Chapter 100
Caron's vision filled with a deep, blood-red hue. Even drawing breath was a struggle, and he could feel the taste of blood seeping up his throat.
"Caron!" Leo's voice rang in his ears.
Caron managed a faint smile, glancing down to examine the spear impaling him. It had pierced him all the way through, from his back to his chest. Just a bit lower, and it would have gone straight through his heart.
That was close, Caron thought. If he hadn't twisted his body at the last second, it would have been fatal. The fact that the Demon King's focus had been disrupted was his only stroke of luck. And that disruption had been created by none other than his comrades.
"...Crazy idiots," Caron muttered, grinning at his comrades, who had each lodged their weapons into the Demon King's body.
Even if this creature was just a fragment of the Demon King, it was still a deadly force, capable of reducing any of them to a mere bloodstain at any moment. Fear would have been natural, yet they held their weapons with an iron grip, their faces contorted in defiance. Even while brimming with rage, they kept a wary eye on Caron, watching over him. The sight struck him as strangely funny.
Slash!
Caron swung Guillotine, slicing through the Demon King's arm. As the severed arm fell to the ground, Caron collapsed onto the ground as well, thinking, I guess I can't use my left arm anymore.
He had dodged death, but his left shoulder was wrecked and the spear was lodged deeply within him. The spear needed to be removed and the wound had to be treated, but with his current condition, pulling it out would likely lead to unconsciousness from blood loss. Caron gripped Guillotine tightly, exhaling sharply before baring his teeth in a grim smile.
"This one really did hurt," he growled.
—This is annoying.
The Demon King sneered as his impaled body dissolved into a violet haze.
A moment later, he reappeared about thirty paces away. Although the wounds Caron's comrades had inflicted vanished quickly, the gash left by Guillotine remained. On the chestplate of the purple armor, right where a human's heart would be, there was now a gaping, empty hollow. A steady stream of smoke seeped from the wound in the Demon King's chest.
"You should've shown up in person as your full self. Because you came here as a mere fragment, look at the state you're in right now," Caron mocked, stumbling as he joined his comrades. Perhaps it was because he had lost too much blood, but each breath was harder than the last.
Meanwhile, the Demon King barely seemed affected. Even with the cut from Guillotine, his monstrous strength remained intact.
Shhhhh.
A massive, dark sword emerged from the Demon King's hand. It was the very sword that had split the fortress in half with a single swing. He grasped the weapon's handle, and an overwhelming wave of black mana pooled into the blade.
Crunch!
The dark mana around the sword distorted the air itself with skin-crawling power. With terrifying ease, the Demon King raised the weapon.
Boom!
A deafening roar ripped through the air, the blade's force cleaving the atmosphere. Just as it was about to sweep through Caron's group, however—
"Mere fragment, how dare you wield such power!" Finally freed from his restraints, Ifrit intercepted the blow.
Flames erupted around Ifrit, burning white-hot. In the form of a giant bird, he grasped the blade's aura in his talons. Now fully unsealed, the Spirit King unleashed his wrath, pure flames clashing with the dark aura and tearing the ground asunder.
At that moment, Orion joined Caron and formed a protective barrier around them. He asked, "Are you alright, Caron Leston?"
"I barely made it. Have you got any magic spells for pain relief?" Caron replied.
Seeing the cold sweat on Caron's face, Orion nodded and summoned a spirit. It was a mid-level water spirit that resembled a blue tiger. Cool, shimmering water flowed from the spirit's body, spreading over Caron's wounds and easing his pain.
"You need real treatment; these aren't wounds that mere pain relief will solve," Orion said.
"Well, I can't exactly get treatment right now," Caron replied. He'd nearly lost consciousness from the endless waves of pain. Now, though, with the agony subsiding, he could finally catch his breath.
Boom!
Caron watched Ifrit's flames clash with the Demon King's sword aura in midair, and a frown tightened on his face. While Ifrit held his own against the Demon King, it was still disappointing for a spirit king to only be evenly matched.
"If we were in the Grand Forest, this fragment of his wouldn't even touch Ifrit," Orion muttered quietly.
"Are you holding up okay?" Caron asked in a low voice.
Of everyone, the elves had suffered the heaviest losses in this battle. Still possessed by the bloodthirsty aura, they fell one after another. Caron knew Orion couldn't ignore it, no matter how composed he appeared. Any commander would be shaken by the sight of their own people dying like that.
However, Orion clenched his fists and replied, "Without their sacrifice, it'd be our kin in the forest meeting their deaths instead. Caron Leston, do not pity their honorable passing. Their blood guards our future."
"I'm not pitying them. I'm paying them my respects," Caron replied, nodding with a wry smile.
For the elves, this was a battle for their very future. Viewing their sacrifice as pitiful would only dishonor them.
Boom!
Once again, the fire and sword aura collided, sending a massive shockwave across the battlefield.
—Ifrit, has time worn even you down?
"Better this than being as pathetic as you in that form," Ifrit spat, holding the Demon King's gaze.
Watching the scene, Caron took a deep breath. His body felt unbearably heavy from the spear wound in his shoulder, but he could manage. If it meant driving his blade into that wretched being one more time, he would carry any weight.
"All of you, stay here," Caron instructed.
Leon immediately looked at him in alarm, then hurriedly asked, "...What are you planning on doing?"
"The thing I do best," Caron answered.
"And that is...?" Leon asked hesitantly.
"I've been itching to take that bastard's head. So don't try to stop me," Caron said.
When the others heard what Caron said, they began to chuckle one by one, then they nodded in agreement.
