Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 21 - Chapter 8

THE DEVIL AND THE HERO SETTLE MATTERS

As much as he feared the cleanup, Maou’s group didn’t actually have many things to address. Mostly, they needed to oversee Ignora and Camael to ensure they didn’t spark any more trouble. But after being run through with that holy sword of light, Camael’s holy force showed no sign of returning—and after she’d witnessed that, Ignora was in such a trance that she barely even bothered to move.

“…Should we restrain them?”

“With what, you think?”

Satan and Alciel exchanged somber glances as they watched the pair. Ignora hadn’t lost her powers (Camael was another story), so they weren’t sure tying them up or whatnot would accomplish much. Ignora hadn’t even fought, for that matter. Was anyone here capable of holding her back?

“Nyx is separated from her. But considering how Camael, Raguel, and all the other angels took orders from Ignora without question…”

It was an issue on Emi’s mind as well.

“Whether acting purely as a leader or joining the battle herself, we need to think of her as a primary threat.”

“But you saw how bold she acted once she was sure she’d won. And no matter how strong Nyx and Eleos are, Copyhara and Acieth can stem them off. So it’s no biggie if she causes a ruckus, is it?”

“Well, um, probably not, no…so, again, what’ll we do with them?”

They had captured the enemy ringleader—one more powerful than all the sorcerers on a single continent combined.

“I bet this is how Eme and her team felt when they captured Olba… You know, Devil King? I think we will need to restrain her somehow. If we didn’t come here to kill her, then maybe we can put her somewhere in heaven, or the demon realms…or someplace where she’d have no idea where she was…”

Emi, realizing she was starting to sound a tad abusive, trailed off before starting again.

“Just for now, you know? I mean, she did try to fight us…”

“Yeah, I mean… Sure, but…”

“No!!”

The protest came from a surprising source.

“Nyx?”

“I heard from Alas Ramus that Mommy was doing mean things to us…but to me, she’s the one who guided me when I was born! The Sephirah Malchut… A Sephirah that wasn’t supposed to produce anything but my big sister Eleos… It also made me, and it had a reason for it.”

“…”

“So please… I wasn’t born for no reason! Our Sephirah let me fuse with Mommy because it saw a good reason for it!”

“Now this is getting even harder to deal with. What do you think of that, Copyhara?”

“I’m not exactly the leader of them all or anything…but if Nyx says so, she’s probably right. She’s not lying, either. Eleos should’ve been guiding Alas Ramus and everyone else by herself, but a second Malchut was born ahead of Keter. Maybe…”

Copyhara looked through the hole Maou and Camael had made in the All a Lijeh wall, to the point far beyond, where the Tree of Sephirot grew.

“The Tree gave me Lucifer’s form, and…you know, maybe it had pitied the circumstances the angels were in. So when it comes to all the terrible things she and the angels did to Ente Isla… I’m not going to let that slide, but I hope you won’t go overboard with the punishment, either.”

“…This isn’t giving me much to work with. We didn’t come here to torture her to death, but we can’t just say ‘nice try’ and let her out, you know.”

“You were here to free the Tree of Sephirot, right? You even found more of Alas Ramus’s siblings. What more could you ask for?”

“A bright future for the kids. And she’s done a lot to threaten that over the years.”

“Huh?” Copyhara gave this a quizzical look. “Lemme just say, dude, you guys count as Sephirah, too, so you’re part of the equation. And if you’re a Sephirah, then you’re siblings with Alas Ramus.”

Maou turned back toward Emi, who, something dawning on her, manifested Alas Ramus.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah.”

Alas Ramus, capable of clear, grown-up intelligence during important battles, must have accurately understood Maou’s words and thoughts.

“This assault on heaven was meant to be a Christmas gift for Alas Ramus last year. We’re over half a year late on it, and now it’s also her birthday present. Along those lines, I really couldn’t half-ass this.”

“Oh… It was? Wow…” Copyhara fell silent. Maybe his mind-reading skill surprised him. “Well, in that case, there’s nothing else I can say. I’ll respect your decision.”

“Yeah, thanks… Hey. Ignora.”

Ignora surprised the audience by turning toward him.

