CH 48

Cornered mouse, tormenting the dragon

『Guooooooo!?』

Grey Ryuuga was already covered by a crowd of mice

They are pseudo-lifeforms created by giving a form to the pale holy beast aura

Spirit beasts

Those spiritual mice, after being crushed by the enemy, in addition to being supplemented by me, have increased to an incalculable number

How many hundreds of them are there?

I don’t think there are a thousand of them, yet

Even so, that number is enough to completely bury someone, so Grey Ryuuga was buried by those spiritual mice without any exposed gap

『Gomoooo!?』

Even so, a muffled scream can be heard

His body has become gigantic after the 2nd step transformation, but the spirit beast I created can still completely bury him

Of course, it was my instruction that they would relentlessly attack Grey Ryuuga only

The spirit beasts are obedient to their master, so if I feel like it, I can use this overwhelming number to fight against a country or an armed troop

『So what!?』

Oh?

Beast aura gushed out from Grey Ryuuga’s whole body and blown away the spiritual mice

He shook them off, but the number would increase again though

『But you would be buried again immediately, so it returns to where it started anyway』

『I said “so what”, right!? Certainly, those spirit beasts are a nuisance. They would revive without ending even after being crushed! However!』

What?

『What can they do by themselves!? They are mice after all! They can’t hurt me, who have received the power of dragon! Without a trump card, both of us will end up in an endless loop! However!』

Again, what?

『The method to end this mudslinging match is in my hand! That is to defeat you, the true body! If I defeat you, the source of the holy beast aura, these mice will lose their source of power and disappear! So form the beginning, I should have ignored the mice and targeted the true body!』

Yeah, that analysis is correct

The spiritual mice were born form my holy beast aura, so when I’m gone or with a single thought of mine, they will disappear

……or rather, it seems like there is no other method to suppress the infinite multiplying spiritual mice

『However, you made a single mistake in your analysis』

『What!?』

『The mice have a way to defeat you』

Oi Grey Ryuuga-san, shouldn’t you look at your feet carefully?

Isn’t there one of the revived spiritual mouse biting your calf?

『Foolish……! The fang of a mouse can’t break by dragon scale……, it’s breaking!?』

『You underestimated the teeth of the mouse too much』

A mouse’s teeth are sharp

They bite, shave off and make a hole in everything in their sight. The mice can cause great damage and destroy buildings like that

『It seems like a few mice can bite and cut down a giant tree. Or rather, perhaps among all animals, the one with the hardest, sharpest teeth is the mouse?』

Before those frightening teeth of mouse……

How long can those prided dragon scales last?

『Guoooo!? Stop! Stop clinging! Don’t bite!?』

Dozens of spiritual mice already clung to Grey Ryuuga again and stabbed their teeth into him

They shaved of the hard dragon scale and made a hole to the flesh below

『Gaaaaa!? Impossible!? The hardest dragon scale was done for by the mice!? My flesh is being bitten!? My body is being bitten!?』

『Enjoy the precious experience of being eaten alive』

Hundreds of mice already bite at Grey Ryuuga’s body, his blood come out from countless places

If he unleashes the beast aura to shake them off again, the newly created spiritual mice will immediately run over and diligently bite at the already wounded part again

It won’t end

One giant dragon was buried in a crowd of hundreds of mice

For the time being, I didn’t need a thousand of mice to kill the empire’s strongest

It’s a shame, as I wanted to test how many of them I can increase with the current capacity of my holy beast aura

『Ugyaaaaa!?　Ah!?　Guha!?　Aguaaaaa!?　AAAAーーー!?』

The empire’s strongest can only make unsightly scream now

Eventually, perhaps he has lost the energy to scream, his voice can’t be heard anymore

……is he dead?

「That’s it!!」

A hoarse voice came from another direction

It’s the emperor

「The game is set! Stop the fight immediately! Both sides stop your skills!」

『…………』

「……What？　What are you doing!　Cancel your skill immediately!!」

Grey Ryuuga already can’t move

He lied down after losing the power to stand, so the spiritual mice swarmed at him like a mountain

「Why didn’t you abide my order!? I told you to end your skill! His life might end if you don’t stop quickly!」

『Why must I obey your order?』

「What……!?」

Perhaps those are unbelievable words to him

One of the Twelve Apostles, the empire’s super elite group, refused his order

『I should have told you already, I will snatch what I really wanted with my hand. What I desired the most is the safety of my family, and tranquility……』

I have no feeling toward the death of Grey Ryuuga, who threatened it

Those who made the sin of tormenting my sister deserves certain death

「I, I understand your feeling, Jira, but forgive him!」

「Right, go against the emperor’s order is treason!」

My friends frantically call out to me

One even took direct action

It’s Wartaiga. When I noticed, he appeared before me and delivered a strong kick

I easily receive it and prepare to fight

Meanwhile, the swarm of spiritual mice is wriggling on top of the collapsed man

「Onii-chan!　Please stop it!」

Finally, my sister Selen shouted

「I already don’t mind it! Therefore don’t kill him! I hate the scary Onii-chan!」

『…………』

I waved my hand

The holy beast aura disappeared, the spiritual beast created by that power also vanished like a ghost

What remained was a bloodstained man

He has used up all his power so the beast mode was cancelled. He is currently in his normal human figure, albeit bloodstained

「Ooo……!?」

The emperor rushed over to Grey Ryuuga. His whole body was trembling

「Quick! Quickly call the magician! Called the healing magic users!」

『Ah, I can use it？』

「Silent!!」

Although I reported dutifully

The eyes of the emperor staring at me are like a raging fire

I also cancel Holy beast mode for now

「……Your Majesty, I pledged my allegiance to the empire. Do you know why?」

I want to more or less explain it to him

「It’s because it’s where I was born. It’s also the country where my beloved family live. I love my hometown and submit to it. If my hometown is harmed, I will kill the enemies with all my strength」

That is my loyalty toward my country

「Your highness, you are not an exception. If there is time you harm the empire, you will become my enemy. I will defeat you without mercy」

「What are you saying!」

Who jumped in?

「It’s impossible that his Majesty the emperor would become the enemy of the empire! His Majesty the emperor is the empire itself! Those two are indivisible!」

「No, they are not indivisible」

The innocent human living there is the foundation of the nation

Ultimately, king or emperor, they are only beings who serve the nation

「For a king to become one with the nation, unlimited effort is needed. Without it, the ruler would become a foolish one, or even a tyrant. Such a king is harmful and must be removed」

「That know-it-all mouth……！」

It was the emperor who said that

His voice is trembling slightly

「I don’t need youngster like you to tell me that. Do you think that I, the emperor doesn’t know that much……!?」

His voice gradually become rough

「The emperor is the being who serves the country! He’s only a slave of the country! To follow that teaching, do you know how much I have devoted for the empire? To protect the empire, to make it flourish, how much I have racked my brains, shed my blood and tears! Does a youngster like you understand!? You are asking as if you understand!!」

The emperor’s angry roar was fierce and violent that no one could think it’s from an old man

It’s like from a beast

「Your highness, please calm down!」

「Being agitated is not good for your body!」

He shakes off the restraint from the surrounding and grabs me

My neck was grabbed with terrible power

「In order to make the empire this big, do you know how much sacrifice I have made!! Damn you!! Gaaaaaaaaa!」

This is bad, I thought

Beast aura swirls from the emperor’s body

If this continues, his spirit will be completely eroded

Thinking so, I invoked holy wisdom art without hesitation