Chapter 104
Once, he believed himself to be the strongest.
There was n.o.body who could match him since the moment he was born. He was born to be at the summit of all magical beasts. The power he was born with was different. The position he was born into was also different.
In terms of both basic ability values and their upper limits, he—Leon—was born worlds apart from the others. The creatures around him naturally revered and followed him as their king. In turn, Leon accepted it as a matter of course.
Because I’m strong, it’s natural for them to obey me. I can do whatever I want with these lower lifeforms, since my strength grants me absolute authority.
He had never thought of other magical beasts as his comrades. He was at the pinnacle while they were just lower lifeforms. He believed this from the bottom of his heart. In fact, due to the difference in power, n.o.body could disagree with this…No, the ones who disagreed were killed and eaten by him.
Was it arrogance that resulted from an overly-high self-esteem? Or perhaps a childish delusion that only he alone was different? No, he would deny both claims. It was simply the truth that he was above them from the beginning. That was all. Thus he a.s.serted his dominance without reservation and indulged in unrestrained violence.
There doesn’t exist anyone who could fight me on an equal footing. Oh, what a joy it is to have such absolute superiority for being born the king.
Since victory was predetermined, he just had to follow through the process to obtain it.
“We’ll win. If we believe in this, it’ll come true. As long as we stand united to face the future, we won’t lose to beasts.”
He took pleasure in using simple violence to crush those people who spoke of such nonsense! Even if they believed and hoped for the future, the weak would still be weak and the trash would remain trash.
Because of my absolute strength, no matter what those small fries do, they would never resonate with my heart. If you can’t accept this, then stop me. But you can’t, can you? Then that’s all there is to it.
In any event, Leon only saw everything other than himself as insignificant bugs. Therefore, he never felt remorse in his heart for what he did nor considered himself to be in the wrong. He never felt that he would lose and never met anyone who could challenge him. He never doubted that the situation would continue like this into the future.
It seems that there’s a Vampire Princess, Demon King, and Dragon King across the sea, but they are probably just small fries anyway.
For someone who thought this way, the news was not surprising. When he heard that the Dragon King had been subjugated by a flügel, he merely thought that a small fry had been defeated by another small fry and promptly forgot about it. But eventually, he came to recognize that it was a mistake to think that way.
That same flügel—Ruphas Mafahl—invaded his territory.
It was his first experience. It was natural that one who dominated others by power could also be dominated by power. It was natural to be terrified of the enemy.
Is this fear? Is this pain? Is this defeat?
These things should never have crossed his path for his entire life, yet they were engraved into him by that woman in a single night. He knew he would win the battle, yet he did not win as he expected. He never imagined that he would be giving it his all to fight a losing battle.
I won’t admit this…I, like this, would be defeated by a woman!
As a result, the battle ended with the defeat of Leon and he became a member of the Twelve Heavenly Stars under Ruphas. He was relieved that she did not finish him off, yet he was ashamed of himself for feeling this way. It was the greatest humiliation. For him, being placed in the same group as small fries like Aries was a disgrace that was equivalent to an execution.
All of this is just infuriating. There cannot be anyone above me. I won’t accept it.
That’s it. This humiliation must be returned. I won’t forgive the existence of Ruphas Mafahl. Therefore, I will kill her myself. I won’t let anybody else do it.
This time, I’ll utterly defeat her, push her down, and dye her beauty with fear for making me experience the pain of defeat. I’ll bite her white neck while she fearfully begs for her life. I’ll eat her without leaving any bones behind.
Surely, at that time, I’ll become the strongest once more. If one completely devours that unbeatable woman, it’ll surely give the same pleasure as being on top.
For the first time in his life, Leon had a distorted desire.
He was the only one who was different among the Twelve Heavenly Stars. He did not revere nor admire her. Instead, he hated her and held a grudge. He swore that he would kill her one day.
His behavior seemed similar to Benetnash’s, but their secret feelings were completely opposite. Essentially, Benetnash’s attack on Ruphas was a perversion of love. On the other hand, it was pure hatred and murderous intent for Leon. It was different from the warm, familiar feeling given off by Benetnash.
Therefore, he could not accept that ending. He could not forgive her for disappearing on her own after defeating him.
I’ll kill you. I should have been the one to kill you, right? Yet you ignored that and lost in a battle on your own. How can I regain my pride now after losing to you?
After losing sight of his goal, Leon abandoned his place as one of the Twelve Heavenly Stars and spent his time idly. However, a recent event moved him to take action. He was merely eating the adventurers and demons who ventured too close, yet the magical beasts saw him as their protector.
When he finally noticed the creatures that he didn’t care about, such as bugkin and snakekin, they were revering and exalting him as their king. The situation was the same as before. The surrounding creatures were willingly bowing to Leon’s absolute strength.
This doesn’t feel bad at all. That’s right, I’m the king, an incarnation of power that others willingly follow even if I don’t do anything on my own. It was only natural that this is the case. What is strange is the situation until now.
He thought so and allowed them to join him. Actually, he didn’t care about the rights of demihumans and the definition of humanoids. He simply wasn’t interested. Despite this, he needed to have a generous heart.
And then he thought, “That’s right. If I take over the world, wouldn’t that mean I have surpa.s.sed Ruphas?” He would completely rule over and dominate this world which even Ruphas couldn’t accomplish. If he could do this, he would have surpa.s.sed Ruphas. Since Ruphas was no longer around, he couldn’t do so by fighting her. Therefore, he must prove that he had surpa.s.sed her by doing what she couldn’t do.
