Side: Lyushin

Ugh!
"Liushin.

　Luca comes running towards me.
　I was holding the base of my missing left hand and trying to stop the bleeding.

'Looks like I had the wrong guy.

　The man who cut off my left hand spoke to me without seeming to be offended.


　─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

　Not too long ago, Luca and I were heading to the east side of the Steel Forest, and we were smoothly going around killing C-ranked demons like orcs and goblin magicians.

　Suddenly, a black-haired, blond-eyed man wearing a black cloak appeared.

　The man who appeared on the spot as if he were cutting through space suddenly attacked me.

　The next thing I knew, my left arm had been chopped off by the man's hand sword.


"Oh, what the hell are you?!

　I ask the man while enduring the pain.

　The dragon skin, an automatic defense skill unique to dragonoids, had been activated. It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get a new job.

I'm not interested in conversing with lowly species, but this is a celebration of my resurrection. I'm going to join you in a special conversation. I am the demon Valf.

　The man said he was a demon.
　The existence that unites demons and demonkind, that's a demon.

　In appearance, he is no different from a human being, but the magic power within him is outrageous.

　Luka stepped forward to protect me. His body was shaken by the magic power of the witch, and he was trembling.

''Why are you attacking us?

It's because I felt the old magic power. You'll be able to see that it's the wrong person, but don't worry about the details. You're not the only one.

Lüden is my father.

'My God!　So you are Lüden's son. And Lüden is lucky to be alive?

My father died before I was born.

So he's dead. So you're his last living memory.

　The demon seemed to be convinced of something.
　The next moment, the demon's figure disappeared.


''──?　Gwah!

　My right arm was burning hot.
　I looked down and saw that my right arm was spurting blood and I was missing.

　The demon cut off my right arm.

"Hmm. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. Is that really his son?

　The demon shows a look of disappointment as he spins my right hand around and plays with it.

''Re, resurrection!''

　Luca cast a recovery spell on me.

　A white bubble bursts out from the base of the cut arm, and both of my arms regenerate.

''Goooooo, s-sorry, Luca.''
No. Come on, Ryushin, let's get out of here.

Oh, so you can regenerate. But you won't get rid of me.

　My arm was regenerated thanks to Luca, but I didn't think I could escape this demon.

'You said you were Ryushin. I have no grudge against you, but your father sealed me up for a hundred years. Now that Lyuden is gone, I have decided to repay you for my suffering.

　I remember.
　The chief of the village told me this story a long time ago.

　A long time ago, a witch came to kill the Dragonoid clan that did not join the Demon King.

　That witch was overwhelmingly strong, and she slaughtered all the fierce men in the Dragonid village.

　It is said that his father, who was the strongest man in the village at the time, risked his life to seal the witch.

　It seems that the seal on the wizard Valf has been broken.

　A mass of malice was standing in front of me.

"I will kill you," he said. "I will kill you, but not right away. I will kill you slowly, but not immediately, and I will make you feel so much pain and despair that you will regret being born.

　With that, the demon turned his palm toward Luca.
　I knew what the demoness was going to do.

''Ya, stop!　Luca, run!
"Hee, ──guh!

　Something invisible sticks to Luca's neck and tightens its grip on Luca's neck. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

''Ugh!　Dragonization~!

　I turned my right hand into a dragon and struck the demon.

　But my fist didn't reach the demon.

　I don't know what she did to me.
　I was on the ground.

　I tried to get up, but the demon stomped on my head and I had to bury my face in the dirt.

'What's with that half-assed dragonification?　You're his son, right?　It's not like that.

Get out of here, Ryushin!

She's still got more heart than I do. This is the kind of person you want to kill.

　As the demon raised his arm, countless black stakes appeared in the air.

　The sharp tips of the stakes all pointed at Luca.

''Wait, wait, please!　Let me be the one to kill him!

No, wait. You can hate yourself for being so weak.

　A black stake was released towards Luca.

''Luca!''



　Jukk!

'What?!'

　The stake never reached Luca.

　All the stakes were burned up by the flame-clad knight who stood in front of Luca.

''What the hell is that thing?　Demons, or is it your magic?

Gulp.

　The genie steps on my head and puts pressure on my foot.

　All of a sudden, she stops trying to step on me.


"Gububuh?

　I let out a strange cry and the genie flew away. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.

　The flame knight looked down at me.

　Ta, did he save me?

　I looked at Luca and saw him sitting on the ground, looking at me with surprised eyes. Something that had been tightening around my neck seemed to be gone.


''What the hell is wrong with you!''

　The resurrected demon struck at the flame knight.
　The flame knight fights back.

　Every time the demon struck the flame knight, his fist would be burned.

　However, the demon healed his fist with super-speed regeneration and immediately struck at it.

　On the other hand, every time the flame knight was hit by the demon, his armor was ripped off.



''Zeez, haha, ya, are you finally dead?

　After a few minutes of fighting, the demon succeeded in extracting what looked like the core of the flame knight. Once the flame knight was extracted from the core, the flame knight dissipated into the air.

　Although the demon was fatigued, from our point of view, its magical power was still overwhelming.

　We don't stand a chance.

　I was hoping that the Knight of Fire would win....

What the hell was he doing? Is this your magic? No, it doesn't matter now. I'm going to kill you guys right now.

　Desperation, coming toward me.


　But its pace quickly stops.

'Oh, ah, ah, ah!

　Despair appeared on the demon's face.
　The flaming knights who had tormented the demon man had appeared again.


　Increasing its number to five (.) bodies (.).

''Huh, don't play miko!

　At the signal of the demon's cry, the battle began again.

　No, it wasn't a battle. A one-sided lynching by the flaming knights took place.

　The attack of the flaming knights, which was unceasingly unleashed for several tens of seconds, seemed to have reached the limit of the demon's recovery.

　The demon man's black hair turned completely white, his skin dried up, and his eyes became hollow.

　And when the five knights simultaneously thrust their spears into the demon, that seemed to be the end of it, and the demon disappeared into the sand, silently.

　When the demons disappeared, the flaming knights took one look at me and Luca and ran off in different directions.


''Ta, thank God.''

Ryushin, are you okay?

How about you, Luca, do you have your head on straight?

　Luca and I assured each other that we were safe.

'What was that knight?

I don't know. But you didn't have any animosity towards us.

Yeah.

　Yes, that bothers me.

　I can't help but feel like that knight was protecting Luca and me.

　Dr. Tina's magic?　No, obviously, that knight had more magic power than Tina-sensei.

　So, then, is it Hurt?

　........no way.