Volume 2, Chapter 4: Superbia’s Arrogance, Part 3: I Cannot Run Away
Hiero, you are… beyond help.
While those words lacked any clear killing intent, they were filled with a force that surpassed that.
They were definitely the words of a Lord of Demons, but they were on another level from that of the Lord of Sloth I had been watching up to that point.
No, rather than level… perhaps I should say type.
The difference between, without any stimulus, the large power that could always be sensed… the force of Sloth, and the heavy oppressing power of Pride to suppress everything.
Kusu kusu kusu, even when he was frozen as well, and had to be saved by Kanon-sama, he’s acting way too high and mighty…
But I could never voice such a thing, and if I did, regardless of how high I thought myself over Heard-san, without even a moment to feel it, I would surely die.
It’s no joke. My life doesn’t exist for something like that.
But the reason I’m still alive is likely because Heard-san lost to Leigie-sama.
That’s why Heard-san went against his own Pride, and refrained from killing me.
Without requesting a single armament, the Lord of Pride who took down the world with but his fists.
There are numerous cases where the source of one’s Superbia comes from the ‘self’ a Demon had trained up, but in Heard-san’s case, that wasn’t nearly enough to explain it.
His was an abnormal, and overwhelming conceit.
But his gaze that looked down on this Underground was something that I, who went in the complete opposite side of Pride’s spectrum, couldn’t understand.
(TL: After so many chapters… they’ve finally… given a reading for Demon World… as Underground.)
That’s why… I’d appreciate it if he stopped taking this out on me.
“Tsk… damn Egoist. What is he plotting…”
Heard-san’s blade like glare was locked onto a wall.
It’s probably that he wasn’t doing that intentionally, but the pressure alone was enough to weight down my body. It wasn’t that sort of weight of air type pressure, but rather a definite force of gravity.
Breathing became difficult. The inspectors keeping their distance from behind were looking at Heard-san with tired expression, and as if all of this was natural, they didn’t say a word.
Their job was to keep tabs on this Demon Lord. At times, they assisted, and at times, they gave advice, but they were generally neutral entities. As long as it wasn’t going to cause any real harm, they wouldn’t say anything about this level of pressure. This level of self-control makes me commend their professionalism.
Well… even if a gathering of ten General Classes were to challenge him, Heard-san wouldn’t even take the wave of a finger.
Perhaps the other Demon Lords finally collected themselves, as I was finally able to secretly take a breath of air in another’s Zone.
It wasn’t enough to prevent movement… but I was still in a bit of pain.
So the Devouring Lord, the former Fifth Rank Zebul Glaucus of Gula survived.
That fact stirred up the meeting quite a bit.
There wasn’t a single Lord who knew not the Devourer’s name.
And that wasn’t a complement there.
If it was in the number of Demon Lords she’d killed, that woman likely numbered within the top three of the Great Demon King’s army, and she was an incarnation of sin great enough to even swallow up this bleak and desolate Demon World. Of all else, the repulsive Demon even ate those of her same race.
She was likely more troublesome that a Valkyrie who wasn’t doing anything but challenging Demon Lords, and much more abnormal.
If her continued existence was true, that is.
… I mean, she should have been destroyed by the Lord of Sloth.
“Kusu kusu kusu, but… seriously, after all this time, why is the Devouring Lord…”
Wrong. That wasn’t the main problem. I knew that. And I also knew it wasn’t something I should put to words.
The problem was that Leigie-sama had defied Kanon-san’s words, and allowed the Devouring Lord to run free.
No, that likely wasn’t the reality of the matter. Leigie-sama would never do something so troublesome. But from an outsider’s perspective, how would it look…
Normally, it would be a failure more than deserving of punishment.
That was the important point here.
Even when I didn’t voice it, I’ll bet Heard-san guessed what I wanted to say.
He glared at me with strong eyes, and gave an answer as if it were nothing special.
“Hm… to Leigie of Sloth, Zebul merely wasn’t even worthy of a finishing blow. That’s all there is to it.”
“I see…”
And I doubt there’s any Lord here who would be satisfied with such an answer.
