I Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, But Before I Realized, I Became a Capture Target
Translator: Reo
Editor: PalenMisha
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 82 (Part 1)
Our blades met with a forceful clash, sparks flying. The force of Luca’s blow pushed me back so I deflected it to the side. I then thrust my blade towards his open flank. However, Luca, barely moving, blocked it completely. His reaction time was much faster than usual.
Luca originally had better physical abilities than I did, but now that he was borrowing Soleil’s power, he was even stronger. Even though I was also borrowing the power of the goddess, and it was currently nighttime, still…
『It’s frustrating, but Soleil is stronger than me. The reason I won the war a thousand years ago was because he was consumed by hatred. And, as the war dragged on, more and more negative feelings arose in the kingdom.』
So, if I used strength alone, I would lose.
As our blades met again and again, I tried to measure my newfound capabilities that came with having Lune as a partner. Surely, Luca was doing the same. Not knowing how much additional power we had added to the risk of being swept away by that very same power, endangering both of our lives. Even though we were having a serious battle, we both wanted to protect the other’s life at any cost.
Luca’s blade was faster and heavier than usual. Although I fell behind him when it came to power, I had become noticeably faster. So much so that it felt like I would be swept away if I wasn’t paying attention. Was this because the goddess’s true form was a cat?
But as I continued fighting, I got used to it, and I went in for more attacks.
“Gh!” Luca’s brow furrowed.
It seems he was frustrated because the only thing he could do was block me. From time to time he would try to thrust at me, but I showed no openings, and when he kicked, I avoided him, so I could understand his frustration.
At this rate, if I were to make a feint, his sword would swing to the ground and, in that same instant, I would be able to come up from behind him. I was faster than him. From behind, I thrust my blade into his Soleil-enhanced armour, but—
“Tsk.” A tut slipped out of my mouth.
There was a clink of contact, but the blade didn’t make even the slightest of dents in the armour. As expected of a god, he remained unscathed even after being subjected to such a physically reinforced attack. If such an attack wouldn’t even register on Luca’s radar, it’s safe to assume that my dagger would be useless in this fight.
Luca swung his sword as he turned around to face me and I jumped back to avoid it.
With a great leap, I pointed my staff at him.
“Dark Blast!”
On top of the attack being infused with more mana than usual, the spheres grew in size and number. However, with just a few swings, all were bisected and exploded in the air before they could reach their target.
Amazing, Luca’s blade didn’t even touch them.
On top of that, the second my feet touched the ground, a sword came swinging at me from the right. It was an earnest attack, but still, I was currently much faster. I immediately jumped out of the way again.
Since I knew Luca would move after me, I took the opportunity to wrap a tentacle around his ankle, which, as planned, threw him off balance, however, his blade thrust upwards.
“Holy Lance!”
Hundreds of spears of light appeared above me and, with no further ado, started falling down.
They all rained down in mere seconds, probably blocking me from Luca’s sight. I guess that’s why he seemed relieved afterward when he saw that I’d completely blocked them with my magic wall.
I too was receiving strength from a god, so I wished he wouldn’t worry like that. Well, the attack was powerful enough to dissipate my tentacles.
And, even though I was fine, the ground around me was in a sorry state. It became like this with a mere top-tier spell. At this rate, if one of us used an ultimate spell, the earth would be pulverised.
However, when it came to sword techniques, there were only a limited number that could be used against humans. All the ones I’d mastered were for use against large monsters, or they were dark-attribute-worthy assassination skills. I didn’t want to use a ruthless sword technique that would cut off Luca’s head. Was there no effective means for me to attack Soleil?
『Speaking of which, child. Your friends also wished to land one hit on Soleil.』
Huh? Oh… she even caught a detail as small as that.
The night I reunited with Orobas, he asked us what we were going to fight once we became strong enough. Miranda, Nina, and Bennett had replied that they would fight against Soleil. That they wouldn’t be satisfied unless they got at least one shot in.
『I feel the same. I also won’t be satisfied unless I land at least one blow and send him flying.』
『Gah! L-Lune…』
Soleil responded, so it seemed Lune’s words were currently being projected outwards.
Dear god, instead of getting upset every time she criticises you, how about you just man up and take one hit? That’s all you have to do for your beloved partner.
