I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 111 : Great Hero (1)

Great Hero (1)

After the academy incident was resolved, the number of soldiers dragged to the 7th Legion increased significantly.

From the legion's perspective, which kept monsters in check, this was not a bad thing.

But all the soldiers brought in had something peculiar about them.

"Why on earth are we in a place like this...?"

"Let us go right now! Do you know who we are?!"

"Do you have any idea how big our connections are? Once we get out of here, you people will be in big trouble...!"

These were originally bourgeois elites who could boast of their status within the Imperial Court.

Up until being brought here, they had been nobles or millionaires, and the reason they ended up in the 7th Legion was the academy incident.

To be precise, it was their own actions during that incident that led to these consequences.

All their deeds at that time had been recorded using magitech devices, so there was no escape.

"Connections? Try calling on them, then."

The officer lecturing the newly conscripted soldiers said this before starting to beat them en masse.

Soon, the other surrounding soldiers also trampled and mocked them with snickers.

Once you entered the 7th Legion, everyone became equal.

Only after deaths occurred among their own did the former elites realize the truth: connections were worthless here.

"S-stop hitting! Someone's died here!"

"That's enough now, isn't it?!"

Two soldiers, still only in their late teens, shouted.

They themselves had been beaten as well, but seeing the arms and legs of another soldier being broken made them realize how serious the situation was.

"You say you want to train us as soldiers! Then how can you treat us like this?"

"What kind of military is this supposed to be?!"

At the point where the soldiers weren't even treated as humans, the 7th Legion was utterly devoid of reason.

Being laughed at and beaten by those around them made them feel as if they'd been abandoned in a nest of venomous insects.

"They're not even people!"

"This place needs to be wiped out!"

"Kekeke! What's with these brats?"

"If you get beaten till you die, you won't be able to talk like that anymore!"

Just as the soldiers kept snickering and prepared to hit them once again,

the officer personally stepped in and temporarily halted the beating.

"Did you just say we're 'not even people'? That this place needs to disappear?"

The officer asked the two teenage boys.

The pair pointed to those who had been injured or killed.

"How could you question that after seeing this?"

"What's happening here isn't something people would do!"

"People? Puahahahahaha!!"

At the boys' protests, the officer burst out laughing.

"Are you two really in any position to say that, after you bullied others at the academy?"

"No...."

"That's...!"

The two boys were originally close aides of Selion Refilica in the academy.

They used their status as the aides of the academy's top student Selion to continually harass innocent students.

They'd make trouble over minor faults, and as important exams approached, they would confine or break the limbs of their victims.

When those students were rendered unable to take their exams, they mocked them even more.

Even when one student committed suicide, the two had celebrated like it was a festival at the very location of the suicide.

"Th-there's no evidence!"

"That's right!"

Of course there was no evidence—because the principal and vice-principal had covered up all their crimes.

But....

"Sorry to disappoint you, but your principal and vice-principal have confessed to everything."

At that moment, a boy appeared and spoke.

The moment he arrived, both the officer and all the soldiers quieted down.

He was none other than Louis, deputy leader of the special task force.

"At the special task force's request, all the data on your crimes was disclosed. Thanks to their quick confession, those two merely ended up in prison instead of getting dragged here."

In short, the principal and vice-principal broke their promise to the boys and confessed everything just to save their own skins.

With the opposing side being the special task force, this was their only way to survive.

"So you have no right to claim injustice. But if you really feel wronged, try remembering all the things you did to the other students at the academy.

That's exactly what you've done up till now."

Unable to rebut any further, the two boys' faces turned pale.

The officer then asked Louis, who had crushed them completely.

"What brings the special task force here? Do you have business with these soon-to-be academy trash...?"

Normally, they would be sent to Paruzan or Kaliion Fortress for brutal training.

That's how you'd become a proper soldier at those fortresses—and Louis himself had undergone such procedures.

"There's only one person I need."

Louis had business with just one of them.

"Would you kindly come with me? Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

"...."

Louis spoke to the man with the most dead-faced expression among the criminals.

"No, I suppose I should call you Orbel now?"

.

.

.

The title of Crown Prince no longer suited Orbel, who had lost all imperial authority.

Even after being deposed, Orbel stubbornly called himself Crown Prince, but after this he was completely broken.

His expression as he stood on the interrogation platform said it all.

"Alright, I'll ask a few questions. Answer well."

"He doesn't look like he's in any state to reply,"

Silia remarked.

Orbel's lifeless face truly looked like someone on the verge of death.

From a distance, he could easily be mistaken for a zombie, but Louis continued anyway.

"You made a contract with that Great Devil Palmon, didn't you? Spill everything you know about that Great Devil."

At that, Orbel gave a rotten smile and replied.

"Will my circumstances change if I tell you?"

"Maybe."

Louis smiled, having already expected such an answer.

At the same time, Silia reached out and activated a spell, sending Orbel's eyes rolling back.

"Kraaaaaaagh!!"

Though he had looked close to death, Orbel soon began screaming under the force of the spell.

He collapsed to his knees before Louis.

"P-please spare me! Forgive me just this once! I'll do anything!"

Contrary to his earlier resignation, Orbel now groveled for his life, utterly powerless.

Having lived a cushy life without ever experiencing hardship, Orbel had no resistance to such pain.

"Then start talking."

"Yes!"

And so, Orbel began spilling all the knowledge he had.

He fed everything about contracting with Great Devil Palmon and their conversations directly into Louis's mind.

That demon Palmon had seemed to know something about the Chaos Dragon.

