But even as he vomited, Mister X leapt backwards.
—!
Akuto was surprised at how fast he was. And it seemed that Mister X was surprised as well. Once he finished throwing up, he started to laugh with glee.
“Hahahahaha! This is great! You’re so much faster than the data said, and so much more short-tempered! That’s what I wanted to see! It’s not art otherwise! I take back what I said before. You do understand art!”
Mister X pulled on the chains that were holding Keena and Yukiko.
“But I’m starting to realize that I can’t get rid of them until I do something about you. I don’t really like taking hostages, but you two are going to have to—”
Yet again, Mister X didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. Akuto moved even faster than before, punching him hard and sending him flying several meters.
“Gwahah!” Mister X slammed into the ground.
“I’d rather not get into the habit of fighting all the time, but if you’re telling me you killed one of my friends, then I can’t just shrug that off,” Akuto said, and then he snapped the chains he’d grabbed from Mister X.
“Ackie!” Keena cried as she grabbed on to him. He lightly patted her on the head as he shattered her collar and Yukiko’s with his fingers.
“Hang on. He and I are going to have a talk,” Akuto said. But Keena looked at him worriedly.
“Ackie?”
“Hmm? Don’t worry. There’s no way I’ll lose to...”
“That’s not it.”
“Hmm?”
“You can’t kill him.”
Her words brought him back to his senses.
—Oh jeez. I didn’t realize until she told me. I guess I was thinking it’s natural for me to kill him.
“Alright.”
He smiled and nodded at Keena. And then he took off his shirt and handed it to her, and motioned to Junko, who nodded and took Keena and Yukiko a distance away.
Then Akuto looked back at Mister X.
“What do you want? What the hell are you trying to do here?”
Mister X had only just managed to stand up. He was still laughing. He seemed to be truly enjoying himself.
“You’re amazing! I’ll never be able to defeat you the normal way!”
“What’s so funny?”
“When I experience art, I always go crazy! Don’t you want to laugh at those times, too?”
“I don’t care. I’m asking what you’re trying to do.”
“Haha! You’re pretty dense, huh? But that’s art, too! Well, I guess answering your question is easy enough.”
Mister X pointed behind him. Akuto could see the demon beast advancing as it howled.
“You’re going to just stay here and watch as that thing levels the village. All I have to do is keep you here.”
“What? What’s the point of doing that?”
“The point? Even if there was a point, I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you,” Mister X said as he laughed. “What I’m trying to say is that I can’t let you through.”
“You’ve got a big mouth for somebody who just got his ass kicked. I won’t kill you, but you’re never going to laugh again.”
Akuto took a step forward. If he didn’t stop it, the demon beast was going to attack the village. He needed to get past this guy before that happened.
And then...
Junko heard a noise from above and looked up, then shouted.
“Oh! Look...!”
Akuto looked up too. He could see his classmates flying through the blue sky. There were five of them in formation, some of the best in the class, all of whom had mastered flight magic. They’d probably seen the demon beast from the dorm and had permission from the teacher to attack it.
“You’re going to have that monster destroy the village, you said? If that was your goal then you’re wasting your time. It looks like the rest of the class are going to take care of it for me.”
But when he looked back at Mr. X, he saw that he seemed completely unconcerned. Akuto didn’t understand why he wasn’t more worried.
“Do you have someone else working with you?” he asked.
“Nope. I just know exactly how this is going to go.”
Mister X pointed his thumb at the demon beast without turning around.
“Oh!” Junko gasped.
The students in the air seemed to gradually lose power, and one by one they fell to the ground.
“Did they get shot down...? No, their mana...” Akuto immediately realized that the demon beast was absorbing mana. “That demon beast absorbs the mana around it?”
“That’s right. No mage can beat it. When the sea cucumbers on this island become demon beasts, they gain that ability. Wonderful, isn’t it? It’s a natural danger! Art!”
“You really want to destroy the village that badly? No...”
Akuto thought for a moment.
—What’s the point of destroying the village? He doesn’t just want to level the place. There’s nothing of value on this island. Or is his goal to use the demon beast? But if it absorbs mana, then he can’t control it either. But he doesn’t want me getting close to it, that means...
Akuto suddenly realized what was going on.
“So I have the power to stand up to that thing, don’t I?”
It was only when he said that that he realized the meaning of the strange sensation he’d been feeling.
—I feel some kind of sympathy towards that monster. I don’t want to think about why, but it’s got something to do with me...!
“There’s some kind of relationship between it and me. In other words, you want to make it seem like I’m the one who destroyed the village!” Akuto yelled.
“That’s right.”
Mister X clapped his hands together.
“But if you know that much, then just stand there and watch. Things will go the way you want them to, basically. You really are the Demon King. You have to accept that,” Mister X said, grinning.
“Shut up! I’m not the Demon King!” Akuto yelled, but Mister X wasn’t listening.
