Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 65

Chapter 65

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Whack-a-mole.

A game where you hit moles that randomly pop out of holes on a square board with a mallet.

'The demon Necro's ability is storage.'

At first glance, it's similar to a subspace pocket, but he can retrieve items freely without needing a pocket or bag.

'But it's not all-powerful!'

He can only retrieve stored weapons within a certain distance from himself.

Just like the whack-a-mole game!

'Now I finally understand why we're compatible and incompatible!'

Necro's ability was the direction my ability, 'Opening and Closing,' should evolve toward.

"Ugh! Wh-what! Ah!"

The demon Necro was being pummeled relentlessly from all sides.

'A barrier is a technique that physically blocks off space!'

Then what if I made it fast and long?

Right next to the opponent's body.

'It becomes a powerful strike!'

Like a mole that could pop out from anywhere!

"Damn it, you Clavis brat...!"

Frustrated, the demon swung his spear.

'If one barrier isn't enough...!'

I'll just stack them!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just as the spear's speed, which had been tearing through barriers, began to slow noticeably.

Thwack—!

"Guh!"

I succeeded in striking the back of the demon Necro's head with a barrier.

I used every space around the demon to create barriers, pressing the attack without pause.

"That idiot demon...!"

"You're not in a position to worry about others, are you?"

Ian stopped the angel, who was trying to help the demon.

'He's doing well over there.'

Ian had been fighting the angel on equal terms from the start.

Of course, Ian wasn't in good shape either. He was bleeding from his head, and one eye was barely open.

'The injury he got while trying to help me...'

So I couldn't be a burden anymore.

I wiped the flowing nosebleed and forced strength into my limbs, which felt like they were about to give out.

'I have to hold on a little longer.'

My newly applied barrier technique consumed an enormous amount of my power.

I had a rough idea why.

'Until now, I've been using pre-existing entrances. And my ability was always fixed.'

The barrier created by the long-haired Lord.

The door to the village hall.

My opening and closing ability used pre-existing 'doors,' so it didn't require much power.

The barrier was also always fixed, and since it only needed to surround me, the activation distance was short. I'd never maintained it for long, so the power consumption was low.

But.

'The rescued victims...'

If I collapsed here, the victims we'd rescued would be in danger. I had to prevent the barrier surrounding them from disappearing.

'So...!'

Let's finish this.

Buzz—.

Buzz—.

The watch, switched to silent mode, had been vibrating for a while.

"Clavis...!"

Taking advantage of the moment I touched the watch, the demon Necro, who had kept his distance, trembled.

"I'll kill you!"

"Try it."

I stretched out my right arm and snapped my fingers toward the ceiling.

"Coordinate confirmation."

Seeing my gesture, the demon paused for a moment.

That brief hesitation was enough.

'...Wow, I feel like a chuunibyou.'

Not bad, actually?

With my competitive spirit rising, the pain in my body and the dizzying anemia from the ceaseless nosebleed felt like nothing.

"Open!"

The cavern's ceiling vanished, revealing a starless night sky. The fierce night wind, driven by the pressure difference between inside and out, raged like a storm.

"......"

The demon Necro, who had been on guard, sneered.

"All flash, no substance...!"

Just then.

"......!"

A star appeared in the demon's eyes.

The approaching star soon took the form of a person.

Her red hair, tossed by the wind, scattered like a wild horse's mane, and the long, silver blade in her hand gleamed like a guillotine's edge.

The moment the blue glint flashing between her hair curved prettily.

Swoosh—!

The demon's left arm fell off.

---

Thud. Verity, who had collapsed to the ground, barely lifted his tingling hand, as if he'd been electrocuted.

"Wow, even this much interference hurts this much?"

He was speechless.

All he'd done was make one phone call to Hebenia.

He hadn't even answered it.

Yet merely that was enough for the world to punish Verity.

'A warning not to interfere with the Clavis's trial.'

The world loves the Clavis so much, but when it comes to times like this, it's colder than anyone.

"My Lady, finish up quickly and let's go home."

Struggling up despite the pain, Verity pulled out the General's spear with the golden tassel.

"I'll let you eat all the bacon you want."

---

"Ah! Aaaah!"

The demon clutched his severed arm and screamed in agony.

'Blood...!'

I caught my breath and clearly saw the blood falling from the demon's arm.

Drip, drip. The blood had already formed a small puddle on the floor.

"Hehe, heh..."

Aunt Nema was laughing.

She didn't seem to hear me.

'Is this a berserker...?'

For a berserker who abandons reason and pursues only battle...

'...She's rather gentle this time too.'

The shape of the blade Aunt Nema held looked familiar.

