Kazuma dies in a ridiculous traffic accident and is offered reincarnation by the goddess Aqua. But today, Aqua is glowing with a real goddess aura, not her usual useless self. Before Kazuma can retort, he is thrown into the fantasy world of Axel with no cheat weapon or skill.
A mysterious saintly goddess who looks exactly like Aqua appears, claiming to watch over him as a 'savior candidate'. Meanwhile, the usual Aqua is causing chaos in town—debts at the bar, trouble at the guild, and being mis
KonoSuba: If Aqua Was Actually a Goddess - The Headless Knight, Slashed with Laughter!
The morning light shone down upon the town of Axel. The usual bustle of the marketplace—the cries of fruit vendors, the smell of freshly baked bread, the laughter of children. But today, something was different. Dark clouds were gathering in the eastern sky. No, not clouds. It was dust, billowing up in great plumes. And with it, a sound like the rumbling of the earth, drawing closer and closer.
Kazuma stopped in front of the guild and listened. A restless feeling stirred deep in their chest. They knew that sound. The footsteps of hundreds. The neighing of horses mixed in as well. The direction—northeast, from the direction of the Vilde Mountains.
"…No way."
Kazuma licked their dry lips. They remembered what they'd heard at the guild last night. The Demon King's army, led by Beldia, was invading Axel. A headless knight of executive rank, personally leading his forces. Many adventurers had already fled. Only about a hundred remained. Everyone said there was no chance of victory.
Screams began to echo through the streets of the town.
"It's the Demon King's army!"
"They're coming from the main gate! Run!"
People scrambled to flee, each for themselves. Merchants abandoned their shops, mothers clutched their children, old men dropped their canes. It was panic. Countless feet pounded across the cobblestones. Amidst it all, Kazuma ran in the opposite direction. Toward the main gate.
(*Why am I the one heading straight toward it…? Normally it'd be the other way around at a time like this.*)
Even as they mentally tsukkomi'd themselves, their feet wouldn't stop. Then, near the fountain plaza, they caught sight of aqua-blue hair swaying. It was Aqua. She stood alone in the middle of the plaza, going against the flow of fleeing people.
"Aqua!"
Kazuma shouted and grabbed her hand.
Aqua slowly turned around. Jewel-like blue eyes looked up at Kazuma. There was hesitation in those eyes. Then, she tilted her head.
"…Who are you?"
For an instant, Kazuma's breath stopped.
(*Her memory, again…*)
Yesterday morning, she had called Kazuma "Kazuma-san." Now, even that was gone. No, wait. Last night, Seijoa Aqua had said it. Her memories were fading day by day. Today, another one had vanished.
"I'm Kazuma. Your partner, Kazuma."
Kazuma said it as casually as they could. But their voice trembled slightly.
"Kazuma…"
Aqua repeated the name, as if rolling it around in her mouth. Then, she smiled softly.
"That's strange. I don't know you, but your hand is warm."
Kazuma gripped her hand again.
"Of course it is. You and I have been stuck with each other since before we even came to this isekai."
Aqua blinked in confusion.
"Isekai?"
"…This isn't the time to explain. Let's go. To the main gate."
Kazuma pulled Aqua by the hand and started running. Behind them, Aqua said "Wait, where are we going?" sounding bewildered, but she followed obediently.
(*Fine. She doesn't remember my name, or my past, or anything. But when I held her hand, she smiled. That's enough.*)
As they approached the main gate, they heard the voice of Luna, the guild receptionist.
"Citizens, head to the eastern shelter! Do not exit through the west gate! The enemy is already there!"
Luna was directing the evacuation, her silver hair disheveled. Nearby, there were adventurers who had been slow to flee. But their feet were heading in the opposite direction from the main gate—toward the west back gate.
"Hey, you guys! Where are you going?! This is the critical moment!"
At Kazuma's voice, one of the adventurers turned around.
"A-are you stupid?! That's an executive of the Demon King's army! There's no way we can win! You should run too, and fast!"
