The girl was hopeless.

There was no meaning even if he saved her.

So he should just throw her away.

In order to lighten his burden, he immediately hurled the girl away. Then, he pushed his feet forward, dashing away faster than he had been after throwing away the load he had been carrying.

Coincidentally, the girl had crashed into Hal, immobilising him for a few seconds.

However, those few seconds were enough for the demon to launch its claws and fatally wound its enemies.

“Hal!!!”

Ryouta, upon seeing the scene, immediately amped up his powers, pushing his limits to its very end. Unfortunately… he was too late.

Hal had already been hit by the attack by the time his skills landed on the demon. With a final, defying shriek, the demon finally collapsed into a heap of charred mush.

“Hal!” Ryouta’s voice broke as he came to the man’s side.

His blood flooded the ground with no signs of stopping. The claw which had dealt the decisive blow was deeply lodged inside his chest. It was as thick as an adult man’s arm. Clearly, even if a highly capable healer was here, he would still not survive due to the sheer severity of the wound.

“When I die, I want to be reborn as a girl! A super cute and lovely girl that everybody loves! I’ll be the cutest girl ever!” Hal coughed, shouting out his last wish. “And the only fight I’ll ever get into would be the fight for my attention! Gods, do you hear me?!”

“Hal…!” Ryouta choked. He kneeled by the dying man’s side, face scrunched up in agony. “Hal, don’t speak anymore! Your wounds—“

“Do you hear me?! Cough, cough—“

Blood flowed freely from his mouth, blocking his throat. He could sense that his life was reaching its end.

Shiro who had been spectating since the very beginning stood in front of him, blank faced. Then, she smiled, ever-so-softly.

Surprisingly, Hal who was on Death’s door was actually able to see the girl. To the dying man, she seemed like an angel, ready to take him to heaven. Not that he believed that he could go to heaven, though. He wasn’t that good of a person, after all.

Before everything faded, Hal could hear a voice softly whispering beside him.

“Your wish, I’ve heard it.”

The last thing he ever saw was Shiro, golden-eyed, smiling at him with a nod.

“Hal! Haaaaal! No!”

Memories floated in Ryouta’s mind. He remembered the first time he had met Hal, the admiration and awe that he felt when he saw the man in action for the first time, the friendliness of the man towards his juniors in the guild, and the ever-present smile on his face.

Even in death, the man was smiling.

“…RyuuUuUUujiiiIIIIIIiiiii!”

Ryouta’s loud roar reverberated through the whole building, signifying just how loud it was. His voice was amplified by magic, making it extremely loud. Enemies and allies alike were thrown off-guard by his roar.

“HOW! DARE! YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!”

Ryouta condensed his [Divine Lightning Magic] in his palm.

Seeing the dangerous situation, Ryuuji immediately dashed towards the exit.

But—

Bang!

“Guhah!”

Ryouta reached him in mere moments, as if he had teleported. His lightning-covered fist slammed into the Hero’s back, breaking his spine in multiple places.

As expected of the Hero, even with such a fatal injury he was still alive. How high could his HP be, one would wonder.

Ryouta’s fit of anger did not end there.

He grabbed the Hero by his head, searing the flesh and burning away his hair with his pulsating lightning. In one breath, Ryouta pummelled his head to the cold, hard ground. An audible crack could be heard with each hit.

After suffering so many blunt hits to the head, Ryuuji’s face distorted and his skull was practically caved in. He died just like that—utterly helpless and unable to fight back.

Even after the hateful bastard died, Ryouta was still not satisfied. His belly was full of anger and hatred that he did not even know he had the capacity for.

Ryouta made his way to the throne room, where he subconsciously knew the demon lord would be waiting in.

That bastard needs a good thrashing too, he thought.