Running Away From The Hero! (Remake)-Novel

RATH 42

TL: Eevee

6. Hell is just beginning. (3)

#6 Their story: Aris ril Letia’s story [Subtitle: I saw the devil 3]

The silver devil looked as her right hand as if amazed, and then smiled as if she was amused as she lifted up her left hand.

“Hey unni, try ta block this too!”

Wham!

“Hwwwwuh?!”

It really was a devil! This thing was definitely a devil!

The fearsome pain that broke through the shield drew a whine from my tightly clenched lips.

Impossible. Blocking that pain as a human is absolutely impossible!

-Y, you can do it Aris!

Although the goddess is cheering me on, it’s too late.

My legs have already all but given out, and my mouth is still doing its utmost to hold back my groans from the pain that traveled down the shield.

And my two hands that were holding onto my only hope, the shield, were already at their limits.

They’re shaking furiously and could drop the shield at any moment.

And dodge two attacks in this state?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Then my remaining fate would be getting beaten up by the silver creature.

“No! Never!”

This was the impact even when I blocked it with a god’s shield. And if it took those attacks head on?

It’s fearful. Much, much too fearful.

Even when I was born into a martial family, even when I overcame countless trials and tribulations to befit my status as a daughter of one of the Ten Great Families, and I had never felt fear back then.

But, I would never have imagined that I would feel fear in the academy!

‘There is only one solution!’

But I still had one remaining option.

One that the others couldn’t use, a high-ranking skill that only contractors of gods could use.

A skill that only the five god-class summoners of Yugrasia’s first years could use!

-O Goddess, grant me, your contractor a powerful mind and body.

I started reciting the spell that Professor Nicerwin taught me. Although he was the culprit that began this nightmare, Professor Nicerwin was one of the greatest summoners on the continent.

-W, wait! You can’t use that!

Although the goddess began screaming, it couldn’t be helped.

-Your wisdom, your strength.

-N, no! S, stop! If you use Descension then the shock hits me too!

Divine Descension Art (降神術).

A technique that could pull a god’s soul into a human body.

A method only usable by a summoner that had contracted a god, a method that could harness the most power from a god, that could not enter this world freely due to their overwhelming strength.

It was a technique wherein the soul of the god itself would fill up the summoner’s body for the god to control.

-My spirit and yours are one, descend your soul into my weak body and lend me your strength!

-I hate you! I hate you!

I’m sorry, goddess! But I need to survive as well!

“Meanie, you meanie!”

The goddess’s whines left my mouth.

Meaning that the descension was complete.

“Uwiit? The tasty unni’s entered the pretty unni? Two for the price of one if I hit ya?”

But the devil noticed instantly.

For that matter, even though a god had just descended onto the earth, what the heck is with that delighted face!

-Doooodgee! Whatever you do, dodge!

“That’s my plan tooo!”

The goddess ducked underneath a fist as she said those words.

And befitting her nickname as the goddess of war, the goddess skillfully manipulated a spear in one hand and her shield in the other, as she raised her shield and shouted.

“Turn into stone, Aegis!”

The goddess smoothly activated the curse on the shield!

It might have been different when I used it, but the goddess herself could use the power of the shield much more effectively!

And if we got lucky, even that devil would be turned to stone! That’s our goddess! Our goddess is the best! Do your best, our goddess!

“Uwiik? Sparkle sparkle, my eyes hurt!”

“What?!”

But it had no effect on the silver devil. On the contrary, it opened a chance for a counterattack.

“As I thought, was that really a god of curses of another world!”

“Haang? What kinda bullshit izzat. I’m this world’s sole goddess, Lady Arcadia!”

“I haven’t heard of a goddess by that name before!”

“‘Course, that’s cause I made it up myself!”

Short arms cut through the air.

The self-proclaimed goddess, that was actually a devil no matter how you looked at her swung her hands around.

Those fists looked cute but my instincts were screaming.

If I allowed even a single one of those light hits then it would all be over for me!

“Uwiing? Ya dodgin’ better than I thought? Then dodge this.”

But had it gotten bored of the goddess’s and my struggles?

After outstretching its short arms the devil looked at the goddess, that was to say, my body, and shouted.

“Take this, tentarcardia attack!”

“Wha, what?! Wait, these disgusting movements! You said you were a goddess! Is a goddess allowed to something this disgusting?!”

“Haang, look at this silver shine! This all-natural sparkles! Iz pretty, innit? So I doesn’t matter! Just has ta be beautiful!”

“Beautiful, just what about that is supposed to be beautifuuaaaaallll!”

The mass of silver tentacles wriggled its way towards me!

Scores of tentacles raced in aiming for my head shoulders, thighs and so on.

-Dodge, please dodge!

At my moment of true danger, the goddess said to me, very seriously.

“Aris… Undo the descent.”

-G, goddess?!

Even at my shocked the words the goddess continued speaking solemnly, no, shortly afterwards shouted tearfully.

“D, die on your own! I got hit last time too! Do you know how much that hurt! It’s scary! I don’t wanna! And it’s disgusting! So please undo ittt!”

-We, we’re soul partners, bonded together by our souls! You can do it!

