Diego jumped back from the spot and turned his hateful eyes to me.

''Evil demon tribe........ Did you bring me back to life to find out the secrets of the heroic academy?

Hmm, Diego.

　The moment I uttered the words, I was already close to Diego and penetrating his left breast.

''Gah........ha, ah........!

　He spits blood out of his mouth.

'Who gives you permission to speak?　Your head is high.

　I grab his heart and squeezed it gingerly as it was.

.........

　He pulled his right arm out and Diego fell face first to the floor.
　His body didn't twitch and he was already out of it.

'I told you not to die on your own,'

　＜I'm going to revive Diego again with the magic of .
　As soon as the body was revived, he stared at me.

"You--God d*mn it!

　I stomp on Diego's head and push him to the floor.

　Demon tribe........I don't know what you're planning, but don't think that I, a brave man, will give in......!

You still think you're a hero. You think you're better than this.

　I created a magic sword in the palm of my hand and thrust it with Diego's roots into his abdomen.

...with this much pain I am fighting for peace, for humanity!　I will endure any kind of unbearable suffering. You people are incapable of understanding love and courage, you filthy fiend!

"I want you to look into your magical eye and see the magic that is written on your body.

　Through the tip of the magic sword, a magic circle was drawn on Diego's entire body.
　As soon as he saw that magic formula, he was taken aback.

''.........This is.........
　In the main auditorium, Ledriano was explaining to me the magic that turns animals into demons.

'Humans are animals too, this magic works well.

'Ha... ha ha ha ha... ha ha ha...!　Foolishness. A brave person who has received the Holy Sword's blessing will not fall into a demon. There's no way they can become a demon........!

Hmm. You're wrong about that.

　Black body hair sprouts from the wound on the chest where the demon sword was stabbed, as if the demon were eroding it.



　Diego quickly deployed a magic circle there and suppressed the demonization with holy magic.

The magic of Nedra utilizes the animal nature and demonic nature that is at the root of the animal. Humans who have reason are less likely to become demonized, but that doesn't mean they won't. There are also individual differences. Up to this point, you know as well as I do.

　Diego looked impatient and desperately released his magic power.

''The Spirit God Man Sword only recognizes as its owner the owner of a root source full of light without a single cloud. Okay?　It's not because you have the blessing of the Spirit God Man Sword that you don't turn into a demon. It's because I'm a human who doesn't turn into a demon that I'm chosen by the Spirit God Man Sword.

　Diego's claws extended slightly and fangs were about to grow out of his mouth.

''Hm. Diego, are you really the reincarnation of the heroic canon?

...of course... my name is Diego Canon Ijushka.

I don't think so. Rebirth changes a person's character. You won't even have the same personality. But the only thing that remains the same is the foundation of the personality. You don't look anything like the heroic canon. That's because your nature is ugly and twisted.

Never...........

　It was as if he was going to explode with rage.

'Shut up, shut up, shut up!　I will not be manipulated by you, demon tribe!　I'm a hero!　You're all demons, destroying demons, saving the world with this vile magic! .........!

Who told you to say that?

　＜I'm going to put my magic into the spell of Nedra.

"Ughhhhhhh........this is ridiculous.......I'm a......I'm a hero......I'm a hero.... How can I be a demon........!

"When a human becomes a demon, it's a little different from other animals, perhaps because of its higher intelligence. The lust, malice, and hatred that the human possesses is fostered, and it shows up in their appearance.

"Shut up.........I'm.......brave......I'm just....... !

　The demonization accelerated, and pitch-black body hair appeared all over Diego's body. Its claws grew out, fangs sprouted, and thick horns grew on its head.

　The most distinctive feature was its face.
　It's as if it had been crushed into a mangled, deformed face.

It's in your nature, Diego. It's just as ugly and distorted as I thought it would be.

　Sluggishly, Diego raised himself up and turned his ugly face to me.

'How's that?'　How does it feel to be a demon?

I don't think my heart is going to be broken for this. Takaaaaaaaaaa!

　Diego shouted as if he was screaming for help.

'Humans are not what they look like!　It's not even a bloodline!　It's the heart!　No matter how much I change my appearance, I have a human heart!　Even if I turn into an ugly monster, it doesn't change the fact that I'm a brave man!

Your heart is not a very brave man.

Shut up!　 I shouldn't have shown mercy to you people. I should have just killed them all from the beginning instead of doing the trouble!

　Diego uses a thought transmission (leaks).

"Jelga canon, all hands, charge at the demons.

Hmm. What are you going to do?　My people aren't weak enough to be beaten by an all-out attack.

　Diego didn't respond to my words, he just grinned.
　Then he touched the holy water ball that was nearby and deployed a magic circle.

''You'll regret it, you filthy demon race. I'm about to watch your face turn to despair when you find out about it!　Hmph, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

　Do you use holy water in your demonized body?
　Half of the body has been poisoned by the poison, but the magic itself has been activated.

"I see,
Wha..........?

　It's called falling short of the mark.
　Diego can't hide his dismay at being able to see through his thoughts in an instant.

The magician's magic detonation system. It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends. It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to see your own magic formula.

　I never thought I'd be this stupid.
　I didn't know they were so stupid.

That's not what a brave man does, Diego. It's hard to believe that your students would want to kill demons, even to the point of death.

"The demon tribe that took everything from the humans, don't talk about it as if you know what you're talking about. This is the brave man, this is the way the legendary heroic canon fights!　Not a single student of mine would be bothered by the great ambition of annihilating our ancestors' long cherished dream of annihilating the demon race!　This courageous act, this courageous resolve to not fear death, is what makes you not a brave man!

