Chapter 11 : The Sword King (1)

Just before the monster’s claws pierced my heart.

“Wolf’s Breath Type 1 – One Day, Thousand Moments.”

With swift movements, Miss Hoshino had landed behind me before I knew it.

She had already cleaved the stone monster that had been in front of me in a single stroke.

“Huff…!”

I could see its headless body slowly crumbling to dust, as if it were a statue that had exhausted its lifespan.

Even the claws that had touched my body were luckily stuck in a stuffed doll, with only the cotton protruding.

It was an unexpected monster ambush, but it seemed I got through it without serious injury.

“Thank you, Miss. Thanks to you, I didn’t end up in a terrible situation.”

“Ha… ha…!”

The monster had vanished.

So the situation was over.

I thought this, and I was about to express my gratitude to Miss Hoshino for saving my life.

But then, I noticed that she was breathing heavily in a strange way.

“Miss Hoshino?”

Is she exhausted?

Well, she’s still young after all.

She had shown such impressive movements with the body of an elementary school student, twice in one day. It would be more surprising if she was perfectly fine.

…But isn’t this a bit much?

“Miss, are you alright?”

Her breath was rough, and she was sweating cold with an odd, strained sound. It didn’t seem like simple exhaustion.

I began walking toward her, wondering if something was wrong.

But at that moment.

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

Miss Hoshino shoved me aside.

When I looked up, I saw her face drenched in sweat, with an expression filled with fear.

“Jang Hoon… Run!”

Just before the stone monster was about to strike Jang Hoon.

‘It’s too late even if I draw my sword now!’

Miss Hoshino, who had only mastered Type 1 of the Wolf’s Breath sword style.

From her perspective, the current situation was beyond her ability to handle.

When she turned her back, the headless stone monster was about to fall onto Jang Hoon.

If she tried to move, it would already be too late. My only friend, the first ‘rational boy’ I met, would die.

‘What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?’

A vivid, flashing scene that one supposedly sees just before death.

The moment that felt like time itself had stopped, slowly passing. Miss Hoshino experienced it not as her own death, but the death of someone precious to her.

And in that moment, she thought constantly.

A way to save Jang Hoon, right in front of her.

A way to definitely finish off that stone monster.

If there were a way to suddenly increase her power, rather than gradually improving her limits.

Just one.

A contract.

‘…!’

The moment she heard that ominous voice she’d always heard when she was weak.

It was a voice she usually ignored because it made her feel uncomfortable.

But…

This time, it was different.

I will enhance your latent abilities.

In exchange.

Give your body to me.

The price for saving Jang Hoon.

The price was none other than her own body.

Shaking her head.

It didn’t make sense.

The voice itself was from an unknown entity; how could she trust it and recklessly lend her body?

But.

Crack.

“?!”

A vision the voice showed her.

Jang Hoon, crushed by the stone monster, his bones and intestines scattered in all directions, turned into a grotesque mess.

Seeing the boy she had just been laughing with at the festival turned into that.

“I’ll give it.”

…!

“I’ll give it, so please save Jang Hoon.”

Miss Hoshino, losing her reason, had taken the devil’s hand.

“Miss Hoshino?”

“Get away from me!”

After dealing with the stone monster as per the contract, Miss Hoshino successfully saved Jang Hoon.

But her mind was slipping away, slowly being consumed by the voice that had tormented her since childhood.

Her body had been sealed, and the notoriety was long forgotten, but the monster, the ‘Sword Monster,’ had managed to escape just before being sealed, waiting for the perfect moment to revive.

She was slowly being consumed by the ‘Sword Monster.’

“Grrr… Aaaaaaah!”

“Miss!”

The ‘Sword Monster,’ which had been seeking to revive through the body of the Okami clan, had dreamed of full manifestation for the past few hundred years.

At last, it had nearly taken over her body completely, and when it roared toward the sky, sirens related to the monster began sounding in the surrounding area.

Though it was a festival, by now, D-shi had likely sensed this overwhelming power and taken emergency action.

Currently, the monster’s energy leaking from Miss Hoshino’s body was at least level 1 or higher.

The Sword Monster, who had fully possessed her, was already capable of destroying a large metropolitan area.

“Thank your master.”

“What?”

“I keep my promises. That’s why I’m sparing him.”

