Reincarnation into the Barrier Master

Rico, with Hayes' left arm still clamped around his neck, has a look of resignation on his face. I let out a grin at the sight. As if that was a signal, Riko's body gradually gets bigger and bigger. As if on cue, Hayes' eyes gradually widen.

"Whoa ...... whoa ...... whoa ...... whoa ......"

"Hayes, it's been a long time."

And then, lo and behold, there appeared the great-grandmother.

Around her, foxfires appeared one by one. And when she was covered with six foxfires, the great-grandmother slowly opened her mouth.

"You have improved your skills even more than before, haven't you? It took a lot of work to take your skills away from you. And now you have two more titles. If you had any more skills, even I would not be able to take them away from you. It was a last-minute opportunity.

"Gah ...... gah ...... gahhhh!"

Hayes tries desperately to move his body. But his body does not even twitch. And his face is covered in creepy-looking muscle bears.

"It's no use. Deprived of all your skills, you can no longer do anything. You must make up your mind.

"Goddess 《Ricolette》...... my goddess 《Ricol

"You're still a girl after all this time!　You're a bit of a wretch. ....... You have never been such a one. ......"

"Oh ......, you can't give up!　That woman is destined to be mine!　I want those lips, those tits, that ass ...... at all costs!　Whatever it takes!"

"Nuh-uh!"

A scream that could neither be described as a yell nor a shout echoed through the air. The next thing I know, Hayes' head is lying at my feet.

The princess's eyes widen, and she strikes a pose as if she's about to snap her right hand out of her socket. Her big shoulders are slowly moving up and down.

"Ohiisama ......"

At my words, she turned her eyes toward me without changing her expression. It was very powerful.

"Good for you. ......"

At her words, I bow reverently.

"My Lord Rinos!　I'm sorry!　Do something about it, too!"

I looked in the direction of the shouts and saw Sandille on horseback with a girl. I was about to head there when I suddenly looked at Satsuki. She was staring at the headless body of Hayes with a stunned expression. Right next to her was Tamanoi. When her eyes met mine, she nodded slowly, as if to tell me not to worry about Satsuki. I immediately went to Sandille.

There was Orjin, lying on his back on the floor. His eyes were half-closed and his mouth was open. His eyes were unfocused, his expression blank and motionless.

"What in the world is this ......?"

"He was going to blow himself up."

"Self-destruct?

"His body was turning red. I guess he was trying to use the Core Soup technique.

"Core soup?"

It is the secret art of our tribe of foxes. It is the art of condensing all HP and MP and exploding them. Haze ...... did not expect such a technique to be used on such a young child."

Sandille is trembling with a deep crease between her eyebrows. Aujin does not show any reaction to this situation.

What is your condition right now?

"Perhaps the heat from the self-destruct mechanism has fried his brain. My recovery magic does not seem to help at all. I am sure that you can use lvl. 5 recovery magic. Can't you give it a try?

I immediately cast a lvl 5 recovery spell on Auzin. She was still in the same condition. ...... I tried several times, but the result was the same.

"...... no good. Maybe her brain is melting. ...... pathetic. The life is saved, but the child will have to live the rest of his life without a soul. If only a man had stopped him sooner."

"Mr. Sandille."

I put my hand on his shoulder. The old fox stands up slowly, his eyes downcast.

I start to walk toward her again to check on Satsuki. On the way, I see Hayes' head, which had been chopped off by the old fox.

"Huh?　You haven't been dehumanized, have you?"

That's right. The name "Haze, the fox," means that he must be a fox just like Gon. If he is dead, his humanization must be broken. However, the head lying in front of me is still human, though the stripes appear on his face. What does this mean?

"...... body must have been replaced."

Suddenly, the great-grandmother opened her mouth. Switching bodies?　What do you mean?

"It's a skill called possession. It is a skill that allows you to transfer your consciousness to another person, and if you master it, you can transfer your own skills. In other words, you can take over the body. Haze's possession skill had reached level 5. Probably, Haze possessed this human being. When I defeated him, Haze's body as a fox was damaged to the point that it was no longer useful. Perhaps he used some means to transfer his skills to this human.

"Huh?　Then perhaps Hayes is also ......"

Don't worry about that. He's already had his head chopped off. It's impossible for him to possess anyone.

When the great-grandmother had finished, she exhaled with a puff of air.

"But we don't know what kind of tricks Hayes is up to. I would appreciate it if you would burn Haze's corpse.　Your fire magic will reduce them to ashes in an instant."

"...... Okay."

At that moment, I saw Satsuki, who had been looking at Haze's corpse for a long time, suddenly raise her body. Then I saw a gleam in her right hand.

"Idiot, stop ......"

It was only a moment. Satsuki stabbed herself in the chest with the dagger she was holding. A tremendous amount of blood poured out of her body, staining the floor before I could see it. I rushed to Satsuki's side.

"Ok......Ta......sama....... I also ...... mai ...... ri ......"

Before I could hold her back, she slowly collapsed onto Hayes' body. It was ...... brilliant. It really was a stab to the heart. Even my restorative magic could not heal her.

After that, I trapped Hayes' corpse in the ward and reduced his body to ashes in an instant. Then I told the girls that I would bring it back to the house, and I put it carefully in an urn-like container and moved away with Sandille and the others.

I called Mei and Roni to examine Satsuki and Auzin. As I knew, Satsuki was completely out of it. Auzin, on the other hand, was to be examined at May's laboratory. If her brain had melted, she would have died for sure, since she would not be able to breathe, but in her case, she was able to breathe. May and Roni agreed that the brain was probably intact. I told them to take care of her and watched her go.

Some time later, I went with Soleil to see Queen Salfate. She appeared at my side with her hand in Princess Rufana's and with unsteady steps. She told me of the horrors she had experienced when the kingdom of Thana had overrun her, and begged Agartha, in an unsightly manner, to protect her life.

Neither Princess Rufana nor her two sisters moved at the sight of the queen, their eyes still downcast. If you look closely, you can see that the hands of the two sisters were trembling slightly. I was not sure if I should tell them what had just happened or not, but I opened my mouth to the queens.

The queens were absolutely stunned. The queen in particular was probably their most trusted retainer. They were stunned to find out that it was Hayes the fox. As they watched me, my two sisters were convinced that if Real was a traitor, it would explain everything that had happened, and they even thanked me politely.

The queen and her entourage thanked me with tears in their eyes and slowly left the room after hearing that they could stay in the guest house until they were satisfied and that the Agartha army would protect them at all costs as long as they stayed in the guest house.

"What a bad ending. ......"

In the empty room, Soleil mutters next to me, looking up at the sky silently and not moving. I slowly turn my attention to her, sigh loudly, and slowly stand up.

"Let's go back to the house. Thank you for today, Soleil.

Soleil slowly stood up with her head bowed and leaned against Linos. Feeling a slight sense of relief at the warmth coming from her, the two moved to the residence in the capital.