It was the tailoring scissors Ian and I had bought at the craft store.

I didn't know how they'd grown so large, but somehow those scissors seemed to suppress her rampage.

Her hands, gripping the scissor handles, were so tense that veins bulged and shook.

However, unable to completely suppress her madness, she was like a movie actress, admiring the blood on her blade with fascination.

'A horror movie protagonist...'

But how did her attack work?

'When I cut off his head, there was no blood.'

But now wasn't the time to solve this mystery.

It was finally time to end this.

"Ugh!"

"Get out of my way, fuck!"

The angel, who had barely shaken off the persistent Ian, approached the demon.

"What are you doing! I'll reattach that arm later—just get up! What kind of disgrace is this to three humans!"

"Shut up! Fuck, shit, fuck, fuck, shit...!"

Fu-u-uck!

As the demon screamed in frustration, his body began to change grotesquely.

With the sound of tearing flesh, a pair of black wings burst from his back.

Abnormally swelling muscles.

Large goat horns sprouting from his forehead.

"...Ah, we need to raise livestock too."

I heard goat milk causes less lactose intolerance.

'I'll look into raising livestock when I get back to the village.'

As village chief, I had too much to do, so I decided it was time to go home.

"Hebenia!"

Ian ran over and frowned at me.

I couldn't hear well, but it was clearly something very worried.

'Ah, my hearing...'

Only then did I realize my senses were fading.

Everything felt heavy and dull, like drowning.

It wasn't just the nosebleed. That had caused anemia, but I'd also used too much of my ability and was on the verge of exhaustion.

'So...'

This is the end.

"I'll kill you all! Everyone!"

"You idiot! You can't kill the Clavis...!"

"What does that matter now!"

Amidst it all, the bickering between the demon and angel rang out clearly.

"Right, I don't need to follow human orders!"

"Necro!"

"Angel, you can keep licking human toes!"

"How dare you insult me like this! If you're not careful, His Great Purpose will...!"

The angel, who had been rambling on, abruptly shut her mouth.

"Fuck, I'm killing that damn brat today! I swear!"

"Fine, do what you want!"

The demon spun his spear with his only remaining arm.

And the angel flew high into the sky, as if fleeing.

'Don't think you can escape.'

I gathered every ounce of strength to use my ability.

A trial.

A difficult situation or ordeal to overcome.

'This trial is a gateway to realize the shortcomings of my power and take a step forward.'

The target was set.

The wings of the angel fleeing with her back to me.

The demon's arm charging toward me.

"Oppa! Auntie!"

And I shouted.

"Swing! With all your might!"

At my shout, the two didn't hesitate.

Ian, who had readied his stance, swung his sword, which had grown even darker, with speed and power, and Aunt Nema sliced through the air with a sharp laugh and her blade.

Normally, their attacks wouldn't have reached the demon and angel floating high in the sky.

"Die!"

Rather, the demon's spear, now charging at me, would have reached us first.

"Coordinate confirmation."

Snap—.

With a snap of my fingers, the gap I'd created revealed the demon and angel.

'Opening spaces, closing spaces...'

The power to connect separate yet unified spaces.

That was the boundless authority to ignore the flow of time and create an invisible new space called a passage.

The power to set space and time belongs to the divine, so it is only natural that the key is in the highest place.

"Transfer!"

I sent Ian and Aunt Nema's attacks right before their targets.

Ian's slash cleanly severed the angel's wings.

And Aunt Nema's strike sliced off the demon's arm, which had come right before my nose.

The spear, severed along with his arm, clattered to the floor, worthless as a coin.

"Ugh, aaaaah!"

The demon, having lost another arm, crashed and writhed.

"Kyaaaaah!"

The angel, having lost her wings, also crashed.

Just then.

"Inverted seal."

Reverse summoning.

With a familiar voice I wanted to punch, the starless night sky was covered in rusted iron.

With the sound of grotesque, massive hinges, the iron split in half, and thick iron chains shot out from the crack, darker than the primeval forest's shadows.

Kikik, kikikik!

The chains scraped the ground and walls with eerie sounds, leaving grotesque marks like claw scratches.

Then they snatched the demon and angel and dragged them into the darkness.

"Ah, no! Nooo!"

"Let go! How dare a filthy demon...!"

Clang—!

The rusted iron door closed, and the night sky returned.

It was over...

"Oppa..."

I said in a crawling voice.

"The people, above..."

Let's take them and make them villagers.

Bringing in five new residents to a small village is a huge opportunity.

But I wasn't sure if I'd said it properly.

Before I could even judge, my barely held consciousness faded away.

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