Chapter 8: The Villainous Scion Who Steals the Princess from the Original Protagonist
I entrusted Elise’s parents to Ackersen merchants operating in the Oiraan Empire while gathering intel on Nirvana through the «Evil Eye» I’d scattered.
They finally reunited with their parents.
I told Elise, who refused to get off Kruru even after her parents dismounted,
“Get down.”
“No way.”
Knew she’d say that…
“I’m heading into a death trap. Don’t blame me if you die.”
“I’ve decided I’ll die with you, Nord-sama.”
Her words drew a heavy sigh from me.
Dying together sounds like a lovers’ suicide…
The thought sent a shiver through me, but to avoid death flags, I’ve got to save another troublesome girl.
According to «Evil Eye» intel, Nirvana was taken to an orphanage she once visited for charity. I didn’t expect Kain to react to the distress signal I taught her, but that works in my favor.
“Father, Mother, I’m off!”
“Come back to show us our grandkids’ faces.”
“What are you saying, Corin!”
Elise’s mom, great job calling him out!
“If you get pregnant, I’ll go back home to raise the kids.”
“…”
But then she said something even worse than Elise’s dad, and my face twisted into a mask of pure exasperation.… Anyway, I’ve got to make sure Elise doesn’t create any faits accomplis.
“Kruru, go!”
—Kyurururun♪
Kruru let out a cry and took off, while Elise waved to her parents until they were out of sight.
Flying at supersonic speed, we reached the orphanage airspace in no time.
Wait, isn’t Nirvana holding back on using alchemy against Kain?
Kain was fighting the concubine faction soldiers, but for some reason, Nirvana kept her distance, hiding behind a rock and firing alchemy from her staff-rifle to support him.
Well, if Kain’s keeping them busy, that’s convenient.
“Nirvanaaaa!!”
“Nord!?”
Kruru seemed to catch my intent, folding her wings to her body and tilting toward the ground. The G-forces from gravity were insane, pulling us downward.
Ugh!
Gritting my teeth, Kruru deftly used her wings to decelerate, rolling right and folding her wings, skimming the ground so low it felt like a belly landing. I gripped Kruru’s neck with my legs and stretched out my right hand. As we neared the rock where Nirvana was hiding, she grabbed my hand with both of hers.
I yanked her up, and she was surprisingly light.
To think she fought in the cutthroat palace with such a delicate body…
For a moment, I was overcome with emotion, but now wasn’t the time.
Kruru, like an ace pilot, regained control and soared away from the orphanage. No one there would know what just happened—except one person.
“Nordooo!! You stole Fana-chan from me again!!”
Kain’s loser howl echoed up to the sky.
I spoke to Nirvana, sitting in front of me.
“Kept you waiting, huh?”
“You’re late! Thanks to you, I almost got dragged off by some weird boy…”
Kain… she doesn’t even remember your name…
It was a moment of realization that Nirvana falling for Kain was hopeless.
But, Nirvana, don’t you usually face the other way when riding?
She was sitting on Kruru facing me…
“Excuse me, princess or floozy, whatever you are, aren’t you getting a bit too cozy with my master?”
“You’re the one being weird, getting jealous just because I’m catching up with my childhood friend Nord.”
The two started arguing with me sandwiched between them. Feeling awkward, I stroked Kruru’s scales and asked,
“Hey, Kruru… how about dropping these two off somewhere safe and you and I head to the frontier? That cool?”
“No way!”
“Absolutely not!”
Yeah, figured…
—Kyururu…
What the hell is this…
When we reached the hill in Kannenberk, countless soldiers lay in gruesome pieces—torsos, heads, arms, and legs scattered like parts.
At the center were Barbara and the Kurchatov siblings. I enhanced my hearing with «Dark Ear» and picked up their voices.
“Yuri!”
“Irina, you escape…”
“No way! Let’s just kill this guy and go home.”
“You two, get out of here. Leave this to me… Bring Noct… He can…”
The three, battered and bruised, were locked in a desperate fight against the fully awakened Siegfried… no, the Insect Demon Lord Malakaital.
