CH 1.5

Chapter 1 Part 5

As soon as Eisuke felt the Hero, he jumped up and threw the first punch of the match. He looked at his right fist, which had the feeling of the punch, and felt the euphoria in his chest increase even more.

“That was a good punch, wasn’t it…!” It had been a long time since he had hit with such strength…

The Hero who was thrown through the air and a high school boy who suddenly appeared. While Yui and Serika were stunned at the scene, Eisuke raised his hand in a friendly manner.

“Well, that was close, partners.”

“Eh, partner…?”

“Well, that hooded one over there is Yui, and the one crying here is Serika…?”

“I-I’m not crying! It’s just a sneeze! The sneeze did this!”

“That jerk let his guard down too much in this situation… Well, you didn’t expect to find someone as inadvertently superhuman as me, did you? I’m glad to meet you.”

Eisuke calmly displayed his carefree and tension-free attitude. The two looked at each other at the sudden turn of events and muttered in a dazed tone.

“So, you…?”

“Lady Yui, Lady Serika! Are you all right!?”

When they saw Marielle and Rukino, who had arrived late to meet them, a look of relief finally appeared on Yui and Serika’s faces.

“Marielle, and Rukino too…!”

“You’re safe now! We’ve summoned the last one!”

Serika and Yui’s eyes were wide open. In the back of their minds still burned the image of Eisuke easily beating the immovable Ken.

“He’s… well…”

“Ah, right, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? I’m…”

When a figure appeared, Eisuke cut off his words.

…Ken, who had flown out, instantly approached him and swung his sword at Eisuke in a surprise attack.

Blood drained from everyone’s faces. In a surprise attack from behind, Eisuke was stabbed in the back. Or so everyone thought instantly.

…But everyone blinked and felt weirded out by the scene. Eisuke, who was supposed to have been attacked by surprise from behind, had his back to Marielle and the others.

“What… what is this…!?”

Moreover, it was Ken, who had supposedly finished off Eisuke in such a despicable manner, who raised his voice in annoyance. Then, finally, everyone present saw the actual scene.

…Eisuke had caught Ken’s sharp sword head-on with his arm.

“Hey, come on, don’t be hasty. I’m trying to enjoy this.”

The edges of Eisuke’s mouth curled up as he had caught the sharp sword with his forearm without moving an inch.

“What, why… the sword… won’t move…!?”

Ken muttered with trembling lips, his face turned pale. It was a scene that made no sense at all. Even though Eisuke’s forearm was hit head-on by an edged weapon wielded with full force, he didn’t bleed and there wasn’t even a cut. The feeling in Ken’s arm was like having foolishly tried to cut a diamond. It was not at all the feeling he had when cutting humans.

Eisuke, whose arms were as hard as diamond, answered without difficulty.

“Right, my body is super strong from training.”

“Haa?”

In the moment of silence that followed, a rampant spinning kick delivered by Eisuke impacted Ken’s side. The kick shattered the atmosphere and made an explosion sound. It was a blow of such absurd power that it could hardly be considered as coming from a human leg. Ken was thrown off as if he had been hit by a car and slammed his back against a large tree nearby. As Serika watched in amazement as Ken was dragged along the ground and groaned, she thought to herself.

“Wh-why…? But my kick didn’t work at all?”

“I told you. It’s because I’m more than human.”

Eisuke let out a fierce laugh and adjusted his denim jacket by holding the front hem.

“My name is Eisuke Tsurugi. I’m just a high school boy who got too strong.”

Marielle recited his name in a daze.

“Mr. Eisuke… Tsurugi…”

“I’ll take care of the rest. You’re all in my way, so back off.”

Eisuke said in a reproachful tone. The others could only stare at his back, dumbfounded. Eisuke approached the staggering Ken and cracked his knuckles.

“What the hell are you…?”

“I’m the new guy summoned as the ladies’ bodyguard. I’ve heard a lot about you. So, you’re pretty strong, huh? Was that destroyer beam I saw earlier your doing?”

Eisuke asked Ken in a somewhat animated voice. Ken replied in a slurred voice, trying hard not to let himself be pressured.

“Th-That’s right! So, if you fight me…”

“Hehe, hahaha! I see, I see, if that’s true, then it’s confirmed!” Eisuke interrupted Ken to laugh laud. His mood was more euphoric than ever. …After all, the being he had been searching for for so long was now in front of him.

An existence that could stand when he went all out. An existence that could compete with his excessively strong self. An existence that he could never have found in that dull, cramped, depressing world. At last, he had found it.

