I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 111

“…Ck! Aike!”

“…Cough!”

As I exhaled, my consciousness sharpened.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing that came into view was the gray ceiling of an unfamiliar place.

“Aike, are you okay?”

“Ah, Reina….”

Beside me sat Reina, looking at me with a worried expression.

“W-Where are we?”

As I turned my gaze, it appeared that we were in a corridor. To the left was a staircase leading upwards, and to the right was a long passage that seemed to stretch endlessly.

“Don’t you remember? You got countered while fighting that officer Cron earlier and were sent flying into Avatarara’s base, deep inside the cave. Up top, Miss Helen and Atal are waiting.”

…Now that I think about it.

I definitely thought I’d found an opening to attack, but I realized that I didn’t feel the sensation of flesh being pierced until I was struck.

Was I sent flying into the cave at that moment?

“Wait a second. So, that means Miss Helen and Atal are facing that guy alone?”

“…Yes. I heard that no matter what, we had to maintain our numbers.”

We definitely made such a promise.

But Reina following me all the way here was clearly a bad judgment call.

To think that we couldn’t gain the upper hand even with four people, and now two are splitting off on their own.

That’s practically a suicide mission.

In the first place, when someone gets isolated, isn’t the remaining person supposed to hide and wait it out?

“Miss Helen said she’s fine.”

Reina continued, as if answering my doubts.

“For three months, Miss Helen and Atal worked hard. If those two say things are alright, then they probably are.”

“…Got it. Then let’s get back up quickly since I’m awake.”

“Okay.”

Fortunately, Neia was lying right next to me.

I slowly stood from my place and reached out my hand toward Neia.

“Ugh?!”

“Aike?”

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder.

The pain spread to my left arm, causing me to grimace and grit my teeth.

This was from where I was pierced by Cron’s spear, and Atal had already healed it.

Since then, even when wielding Neia, my shoulder had only been slightly stiff, but I had no trouble moving, and there was no pain.

But why was it suddenly like this?

“Reina, when I was down, was my body in really bad shape?”

“…No. You got some bruises from rolling down the stairs, but those have all been treated.”

Reina looked at me with a worried expression.

Let’s sort this out for a moment.

The painful area that made my arm tremble is my left shoulder, which had already been healed by Atal.

Yet, I suddenly felt a sharp pain.

‘…Understood. But please be careful.’

Atal definitely warned me that he had only fixed the shape of my shoulder.

I checked to see if my wound had reopened, but from the outside, my shoulder appeared normal.

No, when I resumed fighting earlier, I had fought while trying to keep as much tension off my left arm as possible. And though I rolled down the stairs, I had been told it was just bruises, so it shouldn’t have reopened.

“…”

An inexplicable sense of discomfort began to creep in.

It felt like I was missing something.

“…Wait a moment.”

I clearly said I was countered by Cron.

But if he read my attack perfectly and countered, then why am I still alive?

Why did he send me flying into the cave, Avatarara’s stronghold?

If he had simply countered with all his might, that alone would have been enough for me to die.

“Reina, did that man say anything?”

“…He definitely said that Aike, you were supposed to be dead. So, it wouldn’t matter if I came down.”

That’s strange.

How could such a capable individual not properly grasp the life or death of his opponent?

Above all, Cron Illusion is clearly characterized in the original work as someone who derives joy from confirming the death of his foes.

How could such a man say I must be dead and stop Reina?

“That makes no sense.”

My thoughts began to clear up slowly.

The area that Cron attacked was definitely my left shoulder.

The reason was certainly to knock me out for good.

He probably realized that my left shoulder had not been fully healed.

With a half-hearted attack, I would have gotten up immediately, and if it had been a solid counter, I would be dead, so he targeted an already wounded area.

Which means…

“…He intentionally knocked me out and sent me towards Avatarara’s stronghold?”

Why on earth?

I always thought he was a bizarre character in the original work, but now experiencing this made it even more baffling.

“Still, we should head up for now.”

There’s no need to worry about the opponent’s intentions.