“…Satan…”

“Please don’t start doing a Camael impression, okay? Listen, we’re not here to kill you, but if you’re gonna meddle with these kids, I can’t make any guarantees.”

“…”

“What was your endgame here anyway? It looks like your plan went off the rails somewhere, but if we let you live and the plan gets fixed somehow, you know that’s gonna be trouble.”

“…”

“And if you’re gonna stay silent, we’re not gonna be reasonable with you.”

“Mommy…”

Nyx’s concerned voice irritated Maou further.

“…Tch! Hey!”

“Hold on, Maou. Can you stop right there?”

It was Amane Ohguro who stopped Maou from grabbing Ignora and shaking her around.

“I’ll take possession of her.”

“Amane?”

“I looked around the shrine ruins a little, and I got questions I wanna ask about them first. Otherwise, we might have Acieth and Erone going out of control again.”

Amane was dead serious.

“Maou, Yusa… You know how you two treat Alas Ramus as your daughter? Well, I’m not heartless enough to abandon one of my own relatives to the wolves. Right, you?”

Amane grabbed Ignora by the collar, her cold eyes and voice upon her.

“We’re both grown women. Time to spill the beans, okay? And we’re all ‘separated’ from our parents, too. We aren’t gonna be as nice to you as Nyx, and we’re not gonna go easy on you like Maou’s group.”

“…Ah…”

“You better not think we’re gonna be like the kids you took control of.”

Back at the plain with the Tree of Sephirot, they summoned Alas Ramus and Acieth in front of the flowering tree. The two sisters held hands as they looked up at it.

“Nyx, Copyhara…and stupid ol’ Malchut.”

“Who are you callin’ stupid?” Elos shot back.

Ignoring her, Acieth kept her gaze on the tree.

“Everyone… It will take the more time, yes?”

“Yeah. But I came out this fast, so I really don’t know what’s gonna happen next. It all depends on that planet.”

Copyhara pointed at the moon’s horizon—to Ente Isla, rising above the blue land in the starry sky.

“Hmm. Funny shape.”

“The Land of the Holy Cross… The land looks split apart because the Devil Overlord Satan’s disaster broke the moon and changed the tidal patterns, apparently. I’m sure there weren’t any civilized nations down there at the time…but to everything living there back then, it must’ve seemed like the end of the world.”

“Wow. So when demon realms come here, that not affect anything?”

“It’ll affect something, I’m sure…but based on how Ente Isla’s still flying around with its two moons, I don’t think it’ll be any kind of big disaster.”

“You heard him, big sis.”

“Mmm?”

“The big birthday present from Maou and friends… Maybe you have to wait long time for it, still.”

“No I don’t, Ash-eth.”

“No?”

“I know Mommy an’ Daddy love me a lot. That’s good enough.”

“Ooh. Maybe so, yes.”

Acieth smiled at her tiny big sister.

“So, you grow and get big now?”

“Yeh.”

Then, as if Acieth had just given the signal, Alas Ramus’s body began to glow. They had seen this phenomenon before, around when Maou had moved into Emi’s apartment—but the small toddler grew just a little bit larger in height, this time, before she stopped.

“Mommy, Daddy…”

Alas Ramus let go of Acieth’s hand, ran up to Maou and Emi, stopped, and stood up as tall as she could.

“Thank you for helping them all. I love you!”

For just a moment, Alas Ramus kept a stern look on her face. Then, her cheeks glowed as she broke into a big smile.

“…And that’s about everything that took place in heaven.”

“Um…so you hardly did much real fighting at all?”

One week after they had all stormed heaven, Suzuno was visiting Chiho’s room at her family house in Sasazuka, giving her the not-exactly-triumphant circumstances behind the assault’s conclusion. She was sitting properly at her low table, wearing her usual kamawanu-pattern kimono and tucking her legs under her body. It was a common sight for Chiho to see, but that just made her story all the more fantastic and unique.

“The most injured out of any of us was Acieth and the Malchut girl, Eleos. Both of their faces were quite a mess—but it appears they will escape any permanent scarring. And Alciel did not kill any of the Heavenly Regiment.”

In terms of casualties, the nations of Ente Isla had suffered far more in the sporadic Central Continent skirmishes that took place during the Crusade just before the summit.