“You haven’t been hiding who you really are, you just refuse to accept it. At the bottom of your heart lies the truth. And I’m just helping to bring it out. You need to be honest with yourself.”
“Don’t act like you know how I feel,” Akuto spat, but the words gave him an awful sensation. It was like he’d realized something that he’d been trying to ignore.
—The person behind all this wants to make me become the Demon King. And it would have been impossible to execute this plan unless they knew what was going to happen. Can they see the future, or something?
“Who’s the one behind all this? Who told Korone she’d be fired? Who did all this? It has to be the Imperial Government. And the system that said I was the Demon King... All of this fits together, right?”
“You know I’m not going to answer that. You’re sharp, though. You’ll be a good Demon King.”
“Shut up! I’ll just beat the answer out of you. And then I’ll stop that monster, too. Kicking your ass will be easy.”
With that, Akuto charged forward.
“Nope!”
Mister X flung open the front of his white coat.
“What?”
“I-Is he a pervert?”
Akuto was surprised, and Junko blushed, at the sudden sight.
But the real shock came a moment later. He was wearing normal clothing beneath his white coat, but the inside of the coat was lined with speakers, all of which were howling with noise.
Clanging metal, electric beeps, badly sampled moans, all of it overlaid together to make a cacophony that filled the air around them.
“Noise...?”
“Hahaha! That’s right! This is noise music! The ultimate art!” Mister X said, filled with confidence and shaking his body like he was spasming.
“It’s obnoxious, you pervert!”
Akuto jumped towards Mister X, the man dodged him easily.
“W
hat?!”
Akuto almost lost his balance.
“Hahaha! Do you think I’d fight the Demon King without a plan?”
“What do you mean...”
Akuto tried to turn around, but Mister X was faster. His kick landed in Akuto’s stomach.
“Gwah...!”
Akuto’s body was wracked with pain. He couldn’t breathe, but he could feel his muscles twitch.
—No way... I can’t focus my mana...
Akuto’s body was always enhanced with mana. So normally, no matter how hard he was hit, it wouldn’t affect him.
“This is the power of noise. I’m an anti-mage combat expert, you see.”
“Noise...?” Akuto looked up.
“That’s right. Unpredictable sounds disturb the heart. In other words, as long as you’re hearing my noise, you can’t use your magic! You won’t be able to concentrate enough to use even the simplest spell!”
Mister X pressed the attack with another kick. Akuto crossed his arms to keep the kick from hitting him in the stomach again, but it quickly turned into a blow to the head. Akuto was knocked away and landed on his back.
“And I love my noise! It’s the ultimate music! In other words, I can use magic to enhance my body!”
Akuto was just barely able to stand up in time to be hit with a roundhouse kick. He jumped back to dodge it, but Mister X just spun and kicked again from the opposite direction. This one landed hard on Akuto’s stomach.
“And lastly, I’ve trained my body to be able to fight without magic! When I fight with my art, even the Demon King falls before me!”
Mister X struck Akuto with one final kick, and Akuto landed headfirst onto the ground.
“Ackie!”
“Akuto!”
Keena and Junko screamed.
Mister X laughed.
“Don’t worry! He’s the one man I won’t kill! I need to wipe out the village and blame it on him! But I do need to kill the witnesses!”
Mister X turned his gaze towards the girls. Junko tensed.
“Junko...” Keena sounded worried.
“I normally rely on magic, but I know more marital arts than most people. I can do this,” Junko said, but she couldn’t hide her shaking legs.
Mister X started to move forward.
“I hate to say it, but it’s clear you can’t beat me just by looking at you. Now, there’s nothing artistic about a brutal murder, but I guess that’s what I’ll have to do.”
○
When Hiroshi sank into the lake, he was still conscious.
—It sucks to admit it, but it’s true that I wanted to hide my weakness...
Despite what was happening, he only felt frustrated with himself.
He hadn’t been able to become strong. No, he didn’t want the responsibility that came with that power. In the end, he’d used everything he could think of to run away from that.
—Yukiko...
His little sister’s face and words flashed through his mind
“You’re the hero, right Brother?”
He’d said no because he didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of everyone. He didn’t want to bear the burden of that responsibility, or of their hopes. But that had disappointed his sister. Whether he believed in the legend or not, he’d still let Yukiko down.
—Boss...
He imagined Akuto’s face.
All the hopes he’d had for Akuto were for his own benefit. If he was with Akuto, he wouldn’t need to get strong. Whether he believed in the legend or not, he’d still forced Akuto to bear the burden of those hopes.
He’d thought that by pretending to be even weaker than he really was, it would be okay if he was weak. That was how he’d spent his whole life.
And this was the result.
He opened his eyes. The blue lake came into his sight. The inside of the lake was quiet.
—Are you sure you want to drown here? If you swim you can still survive!
Hiroshi struggled.
—I need to swim! I was an idiot to think I didn’t have to learn!
He struggled and flailed for a moment before realizing he was near a place he knew. It was the cave that led to the shrine. There was a hole in the water that led there.
