The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Geli
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 032 – Dragon Kalar [A]
“Hah, fuh…”
A shadow moved through the uninhabited meadow.
It came from a blonde girl with pigtails who wore a customized blue military uniform.
She was Carol, the apostle of Majin Leonhart.
She was carrying out the order of her beloved master, Leonhart, and was hastily traveling to a human town while carrying a sack.
And finally,
“We’ve arrived—!”
She arrived at a human town.
There was a somewhat tall building in front of her, and outer walls were built outside of it to protect the town.
Carol remembered the troubles she’d faced before reaching her destination.
Things were still fine when she’d just left the village. The demon soldiers were running about due to the assailant, and they weren’t in a state where they could pay attention to her. It seemed Leonhart’s words also achieved its purpose, since any demon soldier who spotted her appeared to understand the situation and simply saw her off.
Though she wondered, what did those demon soldiers mean when they were furtively discussing “Solo” or “quick shot”? She couldn’t hear them well, but she reminded herself to investigate it as the president of Leonhart-sama’s Fan Club. It was something she ought to prioritize as Leonhart’s apostle, and she also wanted to prioritize it personally.
Also, there was another thing she worried about—
“—!”
“—Oh.”
When she finally noticed it, she heard muffled voices coming from the sack she carried on her back.
Perhaps they wanted to ask her to let them out. Carol chose to meet their demand, as she placed the sack on the ground and untied the string on the sack’s opening.
Then, the human sisters from inside said,
“Uuhm… it feels terrible…”
“Uehhh…”
As they came out with their hands on their mouths. Their faces were slightly pale. When she saw that, Carol understood their state as she said “Aah.”
However, it might be a misunderstanding. So she asked both of them to confirm,
“Did you get motion sickness?”
“O-of course we did… it shakes so much after all, umph.”
It seemed that was really the case.
Certainly, when Carol had carried the sack, she’d carried it quite roughly, so it might have shook quite a bit along the way. As she looked back on it, she remembered they also shook from inside quite a bit.
…They sure are fragile.
Carol was half-astonished at how weak humans were. If it was her, she wouldn’t get motion sickness with just that much. She might never experience such tremors herself, but as a perfect apostle, she couldn’t afford to feel nauseous when she got motion sickness.
…Should I ask a demon soldier to do the same thing to me when I return?
She made a mental note about it. Being inexperienced was a humiliation to her, who has proclaimed herself as the perfect apostle. It would be a shame if she couldn’t answer if ever she was asked about that experience. She especially wanted to avoid having Leonhart be disappointed in her because of that. If Shichisei did have such an experience, then it meant that she would lose against him.
It was a minor detail, but it was important for her. She needed to be prepared for anything, regardless of whatever Leonhart asked her to do. She needed to be able to do so as the perfect apostle.
As she thought that, the urge to hurry and go back to her master grew stronger. However, she needed to fulfill her master’s command first.
“…It can’t be helped. I’ll get you some water once we enter the town.”
“Uuu… please do…”
“…”
Carol sighed as she saw the sisters could only give a short reply as they endured their nausea.
Leonhart’s command was to deliver them safely to the town. In their current state, it was hard to say that they were completely healthy. Only by delivering them in their tip-top shape could she say that she’d perfectly accomplished his order. Carol didn’t really care about what happened to these two humans, but since Leonhart wished it, then it couldn’t be helped. Also, Leonhart was once a human. Perhaps she ought to treat them a little better.
As Carol stepped toward the town’s entrance with that in mind,
“…Carol-san.”
“…What is it?”
One of the humans suddenly called out to her. She replied, wondering if there was still something else they needed.
Then, even as they were still uncomfortable,
“Thank you for everything…”
“!”
They gave her their gratitude quite casually.
In fact, it probably wasn’t a big deal. After the elder sister said this, she held her little sister’s hand and then resumed their walk toward the town.
Carol had a brief thought as she followed them.
…It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced being thanked by a human…
For Carol, who was a demon, humans were considered a lower species. However, receiving their gratitude didn’t feel bad to her. Therefore, she had mixed feelings about it.
However, since she was an apostle of Leonhart, she might experience this several times from now on. Therefore, this was caused by Leonhart. As she thought of it that way, she found it as a happy thing.
Then Carol suddenly remembered who Leonhart should be fighting in the village, and muttered.
“Leonhart-sama, I wonder what you are doing right now…?”
The fight continued.
The village was completely unrecognizable as it had become a battlefield.
Nearly all of the houses had collapsed in all directions, or were reduced into rubble. The surrounding trees were also split, as if they’d been cut down, and the construction materials brought by the Demon Army were no longer in a usable state.
In the midst of such a scene, there was the majin who caused the village to lose its original appearance, Leonhart.
