The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 6 - Chapter 76

CHAPTER 76

The Ex–Demon Lord Against a Rare Breed

We’d teleported into the bowels of hell. Originally a fortress designed to protect us from foreign invaders, it was now usurped by the enemy to serve as their headquarters. It was built like a small walled city and surrounded by barricades. Soldier lodgings and watchtowers were tightly crammed together within its borders.

In the center…we had the full attention of the enemy forces, comprised mainly of orcs.

“…Huh?”

“Who are they?”

“They just appeared out of nowhere…!”

They were shouting, their torches weaving around us. Safe to say they were stunned. Everyone knew teleportation wasn’t possible in modern times. Not for a second did they imagine we’d suddenly invade their camp.

I only looked at them briefly before issuing instructions to Ireena and Sylphy.

“Let’s split up again. It will be more efficient that way.”

Sylphy didn’t voice any objections.

Ireena had something to say. “Ard? I’ll go look for Ginny on my own—like Sylphy,” she said, looking at me intensely.

…Must have been because she felt so helpless in the forest.

I supposed this was fine. It was dangerous, but I was confident I could come to her rescue if anything happened. I’d let her do as she pleased.

“Understood. I hope you find success,” I replied.

Ireena nodded firmly.

I smiled at the soldiers around me. “I suppose none of you will tell us where the prisoners are. So I’ll follow your lead and use more barbaric methods to conduct my search.”

Sylphy vaulted off the ground. With Demise-Argis, she ripped through her nearby enemies.

No time to talk. She was tearing through the enemy like it was second nature—the savage way.

“Giiiiinny! Where aaaaareee yoouuu?!” Sylphy called, continuously axing down foes.

Inspired by her valor, Ireena’s eyes flashed with bravery.

“Flare Wall!” She cast a mid-level fire attack, shooting flames that took down more enemies. Ireena followed Sylphy’s lead and raced farther into the fortress, calling out for Ginny.

“I guess it’s time for me to get to business.”

Keeping a constant eye on the two using magic, I exerted a modest level of magic to make my way through. Walking at a brisk pace, I cast spells to take down any enemy who spotted me. I worked so fast that they failed to defend themselves, and they collapsed wordlessly.

Ireena and Sylphy rampaged through the area, and the enemy voiced their outrage.

“We might be able to rescue Ginny and wipe out the enemy at the same time, as planned.”

If rescuing Ginny had been our only objective, it would have been a simple matter of teleporting directly to her and calling it a day. But this was war. We had to serve our cause. Thus, I had planned on rescuing Ginny and taking back the fortress at the same time. It was also why I let Ireena and Sylphy run wild.

“I think I’ll go rescue Ginny and leave the enemy to those two.”

I used a detection spell to search for traces of her power. It seemed she was currently surrounded by soldiers.

…I really hoped I made it in time.

Praying for her safety, I headed toward one of the lodging houses, then punched through the wall, pulverizing it. I stepped through the crumbling hole and entered the room.

Inside, I found a host of orc soldiers encroaching on Ginny.

…She was in nothing but her underwear. If I’d been just a bit too late, I would have walked into a disturbing scene. I was seething in rage by the thought of my friend seconds away from being violated.

“Who the hell are—”

“Silence, swine.” I didn’t want to hear anything this rabble had to say and knocked down every orc in the room with a spell. Their bodies combusted into flames, and magic teleported them to a distant forest crawling with disgusting monsters.

Any cretin who would do such a thing to women and children was no soldier. Even pigs were better than them. They deserved to be monster food.

“…I’m so sorry, Ginny. If I had arrived sooner, you would not have gone through such a terrifying ordeal.” I cast a spell to clothe her in our school uniform.

Ginny looked at me and shook her head. “I wasn’t frightened. After all, I knew you would come.” She offered a cheery smile. I was relieved I hadn’t let her down.

“By the way, Ard. Is anyone else with you?”

“Yes. Sylphy and Ireena are fighting to rescue you.”

“Oh, I must be sure to thank them later,” she murmured, appearing a bit apologetic, before looking over at the door. “Master Michel was captured, too… Master Elrado’s younger brother. I ask that you take him with us.”

“Of course.” I nodded and went to see Michel. He was trembling in a corner of the cramped room, terrified, it seemed, of the war raging outside.

