Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 2 Chapter 4

And Then The Balance Scales Used By The Demon

He looked down at the bodies.

He looked down at the cruelly chopped up bodies.

Many bodies were now scattered about the hall, which was filled with a sea of blood.

Looking at that.

“............”

But, Sion said nothing.

He was now in the throne room of the castle of Roland Empire.

In other words, in this place where the head of this country was in.

Where numerous bodies were scattered about, which was an unusual occurrence, but yet,

“............”

Sion --- the king of this country said nothing.

With his piercing golden eyes in which a strong will was embedded, he merely looked down on the pile of brutally broken bodies before him.

And then.

“............”

He looked up slightly.

Into the hall.

No, rather, much further inwards, he was looking at something that was squirming.

He could not see it clearly.

The attached magical lights that were used to light up the hall were destroyed, and on top of that, rain was falling outside of the window, making it extremely dark.

In that darkness, something was squirming.

But there was no sound.

Neither was there any presence sensed.

He could only tell that something strange was squirming about.

He could also tell that it was the thing that created the pile of bodies.

No, this was not something new.

A situation where Sion had merely closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and before he knew it, right before him, a pile of bodies --- a pile of bodies belonging to the guards protecting this hall appeared, with something creeping in within the same breath.

Then.

“....... again?”

Sion muttered.

He fixed a glare onto the something within that darkness.

“...... no matter how many times you try, you have no chance of winning in this land.”

He said and then.

"......"

A voice seemed to cry out from within the darkness.

But that was too soft. Too feeble. Not quite audible.

Then Sion,

“...... I can’t hear you. But there’s no need to. Lucile.”

He said.

Lucile immediately appeared behind him. In a place which should have been empty, appeared an unusually beautiful man.

“...... ahh.”

He said.

“Kill?”

Sion nodded.

“Ahh.”

“Then, I’m going to do it.”

As Lucile said that, in the next instant, he disappeared, and moved into the darkness of that hall.

And a smile floated on his lips,

“...... there’s no use in hiding.”

He thrust a hand once into one of the bodies scattered in the hall. He gouged into the bowels of the body, and appeared to catch hold of something. Then, he forcibly pulled it out.

And a strange-looking monster was pulled out from the belly of the body.

With the face of a snake, hands of a person, wings of a bird, and legs of a spider. And the skin covering its whole body from the face down, seemed to be festering from burns.

What Lucile held in his hand was the head of a monster so hideous that it could cause a nauseating feeling to well up in anyone beholding it.

“Gyu-ri-ru-e-ru-e-ru-e-ru-e.”

The monster gave off an ear-splitting howl. As it did that, the snake head stretched out and attempted to bite on Lucile’s shoulder.

However.

“Disgusting.”

Lucile brushed at it.

Just like that, the snake head disintegrated into nothingness.

But the monster’s movements did not stop. Despite losing its head, it did not stop, and this time round, from its chest which clearly appeared to be that of a spider, fangs sprung out, and with that mouth, it attempted to swallow Lucile.

But Lucile just smiled happily.

“...... ha, haha, hahaha. What’s that. You want to swallow me? With your level of power, you want to take me in?”

As he said that.

A different face appeared at the shoulder of that monster. It was the face of a bird, and it replied to Lucile’s query.

“...... don’t be too haughty. Descendant of Eris Reed. Your rampage ends here. The Goddesses’ rage has already reached their limit......”

But at that moment, the bird stopped mid-sentence.

Because Lucile had plucked out its head.

“...... the mad Goddesses, come again?”

And he crushed the bird head in his hand.

But still, the monster did not stop. The spider’s fangs came thrusting towards Lucile.

But Lucile appeared to be unconcerned.

He stretched out his hand quietly, and murmured softly.

“Let me end this farce.”

Instantly, he released his power and everything ---

Should have ended.

But at that moment.

“...... huh?”

Suddenly, Lucile’s expression changed.

A strange, small light appeared from within the spider’s mouth.

“...... darn......”

He couldn’t continue.

The light, all of a sudden, exploded from the monster’s body.

Towards Lucile.

No, it was exploding towards Sion, who was behind him.

As he got swallowed by the light, Lucile’s body disappeared.

Just as the light continued to move to swallow Sion’s body, at that moment.