“Haa, haa…!”
And on the other side, there was Hunty Kalar. Only two of them were in this place.
Leonhart laughed as he saw Hunty struggling for breath.
“It seems you still haven’t abandoned your desire for victory.”
“…Kuh.”
Hunty’s trembling legs already repeatedly evaded Leonhart’s slashes over and over. There were no more obstacles around them. A slash cut through the air as the wind rushed in.
…What should, I do…?
Hunty blearily focused her gaze to observe her enemy’s movements, and she desperately tried to move her body, which felt as heavy as if she had a fever.
The result was that her opponent began to read her movements. There were small cuts all over her body. She barely supported herself; it felt like if she didn’t put a lot of power into moving her body, then she might collapse at any moment.
She was aware that her movements were slowing down.
On the other hand, not only did her enemy’s movements not falter, it even seemed to improve as time passed.
In the beginning, he could only successfully react to her Instant Movement once out of a dozen times, but now, in one out of a few tries, a dangerous attack would come flying toward her.
This existence that already possessed overwhelming power gradually grew even then, and the gap between them steadily widening.
Even her initial tactic for endurance battle might very well fail, considering her current state.
She couldn’t afford to stop moving and to stop thinking. Meanwhile, Leonhart opened his mouth.
“I think I’ll understand it soon—“
“—!”
The moment Hunty heard those words, she immediately used Instant Movement to avoid the slash. She ended up using it.
—What did he say just now?
What did her opponent just say?
Did he just say that he understood it? In that case, those words meant that,
“…!”
Suddenly, fear coursed through Hunty’s body. She stood still in the space where time was stopped. That was because of a certain question in her mind.
To avoid the slash — where should she go?
If he truly meant what he just said, then what awaited her the moment she phased back to reality was, without a doubt, her own — death.
Hunty became unable to believe her own judgment and was at loss.
And then,
“—“
After a while, she phased back to reality. At that moment—
“I see you…!”
“—“
Hunty saw his strike.
As if Leonhart returned the sword he was about to swing before the Instant Movement, he swung in the opposite direction
It felt like her vision slowed down as the blade slashed through the air.
“—a.”
A fierce impact ran through Hunty’s body.
All sound in the village stopped.
While everything else had become victim to his slashes, there was only one being who remained standing — it was Majin Leonhart.
Beyond his gaze was Hunty Kalar, who suffered a big gash on her abdomen and whose body had rolled on the ground. However, the body was not split in two.
Leonhart sighed as he saw that.
…So this is the end.
It was finally over, he thought.
During his last attack, Leonhart was able to see the action taken by Hunty in that moment.
At the last moment against his attack — no, to be precise, right at the moment the slash touched her — Hunty reacted in time and somehow managed to avoid it.
Perhaps she was using Instant Movement to achieve that. However, in the end,
…It was still my victory…
Although he felt disappointed, it didn’t mean that it was better for him to lose. As one of the Four Elite Majin, as the demon army officer, and most importantly, as a subordinate of maou, he couldn’t afford to lose, and he had no intention of doing so.
The regret he felt was because the fun battle was over.
His opponent was still breathing. However, he doubted that she could still stand up as it was a fatal wound.
If he left her alone, perhaps Hunty Kalar’s probability for survival was still high. However, at the very least, she could no longer fight at the moment.
If possible, he wanted to have a little more fun. It has been nearly 200 years since anyone who wasn’t a majin managed to wound him. That was how capable she was. Her Instant Movement was amazing. Though he did manage to read her movement, so it still wasn’t perfect. Half of it was due to his intuition.
However, it really managed to hit her. As such, he was able to grasp victory. His victory wouldn’t change, even if he achieved it through intuition, coincidence, or his own ability.
His heated feelings gradually cooled down. Feeling that, Leonhart turned his back.
“I guess I did a bad thing…”
As he muttered that, Leonhart’s ear picked up a sound.
At the corner of his eye, Leonhart saw it behind his back. The figure of the woman somehow stood up.
—The battle was not over yet.
As her consciousness was dwindling, Hunty released it.
It was her karma. And the figure she took symbolized that.
—The crystal on her forehead lengthened vertically.
—Her pupils turned sharp, like that of a beast’s.
—Her nails became sharper.
—Scales emerged all over her body.
It was an ugly appearance that was impossible for a human Kalar, an impossible existence that shouldn’t exist in this world.
…I’ll, use it, okay…!
She didn’t know who that sentence was meant for. However, she felt like she had to do so.
Her body moved. And she stood up.
For the first time since Hunty had a humanoid appearance, she unleashed her true power.
For the first time, she revealed that figure to the majin in front of her.
—Her true appearance as dragon Kalar.
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