I’m the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 65

The moment my heart was pierced, I had an intuition.

Swords entwined in dozens of exchanges in midair before separating. Iris stepped back, biting her lip until it bled.

‘She’s no match for me.’

The disparity in our skills was palpably clear. But I couldn’t give up.

“Hraaaaah!”

Iris shouted out her fighting spirit as she swung her sword. The wildly swung blade cut only empty air as the man’s form vanished like a mirage.

“Cough…!”

Feeling something strike her back, Iris found herself tumbling to the ground.

“Guh…”

Before she knew it, the man had mounted her, pressing her back down with his knee. Iris gritted her teeth, struggling to rise.

***

“…Can’t we just end it here?”

Looking down at Iris writhing on the ground, I let out a small sigh. At the same moment, a voice came from the spherical camera floating around me.

[The match only ends when one party dies!]
[If you plan to end it, pierce the heart or slice the throat!]

The overly excited voice was familiar—it was the announcer’s.

[If you don’t take the opponent’s life, a powerful magical beast will be released every 5 minutes!]
[We recommend finishing the match quickly!]

As the voice continued to urge me to kill Iris, I was considering it when the Demon Sword’s voice reached me.

[Tsk tsk, their intention was this all along.]
“Huh?”
[They want you to kill your own sister with your hands while you’re distracted by the Rediaholsun. That’s what they desire.]

‘How do you know that?’
[The thoughts of such perverted people are pretty obvious.]

As I listened to the Demon Sword’s smug voice, the bloodstained history of the Demon Sword came to mind.

‘A pervert recognizes another pervert, I suppose.’

Thanks to shutting off that line of thought, the Demon Sword did not go on a rampage.

[What will you do, partner? Are you going to kill her?]
‘No, I have no intention of killing her.’
[Hmmm… They seem intent on not ending the match until one kills the other. How about we just destroy the arena and escape? Once outside, you’ll face even stronger enemies… hehe.]

‘That’s difficult. You see this collar around my neck? If I go too far with it on, it explodes.’
[But you can recover from that.]
‘Iris can’t.’

[Grrrr… I didn’t think of that.]

While we were having this calm exchange…

Whoosh!

Iris, who had been down, suddenly brandished her sword in a reverse grip and swung it. My body instinctively leaped back, and Iris sprang to her feet.

[What is the identity of that one? How can holy power flow through a human body? It’s incomprehensible. Because of the holy power, my strength dissipates when I get near her body.]

‘Indeed…’

Given that Iris was the last hope for humanity, the last hero, the only one of the hero’s lineage, it wasn’t surprising.

‘Is it possible to subdue her?’
[It’s possible, but…]

Clang, churr.

While conversing with the Demon Sword, 5 minutes had passed, and one of the arena’s gates opened.

Grrrr.

The low growl of a beast echoed, but the dense toxic mist made it impossible to tell where it was coming from. I could only sense it by sound.

Iris, too, startled by the sudden unfamiliar noise, turned her head toward its source.

[This is getting bothersome.]
‘What do you see?’
[By the feel of it… one of the most dangerous beasts from the demon world, a Crea.]
‘Crea?’

As I asked, a large silhouette loomed through the mist.

“Uh? That’s…”

As I let out a short exclamation…

“Kieeeeeeek!”

A creature that looked like a dinosaur from the many I had seen roared. Could it be that there were dinosaur-like monsters even in the demon world?

[What is that?!]

Guess not.

Kwoong! Kung!

The monster began charging with a force that shook the ground. I braced myself to swing my sword, but the creature swerved and darted toward Iris.

“Uh-oh? It shouldn’t go that way! Gargandoa, kill it quickly!”
[Yes, yes!]

Startled, Gargandoa swung the sword without any fancy lines. As the mist whirled, a blood-red sword strike flew out and… missed, slicing through empty air as the monster dodged by dropping low to the ground.

“What is that?!”
[What is that?!]

Gargandoa’s and my voices overlapped.

“Kieeeek!”

The monster roared again, opening its massive maw to lunge at Iris, who seemed to be its sole target. There was an air of madness in its pursuit.

Kwaang!