The moment the young boy looked at us, his eyes widened.

“G-Ginny…! I’m so glad you’re okay…!”

“All thanks to Ard.”

“Ard…?! A-are you the Ard Meteor…?!”

“That’s right.”

Michel stared at me with a degree of fear. He probably saw me as the terrifying man who had beaten the crap out of his big brother. Either that or he considered me his family’s sworn enemy, in which case, he was sorely mistaken. I attempted to explain.

“Your older brother and I did cause a scene in the past…but I’m not a threat to your family. So relax. I’ll risk my life to protect you and promise to safely return you to your father.”

“O-okay…! Y-yes, please do…!” he said, quivering like a little animal. It was kind of cute.

Mission accomplished. I led Ginny and Michel outside. Ireena and Sylphy must have finished up their investigation because we ran right into them.

“Sylphy, what happened to the enemies over that way?”

“Annihilated, pretty much. And, sweet! You found Ginny.”

Annihilated, huh? Now that she mentioned it, I didn’t hear anything from the enemy’s side. Safe to say we’d taken back the fortress, too.

“…Miss Ireena.”

“…Ginny.”

Next to me and Sylphy, they stared at one another, fidgeting for a second before they…began their usual squabbling.

“Hmph. Pretty careless of you to get caught,” Ireena scoffed. “You totally ruined our break.”

“Oh, you’re here, Miss Ireena? I would have managed just fine with Ard.”

A prickly exchange on the surface, but I imagined they were dealing with their own emotions: Ireena was relieved that Ginny was safe. Ginny was happy to know that her friend had come running to her aid. At least, that was how it looked to me.

“By the way, Ard. Who’s the little guy there?”

“Ah, this is—”

As I was explaining, thunder clapped, and a rush of purple lightning rained down on us. I instantly cast a Wall. A ball of film covered all of us, saving us from harm.

“…Stand back.”

As I stared down this random enemy, I realized something.

So this is the half-dragon I heard about.

Long platinum hair reached his back, swaying in the night wind. His tall, slender body was cloaked in a bulky dark coat, both hands stuffed in his pockets. The man was striking, except he was completely covered in reptilian scales. It was a grotesque sort of beauty, if that makes sense.

The half-dragon looked at me. “…Are you Ard Meteor?”

“That would be me.”

He seemed to radiate murder. “…How could you command my master’s attention when I, Arcella, have not?” Arcella shot me a death glare, voicing his fit of jealousy.

In that same instant—something shot through my head. It felt like I’d been hit with a hammer. I knew it was an enemy attack, but there was no magic circle in sight.

The dragons had their own magic language, and a secret way to conceal magic circles. There was no way of knowing when a spell had been cast, which was a huge advantage for them in a magic battle. Plus, I couldn’t even tell what he would cast. It was an ambush spell that I couldn’t avoid. I imagined he could finish most foes off with one clean hit.

“…I knew that wouldn’t be enough to get rid of you.”

Had I been anyone else, it would have blown my head to bits, but it was nothing to me. The barrier I had instinctively put up had cut the damage by half.

“For a lower life-form, you have an abnormal amount of magic. …Not that it stands any chance against mine.” He seemed full of fight.

The real battle was about to begin.

“Listen up. Don’t interfere,” I said to my friends. “I’ll take care of him on my own.”

Sylphy remained calm and composed. Michel nodded, falling flat on his behind. Ireena and Ginny silently assented, sweating. They must have been remembering when we went against her: the Frenzied King of Dragons, Elzard.

The man before us, Arcella, gave off the same kind of vibe. There was a good chance that he possessed a level of power not found in the modern world. After all, he didn’t even seem too fazed by my immortality. That could mean he possessed something that could destroy all my astral bodies in one hit.

“You’re stubborn, I’ll give you that. But…I bet you’ll be helpless against this, tough guy.”

A black hole opened in the space directly next to him. Arcella put his hand inside…and produced a giant sword. It looked as if it had been processed from the bones of some creature and gave off an ominous aura that rattled me to my core.

“Our people’s greatest treasure, made from the bones of our great ancestor, the Sky Dragon. These bones are powered by eating your soul…” He readied the sword. “The slightest wound will kill you instantly.”

