Chapter 112 - The Breaking Hero
A tall building with a dented middle comes into view before my eyes.
But since it's under lockdown, I wonder if they've cut the power as well?
If that's the case, the elevators will be out of commission too.
In that event, I should probably consider climbing up from the outside.
"They really went and made a nest in a troublesome place," I mutter with a sigh as I move forward.
Beyond the polished glass, I see no sign of human shadows.
I feel as though I am exploring a city that has suddenly turned into a ghost town, all by myself.
I stand before the entrance. With a whirring sound, the automatic doors open.
"Oh."
It seems the power is still alive.
Looking around, the vending machines and ATMs are glowing brightly, showing that their usual functions are being maintained.
Is it because they want to resume business immediately after the Dragon is dealt with, or is it because cutting the power would have a bad effect on the servers and such?
There is no way for me to know what important people are thinking. I'll just do what I can.
I move in front of the elevator and press a button.
According to the guide map posted on the wall, it seems I can be taken straight from here to the observation deck.
From the first floor to the observation deck, two hundred and twenty meters high.
It will likely take some time, but I'll just consider it a grace period for mental concentration.
I step inside the box and press the open/close button.
Once I confirm the doors have closed, I lean my back against the wall and cross my arms.
A few seconds later, a quiet operating sound begins to hum. The box has started to move.
While surrendering myself to the slow sensation of floating, I take my smartphone out of my pocket.
Checking the time, it is slightly past twelve-thirty.
It could be called lunchtime.
The female Dragon up there must be hungry, waiting for her husband's return.
Unaware that her partner is no longer there, she has become a widow, yet she continues to wait.
While warming the eggs that will soon be destroyed, she continues to wait.
So what?
The opponent is just a winged lizard. There is no need to find human qualities in it meaninglessly.
Useless sympathy will only become a shackle. I know that perfectly well.
The opponent is a monster capable of performing a dogfight on equal terms with a fighter jet.
I am the only one who can defeat it.
As I quietly regulate my breathing, time flows by.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes.
Just as I stop counting in my head, the elevator quietly decelerates and stops.
A chime signals the arrival, and the doors open.
As I step outside, I find myself already in the observation deck.
It feels like teleportation. If one were to try and reproduce this with magic in another world, they would likely have to commission a skilled mage.
I continue walking straight toward the window glass.
The effect of the [Fatherhood] skill has already worn off, but it can't be helped.
Even with my raw physical abilities, I should be able to manage something on the level of a Dragon.
I imbue mana into my right hand and release a light bullet. Even the lowest grade of attack magic is more than enough to shatter window glass.
"I wonder if there are security cameras..."
I hope it doesn't turn into something troublesome, like property damage or whatever.
Since I rushed out instinctively after seeing the footage of Kana being attacked, I'm not even hiding my face right now.
If I'm recorded on video, my identity as the intruder will be identified all at once.
...Why did I dash out so without a plan?
I don't like Kana at all. In fact, I think of her as nothing more than an annoying brat, yet when she was about to be eaten by the Dragon, my body moved on its own as if I had to save her.
I recall Ayako-chan's words: that eighty percent of humans are born with brains that cannot kill other people.
It seems that between the theory of innate goodness and the theory of innate evil, the former is winning. A sense of kinship, which has almost nothing to do with my will, is cornering my position.
But—isn't this sweet humanism remaining inside me something that must never be lost?
While thinking such things, I continued to fire magic.
The glass shattered with cracking sounds, falling to the ground one after another.
"Heave-ho."
I grip the window frame, which still has sharp shards of glass attached to it, and lean my body out.
Visually, it is a very painful-looking situation, but my palms won't be injured just by gripping glass.
Even if I were to fall headfirst from this building, it probably wouldn't be a problem.
Perhaps my psychological state of "it doesn't matter if I fall" worked in a positive direction, as I am able to climb smoothly.
In times like this, perhaps not feeling fear or tension allows for more precise movement.
Digging my fingers into the outer wall, I pull my body up like I'm rock climbing.
As I repeat this many times, the summit finally approaches.
"...Hmph."
I place my right hand first, then my foot, and heave my body up.
I thought it might be a bit troublesome if I were attacked while climbing, but it seems it has remained quiet.
"So you're that Dragon's wife."
My eyes meet the female Dragon's.
Inside the yellow eyeballs, vertical pupils are etched. They are the eyes of a reptile, showing no emotion.
Is it the composure of the strong, or does a heart simply not exist in the first place?
The Dragon mother remains focused on warming the eggs, her wings folded calmly.
She should be a creature with very little sexual dimorphism, but I can tell she is slightly smaller than the male.
Everything is convenient. The motherly nature of protecting her child, and even the feminine roundness, are nothing more than materials to break my fighting spirit.
I generate a [Light Sword] in my right hand and brandish it. I'll end this in one blow. There is no need for hesitation.
Before you all can kill someone, I will just kill you first. That's all there is to it—
"...?"
At the very moment I lowered my sword, the Dragon's entire body suddenly began to glow.
A flashbang? A defensive barrier?
Whatever it is, it's nothing more than useless struggling. The difference in combat power between us is obvious.
There is no way a mere Dragon could block my attack.
There shouldn't be, and yet.
"Ah?"
With a swish.
My sword was cutting through empty space.
Not a defense, but an evasion?
Since it's a fact that I lose if my firepower hits, it's better to dodge.
