Slayers - Volume 13 - Chapter 4

4: The Shadow Looming Behind the Throne

No trace remained of the man named Jade Caudwell. The demon who’d inhabited his body collapsed with one slash of Luke’s sword and melted into a red sludge, which then powdered into nothing. I guess losing your humanity meant you weren’t even allowed the grace of returning to the earth...

Luke slumped despondently and let out a sigh, short but deep.

“Mephy,” Milgazia called in his usual manner, as if to lighten the heavy mood. “Lina Inverse is injured. Heal her.”

Memphys obediently did so, walking around to my back and chanting up a spell.

“You’re injured too. Let me see your hand,” Mileena said with her trademark bluntness as she approached her fellow mercenary and began casting a Recovery spell. The afterblast from Jade’s magic orb had hit Luke when he’d cut through it with his sword, although he hardly seemed to feel it.

The room was so quiet that it was like the battle never happened. A pleasant warmth spread across my back from the healing magic, and the pain receded.

“Hey... Memphys,” I said, looking forward as I addressed the elf girl behind me.

“Yes?”

“You should really find a better way to make an entrance. You reminded me of this weirdo I knew once...”

I didn’t even have to look over my shoulder to know a vein was popping on her forehead. “I beg your pardon! Is that what you say to the person who saved your life?! Can’t you humans ever simply thank someone for their aid?”

Mileena responded in my stead, looking straight at Memphys and saying, “We’re truly in your debt. Thank you, Memphys.”

“Erk...”

What was that? I couldn’t swear to it, but I thought I’d heard a soft groan behind me.

Then Gourry, who was looking our way, asked with a puzzled expression, “Huh? How come your face is all red?”

“B-Be quiet! That’s none of your concern!” Memphys responded immediately. “More importantly, your treatment is finished!” she insisted as she slapped me on the back. The pain was completely gone now.

Wait... Aha, could it be? I slooowly turned my head and shot a sly glance at Memphys.

“Wh-What are you looking at me like that for?!”

“Oh, no reason. I just wanted to say thank you for healing me,” I said, staring her straight in the eye.

She averted her gaze slightly. “I... I merely did what Uncle Milgazia told me to!”

Mweeheehee... That proves it. Oho, yes. Now I see everything...

“Hey, Memphys, is it possible that... despite your domineering manner... you’re actually really shy?”

“What?!” The blush immediately spread all the way to her ears.

Ahhhhha, bingo! Now I know exactly how to mess with her!

“Ohhh, I knew it! Look at you, goin’ all red!” I teased.

“Wha? Ah! Buh!” Memphys squeaked incomprehensibly.

“It’s true. Mephy has a history of being quite introverted around strangers,” Milgazia announced frankly with a sidelong glance at the elf in question.

“What? Uncle! Don’t tell them—!”

“What’s the harm? I remember your father lamenting to me about your clinical shyness.”

“Ohhh? So you’re really just a shy, innocent little girlie deep down, eh? Innnnnteresting...” I taunted.

“Nngh!” She didn’t seem to have a counter to that one.

Milgazia continued, unfazed. “I also recall a human sorceress we met around then who said to you, ‘When you’re feeling shy, that’s the time to act domineering.’ This seemed to cure you of your bashfulness.”

...Hmm? That passing mention brought a scowl to my face.

“Oh? So I guess a mere human really helped you out, huh?” Luke interjected.

Memphys turned even redder still. “That... That was different! She was a truly noble person of unshakable self-confidence and policy!”

Oho? I had a feeling I’d met someone you could describe that way a few years back, before I met Gourry. A terrifying thought accordingly crossed my mind.

“Say, is there any chance this sorceress was... No, never mind.” Fearing the answer I might receive, I kept my question to myself. There are some things in this world you’re better off not knowing.

“What is it?” Milgazia asked.

“Really, never mind! A-Anyway...” I quickly decided to change the subject. “Master Milgazia, when we got split up at the northern tower... The four of us were trapped inside that strange barrier space, and I guess you guys were still fighting by the time we busted out. What’d they throw at you?”

“More of the same. Memphys and I were lured into a bounded space where we were greeted by demons—ten of the human-form kind.”

Gehhh! Ten?! So that’s why Farial was so surprised they got out...

“I... I can’t believe you made it through that.”

“Well, Mephy immediately went to work in her full Zenafa armor mode, and while the demons were still trying to regroup from her initial assault, we picked them off one by one.”

Wow, that’s pretty damn wild! Still, I guess seeing an elf in weird armor suddenly transform into a giant and start tearing stuff up would freak out even a demon... At any rate, it sounded like we’d now polished off all the demons that had been sent after us so far.

“The question now is what comes next. We’ve cleaned house, but I get the feeling this isn’t over yet,” I volunteered.

