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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Luna and Hare couldn’t accept what they were seeing. A Demon Lord, attacking them in Mister’s body. The outward appearance was Mister’s, but the being inside was not. Luna stumbled back, reeling from the shock.
“Mister… Mister’s not Mister…”
The body was Mister’s.
But the mind wasn’t.
Luna nudged Hare’s shoulder.
“H-Hare…! W-What should we call him? Is he even Mister anymore? He looks like Mister, but he’s not!”
Hare, still dazed, mumbled,
“That’s not Mister…”
“Not Mister?!”
“If only the body is Mister, it doesn’t matter… Mister has to be Mister in mind too… I don’t care about the shell…”
“H-Hare…!?”
Hare looked unstable, as if a loose screw had finally come undone.
“The… the time we spent together… and… the Mister who knows me… is what matters…”
So…
Hare’s voice was cold, her words shocking.
“Let’s kill Mister, Luna.”
“What?! Are you crazy?! Hare’s gone crazy! Kill Mister?! What are you talking about?!”
Hare shook her head, correcting Luna’s misinterpretation.
“…I mean, let’s kill the thing that’s possessing Mister’s body.”
“Then say so! You confused me!”
“…I would never kill Mister, Luna. Look down.”
“Down? Oh!”
Luna finally understood.
The rope Mister had left, and the meaning of his words.
“Attack without hesitation…! Subdue Mister’s body! I get it now!”
“…Mister sacrificed his body on purpose. To trap the Demon Lord. And we just have to take Mister’s body to Estia. Then…”
“Mister will be back?”
Hare nodded confidently.
Luna’s blue eyes burned with renewed determination. They had always trained against Mister using only physical strength.
They were more than confident, they were overflowing with it.
“Alright! Let’s show him the results of our training! Wait for us, Mister! We’ll save you!”
Luna’s declaration was filled with the spirit of a Hero rescuing a princess. Greed scoffed, his lips curling into a sneer.
“To think I was defeated by such a pathetic Hero… My past self is pathetic.”
“…Don’t speak in Mister’s voice, it’s disgusting.”
“It seems I haven’t shown you my true power yet, you little pests.”
Greed, in control of Lee Jun-woo’s body, approached the unsuspecting Hero’s party.
His movements were swift, and Hare barely managed to dodge his fist.
“That was close. Even without magic, he’s dangerous. It’s Mister’s body after all…”
“Don’t look so impressed, Hare! Focus!”
Luna dropped her Holy Sword and drew her wooden practice sword. She couldn’t bring herself to slice Mister into five pieces.
She would have to rely on blunt force. But this wasn’t the time for mercy.
“That rogue is fast, but you’re a little slow, aren’t you, Hero?”
“Y-You bastard!”
Whoosh-!
Luna swung her wooden sword downwards. Greed caught it effortlessly.
In that instant, Luna felt the stark difference in their physical abilities.
“E-Even without magic, Mister is still Mister…?”
“Goodbye, Hero.”
Luna quickly released her sword, trying to dodge. But Lee Jun-woo’s fist was much faster.
Crash-!
Lee Jun-woo’s trained fist connected with Luna’s face, sending her flying into the cave wall.
“L-Luna…!!”
“The Hero’s done. You’re next, rogue.”
“Luna, answer me! Tell me you’re alive…!”
Luna, embedded in the hard cave wall, didn’t respond. She couldn’t. The impact had left her dazed.
‘Where… where am I…? Why am I in the wall…? Oh, right, Mister punched me…’
Dizzy.
Painful.
But the emotional pain was worse. Being hit by Mister… that hurt the most.
Luna touched her cheek gingerly.
*/’Why am I still alive? Mister’s punches are usually fatal. Why am I alive?’
She touched her cheek again.
Painful.
The taste of blood filled her mouth.
But it wasn’t fatal.
“Three hits in a row would kill me…! But I can still endure…!”
Mister must be holding back!