“Ignora’s original goal was to make the Tree of Sephirot recognize the angels as the ‘first’ species of mankind that belongs in Ente Isla. That would let them stand above us natives and create a perfect world for their perfect species. That was why she engineered all the miracles and mythologies that formed the cornerstone of the Church.”

“Oh? Didn’t Laila build the Church? I think Yusa mentioned something like that when we were talking about Yesod fragments…”

“What Laila created, in order to compete against Ignora, were the legends about holy swords—the folklore related to the Yesod fragments, and how to use them. She waited for the religion Ignora established to gain a firm foothold, and then, as the weaker opposing force, she deftly spent years and centuries spreading the word about the holy swords. That, and the concept of Ignora, the heavens, and the angels being a different race from humanity. This led to differing religious sects, and to different people in Ente Isla devoting themselves to the angels in different ways. That, it seems, was one major reason why the angels were not recognized as the ‘main’ species by the Sephirah until that moment. That is what Copyhara said, at least, and I cannot ascertain how true it is.”

Suzuno didn’t seem too confident about it as she spoke, occasionally pausing midway.

“Their home planet, you see, was stricken with a genocidal disease they could do nothing about. They escaped before the species was wholly wiped out, but I would assume there is no life remaining there. And when Caiel and Sikeena began to oppose their research into immortality, that was the deciding blow that led to Ignora’s current situation. It was a denial of the idea that supernatural aid was something to ever expect… A denial of God, essentially.”

“A denial of God…”

“Did it ever strike you as odd, Chiho? We are the Church, and figures like Lord Sariel, Gabriel, Raguel, and the Sephirah appear in our holy scripture…but the name of Ignora, the ‘God’ herself, never does.”

“But she’s still the primary figure, isn’t she?”

“No. The name appears in the scripture zero times. It remains only in the ancient name of a body of water, but not in our own words.”

“It doesn’t?”

That surprised Chiho.

“Our scripture talks about the legends of multiple higher-plane figures, but never about anyone leading them. That is why our ancient theologians and clerics theorized the existence of a ‘great ruling God’ that governed the world and its heavens, and that idea permeated the Church. That, too, was something Ignora failed to anticipate.”

God, in this religion, was not a person. And Ignora had already gone through the trauma of being judged for blocking the natural evolution of a human race. That was why she’d laid the foundation of the Church so a God could never be born. But it was Laila who foiled that—her, the angels on Satanael’s side that defied Ignora, and…

“…and the ancient Ente Islans, who clung to the concept of a God.”

At this rate, the Ente Islans that dominated the world would be recognized as the planet’s official, Sephirah-approved human race. The angels would once again lose a potential planet to settle on and perhaps even be persecuted by the Sephirah. And now, when multiple civilizations were flourishing in Ente Isla, Ignora was feeling the heat. Her solution: a Devil King Satan–driven invasion of Ente Isla, so that the human race would taste bitter defeat.

Ignora had taken a two-pronged approach to using Satan’s world conquest, as well as the Church that failed to develop as she meant it. First, she would create a Hero, someone born from the power of heaven and the angels. This would help advertise the angels as higher-level creations, the defenders of mankind. It would be an effective way, she thought, to root out Laila, who had long since left heaven by then. The result of all this: Emilia Justina, the girl with a Yesod fragment in her body.

But here, too, Ignora made a miscalculation. Emilia Justina was not purely Ente Islan. Her body reacted to the holy sword, and to the Cloth of the Dispeller driven by her Holy Silver, and it was “transformed.” She adopted the genes of the angels and their trademark look.

They reasoned quickly that the Hero Emilia had inherited blood from the archangel Laila. And the potential fallout from this made Ignora shiver in fear. To her, Emilia’s existence proved that the still-immature civilization of Ente Isla was hereditarily homogenous with their much more advanced civilization. If Emilia went on to save the world, would the Sephirot recognize the angels’ pitch that they were the higher beings?

So the heavens engineered the most chaos the world had seen since the Devil Overlord Satan’s disaster. Ignora’s faction, seizing the initiative in the race to keep the angels alive, just slightly outnumbered the others, but many of her peers began to posit whether her approach to Ente Isla’s Sephirot was the wrong one. The opposition was led by Sandalphon, who had long supported Ignora up till then.