“Hmm...” Milgazia hummed.

Judging from how they’d spoken to each other, Sardian and Farial were demons of similar station. And the fact that they’d referred to our favorite General as “Lady” Sherra suggested they were below her in rank. The demons Milgazia and Memphys had fought were probably on the same level. At least, I assumed they weren’t ranked any higher given how Farial had called them their “forces.”

As it stood, the setup suggested a bunch of Sardian-level demons were plotting among themselves with no real hierarchy—and I found that highly unlikely. There had to be a player calling the shots.

“Something about this just doesn’t add up, yeah,” agreed Luke. He was opening and closing his hands to check them after Mileena’s healing spell worked its magic. “I wish someone would just come out all like ‘bwahaha, I’m the boss’ and explain their plan so we could smack ’em down already.”

Too bad things weren’t liable to be that convenient. That said, I wasn’t exactly itching to deal with whoever was the ringleader of this whole circus... But Luke was right in that there seemed to be another mystery at hand. There used to be a proper boss here—Sherra—so...

Wait... Sherra? Boss? Hold up. This means... what if...

“Sorry, but... could you guys come with me?” I asked.

Gourry replied, “Need the potty?”

“No, darn it! What do you take me for, a little kid?!” I huffed. “I might’ve figured something out. It’s just a hunch, so I don’t wanna say anything yet... but I wanna see if I’m right.”

“What did you figure out?” Memphys asked.

I wasn’t sure how to answer her. To be honest, the foundation for my idea was as shaky as all get-out.

“I’ll humor it, whatever it is. We’re not doing any good by staying here,” Mileena said in the silence. And if she was on board, that meant...

“Mileena’s right. I’m comin’ too. Yeah.”

Yup, Luke would be tagging along as well.

“I’m okay with going too.”

Gourry... Your opinion wasn’t in question. That only left...

“It would be better than remaining here with nothing else to do,” Milgazia said, and Memphys couldn’t exactly argue the point.

“Then... You’ll all come with me?”

Everyone nodded in the affirmative, so I started to walk.

“By the way, Milgazia...” I said after vaguely retracing my steps for a time. “The assault that Sardian—that that demon mounted against Memphys earlier. That was an attack from the astral plane, right? I know you guys can block those, but is there any way for humans like us to block similar attacks from demons?”

“No.”

Wow... He stated it so plainly that it kind of took me aback.

“That said, demons would never use astral attacks in combat with humans.”

“How come?” Luke chimed in.

“There’s a human saying—‘a dragon will use all its strength to crush a sparrow.’ But that doesn’t apply to demons. They think of humans less as adversaries and more as food... mindless dispensaries of negative emotions like fear. There are a few exceptions, like you people, but in general, humans are simply too weak to merit their attention. And even you are still far outranked by low-tier demons in terms of sheer magic power.”

“That’s a lot to take in, man,” Luke muttered.

Nevertheless, it was the truth. The greatest human sorcerers had to chant and invoke words of power to cast spells, but even bottom-of-the-barrel lesser demons could conjure up flaming arrows with a mere howl. Dragons and elves apparently had a similar ability too, if Milgazia and Memphys were anything to go by.

At any rate, Milgazia continued, “Don’t take it personally. I’m just apprising you of the demons’ frame of mind. They do not view humans as worthy foes, so to attack one from the astral side—in other words, to mount a true attack—would be akin to admitting they weren’t powerful enough to defeat an inferior being without resorting to their full power. That way of thinking can easily prove fatal to astral beings like demons.”

Aha... I see.

“Um... I don’t really get it,” Gourry said, predictably enough.

Aha... figures.

“Well... Simply put, demons are kinda finicky, so they won’t use weird attacks on us.”

“Oh, is that all? Why didn’t you just say so?” Gourry asked carelessly.

Milgazia fell silent at that.

Ooh... did Gourry piss him off? Whatever the case, as we were talking, we proceeded up the stairs and down a deserted hallway.

Wahhhh... ahhhh... The draft from the far end of the corridor brought with it a faint sound.

“What was that voice?”

“A moan...? No, more like a distant scream.”

Memphys and Milgazia instantly pegged it as a voice.

“You’re telling me... that was a person?” Luke scowled at this.

I’d heard the same howl in the palace when fighting Sherra last time too. I briefly regaled everyone of the legend. “The story goes that the local king went off to fight the demons and returned grotesquely transformed by a curse. And so here he remains tucked away in the castle, a formless lump of flesh unable to die.”

“Oh, I think we heard about that... from him.” Luke’s voice fell as he seemed to recall it was Jade who’d shared the story with them originally.

“We’re not going to investigate that, are we?” Memphys asked me.