Siegfried’s head was gone, but tattered remnants of his white military uniform clung to his arms, chest, and waist, barely identifying him. A green appendage—tail or torso—protruded from his rear, and insect legs sprouted from his sides and where his human legs once were. He was nothing but a monster now.
“Elise, use «Heal» on those three. Nirvana, bring Elise’s parents.”
“Yes, Nord-sama!”
“Elise’s parents? I don’t know them…”
“Don’t worry. Kruru knows their location and faces. Just tell them there are tons of injured people.”
“O-Okay! But what about you, Nord?”
“Obviously… I’m gonna teach that smug bastard who’s been torturing weaklings a lesson!”
“Don’t die, Nord!”
“Yeah, well… you already knew, huh?”
“Sorry, I kept quiet…”
“Don’t sweat it. Just do your part.”
I leapt off Kruru.
Not dying from a parachute-less jump? Gotta love isekai physics!
As I descended, Elise followed. Kruru, carrying Nirvana, turned and headed toward the merchant house where Elise’s parents were.
Looks like Siegfried was possessed by the Insect Demon Lord Malakaital.
His face is like a praying mantis’s triangle head, but his body resembles the four-armed general from Space War. He’s gripping colorful light swords—red, blue, green, purple.
If those were glowsticks, he’d put on one hell of an otaku dance.
“Dark elf, you’re tough, but a hundred years too early to challenge me. If you’re reborn as an insect, I’ll make you my minion. Farewell.”
Barbara’s arm is broken, unable to even block the descending light sword.
I was planning to float down like an angel with «Levitation», but—
ZGAN!!
I landed right on Malakaital’s face. The recoil bounced me up, but I flipped midair and landed next to Barbara.
“Kept you waiting.”
“You’re late! I’m a dark elf, but I’m gonna finish first… Next time, I’ll see your climax face, so brace yourself…”
“If you can still talk smack like that…”
Barbara, staggering, leans her voluptuous, unruly body against me. Looking at her, I can tell she’s battered and pushed herself to the limit in this fight.
“Elise, sorry to burden you, but take care of her. And… you three lackeys did well. Rest now.”
“Don’t call us lackeys! Say it again, and I’ll kill you!”
I point at Yuri and the others, but my Nord-speak nickname is pretty damn harsh.
No wonder they’re pissed…
“Yuri, you don’t have the energy for that! Noct, I can still fight!”
“Irina, you rest too. This is my fight now.”
“No way, even you can’t beat that thing…”
“Who do you think I am? I’m Nord Villance!”
Why the hell did I just out myself like that!?
Well, Nirvana and the others already figured it out, so my life’s at zero anyway.
“Huh? Noct… what’re you saying… KYAAA! The real Black Hero-sama!? Nobody told me Noct was Nord!”
“Keep it a secret from everyone, got it?”
“O-Okay… In exchange, as hush money, go on a date with me!”
“Do whatever you want.”
Honestly, I don’t have time for this. I answered Irina halfheartedly, but she seemed satisfied, dragging the exhausted Yuri toward Elise.
A creaking sound, like joints popping, echoes.
“A sneak attack is cowardly.”
Malakaital shakes his head side to side, then faces me with an expression ready to resume the match.
“You’re quite the comedian. Your host was a cowardly, despicable bastard, but you’ll fight fair and square, right?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t stoop to such cheap tricks against the weak.”
Oh, I get it!
The “I never fail!” type of arrogant prick, huh?
“Here I come!”
Malakaital charges, pointing all four light swords at me in an assault stance.
He took down a reawakened Barbara and the Kurchatov siblings single-handedly. This isn’t an opponent to underestimate or slack off against.
Since Nord outed himself, I don’t have to hold back anymore.
“Wake up, you lazy bastards!”
I draw a holy sword and a whip sword from my «Treasure Vault».
“Ngh!? Nord, w-w-w-what!?”
The holy sword’s spirit, X, panics, forced into battle right after waking, still in sword form but vocalizing.
“If you don’t want to snap and end your sword life, work hard, you shitty blade!”
