True Identity
“Why, Felip? Why do you hate me so much?”
Drawing my sword and keeping the surrounding knights at bay, I confronted Felip.
“There is only one true Hero—Prince Carlos. No other Hero is necessary.”
Though Felip spoke with conviction, his pale face betrayed a lack of true belief in his own words.
“That’s not true! All that matters is that someone defeats the Demon King! Whoever slays him will become the true Hero—it doesn’t have to be me!”
“It’s precisely because everyone thinks ‘someone else will do it’ that His Highness was never able to become the Hero. The King and his ministers only care for their own safety, using the prince for their own ends—merely to protect Ludonia. They’ve convinced themselves that another can take up the mantle, that someone else can defeat the Demon King. They think only of what’s convenient for them!”
“And how does that justify attacking me?!”
“Because you declared yourself the Hero. Had no one else stepped forward, even the King would have had no choice but to acknowledge that the prince was the only true Hero. But now, not just the kingdom—nearly every neighboring nation has placed their hopes on you. Simply because some prophet chose you.
Had you been truly strong, I might have accepted it. But I’ve seen you in battle—when we fought off the monsters, and again in the last skirmish.
Ares, you lack the strength. You are far inferior to Prince Carlos. You cannot defeat the Demon King. You are an impostor, riding on the fame of your companions. You cannot save this world. And for that, I cannot allow you to exist!”
So it’s the difference in strength between Leon and me that bothers you?
I’d heard that before. I knew it better than anyone.
“But Prince Carlos accepted it! He recognized me as a Hero too! What you’re doing goes against his will!”
I didn’t want to make excuses, but at the very least, we shouldn’t be fighting amongst ourselves. I had to persuade them somehow.
“Even if it goes against His Highness’s will for now, this is the right path. If I kill you, Prince Carlos—being the responsible man he is—will have no choice but to step forward as the Hero.”
“But the prince will never forgive you!”
“We’ve already accepted that. We do not fear death. If our sacrifice ensures humanity’s future, then so be it!”
—Anyone can claim they’re prepared to die—.
Prince Carlos’s words flashed through my mind.
It was a bitter, twisted logic, but if Felip and his men killed me, there was a real chance Prince Carlos would take up the role of Hero and march against the Demon King. In that sense, their actions weren’t entirely wrong.
“…So talking won’t change anything?”
“No. And you’re not strong enough to survive against these numbers. Accept your fate and die quietly.”
Felip spoke with pity in his voice.
“No, I’ve bought enough time.”
“What—?”
At that moment, the sound of splintering wood echoed from the mansion’s gates.
The encircling knights instinctively turned their attention toward the noise. Seizing the opening, I lunged forward, slashing one knight’s flank and breaking free of the encirclement.
A cry of “Guh!” followed as the knight collapsed behind me. This was the first time I’d ever cut down a person, and my arm trembled slightly.
“You bastard!”
The other knights surged toward me, but a sudden explosion engulfed them, sending them flying with a deafening roar. Magic, of course.
“Honestly, what simpletons. Once they think their prey has fallen into a trap, they stop thinking altogether. Do they have the intelligence of ogres?”
Stepping through the mansion gate while hurling insults was Solon, brandishing his favorite staff. Behind him stood Leon and Maria.
“We saw right through your little scheme. You knew we were investigating the traitors, so you kept watch, didn’t you? Once you realized Ares and Leon were the ones moving, you waited for the right moment—the day Ares would act—and lured him into this mansion.”
“How… how did you—?”
Felip’s voice was strained.
“Who do you think I am? The Great Sage! Do you really think mere mortals like you could outmaneuver me, let alone trap Ares? Pathetic.”
Solon smirked, his eerie grin making him look more like the villain here.
“No doubt you’re just another delusional fanatic chasing some self-righteous ideal. History’s full of fools like you. And as someone with my intellect, I know reasoning with you is pointless. Go on, Leon. This is a fine opportunity to cut someone down. Better get your first kill over with now.”