“Of course not,” I said with a shake of my head. Getting to the bottom of a spooky rumor wouldn’t help us at all in this situation.

“Then where are we going?” she asked instead.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t tell her... that I’d kinda gotten lost.

Thinking about it, I wasn’t really all that familiar with the inner castle’s layout. Plus we’d come in a different way from last time, and this wasn’t part of the route that the former General Allus outlined for us. Hmm...

After a little more aimless meandering, we abruptly came out of the hallway and into a wide-open room. It was lined with marble pillars and a red carpet running the floor between them.

The audience chamber?

All that wandering had finally landed us at the VIP entrance. At the end of the red carpet sat an unoccupied throne, and...

A jolt of tension ran through me. There was a figure standing by the throne. He silently turned his gaze on the six of us as we came to a halt. He was dressed in heavy silver armor with a one-handed longsword on his belt. He was helmetless, and I recognized his face. Long black hair. Mid-thirties. The majesty of royalty etched on his visage.

“King Wells Xeno Gyria...” I muttered.

“No way...” Mileena and Luke whispered in shock. It seemed they’d finally caught on.

“What are you doing here? It’s awfully late,” came King Wells’s solemn voice, echoing in the empty chamber.

While keeping a certain distance from him, I began to walk down the red carpet. “I wonder what you’re doing here. To find the king hanging around his audience chamber at this hour, armed and armored...”

“I believe I asked you first.”

He took a few steps toward me. Without even thinking, I backed up just as many. Of course, I didn’t fail to notice the way his metal armor made no noise as he walked.

“I believe you know why we’re here already... King Wells.”

“Hmm...” At my words, the corner of his mouth curled up ever-so-slightly.

Whommm!

A powerful shockwave ran through me, stealing my breath away. “Guh!”

“What?!” I could hear Memphys’s and Milgazia’s voices rise up in surprise behind me.

That shockwave wasn’t a real attack at all. It was just him dropping the camouflage glamour he’d been using to mask his true aura—yet that alone was enough to shake my body and soul.

“Good instincts,” he said. “When did you catch on?”

“Not long ago...” The pressure he emitted was so strong that just talking was agony. “I knew it... because I once heard...” I widened my stance and puffed out my chest to try to endure it. “I heard that demons only serve... those with whom they make a contract... and those stronger than them. Which means...” I said, turning to him. “Which means the only one General Sherra would ever pledge her sword to... is you, Dynast Graushera.”

Silence filled the audience chamber. Who can say how long it lasted?

It turned out that there was no king for Sherra to dazzle with feminine wiles or brainwash with magical power. Everyone believed that His Majesty had changed upon her arrival... and while that was fundamentally incorrect, it was also entirely true.

Demons were astral beings. The strongest of them could make themselves look human. Was it not possible, then, that they could choose to look like a specific human? The king had changed, indeed... from the real one to an imposter.

They’d probably made the swap after Sherra infiltrated the castle. Since she was by the king’s side constantly afterward, any changes in his behavior were attributed to her. But Sherra wasn’t the real instigator of this plot. No, she was merely a diversion—a distraction from the even greater darkness behind her. The way that Sherra had smiled in the moment of her defeat... Perhaps it was satisfaction knowing that she’d played her part perfectly.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Graushera’s laughter broke the silence. “What a powerful imagination. Was that all it took for you to figure it out?”

“It was a little more than that, actually. Closing the gate to the city to halt interference, the ridiculous order for the soldiers not to leave the buildings. Who would do that? This is a monarchy. Yeah, maybe a gutless king surrounded by demon advisors might meekly submit and do as he was told... but I had a much easier time believing the command had come down from His Majesty himself. Speaking of, what was the point of those orders?”

“The point? Don’t tell me you think there’s some greater plan at play. We’re simply having a feast.”

“A feast?” Mileena asked.

“Yes. The negative emotions that we feed upon... Anxiety and unrest. Fear and frustration. This wasn’t a bad way to get them stirring aplenty in the city, don’t you think?”

“So... sending those demidemon hordes was just setting the table, huh?” Luke spat out.

“Partly, yes... But more than anything, I crave battle.” As he said that, he began to walk. Slowly. Toward us.

“He’s... beyond strong,” Milgazia said hoarsely from where he stood beside me.

“I know.”

“Can we beat him, human girl?!”

“Of course not.”

“Then why?! When you realized what he was, why did you not propose that we flee?!”

“You really think he’d let us?”

Milgazia went silent at this. He was panicking. The golden dragon elder who’d lived through the Incarnation War... was panicking.

“What did you do to the other... to the real King Wells?!” I shouted at the approaching demon. I knew the answer already, of course. I was only asking to try to distract myself from my rising terror.

“Who’s going to notice one more wailing ball of flesh tucked away in the castle?” came his answer. He’d cast the same curse on the current king to transform him into an undying, suffering mass, then sealed him away in the same place.

