Act 122 - Childhood Friend and The Hero of Light

Act 1-2.2 : Childhood Friend and The Hero of Light

After his request, Runfeld glared at Kuroki.

「Moreover… He doesn’t seem capable of defeating that Hero.」

(You’re so damn right, bro.)

Kuroki unintentionally agreed with Runfeld.

He didn’t expect that Runfeld would draw out his sword and slash at him in a challenge.

「Let me test your power! 」

「WOAH! WAIT A MINUTE! 」

Kuroki quickly sidestepped to dodge that attack. Unfortunately, Runfeld was relentless in his pursuit and charged again. The attack was avoided once more thanks to Kuroki’s brilliant footwork.

「HA! 」

And then, when Kuroki bent his knees slightly, his body moved as if sliding along the ground as he dodged every single one of Runfeld’s attacks.

(How is this possible? I’m… Moving faster than usual.)

His body felt lighter than usual. Kuroki reached out and grabbed Runfeld’s wrist after dodging dozens of attacks. With one move, he disarmed Runfeld and flung him away.

Runfeld was too slow to react and ended up kissing the cold floor.

「GUHA! 」

「Ah, sorry! 」

The moment he realized what he had done to his opponent, Kuroki reflexively apologized. But that did nothing to dissuade Runfeld. He refused to give up.

Stretching his left arm, Runfeld aimed his palm at Kuroki and unleashed a flickering black flame.

「F^CK! 」

Modes noticed what he was doing and tried to stop Runfeld, only to be ignored. The black flame traveled toward Kuroki.

「Wait a minute, Runfeld-dono! THAT MAGIC IS…!」

「EAT MY BLACK FLAME!!!!! 」

As the black flame rushed towards Kuroki, it grew larger. If Kuroki wanted to dodge the flame, he’d have to run toward the crowd of monsters.

With how close the flame already was, he couldn’t dodge.

(Crap, I won’t be able to dodge this one!)

 

Kuroki stretched out his arms in a reflex to protect himself from the black flame as it collided with his body.

To everyone’s surprise, the flame stopped at Kuroki’s palm. More accurately…

… He caught the black flame with his bare hands.

(It’s… Not hot at all. How strange. How did I stop it?)

Kuroki gawked at the surreal scene before him.

Technically, since fire wasn’t solid it couldn’t be caught by hand. However, the black flame that was supposed to consume him was gently flickering on top of his palms.

When he clenched his fist, the flame vanished.

A bit away from him stood Runfeld, who couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed either. The back flame was his strongest attack and Kuroki stopped it like it was nothing.

「No way, my black flame was….」

Naturally, Kuroki had no idea the attack was so powerful. His bewilderment was solely for the ability to stop a flame.

(What a strange sensation.)

His palms weren’t scalded. No matter how much he checked, he couldn’t find the slightest trace of a burn on his hands.

He tried recalling the sensation he felt only moments ago and Kuroki was able to reproduce the same black flame from the palm of his hands.

「!?」

Kuroki was so surprised that he closed his fist and crushed his black flame in panic.

(What the?! How did I do that?! Can I truly create that flame?)

There was a brief moment of silence around the room. Then, from Kuroki’s side came the sound of someone enthusiastically clapping.

Modes approached him while laughing merrily.

「As expected of you, Kuroki-dono. Runfeld-dono is the strongest knight in Nargol and yet, he wasn’t even able to land a hit on you. On top of that, you even mastered the black flame. Let’s go with this flow and defeat the Hero.」

(What is this black flame, anyway? Is he talking about the black flame that I created just now?)

He suddenly recalled the image of Reiji and the others that Modes showed him. They had fired light and flame from their hands.

Kuroki wondered if he somehow had awakened a mysterious power after being summoned by the Demon King.

   (Urgh, my head can’t catch up with this rapid development. Am I really going to have to fight against Reiji?)

Modes nodded to himself.

He seemed satisfied that he had summoned Kuroki.

(He’s actually serious about me fighting Reiji! But why would I do that? Just refusing him on the spot seems so…)

「Uhm, Excuse m-…」

Kuroki was about to refuse Modes’s request when his brain silenced him and alerted him of something he had yet to consider.

Could he refuse? What would happen to him if he said he didn’t want to fight Reiji?

More importantly… If he refused, would Modes prevent him from going back to his world?

That was the most probable outcome, since fighting the Hero was the reason he had been summoned. Kuroki glanced at Modes and pondered about it for a while. In the end, he decided to test the waters.

「Uhm… Does that mean you won’t send me back to my world if I fail to defeat them? 」

「… EH? 」

Unexpectedly, Modes showed a surprised expression. It was the complete opposite of what Kuroki had been expecting.

「… The method to send Kuroki-dono back, you mean?」

Modes took out a crumpled piece of paper from his breast pocket and stared at it silently for a moment.

Kuroki suddenly felt an ominous premonition about the situation.

The Demon King opened his mouth and quietly read what was written on the paper. It appeared he was trying to reassure himself that he didn’t read it wrong.

The bad premonition that Kuroki felt made him risk asking Modes a question.

「Don’t tell me that you… don’t have a way to send me back? 」

Kuroki’s question created an awkward silence around the room. Even the Demon King was conspicuously silent.

He was right. It was the worst development.

「It seems that… There’s no way to send you back.」

「W-WAIT A MINUTE―――! What do you mean by that?! 」

Kuroki unintentionally raised his voice. The bitter truth that he was unable to go home was suddenly and forcefully shoved at him.

Modes bowed to Kuroki as he apologized.

「My apologies, but there’s really no way to send you back.」

Kuroki felt that contrary to his scary appearance, Modes was unexpectedly a timid person. Right then, he heard another person talking to him.

「Please wait a minute, Kuroki-dono.」

Mona, Modes’s wife, was already standing in front of her husband. She stared at Kuroki with such a pitiful expression that she looked like she could cry at any moment.

That kind of expression was a lethal weapon against Kuroki, who had no resistance to a woman’s wiles. He froze and remained silent.

「Please. Kuroki-sama. At least listen to Modes-sama’s story.」

Kuroki then looked at Modes.

「Well, Kuroki-dono. Let me tell you the reason why I ask you to protect me.」

(~’.’)~To Be Continue In The Next Release Xp~(‘.’~)

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