I look up, feeling somewhat impressed that such a judgment could be made with a Dragon's shallow intellect.
Then, right before my eyes, stood Elsa, who should be dead.
Her glossy black hair flows behind her shoulders, and she is smiling brightly while cradling a baby.
A well-formed face where sharpness and purity coexist. Pure white skin. A well-proportioned body.
There is no mistake. It is Elsa herself.
Her clothing is the nightdress she always wore in the bedroom, giving me the illusion that time has been wound back. Back to the time when Elsa was alive. To those happy days.
"...Why...?"
I don't understand the meaning.
My legs move independently of my will, and I stumble backward.
The lost lover. The most beloved woman. The woman I killed. The life I snatched with these hands in order to save a world that wasn't even my own home.
A person I should never meet again is standing right before me now.
"...Is it you, Elsa?"
In response to my question, Elsa does not answer.
She merely stares at me, her smile fixed in place.
And with that, I realized.
This smiling face is a lie, and it exists in a place far removed from human emotion.
It is a smile that is too perfect, resembling a painting. To use an analogy, it has a stillness like the Mona Lisa.
"...Status Open."
I mutter instinctively, attempting an analysis.
On the Elsa before my eyes.
On this thing that has the same face as the woman I love.
【Name】Red Dragon【Level】109【Class】Dragon【HP】18000【MP】12200【Attack】9900【Defense】10100【Agility】12000【Magic Attack】8500【Magic Defense】8000【Skill】Dragon Breath, Fire Magic【Remarks】Female of the Red Dragon species. Becomes ferocious during the breeding season.
The appraisal results are pitch black, stating that this is nothing more than the mother Dragon in disguise.
As I thought, this isn't Elsa.
...But that doesn't matter. It's obvious.
The important thing is how she transformed, yet nothing is written about that matter.
"...That dress..."
Furthermore.
This Elsa, who is a disguised Dragon, is wearing a familiar nightdress.
The thin dress that Elsa never intended to show to anyone but me.
Everything from the fraying of the cloth to the location of the stains is exactly the same; it was an item that could only be the one Elsa wore.
Did she bring it from the other world I was in?
No. I can declare that that is the one thing that is impossible.
Because I burned Elsa's nightdress along with her corpse.
I packed Elsa's favorite items into her coffin and burned them together.
A fake Elsa, wearing clothes that should have been lost from this world.
Suddenly, I remembered Kana's words.
That the guide of the hidden dungeon that appeared after the Demon Lord was defeated was designed to appear in the form of the Hero's most beloved person.
"...I see. You haven't transformed; you're interfering with my consciousness. You've rigged it so that I see you as the person I find most difficult to attack. That's it, isn't it?"
The Dragon does not answer.
With the face of my beloved Elsa, she merely wears a graceful smile.
"Are you related to the hidden dungeon? Or is such technology commonly widespread in some other world?"
The Dragon says nothing.
It lacks the intelligence to speak. I know that.
And yet, I cannot help but talk to it.
"Elsa..."
As I softly reach out my arm, the Dragon in Elsa's form digs its claws in with all its might.
Since it lacks the attack power to wound my skin, it was a useless resistance.
The Dragon frowns, and this time, it opens its mouth wide. The depths of its throat begin to glow red. It has entered the stance to exhale its breath.
If I don't defeat it as soon as possible, there might be damage to the city.
I.
What I must do is...
"...Am I going to kill you again?"
With a head not suited for killing.
While staring at the face of the most important woman in this world.
I swung my sword in a horizontal line.
Elsa's body swayed.
Severed in two at the navel, her upper body slid away.
While still smiling gracefully, Elsa fell toward the ground.
For an instant, a short light was released.
I thought it was a suicidal explosion at the moment of death, but it wasn't.
The Dragon's transformation had been released.
It returned to a typical Dragon form, like a winged dinosaur, and plummeted headfirst.
Perhaps the strength to maintain the transformation had run out.
Once I confirmed the Dragon was no longer visible, I smashed the remaining eggs.
[Hero Keisuke has won the battle!]
In that instant, a system message flowed, confirming that all Dragons had been subjugated.
Peace was restored to the capital, Tokyo. I had won.
I slowly sat down, and then, I sobbed.
I fell to all fours, coughing repeatedly, and vomited from physiological disgust.
No matter how much I say I am used to killing, when it comes to taking the life of a creature in the form of the woman I love, it is a different story.
Just like when I killed a human for the first time. Just like when, no matter how much of a villain I was, I nearly went mad from guilt.
Crying, vomiting, suffering, begging for forgiveness, cursing myself, my consciousness receding, a void expanding in my head—
And then, I returned to normal.
It's okay now.
I've been broken for a long time, but I cannot show any sign of that.
Because that is what a Hero is, and what a Father is.
I retraced my steps, used the elevator again, and returned to the ground.
As I exited the Metropolitan Government Building, countless members of the media surrounded me, microphones in hand.
...It seems I couldn't hide it.
Whether there were security cameras inside, or they were filming the rooftop from a distance.
"Nakamoto-san, the moment you severed the giant creature that occupied the Metropolitan Government Building was captured on video!"
"Was that, after all, part of a magic trick?"
"Please give us a word regarding your future intentions!"
"What are your thoughts on becoming a Hero!"
I slowly brought my face close to the microphones and wove my words.
"Anyway, I just want to go home. ...I don't want to be a Hero or anything; I want to be a 'My Home Papa'."
But aren't you single? the reporters laughed.