Chapter 4: Ending a War
The following day, year 165 of the Lyferian calendar, first month, 22nd day—
Diablo and his group visited the governor’s estate. In Lyferia, governors also doubled as military commanders, and so Faltra’s and Zircon Tower’s governors, Galford and Laminitus, were both skilled in combat.
Caliture’s governor, however, was a sea lion.
That wasn’t to say he was part of a race that had sea lion features. He was just a really fat, round Human. His large table was stacked with quite the luxurious meal despite it only being breakfast.
“Oh! You’re those adventurers sent from the palace. Well met! Come, come, sit down. It’s almost time for second breakfast.”
“...Second breakfast?” Rem tilted her head.
“We’ve already had breakfast,” Shera said, smiling wryly.
The Gadou clan’s breakfasts were lavish in their own right. They served meat, and meat, and more meat... Just looking at it made Diablo and Shera get heartburn, but Rem ate away as if it was natural.
“You don’t need breakfast?” Caliture’s governor looked beside himself with surprise. “Are you feeling under the weather? You should certainly watch for your health. I recommend this herb tea. It does wonders for lack of appetite!”
Rem bowed and moved the conversation along.
“...I am called Rem, an adventurer... I’m a summoner.”
She intentionally left out her last name, Galleu, and stressed that she was a summoner.
“A sorcerer?” The governor cocked his head curiously. “Not a grappler?”
“...Yes.”
He eyed her with surprise. Black-haired Pantherians were likely associated with the Gadou clan in this town.
“...This is Diablo. You can think of him as a sorcerer.” Rem continued the introductions.
“I see, I see.”
“...And this here is Shera. She’s an arch—”
“Summoner!” Shera cut into Rem’s words, pressing a hand against her sizable bosoms.
Rem shoved her shoulder against her and whispered,
“...You can only summon Turkey Shot. You’re a level 80 archer, and since you studied under the swordmaster, you might be a level 80 warrior, too.”
“Then you’re a grappler. Solami said you have the talent for it.”
“...Unlike you, I haven’t been neglecting my studies as a sorcerer. I may have reached level 80 already.”
“Let’s check at the Adventurer’s Guild! Maybe I’m higher than you already!”
“Impossible.”
As their argument grew louder, Diablo coughed dryly, which silenced the two. Caliture’s governor began his second breakfast, opening his mouth to speak as he stuffed himself full of bacon.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of me from His Majesty, but I am Lieutenant General Hyde Ray Matis.”
First I’ve heard of you.
Diablo and the others looked away dodgingly. They’d been informed of the beasts and the spriggan, but told nothing of Caliture’s governor or the garrison. The king and the minister didn’t really put much importance on the matter.
So, how do I ask him...?
He made a promise to the Kobolds, and Boldboss had put his trust in him. He wanted to keep Fennely safe, too. He needed to have Matis, Caliture’s governor, acknowledge their right to live in the mountain.
As Diablo sank into thought, Rem cut to the point.
“...Governor, may I ask you something?”
“Mm? Do you want some bacon, dear?”
“...No, this isn’t about food. It’s about the Kobolds.”
Letting her handle negotiations would be wise, it seemed. Diablo would either anger or frighten him, so this would be the smoothest way to approach this.
“Kobolds?” Matis stopped moving his fork. “What’s that?”
“...Those would be the Therianthropes.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I care little for how you distinguish those monsters. Caliture mines silver from the northern mountain. Or rather, we want to mine it, but those creatures keep attacking the miners, who can’t go about their work in peace.”
“...Silver? That’s the first we’ve heard of this.”
“I don’t think His Majesty cares much for the matter. All over the country, when monsters attack the races, he has them subjugated.”
The Kobolds haven’t said a word about it, either. They likely didn’t care why the races came to their mountain, and even if they knew, it wouldn’t have changed anything.
“...What if the Kobolds were to promise not to attack the miners anymore?” Rem asked.
“What are you implying?”
“...Will you acknowledge their right to live in the mountain?”
Matis laughed out loud, holding his round belly with both hands.
“I have to say, adventurers from the capital are really something. Even your jokes are top grade. They can’t understand the races’ language. They only howl and bark. What promises can they make?”
That was simply how the races saw the Therianthropes. Rem didn’t back down, though.
“That’s not true. There’s someone who can converse with them.”
“Truly?” Matis said, his face streaked with surprise.
“Yes.”
“Do bring them over, then. I’m sure they’ll make for quite the spectacle.”
“What?!”
“Don’t take it the wrong way. I appreciate philanthropy that extends even to wildlife, but you can’t make a military policy out of that. Some of the people are anxious just living alongside the demis, so can you expect them to trust the Therianthropes? My job is to do away with the monsters getting in the way of the silver mine.”
“...But the Kobolds don’t want to fight you either.”
“Do you hesitate to pull out weeds when you plough a field? Do you pity a deer when you go out to hunt? I agree that life is precious, but not enough so to put the lives of the populace at risk. That’s my obvious duty as governor, no?”
“...I... suppose that’s right.”
His reasoning was sound. As off-putting as his appearance may have been, he was still an official in charge of territory.
“We couldn’t oppose the spriggan with our equipment.” Matis shrugged. “Thanks to that, we lost four citadels, but I hear you folks may be capable of dealing with it. In several days, reinforcements should arrive from the capital. Ten thousand men, accompanied by the Palace Knights. We have other forces prepared—not to worry, by the next time we sortie, we will be able to exterminate the beasts! And since we can win, we’ve no reason to back down. I’m one for clearing out any plate placed before me.”
“...I see.” Rem hung her head in a vexed fashion.
It didn’t work. The governor Matis only saw the Kobolds as “beasts that lay waste to the silver mine.” And indeed, there was no reason to compromise when one was confident they could win without much effort.
Stopping a war doesn’t come that easy, does it? But what do I do? How can I save the Kobolds?
“Diablo...” Shera, who had kept quiet until now, looked to be on the verge of tears.
“Hmph... Leave it all to me.”
But Diablo didn’t have any ideas.
†
It once again started to rain. The weather only cleared up four days later, and early that morning, they were immediately informed of their deployment and ordered to exterminate the beasts. Despite having his objections, Diablo wasn’t in a position to argue.
Leaving Caliture’s garrisoned forces in the city, the governor set out with a few select troops and Diablo’s group. They then spent the night in an inn town.
The next day, they regrouped with the ten thousand men that had arrived from the capital. The forces’ commanders saluted, to which Matis responded in kind.
“Good work.”
Incidentally, no horse could support Matis’s weight, so he was carried around in a carriage that was modified to have very large doors. He rested on a large seat that was more a bed than it was a chair, taking up the space of three people.
