Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

Book 8: Chapter 21

“Gahack!”

Kyle coughed violently, as the pain dragged him back from the land of dreams. He didn’t know how long exactly he had been knocked out, but since the chaos was still going on, it couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes.

“Crap…Gotta hurry back.”

His whole body screamed in pain, but that was the worst of it. He was conscious, and his body could move. If not for this new armor, he probably would have died on the spot. He called this his punishment for forgetting that he was actually having a battle and grit his teeth to stand up.

“It’s…It’s a demon! Run!”

The participants of the meeting saw the wall breaking apart and tried to escape, but since there was only one way out of this bunker, they were unsure of what to do. The retainers and knights stepped up to face the Minotaurus in order to protect their lords, but it was all too futile.

“Milena-sama! Please step back!”

As another knight, Frederica stepped in front of Milena, only for the Minotaurus to swing his axe like he wanted to crush an annoying fly. Frederica had accepted her fate and closed her eyes—but since the death she anticipated never arrived, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Didn’t think I’d have to take this attack head-on…”

“K-Kyle-sama…?”

That one attack that could turn anybody in a meaty mush, Kyle blocked it off without any tricks. Maybe he felt guilty still about Frederica, but his body just moved on its own. There was blood gushing out of many parts of his body, but because he drank recovery magic potions, so he could still fight.

“Get out of here. Don’t try to…fight it…!”

Kyle accepted all of the Minotaurus’s strength in this attack, warning all the soldiers around him. They were locked in a battle of raw power. Naturally, Kyle had no possible way of winning this fight thanks to the difference in size, but…Slowly and steadily, Kyle was pushing him back.

“U-Unbelievable…”

Everybody who watched this unfold couldn’t believe their eyes, as Kyle kept on pushing the Minotaurus back.

“Just…stay down already!” Gritting his teeth, Kyle took step after step forward.

The giant audibly groaned while being overwhelmed, as he drooled all over the place in a desperate attempt to push Kyle back, but it showed no success. Kyle succeeded in guiding the giant into an open space, where he stopped pressing.

“How can he be this solid…?” Kyle grumbled while gasping for air.

He used up all his strength just to get into this position, so he couldn’t afford any small talk.

“And for the final strike…Basques! I’ll get some help from you!” Kyle screamed and rushed ahead.

He slipped past the Minotaurus’s axe and aimed for its heel. He continued attacking the same place that Basques had aimed for earlier. This was the place with the deepest wound compared to everything else. Eventually, he managed to slice through the Minotaurus’s leg, as the giant collapsed.

“This is the end!”

As the giant laid on the ground, Kyle grabbed his magic stone engraved with the fire magic [Explosion], stuffing it into the Minotaurus. And it wasn’t just one, he scattered it all around like he was feeding birds. Many explosions rang out, as the head accumulated. Some might think that he was going overboard with his attacks, but even as the whole place was covered in smoke and rumble, they still heard the cow’s screams.

“It…It’s still alive?!” Someone screamed in terror.

“Gather everyone who can use magic and focus your attacks!” Kyle screamed while using more magic stones, as magic flew at the giant from all sides.

This continued for a while until Kyle had run out of magic stones, the magic users completely out of steam, as the whole area was made of nothing but rubble, the giant’s corpse a burned, black lump.

“It’s…finally over,” someone mumbled.

And yet, not one of the people present felt the joy of victory, but simply thanked the gods that the battle finally ended.

***

With this, the attack from the demons came to an end, but the damages were detrimental. The newly-built fortress, with its thousands of soldiers stationed, was left half-destroyed by a single demon, which is something that nobody could have anticipated. Looking at the ruins of what the Minotaurus left behind him, they all realized that they were not nearly prepared enough. More than anything, having witnessed the stone walls and defenses get folded like paper carved an omnipotent fear into the hearts of everybody who saw it. If an army of demons were to attack…Nobody wanted to even think about it.

Many were injured, some even in danger for their lives, but because a great amount of healing medicine and the like had been prepared beforehand, nobody lost their life. So much so that it was almost unnatural. Because of this incident, many rulers and their armies learned of the terrifying strength the demons possessed. Since there was still the danger of further attacks, most participants of the meeting boarded the Wyverns and evacuated to Sura. As a special exception, Sakira opened the Holy Palace for the participants of the meeting, which is where they gathered. With the [Tower of Beginnings] at his back, Kyle apologized.

“I’m terribly sorry I allowed you to be put in so much danger. As the founder of the meeting, please accept my apology.”

His own injuries hadn’t even healed fully, but Kyle lowered his head still. With so many casualties and damages, the question of responsibility obviously popped up. As the royal family of Sura offered the location, they would carry most of it, but Zilgus and Galgan both offered soldiers for safety, so they couldn’t ask for too much. Furthermore, everybody witnessed how Kyle fought while putting his life on the line, so nobody could bring themselves to blame him. Luckily, no lethal casualties resulted from the attack, so the question of responsibility could be somewhat avoided.

“We will have to confirm why that demon attacked us, and how he even managed to find his way to us.”

“That is true. Their goal is still unclear. If they intended to spark a war, I would understand them attacking us during this time, but some things just don’t add up,” Sharidan mumbled with an uncertain expression, with Korodes agreeing.

“And it’s hard to tell if just that one demon attacked us or not.”