Leaving Jang Hoon, who was collapsed in front of her, behind, it leapt toward the Okami family’s territory.

By the time it reached the mountain where the territory was located, it had arrived at the middle of the mountain.

“Stop… huh? Princess Hoshino?”

“Princess, what is this…?”

I’ve met quite a few heroes active in D-shi.

Swoosh.

“Ugh?!”

“Cough!”

The moment they saw her—Hoshino, the only princess of the Okami family—everyone let their guard down.

As a result, they were easily defeated and passed over.

“Hahaha! Though the master of this body has strangely resisted and hasn’t killed me yet, that will all be over once I acquire the sword imbued with my power!”

The Sword Monster, which had nearly taken over Hoshino’s body, had finally set foot in the Okami family’s territory, where her ancestors had lived.

Swish.

As soon as it entered.

“Wolf’s Breath Type 1…”

“!!”

“One Day, Thousand Moments.”

In that moment, I felt as if my neck was about to fall off.

Clang!

“Ugh?!”

The Okami family’s estate, which had some understanding of the situation.

Inside, all the servants had already evacuated, and the only remaining person was the head of the family, Hoshino’s mother, Makoto.

“You who have possessed my daughter’s body, who exactly are you?”

“Oh?”

The eyes that seemed to intentionally avoid killing her immediately to gain the upper hand.

As the sword-wielding Sword Monster looked at her in that manner, old, unpleasant memories began to resurface.

In the past, the fox beastmen who had attacked her had acted arrogantly, just like this one.

A pitiful human who looked down on her as the peak of power and ultimately betrayed her.

But that long, cursed connection would end today.

“Who am I?”

“?”

“Isn’t that something you already know better than I?”

“What did you say?”

A strange voice came from Hoshino’s body, one that didn’t match her outward appearance.

As she stretched out one hand in front of her.

Immediately, the sword of the first Okami clan lord, which had been stored on the altar, flew toward her.

“Could it be…?”

The moment Hoshino drew the first Okami sword.

Her body was instantly surrounded by dark energy, disappearing between the gaps of armor that was larger than her own body.

At the same time, a bizarre form, a face wrapped in a headscarf, appeared before Makoto, the head of the family.

“I have returned.”

The Sword Monster, who had only appeared in the Okami family’s legends, was now fully revived.

“Hoshino!”

“Don’t worry. She’s still alive.”

“What… What did you do to my daughter?”

“Well, now that I’ve regained full control, I can throw her away at any time.”

‘Possession.’

That monster.

How dare it touch my daughter without caring about its own life?

And somehow, as I don’t know how it happened, the fact that it possessed Hoshino’s body means that it must have met with Jang Hoon, who had been with her before.

Crack.

I was too careless.

I didn’t realize that the Sword Monster was still alive at this point.

If only I had better understood the degree of the seal, I might have been able to prevent this beforehand. Makoto, the head of the family, regretted her carelessness with her past.

Still, she aimed her sword at the Sword King standing before her.

“Oh? Are you planning to have a duel with me?”

“I saw my daughter being absorbed into your body. So, if I pierce your insides, I can save Hoshino, right?”

“That’s true… But, after several hundred years, the wolf’s blood has undoubtedly weakened compared to the original. And yet, you still want to challenge me?”

“Of course.”

Even if it’s a burning pit where death is obvious, if my child fell into it, I would jump in and do whatever I could to save my child.

“Give me my daughter back, monster.”

This was the realm that even Hoshino, who had become an S-rank hero, couldn’t reach.

“Wolf’s Breath Final Move.”

“…!”

“Eighth Form.”

With a stance that enveloped her entire body with the white energy of the wolf, Makoto, the head of the family, became like a ‘flash,’ lighting up the night sky.

“Strict Father, Gentle Mother.”

I didn’t expect this.

It was the exact same technique as the first Okami clan lord, who had once defeated her in the past.

At that moment, the armor that had encased her abdomen was deeply gouged, and the Sword Monster, which should have been fully obliterated, was now facing its end.

Grin.

“Wolf’s Breath Final Move.”

“…What?”

“Eighth Form.”

Thanks to the possession of Hoshino’s body, the Sword Monster now had access to the Okami family’s secret scrolls.

If she hadn’t learned this “beautiful swordsmanship,” it might have been impossible for her to perform this technique.

“Strict Father, Gentle Mother.”

“?!”

Swish—.