　Again, Diego sent out a leaks.

"Status report!

'Ha!　We've just found Ray Grandsdry, the Sword Sage of the Kneading Demon, now!

This is the Witch of Doom, Sasha Necron, we've got her.

Nine members from the Demon King Academy are in sight. Nine of us are ready to assault with the same number!

　Diego twisted his ugly face even uglier and said.

'Go!　Jelga Kanon, Descendants of the Brave Kanon!　The time has come for you to show your strength and your courage!　Charge!

　A moment later, I was driving my right hand through Diego's body.

'You thought I'd let you,'



　He grinned, spitting blood.

'I'll make you pay for your grudge. Die, you demon race.

　They had already finished activating the magic, or the holy water sphere would automatically send magic power to the magic circle.
　It was meant to cause the students of the heroic academy to explode at the root source.

　The bodies of the students who approached Ray, Sasha, Misa and the others are enveloped in light by the .

　The sound of intense explosions resounded, and the root source explosions that occurred throughout the underwater city would have lightly blown up even this temple.

　If this was originally the case--

"....why .................... ...

　Diego mutters in dismay.

Why didn't it just explode?　Why?!

It took some effort, but I cast a spell over the entire underwater city. ＜It's a spell that stops the time of the Root Light Annihilation blast.

　That's why I was late in coming to Misha's aid, but that doesn't mean the others won't use the Root Light Annihilation Bomb (Gavell).

"...stopped the magic time...?

'Didn't you hear?　The same attack on me doesn't work twice.

　Diego rambled and shuddered with a mixture of hatred and anger.

Peace is at hand. I didn't think I'd have to take my life, but it looks like nothing good will come of you being left alive.

　I pulled my right arm out and Diego backed up like he was stepping on a tatara.
　He would have little strength left.

"You can kill me if you want but I will rise again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. No matter how many times you are reborn, you will never forget this grudge and one day you will eradicate the demon race!

You thought you had the afterlife, Diego.

　I open my right hand. I sent the magic power into it so that even his magical eye could see it.
　Then a white sphere that looks like a faintly glowing white ball appeared in my palm.

　If you look closely, you can see that the white sphere is connected to Diego by a magic line like a thin thread.

'Do you understand?　It's the source of you.

　He draws a magic circle on the tip of his right hand.
　＜It's the magic of Bevsed. As my right hand passes through the magic circle, my fingertips turn black.

"You can't touch the source. Even if you use great magic, it's difficult to interfere with the root cause itself. But this Bevsed magic can directly touch the source of the root cause.

　I scratched that white ball with my toe.

'Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

　There was still more fierce screaming than the screams of the deaths.

'Do you understand?　It is a pain beyond death to be hurt at the source. If we try to condense every conceivable pain in this life, we will never reach it. The death of the next world and the death after that will be plucked out of the infinite number of equal deaths repeated by reincarnation.

　I lightly scratch the source of the root with my toe again.

'Aghhhhhhhh, gbehhhh, gbehhhhhh, gbehhhhhh!

　Tears streaming down his face, drooling and pretending to be, Diego lets out a beastly scream.

''You said it's the way the heroic canon fights. You said that it's the brave one's way to have students make a suicide attack and defeat the enemy with the .

　I pierced the root with my fingertips.
　Diego turned his eyes and let out an unspeakable exclamation.

''Two thousand years ago, the brave canon had seven roots. Even if the roots are erased, as long as one remains, he can come back again and again. It is the ultimate great magic that the gods brought to man, but only the brave canon was the only person who actually attempted to use it, after or before.

　I said to Diego, whose eyes were already empty.

'Why?　No one could endure the pain of the death of samsara, having been injured at the root many times. But he accepted it. Time and time again he reduced his roots and stood up to me here.

"....no, no......... .........

　Swinging my fingers down, I slashed at the source of Diego's root with great force.



How do you know why?

　I point my jet black fingertips at the source of Diego's chipped roots again.

''Oh ... ah ... hah ...'' ........stop........

　At this point, Diego looks like a cripple.

"That man really thought that he would rather die than sacrifice someone else. And so he continued to die again and again. Over and over again, his roots were slashed, burned, and destroyed, and yet he still fought for the humans. That is your hero, the great courageous man who defeated the demon race many times. He was the one with true courage.

　He was admirably prepared and proud, even though he was an enemy.
　He always fought to protect. Not once did he let his own desires control him.

　Is that why you killed him?
　Did a stranger kill the man who kept on sacrificing himself for the sake of humanity?

　He would have risen nevertheless.
　But maybe it was enough to kill that heart.

'If you say you are a reincarnation of canon, then endure it. If you can do that, then I'll reincarnate you. You can come and kill me again in the next life.

.... ah ... ah ... .....

　I pierce Diego's root with my fingertips.



'What's up, Diego? You're a brave man, aren't you?　Don't cry like that. The canon will laugh at you.

　I look into his face with my evil eye.

'.......................'

　Diego said, with a look that was deeper than despair, as if he had been consumed by the abyss.

........end it.......

　It sounded like a plea.
　It sounded like resentment and hatred were gone, and I just wanted to be free of this pain.

'You are not a brave canon,'

　 With his hand, he grabbed Diego's root source and squeezed it as hard as he could.
　The white ball shattered into pieces.
　Diego's body collapses like a threadbare doll and is knocked to the floor.

　Diego doesn't move. It's impossible to revive him.
　It is impossible to revive him, and his roots have completely disappeared from his body.

"Don't deceive the brave canon if you don't know anything about it. That man was strong!