A man stepped forward from the formation, wearing a cloak that had a familiar emblem on it.
“You’re not really my type. Oh well, I suppose I should get to work. A pleasure to meet you, governor of Caliture.”
The Order of Palace Knights. And the man was a familiar face, as well. His hair was long, his lips were thick, and his muscular body was clad in crimson armor.
“Gewalt?!” Rem’s eyes widened.
“Oh... We meet again, munchkin.” He winked at Rem.
He was someone they’d fought once, so Shera shrieked as she ran for cover behind Diablo’s back. If he recalled, this was the former paladin who attacked Lumachina. Diablo blew him away with a ?Cross Blizzard?, but he was persistent, only to attack them again in the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth...
Because of him, Horn fell into a waterway, and Diablo lost several precious pieces of EX-rarity equipment to save her. And from what Rem said, he betrayed the church (or rather, the Cardinal Authority) and defected to the Order of Palace Knights.
“Hmph...” Diablo scoffed at him. “I hear you’ve been skulking about, but now you’re that four-eyed macho-man’s lackey?”
“Yes, I... I fell in love.”
The very definition of too much information.
“Oh, you know each other?” Matis cut into the conversation. “We’ll be fighting together going forward, so do get along. I apologize for rushing things after you’ve come from afar, but His Majesty’s deadline for the extermination is fast approaching. In addition, it’s currently the rainy season here in the southern frontier, and I’d much prefer to finish this mountain hunt while it’s still sunny.”
They’d be working on a tight schedule, but apparently they were to set out as soon as they regrouped.
Rem spread out a small map.
“...The town is over here. This is our trail... and this is the mine.”
The Kobolds’ village was in the mountain where the silver mine was.
“We just need to find the beasts and slay them, right? Do we really need ten thousand men for something that simple?”
“The buggers have a way of appearing when you least expect it.” Matis sighed. “We can try to strike at their dens, but kill a few and more of them show up. Nipping them in the bud isn’t as simple as it sounds. And,” Matis appended grandly, “we mustn’t forget the spriggan!”
At those words, Gewalt burst into laughter.
“Heheheh... I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe you’ve been informed of how our arrival was delayed because the highway had caved in, yes? Upon closer inspection, we found fragments of the spriggan.”
“Fragments?!”
“Looks like somebody already defeated it.”
Gewalt directed an almost sticky glance at Diablo, who had clicked his tongue internally. Now they’d believe the Kobolds’ forces were even weaker, making the peace talks even harder—and Diablo was the cause of it all.
“Kuh...”
Gewalt walked up to him and whispered:
“Heheh... You’ve become king of Greenwood and enough of a hero that your name has reached the capital, and you’re still trying to hide your achievements? Is that your kink or something? Or maybe... You have other reasons to hide it.”
“Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Diablo glared at him. “It will cost you your life.”
“Will it, now? Fine, you do you, then. But I do ask that you stay out of my way. I just want to finish this little errand in the boonies and go back to the capital so Max can compliment me. ?”
Max was probably his nickname for Maximum Abrams, captain of the Order of Palace Knights. Diablo certainly didn’t want to antagonize him if he could avoid it.
†
Slightly before sunset, the subjugation party began setting up camp on the mountain’s outskirts. Matis was eating even as they marched and held war councils, but the soldiers needed a break to eat, too. Rem opened the map again.
“...If we walk straight for three hours, we should reach the village.”
“The mountain’s really big!” Shera exclaimed, peeking into the map over Rem’s shoulder.
“...It is. Still, it’s hard to tell where one can mine silver from. A specialist needs to spend time inspecting the area to find a spot where large-scale mining can take place.”
And to do that, the mountain needs to be secure. The Human side’s complaints weren’t without reason, but...
Diablo was called to the headquarters, which was a large tent. He’d once visited a slave merchant in Faltra, and the tent was reminiscent of that. There was a large pillar in the center of the tent, with a candlestick fixed to it for illumination. Beneath it was Matis, or rather, the rickshaw carrying him. In the forest he rode in a large horse-drawn carriage, which couldn’t fit in the tent. It was impossible for him to walk any long distance with his sea-lion-like physique, however, so he was being moved about on a rickshaw, which was moved by the soldiers who served as his guards.
They were currently on leave, and he sat on top of the still rickshaw, chewing on something, as usual.
“Omnom... Good work today. No attack from the beasts yet... But keep your guard up. They often attack during the night.”
Gewalt was, as expected, in the headquarters tent.
“Heheh... We’re a ways off from the highway, so the beasts’ nest could be anywhere.”
“See, if they were that easy to find, we wouldn’t be struggling this much.”
He made it sound like it was someone else’s problem. In truth, the soldiers had the worst of it while the governor was sitting back and eating. Still, the fact that he was actively giving orders was at least better than nothing.
“...Wouldn’t trying for peace be preferable to marching the soldiers for days?” Rem asked again.
“If you can really talk to those animals, give them this message—leave the mountain. I don’t intend to stop this hunt.”
“You can do that?” Gewalt looked at Rem with surprised eyes. “Can you really talk to Therianthropes?”
“...No... Not me.”
“I see.”
They’d completely forgotten Diablo and his group even proposed they make peace with the Kobolds, and they soon changed topics. Rem was likely quite puzzled. She wanted to say that Diablo could speak to them, but saying that wouldn’t change things for the better. The Kobolds would still be treated as monsters and be killed, robbed and driven out, all because they couldn’t speak the Humans’ language.
Diablo thought back to the oni girl, dryad, and lamia he met in the capital. Thinking back, he didn’t really converse with them. The Elf girl at the reception handled all the arrangements. It was possible they didn’t use Lyferia’s common language, either... Not that he had the courage to go back and check.
Matis pointed to the large map spread out on the table, which was covered in food stains from his constant eating.
“We search the east side tomorrow.”
“Don’t tell me you intend to comb through the whole mountain like this,” Gewalt said, his face contorted in displeasure.
“Do you not approve?”
“No, I most certainly do not. I want to go back as soon as possible.”
“But we have to find their den...”
Gewalt gave a thin smirk.
“How about we burn it all to the ground?”
“What?”
“It works, doesn’t it? If they don’t have trees to hide in, the beasts will come out. Though we might just roast them alive to begin with.”
“That’s absurd...”
“Why do you say that? It’s the mine you care about, so the trees burning doesn’t get in the way of getting any silver.”
“There are people hunting and foraging in these woods for a living.”
“Then just give them new work by working in the mine!” Gewalt grinned broadly.
“Mmm...”
“It’s a great idea. Forest fires happen all the time. Come now, governor—do you know how much it would cost to march ten thousand troops for days? You can’t spend that much.”