In an even greater shock to Ignora, Lucifer was part of the Devil King’s Army invading Ente Isla. To Ignora, who had never forgotten the face of her child after all this time, seeing her own descendant—the epitome of the “higher race”—side with the lower classes of the planet’s natives and broadly impact the whole world came as an intense shock. Even worse, Lucifer lost to an inexperienced girl of a Hero, from an inexperienced human race. Now, not only would they never get the Ente Islans to see angels as the superior species—slander could go around that they were just a greedy race of tyrants seeding chaos worldwide.

So, through an old contact of Emilia’s named Olba, Ignora secretly had Lucifer recovered. She reasoned that one of the Six Archbishops, the highest echelons of the Church that followed the angels, would be easier to manage—but, once again, her hopes were betrayed.

“But Olba wasn’t anything like that, was he?”

“No. He was the sort of man who had grave doubts about the existence of any god. He also questioned the existence of Emilia, and the truth behind the holy sword and Cloth of the Dispeller. And while he didn’t confide it to Emeralda, he had a direct connection from heaven, and that is undoubtedly what drove him over the edge. The rest, you know well, Chiho.”

So the Hero Emilia dispatched the Devil King’s Army at breakneck speed—but then she let their leader escape before disappearing into another world herself.

That ensured peace in Ente Isla, more or less, but the personification of the angels’ miracles was now in some far-off planet. That, however, marked a good opportunity for the heavens to do away with Emilia, this half-angel, half–Ente Islan who proved an inconvenient obstacle to their colonization plans.

But every attempt at eliminating Emilia ended in failure. The reason? The Hero Emilia and the Devil King Satan had installed themselves into the society of this land Japan—and they learned how to work together, in public and private. If the Hero and the Devil King were to come to terms, that would bring peace and development to the people of Ente Isla…and that might tilt the Sephirot’s judgment.

“Alciel’s kidnapping in Efzahan and Archbishop Robertio’s assassination triggering a Crusade were both preliminary attempts to make angels the ‘approved’ race. They truly were trying to restage the melodrama of the Church receiving angelic protection to defeat the Devil King’s Army and save humanity. And with the Tree of Sephirot in her custody—and with it, Erone and Eleos—Ignora must have seen that as her last chance.”

But thanks to Gabriel’s secret betrayal, and Satan working together with Emilia in all possible ways, it fell apart. Olba was no longer a valuable pawn, an Archbishop was appointed who knew God’s real identity, and then the demons, angels, Hero, and humanity joined together to deny God herself.

“But Da’at took the form of a descendant of the angels anyway. Why was that?”

Suzuno began by warning Chiho that she could only say what Copyhara had explained to her, plus some of her own deductions.

“Lucifer was the first angel born in the ‘second generation,’ the one after they left their home planet. In terms of his lineage, he was from that former planet, but to him, his native world was Ente Isla and nowhere else. And with Emilia being born between an angel and Ente Islan human, the Sephirot must have concluded that even if it selected Lucifer, angels and Ente Islans were nothing but the same species, apparently. So the angels lost all of their superiority, and then…”

“…And then Camael lost all of his power.”

Chiho recalled the ring that used to be on her right hand. She, too, had shot down an angel once with that ring’s power. She could recall it with a cool mind now, but—really, that arrow shot down Raguel, a fellow human. When Raguel’s holy force–driven wings disappeared and he fell, she sweated it out quite a bit, worried she had actually taken someone’s life. But in the end, the Ente Isla Sephirot must’ve looked into the future and discovered that while humanity would continue to develop, angels would lose their miraculous powers over time.

After essentially losing to Maou and seeing his power drain, Camael was taken by his Regiment to the Malebrache homeland in the demon realms. There, she heard, remained the vestiges of a certain someone important to him, someone who drove him to despise Satanael and lose himself in the process.

“So what’s going to happen next?”

“We will stick to the plan. The members of the summit will make careful observations to see whether the holy force will truly fade from the world. Nyx and Eleos are under Copyhara’s supervision for now, but they are still rather shaken, so Amane is making an exception to her rules and providing care as an elder Sephirah family member.”

“…Sounds like there’s still a lot to do.”

