Editing Ultimate Antihero:Volume 2 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 8===

With the appearance of the sea demon that resembled a squid, different from squid, among its few hundred tentacles, several dozen tentacles stretched out and attacked the children at the beach.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

“It came here―! Help us sister―!”

The children screamed and ran about everywhere.

But the speed of the approaching tentacles was far faster, they couldn’t escape.

But―that was only if they could reach.

“Leave it to me-!”

In order to protect the escaping children, Lily cut between the tentacles and the children with her lance in hand.

And then she faced the approaching several dozen tentacles that looked like a tsunami and took a stance with her lance,

“<{{furigana|Gae Bolg|Thousand Kill Thorn Spear}}> ――–!!!!”

She released the <Hero Skill> of her contracted heroic spirit that possessed her.

The spear thrust that she launched against the approaching countless tentacles was only one.

Be that as it may, just with that one thrust all several dozens of the tentacles were pierced and tore apart.

It was a magic technique that performed thrust attack against all the enemy that was reflected in one’s field of view with a single attack.

That was Lily’s contracted heroic spirit that was said to pierce a large army with one thrust―

The hero of Ireland, the <Son of God> Cu Chulainn’s Gae Bolg.

However, although all the tentacles that approached the children were shot down,

“Kuh-! It’s too big…!”

The damage to the giant kraken was of little significance.

No, rather, right now from the section of the tentacles that were torn apart, white meat was overflowing bubblingly, sprouted, and in the blink of an eye regenerated as new tentacles.

Like this there would be no progress.

She didn’t have a method to deal a more powerful attack.

At that time the one who leaped forward was―

“Leave it to me!”

The <Striker> of the 101st platoon, Ichinotani Chikori.

“<Peerless Herculean Strength>――!”

Chikori received the divine protection of her own contracted heroic spirit, the <Depraved Monk> Musashibou Benkei, making the power of an ogre become contained inside that small and slender body.

And then with a superhuman leg strength, with one step she leaped far above the giant kraken’s head, until 100 meters in the air, then

“Megaton Punch-!”

Riding her clenched fist at the momentum of her fall and the arm strength of an ogre, she struck aiming at the kraken’s long head.

Yet,

―*nurun*

Like that, the instant she touched the kraken’s body, Chikori’s fist slipped and struck empty air.

“Fua!? So, somehow it feels really slippery――!?”

The viscous body fluids that the kraken was clad in completely diverted all the impact of Chikori’s fist.

Chikori’s attack missed the target in a large way right in front of the kraken that it broke her posture, and she got restrained by the rushing tentacles.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Chikori-san-!?”

The tentacles that were clad in a great amount of mucus entangled Chikori’s body that was in her bikini, they crept around through the mountain and valley of Chikori’s body that possessed violent undulations unsuited for her petite body, leaving a trail of mucus that kept stretching out *nunununu*.

“Ya, yaa… slimy thing is creeping around my body…ahn-“

“Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing letting out a strange voice like that―! There are children looking here―!”

Sumika raised her voice towards Chikori who became something problematic in an unexpected direction, she then deployed her two revolvers that were her <Arms> in order to help Chikori.

However before Sumika could move―

“Wait Sumika.”

Homura stopped her with his hand.

“Homura-san?”

“I’ll do this. It’s enough with just me.”

Saying that, Homura glared at Alfaro that he was confronting until just now with a sharp glare filled with killing intent.

“―You bastard too, don’t get involved. This is a compromise. If you want to take me on more than this then I’m not gonna guarantee your life.”

“Hohoho… Well, that’s just fine then.”

“???”

Sumika who was listening to the exchange of the two from the side couldn’t comprehend the situation.

She didn’t understand what the two were talking about.

But Homura had no intention to explain that and he walked ahead alone.

Both his hands were empty.

The salty sea breeze was not good for the grimoire that was his weapon, so it didn’t accompany Homura to this place.

