“If that’s how you want it then...” Akuto stood up. “...Then could you at least let me enjoy the fight, instead of sucker punching me?”
“You enjoy fighting more than you let on, don’t you? Alright, let’s have a fun fight then. You know, we’ve known each other for a while, but I never gave you my name, did I? My name is Lily Shiraishi. Personality-wise, you could say... I’m a little short-tempered.”
Lily extended her right fist out again. Akuto twisted his body to dodge it. And then a blow struck him from the opposite side. He took it square on the chin and was knocked back. Her left fist had come up from below.
“You should’ve seen that feint coming. You like fighting, but you don’t do it very often, do you?”
Akuto shook his head to clear out the groggy feeling.
“You’ve got me all wrong. I hate fighting,” he replied.
“You know, they said the same thing. You had all this power, but you were hesitant to use it.”
Lily jerked her head in the direction of the three other members of the student council.
“I see. They were very gentle, too. They were careful not to deal any fatal blows. Except for the last one, I suppose.”
“She goes feral when she transforms. Now, I think that’s enough talking. I have a reputation for kindness myself, too. I’d like to knock you out quickly.”
Lily pointed behind her.
○
The dragon fired something from its mouth. In legends, dragons are said to breathe fire. But this dragon breathed iron rods carved in the shape of screws.
The rods flew through the air and pieced the ground. One landed between Fujiko’s legs as she lay on the ground, shattering the stone path and drilling into the earth below.
“I created those within my body, and they are a part of me. Ranged weapons are a cowards tool, and so you must pay a price for using them. That’s what the forerunner thought. Now, girl, rise and fight. Those without the right to command me are at least given the chance to fight me. One must prioritize one’s emotions above the mission. That’s what the forerunner said, and so that is what I will do,” the dragon said.
Fujiko stood up on shaking legs.
But the memories she’d just seen were still inside her mind.
—Brother...
She’d learned the truth. The feelings she’d carried with her for a decade were all built on a lie. And now, everything seemed meaningless.
“So you’ve risen to your feet, then. But you can’t hope to fight me on those shaking legs.”
The dragon’s words were cold.
○
“You heard the dragon,” Lily said with a shrug. “So it’s better that you’re out cold. You don’t want to see a girl’s body ripped apart by drills, do you? Once Eto’s dead, the dragon will go back to sleep. And when that happens, I’ll destroy the keychain with the password recording. That will end everything for good. By the time you wake up, it’ll all be done.”
“I don’t want that to happen. That’s why I’m standing here.”
Akuto looked straight into Lily’s eyes.
“So what will you do? Get past me and fight the dragon?” Lily said mockingly. “That would mean you want to be the Demon King, wouldn’t it?”
Akuto started to say something, but then realized she was right.
“I... I’ll work something out. So I don’t become the Demon King.”
Lily burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! I love it! If you’re not ready for what lies past those gates, then I really can’t let you through.”
She launched another punch, and Akuto was knocked back again.
—Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m not ready...
Akuto realized that his feelings were wavering. He had a bad habit of trying to act cooler than he really was. It was possible that his words just now that been nothing but bravado.
But— “I have the resolve you need! I have it, Akuto Sai!”
He heard a voice. Junko had risen to her feet. Akuto looked up at her as she yelled at Lily and Akuto both.
“Even if you don’t have that resolve, I do! If you become the Demon King, I’ll kill you!”
Her words brought clarity to his mind. Akuto stood up.
“Sheesh... I guess I’ll have to fight then.”
Akuto looked at Junko.
“I know that I’m not the best person.”
Junko’s face turned scarlet as he stared at her.
“W-What are you talking about?” she asked.
“The past, the future — I just want everything to work out. I’m indecisive and unprepared for all these things that are happening, but if you’re willing to kill me... then I’ll just have to get prepared, won’t I?”
Akuto smiled. Junko looked away.
“Y-You loser.”
“So that’s how it is, President.”
Akuto turned back towards Lily. She seemed impressed.
“You’re quite the lady-killer, aren’t you? You’ve got the makings of a leader.”
“Huh? I never thought of it that way...”
“I see. So it’s unconscious, huh?”
Lily stretched out her arms again. But this time it was at Junko, not Akuto.
“Tch!”
Junko managed to block the first round of punches with her katana, but they just kept coming and coming. Eventually her defenses were overwhelmed, and she was knocked away.
“Hattori!” Akuto yelled.
Junko was back on the ground.
“Ugh... Forget about me. You just...”
“I know.”
He could feel Junko’s resolve so well it almost hurt. Akuto turned towards Lily, preparing to fight.
“Here I come.”
Akuto remembered the whirlwind amplifier he’d used in the underground cemetery. If he could only remember that spell, he should be able to recreate the same effect even without a bullet. He tried to recall the magical pulses the spell had created. He moved his fingertips to generate the same signals in his brain, and then used words to give them more power.
“Let the trembling of my heart become wind!”