“There is. From now on, the world will enter a phase of preventive maintenance. It will be plain, simple, inconspicuous, and painstaking…but it is vital work, deeply intertwined with Alas Ramus’s and Acieth’s futures. I intend to treat it quite seriously.”

Chiho closed her eyes, looking conflicted.

But in the end, she gave Suzuno a light bow. “Well, thank you so much for all of this… I’m sorry I wasn’t any help at all in the end…”

“Of course you helped.”

Suzuno’s strong tone made Chiho open her eyes.

“Without your power, Chiho, the summit, and the ensuing assault, would never have worked. Even now, many summit members are complaining to me about wanting you to lend a hand.”

“…They’re giving me way too much credit. I’m just a regular teen now. I have college exams.”

There was a lonesome tone to her voice, and the reason was clear to Suzuno: Even now, at this point, things had completely drifted out of Chiho’s hands. She couldn’t influence events in heaven, in the demon realms, or in Ente Isla. She couldn’t be involved in things, and she didn’t need to be. She should’ve been cut off from all the goings-on of Ente Isla, in fact. It was true that some were clamoring for her uncommon talents, but they had all given up on her coming to live there as Chiho Sasaki, a girl from another planet.

“Chiho, I…I, well…”

Suzuno leaned over the low table and took her hand.

“Suzuno?”

“I do not think we can allow that.”

“Huh?”

“Without you, we would all drift away. Our worlds were apart at first. Nobody could have been saved. But the idea that you would not, or could not, turn to any of us after everything is done with… A silly concept, is it not?”

“Umm…”

Chiho wavered. For some reason, Suzuno looked about ready to cry.

“To tell the truth, there is still one problem left unsolved.”

“Wh-what’s that?”

“The world wanted this. It wanted you, and all of us…to have this beautiful thing happen. And perhaps it is not vitally necessary any longer, but still…if it can happen, the world will be able to take one more step forward.”

“Beautiful…? Huh? What are you…?”

“…”

Suzuno seemed lost. She looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, then changed the subject.

“Ignora will be in the custody of Amane and Shiba for the time being. We have decided to keep her in Villa Rosa Sasazuka.”

“What? Even God’s moving in there?!”

She couldn’t help but shout it out. Suzuno talked over her.

“No matter the scope of her power, it won’t be enough to defy the mature Earth Sephirah. She is answering Amane’s questions and behaving in there, so that much is clear. The problem comes after that.”

“After that…?”

“Ente Isla has lost a god—one that never existed in the first place. That, and there is one other thing that must also be banished from Ente Isla for all eternity.”

Tears were now forming in Suzuno’s eyes. In them, Chiho felt she could see her resolve, and that of the many others she kept in her heart.

“The path and plans have already been laid out…and what comes after, as well.”

Chiho reflected on all the events leading up to today. After a moment—

“When are you going to do it?”

—She arrived at her answer.

It was a quiet late night in Sasazuka, the traffic of the Shuto Expressway clearly audible in the background, as a man and woman walked slowly home, letting the warm air soothe their work-weary bodies. It was now a month since the assault on heaven. Most of the troublesome decisions had been made, and with all the other miscellaneous questions left to other people, Maou and Emi were back to the normal grind.

Iwaki and Kawata didn’t say much upon their return. Akiko did, and Maou and Emi handled all of them—although talking to your fellow MgRonald employees about how you defeated the god of another world and helped lead it to peace, they realized, sounded incredibly stupid now that they were actually doing it. It was the truth, but it was incredibly stupid. That’s how faraway a tale it was, this story of war in another world.

“Man, I am spent. Delivering to the same apartment building three times in a row…”

“Yeah. We all had a laugh when you left the third time.”

“The groundskeeper was totally giving me the stink eye the third time…”

They were discussing the day’s events, just like after any other work shift, laughing over them as they walked toward the home they shared. They were the Devil King and the Hero, two people who had once warred over the fate of an entire world.

It was a little past midnight. The sky was overcast, and now thick clouds covered the moon and the stars, making things dark. The Devil King pushed his bicycle along, the Hero carrying a large shoulder bag—and on the way, they spied a deserted intersection. The neon sign for the Italian restaurant on one side was shut off, the streetlights and stoplight the only things illuminating the two of them.

