Episode 31

Zeke—Hiroto’s—magic came undone, and the transformed Watchmen, the Lagias couple, came into view.

On the surface, their relationship had never been bad. Zeke, who hurled abuse at everyone, showed a respectful attitude toward Fool and Noisy. That was the same in the game and in this world. ……Despite that, Fool and Noisy showed no reaction at all. Had they merely recognized Zeke as a new foreign object?

“Father, Mother…… Do you still have your consciousness?”

““……””

His tone was automatically transformed as usual. For the usual Zeke, this was an extremely rare situation. ……The only people Zeke showed respect to had transformed into slaughtering dolls unable to speak.

(Did I make it in time, or was I too late? What reaction would be the right one here?)

When he glanced behind him, the heroine was sitting on the ground. In this world, she was a girl who, for some reason, called herself Atri instead of Mistraze. Though she was frightened, she was gradually calming down. ……Was the person reflected in her eyes really someone she could trust that much?

(Don’t look at Zeke—me—with those eyes……)

The existence that had been in his head ever since he possessed Zeke was the “Guide”—the heroine. From the perspective of Fool, Noisy, and Zeke, her existence was truly their natural enemy. Just by stepping onto the lakeshore, they would be forced to fulfill their role as “Watchmen.”

Becoming Watchmen meant the end…… a nightmare from which they would never awaken until death.

Depending on the situation, that role might even pass to Zeke—Hiroto. In the worst case, he had even considered killing her before she set foot in the Lagias Domain.

(So don’t look at me with those eyes. Just keep looking at the protagonist.)

In the original story, Zeke abducted the heroine and visited this place. Knowing nothing, Zeke was neatly deceived by Pariaach, summoned the path, and turned the Lagias couple into Watchmen.

After seeing his parents suddenly change, Zeke fled. That was when he first learned that he had been instigated by Pariaach and the others.

The protagonist’s party then ended up fighting the Watchmen-transformed Lagias couple in order to save the heroine. The awakened Fool and Noisy were boss characters who rivaled Zeke. After a fierce battle, the protagonists brilliantly defeated them, and the Lagias couple’s lives came to an end. They died without anyone watching over them, and the people of the domain welcomed their deaths. That was the end of the corrupt nobles.

(Most likely, even in this world, these two are……)

Fool and Noisy slowly stepped back, as though measuring his strength. By becoming Watchmen, all their combat-related abilities must have risen. They recognized the existence before them as a powerful enemy. ……Of course, they had no option to retreat.

Fool and Noisy originally did not possess specs that would let them fight. They were no different from ordinary civilians in the area. There might have been people in the domain who hated them for their usual cruel and merciless behavior and considered assassinating them. But in reality, that had not happened. The scenario’s convenience might have been part of it, but they possessed powerful magic tools.

The jeweled sword Grand Chariot.

It was a greatsword held by Fool, like a magnificent and extravagant piece of jewelry. Its beautiful blade and name might make one mistake it for a famous sword with a noble history, but its true nature was that of a wicked blade itself. It was a cursed sword whose sharpness increased by drinking the blood of the living.

Fool had cut down many captured criminals and people of the domain who could not pay their taxes under the pretense of test-cutting. As a result, it had become a weapon boasting peerless offensive power.

The Lagias couple, who possessed many other magic tools, had also used the people of the domain as test subjects for those magic tools in order to check their abilities and satisfy their curiosity. The jewels that Noisy had obsessively gathered were for use as magical catalysts.

They were also the reason Brink, Fonsell—Luke’s—father in the original story, died.

(It probably wasn’t as though the Lagias couple consciously gathered magic tools and jewels for their role as Watchmen, but……)

Until they became Watchmen, they could not be allowed to leave the stage no matter what. Perhaps they had been unconsciously guided to surround themselves with powerful magic tools. All for the sake of the world—the scenario. Perhaps Zeke had been prepared as a spare.

(This really is bullshit. When I was playing the game, I didn’t think anything of it.)

A possibility he could only see after becoming a party involved. He had never wanted to learn it in this way. ……That said, he could not sympathize with them. No matter what reason there was, the Lagias couple had killed far too many people. There was no way that could be justified. ……No way at all.

“It is unfortunate that this has become our final parting in this form. Let us end this.”

The sword he usually used had broken in his battle with Luke. He did have Masfelt’s sword as well, but against Grand Chariot, it would be at a disadvantage. In that case, he would focus mainly on magic……

“Atri!”