“That is inefficient...”
Matis rubbed his chin pensively with a suspicious glint in his eyes. Rem, however, cut it off by loudly banging her hands on the conference table.
“You can’t! You can’t start a forest fire in your own territory!”
“That’s not what we mean.” Gewalt shrugged. “It’ll just happen to break out. A coincidence. Forest fires are a natural disaster, after all. ?”
He had a crystal in his hands that shined in a rainbow-colored glow, which Rem regarded with a glare.
“...That’s Efreet!”
It was a powerful, level 130 fire element summon, which could even defeat level 150 monsters if its summoner had the right equipment.
“Don’t tell me you find fault with the governor’s and a palace knight’s intentions? You’re Greenwood’s queen, after all. Wouldn’t want a war to break out between you and Lyferia... right?”
Rem grit her teeth, vexed. There were even tears welling up in her eyes. But then Shera, who had held her tongue until then, spoke up.
“We’ll fight! If you do anything that awful, the Elves will fight the Humans! You shouldn’t fight just because the other side are monsters, it should be to protect everyone! But if you don’t respect other people’s lives... I’ll fight!”
“Shera?!” Rem’s eyes widened. “What are you saying?!”
“Well said.” Diablo took his staff, the Tonnerre Empereur.
“...You too, Diablo?!”
Rem was the most rational of them, and may have been right. No, in all likelihood, she was right... But Diablo’s patience was at its limit.
“It’s better to go solo than to team up with scum!” Diablo exclaimed.
Gewalt’s lips contorted upward.
“Don’t tell me you’re fighting for the Kobolds’ sake? Starting a war with Lyferia over this?!”
“That’s right.” Shera nodded.
Diablo stepped forward to defend her.
“I am a Demon Lord from another world! Perhaps this was simply the writ of fate!”
Rem eventually sighed.
“...This is a mess. I thought I was free from the Demon Lord, but here I am, standing at a Demon Lord’s side.”
She took out a crystal and prepared for combat. The tension around them rose.
†
But just as the situation was on the verge of erupting, a soldier ran into the tent.
“Report! I have a re—?!”
The soldier stiffened, unable to understand what was happening. Matis motioned for him to give his report, still glaring at Diablo.
“Go on.”
“Yessir! The recon team we sent ahead discovered a Kobold village! They’ve engaged them and are asking for reinforcements!”
The situation changed at once.
“Send in the commando unit immediately,” Matis ordered. “All forces are to move at top speed!”
“Yessir!”
The soldier ran out of the tent.
“Keehee!” Gewalt smiled like a devil. “So this is how it ends up going! The strong win! Strength in numbers! And those who are stronger are always victorious! You... do realize that now, right?”
“Not yet!” Rem called out. “It’s not over! Diablo, please stall Gewalt! If the runner only just arrived, I might still make it if I hurry!”
“What do you intend to do, Rem?”
“...I’ll go help the Kobolds. The recon team shouldn’t have that many people. If I go now, I should make it in time!”
They had failed to broker peace for the Kobolds, and now their village had been discovered, but they might still have time to evacuate them. Caliture’s troops weren’t all that powerful, and having leveled up to fight Modinaram, Rem wouldn’t lose against them.
...Something feels off.
But Diablo didn’t have the time to dwell on it. Every second counted. They’d have to defeat the unit engaging the Kobolds before the governor’s reinforcements arrived and had the Kobolds flee their village.
“I’ll come with you!” Shera took out her bow.
“...I’m leaving you behind if you can’t catch up!”
“Of course!”
Rem and Shera ran off.
Diablo fixed the Tonnerre Empereur on Gewalt, keeping him in check. He could tell by facing him: he may have been acting like a summoner, but his level as a warrior was considerable, too. Diablo doubted he’d lose in a one-on-one fight, but he could end up fighting ten thousand soldiers based on what Matis decided to do.
I’d rather keep this as a stalemate if I can. They might be scum, but they’re still people.
Diablo wanted to save the Kobolds, but didn’t want to have to kill anyone in the process. What mattered now was buying time.
Gewalt’s disturbed expression went back to a more serious demeanor.
“So you people really are... in cahoots with the Kobolds.”
“See, this is why you can’t trust demis.” Matis nodded.
“But I do have to thank you. You’re going to show us the way to the Kobolds’ den, which no one’s been able to find until now.”
Diablo felt the blood in his body freeze in his veins as he realized.
“You haven’t found it yet?!”
“Heheh... My summon, the Secret Grau, is following them. My, they are fast, though. I have to catch up to them before they get out of my effective range.”
Diablo didn’t know this summon, but apparently it allowed him to keep track of others from a distance. It was seen as a useless class in the game, but in this world, it was the primary type of sorcerer. It had a wide range of applications to match how often it was used.
Still, in terms of sheer firepower, Diablo still had the advantage. Diablo charged magic into his staff.
“You think I’ll let you go?”
If he could keep Gewalt occupied, Rem and Shera wouldn’t lose to the soldiers. Matis wore an indomitable smirk, however.
“Preparing in advance was worth it, it seems.”
Someone walked into the tent.
It was a woman, and one Diablo wouldn’t mistake. A Pantherian with black hair, and a cat’s ears and tail... Solami.
“Good day, Diablo. Though... I suppose it’s evening already?”
“What are you doing here?!”
“I’m working. The Gadou clan receives requests from royalty and nobles.”
So she was here at Matis’s request. He did say he had other forces prepared, but Diablo didn’t expect that to mean the Gadou clan’s assistant instructor.
Diablo could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat.
“Do you understand what you’re doing? These people are Rem’s enemies now. Siding with them puts her life at risk.”
“I really do think it’s a shame. But I did have a feeling it might come to this... Remmie can be too kind.”
Outglow seeped from Solami’s body. Her arms hung loosely at her sides as she simply stood still. But still, Diablo felt pressured as if there was a blade fixed against his chest. His body shivered.
“Tch...”
Diablo tensed up. Meanwhile, Solami giggled wryly.
“You won’t make the first blow in time if you’re this stiff.”
“Mm...”
Come to think of it, he was always relaxed whenever someone challenged him in the game. If he was awake, he was playing, so staying tensed up all the time was impossible. Concentration wasn’t the same as tension. He had to keep what he had to do in mind, and calmly observe his opponent.
I have to switch my consciousness to back when I was a shut-in gamer.
“That’s some wonderful ‘serene’ Inglow.” Solami nodded.
“So you know each other, too?” Gewalt shrugged. “You won’t betray us though, will you?”
“Never,” Solami declared flatly. “Those of the Gadou clan would slay their own parents if the mission at hand demanded it. I’d refuse if the task was to harm Remmie or her friends in the first place... But I never thought she’d oppose the kingdom for the sake of some animals.”