The monster’s huge jaws viciously snapped at Iris, just missing her. Iris, not one to be easily victimized, stepped back and swung her sword.

The beast was sliced and blood spurted out, but it stopped almost immediately.

‘This seems to be because of me…’

The appearance of the beast, the blood flow stopping, it all resembled the monster that used to appear alongside giant robots in the world of gags.

‘Why all of a sudden?’

The gag filter had been applied in various ways before, but it had never threatened anyone around me until now.

‘Is it because Iris is attacking me?’

The exact mechanism was frustratingly elusive. I couldn’t just stand by, so I swung the Demon Sword vertically.

A long cut appeared on the monster’s body.

“Ki…eek…”

The monster let out a short scream and then…

Kwaang!

It exploded and vanished. I watched the still mist, certain it was a result of the gag filter.

Normally, such an explosion would have cleared the nearby mist like a gusty wind. The fact it hadn’t meant the explosion was the monster’s exit impact.

Clang, churr. Clang, churr.

While I was dealing with the monster, time passed, and more gates opened. This time, two sounds came simultaneously.

“Kieeeek!” “Kieeek?!”

The newcomers were yellow and pink monsters. Like the first one, they charged towards Iris.

[What on earth is happening?!]

Gargandoa shrieked in the impossible situation. I bit my lip and said.

“Gargandoa, let’s kill those two as quickly as possible.”
[I was planning on it!]

I gave control to Gargandoa while watching Iris, who stood at a distance, sword in hand. She seemed to have backed away, perhaps fearing another explosion.

‘This won’t do. I need to end the match quickly. To do that…’

One of us had to die.

Normally such a narrative would lead to a tragic and painful development. But here, residents with infinite regeneration from gag wounds existed!

‘Okay, I’ll get stabbed by Iris as quickly as possible and fake my death.’

If I did that, both Iris and I could safely escape the arena.

‘So first, I need to…’

Sshwack -.

“Ke…hek?” “Kiiit?”

The giant monsters were once again split in half.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

They vanished with a massive explosion.

‘I have 2 minutes.’

I had to fake being killed by Iris within 2 minutes.

I rushed forward, speaking to Gargandoa.

‘Gargandoa, we need to end this fight quickly.’
[…! I should have been the one to say such a cool line! So even you, partner, desire to say lines! I came here to end this fight… I will end this fight…]

While Gargandoa muttered, I continued.

‘Since I won’t actually die, I’m planning to fake it after Iris stabs me. Can you keep up with the act?’
[Well, I wasn’t too pleased with this stage… I mean, match anyway, so let’s do that… But can I drink the blood that flows out?]
‘Yes, but don’t make it too obvious.’
[Understood!]

As Gargandoa eagerly agreed, my body started running towards Iris. Iris, who had been looking at where the monster disappeared, noticed my approach and turned her head sharply, her eyes flashing.

“Hooo, hrr… Die!”

I wondered what she saw in me to be so angry, then I remembered the existence of the crossdressing man and involuntarily nodded my head.

‘If she saw something like that, her reaction makes sense.’

Chang! Kkik..!

The sound of swords clashing rang out like a scream. Gargandoa and Iris’s blades struck each other repeatedly.

[It seems we need to end this quickly. Her sword will break soon.]
‘What? Really?’
[Of course, it keeps clashing with a great sword like me. It can’t be helped!]

Gargandoa then spoke in a serious tone.

[I’m going to create an opening for you to get stabbed… Where should she stab? The stomach?]
‘No, have her stab the heart. What if she stabs the stomach and I’m not counted as dead?’
[… Hey partner, you won’t… die from a stab to the heart?]
‘Usually not.’
[….]

Gargandoa fell silent for a moment.

[Then I’ll trust that word.]

With that, Gargandoa slightly relaxed the force with which he was deflecting Iris’s sword.

Chaeang!

The sword was knocked up from below, exposing an open space in my upper body. Iris’s eyes glinted as she thrust her sword towards my heart.

“Haahaaat!”

The voice that was usually cute now emitted a rough sound as the sword tip pierced my heart.

“Kuhuk…!”

As my heart was impaled, I had an intuition.

‘Uh? Am I actually going to die?’

My vision blurred to black.