The protagonist’s party, led by Van, came running with great momentum. Ciel immediately used sacred arts. After confirming the heroine’s safety, they felt relieved.

“Atri…… I’m really glad.”

“……Yeah. Zeke saved me.”

The heroine likely had no other intention, but that statement hit Van hard. He looked grateful, yet somewhat bitter, but from Hiroto’s point of view, their lovers’ quarrel could be done elsewhere.

“Zeke. They are……”

“They have already become Watchmen. Dialogue is impossible. —We have no choice but to kill them now.”

The main characters gasped when they heard Zeke’s statement. They had likely heard about it beforehand, but it was only natural to be shaken when actually faced with the situation. No matter how lightly lives were treated in this world, being told to kill the parents of someone they knew was normally something anyone would refuse.

“W-wait! There’s no need to force ourselves to fight, right? Atri was saved, so we should withdraw here.”

“Do as you like. ……If you want to abandon the others to die.”

When Zeke—Hiroto—shifted his gaze toward Lagias Manor, Van and the others followed.

The people of the manor who did not know the circumstances were likely still working as usual. If everyone withdrew here, the next targets would probably become the private soldiers and servants employed by Fool. Then Fool and Noisy would carry out a slaughter and, after that, target the next presences they sensed.

In the game, there had been no casualties precisely because they clashed with the protagonists immediately after becoming Watchmen. Since their exact reaction range was currently unknown, leaving them alone could not be called a wise move. ……The protagonists could not choose to involve unrelated people. The answer had already been decided.

“……This is the worst. Why did it come to this? Why is it always Zeke?”

“Who knows? —But as long as even one target is here, we should be able to draw their attention. You people disappear already.”

He refined his mana. From the battle with Luke to the Unison Link with Glanz, he had rushed here almost nonstop. Thanks to the effect of the weapon Kratz had given him, his mana was recovering faster than usual. But it was hard to say he was in perfect condition. ……Perhaps there was also the mental burden of what he was about to do. His body felt heavy.

“Zeke-san. You are……”

“This is a Lagias problem, and the beings before me are my family. ……Then it is only natural that I kill them.”

The distinctive necklace around Fool’s neck gave off an eerie light. In response, Noisy stood beside Fool. Apparently, they had no intention of holding back even against their son. From the start, they seemed to intend to fight at full strength, in their final form.

“Zeke. ……Is there anything we can do?”

“Unlike you people, I am special. —But if I make a mistake by any chance…………………… strike down the Watchmen without hesitation. If necessary, move the people of the manor away. Tell Arnica—the Third Princess—to fulfill her duty.”

Unstable blue and deep purple light swallowed the Lagias couple.

Sinister mana, something that did not seem human, swelled. Something wriggled within the light and appeared with a roar.

Its appearance was the very image of the monster people imagined. —The demon of Lagias spread its gigantic wings toward the heavens and moved its vicious, sharp claws on its hands and feet as though displaying them proudly.

The Watchmen had become a single being. No trace of Fool or Noisy remained.

Zeke dodged a claw strike that seemed to cut through the air. The demon’s dully gleaming claws were sharp enough to call blades to mind. They were swung in succession, and every time he avoided them, violent gusts blew. Its physical strength easily surpassed that of a human.

“—Icicle Protect.”

An ice wall formed between the demon’s claw strike and Zeke. Zeke used a wall of the ice magic he specialized in as the starting point of his defense.

From the chant to construction and activation, the sequence of actions took less than a second. It was a feat possible only because Zeke possessed refined magical technique. —But the demon’s claws cut through the ice wall as though nothing had happened. The defense created using Zeke’s mana and mind was swept away like a scrap of paper. Zeke was forced to evade backward.

“Is that a monster……? How can a human……”

“I do not know, but perhaps that is what becoming a Watchman means. It seems to be a being specialized in killing people.”

Zeke fired magic while backstepping. He shot out ice spears in succession, but the demon charged onward without caring. It was not that the magic lacked power. The attacks were definitely getting through. As proof, the demon was bleeding blue blood.

“Is that magic? Or sacred arts?”

“I do not think it is sacred arts. But that regenerative ability……”

The damage Zeke dealt recovered before their eyes. Every time the demon murmured something, magic circles appeared on its body and healed its wounds. At this rate, there would be no end no matter how many external wounds he inflicted.

