Chapter 45  That Sword

Aah, this is a dream.

While faced with the despairing tragedy in front of me, someone muttered that.

Haa haah, while breathing heavily, I ran through the stone corridor with all strength. I wanted to plug my ears to avoid the roars and screams coming at me from all directions but my right hand was supporting Souichi-kun, who I was carrying on my shoulders, and my left hand was pulling Hiyuu-chan as I ran, so both my hands were not free. Souichi-kun had lost consciousness and so felt very heavy. But this wasn’t the time to be complaining. From behind, a monster, who felt like [death] itself, was chasing us. I ran past many soldiers who were rushing towards where we came from, towards the monster. Seeing as they didn’t even have the time to notice us fully showed just how abnormal this situation was. Their iron armor that hit me as they pa.s.sed in a rush really hurt.

O’brien-san and others said that they’d hold it back but I doubt they’d win against that monster. Even Souichi-kun, the strongest among us summoned 13, lost consciousness in few seconds. If O’brien-san and the others had not let us run, only the worst case scenario was waiting for us. And even though O’brien-san is still at the training field fighting and holding back those monsters……..here I was pathetically running away along while pulling Hiyuu-chan with me. Even though we had been summoned exactly to help in such a situation.

No, so what if we have received some super strength, without experience it doesn’t change one d.a.m.n thing. No matter how incredible the power we get, we’re still only amateurs. Our bodies froze just looking at some heavily injured people, and would faint if we saw a corpse.

“O, onii-chan!”(T/N: onii-chan is used by younger children to refer to older boys even when not actually family btw.)

Hiyuu-chan called me. But without even answering her, I ran desperately while pulling her small hand. Even though the sky visible from the windows was clear enough that it could blind you, why the h.e.l.l did something like this had to happen? I wanted to just escape it all in front of this sudden calamity but I shook my head and tried to calm myself. No need to waste energy on thinking, just run! Run, as far as possible. If this goes on, we’ll all be annihilated. I gripped Hiyuu-chan’s hand tighter. At the very least, I have to save at least this small girl.

“It’ll be fine. O’brien-san and the others will take care of something like that in no time, don’t worry.”(renji)

“Uu, n……”

I said that but Hiyuu-chan’s expression remained poor. It’s only to be expected. If this goes on…..no, the castle is already doomed. Even a child can figure that out. That’s how much the difference in abilities is.

The ones attacking the castle right now weren’t those low cla.s.s monsters like goblins or orcs that I had read in books. They were demons wearing incredible armor along with giant monsters. Among those, there were even giant chimaeras and golems that alone require tens of knights to defeat. But their numbers weren’t just one or two either.

The surprise attack happened out of nowhere. I was just heading to the training field as usual to practice when the s.p.a.ce distorted and monsters appeared out of nothingness. It’d be weird if we could deal with something like that. Souichi-kun who just happened to be with me tried to deal with them but only to end up carried away on my shoulders. No matter how strong of a divine protection of the G.o.ddess he had received, Souichi-kun was a middle school student till only a few days ago. There’s no way he’d be able to deal with something like being suddenly surrounded by a vortex of death. As a result, I had no choice but to carry him and pull Hiyuu-chan and run away.

I wonder if Utano-san and the others are safe. I had no way of checking but I can atleast hope they are.

I wonder how far had I run away. Finding the giant door I had become familiar with, I quickly entered inside.

The cathedral. Normally the place was tranquil and peaceful but right now it was filled with people. Injured soldiers and knights. Priests trying to heal as many as they could.

It was truly like the scene from a battlefield you only saw in movies. In front of such a scene, I could only stand in a daze. My body lacked strength. My mind didn’t work. The smell of blood and cries of pain felt disgusting. This was reality, I just couldn’t accept that.

But, there was a small hand that pulled mine.

“Are……are you…okay?”

It was Hiyuu-chan. The one who brought me back to senses was this small girl with eyes filled with anxiety and unease.

Aah, that’s right. I can’t lose my calm right now. I am the one who’s holding this girl’s hand. How could I be the one being anxious instead?

“Hiyuu-chan, let’s take some rest.”

Closing the great door, I spoke that to her. Handing over Souichi-kun to one of the Priests that came worried towards us as we entered, I headed deep inside with Hiyuu-chan. As I searched for a place to sit in the floor filled with towels, blankets, and medical tools and items, I my chest tighten.

Even though I was summoned to fight, I ran away like this. That fact struck me like a thorn. At the deepest part of the cathedral was the silver statue of the G.o.ddess and some of the priests were praying to her. But she won’t answer those prayers. She wasn’t even in this world and simply watched over this world from a different place……..probably.

Near that statue, seeing an empty couch, I sat down. Hiyuu-chan sat down beside me as well. Since the longsword on back was an obstruction, I threw it on the ground making a clanking sound. Looking beside me, towards Hiyuu-chan, her white hair, typical to albinos, were sticking to her face from sweat and she was panting fast for breath. We ran so much that even I, an adult, was tired, I can only imagine how much stamina she must have consumed. Realizing that I didn’t even think about her well being while running, I only felt more miserable.

