A wild last boss appeare.., p.7
A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Volume 5, page 7
“Hey, Maphaahl.”
“Yeah?”
There was a long pause as Benetnasch gathered the strength to speak.
“Thank you...”
Those were the last words she spoke. After that, Benetnasch went quiet and stopped moving.
Lufas gently laid Benetnasch down and removed the sword that was still stuck in her chest before making her body whole with healing heaven-arts. The Vampire Princess had a peaceful expression on her face; it bore a soft smile that she rarely showed to anyone. After gently stroking Benetnasch’s hair, Lufas was besieged with a thought: just as Benetnasch had had Lufas as her goal, Lufas had once had Benetnasch as her goal as well.
Back when Lufas was still young and green, the Vampire Princess was already well-known as humanity’s strongest. She ruled along with the Dragon King, the Devil King, and the Lion King as the world’s four pillars of absolute strength. At that time, Lufas was still weak, and she wanted to become just like Benetnasch, who she had yet to even see. Lufas wanted to become strong like the Vampire Princess, strong enough to not be afraid of or lose to anything. She wished to become strong enough to reject all the unfairness in the world.
Benetnasch had thought she one-sidedly saw Lufas as a rival, but that wasn’t strictly true. Lufas had seen Benetnasch as a rival first and made the Vampire Princess’s strength her goal.
“We should be the one thanking you. If it weren’t for you, We would never have gotten this strong,” Lufas said, pausing before continuing. “Thank you, Benet... Rest well...”
Done with her parting words, Lufas raised her head. There she saw ten vampires who were probably Benetnasch’s followers, and each one of them was far from ordinary.
Their levels are... The weakest is level 500. They probably survived the fight two hundred years ago. Thinking back on it, Lufas realized that Benetnasch had challenged her alone two hundred years ago and hadn’t taken part in the battle against the Devil King, which meant that all the great warriors in her camp were still alive. Still, they were no match for Lufas as she was now. If she wanted to, she could massacre them all in a blink of an eye.
“You’re Lady Lufas Maphaahl, correct?”
“Correct. And you all are Benet’s subordinates?”
“Not subordinates. Tools. Every single one of us has willingly offered ourselves up to her.”
“So she was well-loved.”
Seeing Benetnasch and her peaceful expression, the vampires all held their breath as they gently picked up her body. Then, they bowed deeply to Lufas.
“We are grateful to you, Black-Winged Ruler. You kept your promise to our master.”
“You don’t hold a grudge...?”
“This is something our master wished for. Whether it ended in victory or defeat, life or death... We simply prioritize our master’s wishes.”
While that was what they said, Lufas suspected that they were still wrestling with complicated feelings internally. One of the vampires in the back was clenching their fist so hard they’d drawn blood, and another vampire was patting the first vampire’s shoulder, comforting them.
“Our master was surely satisfied... That is...our greatest...happiness.”
“Don’t force yourselves...”
The second Lufas said that, the vampire who had been bowing at the front suddenly raised their head like it had been bounced off of something and swung their fist. Before it managed to reach Lufas, their arm was caught by another vampire and stopped. Then, the vampire came to with a gasp as their eyes widened, realizing they’d been about to act rudely. It had probably been something done reflexively out of anger.
He quickly bowed once again while still tightly clenching his fist. “That was rude. I’m sorry. Please forgive this transgression.”
“We will excuse ourselves here. We must hold a state funeral for our master.”
The vampires then turned their backs to Lufas and flew off. They never turned back once, but Lufas knew that their eyes were most likely filled with hate and grief. After all, the one who’d almost taken a swing at her earlier had been crying tears of blood.
After pausing briefly, Lufas muttered, “Seriously... She’s really loved, isn’t she?” to herself as she picked up the twin swords that had fallen to the ground.
With that done, Lufas walked off across the ruined landscape, aiming to reunite with Dina and the others. However, her footsteps seemed somehow heavy.