However, the opponent was a single <Knight class>.

Even without grimoire or anything, even without summoning evil god or whatever else, ―a mere familiar would suffice for this.

“Eat greedily. Do it gruesomely.”

Homura knocked at his own shadow that was projected darkly on the white beach with his heel.

Instantly, the black shadow that was until now acting as Homura’s shadow wriggled, with a fierce speed it stretched out and headed to the kraken.

And then while it stretched out it began to spout out black bubbles foamingly.

The black bubbles gradually became bigger and higher, like a bursting out magma, mucus of black protoplasm possessing luster of iridescent color crept out from the shadow, flowing on top of the sea. And then while doing that, like fuel oil that leaked into the sea from a stranded tanker, the azure sea was polluted by black mucus while surrounding the kraken.

And then with a wave that was remarkably bigger, something like a human arm raised up from the iridescent colored sea in uncountable number.

{GI? GIGIGIGI? GIGIGIGIGIGI!}

The thin arms that looked like a dead tree swarmed at the kraken one after another.

It completely looked like the arms of the dead.

Several hundreds, no, several thousands of arms clung at the kraken’s giant body as if they were demanding help.

The kraken rattled its tentacles, twisted its body, attempting to shake off the arms of the dead, but

{GI, GIGIGI?!}

It couldn’t be shaken off.

Although each single arm didn’t possess considerable strength, the number was too many.

Further, that number even now kept increasing in acceleration, already black arms clad in iridescent luster were clinging at the kraken numbering at tens of thousands.

And then―

{TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI!}

Suddenly, such weird, high pitched sounds were reverberating.

The cry that was as if it was laughing in scorn at everything in this world was raised up countlessly from the black mucus.

That instant, the black arms that captured the kraken produced changes.

From the inside of the arms dripping with mucus, human eyes that were bloodshot in deep red appeared.

They were closely packed on the surface of the tens of thousands of arms.

And then those uncountable eyeballs glared terrifyingly at the kraken all at once,

{ TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LI! TEKELI・LITEKELI・LITEKELILITEKELI・LITEKELILITEKELILITEKETELIKELI・LIKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKELILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILI!!!!!!!}

Along with voices of great joy, all those eyeballs changed their shapes into mouths lined up with yellowing teeth, biting at the kraken.

{GIGIGIGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIIIIIIIiiiII!!!!!!}

The teeth that resembled human mouths where their sharpness was dull, ate and tore apart the meat leaving it to their strength with tearing sounds.

The kraken shrieked from that unimaginable pain.

It released the restrained Chikori and writhed with all its might.

But even so the restraint of the black arms couldn’t be torn.

The hundreds of thousands of black arms closely clung to the kraken, the mouths with yellowing teeth lined up were opened everywhere on those arms, picking at the kraken while it was still alive, biting and tearing the kraken apart, eating so ravenously.

The scattered fresh blood dyed the sea red.

But the amorphous monster didn’t let escape even a single drop, it reached out a strangely long tongue that licked the water surface repeatedly.

Such scene was continuing for almost a minute.

Before long the kraken’s body was thoroughly becoming smaller, as if it was sinking into a swamp without bottom―, finally its appearance disappeared from the sea surface, no, from this world.

{TEKELI・LI   TEKELI・LI}

At the same time the amorphous mucus of iridescent color that spread at the sea surface was also pulling itself up from the sea draggingly, it crept on the land as if sliding and returned into Homura’s shadow.

Sumika who witnessed that from start until finish obtained an understanding of what was happening.

That was because the girl understood, just what that monster of amorphous shape, which crept out from the shadow and swallowed the kraken without leaving even a single piece of meat or a drop of blood behind, was.

That was an existence called Shoggoth.

Rather that calling it an existence of old, it was a race created for service, if it had to be said it was a familiar.

But this familiar, it was a monster with a history of raising a revolt towards the old being which was the parent that birthed it, originally it was not an existence that a human in general could control.