『I have suffered through a thousand lonely years. Though you were next to me, you couldn’t hear my voice. At times I was so overwhelmed by the fury that seeped from you that I hurt the weak ones, though I didn’t wish to. I wanted to protect the things that were dear to you, but I ended up destroying them. It was painful and sad.』
『…….…….』
『But, since the birth of my descendant, his emotions have always reached me. His composed thoughts, and his strong spirit that refuses to yield under any circumstance, have healed me. I am thankful to my child. So, Soleil, this human’s emotions… the fact that humans are ugly yet beautiful existences… I’d like for you to remember that. And, to those humans you had cherished so fondly, show love.』
Soleil had… cherished humans?
Well, Soleil was a kingdom. It was a kingdom because the god Soleil had allowed humans to live and reign inside his territory. Had Soleil himself governed the country it would have been a divine kingdom. Or had there been no specific governing body, the land would have been named after him, similar to how the Great Forest was named after Lune. Most empires or federal states were, however, ruled by magical beings.
Anyway, this was the kingdom of Soleil, and the god Soleil had even gone so far as to lend the royal family his name as a sign of trust. However, those humans betrayed him and tried to kill the goddess he loved. How painful it must have been to be betrayed by those he trusted.
It would be extremely difficult to regain the faith that had been lost. Still, it was something that had to be done. Destroying the kingdom would not only make Lune sad but definitely Soleil as well.
More importantly, I made a promise.
I made a promise to show Luca the future that exists past his recurring nightmares.
Even though we were having an all-out battle, Luca still smiled at me lovingly whenever our eyes met. The love that he showed me warmed my heart. I love you Luca, I love you.
When I turned my love-filled gaze towards him, laughter spilled from his lips. Then he looked down and closed his eyes. He wasn’t moving. Was he talking with Soleil?
After a little while, Luca raised his head again and at the same time, Soleil spoke.
『Lune, my feelings for you are precisely the reason I cannot forgive the humans. However, descendant of Lune – the child who has soothed her sadness, if you wish to save one of my own from despair, show me. Let me see how strong you really are!』
The pressure from his words felt like it would crush me, and a pair of golden wings suddenly sprouted from Luca’s back. He leapt into the air and rose into the night sky.
The unexpected sight startled me, but, I see, with god as one’s armour, one could fly, huh?
『Let us also fly. If we battle in the air, we can place a barrier on the castle.』
I nodded and wings grew from my back as well. I leapt into the air thinking about flying and my wings moved, propelling me upwards without letting me fall. I couldn’t believe I was flying by my own strength – what an incredible experience. The feeling of the wind around me made my heart soar.
Still full of excitement, I chased after Luca and, when we were far enough away from the ground, I could feel Lune place a barrier below us. And Soleil did the same for the chapel and the towers that were jutting above the skyline.
It was probably thanks to the goddess surrounding me that my senses had become sharp enough to tell which barrier was who’s when it wasn’t even cast on me.
When Luca finally broke past the highest level of the chapel, he stopped. I could feel an enormous amount of mana emanating from his sword as he looked down at me.
“O holy light, split the heaven from the earth – Holy Rain!”
He fired an ultimate spell at me who had been chasing after him. Hundreds of shining streaks of rain fell towards me at incredible speed. The attack power was much stronger than before.
“Secret skill – Twilight.”
My blade, made long by the spell, slashed through the oncoming rain. Slash, slash, slash. I swung my sword as if to shake off the rain. However, it was impossible to fully block the onslaught as the drops fell one after the other, and I felt an instant of pain as a streak of light grazed my cheek. I could feel the blood spilling out, but thanks to the goddess the pain soon disappeared.
As expected from an ultimate attack – it pierced through my magic wall.
I was getting excited because it seemed like this would be a fun duel.
I flew through the rain, accelerating instead of slowing down, and did not break eye contact as I attacked Luca. Twilight was blocked by a shield strengthened by Soleil, however, the tremendous force of the blow knocked Luca off balance.
I turned my body around while charging my staff with mana and came to a stop a distance away. Being able to fly was amazing in and of itself, but being able to stop mid-air was even more amazing.
The ability to fly was entirely thanks to the goddess’s powers, however, the speed, direction and standstills were all according to my will. Like this I could fight in this aerial battle to my heart’s content.
“Come to me ye blackened stars – Darkness Meteor.”
