Chapter 107 – Fuck You

Fuck You

The light of the holy sword was enough to silence the surrounding area.

Suddenly, the earth dragon’s death throes echoed. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t used to swinging with my unfamiliar arm, but the holy sword’s target wasn’t Bella—it was the earth dragon. As a result, the dragon’s head, which had been clamping down on Bella, was severed. Had I not switched arms, a regrettable incident might have occurred. If such an attack had hit the current Bella, the likelihood of her being obliterated without a trace was high.

Should I consider myself lucky for the condition of my arm?
Even thinking that, it hurts quite a bit. It’s a bad deal, no matter how you slice it.

Thud,
The severed head of the earth dragon tumbled toward the ground.

With a thunderous crash, Bella, who had been in the dragon’s mouth, was also slammed into the earth. However, due to the force of the impact, she was sent flying, scattering blood in the air, and soon hit a tree and lay motionless.

She wouldn’t be able to move anyway.

She wasn’t hit directly by the holy sword, but she couldn’t escape its aftermath. On top of that, she had lost her legs. With everything below her knees completely gone, if she could move normally, she’d be a monster.

But what I hadn’t anticipated was that Bella was closer to a monster than I had thought.

Even without her legs, even as her flesh was torn and mangled by the holy sword, her gaze was still fixed on me.
What was it that she couldn’t accept, that made her hold on like that?
Was it my use of the real holy sword? Or the fact that I had to rely on the earth dragon’s help in a fair fight?

Or perhaps she couldn’t accept being defeated by someone as wicked as me.

Bella was moving using her arms instead of her severed legs. Her eyes still showed she wasn’t dead yet. She could fight, she must fight. Her expression seemed to say just that.

To show such determination even after losing her legs and being struck by the holy sword, her will alone was certainly worthy of a hero. Well, that’s probably why she could wield the power of the holy sword. Of course, she was lacking in other areas.

After all, willpower alone doesn’t solve everything.
You can’t deal with natural disasters on willpower alone.
To stop an earthquake, you need a force equal to the earthquake; the will to stop it is utterly useless.

Blood was spurting from Bella’s legs. Dragonkin have a subtly different anatomy from humans, but even so, with that amount of blood loss, it would be normal to have already lost consciousness.

Such an abnormal amount of bleeding.
Did Bella only realize something was wrong when the pool of blood had grown so large? Using her torn pants, she began to bind her legs.
And then, once again, she moved toward me.
In such a state, she couldn’t possibly swing a sword. Yet, she approached me—why indeed… Ah.

“…You’re running away.”

Bella wasn’t coming toward me.

She was fleeing.

After stemming the bleeding from her legs, Bella chose to escape rather than continue toward me.
Naturally, that was the right decision.
With her body in such a condition, attacking me would be suicidal.

A true warrior might have charged at me even in such a state… but it seems Bella was not a warrior after all.

Bella was crawling backward, looking up at the sky. The venom that had filled her eyes seemed to have dissipated somewhat.

Did she only want to live after she had been defeated?

Running away was futile now, though.

She had lost too much blood.
The bleeding was severe enough to prevent proper escape.

In the end, after a few desperate seconds of crawling, Bella collapsed like a deflated soccer ball, unable to move even a few meters.

And so, the conclusion was reached.

*

“Is it over…?”

The situation had come to an end.
Of course, it was my victory.

Having arrived in this world years ago, the taste of victory I experienced for the first time after such a long and arduous journey was,

“Damn it… can I even move later?”

Painful.
Once the tension is released, the pain follows. The blow that could take down a dragon felt disappointingly weak at the moment of impact, but now it’s excruciating.
Still, I wasn’t immobilized. At most, my whole body felt like the bones had cracked from the shock, and one arm was so ragged it was unusable. Not being able to use my arm was a bit inconvenient, but it wasn’t a serious injury.

…Wait, shouldn’t I be unconscious with such injuries?

That thought struck me as odd, but I didn’t dwell on it.

Saying I’m fine now means that an emergency could arise at any time. I need to move quickly while I can.

“Ugh.”

Perhaps because I had been slammed down so hard, it took more time than expected to extricate myself.
But once I had freed my arm, I could move without much trouble.

Trying not to look at my grotesquely damaged arm, I approached Bella.

Up close, Bella lay even more pitifully than I had thought.
Right in front, within reach as soon as I extended my hand, she lay unconscious.

To the naked eye, it looked like a serious injury. It probably was serious, but the actual cut wasn’t clearly visible due to the blood covering it. However, judging by the amount of blood that had spurted out, it didn’t seem like she would last very long.

Looking at her, I felt a knot inside me unravel.

I had won.
It didn’t quite feel real yet, but I had defeated her.
And it was a fair one-on-one fight.

…Ah, as for the dragon, um. Let’s just say I made good use of the terrain.

“Now then, it’s time to move on to the main dish…”

Ignoring my body that felt like it might break, I dragged Bella along. I wasn’t sure where to go to sever this detestable connection. Where to finish things off wasn’t important… but if it’s going to be the end, might as well go out with a bang.

Of course, I hadn’t thought about the aftermath yet.

What do I care about what happens in the outskirts of the Dragon Kingdom?

The high-ranking officials of the Dragon Kingdom who despise half-dragons will be happy to see Bella gone. I also don’t want to see this bastard strutting around. And there’s no one to reprimand me. Who would dare say anything about the disappearance of someone who wouldn’t be missed?

