To become a king and a magician

65. Please, another me.

Rewind to the time when Natsukawa Tiger was suppressed by Vottigan's ranged attacks.

With his holy sword constantly parrying the chain sword's sweeping and slashing attacks, enduring the strange pain of his body and strength being continuously weakened, Natsukawa Torajiro slightly diverted his attention and sank into the depths of his consciousness.

(Can you hear me? I know you're still here, not completely one with me yet. If you're still awake, respond to me.)

【...】

(Hey! Stop playing dead! There's no way a 2,400-year-old rift could be completely healed in such a short time!)

Ahhh~~~~~

A somewhat languid voice came from the depths of my consciousness.

[It's so noisy~~~~~ I finally got back to my comfortable bed, can't I even sleep a little longer?]

Another voice, existing within Natsukawa Tora, rang out.

Or rather—another consciousness, another personality.

The "Second Tiger," which was separated 2,400 years ago and only returned a few tens of minutes ago.

Although that betrayal brought the two people back together, the split in consciousness and personality still existed. After all, they had been separated for 2,400 years and had developed into different individuals. Merging was not something that could be done in an instant.

Therefore, Tiger Number Two's personality still exists.

So, do you want me to help you?

(Otherwise, why would I be looking for you?)

Are you an idiot?

Tiger Number Two relentlessly berated himself.

[I'm basically one of the people who caused this situation. I wouldn't say it's all my fault, but I'm probably responsible for about half of it, right? In other words, I'm your enemy. Why would you seek help from your enemy? Have you lost your mind?]

Tiger Number Two is right.

The reason why Britain is collapsing and why Natsukawa is in his current predicament lies in his negative emotions and the chain of events caused by his cooperation with Vortigern, which has driven him to his current situation.

He didn't stand in a position where he could help.

(Indeed, the current situation is related to you, but... we are not enemies.)

While distracted by dealing with the chain sword, Xia Chuanhu spoke.

(Ultimately, we are all one person. No matter who does something and it affects the other, we are ultimately responsible for our own actions. We can only swallow the bitter pill, regret it ourselves, and cannot resent our other selves.)

(Because...it's the stupidest and most unnecessary thing to do when you're struggling with yourself.)

(At the same time, having lost everyone I could trust, I am now the only one I can trust—I need my own strength.)

Sigh... I give up.

Tiger Number Two sighed helplessly.

【Are you really not afraid I'll screw you over again...? Fine, you're right, it's pointless to screw yourself over, it only makes you feel frustrated—so how do you want me to help you? Let me make this clear beforehand, even I can't beat Vortigern, the current situation is that we're completely outmatched by her in every aspect.】

Fighting monsters against their elemental advantage is just asking for trouble.

(If I'm not mistaken, if this continues, I will die, and my body will become a soulless corpse. At that time, you will take my body and stall for time as much as possible.)

[Delaying time? Is that all you need to do?]

(Yes. Everyone outside should already be taking action—whether it's the Naraku Insects or Vortigern, defeating either one would drastically change the situation; it's just a matter of handing the ball to someone else.)

(Please, my other self.)

————————————————————————

"Clang—!"

Let's go back to the present.

Tiger Number Two stared at Vortigern through the Holy Sword and the Fairy Sword, and gave a wry smile.

(Saying those words and then dying on your own, you really know how to give me something to do, at least make things easier for us, main body—but, since you've said that, then I won't be polite with you.)

(I will do everything I can to stall for time until the Naraku Insects are breached by outsiders.)

"impossible."

Vottigen stared in astonishment at Natsukawa Tiger before him.

"How could you still have power? Everything you have should have been devoured by me, how could you still have magic to use?"

"It's just a matter of switching the magic source to [Small Source]. Is that something to be so surprised about?"

Tiger Number Two sneered, while simultaneously injecting a large amount of magic power into the Holy Sword, causing it to instantly extend into a huge light blade tens of meters long. He quickly retreated to create distance before slashing down!

Like a lightsaber meant to tear the dark world apart, it directly occupied Vortigern's eyes.

A swarm of pitch-black insects surged from her sleeves, transforming into two ferocious claws that gripped the light blade tightly. Just as they had devoured the light of the holy sword earlier, they visibly disintegrated and absorbed the light blade, swallowing it back into their bodies.

"I see. Xiao Yuan, so you're starting to go all out now?"

Vortigern gazed at Natsukawa Tiger, whose magical power remained strong.