Once again, Lucile appeared in front of Sion.

In his hand, he held a dark sword. Lucile swung it. As he did that, the light was split into two parts, and on top of that, it was absorbed by the sword.

“............”

This time round, everything was really over.

Once again, darkness and silence descended upon the hall.

But Sion then.

“...... Lucile.”

He called out.

He looked at the beautiful man before him, a man who should not lose to any kind of monster, a man who should be darker than any form of darkness,

“...... wasn’t that a little bad?”

He said.

Lucile then turned around,

“No. There wasn’t any problem really.”

He was smiling.

He was smiling with his beautiful face.

But what was laughing, was merely the right side of his face.

The left side of his face...... no, his left hand, his left leg as well, the entire left side of his body was gone.

Burned off by the light released from the mouth of the spider.

Sion, with a dubious face,

“It doesn’t seem that way to me though.”

But, Lucile merely shrugged his only shoulder.

“No problem at all.”

After saying that, with his remaining right hand, he gave a knock on his own body.

The moment he did that, the remaining half of his body started regenerating. The inner flesh of his body bulged out, and in a twinkle, his body returned to his former beautiful form.

That, in itself, was disgusting.

Sion smiled wryly.

“Damn monster.”

Lucile smiled,

“Hahaha. You hate your own kind?”

In other words, he meant that Sion was a monster just like him.

But Sion did not rebuke those words. Because it was just as he said. As of now, he was the same kind as this disgusting monster --- rather, he’s in the process of becoming something more than that.

“............”

Without saying anything, Sion once again looked at the hall.

However, there was no longer any sign of that hideous monster resembling a combination of a snake, bird, and spider. It probably self-exploded.

In order to kill Lucile.

No, in order to kill Sion --- that is the Mad Black Hero.

Sion said to the Lucile who was still looking in the direction of the hall.

“But, this is actually the first time I see Lucile wounded in such a manner.”

On hearing that, Lucile,

“...... ahh. I let my guard down for a while. I didn’t expect the real thing would take the trouble to show up.”

As he said that, Sion opened his eyes.

“...... the real thing? You mean the Goddess?”

Lucile nodded.

“That was probably a part of Kukanohst [Goddess of Tranquility]. She sent in a part of her body by hiding it in the body of the familiar we just saw. But for her to have come all the way over such a great distance at this kind of timing, the Goddesses seem to be in a fluster......”

At that moment, suddenly.

<< Damn fools. >>

A high-pitched, an incomprehensibly high-pitched, ear-splitting woman’s voice reverberated across the room.

No, the voice probably did not reverberate across the room in reality. But, rather, that voice appeared to be reverberating acroos the world, having been delivered directly to their heads.

And then Sion,

“...... isn’t it still here?”

Lucile smiled.

“That’s right. Since I haven’t killed it yet. What I erased earlier was merely an attack of the Goddess.”

And, at that moment again.

<< Damn fools. >>

The same thing was said again. But this time round, a different meaning was embedded within those words.

More accurately, what was embedded was a magical fear.

The Goddess had embedded a power that would erode the will and destroy the minds of her enemies within that voice.

Some time ago perhaps, Sion’s sanity would have been destroyed, leaving him, fearful, and raving in madness.

So as to speak, it was the voice of a God.

A divine message from God.

Man could only prostrate in fear and obey.

“Well, since I’m also a monster, it has no effect on me however......”

Sion murmured, as he shifted his eyes to search for the source of the voice from within the hall.

But,

“...... ah, I can’t do it. I can’t find it with my eyes, Lucile.”

As he said that, Lucile had already found the fragment of the Goddess and while looking intently at a single point on the ceiling, said.

“...... what, Sion. You want to see her face?”

Sion nodded at his query.

“Yes, I’d like that. All this while, Goddess-sama had only sent her familiars here, and finally now, she had come forth herself. I have to show her a proper hospitality.”

But, Lucile turned his head around,

“But if you do that, you will regret it, you know?”

He said.

Then, Sion tilted his head,

“What do you mean by that?”

He asked.

And Lucile smiled. And that smile was much darker, colder, and mocking than usual.

He said.

“Naturally I’m referring to the fact that, considering that she’s called Goddess, her appearance is surprisingly unbefitting of that.”

After saying that, he lightly shook his hand in front of Sion’s eyes.

