Chapter 228
○○○
The Refaia shatters.
That moment feels like slow motion.
Ah, ah.
The days I spent alone.
Come to think of it, Refaia was my only partner.
I couldn’t have conquered all those dungeons without Refaia.
Refaia—Refaia—Refaia—but there’s no time to dwell on sentiment.
Right now, the black aura that embodies Ryūgūin’s skill is filling our space, pulsing as it tries to distort reality.
That’s when I finally notice.
Refaia has shattered, transforming into countless fragments.
That sparkle—those fragments—remain suspended in space.
「Refaia, you—」
The suspended fragments swirl, and then—
「Yamadaaa!! Humans need to know when to give up!!!」
Ryūgūin thrusts his arm forward forcefully, as if to give momentum to the black aura. His mouth curves into a crescent as he lets out a loud laugh. However, two of the larger visible fragments of the still-floating Refaia pieces launch at incredible speed and—
「Guuuugh… how, could…」
Pierce into Ryūgūin.
「It… hurts… it hurts…」
Following that, several fragments fly toward us, one piercing into Mika, one into Angie, one into Eris, one into Puffy. And the largest one pierces into me.
The Refaia fragments that had been suspended in place emit a dazzling light and disperse outside Sena and Sensei’s barrier at tremendous speed.
「Why, why can’t I do it!!」
Ryūgūin’s scream startles me.
I look around. His skill’s black aura has completely dissipated.
☆The two «Guardian Sword Refaia» fragments inside Ryūgūin’s body☆
Having gained the effect of Yamada’s skill «Skill Defender» as the master of the «Guardian Sword Refaia», and further amplified to the extreme by the Holy Sword’s «amplifier» property.
Currently, the fragments have entered Ryūgūin Ouji’s body, merged at the molecular level, and mixed together, making separation impossible.
The first fragment has permanently sealed Ryūgūin Ouji’s skill «■■■■■■».
The second fragment has permanently sealed Ryūgūin Ouji’s skill «○○○○○○».
「Why!? Whyyyy!! My power!! Ahhh!! Ahhh!! Ahhh!! Ahhh!! Why!! Whyyyyy!! Why can’t I use it anymoreeee!!」
His scream-like roar echoes emptily.
And then another sound.
The sound of sobbing.
It’s coming from Puffy.
She’s on her knees, covering her face with both hands, crying bitterly.
It’s okay. Don’t worry. Just forget about it.
Many words I want to say flash through my mind.
But it’s not over yet.
Ryūgūin sways like a ghost and tears at his hair.
His bloodshot eyes show he’s lost his mind.
No, maybe he was never sane to begin with.
「Yamada, my plans are ruined because of a mob character like you.
You were jealous of my God-given talent and deliberately got in my way. Aren’t you ashamed of attacking exceptional people out of envy and jealousy?」
「You’re the one who should be ashamed. Aren’t you embarrassed about living life as a parasite?」
Ryūgūin reacts sharply to my words.
「You don’t understand anything!! I have the right to do this!! Even back in Japan, there were people in the privileged class!! What’s wrong with me, a Hero, doing the same things they did!!」
「That’s not right.」
「What’s not right about it, you mob!!」
「Don’t you get it? Or are you just pretending not to?」
「Get… what?」
「You’re just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill guy with nothing special about you.
You have no abilities and haven’t accomplished anything.
All you’ve done is drink yourself stupid, sleep with women, and cause trouble for others just to satisfy your own vanity—that’s it.
No matter how grand you try to make yourself sound, your true nature doesn’t change. You might think you’re something special, but you can’t do anything remarkable.」
His know-it-all tone and attempts to act important are simply ridiculous now.
「You’re just a villain who can’t control yourself, constantly inconveniencing others and drowning in your own desires.」
Ryūgūin’s face turns red as he tenses his shoulders.
「Shut up!!」
He knows it himself.
「Did you enjoy playing hero?
You’ve never even faced an enemy, but you had the nerve to lead an S-rank party. I heard about it. They almost got wiped out because of you. And you pushed that responsibility onto Eris too.
There’s a limit to how shameless you can be.
You know what they’re saying about you in the adventurer community? They’re laughing about how ‘the Hero is a coward, thoughtless, and small-minded.’」
「Shut up!!」
「I won’t shut up. Did you enjoy playing businessman?
Everyone’s talking about you.
They’re saying you’re just a con man who sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong, without a shred of experience or sense in management!!」
「Shut up shut up shut up shut uuuuup!!」
「Is ‘shut up’ all you can say? Your vocabulary’s pretty limited.
You’re getting flustered because I hit the mark.」
Called out, Ryūgūin’s face turns as red as a fire extinguisher, and he can’t even say 「shut up」 anymore, just groaning 「guuuh.」
「I’ll say it as many times as I need to.
Using fancy words doesn’t change the fact that you’re empty inside. No matter what, you’re just a good-for-nothing con man.
Hero? So what if you’re a Hero?
Holy Knight? That doesn’t matter.
What really matters is—」
My chest tightens as I remember the past.
That’s right. This is how I’ve always lived.
「What matters is the solid core deep in our hearts that makes us who we are.」
I can see Ryūgūin grinding his teeth.
「You don’t have a core.
Everything you do is for yourself, and you’re the only thing that matters to you.
Everything you do is just meaningless, empty self-indulgence meant to make yourself look bigger than you are.」
「Shut uuuuup!!」
「Now it’s back to ‘shut up’?
Fine. You won’t apologize. That’s the kind of person you are.
So this is the end.」
Just as I approach to restrain him—
「I hate violence.」
In complete contrast to his behavior just moments ago—
「So I really didn’t want to use this.」
Ryūgūin mutters quietly.
「I’ll escape from here, and I’ll definitely get these fragments out and get everything back. So I’ll use this skill that I can only use once—」
I create a ring of Light Magic to restrain him and launch it.
However—
「«Limit Break»」
He announces.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
It’s unclear what ○○○○○○○.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
It’s unclear what Limi○○ refers to.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
It’s unclear what Limit○ refers to.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
It’s unclear what Limit refers to.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit × refers to ×××.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to ××××××.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to ×××××.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to the × limit of ×.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to the × limit of humanity.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to humanity’s limit.
◇◇◇
☆《Limit Break》☆
Limit refers to humanity’s limit.
[Current human limit benchmark → Yamada Ichiro]
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