Chapter 292: Rough Guys (14)

Cutlass distanced himself and staggered around. He only survived a single blow because he was a doppelganger, but the accumulated damage to his body was significant. However, his body still burned with fighting spirit. He leaned forward, pointing his sword at us, and spoke.

"You, Evangeline... all of you! I'll kill you all!"

"Looks like he's screwed over something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It seems like something didn't work out for him."

But we had no way of knowing why he was acting like this. Seeing him throw a fit about killing Evangeline, it seemed something hadn't gone well within the Demon King's Army. Was it related to me not being the Demon King? There was no time for idle chatter. We exchanged brief words and immediately rushed at Cutlass. A bastard threatening to kill us had to be killed first to prevent any future trouble.

Name: Echoing Cutlass

Affiliation: Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army

Level: 68

Strength: 254

Agility: 266

Intelligence: 203

Luck: 200

Traits

Doppelganger

Can transform into a specific person or monster. Original stats are maintained,

and one of the target's traits becomes active on the status window.

(Existing traits are not displayed but are maintained.)

Leader

Entities following 'Cutlass' gain a stat increase equal to 10% of Cutlass's stats.

Checking the status window, his name had changed back to Cutlass. It seemed demons' status windows also changed depending on their transformed appearance. The fact that Mayhem was Cutlass was a kind of plot twist in the original game, so in a way, this was accurate to the lore. My mace and AA's sword flew at him from different directions.

Cutlass flinched momentarily at the strike aimed at his neck, then suddenly vanished from my field of vision. Unlike my mace, which weakly cut through the empty space, AA's sword strike aimed at his waist was blocked by Cutlass. Only then could I see Cutlass grinding his teeth near my waistline. This bastard. In that brief moment, he had transformed into a dwarf to dodge my mace.

"Not a chance!"

Cutlass deflected AA's sword and sent his own blade flying toward us at the same time.

"Shit!"

I barely managed to deflect his sword. As I glared at him, he rapidly retreated and shifted his form again. It was a calculated movement, as if to ensure he wouldn't expose a blind spot to either of us. His speech was full of agitation, but his stance in battle was completely cold.

At this rate, I had to drop the idea of finishing him off in one hit. If we grew impatient and made a mistake, Cutlass would be the one to benefit. Nothing would change even if that bastard dragged this out anyway, so we just had to slowly chip away at his stamina and kill him. The only ones dying while we stalled for time were those Church of Love bastards. They say meaningless sacrifices should be prevented, but I couldn't care less whether those Church of Love guys lived or died.

"If we drag this out any longer, people will keep dying. Let's finish this quickly."

AA whispered to me in a low voice. I shook my head and clicked my tongue. Fuck. This is why heroes are no good.

If I begged to drag it out here, I'd just look like trash, so I had to find a way to settle this quickly. AA was getting anxious. I quietly cast buffs on AA and myself in turn. Meanwhile, Cutlass had reverted to Mayhem's appearance and was circling around us.

AA dashed forward once more. A beat later, I moved in a different direction. Cutlass blocked AA's sword, but she immediately let go of her entangled weapon and grabbed him from behind.

"Urgh!"

Cutlass looked at AA with a flustered expression. She smacked Cutlass's wrist as it swung through the empty space, forcing him to drop his sword. Then, firmly locking his arms in place, she shoved Cutlass toward me.

"Sir Priest!"

"Die, you bastard!"

This time, I brought the mace down vertically so he couldn't dodge it at all. Even if he transformed into a dwarf, he wouldn't be able to avoid it this time. Cutlass struggled and shouted.

"You cowards...!"

Clang!

Cutlass couldn't finish his shout. It was because my mace had crushed his head once again. Doppelgangers seemed to have a slightly different physical structure from humans, as he was still alive even with his head caved in. Trembling all over and stretching his body out like a frog, Cutlass reverted to his original form. I had to kill him before he could transform into something else.

As if agreeing with that thought, AA smashed a knee strike into Cutlass's waist.

"Gah!"

Cutlass screamed. Where was the scream even coming from? His transparent, jelly-like body had a much firmer texture than I expected. Cutlass flailed about as his waist bent at a grotesque angle from AA's knee strike.

"S-Stop it! F-Fight me fair and square! Kuaargh!"

"Fuck off, you idiot!"

I smashed Cutlass's shins with my mace. His legs shattered to pieces, like breaking frozen pig fat.

"Kuaaaagh! I said stop! You cowards! Kuaaagh! Kuaaaagh!"

But there was nothing Cutlass could do. Held tight by AA's arms, he merely flailed around like a baby, unable to put up any resistance. After I shattered his other leg to match the symmetry, Cutlass wriggled on the ground, groveling helplessly.