Its height was twice Zeke’s, and it had a powerful body. Its physical ability alone was a threat, but the enemy also possessed regenerative power that was not inferior to sacred arts, inexhaustible stamina, and mobility that ruled both heaven and earth.

“—Neverest.”

A single cold sword thrust up from the earth and closed in to pierce the demon, but perhaps having predicted it, the Watchman leaped into the sky. Its appearance as it flew with its gigantic wings spread was that of a demon itself. To follow up, Zeke also used a manifested ice pillar as a foothold and danced into the air.

“An aerial battle only he could accomplish…… However.”

“Zeke is at a disadvantage. ……It is not only the difference in physical ability.”

The gap in mobility was far too great between the demon flying with wings that existed as part of its body and Zeke flying around by using ice generated in the air as footholds. He was forcibly filling that enormous gap with his own talent and experience.

The ice sword formed by magic and the sharp claws clashed violently in midair over and over. They scattered sparks, whipped up wind, and made thunderous roars. When the distance opened, they fired magic at each other. Neither side retreated.

“Why…… How can he—how can Zeke fight?”

“Because that is Zeke. I think he knew that this would happen one day.”

Their powers balanced in midair, and they fell into the lake as though tangled together. The surging mana around both of them repelled the lake water, creating waves that struck the lakeshore.

Before they were swallowed by the water, a silver sanctuary manifested. From within Ciel’s barrier, they looked toward the two pushing against each other at the bottom of the lake in a clash like crossed blades. Zeke pressed two swords created by magic forward, while the demon pressed its vicious claws against them. Sparks flew as each tried to reap the other’s existence.

“They’re his own parents. How can he fight normally? I can’t……”

“Normally? Look closely. If you truly think that after looking at him…… Van, then you are finished.”

The two flew up once again. As they landed on the lakeshore, the overflowing water became a receding wave and returned to the lake.

An offense and defense unfolded on the lakeshore. Zeke slipped through the demon’s range and landed decisive blows, but its body immediately recovered. Even when he froze its wings or claws with magic, they regenerated as though nothing had happened. The same situation repeated again and again.

From the outside, he looked as though he was suffering because he could not find a breakthrough. It was only natural that someone who did not know Zeke would feel that way…… but Van and the others knew Zeke. They knew him far too deeply. That was why they could understand the meaning of the expression Zeke wore.

“No matter what form they have taken, to Zeke, they are his parents. There is no way this is not painful. ……But if he does not stop them here, someone will be hurt. Because he understands that, he chose to end it with his own hands.”

“That’s…… no good. That’s far too sad.”

Van looked down and clenched his fist tightly. Was he suffering because something about his own position overlapped with it? —Those around him did not understand that Van had brooded over it far more deeply than they expected.

“Prison Rout—Grace Silent.”

A Double Cast of ice magic activated. The demon’s body, trapped inside an ice cage, began freezing. The magic he had set up during the battle had now come into bloom. The demon had become an ice statue, frozen still inside the prison.

“……I will seal them like this. This ends here.”

Though Zeke was breathing hard, he immediately began preparing the next spell without resting. Normally, he crushed enemies with almost violent force, but what Zeke chose this time was sealing magic.

He seemed to require time for the unfamiliar magic, but that was only to be expected. Even so, he constructed the spell with a speed that could not be compared to ordinary mages.

—This would end the battle. Everyone thought so. Everyone was focused on watching Zeke’s heroic figure. ……That was why they did not notice. The sight of Van alone running toward Zeke.

“Zeke! That’s enough! ……I’ll fight. So that’s enough! You don’t have to get hurt anymore!”

“!? You idiot! Get away!”

Zeke had been chanting an unfamiliar spell. As a result, his reaction was delayed. To Van’s movement, and to the demon’s.

The ice statue cracked, and fragments fell to the ground. The Watchman, having regained its freedom, smashed the ice cage with its proud claws.
The demon did not direct its anger at the one who had taken its freedom. Instead, it fixed its aim on the swordsman who had been charging toward it. The demon’s single step created a tremor and a violent wind. —Van did not realize it. He did not realize that single step was one taken to reap his life.

The vicious claw strike closed in on Van’s neck. Van, who had run out on impulse, had no means to dodge from the start. All he could do was watch the slowly approaching trajectory.

“……Huh?”

—Van’s body was shoved away by someone. The one who appeared as though cutting between the demon and the swordsman was the corrupt noble known to everyone in this country.