But, still, in this world, Rank and power was everything.
As long as the highest ranked Heard-san, and the one who stood above all, Kanon-san, didn’t say anything, any more words would put the speaker’s life at risk.
Just what was Vanity-san thinking when he suddenly proclaimed the Devourer’s survival in an atmosphere like that?
I don’t know his intent. Rank Four. His status likely wasn’t a mere decoration.
But there was one thing my instincts told me when I saw his eyes.
Vanity-san… gave off a scent somewhat like mine.
Even if they were both Demons of Pride, he and Heard-san were water and oil.
Whether there was ill intent or not, the two of them were incompatible.
At that point, Lize-san started jogging in our direction.
Since the girl she had guided here had disappeared, she was probably free.
Lize-san was generally a straight-laced person, and while she was occasionally out of it, she was a woman of valor. Ah, also, her breasts were quite considerable.
She directed a single look at the several inspectors behind us, before turning to the one much greater than her, and in the worst of moods, Heard-san.
“Heard Lauder, what do you plan on doing?”
“Hm… a foolish question.”
Using those words as a trigger, the vague mana emitted from his well trained body suddenly converged onto himself.
With just that action, I saw an illusion of the air around him warping.
Explosive magic.
Immense physical ability.
An unshakable will.
Having obtained all of those, his bearing was undoubtedly a Lord’s.
Heard-san had no losses, and no retreats.
Without ever fading, his assurance in his ‘self,’ high as the skies, was always there.
And as I thought, as if it were a trifling matter, he offered a short sentence of answer.
“… I’ll just destroy the Devourer.”
The meaning behind those words was likely something Lize-san couldn’t comprehend.
But as another Pride, I could feel them.
Even if it went against his nature…
“Why, at this point…”
“Hm…”
… It was merely his Pride.
That was the only basis for Heard-san’s actions.
That was the reason for his strength. The meaning of his strength.
His longings wouldn’t allow it. Even if it no longer held any relevance to him, Heard-san would wash away the stains on Leigie-sama’s record.
It was a pain-in-the-ass way of life. But also a way all the same.
Lize-san hesitated for a moment, before posing a question.
“… Then what about the Valkyrie?”
“… The Devourer comes first. The Crimson Prison is close… and I doubt it will take much time at all.”
“No time…? The enemy is the former Rank Five, Zebul Glaucus, correct?”
“Yes, what of it?”
There was never a waver in his way of life.
It was likely that Heard would never hold doubt in his own victory up to the moment before his death.
Kusu kusu kusu, he really has no flexibility….
“I’ll head to the Crimson Prison.”
“Eh? Wai… that land is under Vanity’s domain. Are you sane?”
Heard-san didn’t even nod at Lize-san’s voice.
It was his resolution. Without listening to anyone else’s words, he would push through his path on nothing but his own willpower.
How useless. When he’s like this, he can’t be stopped by anyone. In that sense, he was still quieter back when he was Leigie-sama’s supreme commander.
Well, it doesn’t really matter to me.
I don’t need strength. I don’t need training.
The ‘supreme’ that Heard-san wishes for holds absolutely no meaning to Leigie-sama.
To me as well.
If Heard-san is to die, then all that will happen is that I’ll go back to serve under Leigie-sama. I still have something I have to accomplish there.
And wait, you don’t have to die, just hurry up and release me already…
I seriously don’t need this training. The land isn’t splitting anytime soon. It’s impossible. It’s not splitting, and there’s absolutely no one out there that wants it to split.
“Lize, you can just go scout out the Valkyrie’s station. After destroying the Devouring Lord, I’ll head there.”
“Wai… it couldn’t be that you’re going alone, right? At the very least, your army…”
“Unnecessary… Hm, damn Vanity. I’ll definitely make you pay for this one.”
Oy, that one’s a false claim. All Vanity did here was report the truth.
But he couldn’t come out and say that due to his nature.
At the very least, I couldn’t see that Vanity had that sort of disposition.
When I recall his boorish silver eyes looking our way, even I had shivers run down my spine.