AA threw Cutlass to the ground, and I slammed my mace into his head one more time.

Thwack!

His heavy, crushed head was completely indented in the shape of my mace. Cutlass shuddered violently before going limp. He must be dead for sure now, right? I pulled my mace out and looked at the hero. AA looked down at Cutlass with a slightly apologetic expression and spoke.

"If it weren't for the people from the Church of Love, I would have fought him properly. I feel sorry for trampling on a warrior's honor."

"Warrior? Sir Hero, these bastards tried to control people and turn them all into demons. On top of that, he even lied about me being the Demon King just to make you surrender."

"Anyway, what should we do? It would be easier to demand their surrender if Mayhem's corpse was still intact..."

"Ah."

I hadn't thought of that. To make it easier for them to surrender when we went out, we needed either a corpse or a battered Mayhem. But since we just beat him up intending to kill him first, all that remained here were unidentifiable lumps of gelatin. If we went out like this, the Church of Love believers would definitely attack us, thinking enemies had infiltrated their rear. But if we left through the secret passage, there would be no point to our infiltration. I poked Mayhem and spoke.

"Hey, are you alive?"

There was no answer. He was definitely dead from that last strike. But just in case, I checked Cutlass's status window.

Name: Echoing Cutlass

Affiliation: Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army

Level: 68

Strength: 254

Agility: 266

Intelligence: 203

Luck: 200

"This bastard!"

Boom!

"Kuaaaargh! H-How did you know?! My play-dead act should have been perfect!"

Cutlass bounced across the floor like a spring and rolled all the way into the corner of the room. He clutched his one remaining arm, which was completely shattered, and shouted at me. AA also looked at me with an expression of admiration and asked.

"H-How did you know? Even I thought he was dead for sure."

"Just a gut feeling."

You can't check the status window of a dead guy. In other words, if the status window pops up, it means they are alive. Cutlass gasped for air and placed his hand against the wall. I swung my mace through the air and spoke.

"Let's make this easy for both of us. Hm? If you transform into Mayhem and say one word telling the guys to surrender, I'll let you off easily. If not, I'll turn you into fucking agar jelly. Got it?"

"...I'm sorry, but what is that?"

"...It's just a thing."

Why did these bastards know so little? I skipped the explanation. Cutlass kept flailing, rubbing against the wall as if trying to force himself up. He didn't seem willing to transform obediently, so it felt right to just kill him here. I looked at AA and spoke.

"I'll just kill him. As for the battle, if we take out a few guys from behind, they'll probably surrender. If they don't stop, we'll just kill them all."

Just as AA was pondering this slightly, Cutlass spoke in a feeble voice.

"A-Alright... I'll t-transform... Just wait a moment... Now that Evangeline... has betrayed me... there's no reason... for me to fight anymore, either..."

He stopped his hand from rubbing the wall and said that. Just in case, both AA and I kept our weapons raised as we watched him. Since we didn't know the limits of this bastard's abilities, it was only natural to be on guard. He might just be saying that and suddenly transform into some unheard-of self-destructing demon to put us in a tough spot. His body started melting down into mush again.

His appearance slowly began to change, starting from the fingertips touching the wall. It was a very slender and delicate hand. Did Mayhem have such elegant hands? The curve of the arm looked exactly like a woman's. At the end of the white, slender arms, a beautiful shoulder line and the lovely face of a woman were revealed. Not knowing who this woman was, AA was momentarily confused.

It was Sibanne. Cutlass smirked with Sibanne's face and opened his mouth.

"I am... the Demon King's right arm... the Echoing Cutlass..."

Why did he transform into Sibanne? What was he trying to do by turning into this bitch?

[I have prepared a terrifying magic spell, [Stigma of Evangeline], with Lady Evangeline!]

Goosebumps erupted on my skin. A faint light began to spread from Cutlass's fingertips. How did the Stigma of Evangeline work again? Why did I think these bastards wouldn't have created a contingency plan in case Sibanne died?

"Ah, fuck!"

I'm screwed. I had been too complacent. I frantically swung my mace. The light radiating from Cutlass's fingertips drew a magic circle. The moment I smashed Cutlass's head in. His voice echoed through the air.

"Hahaha... Die, all of you..."

At the exact moment his face was crushed, Cutlass's body shattered to pieces. Then, the magic circle dyed red and shot out energy fluctuations in all directions. I furrowed my brow, and AA hastily raised her sword to take a defensive stance.

"Huh?"

AA touched her body, wearing a bewildered expression. I clutched my pounding heart and looked back.

Slowly, screams could be heard from afar. The absolutely horrific screams of hundreds, thousands of people.

I was getting excited by those screams.