“Agreed.” Gewalt smirked cynically. “It is strange, isn’t it? I’ll leave this place to you, then.”
“Yes.”
“Are you... really sure about it? That little pipsqueak, Rem... I’ll probably end up killing her. She’s the type who won’t surrender even if it costs her her life.”
“There isn’t much I can do. She chose her path.”
“I see.”
“But, if you do kill her, do stay out of my sight. I can’t promise I’ll be able to stay calm otherwise.”
“That’s my intention. I mean, you’re just like your pipsqueak of a niece, after all. If you lived a bit more freely, you might become a good woman like me, you know?”
“It’s just in my nature.”
Gewalt left the tent with a wave of the hand.
“Wait!”
The moment Diablo turned his focus to him... Solami was upon him as if she’d teleported to his side.
“Looking away?”
“?Flash Charge??!”
It was a martial art the swordmaster used. Diablo didn’t know what level was required to acquire it, but it was likely 150 or above. It was a rushing type of move that moved as fast as teleportation—even faster than a magi gun’s bullet.
“I was only asked to stall you...” Solami said in a cold voice. “But if you’re not careful, I may end up killing you.”
Matis shrugged.
“I couldn’t care less. He’s a traitor one way or another.”
“What do you intend to do, governor? Stand by and watch the whole time?”
“I intended to go all the way to the Kobolds’ den, but the soldiers are on their meal break at the moment, and I’m one to think that anyone who gets in the way of a meal is an enemy. I can’t do anything that awful to my men.”
That was even more forbidden than setting a forest on fire, it seemed.
“Can’t trust me, can you?” Solami smiled thinly.
“Oh, perish the thought! I have a great deal of trust in the Gadou clan. I’d bet this lovely piece of jerky on you.”
“...I’m so honored.”
She then turned back to Diablo, taking her distance from him again, who clicked his tongue for the umpteenth time.
“You pig-headed woman. Will nothing get you to step aside?”
“I love Remmie... But I love my grandfather, father, and brother just the same. I have to make sure the good name of their clan, as well as the honor of the disciples they left in my care, stays safe. So I’ll put my all into this battle.”
“Ridiculous!”
“Huh?!”
“Are your grandfather, father, brother, or apprentices the type to leave Rem to die?”
“If the request demands it, they would.”
“Fools! Even if you take a quest, should you realize it goes against your sense of justice, it is only bravery to know to change where your blade is fixed, even if one risks dishonor for it!”
“And all you have to show for that is treason. Is there any meaning in defending those beasts?”
“All the governor wants is silver.”
“That doesn’t matter...”
“What is honor worth if it was gained by siding with what you know to be injustice?!”
“...I will not withdraw.”
Solami’s eyes were full of stern will. Diablo turned the Tonnerre Empereur into its blade form, which made his MP consumption skyrocket, but multiplied his attacks by seven in exchange. Solami, meanwhile, steeled her resolve. Diablo, on the other hand, had no such determination. So instead, he chose to become a Demon Lord.
“I understand your resolve. But even that will snap when faced with the might of a Demon Lord!”
†
Solami was the one to make the first move.
“Haaaaaa!”
Pantherians excelled in their agility, and she was a short-range grappler, at that. It was only natural for her to be the one to make the first strike. Diablo knew this and therefore didn’t panic.
He’d already deployed ?Super Mine?—a spell that blows up when stepped on—below his feet. But whether she’d seen his brief movements, she could see the flow of magical energy, or she had simply out-predicted him, she rushed forward, avoiding the spots he’d laid the mines.
“I’d expect no less! However!”
Diablo was a gamer who prided himself on being undefeated in one-on-one battle. He always had a second and third card up his sleeve. He retreated back, and Solami gave pursuit.
You deflected a Lightning Bullet before, but how about this?!
“Eat this! Glacies Cannon!”
This spell fired a glacier like a cannonball, and had enough force to penetrate several layers of castle walls. At this short of a range, it was unavoidable. Seven such projectiles fired off one after another.
But Solami surprisingly elected to defend against it with her bare hands. It should have had enough force to crush her even through her hands, but she withstood the impact using her Outglow.
“Ugh, aaaaaaaaah!”
“All seven of them?!”
He didn’t hold back. Was using a water element spell a bad choice, or was his firepower insufficient even when multiplied sevenfold? He couldn’t break Solami’s defenses, and in exchange for her intercepting his attack, she was within arm’s reach of him now.
“Young Diablo! You don’t have enough killing intent!”
Wasn’t your job just to stall me here?!
“I just haven’t cast aside my capacity for thought, unlike you!”
Solami was the type to think of nothing else when the time came to battle. She simply submerged herself in battle, defeating her opponent with almost mechanical precision.
But right now, Diablo wasn’t that cold. He’d always kept his opponent in the back of his mind. Solami swung her fist, and he moved to avoid it. But to his surprise, it was as if her fist sucked him in, pursuing him.
“?Sure Hit??!”
“Too slow!”
He tried to switch to defense halfway through, but he didn’t make it in time. Close combat was like rock-paper-scissors. It was impossible to change to rock once you saw the opponent went with scissors. It was different when there was a major level gap, but Solami was actually faster than he was.
Diablo took a blow to the face and was thrown back.
“Gah...?!”
She closed the distance on him in an instant.
She used another Flash Charge now?! Is she conserving it for when she has to go in pursuit because she can’t use it in fast succession?!
She landed a kick on him as his stance crumbled. He could hear the sound of something snap as pain ran through his body.
Did she break some of my ribs...?!
He crashed against the tent’s pillar, snapping it, and went on to be propelled out of the tent and into the forest. He broke through three trees before finally stopping.
“This has got to be a joke...”
She was absurd. This woman could beat the Demon Overlord in a fistfight. But it was then that a shiver ran down his spine; he could feel a menacing aura approaching him from the crumbled tent. He reflexively unleashed a spell.
“?Tidal Wall?!”
A magic circle appeared in the air, generating a pillar of water. And the next moment...
“?Shimmering Wave?!”
A ball of light pierced through the shapeless tent. That was likely some sort of martial art, an enlarged form of the Shining Blow attack. It clashed with the wall of water, and the two struggled for a long moment. He’d somehow managed to block it...
“Heheheh...” Diablo realized he’d started smirking at some point. “Well played.”
Drinking down a healing potion, he rose to his feet. Solami faced him.
“You’re unharmed...?! Ah, no... I didn’t think there was a potion out there that could heal that much damage in one go.”
“What decides a win or a loss is preparation!”
“Then... I guess I just have to beat you until you run out of potions!”