—I should have faced my fears and learned to swim, instead of avoiding it my whole life. But if I try now, I can still do it! If I try now, I can still change!
With new resolve, Hiroshi paddled through the water as hard as he could. He’d almost passed out, but the water currents helped him. They carried him into the hole without any work on his part.
He came to a spot in the cave with oxygen and took a deep breath.
He was still alive.
The cave was dark and just wide enough for a single person to pass through. Here he steeled his resolve.
—I’ll be reborn. I’ll be strong.
Hiroshi started to walk. He felt like he had just remembered something from a long time ago. As he went further, he saw light. It was proof that the caves connected to the outside.
And there was a shrine in the middle of the path. In the center was the stone with the hero’s sword.
He stood in front of the shrine. It was shorter than he was. The hero’s “sword” was too small to really be a sword, and the stone was too small to really be a proper stone. It was a knife in a rock, that was all.
Hiroshi put his hand up to it. He pulled. It didn’t come out. It looked like a small rock, but it was embedded deep in the ground.
—What if I can’t be the hero after all?
He pulled as hard as he could, but it didn’t matter.
—Is my resolve to become strong just not enough?
Just as he was about to give up, though, a new thought came to him, almost naturally.
—No, that’s not right. I’m already the hero. That’s how I need to think.
He pulled hard at the sword once more.
—I am the hero. Pulling this out doesn’t make me the hero.
He felt the sword begin to slide.
—I’m already the hero. But I just don’t have the hero’s power yet.
“And I’m about to get it,” he whispered.
And then he heard a voice answer.
“Authorization complete. Welcome, Hero.”
—Wha...?
The voice was clearly coming from the sword, which was so small that it was more like a knife.
“What... the...?”
Hiroshi didn’t know what was going on, but the knife changed shape inside his hand. The blade split open like a beetle spreading its wings, and a mechanical device appeared inside. The device wrapped itself around his wrist as he stood there in shock.
“Wah!”
The device transformed quickly, becoming a bracelet that wrapped around his arm.
“I am anti-magical combat unit D-13. Please give me a start-up command. The default is ‘hero.’ If you wish to leave this unchanged, please say ‘hero.’”
“Hero?”
“Command recognized. Please perform the start-up test. The command is once again ‘hero.’”
Hiroshi was shocked to find the voice coming from within his own head. But it was slightly different than the usual telepathic calls. There was no mana in this space to begin with, or at least, there wasn’t supposed to be. He couldn’t feel the mana within himself.
—Is this the power of the hero? An anti-magical combat unit?
Hiroshi said the word again: “Hero.”
“Unit engaged. Generating dimensional fault. Removing all objects within five centimeters of the user.”
There was a loud bang, and Hiroshi’s body was wrapped in light.
“Uwah!”
“Transferring unit. Transfer will require one second. Transfer complete.”
Hiroshi didn’t know what had happened. But when the light faded away, he realized that his field of vision was covered by something translucent.
—I’m wearing a visor or something. It looks like it put some kind o
f helmet on me.
Particles of light began to gather on the visor, forming words. A translucent display was floating in front of him.
“Electronics functioning normally. Life-support systems green. Please select internal or external air circulation. Use thought input to activate nuclear fusion engine.”
The words in his head were the same as the words on the screen.
—So basically, it’s put some kind of suit on me?
He walked outside and looked at himself in the surface of the lake.
He was wearing a helmet that came down to his nose. From a distance away, you wouldn’t know it was him. He was wearing a tight-fitting suit, but he couldn’t be sure what it was made out of. There was some kind of device on his wrist with several holes in it.
—Is this a weapon?
He raised it up to his face. It looked dangerous, like there were weapons inside. He craned his head around and saw that there was something on his back that looked like a weapon too.
—What is this?
And then he heard the voice again.
“Displaying manual. For help, perform thought input to select the dolphin in the lower right corner.”
The letters appeared before him. There was even a cute dolphin character in the bottom right. Hiroshi felt annoyed at the sight, and with that thought, the dolphin disappeared.
“Weapon usage requires the startup of the nuclear fusion engine. Perform thought input to activate the engine.”
—I see... So thought input means I think and it does what I want. And a nuclear fusion engine... That means...
“This unit can function in areas without mana. It can also absorb and destroy mana. It is guaranteed to be effective in battles against mages.”
—An independent combat unit that doesn’t rely on mana!
Hiroshi was elated.
—I can fight that pervert guy, and the demon beast too!
○
“...Now, there’s nothing artistic about a brutal murder, but I guess that’s what I’ll have to do,” Mr. X said as he advanced on the girls. He opened the front of his coat.
Junko tensed up, her cheeks flush with sweat.
“Junko...” Keena sounded worried. It was obvious that she couldn’t win. But Junko didn’t let it show.
“Shut up! I don’t care where I die, unless it’s in front of him! That goes for you and me both!”
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 3 Page 10
