Chapter of the week: 2/2
Translator: Reizenchuu
Editor: Kenny Stryker

"For now, Rouga, go distract him for a while. I need some time."
"Okay!"

After replying to me briefly, Rouga jumped off Ouka's back and charged at Souki who was waiting for the best timing to thrust out his fist. With a splendid move, Rouga dodged that fist.

"Mr. Ogre, this way please."
"… GeT AwaY."

She provoked him with words that I've already heard somewhere. She is gradually getting influenced by her owner. As she was making use of her small body in her tactics, she continued to trifle with him. Although Souki doesn't understand what she was saying, he was clearly irritated by her super fast speed. Well, mobility and speed are her inherent skills. It's very unlikely for her to get caught by that giant lump of hatred.

I entrusted the plan of distracting Souki to Rouga, and asked Ouka to let me down after getting far enough from them. Apparently, my arm is still too heavy. Even though I understood that it's just a mind trick, it still feels heavy. This carved seal in my hand is due to my foolishness, so I need to bear with it now.

"What are you intending to do now, Yato-sama?"

Ouka asked me while being in her original fox form. The answer to her question was already decided.

"We will take him down with one hit."

It's impossible for me to battle him for a long time with this arm, anyway. If I only fought him seriously from the start, nothing like this would have happened. Perhaps I got a little too ahead of myself this time. I will make sure to take him down with a single blow now.

"I-Is that even possible?"
"Of course, it is possible."

After hearing the words 'one hit,' she asked with a bewildered voice tone. I replied to her immediately then crouched down and placed my heavy arm on the ground.

"Alright, let's do this."

Everything is prepared now, all that is left is to make the move. When I was about to call for Rouga to get away from Souki, we got interrupted by a totally unpredictable interference.

—— DO NOT GET IN THE WAY. ——

"!?"
"Kyaa!"

We got a.s.saulted by a third party. All of a sudden, I received a shock to my back and lost track on the magic spell I was preparing. The voice that reached my ears right before the shock was unfamiliar. Someone else is present here. Even Ouka got involved in the attack. I turned to confirm what happened and noticed a stone gouged on the surface of the ground.

"Ah? Did someone just shoot us with this stone… ?"

I frowned while fixing my gaze on the stone that wasn't there until now. I activated my【Presence Detection】skill but couldn't detect anyone nearby. This means that we were sniped by stone by someone from an incredibly long distance. I a.s.sume that it's the same person who transmitted that ominous voice to my mind. In other words, someone is observing us from another place. Due to the noise resulting from the crash, Souki had noticed our location.

"HuMAn… DiE!"

He then ignored Rouga and came rus.h.i.+ng towards me with his full speed and power, but Rouga stopped him on the way.

"I'm not done playing with you."

She shouted and bit him with her sharp fangs, but as his skin was so hard, she couldn't chew it off and got readily brushed off by him.

"So hard."
"StOP… HiNdrANce."

He probably got really fed up with Rouga moving around and changed his target from me to her again. It looks like I still have time to start preparing again.

"C-Could this be…"

Ouka who took a closer look at the stone thrown at us looked somehow agitated. I wanted to ask her if she knew anything, but I didn't have time to do that. I perceived another stone flying directly at us. This time it wasn't only one, but a few dozens. They were all covered by some dark matter. Surely, nothing good will come out of getting shot with them.

"Yato-sama, I will do something about the stones."

Ouka stepped forward, preparing to counter attack the flying stones. I used my【Presence Detection】to examine them and realized that they have been shot consecutively. If I were to deal with them instead, I will never have time to prepare the magic.

I entrusted my back to Ouka and returned to concentrate on the spell I was preparing. Ouka transformed back to her human form and diagonally thrust her arms which eventually started sparkling with lightning. The lightning then left her arms and created a round wall surrounding the both of us. For a second I wondered if a wall can be made out of electricity, but soon focused back on my task. Everything is finally prepared now.

"Rouga!! Get away from him now!!"
"Okay!"

Before she ran away from him, she kicked Souki's eyes with her forefeet. Souki reflexively placed his hands on his eyes as he screamed and slightly bent down his knees. That was a heartless move from her. I felt a little sorry for Souki who got his eyes carefreely crushed by Rouga, but I didn't let that chance slip by.

"It's about time for you to return to nothingness, lump of hatred — Heaven Load."

Following my chant, two magic circles appeared. One of them near me and the second under Souki's feet. It took him a while to calm down and open his eyes again to realize what was happening under him. He instinctively guessed the danger that was about to a.s.sault him and tried to escape, however, it was already late.

Four tiny magic circles appeared above his head and iron chains violently sprout out of them, binding Souki's limbs and restraining him. He tried to break free out of them using all his power but the chains didn't even move the slightest. Once he got caught by them, the game was already over. The chains then abruptly lifted him all at once. His arms got stretched in different directions and his legs got bound straightforwardly. He looked as he was getting crucified.

I won't show any sympathy to you for your past, but at the very least, I will let you pa.s.s without suffering. The magic circle under Souki's feet started s.h.i.+ning. The light in the circle increased in its radiance gradually as if it were pumping out its energy. That growing brightness had most likely reflected as a death countdown in his eyes since he desperately tried to tear away the chains.

"HuMAN… Human!!"