“Are you….okay?”(yui)

“Yeah, you, Hiyuu-chan?”

“…….I’m alright…as well.”

Just from those small words, I felt my heart lighten a bit. But still, my head hurts thinking about what to do next.

So many monsters had invaded. It’s clear that all of them must be subjugated. But, we lack the power to do so. People, strength, we’re lacking in all of it. Even leaving me aside, the most essential in battle, i.e. Souichi-kun is currently unconscious. And we don’t even know where everybody else is among this chaos and confusion. For people summoned to save this world, we are not being of use at all. In fact, we are the ones getting protected by the people of this world instead.

And as we waste time, injured would increase in number, and so would the dead—–

If this what everyday was like in this world, I’ll break. Who even thought of this? We knew it was impossible for just some humans to save the world. Let alone fighting experience I hadn’t even held a sword before coming to this world.

“Onii-chan………what do we do?”

“Ah, yeah…..”

That’s right, I don’t have the time to be making excuses inside my mind. Both me and Hiyuu-chan have super abilities granted to us by the G.o.ddess. Thinking of that, I brought out the medal kept inside my pocket. It’s just a gold medal. It’s designed differently from the gold coins used in this world but that’s it. It can’t be used to buy something neither does it hold any special value as an antique. I got it from the G.o.ddess but it lacks any authenticity. What can I do with just a medal.

Was I supposed to ask how to use it as well or is the G.o.ddess actually messing with me? s.h.i.t! I cursed and gripped the medal tightly but still nothing happened. In the first place, I have tried this many times already. I called to it to lend me strength many times but it was useless. Probably, I don’t know how to use it. I can tell that. Even though I really needed its help right now, it was useless.

That’s why, once more—-

“Oi……”

Just at that moment, the great door to the cathedral opened with a great noise. No, it’d be better to say that it exploded. The double doors blew away and its fragments. .h.i.t the injured and stopped only when it hit the wall.

Due to this sudden occurrence, the cathedral returned to silence. But that only lasted for a second.

First, screams rose. Screams and shrieks of despair reached my ears. The Priests ran here and there looking for a way to escape as the soldiers and knights who could move picked their weapons. And only then, finally, I was able to look at the place where the gate was as well. What had appeared was a black demon. No something similar to a demon. I had yet to see an actual demon but I had read about them in books so I was somewhat aware of what they looked like. But the demon that had appeared had many differences from what I had read.

2 legs, 2 arms and a head. Appearance similar to a human was the main characteristic of a demon but its whole body was currently covered in crustacean like armour, and the 4 compound eyes on its head were releasing a red light. And above all, it’s mouth wasn’t small at all like a human. It opened sideways like a true insect. It was completely different than a human or a demon.

It’s whole body was protected by magical energy. It didn’t even wear armour like humans or normal demons did. It was completely different from anything I had read about in the books.

“Hiiii!!”

“That thing!”

I remembered that demon. It’s the one that was standing at the very front of the ones that attacked us at the training grounds. And also the one that made Souichi faint with one attack.

Even though O’brien-san and others tried to hold it back, it’s no standing here. Realizing what that meant, I quickly shook my head. Think, about the situation at hand first!

But while looking at the Priests running away, and the injured lying around, my body refused to move. Was this fear, or something even deeper? Unable to even move my gaze, I looked at the demon. And for some reason, it felt like that that demon’s compound eyes were———looking at me.

Next instant, the knight rushed towards the demon with their weapons. Three of them. Due to the injured lying around and the couches in the cathedral, it was impossible for too many to fight at once.

But before the knights could even attack it, the demon pointed its right arm towards the knights. And with just the swing of the its arm, blood sprayed in the air. As if the shadow held its own will, it matched the movement of the demon’s arm and cut the knights apart.

It was not just blood that flew. Flesh—–limbs, torso, cut apart armour, all flew in the air.

In a panic, I blocked Hiyuu-chan’s eyes with my hand, but I was too slow. As if she had lost all strength, her body limped towards me. She had fainted.

“Hiyuu-chan!?!”

Fl.u.s.tered, I called her name but got no reaction. The next moment, the arm of the demon swung again. Once again, screams rose and blood spilled. While hearing the wails and death cries of the knights, I picked up my sword lying on the ground. And by the time, I drew my sword, only us and the priests who had run till the end of the cathedral were alive. Every knight and soldier that challenged the demon were now lying in a pool of blood. n.o.body was moving. The smell of blood and the scene in front of me made me feel like vomiting what I ate in the morning but somehow I resisted to and walked top the centre of the cathedral with my sword in hand. It’s not like I had come up with some plan. In my head, I knew that it was suicide to challenge this monster even Souichi couldn’t beat.

But still, I stood there. The demon took a step forward. It stepped on the pool of blood, *splash* I felt like I heard such a sound.

