“Guuuaaaargh, a-ah... AAAAAARGH!?”

The agony only made the Demon burn hotter.

Ikaku kept his eyes shut tight, enduring the endless torment as blisters spread across his body. He gritted his teeth and drew another breath.

Homura’s surface temperature had climbed to nearly 700 degrees Celsius. The surrounding air, needless to say, was a furnace.

The heat seared him from the inside out, starting with his mouth before scorching his windpipe and his lungs.

Ngh... grh... My only chance is right here, right now. I can't let this opportunity slip away.

“Huuuurrrgh, gack...!”

Forcing the deadly, superheated gust into his chest, Ikaku managed to draw in air.

It was a trade of pain for oxygen, and the exchange rate was criminal. The roaring flames had already consumed nearly all the oxygen in the area, and the amount Ikaku could inhale was a mere pittance.

Because of this, he had to draw each breath for far longer than usual.

Homura tried to rise from its prostrate position. The momentum that had pulled it to the ground and broken its posture was gone. It was even growing accustomed to the shocking agony of its eye socket being shattered and its brain prodded.

All that remained was to crush this pest that refused to die.

To the behemoth, Ikaku was but a tiny creature. He couldn't possibly possess the strength to keep a monster’s head pinned to the floor.

Was this it? So it seemed.

But the behemoth’s movements were terribly sluggish. And for good reason.

As Homura's internal temperature rose further, the countless swords embedded in its colossal body began to melt.

Molten silver coursed through the behemoth’s flesh, spreading a pain akin to violent paralysis. This was what restrained the monster’s movements.

And so, despite being a battered wreck on the brink of death, Ikaku managed to hold it at a stalemate.

But tragically, the difference in mass was simply too great. Though it suffered from the boiling silver coursing through its veins, the behemoth endured and managed to rise.

It slowly straightened its posture, and Ikaku’s feet lifted from the ground.

But just before they did, at the peak of his bottomless torment, Ikaku was certain.

It’s enough.

He stomped the ground and drove the axe in again. The heavy blade, already through the eye and deep in the brain, tore through the behemoth’s skull.

Like a hoe through soft earth, the axe carved into the warped brain.

“GuuuaaaAAARGH, a-aaah... aah...!”

I will free you now, Lord Issei…!

Hook-Finger Style Eightfold Soulfist Secret Technique: Organ-Rending Palm.

A technique that drives a hand or weapon into the enemy to destroy their organs from within. It was a peerless art, born of a savage impulse, discovered by Ikaku’s senior, Lee of the Hook-Finger.

“VaaaAAAAAAGH!” Ikaku roared from his throat, cracked and charred.

He twisted the buried axe, tearing the wound wider. With a bend of the wrist, he pulled with all his strength.

The Axe of Price had entered through the left eye socket. Its tip now broke through the right.

Strength left the behemoth’s body. Its supporting arms went limp, and its massive frame collapsed.

Still, it twitched.

Ikaku gathered his last strength and slammed a lariat into its nasal bone, right where his elbow was hooked.

Blinded, with a gaping hole through its face, brain matter poured out.

It was a mortal wound.

“Ah... aah...”

Ikaku took a step back, then another, before his burning body collapsed into the water.

He couldn't even breathe properly. He had given his all.

I was able to grant him the mercy of death in the end…

Being turned into a Demon and forced to take part in a massacre... for a nobleman, there is no greater shame.

That is why Ikaku Akamuro staked his life: to ensure that Issei Akai’s dignity would not be trampled. And in doing so, he would also save a young lady.

The moment he could move again after withstanding the violent drain on his life, Ikaku had weighed his options.

Should he run? If he abandoned the young heiress, he was certain he could escape.

But that was never a choice. Ophelia Luxor had saved him. He would never abandon his savior.

That was the kind of man Ikaku Akamuro was.

And so, Ikaku had resolved himself to this final duty: to protect Issei Akai’s dignity and Ophelia Luxor’s life, even if it cost him everything. To see his loyalty through and repay his debt of gratitude.

For that, he would forsake a tomorrow he might have lived to see.

“Vaaa... argh...”

The behemoth was still breathing. Its flames had died out, and death was but moments away.

And yet, did it still seek to unleash its hatred?

A colossal arm reached for the dying Ikaku. Strength left the limb.

The hand, tipped with sharp, bestial claws, gently came to rest over him.

“Meow! Mee-ow, mee-ow!”

Lingering embers danced in the air.

Silence descended in the aftermath of the deadly struggle.

Only the sorrowful cry of a cat echoed emptily through the subterranean cavern.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.