“Hahahahaha!! Die die die!!” (Raphael)

The battle was already in its climax.

It is safe to say that Hyue has already used all her cards.

The metallic robot she appeared in, Kukulkan, had both of its arms broken and in the state of barely working.

Gatling, Nobel, Koumei, Beethoven; all of them are destroyed, or lacking in energy, so the only one that remains is the small machine gun that was equipped at its waist.

Even with that, she continuously shot as long as she could, creating distance with the enemy, and showed tremendous resilience.

Because the engine in its chest is still running, she could continue running around and didn’t allow her opponent to target her properly.

But all of these only served to endure and she simply can’t wish for anymore results than that.

In other words, she doesn’t have the strength to push that status quo and make it into a victory.

“What’s the matter?! You can’t win against me by just running around, you know?!” (Raphael)

The armor parts that had disassembled were chasing the running Wind Mobile Gun at high speeds.

Raphael was in a good mood after obtaining a new technique.

“But this is nice! Struggle more! Writhe pitifully!! That pathetic look of yours is truly pleasant! Show me even more amusing looks and entertain me!!” (Raphael)

“Kuuugh!!” (Hyue)

Hyue rotated Kukulkan herself as she spread wind bullets around with her machine gun, but she didn’t have the leeway to accurately aim, and she couldn’t hit the parts of Raphael which were flying around violently.

“Is that even an attack?! This is what an attack is!!” (Raphael)

High pressure whirlwinds were shot from each flying armor part of Raphael.

“Uaaa?!” (Hyue)

This attack that felt as if it were the ‘Holy Light Line’ of Karen-san but in wind version had been shot from the many armor parts at different directions, attacking Hyue like a volley of bullets.

The whirlwinds hit Kukulkan directly, and the steel armor was being cut with the fierce stream of wind.

“Suffer more! Raise more screams!! That’s your role! Suffer, cry, and sooth my heart like so!” (Raphael)

The whirlwinds that were released from the armor parts were more than ten in total.

They were attacking Kukulkan from all directions, and finally, the last weapon that is her machine gun and her lifeline that is her engine had been destroyed as well.

“Guua?!” (Hyue)

“This time for sure, it is the end.” (Raphael)

Maybe he was now sure that his victory was assured, Raphael combines the parts again and returns to a humanoid shape.

“With this, I have destroyed all the abilities of that big guy. Can’t attack or move anymore. That thing is now just a metallic coffin.” (Raphael)

“……”

“With this, you have finally understood, right? Humans can’t win against Demon Lords. The strength of our existences is on a different plane. That’s why the monsters that are ruled by Demon Lords are the most suited to be the next superior race.” (Raphael)

“……”

“You humans are a race that must be eradicated. Seeds that must be destroyed by the Demon Lords. Accept this and disappear as you struggle pitifully!” (Raphael)

…..Guh!!

I can’t take it anymore! I can’t silently watch over it!

I have to save Hyue. I can’t just let her die like that!

I don’t know why she is so stuck in fighting alone, but she has already fought plenty enough.

She should pass the baton to me already!!

“Don’t come, Haine-dono!!” (Hyue)

I tried to run to her, but Hyue stopped me.

“If you get any closer, I won’t forgive you! I won’t forgive you for eternity!!” (Hyue)

“Hyue…!” (Haine)

Why are you going so far for this?!

“Listen well, you can’t win against me anymore. You have no other way of survival but to ask for the help of Kuromiya Haine, you know?” (Raphael)

“……You sure?” (Hyue)

Hyue speaks within Kukulkan that now has less use than even a coffin.

“It is true that a mere human confronting a Demon Lord is foolhardy. A human alone would never be able to defeat a Demon Lord.” (Hyue)

“That’s what I have been telling you. You are a woman that doesn’t learn.” (Raphael)

“A human would never be able to defeat a Demon Lord…… that is, the other Demon Lords aside from you.” (Hyue)

……At that moment, the air froze.

That frozen air was created by Raphael.

Being hit right in the nail, his heart alongside the place around him had frozen.

“You have weakened. You are a lot weaker than the time when you first appeared before us!” (Hyue)

“What are you saying… What nonsense do you speak?!” (Raphael)

“I did have a vague feeling, but it changed into certainty when I saw that. That moment when you used such an unsightly method to escape from my Wind Cannon.” (Hyue)

Raphael has gotten weaker? A lot more than when we first met?

“Most of your body had been destroyed by Haine-dono. But because a few of your cells remained, you managed to escape complete erasure. However, that brought heavy damage. It was impossible for you to completely recover!!” (Hyue)

“……!!”

“And in reality, you were unable to return your cells to their previous numbers, and had no choice but to don such an armor! It is impossible to recover the damage you have taken! And your strength decreased along with the damage you received!” (Hyue)

The direct attacks that Raphael made against Hyue.