My tip of the sword was shivering from fear, but I couldn’t help it. The existence in front of me was simply too scary. I didn’t even think of something like ‘I must fight it’, ‘I must stop it’. My body simply moved by instinct. Most probably, it was the same for the other soldiers and knights as well.

While raising a shout that hurt my throat, I slashed towards the demon. Was it thanks to O’brien-san’s training or was it just a miracle that I was able to react in time? The moment that demon swung his arm, I bent over and dodged the shadow’s attack. Slipping over the pool of blood I swung my sword as it hit its head and made sparks fly. Rather than calling it just hard, it felt like I just hit something giant gigantic and tough something. The demon showed absolutely no reaction to being hit by the sword either. Let alone back away, it didn’t even move a single bit.

“uu, ah.”

Instead, I ended up taking a step back. Maybe it lost interest in me, it simply ignored me and walked past me. Even though it wasn’t any taller than me in size, the pressure it gave off was in a whole different level. *splash* *splash* as it walked it spoiled the beautiful carpet and couches around. It’s destination was——the unconscious Hiyuu-chan and Souichi-kun who was still receiving treatment.

The moment I realized that, I ran so fast that I surprised myself. I slashed it once more from behind. *clank* with a shrill sound, my hand numbed from the impact. But still, the demon didn’t stop moving. Once more! But it still didn’t stop. Twice, thrice, I continued but——-it just didn’t stop. At last, maybe because I continued hitting hit, I became unable to hold the sword and it dropped out of my hand.

Then, finally, the demon stopped moving and looked at me with its compound eyes. The next instant, I got blown away. For a second, I felt gravity disappear, and suddenly I hit one of the couches and the fell down to the ground with incredible force. I don’t even know what happened to me. From the centre of the cathedral, I had been blown away almost to the gate.. It actually took me time to realize how far I had been blown.  Maybe because I had rolled over the pool of blood and entrails, the pungent smell of it all struck my nose. I felt like vomiting again but somehow, I held it back.

“gu, ahh”

“I couldn’t breathe properly. Did I break some of my bones was I just hurt badly. Feeling pain I had never felt before, I even forgot how to breathe. My chest hurt. Was I punched? Or was I kicked? Or did it use magic on me? While in confusion, I rolled up trying to bear with the pain.

Giving a single glance at me, the demon’s gaze turned back—–towards Hiyuu-chan.

“Ah.”

A lifeless voice came out of me.

The priests had gathered at the very end of the cathedral, shivering in fear and the knights had all been killed. There was no one to save her. No. one. At. All.

“No..”

I stretched my hand. There was no meaning. Above all, I was still lying near the gate in the pool of blood and the demon was in the centre of the cathedral. Even the distance was despairingly big.

In panic, I tried to stand up only to slip in the blood and fall back. My hand touched the hand of someone lying in front of me. It was only a wrist lying there. There were others, parts of the body, entrails, heads with eyes wide in despair, heads with still there helmet on………..I was surrounded by parts of flesh.

“uug.”

I threw up. Vomiting everything I had eaten today but still unable to stop, I vomited my gastric juices. The acid burnt my throat and tears came out from the pain.

——But, I stood up. Did my sense of pain get paralyzed from vomiting too much, or maybe my mind has gone crazy by being surrounded by entrails and body parts? The sharp pain in my chest turned dull. I wiped my mouth only to taste and smell blood. I was lying in a pool of blood. Even my arms hands have been stained completely. No, my whole body has been stained in blood.

“Let’s do this.”

I said that to myself. Saying that, I hardened my resolve. My surroundings was overflowing with death, my senses have gone mad. Even though I can never match this monster, it’s crazy that I still stood up.

Holding back the dully paining chest with my left arm, I picked up a sword from the hand of a soldier who was missing the rest of his body. I had lost my earlier sword after all. My hand, and legs were stiffer than I thought. But still——if I didn’t move now, it’ll be Hiyuu-chan and Souichi-kun who’d become a part of this pool of blood next.

Hearing me, the black demon stopped. And slowly, with ease, he turned to look at me over its shoulders. It’s red eyes looked at me and that alone made my body shrink with fear as if my heart had been gripped directly. But still, I pointed the sword at that demon. I must have looked amusing as I stood like that shivering with my sword.

And, as if sneering at me, it turned completely towards me.

What?

Is its aim not Hiyuu-chan and Souichi? I became suspicious but I’m glad that it stopped moving at least. Now all that’s left is—–all that’s left is……

What should I do next? Should I fight this monster? It defeated Souichi, broke through O’brien-san and others.  Should I fight this monster, the one that created this tragic situation?

It’s useless. You can’t win.

Someone whispered that.

The next corpse will only change from the kids to yours, that’s all.

Someone whispered again.

Run away.

Again.

Run away.

It’s voice became louder.

Run away.

My shivering sword slightly lowered.

Run away.

But still, I tightly gripped the sword.

Run away.

“Your opponent is right here, motherf.u.c.ker!!”