Chapter 30 – Rogue One Steal

After stealing the holy sword, Shouji ran at full speed while appraising it.

This is the good stuff. This is 『Bartenon』, a treasure sword that was displayed at the Royal Museum.

It is a masterpiece, forged from the mithril steel of the Ancient Dwarf King using ancient methods.

It is truly worth a lot of money. Around 10 or 20 millions. No, even 50 millions would be possible.

If he were to use the formal route―― then it might even reach hundreds of millions.
It was the best present. He is delighted beyond words.

All that is left is to escape from the pit, or defeat Chateausea.

「Shouji Quikk… Hero of the human race. Will you wield your sword?」

Chateausea stands calmly atop the roof of the underground temple, which is ten meters above ground, and lined with decorative pillars. The hat she was wearing is gone.

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Tla czynj-qwaale lyap yal dso hkpkczl.
Tla elzknyvl pkzhla byka qzwvvlap kd vbl yka yp pbl tkhlp bkx y pollv pxkzl.

Rv oswze cl ekqqknwzv vs lpnyrl sdnl bl kp vayrrle. Tl bkvp bla okvb yzz bkp xktbv okvb vbl qkapv pvakjl, cwv yp lmrlnvle, bl nswze dsv bwav vbl Jlypv Ikdt’p cseu.

Ohld yqvla wpkdt bkp『Paytsd Idktbv Wktbvkdt Ylvbse』vs kvp wvxspv zkxkvp.

「Mbkp posae… R’x fwpv pvlyzkdt kv. R esd’v xlyd vs wpl kv」

Tl pvsrp yde alrzklp obkzl zssjkdt wroyaep.
Rv kp ekqqknwzv vs blye qsa vbl lpnyrl aswvl. Ohld kd vlaxp sq prlle, bl kp zspkdt cu y pxyzz xyatkd.

Ubyvlywply aykplp sdl sq bla lulcasop.

「Ebu dsv wpl kv? Rv oyp xyel cu pjkzzle nayqvpxydpbkr. Zsw pbswze wpl kv. Bpl yzz uswa pjkzzp, es uswa clpv yde tkhl uswa yzz vs clyv xl」
「Gald’v usw yzps qkpv-qktbvkdt?」

Ebyv yd shlaclyakdt vbkdt vs pyu.
Rv qllzp zkjl bl kp elyzkdt okvb y dsczl qasx vbl nyrkvyz.
Mbswtb kv kp dsv oasdt, clnywpl pbl kp Mbl Jlypv Ikdt.

「I’m not the same as other people. I played around with the heroes teasingly, but… for me, the dispute with the human race is not a warfare. I don’t like killing people indiscriminately. I will ask you once again, why didn’t you wield your sword?」
「Because it is unnecessary. I’m the same as you. I’ve been dealing with a lot of bastards I can easily beat with my naked hands」
「Hmm… then, I believe a good opportunity has arrived. You can use it」

Shouji, who is grinning stabs the holy sword on the ground.

And just like that, he runs towards the pillar of the temple.
While keeping his momentum, he kicks a pillar and knocks it down with roaring thunder. As consequences of losing its support, the temple’s roof clatters and begins to collapse.

Shouji flexes his thick arms, grasping the thick pillar tightly against his chest and lifts it.

An unbelievable weight hit him hard in the back. With all his strength, he gulps down the taste of blood, and clench his jaw tightly.

His physical strength has already exceed that of a human being.
Something like this is an easy feat.

He looked at Chateausea, who is about to lose her stance due to the collapse of the roof, and throws the pillar in her direction.

The pillar rushes in her direction, spinning madly like a boomerang. Chateausea puts her guard up at the object weighting several tons. She concentrates her divine energy in one hand and fires multiple-shots at it. The pillar that is filled with holes, and shatters.

Shouji rushes towards her soon after throwing it.

「Hmm… well, that just now might have been more powerful than a sword」
「Go and fly in a flashy way!」

His fist strikes as he roars.
It makes a keen and chilling windy noise as it hits the defenseless girl’s face―― But before it could hit her, it vanishes. His right arm flies away, and a light blade manifests in Chateausea’s right hand.

She made use of Zero Force.
She turned the power of defense into attack just like that. His arm was cut so easily.

“You may fly splendidly”

Light bursts out of Chateausea’s right palm. Shouji feels a burning pain in his abdomen where he was hit by her counterattack and he understands that he was blown away.

Despite receiving heavy damage, the magical power of the Perfect-Potion forcibly restores his shattered chest, waist, hands and legs that are missing from his body.

Despite having been killed, Shouji opens his eyes and kicks one of the floating rubble. The effect of the『Dragon Knight Fighting Method』allows him to use high-speed movement. A huge amount of magical powers dwells in his body endlessly.