The real hero died in a mutual kill with the Demon King. Died before returning to the world he longed for in his dreams. The fake hero died on the Demon Continent. Forgot everything he yearned for and shattered into pieces.

But, setting all those reasons aside, I had resolved to live as I wished in this world.

So whatever I do from now on.

It’s my freedom.

* * *

Bella opened her eyes.
It was when she was bound all over and tied to a tree.

‘…Was I defeated?’

In the end, she had been bested by Flan. It was an unacceptable outcome for Bella. She couldn’t accept that she had been defeated by an opponent who was clearly inferior.
And it wasn’t through a fair fight, but rather due to the surprise attack of an earth dragon.
Who would easily concede to such a result?

‘Maybe I was too careless…’

When she realized there were no wyverns nearby, she should have been thinking about the threat of the wyvern. Especially during the battle with Flan, who wielded the holy sword and its thunderous blade energy, the earth dragon should have been her greatest concern… Her judgment was too short-sighted.

Kill Flan before he uses some strange trick.
She had been consumed by that thought and had forgotten about the threat of the wyvern. If given another chance to fight, it’s a mistake she would never repeat. No, if she had taken the opportunity to cut off the head, or at the very least the spine, the outcome would have been different.

But Bella never voiced her complaints.

A mistake is also a measure of one’s ability.
She knew this painful truth all too well.

To say that she was caught off guard by the earth dragon that appeared from an unexpected location, that it was a mistake that led to her defeat, would be no different than a child throwing a tantrum.

In the end, she had no choice but to accept it.

Not considering the earth dragon was her own misjudgment. Failing to kill Flan was on her. The decision to engage in the battle was entirely Bella’s own.

“…Ugh.”

As she collected her thoughts, a sharp pain emanated from her waist.
It was because she had no legs, and the weight was bearing down on her waist.

She tried to correct her uncomfortable position, but with her arms tightly bound, even that was impossible.
Without legs, it was difficult to maintain balance. The burden on her waist was greater than usual, and the pain was gradually intensifying. It was tough enough as it was, but how could she possibly change her position?

It was around that time.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Flan appeared.

Flan’s expression was subtle. Despite the significant toll the previous fight must have taken, there were few visible signs of it. Had he received treatment in the meantime, or had time simply passed while Bella was unconscious?

Bella kept her eyes on Flan.
To grasp Flan’s movements and prepare for the next action.
And to understand the situation.

“You’re pretty tough. If it had been a fair fight, it wouldn’t be just my arm hanging but my head, probably?”

Flan waved his arm with a disgusted expression.

“……”

Yes, that arm.
If he hadn’t blocked it, it would have been his neck, not his arm, that could have been struck.

Even then, Bella remained silent.

A defeat was a defeat, after all.
Although she had fallen regretfully this time, if another opportunity arose, she would aim straight for the villain’s neck. A hero must survive to the end to eradicate evil, so even if it was humiliating now, it was right to bow her head.

As long as she lived, an opportunity would come eventually.

“Well, in the end, I won.”

With those words, Flan approached Bella.

Flan’s expression was impassive.
Since he rarely showed his emotions, Bella couldn’t sense anything unusual.

“Ah, it must be frustrating… to lose to someone like me. Really frustrating, right? If only your body had moved a little better, it wouldn’t be you tied up right now, but me. Hmm… or maybe I would have just been dead…? Thinking about it, I’m really lucky. I didn’t want to die yet.”

“I lost. I can’t kill you anymore. You won, so celebrate however you want, but I’d prefer if you’d just fuck off from my sight.”

Bella blurted out the words almost without realizing it as Flan was nearly upon her.

She didn’t want to see the villain smirking while celebrating their victory. It could be the bitter taste of defeat she was tasting for the first time in a while—or perhaps she was feeling a slight sense of fear.

If she had won, she would have cut Flan’s throat.
So, Flan could also cut hers.

For whatever reason, such thoughts had indeed crossed Bella’s mind.

But those thoughts didn’t last long.

Flan’s goal was to open that small letter. Although Bella was the one who had initiated the fight, the bastard’s objective must have been to open the letter as soon as possible. Why would they waste time here when the dropped letter could be snatched away by a flying beast? It made more sense to tie her up so she couldn’t follow and then leave.

And luckily, she had woken up just before Flan left. If he hadn’t decided to spare her for some reason, he wouldn’t have bothered to stop the bleeding from her severed thighs and left her tied up but alive. If he had intended to kill her, he would have either left her to die or killed her already.

She had lost both legs, but… if she stayed still, there would be no dragon or wyvern attacks. She could conserve her strength and somehow fly back to the village to plan her next move. That’s what she thought, as the ‘potential threat’ in Bella’s mind had almost faded.

“Hey, seems like you haven’t grasped the situation properly yet.”

However, out of nowhere, the sound of flesh being torn echoed.
Soon, fresh blood flowed from Bella’s thigh.

Was it the wound that had been staunched reopening? As she thought this, a sinister pain exploded through Bella.

What the hell is happening?

She tried to look down at her lower body, which was surging with pain, but Flan had already grabbed her hair and was holding her head in place.
And there Flan was, wiping a blood-stained dagger, pushing her face close to Bella’s.

After staring at Bella with a faint, nauseating smile for a long while, Flan slowly opened her mouth.

“Don’t run your mouth so carelessly, okay?”

In that moment, the ‘potential threat’ once again loomed large in Bella’s mind.