The mana I had charged in my staff was converted into an ultimate spell. A mass of meteor-like clusters appeared above Luca’s head and quickly started falling. It was my reply to his earlier attack. Now then, what move would Luca make?
“Secret skill – Lightning Dragon!”
A golden dragon shot diagonally upwards from his sword and destroyed the meteorites. Those that it missed, Luca blocked with his sword and, as he slashed, he came after me. Oh, it seemed like Luca was also having fun. He was honestly enjoying this moment when he could earnestly clash swords with me.
I lunged towards him as well and met his blade with my dagger that was still under the effects of Twilight. Our swords clashed together with a clang and we both recoiled with the force of the blow, but we quickly repositioned ourselves and met each other again with a loud clang.
As our blades crossed, my eyes locked on Luca’s. No matter how seriously he was fighting, his gaze was still full of warmth. Though this was a duel to decide the fate of this country, he, as always, showed no ounce of killing intent towards me.
I hoped for a tiny bit, a little tiny bit of that sharpness he showed when he went against Orobas, because no matter what part of Luca that sharpness belonged to, I wanted all of him to be mine. But I knew from the bottom of my heart how horrible I would feel if Luca did actually direct some killing intent towards me.
“Shadow Edge!”
“Shining Ray!”
I launched a close-proximity spell as I swung my sword, but Luca cast the same type of spell in return and the two perfectly cancelled each other out. Then came another blow from his blade. I blocked it and immediately tried to shoot another close-range spell, but he pushed away my dagger, and the spell I carelessly threw out was swiftly repelled by a small shield and exploded several metres away.
I wanted to take some distance, so I charged my staff with mana. If I didn’t use an ultimate spell, I wouldn’t be able to break through the overwhelming defence Luca had gained from Soleil.
Luca seemed to have realised the same thing because whenever I tried to put some distance between us, he stretched his tentacles toward me. While I cut off the approaching tentacles, he closed the distance between us and I prepared a small magic attack as our blades crossed once again.
Luca faced me desperately in order to keep me by his side. That made me incredibly happy. He was probably trying to persuade Soleil even while we were fighting. Maybe he already has convinced him and I wouldn’t even need to resort to trickery in order to win.
Still, I wanted to win no matter what.
Soleil had held his grudge for a thousand years. He turned Lune into the Evil God. He fostered discrimination against dark attribute users.
Because of my attribute, I was discriminated against the second I was born. My mother avoided me like the plague and I was confined inside the basement. I thought it was inevitable though, because of the history of this kingdom. But my world, which I had given up on and lived in alone, changed when the Lumiere first appeared… when the game “Lumiere” first started. Because I met Luca, because Luca fell in love with me, I was no longer alone. And then, as if one thing fell into place after the other, I managed to make friends.
Noel, who had lost her brother when she was four because he was a dark attribute user.
Miranda, who hated those with the dark attribute because one of them killed her lover.
Nina, who became an orphan after her family collapsed because her brother was born with the dark attribute.
Camilla, who carried the guilt of killing newborn babies with the dark attribute.
Bennett, whose heart broke every time she learned something new about me.
And Cindy, who was overcome by anxiety because the man she loved was a dark attribute user.
As I spent time with them, I learned that even those who did not have the dark attribute could suffer pain, grief, and anxiety. These were things I wasn’t aware of when I lived on my own.
And when I met Klage, I realised that I’d been turning a blind eye to the discrimination. I was just running away, coolly rejecting them when they called for change in this country that had been destroyed by the royal family. I had just given up, thinking that this country would never change.
It took meeting Luca and the others for me to realise that something needed to be done.
Why should I be discriminated against when I have done nothing wrong?
Had there been no discrimination my father wouldn’t have suffered, my mother wouldn’t have abandoned me, Noel… I wouldn’t have made her sad.
The past royal family had decided to kill Lune. But why should we of the present suffer from the folly of those who lived a thousand years ago?
The bastards who warped the idea of a two-god religion and who turned Lune into an Evil God, and the bastards who tried to kill her were long dead. Why then do we, who didn’t even know Lune existed, have to suffer?
God, why did you, who supposedly adores humans, try to destroy this country? There must have been many humans, like my friends whose hearts hurt for dark attribute users, who did not hate Lune, but worshipped her instead.