"I haven't fallen so low that I'd abandon this town and run like you lot."
Kazuma's voice was low, crawling along the ground.
The adventurers exchanged glances, but they didn't stop. They ran off to the west.
"Kazuma-san… you're not going to run?"
Luna looked at Kazuma with an exhausted expression.
"If no one else will fight, then I will. Running away isn't an option I can choose right now."
Kazuma looked toward the main gate, still holding Aqua's hand.
"Besides, she's here. She makes me laugh. No—I'll make her laugh. If I do that, I know we can win."
Beside Kazuma, Aqua said anxiously, "I don't understand anything." Kazuma squeezed her hand tightly once more.
———
In front of the main gate.
The man stood there. No—calling it "just standing" would be too mild.
Height: 192 centimeters. Full-body armor of jet black. No head—black hair hung down from beneath the helmet. Instead, his own severed head was cradled under his left arm. Deep crimson eyes swiveled about, surveying the people gathered before the gate, appraising them one by one.
Beldia. One of the eight executives of the Demon King's army. A headless knight—a dullahan.
"…Hmph."
Beldia's severed head smiled.
"So this is Axel. Just as I'd heard—nothing but weaklings."
Despite the voice coming from a severed head, it carried a weight that resonated deep in the gut.
"Citizens fleeing in panic. Stragglers too slow to escape. And one brat who doesn't tuck tail and run at the sight of this armor."
Beldia's gaze fixed on Kazuma. And on Aqua, whose hand Kazuma held.
"Oh? You've brought a woman along to die with you. How utterly comical the lives of the weak are."
Kazuma felt a flash of anger at Beldia's words. But they took a deep breath. Letting themselves be provoked into a rage was exactly what the enemy wanted.
"Aqua, stand back. And get ready to laugh."
Aqua nodded.
Kazuma drew the short sword at their hip. But seeing it, Beldia scoffed.
"What is that? A toy? You intend to cross blades with me, Beldia, using that?"
Beldia laughed. The severed head under his arm laughed.
"Very well. I'll play with you for a moment. Consider it an honor to serve as my practice target. I'll take your head."
Kazuma readied their sword again.
"Unfortunately, I don't have a hobby of getting my head taken."
In that instant, Beldia's body vanished.
"—Huh?"
The next moment: impact.
Kazuma's body was sent flying several meters. They slammed into the ground and rolled across the cobblestones. Their vision warped. It took a few seconds to understand what had happened.
(*With one hand… that massive body, at that speed…*)
Beldia, still cradling his head, had swatted Kazuma away with just one arm. The armored gauntlet had grazed Kazuma's side. The pain came, slowly, delayed.
"Get up. Is that all? How boring."
Beldia's voice fell from above.
Kazuma gritted their teeth and stood. Their legs were shaking. But their eyes never left Beldia.
(*I saw it, just now. He only used his left hand as a brace. …I see. That left arm holding his head—that's his "reference point."*)
Kazuma had noticed it. Beldia cradled his head with his left arm, and that head looked around, determining his next move. To protect the head, the left arm's freedom of movement was limited. His attack center of gravity was also shifted toward his right shoulder.
(*If I'm going to aim for something… the shoulder of that left arm protecting the head.*)
Kazuma extended their left hand smoothly.
"Steal."
Activation.
"What?"
Beldia's breastplate appeared in Kazuma's hands with a hollow clatter. The jet-black, heavy breastplate. With a key component of his armor suddenly gone, Beldia's body lost its balance, just slightly.
"Now!"
Kazuma aimed their now-free left hand at Beldia's torso.
"Freeze!"
Cold air burst from their palm. A beginner-level ice spell, aimed at the gaps in the armor. With a crackling sound, Beldia's torso began to be encased in ice.
"Guh… you insolent—cheap tricks!"
Beldia's severed head opened its eyes wide in fury.
"You simple-minded fool! Did you think ice of that level could stop me?!"
Beldia's armor surged with magical power. The ice on his torso shattered into pieces. At the same time, a spell spilled from Beldia's lips.
