Chapter 196

Mana Drain Iron was able to absorb mana endlessly. And as it did, it grew darker, harder, and heavier.
And yet Dobroy had taken it and used it as a shield.

It was shaped like a shell or almond, which was rather perfect.
An impressive find, for sure.

While the shield was quite flat over all, there was a protrusion on the backside that he was able to hold.
You could attach metal pieces to it, but then your enemy would just target those areas.

It was much more convenient to use it as it was.
However, it was all pointless now that I had taken it.
Our positions were reversed.

“Now it’s my turn.”
As Dobroy stood there in shock, I slammed the shield into his nose.

There was a dull ring and the shield bounced off.

“…Huh?”
His nose was hard. The shield was hard too, but Dobroy himself was harder than I had expected.

As if to return the favor, Dobroy started swinging at me with his weapon. Of course, I could easily block these with the shield.
It didn’t matter how ridiculously powerful he was. The shield was indestructible. Tha weapon would take damage first.

“This really is a strong shield.”
I taunted.

I saw it appear on Dobroy’s face then. It was despair.
He had used this shield to get where he was.

It had helped him get stronger. He knew it.
And so the despair he felt now would be unimaginable.

He continued to attack with his weapon. It was reckless desperation.
I blocked the attacks calmly. And then I countered.

This continued a few times.
Dobroy saw where this was headed, and he tried to get the shield back.
However, I expected him to do this.

As if he could get it back just by stretching one empty hand out while still holding his weapon.
I was holding the shield with both of my hands.

“Haah!”
I hit his outstretched hand as hard as I could.

At the same time, I bashed the side of his face.
I was reminded once again about how tough Dobroy was.

I had hit him like this a number of times, but he didn’t seem to take any damage.
Was this the reality of fighting someone who was a Lesser Demon King?

“Well, I have no choice then. We’ll keep going until you break.”
Even if he was fine physically, his spirit would be a different matter.

In the Demon World, your position was established from your birth, judged by your race.
And so there were some who had only ever climbed over the heads of others.

They didn’t know the taste of dirt. And it was such people who broke easily.
Just like those Vampires.

And then there was the biggest weakness of the people of the Demon World.
They were strong from the beginning, so they didn’t train to learn and improve on their skills.

After all, the higher your rank, the larger the difference in strength.
Doing pushups and situps every day was not going to close the gap.

Getting stronger through diligent training? No, they gave up before they started. That’s how large the gap was.
And so they never tried to improve on their skills.

And so this Dobroy. He only attacked with what was called a ‘telephone punch.’
“That won’t work on me.”

My stamina…well, I couldn’t push my luck, as I got hungry quickly. But I would be able to move as long as I had mana.
And so I would fight for as long as my body would allow.

“Now, it’s the beginning of the pummeling show.”

Against this opponent with no skill, I…bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed and bashed with the shield.
Sometimes I kicked.
And then I bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed, bashed with the shield again.
When he staggered, I knocked his feet out from under him and got on top.
Then it was back to bashing, bashing, bashing, bashing, bashing, and bashing with the shield.
“Why does bashing someone with a shield feel so good?”

The trick was to create a contrast in strength once you had mounted them.
What you needed was to move your center of gravity. Pretend like you were on a wild horse, and continue to hit while being careful that you weren’t shaken off.

How long was I there, bashing him with the shield?
Dobroy really was tough.

Even if he was of the high ranking races, this should be enough to beat him to a pulp.
However, in spite of my efforts, his face merely looked a little swollen.

“You’re a worthy punching bag. …Well, let’s keep going then. Don’t go out on me.”

My turn hadn’t ended yet.
That being said, the shield was starting to feel very heavy.

I didn’t think that it was because I was getting so tired. But more because it had absorbed mana after being bashed into Dobroy’s face so many times.

Poor thing. He was being hit by something harder than a diamond, and it was also taking away his mana.
I would have surrendered already.

“All of you…”
Dobroy called to his men.

“I told you all to stay away, didn’t I? You understand.”
I threatened. And they all became quiet. Dobroy’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

I did not want them to interfere now.
However, the warning earlier had had an effect, and no one did anything.

After that, I continued to hit him.
How long? An hour? Two?
It absorbed quite a lot of mana from Dobroy.

That was Mana Drain Iron for you. It absorbed the attacks of Demon Kings.
It had already taken so much. It had become so much heavier.

At this point, it was very difficult to carry even with two hands, but I pushed myself.

While hitting Dobroy had sounded like hitting a gong at first, it gradually changed into something wetter.

—Gopuu…

“Oh, that’s different.”
A good difference. Golan did not want to bore his audience.