The tornadoes, wind fangs, and the whirlwinds that were shot from the divided armor parts; all of them were strong enough to overwhelm Hyue. They were indeed strong, but…

“All of them were enough to overwhelm me, a single human. However, the power of a Demon Lord should be even more incredible than that. And in fact, the first time you appeared, you had strength that felt as if you could destroy Rudras Metropolis with a single finger!” (Hyue)

Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel; all had strength that surpassed the imagination of humans.

Compared to that, the strength of the current Raphael is definitely strong, but it is not one that surpasses imagination.

He looks inferior compared to the other Demon Lords?

“That’s why I was able to hang on until now without becoming a God Hero, in my normal state… The because reason for that is because you are weak. You became weak! Isn’t that right?!” (Hyue)

“…That’s right. It is exactly as you say.” (Raphael)

Raphael answers.

That voice of his was shaking little by little -with anger.

“I am already in a state where I can’t recover anymore. After most of my body was erased by Kuromiya Haine, I am unable to completely recover to my previous state. My body…doesn’t remember how to return to its original shape…” (Raphael)

Before he was erased by me, his figure looked like that of a child.

Time has passed since then, so if he were in a regular state, he would have grown by now, just like the other Demon Lords.

But his body had been erased before that happened and he doesn’t know how his grown body looks like.

“My ability as well. It looks like my regeneration had its limits. When divided to a certain extent, I can’t increase anymore than that. With such a small amount of cells, I can’t use as much power as Michael and the others. Entrusting my existence to this armor is the most I can do in order to maintain looks.” (Raphael)

The more Raphael speaks, the more his voice shakes in anger.

Anger that’s filled with humiliation and hatred.

“Do you understand?! The first time the Demon Lords gathered…they were clearly looking down on me. A loser that was defeated by humans the very moment he was born. A weakling that isn’t worth the title of Demon Lord! The resentment of my heart when I was bathed by that shame! The sorrow!! Could you understand that?!” (Raphael)

“……”

Hyue didn’t react at all.

“This prided Demon Lord Raphael…the honorable Wind Demon Lord!! I will never forgive the humans that drove me to this unfinished state!! The humans themselves, and Kuromiya Haine who was the direct perpetrator! Especially that guy called Shiva!! And also you!!” (Raphael)

The armor finger of Raphael points at the unmoving steel giant -at Hyue who is inside it.

“You who has seen through a secret that can’t be known! You can’t be forgiven either!! Pointlessly touching into my humiliation, and making me remember my pain; I will have you regret it plenty for doing that!!” (Raphael)

Raphael once again divides in parts, flies, and charges towards Kukulkan.

They went at high speeds akin to those of shooting stars, and they all hit Kukulkan’s body, driving into its armor.

“You won’t be coming out from that hard shelter anyways, right? In that case, you will be killed in due time! I will pierce through you as a coward that is shut into her shell!!” (Raphael)

“I wonder about that.” (Hyue)

At the same time she says that, the cockpit cover flies out with an explosive sound.

“Emergency escape! I was waiting for this moment!!” (Hyue)

And then, without leaving a single second in between, Hyue herself flies out from Kukulkan.

“Not only have you gotten weaker, your intelligence is also lacking! Didn’t you notice I was provoking you?!” (Hyue)

“P-Provoking?!” (Raphael)

“You have been provoked successfully and ended up attacking Kukulkan directly! The last weapon left of Kukulkan; taste it with that body of yours!!” (Hyue)

Raphael had sunk into Kukulkan with the intention of piercing through Hyue who was inside, so he couldn’t come out immediately.

“The Divine Ore that is installed inside of Kukulkan, if send into an overload state with the assistance of the ethereal power…!!” (Hyue)

……Self-destruction?!

• 366: Tying to hatred

An overwhelming explosion occurred in front of me.

My face was unable to withstand the heat of the gale hitting my cheeks, and I had to cover my face with my arms.

“Uwa?!”

That was the last attack of Kukulkan.

Turning itself into a bomb and perishing with the enemy.

Hyue was aiming for this.

By pathetically running around, she made her opponent think he was in the advantage and lower his guard plenty enough. On top of that, she stabbed onto the trauma of her opponent and made him lose his ability to make calm decisions.

By doing that, she induced him into a sloppy attack, and when she had made her opponent close enough to a point he can’t escape in time, she would activate her last trump card.

“Waaaahh!!” (Hyue)

Hyue managed to escape before the explosion, but because of the gales, Hyue was flying in the sky.

Even if she had drawn him in plenty enough, in order to not give enough time for him to avoid it, she made it explode before she herself could escape to a safe distance.

I felt fearsome tenacity for victory in that action of hers.