At that moment, the color of the world changed.

Darkness became darker.

Light became brighter, as much as the eyes can behold.

And within that darkness.

And within the darkness on the ceiling of the hall, where Lucile was looking up at, was a person, a woman clad in light......

A woman seemingly clad in a shining robe of feathers.

Looking at that form,

“...... ohh.”

Sion muttered without thinking.

And at her form.

Sion’s face contorted instinctively at the Goddess’s form.

As her form was abnormally ugly.

Attached to the ceiling on all fours, her face had no eyes.

Sunk in blackness, within its depths, only extended a deep darkness. Occasionally, in that darkness, small bodies that looked like insects, were moving in and out in a disgusting manner.

She had no nose, and her mouth was different from that of a human, stretching across vertically instead of horizontally, and hundreds of teeth extended outwards from that mouth.

Below her grotesque head, she had the same form as a human, adding to her bizarre appearance.

No, her appearance had encompassed everything that’s revolting to humans.

And then, her vertically aligned mouth started opening and closing, and her voice reverberated again.

<< You worms. You worms you worms. Why, why why, don’t you accept my, our salvation? >>

An incomprehensibly high-pitched earsplitting voice.

And then Lucile,

“See? It’s better not to see it, isn’t it?”

He said.

Then Sion,

“............”

He merely shrugged his shoulders without answering. No, he had roughly expected this outcome. He had wondered about the appearance of the Goddess that had kept sending her monster minions one after another, well, it was something that looked like that, he thought.

A book that Lucile had shown him.

It was within his expectations that they were hideous, after having read that book in which the light and darkness of this world were chronicled, a story in which the Goddesses appeared.

As an example, a story in which they appeared went like this.

♦♦♦♦

After living for too long, the desires of the mad Goddesses could not be stopped. They couldn’t be stopped even after they had obtained everything.

Devouring the light they created, devouring the darkness they created, devouring the human they created, even that was not enough.

Want to devour more.

Want to devour.

Want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour want to devour.

And in the end, they broke the greatest taboo.

The source of everything.

The source that gave birth to them.

They devoured the parent that gave birth to them.

Devouring their parent finally satisfied them.

And then everything ended.

Anything and everything about the world up till now ended.

Once again, it was born into a different one.

♦♦♦♦

But.

Sion thought.

As he looked up at the fragment of the hideous Goddess on the ceiling, he said.

“But this time round...... things won’t go according to the way you all want. The ugly story that you all had created shall end here.”

And then the goddess, with the darkness embedded within her hollow eyes, looked this way and said.

<< Again. Again, a-g-a-i-n, again. Are you worms mad? Mad m-a-d m-a-d? Hero. My lovely hero...... deceived by ω[omega], deceived by α[alpha], deceived by the demon, are you intending to sell out this world again? >>

On hearing those words.

Sion only smiled thinly.

“So to speak, I know that there are already a number of versions of stories that are convenient to you circulating around the world......”

That’s right.

With regards to that ancient story, there were several patterns to it.

A story about a hero destroying the world.

A story about a demon destroying the world.

And a story about goddesses destroying the world.

Every one of them had some degree of authenticity, but yet, every one of them was also fudged with lies.

Even though it was not known who, for whose sake, had created those stories, but at the very least, every one of them had a story linked to destruction.

Well, in any case......

At that moment, the voice of the Goddess reverberated again.

<< Accept our salvation. Accept our salvation. This is also for your sake. Now, accept it, accept it, and become the hero who saves the world...... >>

But Sion then,

“Shut up...... you ugly Goddesses.”

He said.

Instantly, Lucile jumped.

“Jade Emperor’s tongue.”

He muttered.

He raised his right hand.

But nothing came forth from that right hand. Nothing could be seen.

But even though there shouldn’t be anything there, the ugly face of the Goddess contorted in fear, making it even uglier.

<< Jade...... Jade Emperor, you mean......? Impossible...... you, did you devour God Pursuing’s power? But that shouldn’t have been...... ω[omega]...... sword saint Eris Reed’s bloodline should not possess such a power...... >>

But, a smile floated on Lucile’s lips,

“Don’t think that I’ll always let the elderly...... the ancient gods do as they please. God, God Pursuing, and even Goddess, I shall devour everything.”

