I'm Not the Heroine

Chapter 58

"...That spineless idiot wanted me to take it away, so I wanted to do the opposite."

"...?"

"I warned the vampires, told them the hero party’s mage was dangerous, but they didn’t listen."

Muttering to herself, Mercadia slowly stood up. In her hand, she held a small tooth of Behirajaga and a pouch.

"Yet, in the end, I brought it with me. Now, thinking back, it was a wise choice."

With a faint smile, Mercadia took out a potion from the pouch.

'A potion?'

A potion—there was only one being in the demon realm known for handling medicines.

Someone who held the same title as Mercadia, a Duke.

"We must stop her!"

If she drank that potion, we’d be doomed! Aswell lunged forward at my words, but Mercadia’s movement was faster; she downed the potion in one swift motion.

Splatter!

As Aswell slashed toward her head, Mercadia neither defended nor retaliated. She even seemed to have deliberately lowered her defenses, letting herself be cut without resistance.

Thud.

Mercadia's head rolled to the ground, coming to rest beside Behirajaga’s corpse. I called out to Aswell, who stood before her lifeless body.

"Run!!"

!!!

[Sorry, Behira. That must have hurt.]

A tearful voice echoed in the air.

Rumble...

Mercadia's severed body and Behirajaga's corpse began to move closer together. A blue, blood-like substance oozed from Mercadia’s body, enveloping Behirajaga as the deep growl of a beast resonated, and a flash of light ignited.

It looked as though the two entities were merging into one.

Behirajaga’s entire body started sprouting multiple limbs, while the two voices melded into a single howl.

Demonization.

Mercadia was fusing with Behirajaga, evolving into a higher being.

If left unchecked...

The hero party’s annihilation.

The destruction of the mining city, Lacre.

Only a grim future awaited.

"No."

As Mercadia’s face began to emerge from Behirajaga’s, I swiftly switched the Master Key back to Emergency Mode.

'Forgive me, Master.'

My master might have sensed Mercadia’s arrival from the moment she appeared. I wondered how I would appease his wrath.

Especially since what I was about to do would test even his patience.

"Aswell."

"Yes, Louis. Just say the word."

Even in the midst of this chaotic upheaval, he looked at me with calm focus.

I wanted to honor that trust.

"I’m going to use a spell."

Unlike when I fired the Dusk Fortress with Ultima’s Sacred Spear, this spell wouldn’t be enough to defeat Mercadia.

What I could do was strengthen the hero party through the spell.

And, if possible, temporarily bind Mercadia’s movements.

"If Mercadia’s movement halts, everyone must kill her together."@@@@

Then we could stop this disaster before it escalated.

Though I tried to sound casual, Aswell's face grew serious.

"Louis, you’re not planning to do something like last time, are you? You don’t need to! Even without it, I’m sure we can—"

"No, it’s not that."

My unique magic differed from the bombardment function of Ultima’s Sacred Spear.

Yet, more important than this scenery was her.

"Lou..."

I turned to look at her.

"Ah..."

She stood still, her eyes closed, radiating a solemn aura.

Her reverent stance, almost like she was praying to someone.

Then, I noticed the fractured space behind her.

Yes.

It was almost... "pure white."

[If you see a white void when I cast the spell, don’t look at it.]

Her warning resurfaced in my mind.

Was this what she was referring to?

'But it doesn’t seem so dangerous.'

As that thought crossed my mind, I sensed something moving within the white space.

To be precise, the white space itself was shifting.

Within it, I could see a single eye.

It wasn’t a typical eye.

It was artificial, a creation forged from steel and metal, an "eye" crafted with precision.

That eye stared straight at the hero, and then, it flashed.

"...!!!"

In that instant.

[--- --- ---.

"Gah!!"

Aswell quickly understood why Louis had warned him not to look and managed to turn his head away with all his strength.

The splitting pain in his head vanished almost immediately.

'What was that...?'

"Aswell? Are you okay?"

"It’s... it’s nothing."

He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves!"

He erased the strange encounter from his memory as he drew his holy sword.

At Aswell’s command, her motionless hand began to stir, a white wave emitting from her fingertips.

"This is...!"

"Gasp...!"

Everyone reacted the same way.

Even Serelin, who had remained calm, looked shaken.

The first hero.

The Sword Saint.

The High Elder of the Elves.

The Pope.

The Great Witch.

It felt as if the powers of these legendary figures were now in their hands.

Was this the true strength of her unique magic?

With this, it felt possible to end that demon duke in one stroke.

'Is this... true power?'

At the same time, it was an unfathomable level.

Would one need power of this caliber to face the Demon King? And if so, how could one attain such heights?

The entire hero party was struck with awe and a sense of inadequacy.

Mercadia’s defeat was shockingly easy.

Even the very space itself seemed to support the hero party.

In such a favorable setting, killing the dazed Mercadia, whose mind appeared shattered by something, was almost anticlimactically simple.

Once Mercadia had been obliterated by the hero party’s onslaught, her magic began to fade.

When the scenery of the city returned, even the destroyed mines and parts of the town had been restored.

"..."

The hero party looked upon her fallen form in silence, unable to speak.