The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“...Guh!!!”
For an instant, my consciousness faded.
That was close.
I had expected Altera to prepare a trump card and launch a devastating counterattack.
I had braced myself for the pain—it was going to hurt badly.
But the attack exceeded my expectations…
If things had gone just a little worse, I might have died on the spot.
I need to reflect on that.
Still… I won the gamble.
I’m alive.
From here on, this is the real counterattack.
No—
it’s time to finish this.
“Ooooooooh!!!”
“Wha—!?”
I step forward and plant my feet.
Then I charge straight at Altera once more.
She must have thought I was dead.
Or even if I wasn’t, she probably assumed my body could no longer move.
When she sees me, Altera’s eyes widen in shock.
Giin!
As expected of her.
Though shaken, Altera instantly forms a sword of flame and blocks my strike.
“Why… why are you alive!? I punched a hole through your stomach and burned you! You should be dead! Even if you weren’t, you shouldn’t be able to move!”
“Well, who knows why?”
The answer… is the healing ability I gained by contracting with Finia.
I didn’t know exactly how severe an injury it could heal…
But it was power gained from contracting with a supreme species.
I had assumed it wasn’t some trivial ability that only healed cuts—that it could probably mend serious wounds to some extent.
Of course, I’d never tested something like that before…
Under normal conditions, shallow wounds heal naturally.
Deep wounds take a long time.
But what if I poured mana into it?
What if I focused entirely on healing?
The result… was a complete success.
This was a gamble.
I judged that even severe injuries could be healed, deliberately created an opening, and took Altera’s attack head-on.
Then I recovered using my healing ability—and this time, I induced hesitation in her, creating an opening.
It was an extremely dangerous gamble, but I won.
That said…
The healing ability has its limits—it can’t regenerate everything instantly.
The wound is slowly closing, but normally I’d need absolute rest.
Moving around like this should be impossible.
In fact, every time I step forward, unbearable pain shoots through me.
It feels like my nerves are being stabbed directly with needles.
“…But still!”
So what if it hurts this much?
Ruie must have been in far, far worse pain.
And yet, I can’t be the one to cry out now.
Gray must have resisted until the very end.
Without letting his courage falter, he must have stayed true to his beliefs.
If I complained now, he’d laugh at me.
That’s right.
This much pain… is nothing!
“H-hmph, this is nothing…!”
Altera dismisses the flaming sword and takes Kamui head-on.
She must have remembered—belatedly—that while in flame form, physical attacks don’t work.
Indeed, Kamui passes straight through her body.
You can’t cut fire with an ordinary dagger.
Then I just have to make it cuttable.
I’ve used up all the cartridges.
So what now?
“I’ll give you everything I’ve got!!!”
My mana increased dramatically after contracting with Tania.
I pour every last drop of it into Kamui.
“Y-you can still use that!?”
“You said trump cards are meant to be saved, right? This is mine!”
The power is probably weaker than its original form.
I can’t maintain it for long.
But if it lasts a few seconds, that’s enough.
I don’t care if I can never use it again.
If I can land this one strike, that’s all I need.
“Take this!!!”
“Guh!?”
If Altera becomes flame…
Then I’ll burn her away with even greater hellfire.
I have that kind of power—
now!
Gagagagaga!!!
Altera forms her flaming sword again and meets my attack.
Blade clashes with blade, sparks flying as we struggle fiercely.
At this point, strength no longer matters.
What decides this is whose resolve—
whose heart—is stronger.
Coming to the Western Continent changed my image of demons.
Not all of them crave destruction; some are no different from humans…
I even thought maybe coexistence was possible.
But…
Altera is different.
She denies the existence of anyone but herself and refuses to acknowledge others.
She can only spread sorrow.
There’s no way—
no way I’m losing to someone like her!!!
“I can’t end here…! I’ll kill you no matter what!!!”
“Guh—!?”
Altera’s sword pressure suddenly surges.
It’s heavy—
like fighting a mountain itself.
I respond with everything I have, but I can’t push her back.
No—
I’m the one being pushed.
Is this it!?
Am I out of mana!?
Am I going to die here…!?
“…Seriously, you’re pathetic. Come on—hang in there.”
For a moment, I felt like I heard that voice from somewhere.
Gray isn’t here.
He’s already…
But… right. That’s it.
“Gray is with us!”
In everyone’s hearts!
“You think I’d lose to you—”
“Huh!? W-what is this!?”
“No way I’m losing!!!”
I push.
I push.
I push.
Everyone’s strength—
Gray’s strength—
overwhelms Altera.
“What is this power!? I’ve never heard of humans having this kind of strength… what is this!? This is like—”
“Altera.”
“Hii!?”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“W-what!?”
Still locked in the struggle, I deliver my final words.
“I said… I’d defeat you.”
“—!?”
“This is the end!!! I’ll never forgive you!!!”
Using Iris’s power, I summon a disposable sword in my left hand.
I slash Altera’s hand.
Because she’s in flame form, it doesn’t deal damage—but for an instant, her body of fire scatters under the sword pressure.
The flaming sword wavers—
And without missing that split-second opening, I push through and drive Kamui straight into her.
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