However, Homura was different.

(A person that could even subdue evil god. Something like a Shoggot is not a big deal at all.)

But, she didn’t understand.

Why did Homura… do the killing in this kind of way?

No, she didn’t intend to sympathize with the demon.

In the first place it was an invader that crossed over to this world with malicious intent. They were beings that needed to be killed.

However, Homura should have many methods to do this in a smarter fashion.

(This way, if he instead kills in such a gruesome way like this then…)

“ah”

There Sumika suddenly noticed.

She realized, and then she looked around at the surroundings.

“Hii……-“

“uaa, ueee……-!”

Thereupon it was just as she imagined… the [confusion] towards the <Evil God User> that was more sociable than the story that the children had heard that they had until just now, the children whose eyes were now showing an obvious [terror] were taking distance from Homura while their expression paled.

No, those were still the better ones.

There were children that were affected in a worse way, there were those that fainted or vomited.

The girl called Hime that before this covered Homura from the sister was also included there.

“Hohoho. Those are really good expressions everyone.”

And then, Alfaro clapped his hands in joy at the reactions of those children.

“Now all of you reaaally understand correct? You can comprehend correct? The brutal action and ugly method just now are exactly the true nature of this person, the evil magician that joined hands with the demons and betrayed mankind, the demon that wears human skin! A person that is accompanied by an existence that is that terrifying, there is no way the he can be the ally of humans. Are all of you listening? That terror, that disgust, never forget it by all means, remember that. After all if you do that, God will without fail protect everyone from this demon.”

Hearing that voice gently admonishing them and the soft smiling face, needing to choose which side these children had to side with, these children understood it in their own way as children.

Everyone nodded at Alfaro’s words in uniform, and gathered around him.

As if idolizing him. As if relying on his god.

Alfaro nodded in satisfaction at those children’s attitude.

“Hoho. In deference to the children’s devout behavior, I’ll overlook your sin, Miss Nagashima. …Now children. Please follow me. Meal is prepared at the beach house. Perhaps right now you all have no appetite because of that man’s fault, but to keep being near him for a long time will also make us unable to refresh our spirit.”

Leading away the children, they left the beach.

On the other hand, Homura didn’t move.

He didn’t even see them off.

He was just staying silent, fixing his gaze to the horizon that continued without end,

“…What’s with that face?”

Homura complained with a wry face at Sumika whose gaze was piercing at him since a while ago.

In contrast Sumika was,

“―Nothing at all.”

*puih*, she averted her gaze in discontent.

She had already understood the reason for Homura’s actions and the true meaning of the circumstance of his conversation with Alfaro.

In brief, it was a compromise.

Homura wouldn’t tolerate Miss Nagashima getting hurt.

Alfaro, too, wouldn’t tolerate the children not having a bad impression at Homura like that.

The compromise of both side, was something like this.

―She didn’t criticize that.

Sumika knew that Homura was a human like this, and most of all it was because she understood that she didn’t have any right to criticize his actions.

Because she was weak.

She was so weak to the degree that she couldn’t shoulder the burden that Homura carried together with him.

She didn’t even have the qualifications to meddle.

To only talk with words even though she didn’t have any power to move the situation in a direction smoother than the method Homura presented, that was nothing more than selfishness.

That was why even though Sumika hated his way of living, she didn’t deny it, however―

“Please just don’t forget, that there are also people who understand you.”

She told him that sentence directly.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll remember that.” <ref>I really can’t translate this one well. Here Homura is talking like a government official who said that he will do his best to handle the situation yet in the end there was nothing done at all. The word that he used is pretty doubtful for the listener. Anyone has a better suggestion?</ref>

Homura, like always replied with a blunt attitude towards those words of Sumika.

But, Sumika thought that the color of his eyes were more affectionate than usual.

…Then when the two were exchanging words like this,

“―Sumika.”

A voice came from behind.