“Fighting this creepy thing!? Give me a break! You always drag me into troublesome crap, Nord!”
“Don’t aim your anger at the wrong guy. Your enemy’s that mantis wannabe over there.”
Looking like a mantis but without scythes? That’s straight-up false advertising. Like selling a clunker and calling it a high-performance vehicle!
“Hoh, dual wielding, huh? Interesting. But four against two is hopeless.”
“Kukuku, me, hopeless? Burn this into your pea-sized brain: I’m not the one who despairs, I’m the one who gives it.”
I sidestep Malakaital’s charge, lightly parrying, but he swings two of his arms in a backhand blow, slashing horizontally.
Using the holy sword and whip sword, I block the red and blue light swords. As expected of «Dark Hour Dual Wield»!
“Hoh, you can block that!?”
Malakaital, acting like a warrior, seems impressed as we lock blades. No wonder he’s impressed.
Light swords are cheat-level, first-strike killers.
The soldiers he slaughtered tried to block his slashes with staff-rifles, only to be cleaved in two, weapon and all.
With light swords that slice through steel like butter, plus his four-sword style… normal weapons can’t handle them. But the holy sword’s divine blessing and the whip sword, powered by my mana, generate their own mana bands.
To beat Malakaital, you either dodge relentlessly until he tires or attack with long-range magic.
But his stupidly high magic resistance and «Critical Hit Evasion» from his demon god’s blessing nerf high-power magic to the level of «Flame Sphere».
In short, you have to run around like a coward, chipping away with magic like an archer in a game. Even knowing the strategy, I got wrecked by him countless times controlling Kain when I lost focus.
But I’ve got a trump card.
“That female called you the Black Hero earlier.”
“So what?”
“Are you the one who defeated Comrade Azrael?”
“Nah, wrong guy. The one who beat the demon lord was Kain…”
“Lies! The pressure, the intensity, the tension only someone who’s faced him would exude… Azrael was the weakest demon lord, but there’s no way a lowly human could beat him!”
Make up your mind—praise me or trash me!
«Acceleration»
“Kukuku, my slashes are now twice as fast. Can you keep up?”
“Petty tricks!”
If I can parry his light swords, great, but my slashes get caught by his blades, and the other two light swords come to pierce me, making my speed advantage useless.
Fighting Malakaital head-on means becoming prey to his four-sword style. I keep circling to his side, facing only two swords at a time. The other two are slightly delayed due to his joint structure.
Even so…
Goddamn it!
Dodging is insanely busy.
“All that bravado just for show, Black Hero!? Calling yourself a hero with that is laughable!”
Yeah, no kidding!
Your side’s literally sprouting arms from your gut…
Whoosh! A light sword slices through the air, grazing overhead, followed by a leg sweep I jump to avoid.
It’s like oversleeping and rushing to get ready five minutes before departure! If I’d overslept by two hours, I’d just give up and take it slow!
It’s as hectic as a dance arcade game, dodging Malakaital’s light swords.
“Here, here, here! Just dodging is no fun!”
Malakaital swings his swords wildly—vertical, horizontal, diagonal.
If I get myself even a graze of the attack, I’ll get diced into a meat cube steak.
The holy sword clashes with the purple light sword.
“Hm!?”
But the blue sword, raised high, doesn’t come down. Malakaital’s slash interval stretched by about 0.05 seconds.
A tiny difference, but he noticed.
“What’s wrong, Demon Lord? Your sword arm getting rusty? I’m yawning waiting for you to reach me.”
I’d been using «Sword Venom». Each clash with my swords makes his weapons heavier.
“Kukuku, it’s my turn now. Your spotlight’s over. «Icicle»!”
“What!?”
Casting magic without chanting mid-swordfight, countless icicles form above me, raining down on Malakaital like sideways hail.
“Tch!? You think this pathetic magic can defeat me!?”
He swats the icicles with his light swords, turning them to vapor, but the ones he misses hit his body, chipping away at what was once Siegfried.
“I knocked them all down!”
“Even a Demon Lord bluffs when cornered. Honestly, disappointing!”