It made Louis suspect that perhaps all Great Devils—or the Chaos Dragon itself—were closely tied to the demon realm.

But....

"That's all?"

"Huh?"

"I said, is that all?"

Louis was unimpressed.

"Y... Yes, that's really everything."

"That's all you had to say after talking for hours?"

The information he'd received was painfully basic.

It was all just about performing rituals of sacrifice for Great Devils and what Great Devils liked—nothing in-depth about the Chaos Dragon.

"Should've just killed you instead."

"What?"

Louis and Silia stood up, saying they had no more business with him.

Immediately, waiting soldiers grabbed Orbel.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"I'm done with you. Off to the training camp now."

"Wait! Weren't you going to let me live?!"

"Why would I, after you gave me such worthless info? What I heard from Laika was much more useful."

Louis had conversed with Laika, who'd once been possessed by a Great Devil.

Laika, having experienced rampage and spells to calm it similar to Louis, had provided better information.

People possessed by Great Devils and those with the Chaos Dragon's power had something in common.

Laika had mentioned it.

'Perhaps the Chaos Dragon and demons are like relatives.'

In contrast, all Orbel had said was stuff Louis knew already.

Finding no further use for Orbel, this was the end of his involvement.

"Before you become monster food, you should apologize to your father and younger sister. And to the people of the empire you deceived until now."

Orbel, lost for words, was dragged away without even being able to utter a final cry.

The man once called Crown Prince thus went off to a fortress full of monsters.

After finishing the interrogation, Louis and Silia walked down the corridor.

Just then, something like slime popped out from Silia's shoulder and started talking.

[That prisoner just now, was he truly the Crown Prince of this empire?]

"Whoa!"

Startled by Frederick's sudden appearance, Silia scolded him to announce himself if he was going to come out.

But soon after speaking, Silia felt a tremendous weight.

It was because a legendary hero's mental body—a slime-like substance—was stuck to her.

[Are you still uncomfortable with me tagging along?]

"Do I really have to answer that? How would anyone feel with a person everyone on the continent respects stuck to their body?"

[It's already been a day since we first spoke. I wish you'd be getting used to it by now.]

"Yeah, right!"

How was anyone supposed to get used to this in one day?

Even Louis, who'd been confused when he first awakened the Chaos Dragon's power, would find this ridiculous.

"But why are you attached to me, anyway? Didn't they say you were sealing the seed of the demon realm underground at the academy?"

Silia repeated what she'd heard from Louis.

Frederick confirmed this with a nod, saying she was correct.

[I was indeed carrying out that mission until recently. But you must know what happened to the seed thanks to that wretch, Duramon.]

The seed became the Great Devil Wigmon, and Louis fought it.

After Wigmon was defeated, Frederick's mission was also complete.

[Thanks to your help, I no longer need to seal the seed deep underground. Once again, thank you.]

"But why are you attached to me, then?"

If he had finished his mission, shouldn't he let go of this world and pass on?

To Silia's question, Frederick answered cheerfully.

[I thought so at first as well. Do you recall the time I hit the back of your head?]

"You hit... my head?"

She didn't recall being punched, but she did remember a blow to the back of her head.

That was when Frederick's golden essence was said to be "important for a man..." and she'd gotten hit.

[During that strike, a part of my mental body remained in you, allowing me to resurrect inside your body.]

When the seed of the demon realm was released by Duramon, Frederick lost all his power.

The collapse of the maintained seal left him unable to preserve even his consciousness.

So even Frederick himself was puzzled.

[I absolutely should have ascended. Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for me to come back through your body.]

"So how did you come back?"

[I don't know for sure. Maybe you and I have some kind of link?]

"I've never formed a connection with someone from the distant past."

Silia made a disgusted face, and Frederick seemed hurt.

[Do you not like me?]

"No."

It might have sounded like an insult to a hero, but Silia never intended it that way.

"There's this sticky liquid running over my body—it'd be weird if I wasn't uncomfortable! Get off me at once!"

[I can't, even if I want to. Your body and mine are already fused together.]

"Ugh! It's gross!"

[What's so gross about it? It's an honor to share a body with me, a hero you all once revered.]

"It's not the same! There's something really weird squirming on my skin, and that's embarrassing!"

[Hahahaha!]

Seeing Silia openly voice her discomfort, Frederick just laughed.

[You're quite a cute young lady. You command an impressive position and boast great skill, but you have some silly sides too.]

"Thanks, but... you're the reason for my silly side!"

[And you read some, shall we say, unusual books in secret at night. The contents were... oh-ho-ho!]

"You didn't actually read those with me, did you?"

[They're still in your pocket right now.]

"Eek!"

Hero or not, to Silia, it just felt like some strange old man was snooping on her private life.

Just then, as Silia shuddered in disgust, Louis stealthily snatched the book from her pocket.

"I was just about to ask why you carry this around."

"Give that back!"

Silia immediately snatched the book back.

She quickly explained her reason for carrying it.

"In case you're wondering... this was confiscated from the soldiers. I was only checking whether something suspicious was written inside late at night. Since confiscated items have to be handed outside, I was just holding onto it for a while."

[But your expression was a little too happy for someone merely inspecting it.]

"Shut up!!"

As Frederick teased her, Silia exploded.

[With an interest in such genres, you rather remind me of my younger self. Maybe that's why I'm dwelling in your body?]

"Quiet, I said!!"

At that moment, Silia's already white hair seemed to grow even whiter.

Watching her, Louis thought to himself:

He was glad it wasn't him in that position.

And that maybe this is what a hero's personality was really like.