His moniker… the Egoist means he himself acknowledged his own fault.
Vanity Seidthroan was apparently a Demon Lord who gave up on the King’s throne. His disposition was far removed from prim and proper Superbia.
It’s not my problem who dies where, and while Heard-san is messed up in the head, he’s no idiot. He likely has several tens of times more experience than me, and he should have noticed it.
“It’s quite definitely a trap, right…”
“Hm… trap… is it? Then I’ll merely crush it head on.”
As I thought, this is impossible.
I was sure he would say that…
This is why muscle heads are…
Heard-san has a large quantity of power, so perhaps it’ll work out one way or another, but I’m considerably lower in that department. The Overrule Skill is powerful, but it doesn’t have the ability to overturn a power gap too great.
But I’ve already given up on stopping this man long ago.
I stood a while staring at the inept inspectors standing about like scarecrows, before I made a smile and turned to Heard-san.
Smiles didn’t work on him in a different way than Leigie-sama. However, it’s more decent to make one than not… I think.
“Will you be heading straight for the Crimson Prison after this? In that case, I’ll go return the flying dragon…”
The Crimson Prison was far. From the Palace of Rending Flames, it was a few hours, even with a dragon.
And in Heard-san’s case, unbelievably, his own running pace was far faster than such a beast.
Then the dragon would just be in the way. Even so, the flying dragon was also his property, so we couldn’t just leave it here, so it was inevitable that someone was needed to return it to Heard-san’s base of operations, the『Castle of Shimmering Souls』.
But on my polite proposal, Heard-san directed enough anger at me to make my body shrink back.
“Hm… Hiero. This is why I said you were beyond help.
“Hii… n-no… I was…”
It was merely a locking of eyes, but the weight I felt was physical enough, and I unintentionally retreated.
Wrong. That’s wrong.
I-it’s not like I didn’t want to accompany you or anything…
No, you see, well, if you drag me along, there’s the possibility I might kinda die, you know…
Those observers, who were really just there for show, looked at me with eyes of pity.
I don’t need your sympathy.
Medea’s unsightly exit floated vividly in the forefront of my mind.
But only her face had been altered.
What was there wasn’t Medea-san’s but…
A dull heat started welling up from the depths of my brain, joining up with my bloodstream.
And once more, Heard-san let out the words he had spoken just a year before when he abducted me.
“You are unworthy…of your Superbia.”
His words were concise, but their meaning vanished as they were absorbed into me.
Lize-san let out some lines that were quite sensible in all regards.
She was a surprisingly hopeless person as she was, but she may have been the only sliver of conscience that existed around me.
“Heard, Hiero is a non-combatant, is she not…”
“Combatant or not isn’t the problem. Hiero is much too lacking in Pride. This one is different from… Lorna.”
I don’t get just what exactly he’s looking for.
But when a Demon Lord of Pride says such things, they hold quite a bit of weight.
Perhaps the reason I am unable to Overrule oneechan lies somewhere there. No, there’s no doubt that it does.
It was merely a coincidence that Heard-san took to me.
But earning his sympathy must be my failure.
What he felt towards me was likely an illusion, but anyways, Heard-san’s Pride was much too severe for me.
I have… no, we don’t even have a way of life.
In the first place power… isn’t even something I’m searching for.
But such excuses are rendered moot before this man.
No, just by stating my reason and will, I was unable to get him to recognize me. His annoyingly stern criterion had yet to be fulfilled.
“Lize, you are to take care of the flying dragon. Hiero… come with me. We’re going to destroy the Devourer.”
“… Kusu kusu kusu, there’s no helping it… I’ll follow you… yes, I’ll follow.”
I used all my effort to smooth the matter over, but the fatigue in my voice was so clear I could feel it the moment it escaped my mouth.
I don’t know if there’s anything for me, who can’t split the ground with my bare hands, to do, but from Heard-san… I cannot escape.
While feeling that I was gradually heading in a completely different direction from my will, the image of Medea-san’s departure grew stronger, and I prayed to the God of the Demon World, who all could say did not exist.
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