He jumps again with strong force towards Chateausea.

But his target had already come aground. Her rich silver hair’s tufts are tied up, and her fingers are now combing through the ends. She is examining her cuticles, even though she is in the middle of a fight.

Shouji landed on the roof with a thud. When Chateausea noticed his angry glare, she relaxed her mouth in amusement and put her index finger on her lips elegantly.

「Your regeneration is like an immortal. It’s an interesting spectacle」
「You bastard!」
「Shouji Quikk,『Shock The Braver』. Here, take this. Take the holy sword, put your life on the line, come and defeat me with all your strength so that you won’t have any regrets. Then, after squeezing your everything, you will die」

Chateausea pulls out the holy sword with one hand.

The sword is thrown  haphazardly―― Shouji, using his enhanced kinetic vision, sees through it, then caught the hilt, and then grasps it tightly.

Come to think of it, he might as well have been ordered.

As a hero who defeats the Demon Lord―― Maybe he should put his stubbornness and pride aside and try to remember his swordsmanship.

He had a passion for swords when he was in boarding school, but in the latter half of his life, he had forgotten about swordsmanship. If it was a monster, then he would need a sword, but if it was a human he wanted to defeat, then he would not need a sword.

If this was the case, he realizes that it would have been more intimidating to have a gun in his hand.

The『Bartenon』he holds was a valuable object as a treasure sword, but it is not as good as the sword he had used before.

He would be putting it to test. He tries to assume the same form as he used to use previously when wielding the double-swords.
He stretches his legs apart and pushes his left palm forward. He positions the blade on his back and raises his head.

「I’m only doing this once, alright?」
「Hmm, that posture is… a throw?」

Twisting his body to its limit, Shouji shoots the holy sword with all his might, like a cannon-ball,『Bartenon』shoots straight towards Chateausea. It was fast. However, the Zero Force blocks the violent strike.

The holy sword shatters into countless pieces of scrap.
The sword break apart in half starting from the base, and the blade parts is lost. The hilt slides to the bottom of the stairs for a slowly―― and disappears somewhere along with a clang.

As expected, it was a second-rate item―― if he repaired it, would it still fetch10 millions?

Shouji thinks about it ironically, but he understands.

No matter what kind of sword he had―― it still would not be able to break through the Beast King’s Zero Force.

He only needed another ten minutes of his life.
It seemed like a long time, but it was actually not much time. Even though he knows he is going to be killed, he does not feel despair. He feels extremely delighted. This is why he could not stop being a hero.

　※　※

「Uwoooooooooo!」

He musters his energy and yells. He raises his fists in succession, creating whirlwinds every time he hit Chateausea’s barrier. She is pushed back by the pressure and slams onto the walls of the temple.

He concentrates at one point of the barrier and hits it, he is looking for a way to breakthrough.

He steps on the stone floor, punching and smashing the building. There is no change in Chateausea’s body who is yawning. Despite being attacked and pressed, the girl’s face does not change. She just watches the man whose assault resembles an avalanche.

She is not even―― dodging.

「Raaah!」

He aims for her right shoulder and hits her with a whip-like high-kick.

Chateausea is blown away while her limbs are flung back. She smashed into the outer wall and dirt fills the air. The fists that have stricken her were covered with blood, and the leg that kicked her was broken. And yet, when the cloud of dirt settles down, outside the temple, Chateausea covers her mouth to hide her yawn. He is so pissed off that he cannot say anything.

He lifts a piece of rubble near him, and threw it at her.
The unamused Chateausea shatters it using the Zero Force multishot. It seems like she does not like being buried.

Chateausea smiles as she repels a part of the building that has been reduced to pieces.

「I guess it’s my turn now」

She kicks the ground and runs lightly with her silver hair flails freely. The two of them approach each other in a dash. She sweep his legs. Shouji who lost his posture see   a fist coming to his face. He crosses his arms to guard. But he is hit by a powerful blow.

His body bounces as he his arms are deformed―― By adding Zero Force’s hardness, her power may be doubled, but she also has the unique toughness of a beastman.

「Here, take this, take this…」
「Damn! You’ve gotta be kidding me!」

It was like a palm strike. And yet, each blow was incredibly heavy. The speed is different, but it is like a baby was playing with its hands. Oxygen is drained from his lungs. There is so much pain all over his body that the back of his eyes were sparking. As his consciousness blurs, he is hit in the chest, not able to catch his breath anymore.

His knees give in and he falls down to his knees with a thud. His vision darkening.

「I’m serious, you know」

She shoots an explosive front-kick and―― his jaw is kicked away.