“Hyue!” (Haine)

I obviously couldn’t just silently watch that and, by calculating her drop point, I safely catch her, dampening the impact of the fall with dark matter.

I managed to avoid her splatting onto the ground.

“Seriously, what a reckless thing to do! If you were to fail by a step, you would have been caught in the explosion!” (Haine)

“I am in your debt…! But I had to go that far. In the end, Raphael is still a fearsome opponent. After all, see there…!” (Hyue)

Hyue moves her gaze.

I follow that gaze of her, and inside of the burning hellfire, I was able to confirm two shining eyes.

Raphael had combined his armor again and appeared from within the hellfire?!

“That guy…still didn’t die even after being hit by that explosion?!” (Haine)

“Even if he is broken, he is still a Demon Lord, it seems-de gozaru. However, it looks like he didn’t escape unscathed. If that weren’t the case, the sacrifice of Kukulkan would have been in vain.” (Hyue)

Hyue lowered herself from my arms and heads towards her opponent.

Those steps of hers were unsteady, and I could visibly tell that she had no strength left.

And there’s Raphael. It looks like the damage he received from the explosion of Kukulkan was serious.

The armor that was his shelter had been crooked by the heat and impact of the explosion, and there were even cracks here and there.

His right arm was gone.

It was most likely at the centre of the explosion and was blown into pieces.

“You are a mess…… How was it? The feeling of being ripped a new one by a mere human.” (Hyue)

“Don’t get conceited, human…! It is true that I was injured, but I can still fight. The damage you have should be far higher than mine…..!!” (Raphael)

That’s exactly right.

Even if Hyue has received the attacks of Raphael within the thick armor of Kukulkan, she is by no means unscathed.

On top of that, because of the Wind Cannon Beethoven and the self-destruction, her divine power must be expended to its limits.

She should be lacking in energy by a lot compared to Raphael.

“…I also have…something to tell you.” (Hyue)

Even with that, the fighting spirit of Hyue didn’t waver.

She takes a stance with her wind long gun, En no Ozuno, which she probably already had by the time she entered Kukulkan.

“Do you think you are the only one who was left unable to cure? ……Aniue-sama was also…the Wind Founder Shiva had also received wounds that will never disappear….. He now has a body that can’t fight!!” (Hyue)

Right.

Shiva is the Wind Founder and was even a wind hero at the same time in the past.

The first Demon Lord to appear in front of humanity, Raphael, was the reason why he had to retire as a hero.

Shiva released divine power that surpassed his limits in order to restrain the overwhelming divine power of Raphael, to the point that it would injure his own body, and in the end, he ended up receiving damage that was impossible to recover from.

That’s why he had to step back from the frontlines and give that position to Hyue.

“That Aniue-sama that was said to be strongest out of everyone since the beginnings of the Wind Church…! Has ended up with a pitiful body that can’t even fight…! You know, I learned wind techniques in order to help Aniue-sama. I gained strength. And yet, the back of Aniue-sama I pledged to protect, is not there anymore…!!” (Hyue)

She said herself before that the reason she learned wind long gun techniques, that are originally made to assist from the backlines, was because she wanted to help out Shiva who had entered the path of battle within the Kazama Shinobis.

For her, battling and Shiva were her everything. Assisting Shiva was her reason for battle.

“I can’t fight together with my brother anymore. It is because of you, Raphael! You broke Aniue-sama!!” (Hyue)

Raging fighting spirit and words of resentment gush out from Hyue.

Those were emotions. Emotions of hatred that were difficult to hold back.

“I won’t forgive you…..! Defeating you with these hands of mine…is the duty that I have been entrusted upon when I was given the title of hero by Aniue-sama! I won’t let anyone have this!!” (Hyue)

“Don’t joke around…! Who cares about breaking a single human? I am planning on destroying all humans. And yet, you guys…!” (Raphael)

From the beaten up body of Raphael, from the openings of the cracks around the whole armor, an aura of hatred was gushing out.

“Pushing me down to such a pathetic look…!! Someone like you wouldn’t be able to understand the humiliation I felt. The pain of being the only loser within the Demon Lords, and be looked down upon by the others….. I will never forgive you humans who made me pass such a bitter experience!!” (Raphael)

Hyue hates Raphael.

Raphael hates humans.

Due to that circle of hate, the exhausted bodies of the two were moved forcefully with strength.

“I…!” (Hyue)

“I…!” (Raphael)

““Will never forgive you!!”” (Hyue+Raphael)

After all this, I have finally understood…the meaning of this fight.

In this moment when humans and monsters as a whole were about to enter a phase of reconciliation, these two wanted to fight no matter what.

The reason for that is…hatred.

Disregarding things like race, the two simply fought because of their own personal hatred, and were unable to throw away the option of fighting.

Without putting an end to it; without settling things; it wasn’t possible for Hyue and Raphael to join hands.