“I’m afraid I haven’t the time for that. Playtime is over! Cross Blizzard!”
Fast as she might be, she couldn’t dodge an area of effect attack. Countless whirlwinds formed around them, freezing anything they touched and then crushing them through with intense gales of wind.
The other soldiers had panicked and ran away when the tent collapsed, so there was no concern of hurting them. Was Matis still trapped under there, though...?
Since he’s a governor and a lieutenant general, he should be equal to Galford. This won’t kill him.
And he had attempted to kill him, anyway. Diablo had no reason to be all that concerned for him.
The freezing tempests froze the grass beneath their feet, reducing it to dust. But someone withstood it, standing with her body coated with Outglow.
“Pheeeew...”
“You monster.”
Is that ?Rampart?...?
“I’ll admit I’m surprised, Young Diablo. I’ve never seen elemental magic this powerful.”
“Hmph... And it’s my first time seeing someone stand so composed in the middle of high-level magic. Allow me to apologize.”
“For what?”
“I’ve made a mistake. I’ve been treating you like a person.”
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that assessment.”
“No... I should have fought you as a monster on par with a Demon Lord.”
“My, oh, my. I just got called a monster.”
“I’ll tear that composure to bits soon enough.”
I need a more powerful spell than Cross Blizzard.
But he couldn’t use Gravity Abyss or ?White Nova?. Any attempt to chant for them would end with him being beaten up before the spell even fired off. The air quivered just as Cross Blizzard’s effect was wearing off.
Solami suddenly appeared before his eyes.
“Thinking too hard in the middle of battle is a sorcerer’s bad habit, young Diablo.”
“You...?!”
Did she pretend to be withstanding the spell so as to make me unconsciously let down my defenses?!
The next moment, Solami’s hand cut into Diablo’s left breast like a blade. Reinforced by Outglow, she jabbed into him like a spear. She said she’d keep attacking until he ran out of potions, but upon learning he had a means of recovery, she changed her aim to a one-hit kill.
Blood sprayed out.
She’s... really amazing. I’ve really learned a lot from you, assistant instructor.
Diablo protected his left breast with his magical sword, the Tonnerre Empereur: Libre. The silvery blade crumbled, and fired off a spell at the same time. An unchanted, omitted spell—the fastest Lightning Bullet possible!
The flash bounced back against her abdomen.
“Gaaah!”
Blown back, Solami crumbled to the ground. Diablo likewise fell to the ground. It wasn’t an instant kill, but his wound was that deep.
“Ugh... Aaah... I used my sword to block it and circulated all my SP for defense... And that’s all I could manage...?”
He could feel his consciousness blinking out.
No!
But his body wouldn’t move. And when he heard a woman’s voice, he froze up. To his shock, Solami was on her feet.
“It’s not SP, but the Outglow, young Diablo.”
“What...?!”
“You used your sword and Glow to intercept my attack, while firing off a spell at the same time.. A splendid counterattack, even if I did lower my defense when going on the offensive.”
Her abdomen was perfectly unharmed. She was looking ahead expressionlessly.
Is this woman really one of the races?!
Diablo’s body was spurred by terror, kicking away all the exhaustion and pain. He lifted a hand that felt as heavy as a rock and jammed his fingers into his pouch, fumbling for a potion.
I have to heal! I’m dead if I don’t hurry!
Had a potion tube ever felt this heavy before? And the cork felt like it was glued onto the damn thing. Finally pulling it open, Diablo spilled the green liquid over himself. The potion healed Diablo’s wounds in a moment.
“Kaaah!”
Jumping to his feet, his eyes widened in shock. Solami was crumbled on the ground. She wasn’t on her feet. On the contrary—she was bleeding profusely from her stomach.
“Was that some kind of delusion...?”
Thinking back on it, it really was unnatural. She took a direct hit from such a spell; it was impossible for her to get away unscathed, much less stand there expressionlessly.
Was it to spur me into action...?
“That’s... what I’d expect from the man Rem chose to marry...” she whispered, her gaze still fixed downward.
“Ah, no, that’s...”
“You win. Young Diablo... Please, keep her... safe...” Solami’s eyes fluttered shut.
Diablo rushed over to her side.
“Stop fooling around! I won’t let you shove this onto me! If you want Rem to be kept safe, defend her yourself! Our marriage was annulled anyway, we’ve remained divorced since that night!”
He spilled a potion over her as he spoke. And with her wounds instantly healed...
“Wh-Why...?!” Solami looked at him, aghast. “Why did you save me?”
“Rem would be saddened by your death.”
“I’m your enemy! And you only beat me thanks to that clever scheme... That won’t work a second time!”
“Silence! If you want to fight that badly, I’ll face you a second time! But when I win, expect me to do the same thing again!”
“Why are you so... Ah! Forget that, you said you got divorced?! You better explain yourself!”
You were kind of the trigger for it. I’m the overall reason, though.
Honestly, Diablo was the one who wanted an explanation for how things came to this.
“She said I ‘had no reason to marry her.’”
“Huh...?”
“I mean, I am a Demon Lord, after all...”
“The only reason you need to marry someone is because you love them. And Rem loves you.”
“I cannot comprehend what this word, ‘love,’ means.”
Solami tilted her head.
“Putting your life on the line to fight and protect someone is love.”
Diablo pressed his hand against his left breast as he silently contemplated her words... Even though the wound she had inflicted on him had completely healed by now.
Rem ran on, even as she gasped for air and her legs screamed out in pain. Shera—who would usually be the first to complain during journeys—followed after her without uttering a single word.
“Haa, haa, haa! Over here!”
They got out of the dense forest. The darkness was so thick that an untrained Human couldn’t have even walked through it, but Rem was an adventurer and a Pantherian. Her night vision proved effective in this situation.
In a clearing, she saw a rope extending from one tree branch to another. The Kobold girl, Fennely, was hanging damp clothes on top of the line.
She’s airing out laundry?
Fennely turned around to face her. “Kyuu?” She cocked her head quizzically.
Rem then realized a major problem.
We can’t understand them without Diablo!
But moreso, they had rushed to the village because they heard the reconnaissance team had found and attacked it, but there was nothing there. Did they beat Caliture’s soldiers back already? But there were no marks of a battle. Or maybe there was some other village nearby?
Shera gasped for air, her hands on both her knees.
“Thank goodness, they’re still fine...!”
“...No. We... We may have made a huge mistake.”
Rem looked around cautiously, when suddenly a buzzing reached her ears. An insect fluttered down. It had a body the size of a twig, with a small Enslavement Collar clasped around it.
“A summon beast?!” Rem went pale.
“Huh? What?” Shera’s expression turned quizzical.