Despite facing his approaching death, the deep grudge in his eyes didn't vanish.

"UnfORgIvAble!… NeVer, ShALL I ForgiVE… The EnEmy… Of My FamILY!!!"
"… Later."

He will never forgive anyone no matter what happens. That tragedy is now part of the antic past, no need to make a fuss about it at this point. I closed my eyes while listening to his resenting words, and bid him farewell. The magic circle reached its utmost radiance and entirely covered Souki.

"I Will NEvEr ForgIVE… hUmanS!!!"

The magic circle created a giant pillar of light. While piercing the clear night sky and enlightening the gloomy forest, the pillar interrupted Souki from finis.h.i.+ng his last resenting yell. Just rest in peace now. I prayed for Souki to find peace while silently gazing at the light pillar. After the light settled off, what was left in that place was Souki's worn out body. The truth that he didn't turn into light particles and disappear, which means that he is still alive. I prepared to append another attack, but soon realized that his body has started to faint away.

Rest in peace, Souki.

I quietly watched Souki disappearing off, turning into light and slowly fading out.

"… Hu… man…"

I could hear his faint voice, which was barely reaching my ears.

"Thank… you…"

Leaving those words behind, he completely turned into light particles. Simultaneously, the curse mark in my hand vanished. My hand stopped feeling heavy. This is what I'm talking about! A person's hand should always feel like this. Waving my hand around I recalled Souki's last words. Did he get back his sanity at the very end? I didn't feel any resentment in his last words. They were his true feelings.

… I pray for you to find a better world there.

The light particles slowly ascended towards the night's starry sky. It looked as if he were really ascending to the Heaven. So this brings to an end to this problem. Now that is done, one more thing is left to do. I turned to look at Ouka who was doing her best at warding off the flying stones. The other side of the electric wall was all filled with them. Just how many stones is he planning to shoot at us. Feeling glad that Ouka was able to defend my back from those shots, I stepped forth to a.s.sist her.

"Did I make you wait?"
"Yato-sama…"

She spoke with a tired voice as she was about to reach her limits from warding off the flying stones. Sweat dripped from her forehead and she was barely able to keep the electric wall standing. I created another wall inside of the one she made.

"I will take care of the rest. You can take a rest now, and thank you."
"… I-it's no problem. I'll go take a rest now."

Ouka fl.u.s.tered for a moment there, but soon lowered her arms and stopped pumping her magic into the wall. I don't know who is the one behind this, but I'd like them to do this child act somewhere else.

"Let me give you back your stones."

The electric wall disappeared and the stones flew directly at the barrier I created. The moment they touched the barrier, their trajectory abruptly changed to the opposite direction and they flew back the way they came from.

One after the other, the stones flew back their way into the horizon until they stopped coming. They should have all returned to the person who cast them at us. This should make an end to them as well. I could have just used【Erasure magic】instead, but I wanted to teach a lesson to the one who sent them flying at me. I took a deep breath after getting done with everything else. Ouka, who realized that everything was safely concluded, was about to faint from exhaustion. I supported her from the back so she doesn't fall on the ground.

"Ah, I am sorry."
"You did well."

After giving her a few words of appreciation, we both smiled at each other. Rouga came running to me while still feeling excited about our victory. I patted her head after brus.h.i.+ng off the blood from her fur and asked her to return.

"What were those stones about?"
"I don't know. I got hit by one of them when I was in the process of sealing Souki."

She doesn't seem to have an idea about them too. Well, nothing will come out from thinking about it now. The one who snipped those stones at us was probably trying to free Souki. Now that his goal can no longer be achieved, we will never get attacked by them again. I looked at Ouka who ran out of energy after she calmed down and moved my hand to carry her from her back.

"Y-Yato-sama?"
"It's fine, just relax for now. You're tired, aren't you?"

She seemed somewhat reluctant about having me carrying her on my back, but I insisted on not letting her down. This much is nothing for someone who did their best in a.s.sisting me. Ouka eventually gave up on resisting and turned quiet.

"… Please let me down before the children see us."
"… Sure, got it."

She asked me in an embarra.s.sed voice as she hid her face behind my back.

"Let's go now."
"Yes."

Ouka replied to my suggestion with a cheerful voice. The voice I heard in my head earlier is still a mystery, but nothing can be done about it now. Under the bright and clear night sky, I walked the forest enlightened by the moonlight and headed to the shrine, where everyone was waiting for us.

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Bonus

What if.

What if Yato forgot to brush off the blood from Rouga's fur.

"Ah, I forgot to wash Rouga from the blood of the ogres."
"Chief!"
"Ah, Rouga, come here, I need to—"
"Chief, you're an idiot!!"
"Eh? What happened?"
"The blood dried up and changed color."
"Eh, ah, you're right."
"I can't wash it off now!!"
"Well, wait, I can do something about it, probably."
"Did you just say probably, chief!? You said it, right?!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"UUuu~~~~"
"Don't make that face now. You're still Rouga for me even though you're stained with dried blood."
"Uwaaa!! Chief!!" ← jumps at Yato for a hug.
"Wow."
"Don't dodge my hug!!"
"Sorry, I just thought that we can leave the hug for later…"
"Liar!!"

Next Update: Monday, June 18, 2018