In the momentary lapse when Ivan intervened, Keiga was once again attacked by the female Dark Harpy.
Seeing the weakened Keiga before them, Philiana and the other companions seized the opportunity and attacked one after another. While he was distracted by this, Elana rushed towards him with incredible speed and dug her claws into the armor attached to his wings. The armor, warped by the heat, was ripped off, causing Keiga to lose his balance.
“Aaaagh, you beast! What the hell is this, hey guards, finish them off quickly!”
Only Keiga’s angry roar echoed through the village.
“It’s over for you now, resign yourself!”
Philiana approached him, sword in hand. To their surprise, Keiga spread his tattered wings and took flight from the spot.
“Ah, wait, he’s escaping! I can’t believe it!”
Nina, gripping her dagger, angrily called out to Philiana. Philiana immediately called to her to chase after him. Sharin mounted Philiana’s back, and the three of them bolted after Keiga. Piyo flew just behind them.
“Ah, wait, I’ve been left behind…”
They left me behind completely. Well, even if I had followed, I wouldn’t have been much help, so it wasn’t that much of a hindrance.
Pauline, who had been left behind like me, approached.
“Hiroaki, please follow them. I’ll stay here and help with the medical treatment for the injured.”
I thought, ‘Even so…’ when I heard the sound of hooves from behind.
“Brother, hurry and get on, we’re going to chase him.”
Karubene was mounted on a bare horse, brought from somewhere. It was probably from an animal hut they entered when rescuing those who were captured. With the help of the two, I managed to get on the back. With Karubene’s shout, the horse galloped off.
After advancing for a while, we found Keiga cornered in the middle of the road. Unfortunately for him, there were no trees on one side of the road, and it dropped off into a cliff.
“Oh, you’ve come too.”
Looking down, Elana was looking up at us.
“Aagh, brother, if you squeeze me that tight, ah, it’s painful… something hard is pressing against my back…”
Ignoring Karubene, who started playing around the moment he realised there was an audience, I dismounted from the horse. In the meantime, Keiga was being driven closer and closer to the cliff.
“O-okay, I lose. N-now, put down your weapons and let’s talk. I swear I’ll never be violent towards women again. I’ve truly learned how precious women are. So, please, can you let me off this time?”
He had lost all his dignity and fearsomeness, looking completely different from when I first saw him. He now looked pathetic, like a beggar begging for loose change.
“Hah, I’m speechless. You don’t seem to understand anything. I don’t need you to worship me.”
“I’m truly sorry. I’ll atone for my sins with my life. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they?”
He rubbed his charred wings together and approached Philiana, lowering his posture. I had a bad feeling about this. Before I could utter a word of warning, Keiga readied his remaining blade and lunged at her.