Fennely barked some kind of question, but they couldn’t understand her. Still, Rem spoke to her severely.
“...Listen to me, Fennely, all right? Have the village’s Kobolds run away now? A palace knight found this place.”
“Woof?”
“Please understand me. You have to run, now!”
The sound of the undergrowth being stomped on reached their ears.
“Uu?!” Fennely’s expression contorted suspiciously.
“Huh, who’s there?!” Shera took a step back.
“Kuh...” Rem took out a crystal.
The figure of a tall man appeared from the dark forest.
“Heheheh... Thank you for guiding me all the way here, munchkin. ?”
Shera screamed. Rem stepped forward to hide Fennely and sharpened her nerves. Was there anyone else?
“...Where’s Diablo?”
“Who knows? Probably playing around somewhere.”
“You lie!”
“Of course I’m lying. How dumb do you have to be to ask the enemy for information?”
Rem could only speculate, but there was likely some other strong enemy Diablo couldn’t overlook. She couldn’t imagine Diablo losing, but that didn’t mean he could come immediately. She had to buy time. And if she was going to fight, she would have to make as much noise as possible. If Fennely and the other Kobolds inside noticed it, they’d no doubt run away.
Judging from his fight with Diablo, the Kobold chief, Boldboss, was quite strong, but Rem doubted he could beat Gewalt. But what of the two of them, right now?
“...Shera, listen to me carefully.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“...When we fought him in the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth, we couldn’t do anything.”
“Right. What do we do?”
“...But our levels now are nothing like what they were back then. Think back to what Sasara taught us. And we still have the gear Diablo and Klem gave us.”
“You’re right!”
“...Compared to back then, we’re much stronger.”
“Is your strategy talk over?” Gewalt sneered at them.
“...Come forth, Stoneman!”
A massive statue appeared. Its square head didn’t have a mouth or eyes, but it still glared at Gewalt.
“Let’s do it!” Shera nocked an arrow. “We’ll protect everyone, by ourselves!”
“My, going with the frontal attack? You think you can beat me like that?”
Rem hesitated. Should they launch the first move? They were the ones trying to buy time, after all. They stared each other down, but then Gewalt suddenly smiled wryly.
“Heheh... Thank you for giving me the time. I finally caught my breath.”
“Ah...!”
He had to chase Rem down, and even a palace knight like him had to go at full speed. In terms of race, Humans weren’t as adept at running through the forest as the Pantherians and Elves. Plus, he was clad in armor and had to use a summon beast to keep track of them. They should have attacked him while he was fatigued.
“Looks like you’re still as inexperienced in fighting other people as ever.”
“...Kuh! Go forth, Stoneman!”
“Couldn’t you contract something a bit stronger? Acting skimpy will only buy you an early grave!”
“Take a ?Rain Shot?!” Shera fired an arrow toward the sky.
The arrow vanished, and after a pause, countless arrows made of SP rained down on their target. However, Gewalt smoothly evaded the hail of arrows with brisk steps.
“At least examine your enemy before you pick your martial art. You can fire as many as you want, but an attack this slow will never hit me.”
He took out a rainbow-colored crystal—one for summoning exceptionally powerful summon beasts.
“Time to make your debut—Fafnir!”
“Ah?!” Rem froze up in shock.
Even Shera had heard the name. Fafnir was said to be the strongest dark element summon beast! A swirl of magical energy erupted in the air, and from within it slithered out a pitch-dark snake. It was somewhere from 100 to 200 steps long, and had a pair of long, narrow wings even longer than its torso. It was a malevolently-shaped winged serpent.
Its scales were a black that gleamed with a purple luster, and black smoke billowed from its massive jaws. It roared at them with an ear-piercing screech.
“Bwaf?!” Fennely jumped up in terror and dove into the hole leading down into her village. In the end, they somehow managed to alert the Kobolds, and now they’d know their village was discovered.
“Oh, I see... They were living in those holes.” Gewalt shrugged. “My, no wonder no one could find them.”
“We won’t let you chase them down!” Shera fired another arrow.
Gewalt drew his sword from its sheath, cutting the arrow down.
“Doesn’t look like you leveled up at all.” He clicked his tongue. “I stocked up on all these powerful summons in case I ran into another black dragon!”
“...Kuh.”
Rem knew he was strong. They had trained under the swordmaster and gained better gear, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Gewalt had been on the verge of dying to a Large Black Dragon, and would have perished if it weren’t for Lumachina’s miracle. But even then, he always kept the idea of a rematch in mind, making preparations to win.
He was all too different from them.
But as Rem shivered, Shera stood at her side, drawing her bow to its limits.
“We did not slack off! Aaaaaaah! ?Wave Shot?!”
Her arrow turned into a bullet of light that impacted Fafnir’s jaw. It threw its head back dramatically, letting out a screech that felt like it could shake the mountains. Its scales cracked and blood splattered into the air.
“Aaah, it didn’t pierce him...” Shera moaned in disappointment.
True, it dealt damage, but the arrow failed to pierce the creature.
“Oooh...” Gewalt’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t bad at all. You actually pulled off a Wave Shot. That’s supposed to be a level 90 martial art.”
“Ehehe...”
“As a prize, I’ll start by killing you first. ?”
Gewalt snapped his fingers and Fafnir beat its massive wings. It parted its titanic jaws so wide it almost looked like its body was split in two, and it charged forward.
“Aaaaah!”
Her attacks were powerful, but Shera was exceptionally weak when it came to being attacked herself.
“Dodge!”
Rem used Stoneman to push Shera away.
“Gaah?!”
The next moment, Fafnir swooped across where Shera had just been standing, shaving off part of Stoneman in her place. Its upper half was completely gone, and it was reduced to a black crystal that flew back to Rem’s hand.
“Kuh...”
“Ah, thanks, Rem!”
“...Thank me later. Keep attacking him, and leave defense to me!”
“Right, I’ll do my best! Here’s a ?Lightning Shoot?!”
Shera fired an arrow that became coated in light and struck Fafnir with extraordinary speed. It recoiled again—Shera’s attacks were dealing damage. Rem’s tactics were true to the basics: the summon beasts took the front, prioritizing defense and distracting the enemy while she left the damage dealing to Shera, the archer.
“Come forth, Iron Gorilla and Iron Golem! And also Rockpup, Dragonfly, and Saber Tiger!”
She was focusing all she had on Fafnir. The enemy was a powerful, single target. It had wings, but it was incapable of flight. This was large, so her attacks hit, but... Despite everything, summons of these levels couldn’t deal any noticeable damage to something like Fafnir. Still, the serpent couldn’t ignore them.
