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!
Luca POV 5 – Part 2
Then came December 31st. Before the sun had set, we’d reached a place where we could see the capital in the distance.
I was almost relieved to finally be back, but then I noticed the sky – something black spread above the city. That was…
“Demonic essence…?”
The eerie darkness covered the sky.
Was this what the Dark Organization had been planning?
With that much demonic essence in one place, a lot of monsters would be attacking the city. Dark attribute users could summon monsters after all.
We drove the carriage in a hurry towards the city.
The sun had already set, but people were flooding out of the outer gates and, after we went inside, we saw people fending off monsters. So, in the end, the Dark Organization did actually summon them.
Perhaps because this was the outskirts of the capital, there were no knights or guards in sight, and the commoners were desperately fighting for their lives. We couldn’t just abandon them like that, so we got off the carriage and went to subjugate the monsters.
Wherever there were knights around, we left them to handle the situation, and little by little made our way to the castle.
Midway there, unbelievable terror overcame me. Just what in the world could elicit such fear?
I found my answer without having to look too hard.
Next to the castle, which was lit up in the night, a demon had appeared. Though it was shorter than the main tower of the castle, how enormous was this demon that we could see it from here?
“W-what is that?”
“Eek, I’m scared.”
“Is that? Could it be? The Evil God.”
The Evil God. That thing was the Evil God that periodically appeared over the past thousand years. Why would it show up now?
No. Wait… I could see the stars. When did all that demonic essence disappear? Was it all for the purpose of resurrecting the Evil God?
I didn’t know the answer, but something had to be done about it. So we rushed towards the castle, but there was monster after monster along the way and even several dark dragons near the castle. The imperial knights and mages were fighting against them, but one dragon still came our way.
After a fierce battle, we somehow managed to crush the dragon and pass through the castle gates. All of us ran towards the raging Evil God.
The castle was in tatters. Buildings had been destroyed and there was rubble all around.
When we reached the training grounds, we found the members of the Dark Organization collapsed on the ground. I didn’t know how many of them there were, but none were moving. When we checked on them, no one seemed to have any external injuries, but none were breathing. It seemed that by undoing the seal on the Evil God, their lives were taken for some reason.
Passing through the training grounds, we finally managed to reach the Evil God’s feet.
It was unbelievably huge and terrifying.
However, looking around, I saw that the ministers and other people who worked at the castle were keeping the god at bay.
They were fighting with such determination, but I, the prince… no, we made it this far and we weren’t going to back down now.
We made it through the 12th dungeon – the most difficult one. If we all pooled our strength, we could defeat the Evil God. Definitely!
A week had passed since then. We were standing in the audience chamber, waiting to destroy the Lumiere with the star fragments and receive our rewards from the king.
We rejoiced from the bottom of our hearts that not only did we manage to stop the Evil God, but defeat it as well. The suffering that had been going on for one thousand years was finally over. And the origin of the discrimination against dark attribute users was now gone which made Noel very happy. From now on there would definitely be less and less discrimination. There would be fewer people who would have to go through what Zagan did.
Peace had finally come to the kingdom, but many people had died along the way. Due to the monster attacks many people who lived in the capital were now in mourning. Inside the castle as well many people had died at the hands of the Evil God.
Which was why all of the royal family except my parents and I were wearing mourning clothes and the gathered people as well were in sombre attire despite this being a celebration. The ministers too were in mourning clothes.
As I glanced around, my eyes met with those of the minister of finance, whose body was as large as ever. But he quickly averted his gaze, and the minister of administration next to him flashed me a bitter smile.
It had been a week since the Evil God had been defeated, and since then, the minister of finance had refused to look at me. It was as if he was mad at me about something.
I didn’t know what I’d done, but according to the minister of administration, he was acting like that because he’d lost someone important to him.