I confirmed earlier that «Icicle» didn’t do much damage, but he missed about two thousand out of ten thousand shots.
“You said four against two, right? Wrong. My swords aren’t just two.”
«Ice Thrust Sword»
Like some golden-armored hero king, I summon countless swords above me. The thrust swords are made of ice but enough to distract Malakaital.
“Kukukuku! Looks tough. Need help cleaning up?”
“Don’t screw with—”
The moment I taunt him while he’s busy with the thrust swords, a gap opens.
His front’s wide open, so I leap, slice off his mantis-like head, spin midair, and land behind him.
“Because of you, I had to cut something gross!”
I struck my coolest chuunibyou pose—knee to the ground, arms crossed over my chest—but X ruins it.
No choice, I finish with a blood-flicking flourish for style.
As the fight ends, Nirvana waves from atop Kruru.
“Nord—!”
She leaps off as Kruru lands, completely forgetting about Elise’s parents, and rushes toward me.
“We’re still in battle! Don’t let your guard down!”
“Huh!?”
My fears come true—Nirvana gets grabbed by Malakaital’s suddenly moving body.
His severed head sways as if mocking me.
“Where’s your honor? Taking a hostage is pure villainy.”
“Shut up! Only victors get to write history… A loser’s cowardice is told forever by the winner! Drop your weapons, human!”
“Fine, then I’ll make sure your vile, cowardly deeds are passed down for generations. Die in peace.”
“What!?”
“Fana! Remember the one magic you can use. Do it like we practiced.”
“O-Okay! «Storage»”
Congratulations.
«Storage» has evolved into «Sanctuary».
The skill’s effect protects the user’s body from all harm.
—
Nirvana’s body is enveloped in white cloth, transforming into a small shrine only she can enter. It glows platinum, so bright even I feel like Hans-paisen, nearly blinded.
“Petty trick! I’ll slice it to pieces!”
His light sword swings at Nirvana’s «Sanctuary», but…
Span!
“Hahaha! Your lover’s cut in two, too bad!”
“What’re you talking about? Look closely.”
«Sanctuary»’s reflection effect repelled the malicious attack.
A hologram-like display appears beside the shrine, and Malakaital’s green light sword, along with his forearm, flies off and stabs into the ground.
“What the hell was that!?”
Malakaital’s severed head stares in shock at his lost arm.
“What? Don’t know Amaterasu? Modern Demon Lords lack education… shows your upbringing. But I’m generous. I’ll teach you as a parting gift before you die. What Nirvana used is magic said to be created by a shut-in goddess.”
She’s not incompetent. Just a late bloomer compared to other heroines. Those seemingly pointless training sessions were to hasten her awakening.
“Now that you get it, die.”
“What!?”
Crunch… I pierce Malakaital’s head with the holy sword and start dealing with the rest of his body.
“Extend! «Whip Sword»”
The whip sword stretches, coiling around Malakaital’s body, immobilizing him.
“To my hand! «Whip Sword»”
Using the recoil of the retracting blade-chain, I hurl Malakaital’s body into the air.
His six limbs are torn off, leaving just his torso. A still from «Rising Hero» flashes in my mind—Nirvana in a brothel, limbs severed.
Vanish, Demon Lord!
«Dark Void That Reduces All to Nothing»!!
A tiny black hole swallows Malakaital’s remains, erasing them completely.
I rush to the blindingly glowing «Sanctuary», shielding my eyes.
“Nirvana!”
I worried she might not emerge like Amaterasu, but as I call out, the shrine splits open like a clam, and Nirvana steps out.
“Not nude, huh.”
“You idiot, Nord…”
I teased, hoping for a Venus de Milo-style reappearance, and she sweetly scolds me. She wraps her arms around my neck, hugging me and kissing me.
“I was so scared. But I believed in you, and I did it for the first time. I knew you were my destined one.”
Even without Nirvana saying it, I knew she was my destined one.
Destined for death flags, that is…
“What, what, what! Don’t kiss my Nord-sama with your filthy lips!”
Elise, having dumped Yuri’s «Heal» on her parents, barges between me and Nirvana.
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