Akuto amplified the whirlwind that was growing in his hands, turning it into a tornado that bore down on Lily. It was now several dozen meters high, but Lily looked at it without fear.
“In the end, it’s just wind made from mana. And you can stop mana with mana. You should remember that.”
Lily created a ball of wind in her hands. It grew into a tornado as well, and when it collided with Akuto’s, they both disappeared.
“Long-range attacks can be easily canceled out by manipulating the mana. What you did before, using mana pressure to snap a person’s limbs, is normally only possible when you are much stronger than your opponent. Once there’s distance between you, it gets much weaker,” Lily explained.
“That’s good to know. Then I guess the best thing to do is start attacking physically, huh? That way, it’s only important how much mana we each have in our bodies. A tiny person like you should be at a disadvantage,” Akuto said.
He hadn’t really meant anything by it, but for some reason, the rest of the student council stiffened at his words.
—Huh?
Lily was acting strange. She was looking down and shaking, her hand slowly running across the brim of her hat.
The trio started to panic.
“Oh no-gyah!”
“When she touches her hat, it means big trouble!”
“Ugah!”
Lily’s body shook as she spoke.
“Tiny...?”
She looked up, her face filled with anger. And then she grabbed the brim of her hat between her fingers and flipped it backwards.
“Oh no! She’s turned her hat around!”
“Once she does that, there’s no stopping her-gyah!”
The trio held each other tightly, trembling.
“DIE!” Lily roared. Both arms disappeared from her sides.
—Whoa!
Akuto was shocke
d. No, he didn’t even have time to be shocked. Punches were coming at him from all directions.
“Awah!”
Even as his body was struck over and over, Akuto could see that the whole space around him, stretching out for dozens of meters, was filled with fists. They knocked him up into the air, refusing to let him down. It was like a huge sphere of fists floating in the air, with Akuto at the center.
Once she saw that Akuto had fallen still, Lily finally stopped. The light of sanity had returned to her eyes.
“So you finally passed out, huh?”
As Akuto fell to the ground, Lily turned her hat back.
Fujiko was just barely managing to dodge the dragon’s attacks, but she was an herbalist, not a fighter — close-range combat was beyond her abilities. She was slowly being pushed up against the wall.
“It’s a pity, but this is the end for you,” Lily whispered so that Fujiko couldn’t hear.
But—
“It’s not over yet.”
Akuto’s voice echoed throughout the room.
Lily turned around in shock.
Akuto was covered in bruises, but he was still standing. He was limping towards her unsteadily.
“You haven’t had enough pain?!”
Lily’s arms launched more punches. She wasn’t out of her mind with fury this time, but her punches still had the same force as before. And now they were aiming right for Akuto’s vital spots.
But Akuto didn’t stop going forward.
“Haha... You’re so nice, President. You’re teaching me how to fight, aren’t you? I understand. If you know you’re going to get hit, then it doesn’t hurt! That’s the trick. Interesting,” Akuto mumbled.
“Ahaha... Figured that out, have you?” Lily laughed, half in terror.
Naturally, the student council president was the most powerful person in the school. She’d once used her fists to destroy an entire knight corps after they’d called her tiny. And Akuto was walking right through her attacks.
“You three!” Lily yelled.
“Right!”
The trio stood up straight and instantly readied themselves for combat. Clothes turned into hardened silver, armor appeared, and fur grew from hands and legs.
“Don’t hold back! Get him!”
The trio’s formation worked in perfect harmony as they struck at Akuto from three directions. The silver blade came from above his head, the bestial fangs from his right, and the giant axe, as tall as he was, from the left. Each of these attacks had proven difficult for him before, and there was no way he could dodge them.
But—
Akuto kept moving forward.
He grabbed the silver blade in his teeth. He clutched the beast’s claws with his right hand. And with his left hand he held the blade, ignoring the fact that it was digging into his fingers. He dragged the trio with him as he advanced.
Lily kept attacking. But Akuto didn’t stop.
When he was right in front of her, he shook them off his body. His strength was incredible — the trio flew ten meters, at least.
“Uwah!”
“Gnyah!”
“Aah!”
They screamed as they landed hard on the floor, making a loud clattering noise.
Lily stopped her attacks. There was sweat dripping from her brow.
“You’re kidding me. Why the hell do you have to do all this?” she snapped as she looked up at Akuto towering over her.
“No real reason. I just figured that if there’s a possibility where I can make everything work out, then maybe I should try it. I didn’t really think about the details, so there’s no real reason.”
Akuto looked down at her with a face covered in wounds.
Lily slumped her shoulders with exasperation.
“Are you stupid? If that’s seriously why you’re doing all this, then I just don’t care anymore. I was about to hit you with one last special move, but I’m not even going to bother. I don’t know if it’ll be the dragon or Hattori that kills you, but either way, I hope you just die.”
Akuto gasped when he realized the meaning of what she was saying.
“Then...”
“Shut up. I didn’t lose. I just don’t care anymore.”
Lily pointed behind her.