“No! That was a scam contract! We’re contracted because I got hit by that thing! So hurry up and undo it!”

As the goddess said half-throwing a tantrum, I also began to whine as if I couldn’t lose.

-No! if you don’t want to get hit then dodge! You’re the goddess of war! You’re the goddess of wisdom! Show me the majesty of a god!

“You can’t do anything to that even as a god!”

As the silver tentacles crept closer the space where we could dodge in began to get smaller and smaller.

Even if the students around me tried to help they were out in one hit.

If they tried to break through sneakily they were out, if they tried to run they were out.

In the end, there was no one left to help me.

-Is, is this the end?

“N, no! Aris! Hurry and undo it! I’ll be really good to you from now on, mm? So please hurry!

-N, no! if I die then that’s all meaningless!

At the future that was not visible, I shouted to the goddess with all my soul but the goddess’s words were cold.

“That thing doesn’t kill anyone! You won’t die! I’ll guarantee it! So please! Please undo it, it’s getting really hard to dodge now!”

But as soon as the goddess finished screaming, a silver tentacle appeared in front of our eyes.

‘Is this… the end?”

So is all that is left is my fate to fall to those tentacles with my eyes rolling back, drooling everywhere while whimpering in pain.

Why must they, summoner and summon alike, both humiliate me so?

What did I do to them in my past life?

No, even if I did commit wrongs in my past life, isn’t inflicting this kind of ridiculous pain just too much?

“Stop… it.”

And just as I was mulling over my fate, my saviour appeared.

-Pr, president?

Even if his entire body was in tatters.

Even though he seemed like he would collapse at any moment.

At this moment, his figure that slapped away the silver tentacle as he stood in front of me looked more dashing than anything.

“Wiin? It’s the stuco pres?”

“N, now! Use this opportunity to run away!”

And the goddess thought immediately of running away the moment the tentacle missed its mark.

-If, if it’s with the president then we might be able to stop it!

I thought differently.

“Eeek! That’s not something that can be blocked!”

-But if it’s the president’s long-ranged attacks then we might be able to do something!

The president was a person loved by so many spirits it wouldn’t be incorrect to call him an army of spirits.

Even if he went purely by the number of spirits he had contracted alone, he was someone who could leave his name in history.

And so!

-This is the only chance we have of turning this around.

“Iiiik! Then undo the descent and you fight instead!”

I retrieved my body’s ownership from the goddess who no longer had any will to fight.

The devil was still focused on the president.

There was still a chance! I would desummon Aegis as well and stake everything on my single spear!

“President! Distract it! I’ll deal the critical… huh?”

“Heeheet.”

But as I moved beside the president I heard no response from him.

Rather, he couldn’t respond.

“He fainted… standing on his feet?”

“Unni, I said earlier, din’t I? I give pain when I hit things, and I give pain when you try to hit me?”

“Ah…”

That was it.

Just then, the president had knocked aside this devil’s tentacles to try save me. Without any protection on his arm that knocked it aside.

“Normally it would be normal to hurt but if the body hits its limits for pain then it faints. But the president was already at his limits!”

Indeed. The president had put his body on the line to defeat Professor Maroon.

To break through an earth elemental specialised in defense, and a highest-rank elemental no less, he had drawn on the powers of high-rank elementals from all four elements to his limits and charged just like that.

In that case, being able to move in the first place was abnormal.

“Our pres was alweady done for the moment he showed up.”

“But, but why…”

At that moment, a shiver ran down my spine as something tapped my back.

It was a very light tap but a pain that ground on every single nerve in my body began to spread out.

“Hmm? Why’d I pretend ta be serious when I saw the pres?”

“Hiik.”

-I told you Aris. We should have made a run for it.

Perhaps because she was no longer feeling any more pain, the goddess said so with a relieved voice but I couldn’t listen to her properly.

“Hnng? Urrg?!”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Something kept tapping my shoulder. Very lightly, very delicately.

But even those fine touches sent pain travelling up my throat and out of my mouth.

“Uuu, urrrggg…”

Even though I knew what it was. Even though I was scared.

Even though the devil was in front of me! But me head automatically turned backwards and saw the thing that was poking me.

“Hiiiiiik!”

And what I saw, were scores and scores of silver tentacles wriggling along the ground.

When my head turned back to its normal place, the silver devil smiled and said.

“The pres had fainted, so why was I so serious? Well that’s cause… of course it’s ta catch unni who’s tryin’ ta run away, innit?”

That was it. I’d been had.

No, I’d made a very, very poor error of judgment.

This was the result of the mistaken thinking that I could challenge this silver devil! But so, but so!

“N, nooooooooooooo!”

“Dear unni, cry cutely for me!”

“Hwaahh? N, no! S, stop!”

“Uhihihi! I’ll turn ya so ya can’t recognise yaself!”

And so, I was baited by the silver tentacles and experienced humiliation that I would never be able to forget for the rest of my life.

And so.

For the first time in my life, very shamefully as a daughter of the Letia family, I used my last resort.

***

Since I wasn’t exactly a good downloader in my past life, I did my best in this life to respect copyright.

“How do you do?”

“Save the formalities.”

Oi you little shits.

How old are you lot that you went telling on me to your mum and dad?