Chapter 987

987: A Berserk Wielder's Final Moments

『Damn……』

「It’s a good thing we ran this far.」

「Nn.」

「W-Woof……」

Matsuyuki had swung Berserk down at the antidemons, who were still frozen with their backs to her at some distance away.

Then, the massive amount of jet-black mana enveloping the blade overflowed and covered the earth with the force of a tidal wave, as if devouring the antidemons along with the entire region around them.

We quickly considered retreating even further away, though luckily, the black tsunami dissipated after moving about 400 meters away.

But if we had remained on that battlefield, we might be dead right now. Maybe Matsuyuki would hold back if she retained her sanity. Still, no one can say for sure what effect Berserk has on her mind. She managed to avoid killing Hagane’s troops, but the same might not apply to the adventurers.

「No sign of the antidemons left.」

「Yeah, I can’t sense them either. An area attack instantly killing anything swallowed, huh? Damn terrifying……」

After the black, soundless tsunami receded, there was nothing left alive.

The antidemons were not the only ones gone. The sparse grass and trees, as well as the faint presence of insects. All signs of life had vanished.

Matsuyuki must have developed some sort of instant-death ability upon releasing Berserk. No wait, judging from her fight with the titan, maybe it’s not quite as powerful as instant-death.

She also canceled the explosion of the ball antidemon to prevent their impact.

Perhaps her ability was the power to kill anything, even the force of an explosion. That seems beyond the scope of skills at this point.

「Matsuyuki!」

Fran, who had been staring at the battlefield with bated breath, let out a shrill cry.

『Ah, Fran! Urushi, take care of the adventurers!』

「Woof!」

Fran suddenly burst into a run when she saw Matsuyuki collapse to the ground. As was the case with Ajisai, Fran was strangely concerned about those two despite only exchanging a few words with them.

Perhaps she sympathized with the Queens of the Night after the Silver Lady explained their situation. I don’t think Fran feels pity or anything like that, but I guess it’s something that can’t really be explained.

We could no longer sense Berserk’s terrifying mana, and its powers seemed weaker than prior to activation.

Maybe Berserk’s power was spent after activating the blade? If so, using it multiple times without a delay seems impossible.

Well, not like we’d ever want to see a situation in which Berserk needed to be activated repeatedly.

By the time Fran reached Matsuyuki, Ajisai was already propping her up. Surrounding them were the survivors of the old soldiers.

As usual, they were emotionless and stood guarding the Queens of the Night with blank expressions.

But upon closer inspection, the old men had reddened eyes. Some of them were choking back sobs, and others held their spears with trembling hands.

When I heard about the scabbard, I thought the worst.

The scabbard only allows activation once the Hagane soldiers took severe casualties. In other words, the old soldiers were being sacrificed to operate it.

Considering the existence of the Queens of the Night, I thought the Militant Nation of Hagane was a country that would not hesitate to make full use of its citizens. It seemed to be a reasonable assumption to me.

However, I found it hard to imagine these old men as sacrifices from the way they were mourning Matsuyuki’s last moments. As I saw in the previous battles, these old men clearly displayed the strength of those fighting of their own volition.

The atmosphere was gloomy and oppressive.

「Matsuyuki.」

「Black Lightning Princess-san, is it? I’m glad you didn’t get caught up.」

Fran didn’t ask if she was okay. It was already obvious to everyone that Matsuyuki’s life was burning out.

Despite breathing normally, her skin and hair had already lost their luster, with bags forming under her eyes. Every second brought her closer to death.

Fran knew not to waste any of Matsuyuki’s precious time, and I understood exactly how she felt.

「Thank you.」

Instead, she voiced her thanks and bowed her head deeply.

「……Don’t worry about it, you all were just an afterthought anyways.」

「Still, thank you.」

「I never expected to receive thanks from any outsiders, so I’m very happy.」

「Nn.」

「Ajisai.」

「What is it?」

「Dying isn’t so bad after all…… Now I can understand. The reason our sisters died smiling……」

Matsuyuki turned her head to the soldiers, though I’m not sure if her eyes were still able to see clearly. Maybe she saw the figures of the old men holding back their tears.

「Good night, Matsuyuki.」

「Fufu…… Good night. I think I’ll be able to sleep soundly……」

Matsuyuki’s eyelids slowly shut as her sister Ajisai stroked her head. After saving Fran, the young girl wielding a divine sword went into an eternal slumber wearing the same peaceful expression as before.

「Black Lightning Princess. Why are you crying?」

「……I don’t know.」

「I see.」

「Ajisai, are you okay?」

「I’m fine. This is our role. Besides, she’s sleeping happily, so I have nothing to worry about.」

Like Ajisai said, Matsuyuki really looked like she was sleeping. Still, she will never open her eyes again.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Matsuyuki saved our lives. Not just Fran, but all the adventurers as well. The antidemons she defeated were that powerful.

『Thank you very much.』