Our goal hasn’t changed, after all.

“Let’s go, Reina.”

“…Is your shoulder okay?”

“Yeah. It just feels a bit weaker than usual. I can get treated by Atal in no time.”

Wielding Neia was still within my capability.

In any case, I had endured more pain than I could count over the last three months.

“Alright, let’s hurry.”

Just as I tried to stand up, comforting Reina.

“…Looks like I’ve got one more annoying thing to deal with.”

From the inner corridor, that voice rang out, one that shouldn’t be here now.

“Is Cron messing around again?”

Reina’s complexion turned pale.

I probably looked the same.

Slowly, I turned my gaze backward.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The outcome won’t change anyway.”

A tall man over two meters, with jet-black hair.

If there was anything striking about his seemingly expressionless face, it would be the long scar near his right eye.

But what stood out even more was the gigantic greatsword he carried on his back, treating Neia, my dual-wielding claymore, as if it were a toy.

No, was there even a need to explain?

He was already an opponent I had met once.

An opponent who had come to kill me.

“It’s been a while. Aike Akses, Reina Rozelia.”

Rex, who was uniquely titled as a calamity in the original work, stood there.

★

“Are you truly okay with that?”

“Yeah. That’s enough for my purpose.”

“It’s been nearly a thousand years.”

“…Rex. I’m different from you. You know that, right?”

Rex was left speechless by Dait’s words.

Dait and the other high-ranking members of Avatarara were truly different.

No matter how long the calamitous legacy lasted, the depth was not the same.

“I am Avatarara myself. If that’s the truth, then the path I chose is the ending of Avatarara. Didn’t they all nod in agreement in the end?”

Indeed.

Dait eventually convinced ‘them.’

No, it was more fitting to say he made them submit than convinced them.

“All I want now is one thing.”

And what made that possible was.

“Only to break him in front of me.”

Such a powerful desire that could surpass a millennium of calamities.

“Aike Akses. Let me ask you something.”

With a blank expression, Rex posed the question to the Aike standing before him.

“Is the future you tried to change, the one you altered, truly worth more than a thousand years of time?”

Rex would follow Dait’s words.

No matter what happened, that part wouldn’t change.

Even the most absurd of commands.

Even if Dait commanded him to take his own life, Rex would not hesitate for a moment to stab his greatsword into his chest.

However.

“Do you think that the convoluted history of a thousand years can be overturned by the actions of just one person to save a single life?”

It didn’t mean he had no feelings.

That was why he simply couldn’t help but question Dait’s decision.

There was certainly a possibility.

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

In response to Rex’s question, Aike frowned slightly.

It seemed he had no clue what the question was about.

“Of course, that would be the case.”

In the first place, why had they come to this place?

It was purely a resolve to bring Avatarara down.

There was no way they could expect an answer from the subject of their intentions without reason or meaning.

“…Very well.”

So Rex made his decision.

For the first and last time, to defy his Lord’s command.

“I will kill you right here. And I will also kill Reina Rozelia behind you, and Atal and Helen Oberon above, and Charlotte Izolde, all of them.”

He thought he would find out something after doing so.

He thought he could discern what kind of man Aike Akses, who shattered a millennium of calamities, truly was.

“So if you want to stop me, come at me with all your strength.”

The man known as a calamity began to move.

And the final enemy of his life quietly gripped his sword, trembling at his left shoulder.

★

“They must have already started. We need to hurry!”

“But did you hear the location exactly?”

“…I heard it, but I don’t remember it clearly. I lost my notes. In fact, I’m still finding my way there by feel.”

“Then isn’t that a big problem?!”

“I have no idea what you’re thinking. Why bring this guy….”

“Ah, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Just this once, please! B-but I think I could definitely know once we get close. You’ll feel the flow of magical power!”

“Of course, that goes without saying.”

“Just don’t be too harsh on me. I’ve been busy running around the empire, so it’s understandable to make such mistakes… No, I shouldn’t, but….”

“Ugh! I’m sorry!”