Solon nudged Leon forward, but the Sword Saint himself hesitated.
“Wait, hold on. I’m not that cold-blooded. Aren’t you being a bit extreme?”
Though he’d drawn his blade, Leon clearly had no intention of fighting just yet.
“Knights of Ludonia, surrender! Defying your lord’s orders is unbefitting of a knight! There’s still time to reconsider! At the very least, you can preserve your honor as knights. I’ll even put in a good word for you. Think carefully!”
True to form, Leon’s words were as noble and knightly as they came.
“We’ve already thought it through, Sword Saint Leon! Had you been the Hero, we might have accepted it!”
One of the knights shouted.
The bluntness of those words stung a little—until, suddenly, lightning struck the shouting knight from above.
“Gyah!”
The knight convulsed as the bolt seared him.
I recognized that lightning. The divine wrath I’d endured many times before.
“Ah, it seems the gods are displeased. ‘Had it been Leon, we’d have accepted it’? I truly cannot comprehend such foolishness. Are your eyes merely hollow sockets? Why can’t you see Ares’s brilliance? He is the light of mankind, a miracle surpassing even divine favor.
—No, perhaps only I can truly understand Ares’s greatness. I alone am his true comprehending witness… Yes, that thought isn’t so bad. Ah, but that doesn’t mean you’re forgiven. That’s an entirely different matter.”
Maria, her staff tilted forward, spoke in a melodious voice that carried an unsettling edge.
Her expression shifted—icy detachment melting into radiant glee.
Beside her, Leon looked completely lost.
“Tch, even the Saintess is willing to fight?! Forget the others—focus on Ares!”
Felip barked orders. No surprise—I was the weakest link.
The knights came at me one after another. In response, I kicked up dirt from the ground.
The cloud of dust obscured their vision.
“Wh—?!”
I struck first while they faltered. No need for lethal blows—just crippling cuts to limbs, wrists, fingers—places hard to defend but easy to disable.
“Such cowardly swordsmanship!”
A knight whose fingers I’d sliced dropped his sword, face red with fury as he cursed.
I didn’t care. I wasn’t a knight. I had no intention of following their rules or etiquette.
I kept swinging without hesitation.
By the time I’d immobilized three of them, Felip and the others had surrounded me again.
“Disgraceful! You truly are no Hero! Have you no shame?!”
“You think the Demon King fights with honor? Do you expect him to follow knightly etiquette?”
I’d do whatever it took to win. That was all I’d ever cared about. I never wanted to be a knight. Never wanted to be a legend. I just wanted to be the one who defeated the Demon King.
“Enough of your insolence!”
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A knight lunged at me in rage—only to collapse face-first.
Behind him stood Leon.
“Sorry to interrupt your little chat.”
Leon shrugged.
“Now it’s just you left.”
Looking around, every knight but Felip and his inner circle lay defeated on the ground.
No signs of magic—Leon had cut them all down.
“We are Ludonia’s finest, survivors of hell itself! Sword Saint Leon… you monster!”
Felip’s voice trembled.
“Let me make one thing clear—Ares can hold his own against me. Sure, I’m stronger, but he’s leagues above you lot. No matter the opponent, his sword refuses to yield. You have no right to mock him.”
Leon spat the words like venom.
“Surrender. You’ve already lost.”
“Damn it!”
Felip spun on his heel and bolted into the mansion. The remaining knights followed.
I hesitated. We had more than enough proof of their ambush—even if they fled, Felip’s fate was sealed.
(No need to chase them down, right?)
As I pondered, Maria spoke up.
“Why not burn the whole building down with Solon’s magic?”
…Is she really the Saintess?
“I’m not doing that.”
Even Solon refused. Apparently, he wasn’t as ruthless as Maria.
After a moment of thought, I said:
“…We should go after them. There might be evidence inside. And if they really are Shapeshifters, they could change form and escape.”