Otherwise, I would be dead!
Luna spat out the bloody saliva.
Then, with newfound conviction, she shouted to Hare,
“Hare! Mister’s protecting us! He’s watching!! So we have to try harder!”
While Hare distracted Greed, Luna grabbed the rope from the floor.
“It hurts more when Mister hits us…! But we have to try harder…!”
Would their spirits break first?
Or their bodies?
They didn’t know, but…
“We can’t disappoint Mister!! We can’t let him see us fail!! Focus!!”
“If Mister’s watching… o-okay…!”
Luna and Hare resolved to press on.
‘We can’t disappoint Mister.’
Knowing that Mister was watching, they pushed their focus to the limit for the first time in their lives.
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But focus alone wasn’t enough.
‘How many times… has he hit me…?’
I can’t remember…
The cave walls were riddled with craters from the impacts, like the surface of a meteor-struck planet. Luna looked at Hare, her voice strained with pain.
“Hare… are you okay…?”
“N-No… I’m not… sob…”
Hare had been pummeled relentlessly by Mister’s fists. She knew it wasn’t really Mister attacking her, but that didn’t lessen the pain. She clutched her swollen arm.
“It hurts… It hurts more because Mister’s hitting me…”
“Endure it! It must hurt Mister more to hit us!”
“L-Luna, doesn’t it hurt…? Even though Mister’s hitting us so hard…?”
To be honest, it hurt. But Luna looked at Mister, standing in the distance. He seemed to want to come to them, but something was holding him back.
Seeing him struggle, Luna couldn’t show weakness.
“I’m fine! I can endure it! I’m the Hero! Now grab the rope!”
“Okay…”
Hare, her spirit half-broken, wiped away her tears and stood up. She met Greed’s gaze.
“Y-You trashy body-! If you gave up your body, you should stay put-! Why are you interfering-!!”
“He’s using Mister’s mouth to say such vulgar things…”
“Let’s save Mister! Okay?!”
“…Okay.”
Luna and Hare grabbed the rope and charged towards Mister again. As they approached, Greed’s restraint seemed to loosen.
Having learned his attack patterns, Luna dodged his fist with ease.
“Now, Hare!”
At Luna’s signal, Hare emerged from the shadows and tackled Greed from behind.
One more loop of the rope, and this agonizing ordeal would be over. But Greed, sensing his impending demise, wouldn’t allow it.
“You little rats-!!”
“Waaah-!”
Before Hare could complete the loop, Greed grabbed her and threw her against the cave wall, next to Luna.
She lay motionless, seemingly unconscious.
“H-Hare…”
“Damn it, you tricked me-! You can’t even kill me-!! What is this-!!”
Greed roared in frustration.
He reached for Luna, but his body moved on its own, throwing her against the wall next to Hare.
Crash-!
“Ugh…”
Luna couldn’t speak, the pain in her back radiating through her body. The repeated impacts were taking their toll. She wished this agonizing time would pass quickly.
“M-Mister… why… why did you choose this…?”
I hate this.
I don’t want to be hit by Mister anymore.
My body hurts, but my heart hurts more.
Why was Mister putting them through this?
‘Because he cares about us? Because he wants us to become stronger? Mister…’
How did Mister see them?
‘Does he even care if we’re hurt? Does he just see us as tools to defeat the Demon Lords?’
Doubt and insecurity gnawed at Luna’s weakening resolve.
‘We’re saving the world, but… Mister is…’
Too much.
Too fast.
Despite their daily training, they couldn’t keep up.
“Don’t hesitate…”
Luna, enduring the pain in her back, felt a wave of despair wash over her.
“Does that mean… I won’t die no matter what… so don’t hesitate…?”
How did Mister think of her?
As the Hero?
As Luna?
“Ahaha… this is… sad…”
The Hero’s body hadn’t broken. But her spirit was crumbling. Despite all her growth as a Hero, in front of Mister, she was just a little girl.
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