And what to say: to fight with him, who had a power of divine degree, with all his might was the mission that Eisuke was entrusted with in this world. Eisuke’s feelings in such a situation could be expressed in a single sentence.

“To say the least… this is most amusing!” Eisuke let out a small tremor of joy, like a warrior. With a fierce grin, he flexed his fingers at Ken in an attempt to provoke him. “Come, come, great Hero who saved the world. Fight me with all the strength you can muster, okay?”

He said arrogantly and adopted a fighting pose. His fearless and imposing appearance was intimidating in itself. Ken clicked his tongue and gripped the hilt angrily, defeating this intimidation.

“Don’t be sorry then!”

Saying that, Ken took a big swing with his silver sword. The crescent-shaped slashing blade that emerged from it attacked Eisuke, tearing up the ground.

But Eisuke stared at the approaching blade and did not move a muscle. Instead, he calmly clenched his right arm. As he did so, he glanced sideways at his fist and lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile.

“That’s it…!”

With all his strength, the blade delivered a slash….

…It was a vacuum blade that cut through everything. A fist of flesh would end up cut in half, arm and all, as expected.

“Haaa!?”

Who did that surprised voice belong to? Was it Hero Ken’s? Marielle’s or Rukino’s? Yui’s or Serika’s…? …No, all of them.

Eisuke’s fist erased the blade without a trace.

There was no other way to describe it. The sharp vacuum blade dissipated and disappeared as it was crushed by Eisuke’s strong fist. He punched the air away.

“Th-that’s impossible…!? Wh-what the hell is that power…!?”

Ken’s face paled. Instead of answering, Eisuke twisted the edges of his mouth and jumped like a spring. As he approached, Ken lost his composure and brandished his greatsword in desperation. The blade released another slash, but Eisuke pushed it away with a mere backward fist.

“Raah!”

He lunged at Ken’s opening and delivered a powerful blow to his chest. A stormy updraft swirled around Eisuke’s arm, hurling Ken skyward at a furious pace.

“Gaha…!?” Ken was hit with the strike with great force, and was sent spinning several tens of meters in the air, “Bullshit…! So… how about this…!” Ken threw down his sword and raised his palm in the air. Particles of light converged in his palm.

“He’s going to blow up the whole forest…!”

With a snap, his hand shot out a flash of light. And then, a huge torrent of energy that defied the laws of physics; a non-standard technique called destroyer beam, was fired to destroy Eisuke.

“Ha, that’s ridiculous!” However, even that desperate attack was repulsed by him. Eisuke jumped up giving a roar. …And kicked the destroyer beam, cutting it in half. The beam, which split in two, burst out a different direction than the original one, ripped the earth from that place with a bang.

“Whaaaaaat!?”

Once again, a stupefied voice came from everyone present. It was a scene bordering on absurdity. Eisuke had cut the destroyer beam that had attacked him in half with a kick accompanied by an explosion, changing its trajectory.

“Wha-what…?”

Ken was so surprised that any other action left his mind. Eisuke laughed and walked over to him. The leg he kicked the light beam with was bare with burnt pants… but there was only a slight red burn mark.

“M-My Hero powers, why…!?”

“It’s simple! It’s just that your precious cheating ability was no match for my overtrained body!”

What Eisuke said was ridiculous, but at the same time, he stated a simple and clear fact. Indeed, that was true. The pride of having his strong body that could withstand ordinary blows just because he was a Hero, his sword skill that could cut bullets, and even the cheat skills given by the Goddess… all of it was far from reaching Eisuke, who had trained his muscles beyond human limits. That was all he was saying.

“Then it’s time for you… for you to fuck off!”

The Hero began to fall. Eisuke lunged toward him. The moment they crossed each other in mid-air…

“Take thiiiiis!” Eisuke turned his body and drove a right hook into the hero’s chest.

It was an overwhelming blow that even made him reach the atmosphere and caused a shockwave. Ken couldn’t even scream and fell head first with the speed of a meteorite.

Bagaaaaaanngggg!

With an earth-shaking roar, a cloud of dust rose up.

When the dust cloud cleared… there were concentric cracks in the ground, and in the center of them was Ken’s unconscious figure.

Eisuke landed in front of Marielle and the others. He looked down at his attire again and frowned.

“Crap, my pants are ruined. Well, I guess that’s how strong that attack was. Hey, are any of you guys good at sewing? It would be awesome if you could fix them for me, I love these.”

“More importantly, I think that burn must hurt like hell?”

“No, no, that’s not what you should be retorting him. You kicked a beam of light that blew up a whole forest before, so why did you just get burned like you got boiling water on you…?”

