Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 104

Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 104

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Commissioned by Shaderic

Wordcount: 2500

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A part of me always knew what A’Bel was always doing. The contract between the two of us bound us together to the point where we could easily communicate without speaking. It was a useful way to track her and make sure that she did exactly what I wanted her to. The contract, our connection, and my ability to call it forfeit and return her to hell were all necessary, because otherwise I wouldn’t have her working for me.

Usually, whatever she was doing was just in the back of my mind, but this time it was different.

As I looked upon the blazing nightmare that I created, I watched A’Bel do as I’ve asked of her and felt the immense power coursing through her veins as she did. Her will and my orders combined to give her greater strength through all that I sacrificed to her, which both amplified her power and strengthened our connection.

I watched her confront what anyone back on earth would call a god through her own eyes.

The Apophis was average in size for Lamia with purple skin and a large, dark-scaled tail covered in gleaming armor. The former Pharaoh torso was covered in bronze armor aglow with hieroglyphs burning a bright blue. Small scratches, burns, and wounds on the Apophis practically disappeared instantly, while even some attacks sent by A’Bel her way didn’t harm her. Besides her defenses and regeneration, the Apophis attacked ferociously with both magic and her weapons.

Her magic manifested as death manifested into existence. Black bolts of death left behind trails in existence as they sped towards A’Bel. Those speeding bolts forced A’Bel into the path of the Apophis’s staff, which manifested the same energy in a dizzying array of forms up to a meter away from the artifact itself. While the staff itself could meet one of A’Bel’s weapons and come away without a scratch, the entropic energy that suffused it chipped away at it… and ate at A’Bel’s weapons every time she was forced to block an assault.

The Apophis alone could probably lay waste to all of Ylstu overnight. Even with all the protections I had in store, she’d carve through everything that I’d built, if I didn’t commit all of my most powerful retainers against her. Ashe, Henri, Ur, and Resier all working together could probably take her down in her current state, without her Claim and without her fleet, after hundreds of my soldiers died weakening her however they could.

But the Apophis couldn’t compare to A’Bel.

A’Bel was enjoying herself in the battle. The Archdemon was treating it like she had the star role in a play that she practiced for her entire life. The entropic blasts sent her way could harm her, but she dodged each of them with glee, so that she could reciprocate against her opponent’s attacks in melee. The Archdemon created openings for the Apophis to exploit, just so that she could enjoy the battle and the possibility of her death.

A’Bel used a different weapon each time they clashed.
A’Bel flowed along with the former-Pharaoh instead of trying to force the ruler to do as she said.

A’Bel, in a battle where her life was on the line, felt an immense amount of teeth-cloying happiness.

I could hear their exchange more than two kilometers away from their battlefield. The swings of their weapons created gusts that carried flame and charred wreckages of flying ships into the sky. The Apophis manifesting true death as attacks into the world made the little sunshine peaking through the smoke and ash dim, while the crash of their weapons against one another made the ground shake and the echoes akin to thunder surge through the desert.

I stood with Reiser and the Kunoichi as a battle between beings nearly beyond comprehension fought to the death, but it felt like I was there.

I was there as A’Bel took a mace and smashed it into the Apophis’s shoulder and let go of the weapon before it became engulfed in azure flame that disintegrated it. I was there as A’Bel took the opening she created and called forth a spear to strike at the same spot while using her magic to part a wave of true death around her like a dam, while the ground beneath her feet and the air around her ceased to exist. I was there as the former Pharaoh’s eyes widened and the spear entered her rapidly-repairing armor, pierced her regenerating shoulder, and drove itself into her chest, through her lung, through her heart, and then through her liver before existing through her abdomen.

Through A’Bel’s eyes, I saw the hate and fear in the Apophis’s eyes as she remained standing with a spear through her heart and torso… and she raised her staff to strike at A’Bel while overcoming her mortal wounds.

A’Bel could’ve killed her then and there, but backed off to give the mortally-wounded Apophis a second to gather what strength she could… before calling forth another weapon to end the Apophis’s life.

The Apophis fought and fought with mortal wound after wound. A’Bel embedded demonic weapon after demonic weapon into her, but she continued to persist and exist against the power of hell itself and her grievous wounds to fight. Even though she was dead, even though she could no longer win, the Apophis fought for the sake of all the soldiers and retainers she lost… because she at least wanted to destroy the Archdemon before her and that Archdemon’s master.