But—
But what is happening? Let alone Ruphas who returned recently, why am I being cornered by the Twelve Heavenly Stars, who are merely her subordinates? Why am I being pressured by these small fries?
I don’t like this…I don’t like it at all from the bottom of my heart.
♌
“d.a.m.n! It’s another thing if it’s Ruphas, but why am I being cornered by low-grade trash like you guys…?”
Leon forcefully raised his blood-soaked body and glared at his former comrades. Comrades…? No, he never once thought of them that way. Everything other than himself was a lower life-form, therefore he never had a sense of camaraderie.
The truth was that he was strong. If he were to fight one-on-one against anyone here, he could overcome any disadvantage in compatibility and achieve victory. He could even have forcefully overwhelmed Karkinos by virtue of the difference in their const.i.tutions. However, if Dina’s recovery was added to the mix, there would be nothing he could do. Even if he tried to attack Dina to stop her recovery, he couldn’t break through Karkinos’ interference. Furthermore, there were Libra, Aigokeros, and Scorpius to consider.
He was strong, very strong. However, no matter how strong he might be, the opponents were a group of monsters that transcended common sense, the Twelve Heavenly Stars. No matter what they did, it would be impossible for Sagittarius and Leon alone to win this.
“Shut up, it’s annoying.”
Then, there was a black flash of light. Aigokeros unleashed Luna Shooter, a Moon-attribute arcane magic, at Leon and blew his body away. A giant-sized Scorpius grabbed Leon with her pincer and slammed him into the ground.
Sagittarius couldn’t do anything to help, since a ruthless cannon was still positioned right at the back of his head. No, even if he could move freely, could he really provide support? At least, it did not seem like Libra would allow him to turn the situation around.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t hear the words of a trashy person who even lost to trash. I didn’t think that a pile of s.h.i.t like you, who betrayed Ruphas-sama, would bark like this!”
Scorpius screamed hysterically and swung her pincers down again and again. Each time, the ground shook and caved in. There was not a speck of mercy or forgiveness between former comrades. Her world revolved around Ruphas. Every decision was made based on Ruphas as a criteria. Therefore, she no longer considered the traitor Leon to be a comrade. He was just an annoying magical beast.
“Hey, isn’t that so!? Say something, hey!? Everyone thinks so too, right!? Since Ruphas-sama is absolutely right, those who would bare their teeth at her must be absolutely bad!
Why doesn’t this idiot understand such an obvious truth!? Oh, I see. You weren’t thinking at all, right? Is that why you don’t even understand something so obvious!?
Come on, come on, come on! Sc.r.a.pe your filthy head against the ground and apologize to Ruphas-sama! Admit that you’re a completely horrible idiot and beg for forgiveness!
Come on what are you doing speak up I can’t hear you are your ears rotten just because you’re a little strong you think you can be patronizing I’ve really hated you since a long time ago oh yes won’t it be good if you don’t exist right that’d be all fine right oh why didn’t I think of something so simple before but it’s okay since it’s still not too late right now I’ll reduce you to minced meat and then Ruphas-sama will pat my head and praise me—”
“…Oh…”
Karkinos held onto his forehead as he looked upon Scorpius, who was ranting something incomprehensible while hysterically attacking Leon. Normally, he could still hold a conversation with Scorpius, but once she went berserk, there was no helping it.
It’s starting again.
Everyone thought as they watched the giant scorpion dryly with a disgusted look on their faces. As they watched her go berserk, they even thought that perhaps her behavior back at Blutgang had nothing to do with being brainwashed by the G.o.ddess. She was truly hopeless.
Anyway, this was a complete victory. Leon might even be killed if the current situation persisted. They had to think about how to stop Scorpius. Leon was certainly a traitor, but he was still Ruphas’ hands and feet and a member of the Twelve Heavenly Stars. His judgment had to be left to Ruphas herself. As her subordinates, they could not willfully commit an act that would be equivalent to severing her limbs. As such, they couldn’t actually kill him, even if it was fine to leave him on the border between life and death.
I won’t admit it…
As a result, they didn’t notice that while Leon was being beaten up, his hate was increasing. Or rather, because he was recklessly being cornered, his rationality was no longer effective in holding him back. They should have known that there was at least one person who would see this as an opportunity.
『Do you desire power?』
His heartbeat quickened. A female voice resounded his eardrums with gentleness and compa.s.sion. His entire body felt an unprecedented power. This was what he wanted. The thing he was looking for was here right now. The power to surpa.s.s Ruphas was right before him.
『You are the strongest magical beast.Therefore, the current situation cannot be permitted to persist. If you so desire, I shall bestow power upon you.』
An unknown, beautiful woman with blue hair appeared in his mind. She smiled and reached out to Leon. Needless to say, this was the G.o.ddess’ offering and an invitation to ruin. However, Leon simply raised the edges of his mouth.
Power…Power! If he had more power, he wouldn’t lose to anyone and he could even reach Ruphas’s level. There was no need for pride. Power was absolutely everything. Weaklings wouldn’t even be able to protect their pride, so Leon grabbed the hand without hesitation.
“No need to pitch the idea…Skip this pointless chatter and quickly give it to me! Power, gimme power! Absolute power that won’t lose to anyone! Shut up and just give it to me!”
『Very well. I shall grant your wish.』
The G.o.ddess smiled and put her hand on Leon. At that moment, Leon’s body exploded with divine power.