Chapter 8 The Instructor, Wishing

The Instructor, Wishing

I draw back with all my strength and let go.

The arrow flies.

Perhaps due to extreme concentration, time feels stretched.

The arrow, which normally flies so fast, seems to move through water.

The arrow flies.

Straight toward the Demon Lord, with killing intent and skill.

Faster! Faster! Even a moment faster!

The arrow flies.

The skill it carried was [Imitation: Demon Lord Slayer].

It’s a strike with everything I have.

The arrow flies.

Whether I could imitate it was a gamble, but somehow I managed to pay the price.

An indescribable feeling of fatigue and pain overwhelmed my entire body.

Right now I’m standing on nothing but pride.

This will probably shorten my life by about ten years!

A mass of blood seemed to be rising from my stomach.

If I vomit, I won’t be able to see the end!

I can’t let such a waste happen!

I forced myself to swallow the mass of blood.

If I can take it down with this, it’s my victory! If you can endure, then it’s your win!

I smiled, tears and blood streaming from my nose, my vision turning crimson from broken capillaries.

I’m sorry for your newborn, but die for me!

These are the words of condolence I offer you, I who have always prayed for the happiness of others!

“Not for others, for my… for my own desires, die for me!”

3 meters left… 2 meters… 1 meter…

It looked at me.

Ah, there’s no mistake… that is… That is definitely a Demon Lord!

Pure killing intent! The enemy of all living beings!

I must have been born to kill this thing!

At the moment the arrow struck, our eyes met.

There was no emotion in those eyes.

The arrow has reached it.

My all-out attack pierced it effortlessly.

I killed it!

The invisible space twisted, groaned, and bent.

“I did it…”

The next moment I was blown high into the sky before I could cheer.

“!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”

When I realized it, all I could see was the sky.

It was a clear blue sky.

What happened?

As I spun around, I somehow managed to organize my confused thoughts.

For a moment, I could see the ground.

The mountaintop I had just been on had been completely blown away.

And now it looked like a crater.

Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!!

Did the unstable magic explode all at once?

It’s like a balloon that was inflated and then popped with a needle!

How am I still alive!?

At that moment, the [Scape Doll] I had in my pocket fell out and scattered.

I’m glad I had the [Scape Doll]!

But I’m sorry if I stay like this; I’ll fall to the ground and die! Failed to prolong my life!

Oh, is that shitty village down there okay? No, first of all, am I okay?

As I struggled, a black mass of magic flew towards me from the ruined mountain.

Ah, is this the Hero skill!? But I think it was white when Sieg got it!

But if I stay like this, I’ll just die! At least let me see what kind of skill I got before I die! It would be too sad to die like this without even being able to use it well… I really don’t want to die before I become famous, beat up Sieg, have a happy family, and die of old ageeeee!!!!!

Bang!!!

“Gah!”

The black magic mass hit me directly, and my consciousness was blown away.

Gooooooo~

…The wind is blowing… I can hear its sound…

“Cough… Cough…!!!!!”

I coughed with all my might.

When I realized, I was lying face down.

I raised my upper body.

Ah, wait!? Am I alive?

Why!?

Oh, could this be the afterlife or something?

I was confused, not understanding the situation at all.

No, wait, check the surroundings first! Then check my body! Thinking comes last!

I sat up and looked around.

Eh? The sky feels close.

All I can see is a brown, fluffy ground? And the blue of the sky.

It’s a barren place for hell.

I think I see some kind of building in the distance.

Anyway, there are no hostile entities.

Next, check my body.

Painful spots. All over.

Hurts like hell, but I can bear it.

Probably no fractures.

That’s good for now.

No missing right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot. Good. Fingers are fine too.

The blood from when I overexerted myself has dried up, leaving my nose and tears crusty, but I’m fine for now.

Spatial expansion bag… Good. At least I can survive with this for a while.

After a quick self-check, I looked around again.

I could hear the sound of the wind blowing in the distance.

As I thought earlier, the sky feels unusually close.

…Where am I?

As far as I can see, it’s a brown land.

I can see a building-like thing in the distance.

I couldn’t do anything by standing still, so I took a step towards the building-like thing in the distance.

Mofun~

Eh? My foot sank in.

“…”

I gently touched the ground.

Is this a big feather…?

Digging through the feathers, I reach something warm.

I touch it gently and feel a warm pulse.

…Un.

Ah…

I had a feeling this might be the case, but I’m probably sitting on some kind of giant creature.

In a tavern, I heard that drunken old man talking about giant beasts called [Great Star Beast Behemoth], [Great Sky Bird Jiz], and [Great Sea Beast Leviathan]…

He said that there were creatures in the world that were so big that their entire shapes could only be imagined.

I thought he was half joking about such a big thing, but I actually met one….

Sorry, old Mostur, for doubting you!

I bowed to Rikehana.

What am I riding on?

What’s under my feet are feathers.

Yes, it’s probably the [Great Sky Bird Jiz]… or maybe it’s some other bird I don’t know.

I don’t care if it is.

I remember being blown away by the magic explosion that occurred when I defeated the Demon Lord and then being hit by the flying magic mass.

Could it be that I just happened to land on the back of the flying Great Sky Bird Jiz?

…was the shock absorbed by the feathers, allowing me to land without injury?

Seriously? No way!

What kind of probability is this… Nobody would believe me if I told them…

Well, no matter what the facts are, I should be grateful that my life was (probably) saved.

Alright!

Now, what should I do?

To be honest, I can just go back.

I have the [Fast Travel] skill.

However, since I just used the [Demon Lord Slayer] skill, I’m very exhausted, and it will be difficult to activate it until I recover to some extent.

If it fails, I might end up in an unknown place.

Damn it, my body is not moving properly…

Honestly, I feel like collapsing and sleeping right now, but it’s hard to risk sleeping defenselessly in a place like this.

At this rate, even if I rest for a day or two, it will probably be hard…

If someone asked me where it hurts, I’d say everywhere.

What does it mean to feel pain evenly from my head to my toes?

I definitely need to rest in a proper place…

“Ah! That’s right! The Hero skill! The Hero skill is…!”

I forgot something important.

With that explosion, I should assume that the Demon Lord has been defeated.

Otherwise, I would have died by now.

Hero Skills vary greatly and are almost like unique abilities.

It is said that they are created by mixing the magic of the defeated Demon Lord and the person who defeated them and that they can be used by knowing their names.

No one knows the truth.

I’ve heard that you won’t know how to use them until you try different methods.

By the way, Sieg’s [Demon Lord Slayer] skill was the kind of skill that he knew how to use right away just by knowing its name, so he didn’t have any trouble at all.

Sieg, go to hell!

I wish it has an easy-to-remember skill name!

While I was praying, I was confronted with the skill within me.

The Demon Lord Skill [Omnipresent Harmony].