“Brings you back, huh, Devil King?”

“Here? Yeah.”

Maou knew exactly what Emi meant.

“It was around this time, wasn’t it? I was on my way home then. And then you threatened me with that 100-yen knife.”

The crosswalk light turned red.

“I was so humiliated when they thought I was your girlfriend.”

“Yeah, that was hilarious. Even funnier how we’re treated as a pseudo–married couple now, huh?”

“It sure is.”

Emi smiled a bit.

“But…that’s all over.”

Maou dodged the blade tip suddenly swinging at him by nothing more than sheer luck.

They had been chatting along, on their way home like always, and right in the middle, she’d broken out her holy sword of light.

Maou was stunned. “What…what is this, Emi?”

“The assault on heaven is over. It ended in a place where nobody knew about it. But there’s something still going on in Ente Isla.”

Emi still smiled softly, affectionately, as she spoke.

Maou immediately knew what she meant. “Slaying the Devil King, huh?”

“Yeah.” Emi nodded. “Last time, you fled to another world. This time, it’s somewhere up in the sky, on that rocket. To the people of Ente Isla, you’re still a symbol of fear, one that might still be alive somewhere. Are you aware of that?”

“Well, yeah, more or less.”

“Isn’t that hard for you? I ought to rid you of that baggage already.”

Maou put up a barrier. That way, if anyone happened to pass by, they wouldn’t get all huffy about the blade in Emi’s hand.

“You’re serious, huh?”

“I’ve got to get over this already, or I think I’m gonna be dragging it along forever.”

In their little world under the barrier, time frozen for everyone except them, the Devil King danced around, continually avoiding the Hero’s holy sword. She was fused with the Sephirah Yesod, wielding a sword like none he had faced before in battle. All he had was demonic force and his own body. The difference in power was clear.

With divine footwork, the Hero got behind the Devil King, the edge of her sword flat against his back.

“You know, Devil King…”

“Hmm?”

“When you saved me in Efzahan, there was one thing I couldn’t remember.”

“What’s that?”

“The words we exchanged when I first saw you.”

She had encountered Satan, the Devil King, as he fought in Heavensky to save the cornered Great Demon General Alciel. The words she screamed back then, driven by hate, came to her lips once more.

““Hello!””

They both said it at the same time. It made them both crack up.

“And that’s how your journey’s gonna end?”

“Yeah. The Hero Emilia’s slaying of the Devil King is over, as of today.”

Maou stood up, still feeling the blade at his throat. His gaze turned away from Emi and the holy sword, instead examining the darkness behind him.

“Well, tell Ashiya I said hi. That I apologized to him. He’ll understand.”

“All right. I will.”

The next moment:

“Maou!! Yusa!!!”

The shout that ripped through the night came just as the sword of light stabbed through Maou’s back.

“Hey, Chi.”

Before Chiho, gasping with her hands at her mouth, Maou was on his knees, head against the ground. Vast clouds of dark fog seeped from his body, quickly dissipating into the air. Behind Maou, who had collapsed and was immobile, Emi dispelled her sword and let out a deep sigh.

“Hello, Chiho. Pretty late for a walk, isn’t it?”

“Yusa… You…”

“I had to,” she calmly said to the lone eyewitness. “Think about it. No, I don’t hate the Devil King any longer… But…still, he… What the Devil King’s Army did to the people of Ente Isla was unforgivable.”

Chiho’s legs were too shaky to move. Instead, Emi knelt and pulled Maou’s top half up for the other girl to see.

“Even if I defeat our god, even if I save the world, that still won’t calm the souls of the murdered. You see?”

“But… Why… At this point?”

Emi gently caressed Maou’s hair. His eyes were closed, his face serene.

“Now was the best time. Now, when everything is over… Everything with me and the Devil King’s battle… Now, I had to settle things.”

Before Chiho, her face straining to withstand the waves of despair, Emi brought her face to Maou’s and whispered into his ear:

“Hello…Sadao Maou.”

The barrier disappeared. The clouds spread out in the sky above the Hero and the Devil King were gone, the bright moonlight illuminating the town of Sasazuka as if it were a beautiful flower.