The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“G—ahhh!?”
It landed.
I could feel it—clear feedback that it had connected.
“Ah—guuuh!? M-my body… ah, aahhh!?”
Altera let out a scream and staggered backward.
She hugged herself tightly.
Flames spilled from between her arms, scattering and then vanishing one after another.
It seemed she was having trouble maintaining her flame-transformed body.
Most likely, I had succeeded in damaging the core that allowed Altera to exist as Altera.
In human terms… it would be the heart.
“Ah!? No, why!? My hand—my hand… auuuh!?”
Altera’s right hand began to disappear, dissolving into the air.
Then her left.
That disappearance was spreading, trying to consume even her torso…
“Guuuuuh!”
With a face twisted as she endured intense pain, Altera canceled her flame transformation.
If she had continued like that, she would have been erased completely—so it must have been a bitter decision.
However, her lost arms remained lost.
They did not return.
It looked like she had cauterized the wounds with fire to stop the bleeding, but the weakening was severe.
Her combat ability was zero.
Altera no longer had the power to fight.
“Hah… hah… hah… Reez-chan!”
“The lady you’re referring to is no longer here.”
“Huh?”
The one who answered Altera’s call wasn’t Reez, but Iris.
She was approaching together with Yuki, Finia, and Nina.
They appeared to have already finished their battles.
“After you put Lord Rain through such pain, she vanished somewhere. There’s no reaction around us, so it’s only natural to assume she fled.”
“No way…”
It seemed Altera hadn’t expected to be abandoned, her face frozen in shock.
But she hadn’t given up yet.
Even if Reez was gone, there were other demons.
There was the copy of Gigabrand.
Clinging to that hope, she looked around…
“…No way…”
They had all been defeated.
The only ones still standing in any proper state were us.
Every demon had been wiped out.
I mean…
There had been so many demons that I thought the fighting would still be going on.
But that wasn’t the case—Al and Nokia had already completed the cleanup.
Just how strong are those two…?
“Surrender.”
I pressed the blade of Kusanagi to Altera’s throat.
She could no longer block it, and she likely didn’t have the stamina left to run.
“You can’t fight anymore, can you? Then stop resisting and behave yourself.”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“You’re going to show me mercy? You don’t want to kill me?”
“I do.”
I clenched the hilt of Kusanagi tightly.
If I lost control, the blade might pierce her.
I hadn’t forgotten how she toyed with Ruie.
Nor had I forgotten the sight of Gray’s back in his final moments.
And beyond that…
Altera had hurt countless people.
She had made them shed tears and violated their very souls.
She wasn’t someone I could forgive.
But…
Altera could no longer fight.
She was completely at our mercy.
To take her life in this state would be nothing more than an emotional rampage.
It would make me no different from her.
I have no intention of sinking to the same level as someone like this.
“…Aha.”
After a moment, Altera’s shoulders began to tremble.
The trembling grew stronger and stronger—
“Ahahahahaha! Kyaha—ahhahahaha!”
Altera burst out laughing, as if it were truly hilarious.
Innocently, like a child.
Yet cruelly, like a demon.
“Surrender to humans? Me? One of the Four Heavenly Kings? Kyaha, kyahahahaha! Like I’d ever do that. There’s no way I could. My soul would never forgive something so ridiculous.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
I couldn’t just leave Altera alone…
And completely incapacitating her would be difficult.
Attacking someone who can’t fight isn’t a method I like to choose—but here…
I’ll finish this.
I raised Kusanagi—
“I am Altera of the Blazing Inferno, one of the Demon King Army’s Four Heavenly Kings.”
Without fearing the blade, Altera looked straight at me.
Her eyes were clear—almost like those of a martyr…
“I won’t let some human kill me! Bleh!”
She stuck out her tongue—
Then, from the stumps where her arms had been lost, Altera formed arms of flame and drove them straight into her own chest.
“Kah—!”
“You… you’d go that far…!”
“Humans… I… as a demon… will choose a proud death… aha…”
Altera vomited a massive amount of blood.
Its color was… red.
“I won’t let myself be killed by humans… I’ll live how I want… live freely… with no regrets at all… aha… ahahaha… kyahahahahaha!!!”
Before long, Altera’s body began to burn.
Fierce flames rose up, completely incinerating her small body.
Even as it happened, her laughter echoed—
And it continued for quite some time.
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