And sure enough, Fafnir turned its sights on her summons. Iron Gorilla, Iron Golem, Rockpup, and Dragonfly were crushed one after another. Saber Tiger was agile enough to dodge and lasted a bit longer, but in the end, it was defeated as well.
But as they fought, Shera fired off powerful martial arts that managed to deal some decent damage. Combat was going smoothly—they were buying the time they needed, and at the rate they were going, they might even be able to defeat Fafnir. Rem was gradually running out of beasts to summon, but... it was more so a matter of if she ran out of summons before the enemy’s HP was depleted.
“You’re doing better than last time, girls.” Gewalt nodded. “I thought just Fafnir would be enough to deal with you, but you’re doing surprisingly well. Letting those animals run away would be an issue, though... It might be time to take things a bit more seriously.”
He took an MP potion out of his pocket and gulped it down before pulling out another rainbow crystal.
“Burn those beasts to death, my fiend of flames! Efreet!”
A summon beast clad in flames appeared. It was like lava took human form, and its size was a match for the spriggan they met not too long before. The heat emanating from Efreet lit the surrounding trees on fire.
Rem took out a summon crystal she had kept aside.
“Come, Asulau!”
It was large, stout, and hard-hitting. In the end, she believed this kind of summon was strong.
“Heheheh...” Gewalt’s face contorted. “Once I cook you two alive, I’ll use its ?Incandescence? skill to turn everyone in those holes into fox roast! Or maybe Fafnir’s ?Poison Breath? will do better instead? I simply can’t choose!”
“Shera, shoot! A concentrated attack!”
“All right! Sure Hit and Lightning Shoot!”
She fired an arrow while activating a martial art that guaranteed perfect accuracy. But the target wasn’t the summon this time, it was the sorcerer! They’d aimed only at Fafnir thus far, but that was only to lull their true opponent into a sense of security. Gewalt was a skilled warrior, so he didn’t use his summons as a shield, instead either evading or tanking attacks launched at him.
Shera’s concentrated attack linked with Rem’s most trusted summon, and Rem herself joined in on the attack.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The enemy didn’t dodge. All the attacks connected, and Rem definitely felt that she had hit. Her fist had smashed into his face!
Did we finish him?!
Blood spurted out—but it was Fafnir who was wounded! It screeched, its massive body thrashing about.
“If you two call yourselves summoners, at least do it after learning how to use ?Back Passing?.”
“...What?!”
“You can use it at level 100 and above. It’s a spell that lets you transfer any damage you receive to your summon beast instead.”
“You can do that...?!”
If he’s unharmed, we can’t stay this close to him!
Realizing this, Rem made to hop back, but a warmth spread across her stomach. She crumpled to the ground.
“...Gaah?! Kaaah?!”
Gewalt had slashed her across the abdomen and blood was gushing out.
See... This is why getting close to the enemy is a bad idea...
At the very end, she relied on her fists. She just couldn’t match him in her knowledge as a sorcerer. She could hear a girl scream through her fading consciousness.
Shera?!
Fafnir’s tail knocked her away as it rampaged. Shera’s body smacked against a tree and fell limply to the ground.
“Shera!”
†
“Have a biscuit!”
Rem came to with a start, and looked around hurriedly. She was in one of Faltra’s bakeries called Petre’s—albeit now it was more of a Fallen café. The time was noon.
“...Huh? Wasn’t it nighttime, and wasn’t I fighting a palace knight in the forest?”
“What’s wrong, Rem?”
In front of her was a table, and on it was a plate with a heap of biscuits on it. Klem held one out toward Rem.
“Go on, eat it.”
“...Thank you.”
Rem accepted the biscuit, examining the pastry. Klem was happily stuffing her cheeks with biscuits.
“Tasty! This is delicious!”
Rem regarded her with silence.
“B is for breathtaking~? I is for incredible~?”
It was the biscuit song. And the one who made it up was...
“...What about Shera? Where is she? Is she late?”
Rem grasped the biscuit in her hand tightly.
“...Where... Where are we, Klem?”
“The interstice.”
Their surroundings went black at once. It wasn’t a bakery anymore. There were no tables, and the plate of biscuits disappeared.
“...Interstice?”
“Between this world and the next. It is your second time coming here. Do you remember?”
“...Somehow, I do.”
“Back then, Shera brought you back. Normally one cannot return from this place, but... I suppose that’s what one could expect from a descendant of the divines.”
Her memory was gradually growing clearer. Not of that time, but of what happened immediately before this.
“...What about Shera?! And Fennely?! What did Gewalt do?!”
“I don’t know what happened after you lost consciousness. I have no way of knowing.”
“...Just who are you?”
Klem knitted her brows.
“Hmm. Something along the lines of... residual thoughts? This Demon Lord isn’t the real Demon Lord, but a shadow of them that remained inside you as a remnant. Yes, that’s about right!”
“...What am I supposed to do?”
“What do you wish to do?”
That question made Rem think. What did she want to do?
“...I want... to protect Shera.”
“Truly? In that case, you should have chosen to cast aside the Kobolds from the get-go.”
“...I can’t. If I live like that, Shera... and Diablo will hate me. I want to live in a way that would make my comrades proud of me.”
“You’re a greedy one!” Klem laughed.
“...You’re right, I am. I think that wish is far larger than I deserve.”
“Heheheh... That’s good. What is freedom without grand wishes?! And I’ve already given you the power to make that happen!”
“Huh?”
Klem pointed at Rem’s right hand.
†
“...The biscuit?”
The sound of her own voice jolted Rem awake, only for her to be assailed by intense pain from her stomach.
“Gah?!”
She was in the middle of the forest. Despite it being night, a red glow lit the place. She turned her face. Over the backdrop of the burning forest were figures fighting. It was the Kobold chief Boldboss... and the other warriors, too. Fennely had warned them of the raid, but they chose to stay and fight instead. And their enemies were Gewalt’s summon beasts... The winged venomous serpent, Fafnir, and the fiend of flames, Efreet.
The Therianthropes had already taken a few casualties, and Boldboss was injured. Diablo wasn’t there yet either.
“Kuh... What do I do...?”
And then she remembered. It was likely a dream, but Klem had told her something...
I’ve already given you the power to make that happen!
Rem opened her clenched hand.
What was there wasn’t a biscuit, but a small white fragment.
A tooth.
It was something Klem had given her once before, though it should have been sitting in her pouch. She remembered.
“When you wish to no longer depend on Diablo, but on your own power, press this against your forehead. I imagine its effects may be a bit dire though...”
“You pulled out your tooth—for me?!”
“This Demon Lord enjoys living in this city with you. That’s why I’m giving this to you, to keep you safe.”
Rem pressed the ?Demon Lord’s Fang? against her forehead. If she truly desired power of her own, there was no better moment than now to wish for it.
