Final Volume: Chapter 2: The Truth of the Holy Sword

What's Achieved

The Truth of the Holy Sword

The pitch black door opened and the four of them stepped inside.

Once inside, there was a large circular space.

For a Demon Lord's room, it gave off an awfully bleak impression. It was a truly empty room.

In the center is a black throne with a man sitting on it.

"You broke through my demon castle and made it this far..."

With that, the man stood up from his throne and turned towards us.

"Are you the Demon King?"

Aleph asked while holding his sword, and the man began to laugh.

"That's right. I am the Demon King. I am the Demon King Ouma."

"You are... the Demon King Ouma...! (If you read it backwards it becomesDemon King Ouma too.)"

Saint Chris muttered, repeating the words she had heard.

At that moment, they learned the name of the greatest enemy that had tormented humanity.

This was the moment when the name of the greatest enemy that had tormented humanity was revealed.

["Demon King!! The time has finally come!"]

Chefs, who had regained consciousness, was expressing his anger towards the Demon King.

As the first hero, it seemed like there was some kind of connection between them.

"Oh, this voice... it brings back memories. I never imagined you'd look like that."

["I came back from hell to kill you."]

"I am here together with the power of Chefs and the heroes who have held Chefs in the past."

Aleph declared as he pointed the holy sword at the Demon King.

"What? Together with all the previous heroes...? Heh... heh heh... hahahaha!!"

Then the Demon King started laughing as if he found something funny.

"What's wrong?"

"It seems you've been fooled by that sword."

"What are you talking about...?"

"I've never seen a hero use a sword like that before."

"What?"

The Demon King suddenly says something strange.

Then how can he use so many different skills when none of the previous heroes have used them?

"Chefs... I see, you ate them, didn't you?"

["…...."]

"What? What on earth are you talking about?"

The words spoken by the Demon King caused the Holy Sword Chefs to suddenly fall silent.

Aleph couldn't grasp the situation.

There was silence for a while, then suddenly――――

["Kuhi... hehehe. I never thought the Demon King would reveal it all for me."]

The Holy Sword Chefs' voice suddenly changes from its refreshing tone to a darker one.

There is an uneasy atmosphere in the surroundings.

"What do you mean? You said that when I drew the sword, the power of all the heroes who have held you would reside in me."

["Yes, I did say that. I wasn't lying. Aleph, you possess the power of a hundred dead heroes.]

"A hundred? That's ridiculous. There's no way there are that many heroes."

Aleph's confusion deepens as the holy sword speaks incomprehensible things.

Even though the Demon King was right in front of him, he couldn't concentrate.

["...You see, I have the power to erode and absorb anything that comes into contact with me. When I set my sights on people with powerful skills and said things like, 'You are the chosen one, please surpass me,' they all ended up eaten by me with ease."]

"So you've eaten a hundred people? And this is their power...?"

["I wasn't able to obtain all of the skills of the humans I ate, but with each one I absorb, my power increases."]

"Why would you do that...?"

Aleph never imagined that Chefs, who cared so much about humanity, would actually devour all of those precious people, and he wanted to know why he had committed such an outrageous act.

["Why? Of course it's to defeat the Demon King! I swore to do anything to achieve justice. For that, it's only natural that I should accept the lives of a few hundred or two hundred people!"]

"…………"

["No matter what form I take, I am a hero! A hero must defeat the Demon King! I am the one who will save the world! Heroes from another world are nothing but trash! I, the one who gave power to the hero Aleph, am the true... no, the one and only "hero"!!"]

Chefs screams in madness.

Aleph, who has now come to know the dark side of the holy sword, is unfazed.

In fact, it doesn't really matter how many unknown people die.

The same was true for both the Saint and Reno.

(If you had eaten more, we would have won easily...)

Chris was thinking things like this in her mind.

"Even if it's to defeat the Demon King...that's terrible."

Aria was the only one who was saddened by the deaths.

However, Aria's words anger Chefs.

["That’s terrible, you say? The useless sword saint is speaking so arrogantly."]

"I mean, the people who held onto you... didn't they want to fight alongside you!?"

["That may be true. However, the people I ate wouldn't have been able to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings at the time. If that's the case, then offering their skills and powers to me would be the greatest contribution they can make."]

"You... Are you still a holy sword?! Don't you feel any guilt?!"

["Those things will be of no use in defeating the Demon King. What I want is power. The power of an overwhelming hero to protect the world and defeat the Demon King! That's right, that means me. I am the hero."]

Aria is disappointed and hangs her head when she sees the true nature of the holy sword, which values justice and peace among the people.

Chefs was only concerned with two things: being a hero and protecting the world.

"You can forget about me and just talk, but if you have that much free time, I'll set up a trap."

The Demon King unleashes a shock wave from the black staff in his right hand, which he has somehow acquired.

"It's dangerous! Defensive Magic Protection!"

Chris quickly cast a defensive magical protection over the entire area.

However, as soon as the shockwave touched it, it cut through the protective magical protection like butter and headed straight for Aleph and Aria. Aleph dodged it with superhuman reflexes.

However――――

"Huh...? That's my arm..."

Aria was unable to avoid the blow and her left arm came into contact with it, causing it to fall to the floor.

The upper arm and below are gone, revealing a clean cut surface.

Aria muttered softly, and then she lost consciousness from the shock of her arm being severed and collapsed.

"Ne ... Nee-san!! (You should have avoided that much, trash.)"

Regardless of what she was thinking inside, Chris shouted out loud and ran over to Aria looking worried.

The Demon King saw this and sighed.

"She came this far, so I was expecting to see some kind of strong one, but... I was way disappointed."

["What a stupid girl. Even though she's just a small fry, she still had to give me her opinion, which is why she ended up like that. Come on, Holy Hero Aleph! Now is the time to defeat the Demon King and save the world!"]

"I know without you having to say it. Demon King... I'm taking your head."

The blood-stained holy sword and the mad man ran towards the Demon King at blinding speed.

A fierce battle between Aleph and the Demon King begins.

Meanwhile...

"Hmm, Aria-san. Your arm is gone."

From behind, Reno could be heard muttering with disinterest, as if it were none of her business, while intently watching Chris run up to her.

There was no one here who was truly worried about Aria...

Why was the holy sword at the bottom of the abyss?

That's because it was too dangerous and was sealed away by people long ago...