]
The Demon Sword screamed like a scream in a situation it couldn’t follow. I spoke, biting my lip.
“Gargando, let’s kill those two as quickly as possible.”
[That’s exactly what I was thinking!]
I handed control over to Gargando and looked towards Iris. Iris was holding her sword, keeping her distance from the monsters. She seemed worried that the monsters might explode.
‘This won’t do. We need to end the match as quickly as possible. And for that…’
One of us had to die.
Usually, when this kind of narration comes up, it should lead to a brutal and sad development. But here, there was a comedic resident who could regenerate even if stabbed with a knife!
“Alright, let’s quickly pretend to be stabbed by Iris and fall down.”
If we did that, both Iris and I could safely leave the arena.
‘But first…’
Shwaaak -.
“Ke..huh?”
“Huh?!”
The giant monsters split in half once again.
Kwaaang
Kwaaang!
With a loud explosion, they disappeared.
‘Two more minutes to go.’
I have to pretend to be stabbed by Iris and die within two minutes.
I rushed out quickly and spoke to Mageom.
“It seems like we need to finish this fight quickly, Gargando.”
[…! Wait, you should have given me such a cool line! It seems like my partner also wanted a good line! I will end this fight quickly… I came here to end this fight…]
I spoke while hearing Mageom murmuring something.
“Since I’m not going to die anyway, can you pretend to die after being stabbed by Iris? Can you make it more dramatic?”
[Well, since I didn’t like this stage… no, the match, I’ll do it like that… By the way, can I drink the spilled blood?]
“You can, just don’t make it too obvious.”
[Got it!]
As Mageom answered with excitement, my body started rushing towards Iris. Iris, who had been looking at the spot where the monster disappeared, felt my presence and quickly turned her head, her eyes flashing.
“Haah, die!”
What the hell did I do to make her so angry? I wondered, and the existence of the cross-dressing barbarian man came to mind, and I nodded involuntarily.
“If she clearly sees that, it’s only natural to say it like that.”
Clang! Squeak…!
The sound of swords clashing echoed like a scream. Mageom’s sword and Iris’s sword collided several times.
[I think we need to end this quickly. That girl’s sword will break soon.]
“What? Really?”
[Because it keeps colliding with a magnificent sword like me. It’s inevitable!]
Then Mageom spoke in a serious tone.
[I will create an opening and stab her… Where should I stab her? The stomach?]
“No, stab me in the heart. What if I get stabbed in the stomach and don’t die for nothing?”
[ …Even if you stab the heart…don’t you die? ]
“Usually, no.”
[ …. ]
The dark sword fell silent for a moment.
[ Then believe those words. ]
With those words, the dark sword swung Iris’ sword fiercely, but its strength seemed to wane a little.
Clang!
The sword bounced off from below and exposed a gap in the upper body. Iris’ eyes glowed brightly as she pierced the sword towards my heart.
“Ah!”
At the same time as the usually cute voice turned rough, the tip of the sword dug into my heart.
“Guh…!”
In the moment my heart was pierced, I had a hunch.
“Oh? Am I going to die from this?”
My vision was dyed black.