"That's the spirit, Caron Leston! I'm with you!" Utula cheered him on.
"What's a skewered man like you planning to do? I'll take the lead; just keep up," Leon said worriedly.
"Aye, having you as my younger cousin is my punishment, it seems..." Leo muttered.
Each of Caron's companions was just as battered as he was. Their armor was soaked in blood, and all three bore wounds deep enough to expose bone, but they stood firmly in front of Caron as if nothing could be more natural.
"We'll clear a path!" Utula shouted, leading the way as the group charged with their weapons raised high.
Each of them should have been unconscious by now, and yet they willingly swung their weapons, blocking the Demon King's monstrous attacks.
Boom!
And this time, Ifrit's flames accompanied them, unleashing an unquenchable blaze that engulfed the Demon King's weapons.
Caron walked steadily forward on the path his comrades had cleared for him. He couldn't run. His legs would surely give out if he tried. Step by step, slowly but surely, he approached the Demon King.
Just as the fragment began to turn its head toward him—
Boom—!
"Be crushed," Ifrit said as his talons clashed with the Demon King's massive blade, forcing the fragment to focus entirely on the spirit king. That created the opening Caron needed.
"Utula," Caron called.
"Speak, Caron Leston," Utula replied without hesitation.
"Throw me at that bastard," Caron ordered.
Without a question, Utula nodded and lifted Caron. The giant's muscles, scarred and weary, rippled as he prepared.
Whoosh!
With all his strength, Utula hurled Caron through the air like an arrow. Caron locked his gaze on the Demon King, gripped Guillotine, and steadied himself mid-flight.
Slash!
Caron streaked past the Demon King and his sword's dark blue blade sliced through the fragment's neck. His mission accomplished, Caron crashed painfully onto the ground, rolling over and over until he finally came to a stop.
"Urgh..." Caron groaned as the spear embedded in his shoulder twisted further into his flesh, a new wave of pain tearing through him. He couldn't get up, so he lay on the ground, staring defiantly at the Demon King.
The Demon King turned to face him as well. Perhaps it was Caron's imagination, but he thought there was a trace of fury in the Demon King's usual impassive gaze.
—...A lowly slave, clinging on until the end. I should have destroyed that cursed Guillotine long ago.
A faint line of dark blue light appeared across the Demon King's neck where Caron had struck.
—Here, you shall die.
As the Demon King raised his blade to strike, Ifrit's voice echoed with disdain. "How amusing, Demon King. Are you truly afraid of a human?"
Sizzle!
Ifrit launched himself at the Demon King, crushing the fragment under his fiery might. A vast explosion erupted, sending a massive mushroom cloud into the sky.
Boom!
***
Caron slowly opened his eyes. He had braced himself for his body to be torn apart by the massive explosion, and yet nothing had happened. It seemed that Ifrit had intentionally restrained the blast's radius.
"You're really hard to kill," Guillotine joked, glancing over at Caron.
"Yeah, seems like it," Caron replied with a faint chuckle. He then plunged Guillotine into the ground, using it as a cane to stand up slowly. Only the deep crater before him gave any indication of the recent explosion's magnitude. Caron stepped closer, peering down into the hole.
Nothing remained. There was no trace of the slaughter, no sign of Ifrit. Just a deep, dark pit.
"Ifrit was forcibly unsummoned as the price for recklessly unleashing his power," Orion said as he quietly approached from behind, steadying Caron.
"Does that mean... he self-destructed?" Caron asked.
"...Something like that. We probably won't be able to summon him for a while. Given the circumstances, he had to draw mana from the spirit realm itself," Orion answered.
"Looks like I owe him a big one," Caron murmured.
However, Orion shook his head firmly and replied, "No, we owe you."
"Elves always seem to be in my debt. I charge pretty steep interest, you know. You'd better be ready for that," Caron quipped.
"I'll be prepared," Orion replied.
While Orion supported Caron, the rest of the group stumbled over to them. Caron greeted them with a broad grin.
"What's with those faces? You all look like beggars. At this rate, if we headed to the capital, we could rake it in as street performers," Caron said.
Leo raised his middle finger and retorted, "You still have the nerve to say that? Have you looked at yourself?"
"Hey, does it even matter? We're alive," Caron said.
Each of them seemed to need significant medical attention. In fact, finding a spot that wasn't injured would be a bigger challenge.
"Is it over, Caron?" Leon asked.
Caron shook his head slowly and answered, "No, not yet."
He turned his gaze upward. The fragment of Slaughter that had descended upon the ground seemed to have faded, but in the sky, a violet eye still loomed. And that gaze continued to pour relentless bloodlust onto the battlefield. The madness among the elves hadn't stopped.
The power of slaughter still dominated the area. Until that eye was destroyed, the madness wouldn't end. If Ifrit were still here, getting rid of the eye wouldn't have been too difficult; tut Caron didn't feel disheartened. Although they had lost Ifrit, he still had one more card to play.
"Caron. Look... Over there..." Leon pointed beyond the fortress up at a hill, where knights bathed in radiant white light stood.
Caron looked at them, then smiled slightly. They were fanatics from the Holy Kingdom. Normally, he would have avoided these lunatics, but right now, he couldn't be happier to see them.
"Ha, those bastards. They took their sweet time getting here," Caron remarked.
A moment later, the holy knights began to shine brilliantly as they chanted various lines.
"For the Light!"
"Drive the evil from this land!"
"This is a holy war!"
The knights of the Holy Kingdom charged toward the fortress.