There are two sources of magic: the great source that the planet itself possesses, and the small source that an individual possesses. Under normal circumstances, the magic power used is from the great source. This is also what Xia Chuanhu used when he fought her earlier, except that it was the part he had stored outside.

Now, he is using Xiaoyuan.

Strictly speaking, this is not a dangerous act, but if it is to restore Natsukawa Tora to the same power as before, then that's another matter.

The consumption of life force would exceed normal limits. After all, the essence of Xiaoyuan is magic power converted from life force. Given Xia Chuanhu's situation, even if he is an elf, such intense use of Xiaoyuan would be life-threatening.

You're gambling.

Vottigeng laughed.

"Whether I devour you completely, or you defeat me before your life burns out—you're betting on the latter."

"But it's no use. Even if you burn your life force to regain your power, the outcome will not change. Everything you have will be devoured by me. This time you will die completely, and there will be no possibility of you standing up a second time!"

Tiger Number Two gave a slight, cold laugh.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

(Who died is still unknown—no, you should say you don't know, right? I knew when you absorbed my power that besides me outside, there was another enemy inside you that you were unaware of.)

Tiger Number Two sensed that the unexpectedly regained consciousness inside Natsukawa Tiger was attacking the Holy Grail with all his might.

This shouldn't be a plan he had in mind from the beginning. If it were, Tiger Number Two would have known this the moment he took over the body—meaning this was an unexpected situation that no one had anticipated.

If that's the case...

(The problem isn't that my power is being devoured. The more Vortigern devours my power, the faster her defeat will be. In that case—)

"Buzz————————!"

The Holy Sword shone brightly once more, and Tiger Number Two swung his light blade down again!

(I'm handing over all my power to you. Defeat her from within, my other self!)

66. Returning from the Abyss

Vortigern encountered something she couldn't understand again.

In her long life of six thousand years, she had encountered things that were incomprehensible, but this time, she encountered them twice in a row.

—Natsukawa Torato, who continues to fight despite knowing he is completely outmatched and in dire straits.

—Natsukawa Torato, who, despite being dead, rises up again to launch a suicidal attack on her.

I can't understand it.

I really can't understand it.

Why was he able to achieve this?

"Clang—!"

The holy sword and the fairy sword clashed, and the light blade formed by condensed magic was shattered in one blow. The broken fragments were devoured and submerged by countless swarms of insects, turning into food for Vortigern.

This is a scene that has played out countless times.

The light of the Holy Sword was no longer a threat; no matter how many times it attacked, it could be shattered and devoured. The Holy Sword Master was no match for him—Vortigern firmly believed this.

But why?

"Drink it—!"

With a furious roar from Tiger Number Two, the lightsaber, which had reformed, was swung out once more!

why?

Manipulating the swarm of insects to devour the light of the holy sword, Vortigern shouted, "Why haven't you fallen yet! Holy Sword Wielder?"

Magic was constantly being devoured, the holy sword was constantly being devoured, and power was constantly being devoured.

Even though he had already been devoured, he still burned his life force to stand up again, facing being completely devoured a second time—why would he do something so self-destructive?

Why is he still able to fight? Why isn't he afraid? Isn't he afraid of truly dying? Every ounce of magic he's using now is converted from his own life force! If he lets her devour his magic, he will surely die in the end!

"Answer my question, Holy Sword Wielder!"

"Why!"

Countless swarms of insects surged out from under Vortigern's skirt, encircling and sweeping towards Tiger Number Two from all directions. The pitch-black tornado frantically compressed the space around Tiger Number Two!

"why?"

Tiger Number Two chuckled, then focused his magic power on the Holy Sword and unleashed a powerful slash in one direction, creating a crescent moon! The cascading moonlight deflected a storm from its original direction!

In an instant, Tiger Number Two broke free from the gap that had opened up and swiftly arrived in front of Vortigern—

"Clang!"

Across the fairy sword, which was held against the holy sword, Tiger Number Two stared at Vortigern: "Who knows? Why can't he fall? Why can he stand up again? Why does he have to keep fighting? I have no idea about any of these things!"

Tiger Number Two knew only one thing: to complete the task entrusted to him by his original self before his existence completely disappeared.

After all, he was an individual who shouldn't exist. If he hadn't been awakened, he would have remained asleep until the moment he disappeared, and might not even have realized that he had disappeared.

But now, even though it's not voluntary, I've been asked to do something, so I'll do my best to do it before the deadline.