"…O dark mist. O veil of death. Answer my call. Death Curtain!"
Black mist erupted from Beldia's body. A clinging, deathly stench. The black mist covered the plaza before the main gate in an instant.
"Wh… ah…"
Kazuma felt the strength draining from their body. Their life force was being sucked away by the mist. Their fingertips were cold. Their knees began to tremble.
(*At this rate… I'm going to die…*)
Kazuma was about to collapse in the mist. Their vision was going black.
That was when it happened.
Light shone through.
Tearing through the black mist, a warm light descended before Kazuma.
"Kazuma-san."
It was Seijoa Aqua. Her aqua-blue hair, reaching down to her waist, shone like a halo. Deep azure eyes gazed directly at Kazuma.
"I have been waiting. For the day you would stand here of your own will."
So saying, Seijoa Aqua slowly raised her hand toward Aqua's forehead.
"Eh… what? What are you doing to me?"
"It's all right. Everything is for you. And for Kazuma-san."
Seijoa Aqua's body transformed into light and melted into Aqua.
"Wait… I…"
Aqua's eyes opened wide. Her pupils took on a deep, divine radiance. It was as if two souls were resonating within a single vessel.
In that instant, the air changed.
[[Blessing <<Deadly Joke>> has been granted to Kazuma]]
[[Turns all failures into miracles. However, its true value is tied to laughter.]]
A system-like notification streamed directly into Kazuma's mind.
(*Deadly Joke…? What is this power…*)
Kazuma felt a change in their body. It wasn't a feeling of power overflowing. Rather, their heart felt strangely light. The fear was thinning out like mist.
But—
"Ha… hahaha! I don't know what you've done, but did you think a light of that level could clear this mist?!"
Beldia's mocking laughter came from beyond the black mist.
"I can see it! Your face is already that of a dead man! Even if you've housed a god in that woman's body, in the end, you're still nothing but a clown whose only talent is getting laughs!"
Beldia's severed head laughed triumphantly.
Kazuma steadied their breathing. The Death Curtain mist hadn't disappeared. If anything, it was growing denser, beginning to devour Kazuma's life even more greedily.
(*Please. Give me some kind of idea.*)
Kazuma recalled Seijoa Aqua's words.
—Your true power is making the goddess laugh.
—Make her laugh. That is the only light that can hold her fading memories together.
(*Make her laugh… laughter… Deadly Joke… I have to use it somehow.*)
Kazuma looked at their feet. Their legs were nearly collapsing beneath them. When they tried to brace themselves, their feet tangled.
(*…That's it. Failure.*)
Kazuma laughed inwardly.
"Hey, Beldia."
Kazuma shouted.
"Have you forgotten how to laugh?"
"What?"
Beldia's movement stopped for an instant.
In that opening, Kazuma released cold air at their own feet. Freeze. The target: their own legs.
"—Whoop."
Kazuma deliberately, spectacularly, fell flat on their face.
THUD!
A fall that anyone could see was utterly clumsy. Both feet frozen in ice, floating in the air, back slamming into the ground.
"Gwah!"
But in that moment—
CRASSSHHH!!
The impact of Kazuma's fall shattered the ice, sending fragments flying in all directions. Like diamond dust—sharp, beautiful.
Those ice fragments tore through the black mist.
"Wh… what is…"
The black mist of Death Curtain crumbled away wherever the ice fragments touched it. The magical energy composing the death mist had been shredded by the blades of ice.
A moment later—
BOOOOOOM!!
The black mist exploded from within.
"Impossible! Absurd! My Death Curtain, destroyed by such clownish antics!"
Beldia's severed head shrieked.
"Clownish antics, huh? That clownish antic just blew away your ultimate technique."
Kazuma slammed their ice-frozen feet against the cobblestones, shattering the ice.
"Watch closely. This is the power of laughter in a world where you've forgotten how to laugh."
Still on the ground, Kazuma crawled toward Beldia. N
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