If Shapeshifters could truly become anything, letting one slip away would spell endless trouble.
“True enough. Shapeshifters are a nuisance—if they even exist.”
Leon agreed, cleaving through the door with his greatsword before stepping inside.
The entrance opened into a grand hall, where knights stood waiting, having prepared for our entry. They clearly weren’t planning any further ambushes.
But Felip was nowhere in sight.
“Lay down your swords! You may have been deceived—manipulated by monsters, by Shapeshifters!”
I called for their surrender. The battle was already decided. Any further fighting would be meaningless.
Yet the knights gave no reply, silently charging at us instead.
Leon stepped forward in a flash, cutting them down without mercy.
There was no holding back. This was outright killing. It was over in moments.
“Leon…”
After the nearly one-sided slaughter ended, I found myself speaking his name without thinking.
“Wasn’t possible, Ares. Just wasn’t.” Leon’s voice carried grim certainty. “I know that look in their eyes. The eyes of men who’ve already made their choice. Even if we’d spared them, they’d have just fallen on their own swords in the end. That’s how these things go.”
Perhaps this was the judgment of someone born into a warrior house. I didn’t know how to respond – not about the killing, nor about Leon having shouldered that ugly duty for us.
“All knights who entered the manor are accounted for now. Except Felip.”
Solon interjected. Even in the midst of battle, he had apparently been keeping proper count of the numbers.
“Now then, Felip fled over there. He still has paint on him, so his destination is as clear as day.”
Where Solon pointed with his finger, there was a staircase leading underground.
“Since you’ve come here, does that mean all of those guys are dead?”
In the depths of the basement, Felip was waiting with a fearless smile on his face. His demeanor was somewhat different from just moments before.
“Why can you smile? Your comrades died, didn’t they?”
I felt disgusted by that expression on his face.
“Of course I can smile. Ludonia’s elite are dead. And by your hands, no less. For us, this is fortunate indeed.”
True to his words, Felip deepened his unpleasant smile.
“Then you are…”
“A shapeshifter. I’m the monster you were looking for. Hero Ares, it’s regrettable that I couldn’t kill you by human hands, but I’ve fulfilled my role sufficiently.”
“You bastard!”
Leon, enraged to the extreme, closed the distance to Felip like a gust of wind and unleashed a powerful slash.
However, perhaps because the range was too great, Felip deflected that strike with the sword in his right hand and pressed part of the back wall with his left hand.
A loud clunk echoed through the basement.
“Run! It’s a trap!”
Solon, who instantly sensed something, shouted. I didn’t understand what kind of trap it was, but the entire mansion began making unpleasant creaking sounds.
“Leon!”
Before I could even finish shouting, Leon seemed to sense the danger as well and immediately retreated back to where we were.
I tried to rush up the stairs, and for just a moment looked toward Felip. Felip, who had identified himself as a shapeshifter, stood frozen in the back of the room without moving a muscle. Without even trying to pursue us, he stood still like a statue.
We climbed the stairs, and as we escaped from the mansion, the building collapsed with a tremendous noise. It might have been just in the nick of time.
“The trap you mentioned…”
Solon began explaining while catching his breath.
“…As you can see, it’s a room rigged with a mechanism to collapse the building. It’s like a trap to bury attacking enemies along with the building. It’s also used for destroying evidence. …This time it was used for both purposes.”
Looking around, all the knights who had been lying outside and should have still been breathing had taken their own lives. Not a single one survived. And the mansion that had served as their base had become a mountain of rubble.
I was left speechless by the utterly horrific scene.
TLNOTE:
Because of that volume 1 and 2 fan translation in this site will be removed in the near future
otherwise check the internet archive
As usual, please consider reading other novels written by Daken sensei listed below :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- The Castle of Canaan ~ The Lost Kingdom’s Princess, the World’s Hidden Treasure, and the Grand Adventure of the Mightiest Band of Thieves Versus an Empire ~
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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