And then he swung down his hand at the Goddess.

The Goddess could do nothing. She could only make a surprised, fearful face.

Her body started disappearing.

<< …... this...... my body...... is really being devoured...... what in the world are you...... >>

But the words ended then.

The Goddess disappeared and darkness returned.

After Lucile landed in the center of the pile of bodies, he turned around.

“It has ended......”

At that moment, his knees buckled to the ground. And he fell.

But to that,

“............”

As expected, Sion said nothing.

Since he had seen this scene before.

During the time when he (Lucile) devoured a goddess and obtained her power.

No, during the time when he devoured the power of God, God Pursuing, and obtained those powers, he was constantly tested.

Whether it was appropriate for him to possess those powers.

Whether it was appropriate for him to possess those powers to change the world.

Whether it was appropriate for him to rewrite the plot of that story that had continued endlessly.

He was tested, if his power was not enough, he’d die.

If he lived, he would move forward.

A simple matter.

Lucile, as well as Sion, was aware of that level of danger, and moved forward.

Throwing away anything and everything.

Laughter, sorrow, bliss, happiness, friends, family, comrades, life, sacrifices which could have rendered them weeping, and they moved forward.

People might say that’s mad.

God might say that’s mad.

Goddesses might say that’s mad.

But, still, even so......

“............”

If they lived.

If they lived, they would cover this world and sunder all darkness they encompassed.

That’s why.

“............”

At that moment, Lucile got up.

Sion asked.

“...... any problem?”

On hearing that, Lucile looked towards here and smiled. His smile was darker, colder, and more empty than before.

“None.”

“Then.”

Sion said and Lucile nodded.

“Ahh. Let’s continue.”

And Lucile disappeared.

Once again, Sion was alone in the hall.

He looked intently at the piled up bodies and sea of blood in front of him,

“...... mad, black hero huh......”

He muttered softly in a moaning voice that seemed to be on the verge of crying.

At that moment.

“...... Your Majesty.”

He was called.

He looked up.

He looked across to the other side of the empty shells of his comrades, where a solitary man stood.

It was a man with a considerably strict, frowning face. He was slightly above thirty years in age. Wearing a sparkling clean military uniform, he stood tall and straight.

Major Rahel Miller.

The man responsible for the Taboo Breaker Pursuit Squad.

The superior of Milk Callaud. No, the superior of that genius, Luke Stokkart.

An even more capable and more intelligent man of this country.

To say that the current Roland was made by him was not an overstatement. During the time when Sion was thinking of carrying out a revolution, he had already more or less set in place all the necessary pieces to start one.

Sion merely became a gear in his plan and moved accordingly.

But, now.

Miller looked towards here with a stern, troubled face.

A face where he was shown something beyond his expectations and imagination.

Sion smiled at that.

“...... you want to talk?”

On hearing that, Miller nodded.

“Yes. I came here to hear more about the details concerning the situation of Roland now......”

After saying that, he looked around the hall.

He looked at the mountain of corpses.

Then, he looked at Sion.

And then, his piercing eyes once again drifted about the empty space of the hall.

Was he looking for Lucile, or was he looking for the devoured Goddess?

Sion looked intently at him and asked.

“...... so, from when did you start watching?”

On hearing that, Miller once again fixed his eyes on Sion and replied.

“From when, you say? To that question, I shall answer that I saw nothing. I cannot think of commenting on anything without the proper knowledge. That’s why today, I came here to you with a single question.”

He said.

Sion then nodded.

“Then I shall change my question. What is that question, I wonder?”

On hearing that, Miller said.

Looking straight towards here.

No, even deeper than that.

With his piercing eyes, he peered straight into Sion.

“...... tell me everything, Sion Astal. Everything from the beginning.”

He said with a low voice.

♦ ♦ ♦

He gave orders to the cells in his brain.

Move move move.

Think think think.

He desperately gave orders to the cells in his brain.

What to do what to do what to do.

What’s the situation?

What are the circumstances?

“............”

But, from the core of his brain, a different command was issued.

Bothersome bothersome bothersome.

Time to sleep time to sleep time to sleep.

Of course, the situation was such that even if he acted sluggishly, it was a tense situation in which he was already too late for various things, and even though he couldn’t sleep, the brain tissue of the lazy fellow was screaming.

