I’m a Hero, but I Gave Up Saving the World

99 – Faust vs John

‘… Also… I can’t kill… ‘

Looking at the face of the man she loved through her weakly closed eyelids, Irene quietly let go of her will to fight.

My arms were drooping and my legs were weak, so I couldn’t even stand properly, but my head was frozen and I couldn’t come up with any solution.

anyway… No matter what I think of, I’m sure I won’t be able to attack him in the end.

—John pointing his holy sword at me.

Eyes filled with the intent to kill for the first time.

I am just grateful to be able to see that face again, even though John is functioning only for a purpose like a machine, I can never attack him.

He leaned down and drew the knife back.

It was the posture when using a technique that John was most confident in, charging in a straight line and penetrating all enemies.

“Enemy of mankind, kill.”

“… that voice… It’s been a while. Whoops… I miss you so much… John’s voice.”

The will to fight is gradually disappearing.

I was stabbed like this before, and I felt sorry for myself that I was trying to repeat the same mistake again.

‘But it can’t be helped. John’s face, John’s hands, John’s chest, and each of John’s body are so nice and longing… I can’t help it’

When I first saw John in the basement, I was frozen and speechless.

I would have thought that the first hero, John, was the true identity of the final weapon.

Like me, John was locked up in a lonely cellar for a thousand years for the convenience of humans.

Poor John who is only used even after death… I couldn’t possibly attack John like that.

“I, save humanity.”

“Whoops… You are John, who is being manipulated but can’t help it. really… It is difficult to attack.”

The problem is that even now, as a puppet with no will, John’s body has not lost its fighting power compared to when he was a hero.

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Johann was too strong to fight an acceptable fight.

Now that she was seriously injured, her life would be in danger if she was attacked again, but Irene did not avoid Yohan, who came running fiercely, but met him head-on.

She was foolishly thinking of hugging John.

“Kill it!!”

“… John… come to me I missed you… .”

The moment Irene opened her arms and closed her eyes as if resigned, another Yohan appeared and grabbed the holy sword with her bare hands to save the goddess.

“What are you doing, you idiot! It is not something to be avoided!”

“Yo, John… ”

—Irene came to her senses when she saw Faust’s palm dripping with red blood from the torn palm he had suffered while trying to block the knife.

“Mi, I’m sorry. After seeing your face for the first time in a long time, stop… ”

“Wasn’t it me that you liked?! Don’t be swayed by the shell!”

“That’s right. yes. I will come to my senses now.”

Irene slapped her cheek like she was washing her face with cold water.

The first hero John, whose charge was blocked, roared even more like a beast and violently pushed the tip of the sword Faust was holding.

“kill!!! Kill the demon lord!!!”

“Damn it, this bastard is too strong?!”

Faust shoved away with a look of bewilderment on his complexion.

Suddenly, the fact that Meranir had been defeated by the first hero in the past came to mind.

“Even with the power of the Dragon King absorbed by Meranir, can’t it be matched by the first hero… ! It is worthy of the name of the final weapon. But Irene! Why is this guy so angry?!”

“The body where the soul leaves must originally become soil and disappear. That’s the point. But there is also a way to keep the body for a while by filling an empty vessel with new contents. other than the soul. Usually, it’s a way of filling in simple thoughts to make them follow orders well, but in your case, it seems that hatred for the devil or a sense of mission to save mankind entered the thoughts. The first hero’s body now recognizes me as the demon king and wants to kill me.”

Come to think of it, the identity of the Demon King who actually killed John a thousand years ago was Irene… It’s not a strange development.

It’s understandable enough.

“Then the story is simple.”

Faust kicked Johann in the stomach and pushed him away.

“Tearing that puppet to pieces and making a grave for it is enough!”

“Wait a minute John! You, reincarnated, hardly practiced, so your skills are incomparably lower than they were a thousand years ago! I will fight, so you avoid!”

“Okay, you’ve already been hurt a lot. You should get some rest.”

“Then let’s fight together. I’ll be in the vanguard, so you… ”

“no.”

Faust turned around with a determined expression.

Lonely and complex emotions were in his eyes, so Irene stood still like a borrowed sack of barley, unable to respond.

“You just don’t fight. never… I will take care of it.”

“why?”

— could not be asked.

I didn’t even have to ask.

Irene seemed to know how he felt.

Without a word, she watched Faust run like a bull toward John.

“Hey man! If you want to save humanity, kill me first! I am Faust, the slayer who annihilated all mankind!!”

“Ouch… I am the hero John. Killing the demon king is my role. If you interfere, I will kill you!!”

Faust’s tension was definitely higher than usual.

I felt like I was forcibly pretending to be lively.

‘… You’re suffering too’

Irene felt a sense of déjà vu as if she were seeing John a thousand years ago in Faust’s attitude against an opponent stronger than her.

‘I think I know why you stopped me from fighting’

“You don’t want me to go through the pain of killing someone I love twice.”

Faust already knows everything that happened in the past.

Because I saw with my own eyes how much pain Irene had after killing Yohan.