“So please just leave him be. Mentally, he is just a child who doesn’t want to let go of his parent’s hand. He knows that as well. That this situation was unavoidable. That person… they tried to protect this kingdom but ended up taking many lives. They were in endless suffering. So seeing Soleil’s descendant, they couldn’t help it… that person, they wished for an end.” The minister stared off into the distance with a faraway gaze.
Was he reminiscing about the past?
He was smiling softly but his expression was sad. It kind of felt like something I wasn’t supposed to see. Also, I had no clue who “that person” could be.
“Minister–” I started.
“No, please forget that. It’s just the mutterings of an old man.” He politely interrupted me and in the end, I couldn’t ask.
As I recalled our conversation from a couple of days ago, I bowed slightly to my father who was sitting on the throne, his back straight, the Lumiere behind him. When he gave the word to lift my head, I looked up at him. My friends who were lined up behind me had probably done the same.
“Luca, and his comrades, you have my sincere gratitude for entering every dungeon and gathering many star fragments. Unfortunately, six had been used by the Dark Organization, but six still remain and with that, and with Luca as he is now, it has become possible to destroy the Lumiere. I’m counting on you, Luca.”
“As you command,” I answered and my parents rose from their thrones.
I walked towards the two and past them, stopping at the foot of the pedestal above which the Lumiere floated. Then, from my magic bag, I took out the star fragments we’d gathered.
As I did, the six fragments floated towards the Lumiere as if they were drawn to it and surrounded the ominous black orb. Then they began to glow.
With the help of the world magic, the Lumiere began to crack little by little, but as expected six fragments weren’t enough and the process stopped in the middle. Which was why I held out my hand and gathered light in my palm. I gathered all the mana I had in me with the sole purpose of destroying the Lumiere.
The light in my palm swelled and I lightly pushed it towards the Lumiere. It surrounded the black orb, and then, with a sudden loud sound, it broke and crumbled until not a trace of it was left.
It was deathly quiet. But in the next instant, the gathered people roared.
In that short moment when I stood relieved that I’d managed to purify the Lumiere, my father patted me on the back and my mother squeezed my arm.
“Luca, you’ve done well. That was some amazing power.”
“Yes, truly. Luca, you’ve become so strong. You’ve made your mother proud.”
“Fufu. Thank you very much, Father, Mother.”
I was happy to receive praise from my parents, and when I looked over at my siblings they were all smiling and waving and clapping for me.
Happiness welled up inside me.
Amidst the applause, I returned to where my friends were. Miranda, Nina, Camilla, Bennett, Cindy, and of course Noel. They too were full of smiles and I could tell they were happy. They each called out to me with words of appreciation, praise, and gratitude.
I responded to them one at a time and lastly came to stand in front of Noel. When I did, a smile like a flower bloomed on her face.
“We did it, Luca. We safely accomplished our goal!”
“That’s right. You’ve worked hard this past year, Noel. Thank you for accompanying me till the end.”
“Those should be my words. You were truly there for me in many ways. Thank you. Ah, and… when I report to our fathers about Nii-sama… I’d be happy if you could be by my side then too.” Noel looked up at me shyly, her cheeks flushed.
At that moment I thought that my childhood friend was very cute. I wanted to be there for her… to protect her for Zagan’s sake as well. Because I loved Noel.
So I nodded, and gently took her hand that had continuously held a sword.
“Hey, Noel? I, about you… Ugh!?”
Just as I was about to confess, my body seemed to lurch and my words wouldn’t come out.
It felt like I was floating as my body spun around in circles. Having lost all sense of equilibrium, I squeezed my eyes shut, but that didn’t help either. I wanted to fall to my knees, but I couldn’t. What was this? What was happening?
I endured and waited, not knowing how much time it would take for this to pass. To my relief, the horrible sensation stopped after a while.
I felt bad for Noel for stopping in the middle of my confession. And I probably made everyone around me worried too. Which was why, though I still felt nauseous, I forced myself to open my eyes.
“…., …. Uh?”
Somehow, the scene around me had changed.
