Chapter 396 - Episode Forty-Two - The King of Destruction (5)

That completely did it.

Now Melzef would not be able to get up again.

What do I do about this guy for now ?

I said while glaring at Melzef.

Should I put a magic formula in his arms so that hell never be able to carry anything heavier than a fork?

Its cruel, but its not off the table. Theres a chance hell come after us again.

And then I can use the Ortem to forcefully deport him back to land.

Impossible. Even though it is incomplete, for me to lose even though I have a part of the power of the founder

Melzef gets up, his body twitching.

He breathes hard, shakes his shoulders, and looks at me.

He then swung his arm and struck at me.

But he already had none of the power of his previous mutated state.

He was bounced off by the Ortem that flew from the side and put my body on the ground again.

The duel is already over. You know understand much, dont you?

Melzef glared at me and got up silently.

Im getting irritated just looking at him in that sorry state.

Why

Why are you so desperate to kill your own daughter! Youre really the worst!

Melzef did not respond.

He just looks around at me and the Ortem with a dangerous look in his eyes.

He is still looking for an opportunity to attack me.

His every move makes me angry.

My father is a pushy, bossy man who doesnt listen to me if I try to go against his customs and push things too far. But when I was attacked by a magic beast, he risked his life to protect me! You, who risked his life to kill his own daughter, youre no longer a father, or anything! Youre just a piece of sh*t!

Melzef stops moving. But he doesnt seem to be talking back to my cursing.

This man fundamentally doesnt care about Mea.

He lifts the tentacles of Hydeem Magimetal from around him.

I was going to try to be as gentle as possible, but I was beginning to lose interest in that.

Dafne, you know! He went to a lot of trouble to play the villain so that you wouldnt have to deal with Mea! Besides, hes been troubled for a long time! He could have stopped chasing Mea as soon as you told him to stop! Isnt that right?

You, you, what do you know!

Melzef shouted.

I was unexpectedly overwhelmed.

There were large tears flowing from his expressionless eyes like a Noh mask.

You think Dafne and the others are good guys? I know they are! I wanted to tell them to stop, too! Isnt that obvious! Mea, Mea is my daughter, you know! Shes the last living remnant of my beloved wifes last attempt on her life! Youre only a dozen years old, what do you know about what I feel!

T-Then tell him to stop !

Yes, of course! If I tell them to stop, or even if I dont tell them to stop, theyll stop as soon as they show any sign of it! Even though they know that the red stone was a tool to turn all of us Doom tribe into Julems slaughtering puppets! If I tell them, they will indeed stop! Theres no way I could tell them!

I fall silent.

I had thought that Melzef was more like a cold, evil demon.

How could you

All right. Then Ill stop you.

I waved my wand.

A flying Ortem knocked Melzef off his feet.

This time he should have lost consciousness.

Gah!

Dont worry. I want you to leave everything about Mea to me. I wont let her become Julems pawn.

Melzefs body flew into the air and was slammed into the mass of Hydeem Magimetal.

He didnt get up again.

I transformed a large Ortem, carved it into a tub with my wood carving knife, and placed Melzef inside.

This should get him to the Dinrat Kingdom.

Its not perfect, but Id like to think that hell be able to handle it because hes a monster too.

Im going to return your arm to normal. So please dont come at me again.

The tubs drifted away to the land of the kingdom.

I decided to go back to the ship.

Although I had no choice, I was suddenly away from Meas side.

In addition to that, since Meas father smashed it, there is no Ortem to watch over her now.

Maybe I shouldve left at least three or four guard Ortem behind.

Im sure theyll be fine, but theres always a chance.

I should go back right away.

I looked up at the sky.

I cant believe its gotten that big

It was still bright, but there was a huge white circle floating in the sky.

Its Moon Din. The Moon festival Dinmei is approaching.

It was ominous for me.

But then Meas father showed up at the most inopportune time.

It was the price I had to pay for running away, but I was glad that he had backed off, but Gizels appearance was also very delicately timed.

No, the reason why Gizel came was because of the fortune-telling by that Shim or some other underling of Julem.

I muttered that much, and then I realized

Theres no doubt that Count Julem was trying to create an opening by turning Gizel against her own people in order to get Mea away from me in the first place.

If thats the case, I wonder if Melzef was also led there for the same purpose.

I think he was trying to shake my mind with Gizel, and if that failed, he would try to create an opening by attacking me directly with Melzef.

If thats the case, theres no reason why Count Julem wouldnt target Mea at this time.

Hes the one who was so careful with Gizel, letting Sim get into her and setting traps for her.

Im sure hes been making careful preparations for a long time to be able to tear Mea away from me at any time he wants.

In the first place, the fact that Melzef was able to pinpoint our whereabouts at the last minute was too suspicious.

I had been working with a small group of people to prevent the information from getting out, and Im sure that Dafne, who was one of Melzefs top subordinates, had misled him.

It makes sense to think that there was someone who, like Gizel, gave him information and guided him right before he left.

It was Melzef, who was desperate to kill Mea at any cost before fleeing the country.

Even if he hadnt been able to get her to trust him when he was with Gizel, he could have reached out to her as an appropriate third party and gossiped about her, Melzef would have had no choice but to comply.

Dont tell me

Id like to think that Im overthinking this.

However, I dont want to doubt it but there is one person around me who has been giving me advice on what to do everywhere I go, just like Gizels travel guide was Sim.

And now shes working with Mea.

Its too much of a coincidence.