＊ ＊
“I never thought that she’d be able to rebuff the Goddess’s temptation... I might have underestimated the Vampire Princess a little.”
Sensing that the fight between Lufas and Benetnasch had come to an end, the woman who’d split up with Lufas—Dina—chuckled to herself. Honestly, the strength of Benetnasch’s spirit was completely unexpected. I’ll be honest; I did not see that coming.
By Dina’s calculations, Lufas would have had to fight Benetnasch, who, despite the Goddess’s power-up, would have lost anyway. However, the actual outcome had been a complete surprise... Still, it didn’t change the end result.
“That was a little unexpected, but it doesn’t change anything... In fact, this may be better. Everything’s going well. It’s all according to plan,” Dina muttered to herself.
Yes, everything’s been decided from the start. There are no problems with the script that I’ve—no, that my master—has written. Even Lufas’s awakening this time was nothing more than passing a checkpoint to reach my master’s goal. This event was unexpected, but that’s it. The scenario is still in the palm of her hand.
“Now then... It seems like we’re finally at the second half of this scenario. It’s about time for them to realize that I’m no ally... But, just a little longer. Let’s keep deceiving them for just a little longer. Jeez, jesters have it hard, don’t they?”
Dina’s eyes narrowed, and her smile never wavered as she spoke. Everything will be as written in her plan. There are no deviations in this fake scenario.
8
Hello, Lufas here. I was flying to Dina and the others to meet up with them, and thinking about what had just happened. Everything after the part where I had been beaten on by Benetnasch was blurry, but I was somehow sure that I’d defeated her.
But... What the hell was that? No, I mean, I understood what happened. I had most likely been backed into a corner by Benetnasch, and the “real Lufas” had come to the forefront and beaten her. I knew that much.
What I didn’t get was why it felt as if I’d done that. It wasn’t as though I’d been looking on in third person as a stranger had controlled the body I inhabited nor was it as if I’d been completely sealed, and the real Lufas had been fighting in the meantime. It was like... It definitely felt as if it’d been me; it felt like I’d done all that.
How should I word it...? If I were to compare this to something, it’d be like a drunk person feeling all high-and-mighty, doing things that they would never normally do. If that happened, you wouldn’t say that person had dual personalities, would you? It might be a little hard to understand, but if I had to pick, that would be the best way to describe it.
Back then, I’d also described myself as if I were normally “half asleep,” and that had been correct... Like, I distinctly remembered feeling as though I’d truly woken up. My mind had been clear, and it’d felt as if I’d been freed of my shackles. I’d gotten that feeling many times before. The feeling had been especially strong during times I’d derived enjoyment from the fight itself, like when I’d fought Scorpius.
I was becoming someone else. Were we merging? Or was I being absorbed? Either way, I’d changed a lot compared to how I’d been when I’d first come to this world.
But some things have been weird from the beginning. Even though I’d been living in peaceful Japan, I’d easily killed other living beings while feeling no qualms about it. I wasn’t sure how many times this’d made it, but I felt like I’d once again had my terrible powers of insight pointed out to me. I’d thought I still had some time, but how wrong I’d turned out to be. I had no time at all... And it’d probably been like that from the beginning.
If things stayed as they were, I didn’t know what would happen to me when Lufas truly awakened. Would it be like what had just happened, and I’d feel something like merging? Or would I be completely taken over and disappear?
This most likely wasn’t something that’d been planned by the Goddess. She thought that Lufas was in the way, so there was no way she’d be happy about Lufas awakening. Was this just a failure on the Goddess’s part? Had this happened because she’d chosen me, and I turned out to be too weak a lid for Lufas’s strong will...? If that were the case, then the Goddess was a little too incompetent.
And what was the meaning of those words I’d said back during the fight with Benetnasch? “Everything is going as planned.” I had definitely said that. Just what was going as planned, and what had I been thinking of when I’d said that? It was about me, but even I didn’t know the answer.
