Chapter 129

"For now, Rouga, go distract him for a while . I need some time . "

"Okay!"

After replying to me briefly, Rouga jumped off Ouka's back and charged at Souki who was waiting for the best timing to thrust out his fist . With a splendid move, Rouga dodged that fist .

"Mr . Ogre, this way please . "

"... GeT AwaY . "

She provoked him with words that I've already heard somewhere . She is gradually getting influenced by her owner . As she was making use of her small body in her tactics, she continued to trifle with him . Although Souki doesn't understand what she was saying, he was clearly irritated by her super fast speed . Well, mobility and speed are her inherent skills . It's very unlikely for her to get caught by that giant lump of hatred .

I entrusted the plan of distracting Souki to Rouga, and asked Ouka to let me down after getting far enough from them . Apparently, my arm is still too heavy . Even though I understood that it's just a mind trick, it still feels heavy . This carved seal in my hand is due to my foolishness, so I need to bear with it now .

"What are you intending to do now, Yato-sama?"

Ouka asked me while being in her original fox form . The answer to her question was already decided .

"We will take him down with one hit . "

It's impossible for me to battle him for a long time with this arm, anyway . If I only fought him seriously from the start, nothing like this would have happened . Perhaps I got a little too ahead of myself this time . I will make sure to take him down with a single blow now .

"I-Is that even possible?"

"Of course, it is possible . "

After hearing the words 'one hit,' she asked with a bewildered voice tone . I replied to her immediately then crouched down and placed my heavy arm on the ground .

"Alright, let's do this . "

Everything is prepared now, all that is left is to make the move . When I was about to call for Rouga to get away from Souki, we got interrupted by a totally unpredictable interference .

—— DO NOT GET IN THE WAY . ——

"!?"

"Kyaa!"

We got assaulted by a third party . All of a sudden, I received a shock to my back and lost track on the magic spell I was preparing . The voice that reached my ears right before the shock was unfamiliar . Someone else is present here . Even Ouka got involved in the attack . I turned to confirm what happened and noticed a stone gouged on the surface of the ground .

"Ah? Did someone just shoot us with this stone... ?"

I frowned while fixing my gaze on the stone that wasn't there until now . I activated my[Presence Detection]skill but couldn't detect anyone nearby . This means that we were sniped by stone by someone from an incredibly long distance . I assume that it's the same person who transmitted that ominous voice to my mind . In other words, someone is observing us from another place . Due to the noise resulting from the crash, Souki had noticed our location .

"HuMAn... DiE!"

He then ignored Rouga and came rushing towards me with his full speed and power, but Rouga stopped him on the way .

"I'm not done playing with you . "

She shouted and bit him with her sharp fangs, but as his skin was so hard, she couldn't chew it off and got readily brushed off by him .

"So hard . "

"StOP... HiNdrANce . "

He probably got really fed up with Rouga moving around and changed his target from me to her again . It looks like I still have time to start preparing again .

"C-Could this be..."

Ouka who took a closer look at the stone thrown at us looked somehow agitated . I wanted to ask her if she knew anything, but I didn't have time to do that . I perceived another stone flying directly at us . This time it wasn't only one, but a few dozens . They were all covered by some dark matter . Surely, nothing good will come out of getting shot with them .

"Yato-sama, I will do something about the stones . "

Ouka stepped forward, preparing to counter attack the flying stones . I used my[Presence Detection]to examine them and realized that they have been shot consecutively . If I were to deal with them instead, I will never have time to prepare the magic .

I entrusted my back to Ouka and returned to concentrate on the spell I was preparing . Ouka transformed back to her human form and diagonally thrust her arms which eventually started sparkling with lightning . The lightning then left her arms and created a round wall surrounding the both of us . For a second I wondered if a wall can be made out of electricity, but soon focused back on my task . Everything is finally prepared now .

"Rouga!! Get away from him now!!"

"Okay!"

Before she ran away from him, she kicked Souki's eyes with her forefeet . Souki reflexively placed his hands on his eyes as he screamed and slightly bent down his knees . That was a heartless move from her . I felt a little sorry for Souki who got his eyes carefreely crushed by Rouga, but I didn't let that chance slip by .

"It's about time for you to return to nothingness, lump of hatred — Heaven Load . "

Following my chant, two magic circles appeared . One of them near me and the second under Souki's feet . It took him a while to calm down and open his eyes again to realize what was happening under him . He instinctively guessed the danger that was about to assault him and tried to escape, however, it was already late .

Four tiny magic circles appeared above his head and iron chains violently sprout out of them, binding Souki's limbs and restraining him . He tried to break free out of them using all his power but the chains didn't even move the slightest . Once he got caught by them, the game was already over . The chains then abruptly lifted him all at once . His arms got stretched in different directions and his legs got bound straightforwardly . He looked as he was getting crucified .

I won't show any sympathy to you for your past, but at the very least, I will let you pass without suffering . The magic circle under Souki's feet started shining . The light in the circle increased in its radiance gradually as if it were pumping out its energy . That growing brightness had most likely reflected as a death countdown in his eyes since he desperately tried to tear away the chains .

"HuMAN... Human!!"

