Story of a Cannon Fodder who Firmly Believed He was the Protagonist, Misunderstood the Actual Protagonist as the Cannon Fodder, and Ended up Victorious
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Derpy
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 63 – Oppressor of Darkness [B]
“You and I are on different levels, be it in the meaning of our strength or the dignity contained within.”
“You’re the same as me. A beast that only seeks strength.”
“Don’t compare me to the likes of you. There’s a limit to arrogance.”
A shockwave of darkness flew out. Fay cut through it with a holy sword that didn’t shine. Fay’s demonic katana was recently entrusted to Gantetsu the blacksmith.
The thing that Fay currently wielded was a sword meant for self-defense, and a holy sword that was nothing but hard.
“People seek strength. There’s nothing wrong with that. People have their own standards for judgment. I couldn’t forgive myself for being weak, and couldn’t stand seeing myself being inferior to others.”
“……”
“That’s all. Because I couldn’t tolerate it, I killed my father. I wanted to become stronger. You should be the same, seeking strength. You can’t forgive others for having it.”
Gawain solidified his art into the shape of a sword, wielding something like a sword of black flame.
“Fay-kun!”
“I’ll fight. Back away a little.”
Fay made Yururu stand back and responded with his holy sword.
“Gagagagahahahahahahaha!!! Now this is a battle!!! It’s fun!! Happy!! It’s a wonderful battle!!”
Gawain went wild in battle. While his appearance remained human, he was no longer one on the inside. His skin gradually turned pale, and the depths of his eyes turned from blue to red.
“This is a state where only those who have mastered the power of the abyss can reach!! Bear witness, Fay! And you too shall become one with the abyss and my sustenance!!!”
“I met someone like you before. You’re the same as that knock-off priest.”
“So you’re the one who defeated the king of the Holy Grail! You see!! I intended to hunt that man down myself!!”
“Don’t make a fuss. Your lack of class will become apparent.”
Gawain’s voice gradually got louder and Fay was quick to realize that Gawain was out of control. It wasn’t out of excitement for the battle. Gawain simply couldn’t endure the magnitude of darkness.
“Sensei!”
“Tlue-kun……”
“This is…… Sensei, you’ll get in his way if you’re here. That’s like a natural disaster.”
There were crashes happening one after another; and each time it happened, the roof of an old nearby house came off. The wind was so strong that it became difficult to get close and it was hard to even keep one’s eyes open.
“Wonderful. Even though you have such fighting ability, it’s a shame that you don’t have art!! Power is a combination of things!! They’re mental, physical, technique, and art!! But you lack the last one!!! You only lack that last one!! Why!! Why!! That’s such a shame!!”
“……”
“That’s why you’ll lose to me!! You should take in this art and transcend humanity!!”
Gawain said that the difference in art could make or break the gap between warriors. Up until now, Fay has managed with just his pure physical ability—but in the previous fight against the king of the sect, Fay only managed to win after breaking his demonic katana.
However, the power level of his enemies kept inflating with every battle. The time where he can no longer fight no matter how hard he tries has come.
“You should become an abyss as well!! Fay!!”
“……”
At the end of the clash, Fay’s body was creaking and all the bones in his body were beginning to break. Gawain was simply better in terms of pure violence.
“How regrettable…… to think that someone so strong would just die like this!! Come up to the same stage as I!! Then I will defeat you and rise even higher!”
Gawain stabbed Fay’s body with his sword of darkness. A large amount of darkness poured into Fay’s body and changes started happening rapidly. His art, which had been transparent, turned into darkness as a large amount of stagnation flowed in.
“You didn’t seem willing to eat the fruit! So I directly poured darkness into you!! Awaken!!”
“……Gh.”
Fay’s black hair changed to silver, and his black eyes changed to crimson. Sydow was shocked when he saw this happen.
“This is…”
So he was a potential vessel to begin with. His art was empty. That’s why the erosion was abnormally fast as it adapted. Yururu Garethia and her brothers took a lot of time to erode. This is…… erosion that happened because there’s nothing to erode to begin with…… I guess it won’t be long before he loses his ego.
After all, Tlue ate his foster sister who managed to escape from the Cage of Hundred Children. That girl had light art, so he managed to hold onto his ego despite having that thick darkness within him. That incident is the reason why that place became known as the village of disaster. Drinking the blood of light… Unfortunately, I don’t think that’ll be enough to keep the erosion in check.
In Fay’s case, I guess it would be impossible. The adaptation happened too quickly. He would lose his ego as it– Oi, no way. That guy…… he managed to keep his ego intact……?!
Fay just took a single breath deeply. Cracks ran all over his body, resembling cracked bamboo. Blood was spurting out from between them.
“……Wonderful! Now this will make the fight worth it! It’ll be a real fight to kill each other with all our strength! By doing so, I will gain even more strength!!”