“That’s because I’ve been working out to kick the crap out of yankees and troublemakers.”

“I don’t know if that’s something you can achieve with just exercise…”

No one could punchline him anymore. The difference between the tremendous power he had just displayed and the lighthearted and well-mannered Eisuke made all the women not know what to say to him. In the midst of it all, Yui muttered to herself.

“Yankees…”

“…? Yui?”

“…No, it’s nothing…”

Eisuke turned his attention to Marielle. She gasped at the fierce and fearless look that made him feel even more powerful.

…She couldn’t believe it…!

Marielle forgot to even blink as she stared at Eisuke.

Besides Yui and Serika, there was another person who surpassed an ordinary human. Knowing this, Marielle summoned Eisuke to this world. She understood that he had effective power against Heroes.

However, her comprehension was nowhere near knowing this level.

A body so hard that not even a sword could penetrate, and limbs so strong that they could create a storm with a single blow. And the audacity and courage to even show a smile and challenge a Hero who was known to be the strongest. In every way, he was no ordinary person.

…That made her wonder if she had summoned the most extraordinary person of all.

She couldn’t help but, with tremendous astonishment… her expectations shot sky high.

“…lady! My lady! You must send him back now!”

“…Eh?! Yo-You’re right!”

Marielle was startled by Rukino’s voice urging her on. She walked over to the crater area where Ken lay.

“Uh, gu…!”

“…Sir Ken. I’ll return you to your world.”

Marielle looked at him and held out her hands to him. When Ken awoke, he felt instantly troubled, as if his previous state had been a lie.

“Wa-Wait! You can take away my abilities, but this world is so much more wonderful than the other! Let me be reborn in this world, please!”

Marielle made a worried face as Ken began to get down on his knees.

“…Indeed, I summoned you for my own selfish reasons. Yet, you have defeated the evil Demon King. For that, I am very grateful.”

“So…?”

“But you desecrated this ‘wonderful world’.”

Ken complained. Marielle denounced him with a more intense look.

“You used the power I gave you to defeat the Demon King, invaded many places and injured many people. …I, as the person who must bear the responsibility of this country, prioritize my duty to protect this country and its people over my duty to you. Even though you are the heroes who saved the world, I cannot forgive you.”

Marielle’s honest eyes said Ken had no more words to say.

“The world you are supposed to live in is not this one. With the pride of having defeated the Demon King in your heart, go to that other world.”

“But it’s okay, isn’t it? If you think it’s okay, leave this guy in this world.”

“Huh?”

When Eisuke suddenly interrupted, Marielle looked like a pigeon that had been shot to death. Rukino shoved Eisuke in the side and admonished him.

“He-Hey, don’t interrupt her! Why don’t you just listen quietly to what my lady has to say!”

“I was so far away that I could barely hear her. I only heard the part about a new era.”

“I at no time heard her say anything like that.”

Serika shot a sidelong glance at Eisuke, who was making a silly joke. He ignored her accusations and crouched down to Ken.

“There is a saying in our world.” Eisuke raised his index finger and showed it to Ken with a serious look. “Don’t be a wimp.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“If you want to stay in this world, I won’t stop you. You can even keep the cheats, for all I care. But if you do, I’ll fight you as often as I can. Even if you don’t like it, even if you run away, I will find you and beat you even more than I did today. You are weaker than I am, so I will not allow you to respond to me in a way that does not please me.”

“Huh…!?”

Eisuke smiled grimly and pinched the bridge of Ken’s nose with his finger.

“If you want to stay in this world, there’s only one way. The only way is to become stronger than me. Now, choose for yourself. You can live an ordinary life in the other world, or you can spend the rest of your life with me in this one.”

No matter how he looked at it, he had only one choice. Ken, who had been defeated by a being bordering on the ridiculous that he couldn’t beat even with the ability to blow up an entire forest, no longer felt like fighting. All he felt now was fear of Eisuke’s unknown power.

“I’m not going to fight someone like you again, you son of a bitch!” He replied in a trembling voice, trying his best. Oddly enough, he would be unable to forget Eisuke for the rest of his life due to the fear he had expressed out loud.

“…Then I will return you to your world.” Marielle announced, and raised her hand again.

…Her body was enveloped in a holy light. Pale light particles of seven colors emerged from everywhere, and soon a geometric magic circle appeared at Ken’s feet. Marielle’s blonde hair glowed as if alive.

With closed eyes and a dazzling aura that seemed to burn the eyes, the woman was a goddess.

“May the goddess bless you in your future life.”

After receiving Marielle’s parting words, Ken was enveloped in a dazzling light and disappeared.