–Guchu…

Ah, I understood now.
That was the sound of blood.

“Gpaa…ggah…”
Dobroy looked like he was going to say something, but he just coughed up blood.
But he was tough. I was hitting him with something like a truck with a drill attached to it, and he was still alive.

“Y…you…all…of…”
He began again.

“We agreed that no one would interfere. Don’t dishonor your superior now.”

But could this absorb any more? It was so heavy now that I didn’t even want to raise it.

As for Dobroy, he had lost so much mana that he was unrecognizable.
He had not only been robbed of mana and blood, but many of his eyes had been crushed.

But then again, it was actually miraculous that it wasn’t worse after all those attacks.
His resilience was astounding.

“F-fine… Ju-just stop…”

Apparently, Dobroy had gotten bored of being hit.
And now he was whining.

“You want me to stop?”
“Yes. St-stop.”

“Listen to me. When I break someone, their cries are just the beginning.”
“What!?”

Hey, I didn’t want to do this.
After all, this shield was heavy. Really, how much mana did he have?

“So if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

Bash, bash, bash, bash. Rest. Bash, bash, bash, bash. Rest.
This resting made the whole thing long and inefficient.

Bash, bash, bash. Rest. Bash, bash, bash. Rest.

“Very well. I’m sorry. Just stop this.”
“I don’t think you are.”
“Huh!?”

It was a delusion. And so I bashed him again. Rest. Bash, bash. Rest. Bash, bash. Rest.

Ahh, this was horrible.

Bash, bash. Rest. Bash, bash. Rest.
It hurt me too. It did.

Bash, bash. Rest. Bash, bash. Rest.
Ah, it was hard. It really was.

“I was wrong. I apologize. So…just stop this.”
“I see.”

“Y-you understand?”
“When I’m trying to break someone, their tearful pleas mean I’m halfway. There. It’s the part you have to be the most careful.”
“Huh!?”

I realized then Dobroy had stopped fighting back. And when I looked closely, I saw that his arms were broken.
It had likely happened while he tried to guard his face. I hadn’t been very attentive.

“This shield is heavy. I have to be careful.”

I was starting to feel that I would be the one who broke first.
But I couldn’t allow that to happen.

And so I steeled myself and kept bashing.

How much time passed after that?
Dobroy had stopped reacting, and so I stopped bashing him.

“…Finally. My arms are so sore.”

I had evolved into an origin type, grown larger, and my mana had increased.
It was enough to make me delusional. Think I had unlimited power. But now my arms wouldn’t move. All because I raised a shield up and down… I was so weak.

I was exhausted. My vision started to sway.
I hadn’t been this tired for a long time.

“…Uhh…”

Dobroy groaned. Had he woken up?
In that case, it meant I had hit him while he was unconscious. What a waste.

“So, now do you understand?”
I forced myself to stand and pretended to be calm.

“I do. I do. I…”
He repeated the words dumbly.

“Well, we can go to the next step then.”
My body wouldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. But I had no choice.
It was necessary.

“We’re sorry! Please forgive him!”

Dobroy’s men rushed forward and bowed with their heads on the ground.
It was a rare sight in the Demon World.

“If we lose Sir Dobroy now, the area would fall into chaos.”
“Sir Dobroy is the only one who can control the Dragons in the area!”

They started to say.
There was something I learned since coming here. Dragons loved to fight.
They were the type that I would prefer to avoid.

“I understand.”
“…S-so…”

“That’s an entirely different matter.”
“You don’t understand?!”

“I can’t ignore someone who torments the weak. Knowing what it feels to be on the receiving end will be good for his education.”

“Yo-you’ve done enough. He understands now.”
“We won’t let them attack the Jewel Pigeons again. We’ll send word throughout the town as well. We promise. It won’t happen again.”

“I don’t think Dobroy is broken yet.”
“He is. He’s shattered. So please have mercy!!”
His men cried out.

“Sir Golan… I…I’ll have nightmares if this continues.”
Stomel said quietly.

“I see… In that case, though I think the job is only half done, it will have to do for now.”

“Thank you!”
They said through their tears.

“…Alright. Now I can punish the others.”
After all, I hadn’t finished dunking them in the lake.

“What?”
Dobroy’s men and Stomel looked at each other.

“I’m willing to end things here with Dobroy, but things have yet to be settled with them. Dobroy interrupted us, if you remember… And well, I have this shield now. I’d like to know how much mana it will absorb from those who are good with using magic.”

But the moment that I walked towards them with the shield, their eyes rolled up into their heads and they fainted.

Next Chapter

Makai Hongi