The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 1 - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

The Ex–Demon Lord in Pursuit

The three of us inconspicuously shadowed the group, maintaining a safe distance between us and slinking behind them in silence through the winding backstreets until they disappeared down into a manhole.

“The sewer, huh. I suppose that would be the most appropriate place to scheme in secret.”

Something was beginning to stink all right.

We shot one another a glance, giving a single nod, and entered the manhole, noticing the magic-powered torches fixed to the walls at even intervals that granted us clear vision underground. We quietly tiptoed farther and farther inside until the group in black robes came into view.

They’d halted right before a wall with a humongous special-class magic circle scribbled on it. As soon as I deciphered their magical formula, I instantly understood what they were trying to do.

“Ah, I see. That’s what’s going on. We’re—”

In the midst of my sentence, a voice interrupted me from behind with a stern warning.

“Don’t move or I’ll kill you.”

That caused Ireena and Ginny to tremble from head to toe. As for me, I was internally mumbling to myself that I knew this would happen as I turned around toward the voice and found about a dozen men and women in the tunnels. These guys weren’t in black robes, but I could guess they were all comrades based on their behavior.

“Well, well. Hook, line, and sinker.” One of the figures at the front of the circle snickered, forming a smile on his severe features. This was the one I’d marked as their leader earlier.

“I’ll say it one more time: No funny business, all right? Your life is completely in our hands. Once we cast the attack spell with this special-class magic circle, you’ll be sent writhing into the bowels of hell.”

Ireena and Ginny both went pale at this threat in silence, completely slick with sweat. Their bodies quivered, and terror filled their eyes. On the other hand, I felt his monologue was terribly cliché and let a laugh slip out.

“You think this is funny? I gotta say, that’s pretty ballsy. Don’t you realize you’re about to die?” he hissed, seemingly ready to kill at a moment’s notice.

I answered with a casual retort. “I beg to differ. Two reasons: One, you appear to have no intention of ending us. If you did, there’d be no need to surround us and blabber on and on. A surprise attack would have been enough.”

I stared pointedly at the leader and continued.

“By luring us from the very start and meticulously preparing a special-class magic circle, one can assume you intended to take either one or all of us as hostages. This is only my first reason. Second—”

Before I could finish my sentence, the magic circle on the wall glowed brightly—and, in a single moment, engulfed my entire body in flames, scorching my flesh from the inside out and raging as if threatening to burn it to nothing.

“A-Ard?!”

“No, Ard!”

Wow, to think that even their screams would be nearly identical.

A man’s crude laughter was thrown into the mix.

“Ha-ha! You were only half-right! Sure, we never planned on killing you, but nothin’ says we have to keep anything besides the target alive, either. That means I’m free to kill annoying-ass brats like you!”

I see. Well, since he had the upper hand, I guess it was understandable how my attitude from earlier might have been unpleasant, since failing to show deference could be taken as an insult. It seemed that the man’s compatriots shared his feelings, as a few chuckles went up here and there.

But those grins disappeared in a matter of seconds, and looks of terror took their place.

“…How is he still standing? He should be completely incinerated by now,” said someone in the group.

I calmly provided an answer. “Why wouldn’t I be standing? I’m still alive.”

The place fell into an uproar.

“Wha—?! D-did he just speak?!”

“Th-that’s impossible! His guts should be cooked from the inside out!”

I chuckled. “You didn’t let me finish. I’ll tell you the second reason why I’m not afraid. It’s simple. Your strategy is no threat to me whatsoever. This is like a dozen or so ants teaming up against a lion. Nothing to be scared of,” I declared as I summoned some defensive magic to extinguish the irritating flames that clung to my body.

And of course, I replaced my incinerated clothes with a molecular conversion spell.

“Hmph. I guess there are some flames inside,” I observed.

Each time my mouth opened, I belched out smoke, and it was seriously starting to make me feel sick.

It would seem that I’d continue to burn as long as that magic circle was in place, which was starting to get on my nerves. I pointed a finger at it, and a geometric pattern immediately appeared at my fingertips, shooting out a single bolt of purple light and crashing into the target. A part of the circle burst violently, snuffing out the flames inside me.

“Q-quit screwin’ around…! H-h-how in the world did you…?!”

“It’s simple. If my body continues to burn, I merely have to keep healing it. That’s all there is to it.”

This was yawn-worthy from my perspective, but I guess the idea went far beyond their wildest imaginations.

“Are you trying to tell me that he can heal his body at the same speed as it burns? All without chanting an incantation?”

“Th-that’s impossible! H-he should have been burned to a crisp by now! If his innards have been cooking this long, he should be going mad with pain!”

What? Really, now? Go mad from this? This era was full of nothing but a bunch of wimps. I mean, the soldiers of ancient times would have never shown weakness over something like charred intestines… But I guessed I’d save that for another day.

“S-stay calm! There are only three of them and dozens of us! We’ve got the upper hand here!” boomed their leader.

True, he’d be right based on the standards of his time. After all, their mages could cast only one spell at a time. That meant they could easily be defeated when taking on multiple enemies solo. Of course, it’d be a completely different story if one of the mages was terribly overpowered. But even then, I’d heard here and there that twenty average dudes could defeat even a master mage. That holds true only with people in this generation, though.

“All right. I don’t have enough time in the world to deal with small fries forever. I’m itching to get this over with already, which means—” I halted, snapping my fingers together sharply to call forth a bunch of magic circles above the group.

A sudden burst of purple lightning showered down from overhead, striking the conspirators with devastating blows one after another—as you can see, there’s no such thing as safety in numbers against me, the Demon Lord.

As I heaved a big sigh, I took stock of my fallen enemies—well, all except one. There was a single person still standing on his own two feet: their apparent leader, who was glaring at me menacingly.

“I purposefully saved you for last. I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t know the reason why you targeted us. If you cooperate and confess, we can wrap this up without any more needless violence.”

“Ngh…! Y-you’re a monster!” he barked back, the last snarl of a sore loser.

Well, it didn’t look like he was planning on confessing anytime soon. What a massive pain in the ass. That said, this would be over and done with if I cast a spell to brainwash him.

“Well, let’s start with the very beginning,” I suggested, approaching him slowly with a smile.

“Ngh…! As if I’d just sit by and let everything go your way!” he shouted, apparently planning to resist to the bitter end. He stood on guard as his entire body assumed an offensive stance.

And then, what I had assumed would be a futile gesture of defiance against me went well beyond my expectations.

“Ggghhhh…! Gu-go-gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

With a bloodcurdling scream, he was completely enveloped in a pitch-back aura.

And then he began to transform.