A change came over the demon’s face, gradually, as he walked. Two horn-like appendages grew from his head, arching backward and hardening to cover his cheeks, his brow, and his eyes. This pressure that threatened to freeze my heart... Was it the fear of knowing that this was Dynast, or some deeper primordial terror?

“I won’t lose!” I yelled. I intended to rally myself and everyone else around me. “I can’t afford to! Not to someone so lazy that he names his subordinate ‘Sherra’ after himself!”

“Her name, eh? Sherra came to ask me about the same thing not long ago...” Dynast said as he walked, his face transforming into a silver helmet. His unhurried pace didn’t change. “Greater Beast said they also gave half their name to their Priest... To be honest, I don’t see the problem. Why would a mere tool need a more interesting name?”

I gasped. “Is that... Is that what you told Sherra?”

“It is. The negative emotions of demons are also quite delicious.”

You bastard! That explained why she’d been so strangely desperate upon our last encounter here in the palace. The lord she served had said she was no more than a tool. Not like I was about to have pity on Sherra or anything... but I couldn’t just let this jerk run amok.

“I’ll defeat you,” I said flat out. “Your power may be terrifying... but I will defeat you!”

“Hahaha! How bold! I like it!” Another peal of Dynast’s laughter echoed through the chamber. He then stopped, howled, and brandished his longsword. “Very well! I accept your challenge, on my name as Dynast Graushera! Come at me, as lambs to the slaughter!”

That was the starting bell to our brawl.

“Fell Zaleyd!” Luke and Mileena unleashed their chanted spells the instant Graushera stopped talking. The two rays of light hit Dynast’s body directly.

“I’d have preferred something a bit flashier to open our battle,” the demon responded.

“What?!” Naturally, they were both shocked.

Another beam pierced the air—this one the laser breath from Memphys’s Zenafa!

“Such pitiful light...” A small black ball appeared in Dynast’s hand and absorbed the brilliant beam. “You really thought that could crush my darkness?!” The demon hadn’t taken a single step yet.

“Graaah!” Gourry charged forward in the wake of Memphys’s blast with a throat-rending cry.

Clink! Ping! Dynast blocked each one of his slashes with his own sword. “Oh? What skill! Let’s try this awhile!”

The flashes of silver light sped up between them with every strike. The din of clashing steel reverberated through the room. Milgazia took the chance to enter the fray.

“Vrabazard Flare!”

His spell shot toward the demon, but—Vwoosh!—Graushera swept his left hand to send the light arcing up toward the ceiling! Kra-kash! It opened a steaming hole in the roof and flew off.

“Too simple!” Dynast howled, swinging his left arm. Whommm!

“Ah—” The shockwave he produced sent Milgazia flying before he could even cry out. The dragon-man’s body crashed through a marble pillar before landing on the floor beyond.

“Uncle!” Memphys cried.

“I’m playing with this human right now! Don’t get in my way, dragon!” Graushera spat as he returned his focus to his melee with Gourry. Granted, even as he’d knocked Milgazia away with his left hand, he hadn’t missed a beat in their duel. That’s right—he was only using his right hand to fight.

Playing, huh? That’s exactly what he’s doing. But...

“Don’t underestimate me!”

Their blades continued to clash. Gourry’s sword slipped past Graushera’s and—Clink!—the thrust caught the demon in the left shoulder!

“Oh? Impressive,” Dynast said with a faint smile in his voice.

“What?!” Gourry drew back, confused. “You didn’t even feel it?!” he gasped in a shocked whisper.

Dynast replied, “No, I felt it. Like a drop of water hitting a stone. But don’t be disappointed, swordsman. Your skill is remarkable. But sadly, your weapon... is insufficient.”

“Ra Tilt!” Mileena unleashed a pillar of blue fire on Dynast, hoping that it might at least do some damage. This was the strongest attack spell in all shamanistic magic, after all! But...

Swsh! With just a swing of his longsword, Graushera cut through the flames enveloping his body.

“He’s incredible!” Mileena cried, a rare note of panic in her voice.

“No, girl! You’re simply pathetic! As long as you’re bound by the vessel known as life— Hmm?!” Dynast stopped short to block an incoming swing from Gourry while he was talking. “Do you think you’re distracting me? Really?!” he said, his voice filled with mockery.

But he was wrong. The Gourry I knew was way too stupid for that.

“Distracting you? Never! I’m more than a distraction!” Gourry’s swordplay picked up even more speed. The tip of his blade grazed Dynast’s armor repeatedly.

“I told you! That’s no more than a drop of water against a stone!”

See? Like I said. Stupid.

But...