“Thank you.”
Akuto bowed.
“Thank Hattori. I’m doing this because I believe in her. I still think what you’re doing is wrong.”
Lily jerked her head in Junko’s direction. Akuto turned back towards her too. Junko was just getting back on her feet. She was holding her bruised cheek in shame, and motioning for Akuto to keep going forward.
“I’ll make sure it all works out. Is that wrong?” Akuto asked Lily.
Lily smiled.
“You’re wrong. That’s why we call you the Demon King.”
As Akuto walked past her, she suddenly called out to him as if she’d remembered something.
“Hold it.”
“Huh?”
Akuto stopped.
“Crouch down,” Lily said.
Akuto obeyed, confused. She stood up on her tiptoes.
“I forgot the reward I promised you.”
Lily kissed his cheek.
○
The metal spike that had embedded itself into the wall next to her head terrified Fujiko.
There was nothing else she could do to fight back. She was out of drugs. Of course, she didn’t know if any of the ones she’d used had even had an effect on the dragon.
Even as her back was literally against the wall, Fujiko remembered her older brother.
She had been resenting him for so long. And now she’d found out that he was actually loyal and strong. Her image of him from when she was young had been right.
But it was too late for regrets. Despite her repentance, there was nothing she could do to change the twisted life she had led. She just wanted to be a little girl, spoiled by her brother. But she’d pushed that feeling deep inside herself. She regretted that too. All the time she’d spent trying to craft the perfect public persona was a waste, and all the cowardly things she’d done in secret were just vain attempts to live up to her brother’s potential.
—But once I’m dead, I’ll be free from all that, won’t I? According to the religion of the common people, I’ll go see my brother if I die. I wonder if that’s true.
It seemed so funny when she thought about it that she actually broke into a smile.
The dragon’s jaws opened right next to her face. She could smell the sharp stench of metal deep within its throat. Fujiko felt herself wanting to throw up.
And then—
“It’s okay now. I’ll find a way to handle this.”
It was Akuto’s voice. Fujiko turned towards the sound.
Akuto was already far past the gate. He was right behind the dragon. It was plain that it was all he could do to stay standing, but his head was still held high.
The dragon turned its head towards him.
“Most humans who talk tough turn out to be weaklings. It angers me when those who lack the right pretend that they have it.”
The dragon opened its mouth at Akuto, firing a metal spiral spike at incredible speed.
The spike roared as it spun towards him. It was easily a meter long.
But Akuto didn’t dodge.
“Oorryaaah!”
He yelled with the last of his strength, and punched the front of the spinning spike with his fist.
His fist and the metal rod collided.
There was an ear-piercing whine, the sound of two pieces of metal wearing away at one another.
“What?!”
The dragon’s voice was shocked.
Akuto’s punch had stopped its momentum in mid air. It hadn’t stopped spinning, but the tip didn’t pierce Akuto’s fist. Sparks flew from the point where they touched, until eventually the rod’s rotation stopped. It fell to the ground with a clunk.
“I’m not good a brawling, so this is the only way I know
how to do this.”
Akuto shook his hand as if it were in pain.
The dragon laughed happily.
“I don’t know if you have the right or not, but it’s been a century since I’ve seen a man like you!”
“That’s ‘cause you were asleep for a hundred years. I’m not that special.”
Before Akuto could finish closing his mouth, this time the dragon flailed its tail around at him. It was the size of a tree trunk. But Akuto stopped it with a punch once more.
Sparks flew between his fist and the scales. The dragon pushed harder, hoping to slam him into the dirt.
But he stayed standing and knocked the tail away. Panting and covered in sweat, he motioned for the dragon to try again.
“What are you doing?” the dragon asked, confused.
“I tried to come up with some way where you don’t have to kill Fujiko, and I don’t have to kill you. How about we knock each other around for a while? There’s a bit of a size difference, though.”
Akuto seemed to be serious. The dragon laughed aloud.
“Hahaha! No one’s ever said that to me before! Very well! Try and knock me around!”
Akuto and the dragon faced off, fist against spike and fist against tail. Both of them counted twenty blows, but after that they were too exhausted to continue.
And then—
The dragon brought its head to bear down on Akuto for one final strike. It roared as its face drew closer to him.
Akuto punched it. There was the sound of metal colliding and shattering.
When the sound faded, the man and the dragon both slowly fell to the ground.
Fujiko watched, and couldn’t understand what she’d just seen. But she knew what she had to do.
Fujiko ran to Akuto.
○
“What’s your name?” the dragon asked as it lay sprawled on the ground next to him.
At this point, Akuto didn’t have the energy left to care about anything, but he still felt obligated to answer.
“Akuto Sai.”
“That’s an awful name.”
“It’s the name of an orphan. Leave me alone. What about you?”
“Peterhausen.”
“That’s an awful name.”
“It’s a name given to me by my master before he passed. He had terrible taste in names. But I like it.”
“I guess you had a good relationship with your master, huh?”
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 2 Page 13