Me.

The battle lasted for fifteen minutes, but it felt like eternity before the Apophis stopped as A’Bel blocked her last strike and sent another weapon through her neck.

The Apophis died with a face contorted by determination and will, her defeat the farthest thing from her mind, and her fear nowhere to be found.  A’Bel caught the dead ruler in arms and began to carry her out of the burning wreckage that remained of her army.

The army she died trying desperately to avenge.

Yeah.

Catching her was the right call.

Even if she faced me, even if she would’ve raised up arms against the people I wanted to have as allies, in the end she died fighting for her people with all her strength and power.

That deserved respect.

When the battle was over, I turned to Reiser and the Kunoichi, while A’Bel arose from the ashes of the fleet carrying the dead Apophis in her arms.

“Kill the dying and rescue the survivors. This battle is over.” A’Bel landed before me and laid the dead Apophis before me. Even pierced through with so many demonic weapons and dead, the former Pharaoh felt like an existence out of a dream. It felt like seeing her dead was unnatural. “I’ll start working on getting this woman buried with the honors she deserved.”

Reiser bowed and left with the Kunoichi, while I looked upon the cooling corpse and then to A’Bel.

“Her soul and her retainers aren’t yours.”

A’Bel smiled at my simple statement, even though I asked her to let go of what she should’ve cherished wantonly as a Demon.

“Of course, my dear master. Your will shall be done.”

A’Bel bowed and I looked at my foe who never knew my name or even saw me coming.

“You fought well.” I never said the words before, so they felt strange, even though I knew that they were right. “Rest in peace.”

With those words, I turned away towards the ship that carried us to the battlefield where Bekat looked upon me, my Archdemon, and the fallen Pharaoh in her arms.

It was time to start really shaking things up without doing anything crazy.

Well.

Crazier than killing one an immortal god-king, I suppose.

…

Mekh looked upon the Apophis for a moment, before shaking his head and bidding his servants to cover her face up once again. During the transit, I had A’Bel remove her weapons from her body and cover her up in silks. The former-Pharaoh still had her armor on and most of her wounds were on display, but she looked almost at peace.

But that didn’t matter.

Only what her death meant mattered.

“Oh, Amunekh, you should have fled.” Mekh sighed and stood before me with crossed arms. Unlike usual, he wore a tunic instead of just a loincloth that barely covered his bits below. The Pharaoh watched as his servants moved a sarcophagus into the room. It was aglow with jewels, covered in gold leaf, and radiated magic, as if daring anyone to try and take a piece of it and die trying. “Against me, you would’ve surely won, but not against men and women who have spent most of their lives at war.”

The Pharaoh watched Apophis’s body was lifted gently by magic onto her resting place. Within the sarcophagus the silk and armor upon the former Pharaoh ceased to exist, while the dead woman’s wounds knit together until she looked like she was just asleep. I was worried that she’d get up, until the sarcophagus’ lid closed over her and it was escorted out.

“You have made your point, Hikigaya Hachiman. Your ways and that of the Demon Lords can turn the tide of battle in our lands. In fact, you already have. With one of their own dead, the Apophis are no longer the equals of the Pharaohs… especially with her Claim in our hands ready to be shared amongst us for greater power.” Mekh turned his gaze upon me. Golden eyes blazing with faint power searched me. “But I doubt you wish to kill all the Apophis and stay here as we embroil ourselves in a civil war.”

“Yeah. That would be the worst.” I grunted and looked towards Tanis. Since everyone already had an eyeful of her desert-wear, I had her wear her usual clothes for this meeting. She looked more professional and turned more heads this way. You can dress like a Pharaoh, but you couldn’t hope to match their real influence. “Show him the plan.”

“Yes, my lord.” Tanis bowed to me, before turning towards the Pharaoh and bowing again. She was always a stickler for formalities. Pushing up her glasses, she presented her findings after studying all the information I had gathered and referencing them against what we knew. “We believe that this opportunity should be used to force the city lost to the Apophis as a neutral ground ruled by both factions. It will become a place of discussion and competition. A place where soft power can be exerted, instead of relying entirely on deterrence and military prowess to hold territory.”