“Are you... insane?!” A hint of surprise entered Graushera’s voice for the first time as Gourry really started whaling on him.

Yup... That was the big lug I knew. Defiance born out of sheer foolishness was what we needed right now. I’d taught him that myself long ago—“If we walk into a fight believing we’re gonna lose, our chances of winning turn to zero. So even if the odds are against us... I’m gonna fight to win!”

You remembered, Gourry!

“Zellas Bullid!” I fired a beam of light that set a course for Dynast.

“Hnn!” As the demon swung his longsword at my spell to cut it down, Gourry struck Graushera’s armor once more.

“Screw it, everyone! Let’s just dogpile the bastard!” I cried.

Luke, more than willing, charged Dynast. Mileena chanted her next spell, and Milgazia—who’d managed to get back on his feet—moved around to flank our target. Lastly...

“Memphys?” She was just standing there a little ways behind me, trembling. “Get a grip!” I shouted as I ran up to her.

“I... I can’t...” she whispered timidly in response.

“What are you talking about? Where’d all that bravado of yours go?!”

“I can’t do this!” She shook her head, still trembling. “You... You humans... You can only press on because you can’t see what that thing looks like on the astral plane. When I tried to attack with magic... When I lowered my Zenafa’s astral barrier... I saw it! I saw Dynast’s true form! It’s so big... A massive, all-encompassing darkness! It’s just toying with all of us! Whatever wounds you manage to inflict mean nothing—it just channels a little more power to its material form to compensate. We can’t do this. There’s no way we can beat this thing...” Then she shook her head again.

“Sounds like that human sorceress you met was pretty lame, huh?” I jibed.

“What?” She furrowed her brow slightly in non-comprehension.

“Milgazia said that meeting her changed you. I didn’t know you back then, but I’ll bet this is exactly what you were like... Isn’t it, Mephy?”

“...”

“And if all your so-called growth was superficial... she must not have been very inspiring after all.”

I figured that Memphys would cave under the circumstances if I attacked her personally, so I’d chosen to go after the sorceress she admired instead. And the rest...

“The rest... is up to you. Will you quiver in fear, serving up a banquet of negative emotions for that demon until it kills you? Or will you bet on a tiny sliver of a chance and fight? It’s your call, Mephy. The choice is in your hands.” With that, I turned back to Dynast and began chanting quietly.

“That’s Memphys to you...” she said from behind me.

Aha. Attagirl.

“Ruby-Eye Blade!” Luke unleashed his spell, moving into position to pincer Dynast with Gourry. A magical red sword appeared in his readied hands in place of his other sword, now sheathed. It called upon the power of our world’s Dark Lord, Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu.

“Geh!” Graushera, apparently fearing a direct hit from this one, withdrew his own sword from his clash with Gourry. He then produced a magical light over it and used it to block Luke’s strike.

Clink! While Dynast’s attention was diverted, Gourry slashed at the demon’s armor again.

“Hahhh!” Dynast took a swing at Gourry with his left arm. Gourry blocked it with his sword hilt, but the big lug still went flying. Dynast must have produced a shockwave at the moment of impact. Or maybe he’d just overpowered the dude. It was hard to tell for sure.

Without missing a beat, Milgazia dove into the fray to take Gourry’s place. He rushed right up into Dynast’s personal space and slammed a fist into the demon! Pow! A flash of light appeared around his clenched hand. He’d probably infused it with magic directly as it struck.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” Graushera howled, knocking Milgazia back to the ground with a left-handed strike. Just then...

“Ra Tilt!” Mileena’s second spiritual strike wreathed Graushera. Fwoom!

“That won’t work!” Dynast cried. And just like that, the pillar of flame shattered!

Zing! In the meantime, Gourry had gotten back up and moved in to strike at Graushera from the side. The demon turned to face him—then his gaze suddenly shifted and he swung his left hand! Crackle! I heard a soft sound in the air. I looked and saw his hand pointed toward Memphys, who was wielding a curiously shaped white sword.

Of course... He’d detected Memphys’s slash incoming from another dimension and disrupted it before it reappeared in this one. But if we were gonna make this work, teamwork was the way to go!

“Zellas Bullid!” I shot another beam of light straight at Dynast.

“Can’t you see it’s pointless?!” He raised his left hand to block the blast, when...

“Zellas Phalanx!” Milgazia bellowed from behind me.

There was no way to avoid this double-sided attack! But just then... he must have run out of magic, because the light disappeared from Luke’s hand. Dynast howled, producing a shield in his left hand to pulverize my spell, followed by a sweep of his now-free sword to destroy the ball of light Milgazia had fired.

Just then, something white streaked past me. Memphys! Dynast turned his attention there.

“Break! Attack!” At Memphys’s cry, the dazzling white streak arced upward and fired its laser breath down at the demon!

