Chapter 115: Is There Anyone Who Wouldn't Resent the Human God? (Patreon)

As Zenith's figure appeared on the light screen, it wasn't only the people in the vision who were stirred. Everyone aboard the teardrop-shaped airship, watching Zenith on the screen, was deeply moved as well.

Until now, they hadn't known for certain whether Zenith would even be in the Labyrinth City of Rapan. Rudeus's light screen settled the question once and for all. The person they wanted to rescue, Zenith, really was in the Labyrinth City of Rapan on the Begaritt Continent.

But it didn't last!!!

As the images on the screen shifted rapidly, the color drained from everyone's faces.

On the screen… neither Roxy's magic nor Rudeus's magic could do so much as a scratch of damage to the legendary monster, the Manatite Hydra… not even the slightest. It stood there, head held high, and their magic seemed completely useless!!!!

Only Paul, a warrior, charged in bravely and began fighting the Manatite Hydra at close range. Everyone else kept supporting him with magic.

But… it was no use. It had no effect at all!!!! Paul was fighting alone, a lone soldier against an army!!!

He dodged and rolled, again and again, and kept attacking the legendary Manatite Hydra beast with everything he had.

Fortunately… Paul still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he cut off two of the dragon's heads.

Unfortunately… two new heads grew back from the wounds!!!!

But then they noticed something. Magic worked on the wounds when they attacked at close range. So after Paul once again cut off one of the dragon's heads with all his strength, the others rushed in. Using fire magic, they quickly cauterized the wound.

And so… one head after another was burned shut and sealed.

The Manatite Hydra's strength drained away, and it was nearly at the end of its rope!!!!

But in the next moment!!!

Desperate to live, the Manatite Hydra threw everything it had into a wildly frenzied attack on Rudeus and the others closest to it.

In that instant, Paul, protecting Rudeus… couldn't dodge in time, and he was torn into several pieces. The largest piece, his upper body, lay in a pool of blood.

Rudeus… had his left hand torn clean off. Blood surged from the great artery in torrents. The others were wounded too, each in their own way.

Still, none of them were hurt as badly as Rudeus and Paul, who had been closest.

In the end, the Manatite Hydra, which had poured out all of its life force in a final burst… undoubtedly died at their hands!!!!

But Paul, the Paul who had protected Rudeus… also lost too much blood. Little by little he lost consciousness and slipped into death!!!

A family on the verge of reuniting. In this moment, it walked down the road to tragedy.

On the ground lay Paul, already dead. Ahead of them was Zenith, trapped in a magic crystal, her life or death unknown.

The image on the light screen… finally froze at this moment!!!

The family who had watched everything on the light screen fell into a wordless silence, unable to help themselves.

Without a doubt!!! The Paul on the screen was a great man!! To let Rudeus live, he gave up his own life without hesitation!!

But this was a result that nobody wanted to accept!!

Rudeus raised a hand and put the light screen away… then looked at Paul and spoke in earnest.

"Paul, now you know why we've been working so hard.

"True, you didn't see a single trace of Hitogami in any of it. But that's exactly what makes Hitogami so terrifying…

"He can manipulate the living beings of this world and push you into despair without you ever realizing it. And if Hitogami never says it himself, no one will ever know that every tragedy in their life was set in motion by him."

Listening to Rudeus, Paul asked, struggling to understand, "Why!?? Why would the legendary Hitogami go after us??"

Rudeus answered slowly. "In the future, the child I have with Roxy will become the greatest executioner of Hitogami. Is that reason enough?

"As for why a child of the future would move against Hitogami… Father, let me ask you something. When you play with an ant or crush it, and other ants get caught up in it, do you apologize to them?

"He's strong enough. That's the whole reason!!! He's strong, and he no longer has a real rival. So he can chase his own amusement without any restraint…

"And whether a few ants get dragged into it along the way… Do you think a noble Hitogami with absolute power really cares about that?? Does he really care!???"

As Rudeus pressed his final questions, Paul's head sank lower and lower.

As the son of a great noble… he understood perfectly what Rudeus meant.

Once, he too had played his games with no regard for the lives of commoners. A great noble, standing high above everyone else, worrying about whether commoners lived or died? That was a joke!!! Wasn't it the commoners' honor to amuse him!???

It was only later, as he grew older and his understanding of the world widened, that he came to grasp how precious life was, and stopped being as reckless as he had been as a child.

Later still, he even became the guardian knight of many commoners in Buena Village. He once scolded his own eldest son, Rudeus, because Rudeus had bullied a commoner's child. Of course, Rudeus then taught him a miserable lesson in return.

But precisely because he had been through all that!!! Paul understood Hitogami's state of mind all the better.

To be honest… the legendary Hitogami, the only true god in the world who had never fallen, probably regarded ordinary beings like them with an attitude not so different from what Paul himself once had.

But Hitogami, who had lived for who knew how long and had gathered such mature experience and knowledge, still did as he pleased. That only made him more infuriating!!!

Paul gripped the longsword at his waist, hard, almost without realizing it. He nodded heavily, as if using up all his strength, and said to Rudeus, earnest and grave, "I understand!!"

At that low voice, almost a battle cry, Lilia, who had been staring blankly after watching the vision, startled back to herself. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and spilled over before she could stop them.

Vierra and the sisters had red-rimmed eyes too, and glistening tears slowly slid down their cheeks.