Something rang in her ears... But nothing happened.
Was she just teasing me?
The doubt surfaced in Rem. But then suddenly, and radically, the change happened. A shock ran through Rem’s body, as if something had pierced her through the forehead all the way to the back of her head.
“Gaaaah?!”
†
The magical clock in Gewalt’s breast pocket ticked away at the passing seconds. For a summoner, the passage of time was crucial. When was the next time their summon could use its special ability? How quickly was their summon depleting their MP reserves?
By accurately keeping track of time without relying on bodily sensation or intuition, he was able to apply his summons more effectively. Nothing was more shameful for a summoner than getting carried away by their powerful summons’ strength and running out of MP. Gewalt demanded perfection—and nothing less—out of himself.
“Oh bother, my manicure’s getting scuffed.”
He wanted to fix his nails immediately. It was just a small thing, but it was in his nature to be bothered by it.
Mm?
He noticed someone rise to their feet in the corner of his eye. A black Pantherian—the girl, Rem.
“Aaah...”
“My, you’re still alive? But you don’t have any summons left, do you? You can’t do anything.”
“...It doesn’t matter.”
“Huh?”
“You were the one who cut this large hole in my stomach, right?”
Her eyes glittered red and the air around her distorted. Gewalt had once fought high-level grapplers before, so he could tell this was done by making use of SP... but he’d never seen it done in such high concentration before. It felt like he was looking at someone else entirely.
“...Who are you?”
“You already know—I am Rem Galleu. I’ve only just become a bit closer to a Demon Lord now.”
She pried her own lips open with her fingers, revealing fangs that reflected the moonlight. Fangs far too long for a Pantherian.
“A Demon Lord?!”
“You’ve done a lot of awful things, haven’t you? I’d say it’s time you learned a bit of regret.”
Rem kicked the ground, forming an explosion in her wake that scattered dust and sediment in all directions. The next moment, a powerful blow struck Gewalt’s gut, sending him flying back.
What?!
If he wasn’t wearing brand new EX-rank armor, she would have punched right through him and out his back. He rolled across the ground, and upon stopping, raised his head... to find Rem glaring into his eyes. There wasn’t a weapon in her hands.
“Surprisingly tough, aren’t you? I suppose they didn’t make you a palace knight for nothing.”
“U-Ugh... Gaaaaaaaah!”
Gewalt vomited onto the ground. It was humiliating, and his anger flared up with the same intensity as the contents of his stomach.
“Kill her! Fafnir!”
He used the special action he had reserved for cleaning out the Kobolds’ tunnels. The massive serpent blew his poisonous breath, but Rem held out a single hand.
“Shimmering Wave!”
A ball of light burst from her extended palm, dispersing the black, poisonous cloud and crushing Fafnir’s skull, annihilating it! Fafnir was reduced to a black crystal that retreated to Gewalt’s hands.
“M-My Fafnir?!”
“I wasn’t firing at full strength, though...” Rem cocked her head. “Well, Shera’s attack did damage it, and you did shift all the damage you took to it as well. I suppose it makes sense.”
The Kobolds howled and barked, cheering her on. Gewalt clicked his tongue.
“Don’t let it go to your head, you brat! I still have plenty of aces up my sleeve! Efreet, burn her to ash!”
The fiend of flame roared in response.
“Move away, Kobolds!” Rem called out. “Back to your holes! He’s my prey!”
They didn’t understand her words, but awed by the intensity of her voice, the Kobolds stepped away.
Efreet swung its fist at her, and Rem met it with her own fist.
“Yaaaaaaaah!”
Her punch crushed Efreet’s right arm to bits.
“It can’t be!” Gewalt watched what was a veritable nightmare for him unfold before his eyes. “Th-Those are my top rank summon beasts! A warrior with powerful equipment is one thing, but there’s no way you could match them with just your fists!”
“Is that a fact? I suppose I might not be a grappler, then.”
The words she said earlier flashed in his mind like alarm bells.
“D-Demon Lord?!”
Gewalt wobbled back fearfully. Rem’s lips contorted into a smile. Her right fist lit up, filling with so much concentrated SP that it was visible to the naked eye. The light swirled, forming the shape of a lance.
“?Spiral Lance?.”
Rem rushed forward.
“Hit her with all your strength, Efreet!”
“Shaaa!”
Efreet screeched. Its body split in two, lava spilling from within. Rem, who had rushed forward, was washed in it.
A direct hit!
But that moment of joy was soon replaced with utmost despair.
Deflecting even the lava, Rem pierced through Efreet’s torso. The massive amount of SP didn’t just turn her arm into a spear, it enveloped her entire body.
Efreet was reduced to a black crystal, leaving Gewalt without any fighting power remaining. He had other summons, but his strongest two were just one-sidedly crushed. What else would he call?
It seemed Rem’s clothes couldn’t withstand that overwhelming battle, as her outfit crumbled away.
“Such a bother.” Rem knitted her eyebrows. “Though I suppose I don’t lose anything by letting others see me like this... But let’s go with this.”
The SP coating her body turned into a sort of armor.
“What...?!” Gewalt’s eyes opened. “You turned SP into matter?!”
This was no trivial feat, either. She was certainly above level 140. A normal member of the races could never achieve this.
She’s a genius.
And not just that, this was the feat of one with rare talent who had trained themselves to the utmost limit.
Is she actually a Demon Lord?!
She was just a regular summoner until a few moments ago. Gewalt did sense she had a great deal of latent potential, but he never imagined she had this much devilish power hidden away. Rem stuck out her right fist.
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten to pay you back for Shera, too.”
“Aaah...?!”
“It’s Shera we’re talking about, so she’s probably still alive... But for now, I’ll just beat you to high heavens for what you did to her.”
“I-I give in! I surrender! I didn’t even want to do this stupid mission in the boonies anyway! I’ll go back to the capital, I promise!”
“Really now? But if the Therianthropes were to surrender, would you accept it?”
“Of course I would!”
“Lying bastard.”
Her fist—not the one with the Spiral Lance, but her left one—sank into Gewalt’s face.
“Gaaah?!”
He took to the air as if it was some kind of joke, flying back until his back slammed against a tree. His mind was muddled.
I-I’m gonna die. I have to run away....
His consciousness was all the more weakened because of all the MP he wasted. Even getting up was difficult.
“Ugh... Trap Worm...”
The summon beast gulped up Gewalt, along with the ground beneath him, before burrowing underground. He sank into the darkness.
N-No... If I go unconscious now, the summon will disappear inside the ground...
Gewalt struggled to maintain consciousness as it threatened to slip away like water held in his hands.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login