“I told you, it’s pointless—” He created a black sphere that sucked in the light, but his taunt stopped short... for it was only the Zenafa in the air. “?!”

Memphys had temporarily removed her armor to dive at Dynast’s feet. “Rune Strayed!”

Nreeoom! The spear of light found its target. Dynast’s body trembled slightly, and... Wham!

“Ngh!” The demon unleashed a kick that sent Memphys sailing! She loudly bounced along the floor, coming to a stop not far from me.

“Mephy!” Milgazia cried, though Dynast’s gaze and the pressure he emitted kept him locked in place.

I scrambled to her side, but before I could reach her, her white armor returned on its own and wreathed her once more. This is...

“Hmm. Elves are such physically fragile beings,” Graushera spat with casual contempt. Memphys’s attack hadn’t affected him much.

“This guy is no joke...” Luke whispered.

“Really? I consider the amount of power I’m currently using to be quite a joke,” Graushera replied.

“Memphys!” I called to the still-collapsed elf.

Hearing me, she opened her eyes slightly and managed to sit up for a moment before buckling over in a coughing fit, sputtering up a bit of blood. With a gasp, I tried to start chanting a Recovery spell, but she stopped me and began her own chant, putting a hand to her stomach. I knew her Zenafa-enhanced healing magic would probably work a lot better than mine... but would Dynast give her the time to recover?

“You’re trying to heal yourself? Strange child,” Graushera said casually, even as he resumed his swordplay with Gourry. “Just submit to death already. Why do you actively choose suffering?”

The bastard really was toying with us. He could have killed us all anytime he wanted. We needed to finish this before he decided to do just that, so...

Memphys’s healing spell seemed to do the trick, because she managed to pick herself halfway up.

“Don’t push yourself,” I urged her.

“Do... you think this is a fight we can win without pushing ourselves?” she said with a smile in response.

“Dang... By the way, did I see that Zenafa thing attack and return on its own?”

“Yes. It’s tailor-made for me. It won’t listen to anyone else, though it can function independently to a degree...”

Aha...

“In that case... care to help me really push things?”

“Dynast Graushera!” I pronounced, glaring at Gourry and the demon he remained locked in combat with. “For a moment... For just one moment, we’re going to hit you with everything we have!”

“Go on and try! Do your worst!” Dynast shouted back. My declaration had done nothing to shake his confidence.

It was time to do this.

Hail, Lords of the four worlds’ darkness

I beseech your bond and beg you this boon

By your powers combined, entwined,

Bless me with magic mightier than mine

The four talismans on my body responded to my words of power, let out a flash, and temporarily boosted my magic power. Then, with a glance from me, Memphys took off running toward Dynast. I followed a beat later, chanting a spell under my breath. Memphys closed in on Dynast, and...

“Your staggered pile-on attacks won’t work!” Graushera cried as the white figure sped at him. “Don’t underestimate me! You think the same trick will work on me twice?!” Forcefully knocking Gourry’s blade back, he ignored the Zenafa in the air and swept his sword low.

Please! You’re the one underestimating us! We wouldn’t dream of trying the same trick on you twice!

Memphys, absent her Zenafa, leaped back the second she landed, leaving Dynast’s sword to catch nothing as it scraped along the floor! And then... Kree-yom! The Zenafa attached itself to Dynast!

“What?!” For the first time, Graushera cried out in shock. He probably didn’t understand what we were trying to do.

I’ll show you... It’s this!

“Shield!”

In instant response to Memphys’s command, the Zenafa activated one of its abilities—severing its wearer from the astral plane! That’s right. We were using the armor to cut Graushera’s material form off from his true body on the astral plane!

“What did you...” Even Dynast was taken aback.

“Ruby-Eye Blade!” Luke conjured his magical blade a second time and sliced at Dynast.

“Not so fast!” The demon blocked it, infusing his longsword with magic. His moves were confident, but slower than before.

From the other side, Gourry closed in on Graushera with a loud cry. The demon didn’t bother to engage with him. Even if we’d halved Dynast’s power—or worse—a single strike from the big lug shouldn’t do much damage. Yet just as his blade made contact...

“Hraaaah!” Milgazia let out a draconic howl. As he did, the symbols on the blade in Gourry’s hand began to glow red.

Is that what Milgazia drew on the sword? Of course! He painted those with dragon’s blood! Probably his own!

The sword, resonating with Milgazia’s power, pierced Dynast!

“Gah!” The demon let out a small cry of pain. He’d felt that one, even if only a little!

Graushera raised his left hand and seized Gourry’s sword. I could hear the quiet creaking of metal.

“Impudent brat!”

Kra-kinnng! As Dynast howled, the blade snapped like a twig. But then, from within the broken blade... a narrower blade appeared!