“Your hubris will consume you.”
Fay took a step, leaving clear footprints on the ground he stepped on. Remnants of dark art remained on the ground like a shadow.
He used to leave an afterimage with every action he took, but now it could no longer be seen at all. His fist had become so strong that it broke the friction of air itself.
“Gh!!! Nice one!!!”
“……”
“If we follow the standard of paladins, you would be greater than a second-grade paladin…… No, you’re definitely a first grade paladin!! Moreover, you’d be among the top few that could be counted on just your hands!!”
──However, it was regrettable.
Fay’s body was more painful to look at than ever. He, who was terrible at controlling art, was unable to precisely control the sudden changes in his body that the art caused.
That inept control was something he has had from before.
This time, the darkness reinforced his art even more than ever before and crushing fractures began to happen all over his body. The regeneration ability unique to dark art activated and his body seemed to snap back into its original state.
Each movement was accompanied with severe pain, and moreover, his body was stuck in a perpetual cycle of being destroyed and recovered.
“You’ll die!! You’re at death’s door!! Art will be trapped in the heart!! Dark art gives you regeneration power, and that’s what extends your life!!! However, that art is wrecking your organs at the moment, and miniscule amounts of art are exploding all over inside your body!! If that happens near your heart, it’ll explode and you’ll definitely die!! It can’t be healed with magic or potions!!! Let’s start over later!! It’ll be a waste to lose such a strong man here!!”
“Shut up… things are just starting to get good.”
The blood-drenched Gawain and Fay slashed at each other with every move, driving their opponent ever closer to death. But the scales of battle were tipped as Gawain could regenerate infinitely, while Fay was constantly under the danger of his organs exploding.
“Fay! Back off for now!!”
Tlue shouted, but Fay didn’t respond.
You idiot! Even if you keep regenerating, you’ll die at this rate! Fay, you should back off for now! Or perhaps I should force him to back off… It’s impossible, there’s no gap for me to enter.
Because I can’t see any entry points, I can’t provide help with magic… What would he do if he was just using art… no wait, perhaps there’s no need to use it to begin with?
He has been fighting in such a reckless manner all this time that he doesn’t feel like it is weird to risk his life every time he regenerates. Because he thinks it is obvious to always risk his life, he is able to fight properly even in this situation…
Regeneration and destruction kept happening before their eyes. At first glance, Fay’s slashes seemed crude, but to Yururu, who used to watch Fay regularly, it looked like a beautiful sword technique that was just like clear water.
It was the Namikaze Seishinryuu that she taught him. The extremity of it was happening before their eyes.
“N-no way?! How are you still alive?!”
Gawain was astonished by Fay’s abnormal vitality. Despite the fact that Fay could die at any moment, he was still alive.
The holy sword gave out no light. Instead, a rim of darkness surrounded it.
“He has managed to keep his heart from exploding all this time… like hell there’s such a convenient thing!”
Seeing Gawain scream in shock, Tlue recalled something. It was about the monster that was said to be within Fay’s body.
I see! There’s an exorcist inside Fay’s body… It’s one of the factors that affect his art control. The reason why his art, which is like a turbulent wave, can be stopped and used… is because of the monster within him.
“I can see your core… ‘Black Spot – Black Bullet’.”
The darkness that wrapped around Fay’s right hand shone unbelievably. His arms have broken multiple times, his skin has peeled off, his joints have all bent backward — but they were constantly regenerating.
Fay’s black arm pierced through Gawain’s heart like a bullet. The speed was so fast that it couldn’t be perceived by Tlue, even though he was said to be the closest to being a first-grade knight.
I-I couldn’t see it… that’s unmistakably… the speed of a first-grade knight…
“Gah?!”
Neither Gawain, nor Tlue, nor the fierce men who existed in the upper echelons of this world could see it. Ordinary physical reinforcement was like multiplying your basic body strength. However, what Fay had been using so far had been imperfect.
Fay had been deprived of art quantity, control, and everything else that made it perfect.
But now, it was almost back to the standard. The quantity of his art increased, it contained new attributes, and its manipulation was delicately handled by the being inside of him.
It was a genuine, 100% punch.
“……Im- possible. That power and motion. I see, I, even after coming so far, still had something above me……”
Gawain, whose heart had been crushed, dispersed like ash. With this, the bad karma of the Garethia family was finally severed.
However, an even bigger wave was sweeping through the era.
The location was the Castle of the Round Table, in the Hall of the Round Table.
The twelve greatest first-grade knights sat there as equals. 1
“Arthur, Tlue, and Fay were recommended for promotion to first-grade. But among them, Tlue is suspected of being an abyss.”
“Heeh, then what are we going to do?”
“Fay was recommended by multiple people. Arthur and Tlue simply have great ability.”
“I don’t really care… For now, summon all three of them. We’ll continue from there.”
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