“You’re all too comfortable in your cities and staying where you are without interacting with your peers.” I grunted Mekh’s way and he raised an eyebrow at me. He glanced for a moment towards his servants and I shook my head. “They’re your people. They adore you, worship you, and would bend over the moment you ask, but they’re not your peers. The Pharaohs and Apophis are… and you all barely talk to one another face-to-face.”

I wasn’t a big fan of diplomacy, since I wasn’t good at it. There were too many people who could twist me around their fingers, if I decided to sit in during a meeting. However, I still knew that meetings in organizations were important to prevent schisms in nations. The Pharaohs and Apophis needed a plate to sit down, chat, and probably fuck, since they were all lewd in their own way, so that they didn’t resort to violence as a form of communication.

I was all for having violence as a diplomatic option, but not as the first option.

Maybe the second.

Preferably the third.

But that was a personal preference.

“The Apophis wish to expand, grow, and gain more power. That can be done by giving them access to the ports. Many of the Apophis affiliated Pharaohs live in the south of your lands. They only know the lands beyond their own filled with tribal peoples and barely of the world beyond.” Tanis proposed a possible favor from the Pharaohs and the Apophis. It was one of the easier solutions that we came to realize. Outside contact between the Pharaohs and the rest of the world was sparse, but the Apophis were mostly inland and didn’t have any ports. They didn’t have any contact with other civilizations. “Their desire for slaves can be satiated with trade with the rest of the world. They do not need to expand and conquer when they can simply produce materials and gain immense wealth and manpower from the world over.”

“Your proposals hinge upon the Apophis agreeing to a neutral city with us… and the other Pharaohs desiring the same. My lands are between the two factions, so I prefer peace, but not my fellows.” Mekh fired off a counterpoint, but he wasn’t against the idea. He wanted to know how we would solve the problems that would make our plans fail. Nothing more and nothing less. “How would you do that?”

Tanis looked to me at this question.

“For the Pharaohs, we threaten to do the same to them, and for the Apophis with threaten to do it again.” My words made the Pharaoh’s eyes widen as he realized what I was declaring. It was kinda amazing to see a god-king get so surprised, but I had other things on my agenda. I pointed at Mekh. “I’m with you. Not with the Pharaohs. As far as I’m concerned, they’re idiots since they’ve let the situation get this far.”

Getting one Pharaoh on my side was a win. Mekh’s commitment to trade was enough to sate Roseanne’s desires for increased national renown and international trade. The other Pharaohs might as well not exist. In fact, I would rather that they didn’t, because they had a chance of disrupting trade and messing up my plans.

So, I was willing to be the boogeyman that kept both sides in line.

“I have an Archdemon. The thieves that I lost getting that first claim? I have better ones. Fleets of airships? I can crush them, especially with a trip back to restock and get more munitions.” I had copies of their magic that allowed ships to fly. With money, time, and a few of Roseanne’s Honor Guard, I could have a fleet of five warships flying in the sky with weapons that could blow the Pharaoh’s wicker-and-wood ships apart. “A’Bel’s also hankering for another fight. Hell, I’m sure she’d be happy to fight two or three of you at once, because she’s a freak and has enough power to eke out a win.”

That particular statement had A’Bel squealing on our mental link, but I ignored her in favor of offering Mekh the deal of a lifetime.

“You said it yourself, Mekh. You don’t have any friends here. The Pharaohs and Apophis are both willing to turn your territory into a warzone, so you need a third option: me.” Well, Roseanne, her money, and my assets turning that money into a military that can scare the shit out of immortal god-kings, whether they were Pharaohs or Apophis. “What matters to me is international trade and recognition from the Pharaohs… and you’re enough for that, so why not take the risk for the best possible result where both the Pharaohs and Apophis can’t fight and try to make up?”

I’m sure some would call me a moron for trying to sway a Pharaoh to my plan, but after spending some time with Mekh… I knew that he was willing to take risks to keep his people safe from an apocalyptic war descending upon them.

After all… he greenlit this assassination mission in the first place.

A low laugh left his lips before his answer came in the form of a nod.

“So be it, then. Anything to save my people from the wars of careless god-kings, no matter what they call themselves!” Mekh levelled a gaze at me, before addressing me with authority. “Make it so, Hikigaya Hachiman! Make this whole realm fear you and I will do everything in my power to enrich your Demon Lord however I am able!”

Nice.

Now it’s time to become a boogeyman for a nation of overpowered NEETs until they decided to get up and socialize.

Shouldn’t be too hard.