I... Who in the world am I?
＊ ＊
Turning back time a bit, it had just been decided that Lufas would be separating from Aries and the others, who would continue on in Tanaka to the country of the demihumans, Tyrving.
While the Twelve Heavenly Stars were worried about their lord and master, they still believed that she would win against Benetnasch. She had yet to show any signs of going all-out ever since she’d come back, but that was just because they’d never fought anyone worth getting serious over. As long as Lufas showed her true strength, it would basically be impossible for Benetnasch to win, no matter how strong she was. And because Aries and the others had such absolute belief in Lufas, they’d reluctantly allowed her to leave while they continued on to defeat Leon.
“I see it! Isn’t that it, surrounded by the walls?” Aries said as he spotted a city encased in fortress walls as he looked out Tanaka’s windows.
Libra confirmed his conjecture. “I sense many signs of life... They seem to be snake people, giants, and bug people... There’s no doubt. It’s Tyrving.”
They were currently using Tanaka’s flight mode, so they were moving through the air. The members of the Twelve Stars all looked down on Tyrving’s cityscape from above. Inside the city surrounded by fortress walls were several more layers of walls separating several districts, each of which was built to suit a different type of demihuman. As a result, one part of the city was a deep forest for the dryads and other plant people to live in, while another district, separated by a mere wall, was dotted with holes filled with seawater for merfolk and the like.
Looking down from above, the scenery was very chaotic. The center stood out starkly as well, where a uselessly large castle towered over the rest of the city, asserting its presence. This was most likely where Leon was.
“Now what do we do? Do we just barge in?” Karkinos asked, looking around at everyone.
Both Libra and Dina waved their hands in front of his face, denying his suggestion.
“No, the castle is most likely rife with Sagittarius’s traps. There might be traps in the city as well.”
“Well, I guess there’s no reason to fight in enemy territory.”
The enemies had Sagittarius, a trap specialist, and they knew Aries and the others were coming as well. There was no need to purposefully step into their territory, even less so when they already knew that traps had been set.
That was what Libra reasoned as she transformed her right arm into a cannon barrel and stepped out of Tanaka. Seeing this, the others realized what she was going to do, so they all moved on top of Tanaka’s roof.
“We know where they are, so there’s only one sensible course of action. A preemptive strike!”
Libra pointed the barrel of her cannon at the castle, and a red icon popped up in her vision, pointing out Leon’s location. Then the target lock marker appeared, as well as her hit percentage. At the same time, Aigokeros’s magic power rose, Dina raised her hands, and Aries wreathed his hands in flame. Scorpius took a deep breath, and Karkinos, the only one with nothing to do, stood there uselessly.
“Zuben El Genubi: maximum output. Fire!”
“Die! Deneb Algedi!”
“Aqua Judge’s Gavel!”
The usual beam of destruction erupted from Libra’s arm, while Aigokeros unleashed a black wave from his arms. The magic Dina used materialized a large mass of water shaped like a judge’s gavel to drop onto the castle. For what was usually a small hammer, this gavel was quite big.
“Mesarthim Version Three!”
Aries generated a huge fireball, but he only ended up giving this technique a plain name. It seemed that he was aware that he was using his skill in a way that wasn’t originally intended.
“Grafias!”
Scorpius’s Grafias was a deadly poison breath attack. Normally, breath attacks were the territory of dragons, but Scorpius was the queen of poison. Anything using poison was right in her lane.
Unfortunately, Karkinos had no part to play in this. His special skill, Acubens, was a counter skill that was only usable after he’d been attacked. He only had one skill that could be used for attacking as well, which meant that he had no choice but to rely on normal attacks when in a situation where he could not use Acubens.
As for his other skills, one of them was “Tegmine,” which raised his defensive power. There was also “Altarf,” which was only usable the moment he was knocked out. Its effect was to double the damage dealt by his allies’ next attacks. The special thing about this skill was that it could ignore the usual max single-hit damage limit. Lastly, there was “Asellus Borealis,” which would pull physical attacks towards himself—or as Lufas would put it, it was a skill to forcibly shift targets—along with its partner, “Asellus Australis,” which pulled magic attacks towards him.