Yes good night yesh good night already sluggishly sleepy want to go bye-bye want to go bye-bye in my bed into my fluffy fluffy dreams not wanting to wake up and that’s it please take care of things goodbye.

Ryner Lute

Postscript.

Please don’t look for me.

A stupid order along those lines.

“............”

Gu, while enduring, he stifled a yawn and looked up at the clock hanging from the wall.

By the way, it’s noon.

The fact was he’s sleepy.

As he had not slept a wink since escaping prison yesterday morning.

During the past thirty hours, he was running around back and forth along the streets to investigate the situation that had befallen Roland, and finally it was time to get out of the country and he went to the appointed place but Ferris was not there, then Kiefer came back, then Ferris lost consciousness.

And, now.

Now, Ryner and gang were at Ashold dango tea-house.

He was supposed to meet up with Ferris at eight-thirty in the morning, and cross the boundaries at noon, leaving Roland, entering Nelpha, but yet.

“............”

Without saying anything, Ryner looked at the peerless beauty eating dango in front of him.

It seemed like she was already free from worries, continuing to dig into her dango.

“............”

And following that, he looked at the person beside her, her sister, who was also eating dango. The two of them were eating dango carefreely, and as he looked at the number of discarded sticks, he wondered, who is going to pay for all that? As he seemed to shake in fear, well, when that happens, there’s always the desperation move ‘eat and run’ choice, so I’ll not think about that for now.

“............”

And on top of that, beside him, his red-haired childhood friend sat.

She was also eating dango. As she commented on how delicious this was, Ferris’s eyes widened,

“Ohh!! You can tell the taste!”

As she said that, Kiefer, with a somewhat pressured look,

“Eh, yeah, erm...... yes. I thought that this is something different from other dango......”

“You can tell that much!?”

Ferris shouted,

“Fohfohbabakaludo!”

Iris, with her mouth stuffed with dango, shouted some incantation-like words.

“...... er, erm, yeah. Probably......”

Kiefer replied.

“Oyaji! She’s a sharp one! Bring in another thirty sticks!”

“Thirty ~ sticks!”

“Ehhhh thirty sticks!? No, well, er, eating only dango......”

Instantly, Ferris and Iris had a shocked look on their faces,

“Kid, kidding kidding...... I really want to eat dango you know......”

“Right!”

“Fohloh!”

Ryner gave a sidelong glance at Kiefer who was playfully tossed around by the troublesome sisters, fought his sleepiness and continued to think.

So as to speak, the fact was that there was really no time to slug around like this.

He and Kiefer listened to the story of Ferris while eating dango.

Firstly, with regards to Kiefer, ahh ~, what’s that again. Erm, the reason why she came back......

At that moment, Ryner remembered her words earlier in the room. With her entire face red, Kiefer,

“...... erm, I came back...... to meet Ryner......”

Woah woah woah wait, stop remembering it.

Well anyway, the reason she came back is something along those lines, eh ---, it’s troublesome to deal with it so let’s leave it at that. Yup. Then again, if say that’s the real reason why she came back, then she won’t enter the current Roland anyway.

Erm, what about Sion, who’s also her childhood friend?

“............”

Ryner looked across the pile of thirty sticks of dango stacked up on the table, at the half obscured face of Kiefer.

And he asked.

“You know, Kiefer.”

“Hn?”

“Do you want to meet Sion......”

On hearing that, she looked a little sad and shook her head.

“...... erm, I do want to meet him but...... but it’s not like I came back to see Sion. I, towards Ryner......”

But at that moment, Ryner panicked,

“Right, okayy I got it. You don’t really want to meet Sion?”

“Yeah. After talking to Ryner, in the current situation, even if I were to meet him......”

On hearing that, Ryner nodded.

“I think so too.”

And then he returned to his thoughts again.

That’s right.

Even if Kiefer were to meet the Sion now, she would be disappointed, I guess. At any rate, he...... the current Sion even refused to meet Ferris, who had been part his everyday company not long ago.

Even if Kiefer were to head towards the castle now, it will be strange if he actually grants her an audience.

As he was thinking, Kiefer......

At that moment, appearing as if she had completely seen through his thoughts, she said.

“...... I’ll go together with you.”

“Eh?”

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