Despite facing his approaching death, the deep grudge in his eyes didn't vanish .

"UnfORgIvAble!... NeVer, ShALL I ForgiVE... The EnEmy... Of My FamILY!!!"

"... Later . "

He will never forgive anyone no matter what happens . That tragedy is now part of the antic past, no need to make a fuss about it at this point . I closed my eyes while listening to his resenting words, and bid him farewell . The magic circle reached its utmost radiance and entirely covered Souki .

"I Will NEvEr ForgIVE... hUmanS!!!"

The magic circle created a giant pillar of light . While piercing the clear night sky and enlightening the gloomy forest, the pillar interrupted Souki from finishing his last resenting yell . Just rest in peace now . I prayed for Souki to find peace while silently gazing at the light pillar . After the light settled off, what was left in that place was Souki's worn out body . The truth that he didn't turn into light particles and disappear, which means that he is still alive . I prepared to append another attack, but soon realized that his body has started to faint away .

Rest in peace, Souki .

I quietly watched Souki disappearing off, turning into light and slowly fading out .

"... Hu... man..."

I could hear his faint voice, which was barely reaching my ears .

"Thank... you..."

Leaving those words behind, he completely turned into light particles . Simultaneously, the curse mark in my hand vanished . My hand stopped feeling heavy . This is what I'm talking about! A person's hand should always feel like this . Waving my hand around I recalled Souki's last words . Did he get back his sanity at the very end? I didn't feel any resentment in his last words . They were his true feelings .

... I pray for you to find a better world there .

The light particles slowly ascended towards the night's starry sky . It looked as if he were really ascending to the Heaven . So this brings to an end to this problem . Now that is done, one more thing is left to do . I turned to look at Ouka who was doing her best at warding off the flying stones . The other side of the electric wall was all filled with them . Just how many stones is he planning to shoot at us . Feeling glad that Ouka was able to defend my back from those shots, I stepped forth to assist her .

"Did I make you wait?"

"Yato-sama..."

She spoke with a tired voice as she was about to reach her limits from warding off the flying stones . Sweat dripped from her forehead and she was barely able to keep the electric wall standing . I created another wall inside of the one she made .

"I will take care of the rest . You can take a rest now, and thank you . "

"... I-it's no problem . I'll go take a rest now . "

Ouka flustered for a moment there, but soon lowered her arms and stopped pumping her magic into the wall . I don't know who is the one behind this, but I'd like them to do this child act somewhere else .

"Let me give you back your stones . "

The electric wall disappeared and the stones flew directly at the barrier I created . The moment they touched the barrier, their trajectory abruptly changed to the opposite direction and they flew back the way they came from .

One after the other, the stones flew back their way into the horizon until they stopped coming . They should have all returned to the person who cast them at us . This should make an end to them as well . I could have just used[Erasure magic]instead, but I wanted to teach a lesson to the one who sent them flying at me . I took a deep breath after getting done with everything else . Ouka, who realized that everything was safely concluded, was about to faint from exhaustion . I supported her from the back so she doesn't fall on the ground .

"Ah, I am sorry . "

"You did well . "

After giving her a few words of appreciation, we both smiled at each other . Rouga came running to me while still feeling excited about our victory . I patted her head after brushing off the blood from her fur and asked her to return .

"What were those stones about?"

"I don't know . I got hit by one of them when I was in the process of sealing Souki . "

She doesn't seem to have an idea about them too . Well, nothing will come out from thinking about it now . The one who snipped those stones at us was probably trying to free Souki . Now that his goal can no longer be achieved, we will never get attacked by them again . I looked at Ouka who ran out of energy after she calmed down and moved my hand to carry her from her back .

"Y-Yato-sama?"

"It's fine, just relax for now . You're tired, aren't you?"

She seemed somewhat reluctant about having me carrying her on my back, but I insisted on not letting her down . This much is nothing for someone who did their best in assisting me . Ouka eventually gave up on resisting and turned quiet .

"... Please let me down before the children see us . "

"... Sure, got it . "

She asked me in an embarrassed voice as she hid her face behind my back .

"Let's go now . "

"Yes . "

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Ouka replied to my suggestion with a cheerful voice . The voice I heard in my head earlier is still a mystery, but nothing can be done about it now . Under the bright and clear night sky, I walked the forest enlightened by the moonlight and headed to the shrine, where everyone was waiting for us .

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Bonus

What if .

What if Yato forgot to brush off the blood from Rouga's fur .

"Ah, I forgot to wash Rouga from the blood of the ogres . "

"Chief!"

"Ah, Rouga, come here, I need to—"

"Chief, you're an idiot!!"

"Eh? What happened?"

"The blood dried up and changed color . "

"Eh, ah, you're right . "

"I can't wash it off now!!"

"Well, wait, I can do something about it, probably . "

"Did you just say probably, chief!? You said it, right?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"UUuu~~~~"

"Don't make that face now . You're still Rouga for me even though you're stained with dried blood . "

"Uwaaa!! Chief!!" ← jumps at Yato for a hug .

"Wow . "

"Don't dodge my hug!!"

"Sorry, I just thought that we can leave the hug for later..."

"Liar!!"