“What?!”

We all stared at Gourry, shocked.

“The Blast Sword?!” Milgazia cried, even as the blade glowed with pale purple light and struck deep into Dynast’s side.

“Graaaaah!” Graushera’s scream rang out, and his swordplay became more furious.

Luke took the chance to jump in, mowing his sword through the demon’s side.

“Raaaaaaaagh!” With an inhuman wail, Dynast’s gaze froze—locked on the sight ahead of him. Yup, he was staring right at me in my approach.

Blade forged of the freezing black void,

Be released under heaven’s seal

Become mine, become part of me

Let us mete destruction as one

Smash even the souls of the gods...

Dynast knew this spell. I was borrowing the power of the Lord of Nightmares to forge a blade of pure void. He raised his longsword, probably intending to deflect me by unleashing a magical shockwave... yet swinging his sword through the air did nothing. The Zenafa’s wearer, sealed off from the astral plane, couldn’t be affected by magical attacks without contact, but in exchange, couldn’t cast any magic either. Not unless Memphys gave the order to lower the Zenafa’s seal.

I’d informed Mileena of this, which was why she hadn’t moved. But Dynast had no idea. The wounded Graushera, his sword still mid-swing, was completely vulnerable! I dove in, not about to miss my moment! And then...

“Ragna Blade!” Without a sound, my newly forged blade of darkness cleaved Dynast Graushera in twain.

With a light, hollow clang, the white armor fell to the ground. Its wearer, Dynast Graushera, had been annihilated within it.

“Did we... get him?” Gourry asked.

“His corporal form, at least,” I said as I sank down onto the cold floor. “We used the Zenafa to cut off his manifestation—the eensy part of himself he forwarded into our plane of existence—from his real body. And we just barely managed to beat this small fraction of him.”

“Hey! Hang on a minute! Does that mean the real body is still out there?!” shouted Luke, who’d also collapsed to the floor.

“Yep.”

“So he’s gonna come back?!”

“He might. If he’s willing to show himself to humans in a weakened state.”

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Milgazia said in response.

“Yeah. So... it’s over.” I cast a glance at the elf standing nearby. “Thanks for going along with my crazy plan. Great job, Memphys.”

“Mephy... Call me Mephy,” she replied with a small smile.

In the morning light, we could see the stores and stalls along Gyria’s central avenue just beginning to open as people milled about. The castle gate was now open, and demons’ night raids had ceased. Life had returned to the city of Gyria.

It had now been a few days since our showdown with Dynast. We’d just finished dealing with the aftermath and gotten permission to leave today.

“It’s gonna be tough for this place, huh?” Gourry asked as he gazed into the distance.

“Well, as long as there are people like Maias around, things’ll go back to... No, they’ll be even better off than normal. I’m sure of it,” I responded baselessly.

In the end, most of the wrap-up involved Allus (after we explained the situation to him) using his influence in the castle to smooth things over. Now, that makes it sound all nice and tidy, but lemme tell you—it was no mean feat. The king vanishing overnight along with two high-ranked officials and several other people... There was no way that wasn’t going to be an ordeal.

I couldn’t say what had gone on in the castle or how Allus had pulled it off, but it had only taken a few days before everything resolved with the official announcement of the king’s “passing of illness.” I could speculate, though. I figured Allus had simply told them that the king was replaced by a demon. And to prove it, he’d taken the fastest route possible. In other words, he’d shown them that there were now two lumps of flesh shut deep within the castle somewhere.

Again, this is speculation on my part.

At any rate, while everything was being settled, the rest of us had been held “in custody” at Allus’s mansion. It was a little psychologically stuffy at times, but it wasn’t as if we could all fit in Maias’s tiny apartment. It also spared us the expense of an inn.

Maias had taken it pretty hard when we told him about Jade, but we’d gone to say goodbye to him too. “I thought about going home, but I think I might stay in this city a little longer. I don’t know what I can do... but I want to try to help make it better, however I can,” he’d said with a shy smile. I shouldn’t have to tell you that Luke, Mephy, and I teased him quite a bit for that cheesy line.

And now, at last, it was time for the rest of us to say goodbye on the road.

“Well, I suppose this is farewell,” said Milgazia.

Gourry turned to Mephy standing beside him and asked, “Are you going to return to the mountains?”

“Please do not say ‘return to the mountains.’”

“You make us sound like wild animals.”

“Ahhh... My bad, my bad,” Gourry apologized as they both pressed in on him.

“Although, it’s true that Dragons’ Peak is a mountain... and Mephy’s village is also on a mountain. But I do think we’ll be wandering about a bit longer. We never learned what Dynast was really planning in the end, so it’s entirely possible he’ll try it again.”