Feeling himself flying through the sky, he lose his consciousness. His back crashes with the stained glasses ceiling at the center of the temple. And his body pierced through the glass roof and slumping to the ground.

He lies on the gray ground like discarded trash.

The luminescence of the brilliant potion rushed over Shouji’s wounded body. It seals up his wounds, restores his bones to their original shape, connects his muscles, and coats his skin.

「Ugh… kuh!」

Shouji puts his hands on his head. He is dizzy and has an awful headache. When he prop himself up using his elbows and raises his face, Chateausea walking towards him in a carefree manner. He cannot put his mind to work. The damage is ir     reversible. He cannot tell how many fatal wounds he has received, but he has a few spot that would not stop bleeding.

There should still be some time left for the『Dragon Knight Fighting Method』.

And yet―― it had already ran out.

I could not keep up with the amount of damage and physical abuse.

Chateausea who had been brushing her long hair stops walking. It is because a giant white wolf was getting closing in to her. Her servant who had been looking around at the devastated scene complains bitterly.

「The temple is in a mess, isn’t it, Your Highness?」

「That’s true… Ah, but there was a lot of noise even before I came here… Hmm, oops. The cave is about to collapse」

The rumblings sound of the earth can be heard echoing from far away.

Chateausea and Lox turns their face towards the inside of the cave.

Clouds of dust is filled the area. The surface of the walls are covered with scratches here and there. Especially, Leschia’s『Karma Legs』had made holes in the ceiling. And it seems Kielnir’s『Rupture』also penetrated the rock walls and cut the earth’s veins.

「But, it’s over now. Now then, it’s about time to finish you off, but…… I will hear your last wish」

Shouji frustratingly tries to use one of his hands to stand up, but his elbow gives in.

He tries to raise his upper body once again.

This time, he is able to stand while stumbling. He wavers and almost falls, but he manages to glare at Chateausea with a hateful look.

「That’s right… Just one more hit… The next one will be my last blow as a hero……」

He could not steady his voice.

His missing fingers had not healed yet. It was still suffocating, even though he repeatedly. took deep breath.

Most of his clothes were torn and dangling. He loved this black jacket and jeans, but he would never be able to wear them again, Shouji thought sadly.

「Ohh!」
「How spectacular!」

The king and the servant grins at him, as if mocking his tattered appearance.

Doing his best he can to hold back the twitches of his cheeks―― he smiles back at them.

「From here on… I hope none would have had to see this. It’s gong to be ugly to the point of nauseating. It’s my trump card… I will never forgive anyone who forced me to do this… especially…after what happened to my friends and Leschia. Today, I will end you, Beast King」

Shouji staggered―― And then his figure vanishes.

「Hmm」

The last thing he relies on is the magical power of the High-Speed Potion, which makes Shouji move at high speed. He goes around the enemy’s blind spot and uses the last bit of power he could muster to spin.

His stiff arms burst in order to kill his prey.

His aim―― is not Chateausea, but Lox, the giant wolf next to her.

「Ugh!」

A blow to his shoulder.
Lox, who spurted out blood from his shoulder, grimaces.

His forelegs are cut with a diagonal slash and his flesh and blood gouged out. His white fur and sinews scatters in the air, and fresh blood gushes out.

Lox loses his posture and falls to the ground.

As soon as he had finished his last attack, Shouji who had been spinning, quickly returns to his original position.

「Lox!? You bastard! Duel… with… me… e-ehh?」

Voracious chewing sounds can be heard.
Shouji is eating something with his back to them. He bites the white haired bloody meat with his teeth, opens his jaws and forces it down his throat directly into his stomach.

And then―― A mutation worthy of the name『Shock』happens.

The faint light that enveloped his body rapidly boost his recovery speed.
However, while both of his arms are restored, white and shiny bristles grow as well.

Claws which are not a part of the human body appeared from the tips of his fingers. Densely packed white fur coats his body. His body squirms as his muscles gradually swells.

His canines sharply grow and its tip can be seen. The amount of fur covering his face increase as well.

He turned back with his crazy appearance.

His blood-red eyes―― Become vertical.

「Ugh, uhh!」

And just like he rushes towards Chateausea, who watched in amazement―― However his speed was different from the extremely fast speed before. His movement now were much slower.

Fast is fast.
It is not that the eyes could not see it, but for his fist to accumulate strength, its speed had to be reduced.

However, Shouji grins.

Ripples ran through the Zero Force that supposed to block it.

It wobbled, and a dry, sharp sound came from the layer.
The heavy fist smashes her body. Chateausea’s body folds in two. There is a dull sound, and Shouji swings his fist it once again.

Nervously, Cheateausea rolls back.
Using both hand to keep her flying body from crashing into the ground. This was her first evasive action―― At this point, she understand the surprise attack and set up the Zero Force to block them.