“Considering its sheer size, maybe having such a large body transported into the human territory was their limit?”

“Or maybe they were just that confident? Without Kyle’s support, we might have all been killed there.”

Many of the meeting’s participants threw around assumptions and ideas, but they were only still speculating. To make certain of the situation, they needed more information, and they were once again forced to realize that they knew far too little of the demons. Even Milena was forced to recognize this as an issue that could very well lead to the destruction of all of Zilgus, considering how close it was to the demon territory.

“Either way, now that we know their strength, we cannot fall behind with our preparations. This should be considered a top priority for all of humanfolk,” she said with a grave tone, and the other participants agreed.

“…In this case, I’m probably the one who knows the most about the demons. I would like to divert as many forces as possible at this problem, so could I ask for all of your cooperation?”

Since Kyle was the one who tried to warn everyone of the demons before anybody else, nobody voiced their discontent, either.

“I pray that you will receive the gods’ blessings…” Princess Sakira offered a prayer, which declared the ending of the meeting.

Like this, the final day ended with a lot of trouble, but humanfolk formed a strong promise in the progress. Realizing the threat the demons possessed, the many leaders and kings returned to their countries to immediately prepare measures. Preparations for a potential invasion of the demons, the set-up of the army, and other orders would be made in unison with the neighboring countries. Of course, the elves’ input was not disregarded either, and since this was a problem greater than theirs, they would be in contact with the elves from the other forests, too. Because of this, the secluded lifestyle of the elves slowly began to change, but that is a story for another day. Watching them depart, Kyle was approached by Basques.

“Let me thank you. You saved my lifeee.”

“Don’t worry about it. You saved me plenty.”

Since Basques inflicted grave injuries on the giant, Kyle definitely didn’t feel like it was his victory alone.

“Still, what an odd foe that was…So that was a demonnn…?” Basques seemed a bit dubious.

“There’s a lot of variation in their ranks. There are some just as tall, or even taller, but you shouldn’t consider that the average.”

“But there are strong ones, righttt?”

“Why do you look so happy about that…?”

“This time, I was unprepareeed. I’m glad I get to have my own kind of revengeee. And since you seem to be at the center of the fighting, you absolutely must call for meee,” Basques flashed an exciting grin like she could barely contain herself.

“Yeah, I will. And then, we’ll fight together…”

“Fight together…I can hardly waittt,” Basques answered Kyle’s genuine feelings with those of her own.

After that, the other leaders like Sharidan, Korodes, and Garadoff came to give their regards to Kyle, but the elves, including Rifuaro, seemed rather pale, which worried him. The final person to leave was Milena.josei

“Kyle-sama, are your injuries okay?” She asked with a worried tone.

“Yes. Thanks to all the healing medicine.”

“That is a relief…So that was a demon?”

“Yes. They are a terrifying foe.”

“However, it’s a blessing in disguise to have a common enemy between us and Taihon. It should silence the forces against our reconciliation.”

It showed everyone that there was a common enemy to fight.

“Still…You saved my life yet again, Kyle-sama.”

There, Kyle felt like something was off about Milena. She always showed a perfect side to her, and yet now she genuinely seemed concerned. She was more like a young woman than a princess of a country.

“Is something wrong, Your Highness?”

“No, well…Are you still going to continue fighting even after today?”

“Hm? Well…Yes, of course.”

Kyle failed to grasp the meaning behind that question, as Milena showed a defeated expression in response.

“I should have seen that coming…I’m sorry for asking such an odd question. Please excuse me,” Milena left these words behind, with Frederica by her side who thanked Kyle once, too, and followed her lord.

There was something awkward about that whole exchange, even her gaze packed with all sorts of complicated feelings, but it was now no longer made of contempt and disgust. After all the participants had finally taken off, Kyle could sigh in relief. It meant that the World Meeting came to an actual ending this time.

“What is on your mind, Milena-sama?”

On the way to Zilgus, Ninos showed a worried expression as she asked Milena with these words, on their way home to Zilgus within the flying dragon cage. This whole time, Milena had been gazing out of the window, seemingly absent-minded.

“It’s nothing. I just…realized how despicable and foolish I am,” Milena flashed a self-deprecating smile, to which both Ninos and Kirlen stared at her in shock.

Milena was moved deeply when she witnessed Kyle jumping in to save them despite his blood-drenched appearance. Most of the time, Milena just teased him with the overblown theatre play she came up with, but eventually, she began seeing Kyle as an immortal hero who would always come to her rescue. That’s why she tried to control him. To make him an asset for Zilgus and herself.

Of course, she was willing to pay him handsomely, and she even thought of offering the throne as a final bait, but in the end, she only saw him as a tool to use. However, with this battle, she realized that even Kyle could fall in battle and lose his life. That he wasn’t some legendary hero who could never die. And in that moment the realization hit, she was assaulted by a wave of self-hatred. She resented herself for acting like the person who had saved her life so many times was but a pawn. Of course, as the future queen who had to care for her country, which made her actions cruel but just, and if it was anybody else, she wouldn’t have begun feeling this way. That said, only when Kyle was involved, she couldn’t shake off these emotions.

Have I started seeing myself in the play I constructed? Do I…really want him no matter what? And how do I want him to feel about me?

Milena questioned herself, but no answers were found. But, in a way, this was the first moment where Milena considered Kyle as a man and not just a tool to use.