These were all of Karkinos’s main skills, and it was obvious at a glance that he was not the type to proactively attack. He was undoubtedly excellent as a wall, but in this situation he was about as useless as a stick, so as it turned out, the crab didn’t have a role today either.
While Karkinos was busy being nothing but a decoration, Libra and the others’ simultaneous attacks hit the castle, causing a huge explosion. Luckily, the surrounding town wasn’t too affected thanks to a shield Dina had erected around the castle beforehand. However, the castle area itself was a disaster zone.
At any rate, the group had managed to get in the first hit, and almost all of the traps around the castle should have been destroyed. Still, Leon was the strongest member of the Twelve Heavenly Stars. There was no way he would be killed by only this much damage, so Libra and the others were all already preparing for a second attack.
“We will fire once more. Let’s continue to shave away Leon’s health from a distance.”
If you’re going to laze around in your castle, that’s just fine with me. I’ll make this castle your grave then. Libra took aim, but the next moment her expression turned serious. “He’s coming! Scatter!”
Everyone followed Libra’s orders with no hesitation. Right afterwards, a man came flying out of the castle while emitting a dreadful amount of pressure, smashing through Tanaka’s roof as he passed. Then he touched down on the ground, following gravity’s pull.
The man who’d touched down turned out to be huge, over two meters in height. He shook his mane-like, dark red hair as he looked at his past comrades with wild and ferocious eyes, like those of a carnivorous beast. He wore a black bodysuit that tightly hugged his figure, and his pants were ripped in places. The corners of his mouth twisted upwards crookedly.
“Yo... Well, if it isn’t some real familiar faces.”
If the man’s features were to be summed up with one phrase, it would be “mass of muscles.” He had very well-defined biceps, pectorals that seemed as if they were made of steel, and eight-pack abs. His looks were unique among the Twelve Stars, which was basically a gathering of fair and beautiful figures. He was by no means ugly, but he certainly felt like he didn’t belong lined up with the rest of them. Putting it nicely, he was manly, but really, he had a fierce and evil countenance, like that of a wild beast. The adventurer Jean and Gantz the mercenary actually looked more intelligent and thoughtful than he did.
Sagittarius the centaur, who was also the bearer of rather unique facial features, landed beside Leon. Each of them was unique alone; together they were extraordinary. They reeked of so much manliness it almost felt like the smell of sweat would reach Aries and the others at any moment. They were so out of place, it was out of control. It was enough to make a person wonder why Lufas had decided to make Leon’s human form look like that.
All the other Twelve Stars gathered here looked nice and pretty, which made their strong features stand out even more in a bad way.
“But it looks like Lufas isn’t here... This is looking like it’ll be a boring fight...” Leon said, spitting out his words.
Aigokeros’s anger spilled out, covering him in dark mana. “Oh? That’s some cheek. Bold for a traitor.”
Even seeing Aigokeros change from an elderly gentleman to a goat-headed demon in an instant couldn’t break Leon’s composure. Instead, he just made a small gesture, signaling Aigokeros to come at him.
“You’ll regret this!”
Aigokeros leapt forward, slamming a fist into Leon’s cheek. The aftershock of the attack was strong enough to destroy some trees behind Leon, but his expression didn’t change a bit. He hadn’t even been knocked backwards a little as he fixed Aigokeros with a cold stare.
“Aw, what...? That’s some half-assed punch you got there... You see, you gotta punch like this!” Leon shouted as he thrust his fist into Aigokeros’s face.
Just that was strong enough to blow the monster known as the Demon King away and burst straight through Tyrving’s fortress wall. Aigokeros disappeared, mowing down several buildings in his path.
Aries was shocked. “Aigokeros?! You...!”