The man had a point. We’d fought Graushera and won, but we hadn’t destroyed him entirely. We’d never learned what he was up to either. We couldn’t say just yet that the mass demon spawnings were over for good. Things were far from resolved, and there was no guarantee that the heretofore silent Greater Beast Zellas Metallium and Deep Sea Dolphin wouldn’t move in to pick up the slack. But still... for now...

“That’s right,” Milgazia said as if remembering, pulled a set of small leather pouches out of his pocket and gave one to each of us. “I never gave you those weapons I promised, but think of these as thanks for helping us... or payment, if you’d prefer.”

Gourry stared at the contents of his pouch. “Rocks?”

“It’s orichalcum, stupid!” I yelled right into his face.

“Waaagh! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t recognize it!” he apologized quickly.

Wait... this is orichalcum?!

“Whaaaat?!” Me, Luke, and even Mileena all cried out in shock as we checked the content of our own bags.

Wow... it really is... The pouches weren’t particularly large, but each one was full of orichalcum bits the size of pebbles. They were easily worth a couple hundred gold coins.

“Gourryyy! Give me that bag, and I’ll buy all your meals for the next ten days!” I said in my sweetest tones.

“Whoa! You mean it, Lina?!”

“C’mon, don’t act like you’re defrauding the guy,” Luke jibed as I haggled with Gourry.

“I don’t think she’s acting,” Mileena interjected before turning to Milgazia. “Are you really sure about this?”

The old man nodded slightly. “There’s a place you can find it on Dragons’ Peak, and it’s all I have to offer.”

Whaaat?! Dragons’ Peak has an orichalcum deposit?! If only I’d known, I’d have hit that up the last time we were there! Not that we’d really had the time for that...

Still, what a relief. I was starting to think we’d done all this pro bono.

I’d originally played along on the promise of receiving weapons made by Milgazia and Mephy’s people, but we’d never actually made it to the elf village. Then Jade was supposed to pay us... but, well, that whole thing happened. And Maias didn’t exactly seem to be rolling in dough, so I couldn’t ask him to cough up compensation. Well, I guess you could say that finally learning the identity of Gourry’s sword was payment enough.

The legendary Blast Sword... Why had it had another blade forged on top of it? The answer to that had become immediately obvious. True to rumor, its sharpness was... downright absurd. You could drop it blade-down and cut clean through the cobblestones. If you tried to swing it while in a scabbard, it would cleave right through the blade casing. In fact, with one made of wood or leather, just trying to sheathe the blade would shred the thing.

In short, it was way too dangerous to just tote around like normal. We’d have an accidental bloodletting on our hands if Gourry so much as tripped while we were out on the road. It was less a legendary sword and more a gag gift, the result of prioritizing cutting power over every other concern. I suspected that someone had probably forged the secondary blade of high-grade steel over the first just to make the dang thing usable. It was absurd. Absolutely insane. In the end, we’d had to ask Milgazia to draw a new inscription on the sword to blunt its edge and get it under control. Of course, in Gourry’s hands, it could probably still cleave most rocks.

At any rate, I was over the moon that we’d managed to net ourselves a little profit off this whole operation.

“You were a great help to us, humans. If anything happens, we’ll hope for your aid again.”

“Sure. Except... I mean, I hope we don’t find ourselves in any situations where you guys need our help, you know?”

“Yes, quite true,” Milgazia said and then smiled. “Well, we really should be going. Thank you for everything.” With that, he turned to go.

“Take care, all of you,” Mephy said with a wink, then followed him.

“See you again somewhere... someday,” I called after them.

Soon enough, the golden dragon elder and the elf maiden in white armor disappeared into the growing crowd out on the streets.

“What about you guys, then?” I said as I turned toward our other companions.

Luke puffed out his chest. “Whaddya think? We’re still treasure hunters. We’re headin’ back out on the road—”

“Don’t you dare say ‘on a private honeymoon for two’ or anything like that,” Mileena warned sharply.

Luke froze up in response, thoroughly busted.

Hmm... You got a rough road ahead of you, but give it your best, Luke.

“See you...” someone said.

“Later...” someone else replied.

With that, Gourry and I and Luke and Mileena went our separate ways.

“Say...” Gourry piped up after we’d walked a ways, as if some thought had just occurred to him. “What are we gonna do next? You said you were gonna find me a replacement for the Sword of Light, and it seems like you have.”

“Oh...” I said quietly. Huh, that’s right. That was what we were doing, wasn’t it? But if we’ve found him a sword, then...

“Don’t sweat it,” Gourry said, patting me on the head with his left hand.

“Huh? Don’t sweat what?”

“It’s not like I need a reason to travel with you. How about we just go where the wind takes us for a while?”

“Guess so...”

Gourry mussed my hair, and for some reason, I didn’t mind.