He stepped forward.

His speed was godlike. He was immediately upon me and within range of delivering a death blow.

“Haaah!” He swung the dragon-bone sword with a shout. Vaulting to the side to avoid the reverse shoulder slash, I put distance between myself and the others.

Arcella kicked off the ground, closing in on me in a heartbeat.

“Haaaaaaaah!” He unleashed his attacks at dizzying speed. I heard his sword whipping through the air after it already passed. If sound couldn’t keep up with Arcella’s pace, he was an outlier. He would have been right at home in the ancient world.

“Wh-what the…?!” He broke into a sweat. “Why am I not landing my hits…?!”

He had attacked me about 967 times. I had seen through each one. I smiled, continuing to dodge his blows.

“You made the right choice. Magic would have been useless against me. In fact, it might even work against you. That’s why you decided to take me out with swordplay alone, right?”

Arcella said nothing, fine features crumbling in despair.

I went on. “Nothing wrong with your decision, but…your premise was all wrong. You thought you could eliminate my strengths and win with your sword. That was a grave error.”

I flashed a blinding smile. “Why believe I’m not versed in the ways of the sword? I find your line of thinking hard to follow.”

Magic might be my forte, but I wasn’t a bad swordsman. Back in the old days, I could stand toe-to-toe with even Olivia. There was no doubt Arcella’s skills were impressive. But compared with Olivia in her heyday, he was as good as a baby chick.

“I’ve already seen all you’ve got. Why don’t we end this battle already?”

“Tch…! Don’t underestimate me!” he roared, swinging at me at the same time. There were, however, too many ways for me to strike against him. I dodged the vertical slash and…struck him right in the chest with an open palm.

“Gwagh?!” The impact rang through him and tore up his bronchial tube. Arcella started to cough up blood and collapsed to the ground.

“I-incredible…!” Ginny cried. “You’re a special one, Ard…!”

“Really? I bet I could have handled that guy,” Sylphy said.

“……It seems I still have a long way to go,” Ireena muttered.

Next to the three girls, Michel was crouched down, once again staring at me in fear.

Under their gazes and comments, I looked down at Arcella. “Half-dragons only obey their superiors. They would never be the pawn of another race. …But you’ve sided with the Asylas Federation. I would like to know what you’re planning.”

If it was for their wives and children, I’d have no problem with it. If, however, it was related to a powerhouse—other than Lizer or the demons—things would turn out way worse than I expected.

I was hoping to confirm this, but the half-dragon stared at me in silence.

I guess I could hardly expect him to give an honest answer.

“If you’re not going to talk,” I began, “I guess I’ll have to—”

“My master isn’t like you sheep and would never follow some filthy orc king,” he replied. He sounded like someone waiting to be killed.

And in truth, he was about to throw his life away to keep his secrets. Arcella’s body started to glow, surrounded by magic circles.

“A binding spell made in the dragon language? I guess it makes sense to have countermeasures,” I noted.

Upon breaking the contract, he would be eliminated. It was the best technique to keep information from leaking. Arcella had used the spell to take his own life.

Nothing was left behind by the time the magic circles had winked out of sight. By revealing harmless information and giving up his own life, he prevented himself from revealing more than he should. …Even I had difficulty parsing the dragon language, which was why I’d been unable to stop him.

“So he was willing to die in the name of his master. Seems counter to their nature.” I planted my hand to my chin and pondered.

That meant we had an enemy that even the proud half-dragons would worship.

And it wasn’t Dread, the king of the Asylas Federation.

Which meant…Asylas wasn’t going on a rampage after all.

Lizer. The demons. The Asylas Federation. The unseen mastermind. Their motivations were unclear, and we couldn’t be certain if they were working together.

I knew I’d solve even that mystery sooner or later.

At the moment, I had to focus on dealing with the situation before me.

Ginny and Elrado’s little brother were safe.

We weren’t out of the woods yet. In fact, things were just getting started.

“Ginny. Where are your and Elrado’s parents now?”

“On patrol in a separate fortress located on the front lines.”

“Then we’ll head there. We need to work together with your families to expel the enemy army.”

With our new objective in mind, I cast teleportation magic once again…all while feeling something about Arcella’s final words prickle the inside of my heart—