Chapter 265: No Choice but to Act

Chapter 265 - No Choice but to Act

"Ah... hey... I..."

Let me sort things out first.

Is the girl who is about to die Espie?

"Don't let em get away, surround em!"

"Ready? Don't rush in on your own! Even if she's dying, the enemy is one of the Seven Heroes!"

About twenty armed beast-like demons.

Soldiers of the Demon King's Army, which has been at war with humanity for years, with Tre'ainar at its head.

Here, and in this era, was a world where the Demon King Army and humanity were engaged in fierce battles.

"One of the Seven Heroes, a member of the Allied Forces... the heretic from the Kingdom of Bethreal... 'Psychic Maiden Espie' right?"

The demon who was called the Captain asked this while completely surrounding us and keeping a certain distance.

"Bring me her head. I will hold that head up, and let the world know that we, the Gouda Army, are the strongest of the Demon King Army!"

Wait, wait, wait... her head... even though she's a hero, such a small child... he's really going to kill her...

『I have heard the name of a great warrior named Piggory... one of the Commanders of Gouda's army. And the period when Gouda occupied part of the Empire's territory... most of all, if Espie was already a renowned figure as one of the Seven Heroes... the time in which I and the child have arrived is probably... about 16~17 years ago...』

I seem to be the only one who is confused by the words of the Demon Captain.

The only one who looked at the current situation calmly was Tre'ainar.

I see.

This kind of thing is the norm in this world... the norm in this era...

"Come on... just kill me..."

"Huh!?"

At that moment, Espie, who was still leaning against the big tree, muttered with lifeless eyes.

"I understand... I have... failed my mission... no more...... a child no one needs anymore... if I killed a lot in the war... the painful experiments could have been reduced... I wouldn't be beaten anymore... but...... I failed...... they said that the fate of the country was with me..."

This is...... Espie?

Stupid. The adult Espie I met was more goofy and involved with people in an annoying way ... but what is this? Was this how she looked now?

As if she had given up on herself, on reality, on the world, and refused to live at all...

"Hmph, how pathetic. Then I will send you on your way myself. One of the nine commanders chosen by the great Lord Gouda... Me, Piggory! And that mongrel near you is next."

Piggory, the demon who was called the Captain, drew the Great Sword on his back and approached us.

"You guys..."

"Hmm? What, you want to resist? At least I'll cut you down quickly and painlessly."

Before I knew it, I found myself standing in front of Piggory, protecting Espie.

"Your opponent ... is just a kid, you know?"

"Huh? That kid that has already taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of our compatriots, don't you know?"

"What, just..."

The figure was so outrageous that it didn't really register.

Even though she is a kid, she is one of the Seven Heroes.

The war has already taken more lives than I can imagine.

Maybe that's true.

But....

"I, is that right~...... right... even if she's a kid, she took the lives of your men... isn't that right... that can't be forgiven..."

"...... What are you talking about?"

"I mean, what are the Union guys doing, assassinations... really, that's cowardly. I wonder what the Hero Hiro and the Battle Priestess Mamu would think... no..... I guess they wouldn't know."

"Hmm? Hiro, you say?"

"They're both hotheaded, driven by righteousness and yet not getting anywhere... I guess that's why they weren't told about this incident either. Maybe that's why they haven't taught me anything important about the old days. It wouldn't be strange that they didn't tell me....... I mean, if they knew and just let it happen... that's all the more reason to despise them."

"What... what are you talking about?"

I wonder why. Even though I myself rejected my father and mother so much, at this time I thought, "I want them to be like that".

Humanity is in crisis. If children are strong enough, they may be forced to go to war.

In fact, my father and mother were already fighting in the war when they were my age.

But, even though they were the same Seven Heroes, they weren't the kind of people who would let a kid who wasn't even ten years old try to assassinate the Six Supremacy without a fight, I thought, hoping for something meaningless.

Besides, if they knew about this, they wouldn't have left the situation alone.

Even though a friend is in a pinch, it doesn't look like anyone is coming to help.

So, that said...

「Well... Tre'ainar...... what are we going to do?」

If this goes on, Espie will be killed. And me too, I suppose.

But Espie survives after this. She lives. That's why we met in the future.

How? Will someone come to her rescue? But there was no sign of anyone.

So how did the future Espie survive this situation?

Did I......

『You have no choice but to act.』

「...... is that right?」

『Well, I suppose tis the way of history... you have no choice but to act!』

Hearing Tre'ainar's words, I felt a headache myself, thinking that it was the case.

