The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 7 - Chapter 85

CHAPTER 85

The Ex–Demon Lord and a Twist

My consciousness was hazy at best. All I could manage was to stare at my fallen friends from my place on the ground.

Ginny, skin scorched. Olivia, crumpled against a wall. Sylphy, eyes closed as if asleep, tucked in beyond the gaping hole.

And—Verda, suspended in midair, spear puncturing through her.

Her fingers twitched.

“Ngh… Ah! Up and at ’em!”

She hadn’t stirred before this. I would have thought this was a joke, seeing her springing into the air, hands wrapped right around the spear. Yanking herself free from the weapon, she landed on her feet—the puncture wound on her stomach starting to heal before us.

“To borrow my teacher’s words, that went as expected,” Verda remarked with a sigh.

I guess she was playing dead, waiting for her chance to strike.

“Sigh. He didn’t give me any chances to step in. Bummer.”

Verda shrugged and scanned the room—taking in the damage done to the space and her friends before sighing again.

“It’s his MO: breaking my precious toys with a smile.” Verda’s permanent smile was gone, her expression darkening with rage. “This is why we can’t be together.”

Anger. Pity. I could see her battling against emotions that never really broke through the surface.

But it was only for a moment. She took a deep breath, calming herself. The old Verda was back again.

“All right! Let’s get crackin’ and fix you all up!”

I was relieved to see her back to her cheerful self.

Everyone was going to be okay. I was blessed to have an ally like Verda.

Now there was no need for me to cling to consciousness anymore. I left everything to Verda and closed my eyes—

—I fell into sleep almost instantly, shifting consciousnesses.

As if he’d been waiting to infiltrate my dreams, there he was, stepping into my mental territory.

The dreamscape had to be his doing: black sun in the crimson sky, land barren with no plant life in sight, clusters of rock formations.

There in this vista was one round table. I lowered myself down to take a seat, glaring at the being across from me—Mephisto Yuu Phegor.

“And why do you look like that? Is this a joke to you?”

I realized I was being stupid as soon as I asked this of him.

Everything was a joke to this monster.

I wouldn’t last if I was ticked off by his insistence that he talk to me in the body of a gorgeous woman from the neck down.

“I always think to myself: What’s life without a little humor?”

“…So this is what you find amusing?”

“Hee-hee. I also thought I’d give you a little something to get you excited.”

He squeezed his breasts together, emphasizing them. I didn’t feel the slightest hint of desire—only irritation.

“Hmm. You don’t seem pleased. I was so sure you’d like that my face is identical to the two people you love most.”

“The two people you love most.” Lydia and Ireena.

…He really did remind me of them. That’s what made this so unpleasant.

“…I have no intention of playing around with you. I’m not wasting any time here if you just want to make small talk.”

“Someone’s impatient. You should relax, you know, stretch your legs—ah, sorry. Come on. Don’t go.” Mephisto held me back with his hand. “I entered your dreams to explain the rules. I meant to tell you when I left, but things were getting a little tense and I forgot.”

…Mephisto always treated these incidents like they were some sort of game. He didn’t care if I wanted to play or not; he’d force his restrictions on me and talk over me anyway. It was all part of being an Evil God.

“These rules aren’t very complicated—just a few of them, simple ones. First, power ceilings. It sucks that none of you can weaponize your true strength right now. So I’ll give you an advantage. I won’t use more power than what you can handle.”

Aggressively condescending. But I didn’t have the luxury of nitpicking.

I urged him to continue, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. “And the second?”

“A time limit. Things could get boring if we stretched it out, so you only have ten days—ten days to make your way to Megatholium. As long as you honor that, I don’t care what else you do.”

“…And those are the only rules?”

“Yep. We don’t need any more. That should be more than enough to make this interesting,” Mephisto said, smile repulsive. “I promise to follow my own guidelines and level the playing field. You’re welcome to screw up any of my tricks, too.”

It could go one of two ways: spot his plan and stop him from having fun or fail to pick up on his scheme and curse ourselves for our incompetence.

This was always the case with Mephisto’s so-called games.

“Ah, but I must thank Lizer. After all, he’s the reason I get to play with my honey again. Well, the way I see it, the plan has worked, and—”

“Are we done here? If so, I’m going back.”

Mephisto shrugged when I stood from my chair.

And then his face broke into a wicked grin.

“I’ll have you show me a face soaked in tears. Just like before.” My enemy seemed to be confident.

I threw my shoulders back. “You’ll be the one crying… Just like before.”

This was the last exchange I would have with him in my dreams.

 As I came to my senses and opened my eyes…

“Ah, you’re finally awake!”

“…Are you hurt?”

“Phew. You slept like the dead. I was sure we lost ya.”

My friends were looking down at me. I’d apparently given them a fright.

I apologized to them and sat up. Then I saw her.

“Ginny…”

Like Sleeping Beauty, she lay on the floor, eyes shut, skin pale—no signs of life.

“We were all only dealing with external injuries… But Ginny’s astral spirit has corroded. And that can only be healed with magic.”

“…Then we’ll have to hurry and get it back,” I answered.

Everyone nodded. Verda, particularly vigorously.

“Right. If we don’t get a move on, the damage will be permanent. Seeing how her condition is deteriorating…I’d say we have ten days.”

It was no coincidence, I imagined, that this lined up with the time limit imposed by Mephisto’s game.

“…Our initial goal was to obtain the Strange Cube and rescue Ireena. We have no choice but to delay that for now,” I stated.

We would recover our magic and heal Ginny within ten days. Then…we’d go to Megatholium and defeat Mephisto Yuu Phegor. No one raised any objections.

I continued. “The issue now…is how to get back our magic. Does anyone have any ideas?”

Silence. Everyone crossed their arms and shook their heads. My mind raced—

“There is one way,” Olivia began quietly.

Oddly enough, I was thinking the exact same thing. It was a gamble—all or nothing.

“The Armor of the Demon Lord. If we use that, then maybe—”