That terrible hell once is enough.

You don’t have to go through the same pain twice.

And above all else, there was no way Yohan wanted to fight Irene either.

Faust knew that better than anyone else.

So he threw himself into a battle he was not familiar with.

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John and Irene… for two people.

“If you haven’t moved for a thousand years, aren’t your skills dull? Aang?!”

“Do not disturb! I must win!!”

Irene prayed reverently like a saint, watching the battle between the soul and the body, the duel between Faust and John, the slaughter of loved ones, and the final confrontation between the warrior and the devil.

Please, hope that no one gets hurt in this fight at the end… .

—When Faust punches, John strikes back, when Faust bites his trapezius muscle, John swings his holy sword, when Faust summons flames, John strikes back with flames on his blade, and when Faust headbutts, John strikes back with more force hit

At first, the direction of the fight, which developed on an equal footing, slanted slightly towards Yohan as time passed.

“kill!!! Kill the Demon King! Save humanity!”

“Keuk… Hey. Why don’t you increase your vocabulary? How many times have you said the same thing?”

“kill!!”

“Kuk!!”

And finally, the fatal blow that would decide the game began to explode.

Yohan’s uppercut landed right in the navel.

Faust’s back bent at a right angle and he complained of intense pain.

“Cheuk! Damn it… !”

While his concentration was briefly disturbed by the twisting stomach pain, Yohan started to solidify the match in earnest.

The first hero swung his sword twice at the speed of sound and drew an X on Faust’s upper body.

“aaa!!!!”

“… would have killed No one can stop me.”

Blood gushed out like a fountain with unusual momentum.

Dangerous.

I almost lost my mind in an instant.

First Hero John.

Of course, I thought he would be stronger than me, who had only been digging books all his life, but I never thought there would be a difference in skill like this.

Besides, I don’t think I’ve shown all my skills yet.

“Yeah, but… you knock me down I won’t send you by Irene’s side.”

“… Irene… ”

Yohan seems to respond to Irene’s name, then returns with an inorganic look like a fighting machine and aims his sword.

Suddenly, the sharp edge of the knife felt so frightening.

In the next attack, I lose my life.

I was so sure.

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John is never an easy opponent, nor is he a clumsy enemy.

He’s a slaughter specialist.

The target to be killed once is a monster that has been thoroughly slain without exception.

The only opponent Yohan couldn’t kill was Irene.

It may not be enough to overcome it with only the strength of the Dragon King borrowed from Meranir and the burning desire.

Still, I have to fight.

“Irene twice… can’t make me kill That guy has already suffered enough. I will resolve the grudges and obsessions I left behind.”

“No matter what I say, I will definitely kill the Demon King.”

There was no way he could have a conversation with Yohan now, who moved only with his thoughts.

The guy is no longer me.

No, not even a living human.

no soul… He is just a puppet that moves with the thought of killing the demon king.

However, even if it is an absurdly strong puppet.

“Heh… A guy who doesn’t even know the devil king’s identity is going to kill him. Kill me first before the demon king.”

“However much. It is not difficult.”

Once again, the tip of the holy sword pointed at me.

When I thought that if I couldn’t avoid that thing, my life would fly away, my senses became extremely sensitive.

The passage of time felt slow and even looked into John’s pores.

‘done. I can avoid this’

The moment I focused my gaze on the tip of the knife that was gradually approaching, I suddenly had this thought.

‘Isn’t this what it is? Time slows down before you die… A kaleidoscope?’

It was only then that I realized that I had lost more blood than I thought.

My legs were very heavy and I couldn’t move a single step.

Oh, it can’t be avoided.

I almost gave up on life at the thought that Irene came running to save me.

She hugged me, turned around in the air, and landed out of range of the knife.

“Then die, John.”

“… Thank you for saving me. But get out of the way, Irene. I said I would do it.”

“I can’t get out of my way. I became stronger to protect John. I can’t lose you right in front of me. And listening to you, I have a strange question.”

“question?”

“Thoughts are like stains on the soul. Now that you have finished your revenge and come into contact with the World Tree, all your thoughts will have been washed away. But the thoughts controlling your body are terrifyingly strong and huge. What kind of obsession is left behind so that a thought like that does not leave the world and stays there? Tell me, John.”

“… I don’t know?”

Not only did I already avenge the entire party of warriors, but I also left the word that I forgive them.

I sincerely think that all the hatred has been washed away.

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t guess anything. In the first place, I know that the existence of the demon king itself is a lie, but I have no reason to want to kill the demon king.”

“That’s why it’s weird.”

Irene glared at John with suspicion.

“I would like to ask the thought that occupies John’s body. Why do you want to kill the Demon King so much?”

“… me, i… ”

With an angry face full of blood vessels protruding from his face, Yohan stuttered his trembling voice as if he was not in his right mind.

“Eh, kill the demon king… Irene and… married… happily… I will buy… Irene and… It’s a promise… So I… never… can’t lose… ”

“… … … … ”

—That was the only thought left in John’s mind.

It was my lingering feelings that I couldn’t erase even the world map.