"I seriously had nothing to do with this, and they did this to me... I'm really sorry, but... I can't let her die."

"?"

"The reason... if we ever meet again in the future, I'll tell you."

"Huh!?"

I have to do it.

Having made up my mind, I took Espie in my arms.

"Huh? Hey... who? What..."

"Shut it, brat! Be quiet!"

"Eh...?"

"Don't talk about dying so easily! If you live, you'll be able to make a frivolous face when you burst out laughing, and you can even get a handsome boyfriend!"

"............?"

All of a sudden, she found herself being hugged by a complete stranger, so Espie must have been a bit surprised.

But, I silenced the bewildered Espie ...

"Let's go!"

"Hwauh!?"

I ran towards the demons surrounding us.

"H, hey, here they come!"

"Tch, I'll kill em both in one go!"

I ran straight into the first two rhinos I encountered.

I ran right between them and just before they were about to swing their weapons at me, I slowed my pace.

Change of pace...... from that...... shift my weight to the right.

"Nu, this guy!?"

"What!? Where!?"

The two rhinos reacted, and shifted their center of gravity, accompanied by my movement.

But then, I performed a crossover step, a weight shift to the right to a turn to the left...

"Nu, wh, what..."

"This move!?"

With this step alone, the two were completely staggered.

They seem to move fast in a straight line due to their charging power, but there's no way they can keep up with me in sideways movements.

"[Great Demon Killer Crossover]!!"

The moment they reacted and tried to shift their center of gravity while keeping their gaze on the opposite side, I stepped in the opposite direction again and overtook them all at once.

The two were flustered and couldn't keep up with me, and their legs got tangled up and they fell on their butts on the spot.

The Ankle Break.

"What!?"

"What are you doing... that one... what's going on now!"

"Fast... no, wait, he's getting away!"

"After em!"

I quickly broke through the encircling wall.

This kind of thing was the norm.

"Kuhahahaha, even those two, the actual Hero and Battle Priestess, got ankle-broken by these steps.

"The encirclement was easily... you...... just what are..."

"If you want to know, live longer."

Espie seemed confused, but I didn't care now, and I ran through the dark night forest while holding this small body tightly.

『Oi, child. You need not flee, with people of that caliber, even if you fight as you are now...』

「Yes, but... I'm not an enemy of the Demon King's Army... they're not doing anything wrong, what they're doing is the norm in this world and in this era... unlike the time when the monster attacked the village, I'm not sure how I feel about it...」

『Nuh... mu...』

「It's even worse to hear that Espie here is being targeted to avenge the deaths of their comrades, even in the context of war...」

『Tis so, but...』

「Then, I want to avoid fighting as much as possible... I don't particularly hate demons. um... I like Mr. Aka, Bro, and Kron... and the situation is different than when I fought Jamdi'el and Paripi...」

『H, hmph, such a pushover...』

「Yes, yes, I'm a pompous twat.」

For now, we'll have to continue on our way to a place with people and take care of Espie.

First of all, we'll have to go all the way through the forest to...

"You won't get away!"

"Weak humans, don't think you can escape from us!"

And, as expected, can they let me escape like this?

They will chase us from behind without giving up.

In particular, that Piggory and his plain physical abilities were dangerous.

Do I use the Breakthrough to escape?

At that time...

『Child, arrow from the right. Halt!』

"Huh!?"

I stopped abruptly at Tre'ainar's sudden command. Then an arrow passed in front of me at high speed, piercing a nearby tree.

「Archers...」

『There are other search parties besides the ones from before... apparently, ten over there...... twenty to the left... and twenty ahead. 』

「Gee, seriously...」

『Tis a search for one of the Seven Heroes on the verge of death. They must not allow her escape, so they seem to be searching on a fairly large scale... more and more attacks will come under the cover of the dark night. Currently, you cannot evade an 'invisible attack'.』

「Nu, muh... uh...」

I finally realized after Tre'ainar told me. Sure, I couldn't see much, but I could feel many presences, not only from the people who were chasing me from behind, but also from the surroundings.

Such a hassle.

And then......

『Child... this is the situation... you may use the Breakthrough to breach head-on... better yet, you can blow away the entire surroundings with the Great Magic Spiral... even so, if you are still too concerned about the details to interfere, then... take advantage of this situation and master the technique.』

「...... Huh?」

『After grasping all enemy positions, movements, and attacks, avoid them all and break through this siege...』

Taking advantage of my selfishness, Tre'ainar ordered me to learn a skill to survive this situation.

That is......

"Magical Radar."

Oh, now I remember...