As soon as she lands, her beautiful face frowned.

She holds her struck abdomen and lowers her long eyelashes.

「Ah, ah… ugh… you bastard…!」
「The Beast King’s Zero Force is the divine will given by your God… The Beast God. It is only given to the strongest beastman―― The child of God, but it does not mean there is no one apt to challenge it. It’s because the boss of the group take turns. The absolute invincibility of the Zero Force is beyond the control of the unqualified humans, but now things are about to change」
「You bastard stole my flesh and blood!」

The worthless old wolf who had become a sacrifice yelled, Shouji who was ridiculing him, spreads his arms, feeling happy from the bottom of his heart.

The overflowing savage nature and the might of the beast are first-rate.

It is a good thing that there is a famous beastman.
Otherwise, his transformation would not have been so powerful.
If he wanted to surpass the Beast King, he need someone at least on the same level or a contender.

What he ate was an already exhausted flesh and blood, but once it enter his young body. it could rejuvenate.

「It was fun to play around with the limits of human being, but it doesn’t work after all…… I quit fighting as a hero. And the Beast God accepted me as a beastman」

He opens his hands and looks up to the sky.
It felt like a spotlight was shining upon him.

In reality, though, there was no spotlight―― Just rock walls on the dim ceiling.
No one was there. Not even a silhouette. He does not know what the gods in the heavens think, but if they are involved with this world, there must be structured system in place.

He has no hesitation in getting involved with taboos.
There is no mistaken because he is evil.

「A change of rank. For the current me, that solid Zero Force… Feels like a cardboard. What a shame. Both of you should drop dead peacefully」
「Your Highness, let me――」
「Lox. you should step back already… I will take anyone’s challenge. I’m done playing around. If the enemy is the same race, then I have to burn            him seriously」

At Chateausea’s reproach, the wolf backed away with a bitter expression. In response to the predicament, she shifts to a fighting stance and a dramatic change also occurs in her appearance. Her beautiful face crumbled, and the fangs of the cat race flickers out from the tip of her tongue. Blade-like sharp claws extend from her lovely fingertips. Her boots were also removed. And her curved claws are exposed.

Her flexible and supple body inclines forward―― Assuming a stance of a tiger crawling on the ground.

「Oh, the kitten has become cute」
「You Rogue. Do you think you can win against me with that temporary stolen power?」
「If you want to defeat a monster, you have to become a monster. I have wanted to change ever since I was born. Because I was born in the slums. Since I was a kid, I want to be someone else. So, this is good. It’s wonderful!」

The situation was reversed.
After manifesting the『Beastman Fighting Method』, a secret technique of treachery, Shouji waves his fingernails in turn with satisfaction.

His upper arms are covered with fur, but his physical power underneath its cover is huge.
His vision is clear. His reflexes are sharp.

Perhaps it is because he was approved by the Beast God―― The magical power of the potions has disappeared in response, but it is not a problem. The divine will as a human hero or such, he can throw it away in order to live.

The condition are now fair.

Above all, the immature Beast King’s body has not mature yet.
It does not seem so difficult to kill her.

He is deeply grateful for this day. Because it was not often that he had such a chance.

「Come, Ojou–san. You’re probably weaker than Hall Totankun, anyway」
「I will kill you!」

She expressed her killing intent on him, flames burning in her golden eyes and she springs her body in motion. Her quick movement change suddenly. She become a black shadow and shows tremendous initial speed of running on four legs.

Even though she is exuding anger, she moves around while running sideways silently. Like a predator, she searches for her prey’s blind spot and opening. Her sharp claws scythe down from behind Shouji. The glittering trajectory the claws draw white lines and come to gouge his flesh.

Shouji turns around with light footsteps and defends himself with a lower martial arts stance against the scythe of death that enclosing on him.

He flicks her arms, puts his hand on her abdomen destroying the Zero Force once again―― But, his own five claws are broken too.

Looking at his bleeding fingers, Shouji is a little surprised with how hard it resisted.

It has changed from cardboard to bulletproof glass. Could the hardness increase at will? He tries to hit her body, but Chateausea fends off its power, somersaulting lightly.

The damage is a bit low.
If she is serious, then the Beast King as the leader of beastman is not just for show.

The speed of the lone shadow crawling on the ground is increasing. The two eyes that shine brightly are magical beasts themselves.

「Should I train you?」

Even if he was wrapped by the mysterious beast nature, he knows that in the end is it is the human that defeat the beast.

With a snap of his fingers, Shouji while standing on his own feet, steps forwards and assumes a low body stance.

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Translator : Renaichi
Editor : TsumiHokiro