Chapter 180

CHAPTER 18 The Magic Bow of Darkness Lucifer majestically parades around the town along with Eraser, Chaos Machina, and the other demons. I follow them for a while until I hear a woman shriek. But right as I’m about to rush in to help, a few demons frantically race over to Eraser. “Eraser! The Demon Sword’s soldiers have gone berserk! They’re destroying the city!” “Their bodies have been taken over by a dragonewt. Don’t hold back just because they’re my men. Kill them before there are any more victims.” “Yes, sir!” Even while Eraser is giving orders, the town erupts into chaos. I feel like I’m watching a riot. Some people are running about trying to escape, and some demons are frozen in panic. The only thing everyone has in common is…the fact that at least one demon soldier, who is clearly acting unnatural, is chasing after them. There are five…six—no…! There are way too many of them! H-how can that dragonewt be controlling this many demon soldiers?! When did he sneak inside them?! “Eraser has given orders to kill the out-of-control soldiers!” The demon who had just received orders shouts to the others who had been running about in confusion, and their expressions change in an instant. One demon slashes a Demon’s Sword soldier with his razor-sharp claws. The soldier’s flesh is torn open, and copious amounts of blood spill out. It’s a fatal cut from the shoulder to the waist. Nevertheless, at that very instant, a tiny dragonewt lunges out from the soldier’s wound and swiftly crawls up the attacker’s body before slipping into his pointed ear! “Gwaaaaaah!” He screams and collapses to the ground, writhing in pain before slowly standing back up. He then curls his lips into a smirk as if the agony he had just experienced was no more than a lie. “Heh-heh-ho-ho-ho… May the Seraph bless us all!” H-has he been infected?! This must be how Paradura’s been slowly increasing in number! “Seiya! We have to find Paradura’s original body!” “No, we don’t.” “S-Seiya?! We’re never going to be able to defeat the Dragon Lord if we die here! Do you seriously not understand that?” “You’re the one who doesn’t understand. We don’t need to look for his original body because each tiny parasitic dragon is a part of his original body. I presume there are already dozens, if not hundreds, of them. Just killing a few of them isn’t going to do much damage to him.” O-oh…! Seiya must have Mimicked his move, which is why he knows exactly how it works… Wait. “Hold on! Do you mean that over a hundred demons are already infected?!” “That’s what I would do if I were him.” “But…!” The mob of infected demons raise hell throughout the town until they eventually notice the horde of demons surrounding Lucifer Crowe and approach them. “R-Rista! They’re coming this way!” Cerceus and I naturally retreat as the ominous demons begin to stagger toward us while wildly cackling. That is, until Chaos Machina stands before them. She effortlessly swings her sword, which is almost as big as her entire body, and cleanly splits the first demon soldier in half. Immediately, the small dragonewt shoots out of its wound and heads straight for her mouth! “Watch out!” I scream reflexively…but it appears I was worried for nothing. Moments before the tiny dragonewt crawls into her mouth, Chaos Machina tightly bites down on its neck with her sharp fangs, then spits out the head with a sour face. “Disgusting. So, so, sooo disgusting.” Chaos Machina seems confident, but the infected demon soldiers continue to march toward her as if they weren’t concerned in the least. “May the Seraph bless us all! May the Seraph bless us all!” Chaos Machina scratches her cheek, looking troubled. “Hm… Fighting this many at once could get trickyyy.” She slightly takes a step back. Eraser braces himself for battle as well, but the infected demons suddenly stop in their tracks in unison. A single demon soldier then says: “Heh-heh-heh… I sense someone with an extremely strong magic power among you.” I turn to Seiya, who looks extremely powerful with his flames cloaking his body for protection. He must be getting cold feet after laying eyes on Seiya’s fire! He wouldn’t want his original body to be burned to a crisp, after all! “Heh! Seiya’s gonna make mincemeat out of you!” But the demon stares in the complete opposite direction of us while ignoring me in the process. Inside the demon soldier’s body, Paradura wasn’t looking at Seiya but at Lucifer Crowe… Seriously?! “Hyah-ha-ha-ha! I see. So that’s your savior! No wonder you’ve been hiding behind this barrier for so long! What an oppressive aura!” After the dragonewt shouts in admiration, he lets out a vile laugh. “But it doesn’t matter how strong you are! My doppelgängers have already found their way inside the majority of the demons in this village!” It sounds like Seiya was right with his prediction: The dragonewt has already infected a few hundred demons. Nevertheless, Eraser calmly says: “And? I feel bad for my brethren, but all we have to do is kill you along with them.” “Heh-heh! A very clear-cut, demon-like solution, I must say! But will you be so calm once you find out you’re one of the unlucky ones?” “What?” There’s an immediate change in Eraser. He groans in agony as one of his six hands clutches his stomach. And then… “Gwah!” After Eraser’s stomach tears open, a tiny dragonewt pokes its bloody head out, and lolls its red tongue with a smile. “You idiot! I already snuck inside your body as well!” “H-how did you get in?!” “Hyah-ha-ha-ha! Now do as I say, or die!” I-it looks like an alien! Did he sneak inside Eraser during his expedition? Or did he wait until he had his guard down? I don’t know, but this is terrifying! M-maybe I should ask Seiya for a cork! I begin weighing my pride against having a cork shoved up my nether regions when Paradura’s doppelgänger slips back inside Eraser’s stomach. His face twists in anguish as he addresses his men. “Don’t hold back…! Kill…me…!” But at that moment, Eraser’s expression changes, and he begins speaking with a high-pitched voice as the words fall off his twisted lips. “Oh, how special this turned out to be! Then let’s see one of you give it a try! Kill me and your general! Just remember this, though: Killing one or two of my doppelgängers would hardly affect me. If you want to defeat me, you have to kill every last one of my doppelgängers in the city! Heh-heh-heh-ho-ho-ho! Too bad that’s impossible!!” I swallow my breath. Mn…! He’s not only taking over the town, but taking the demons as hostage as well! I never expected someone this small to be so powerful! How are we going to get out of this one?! “Now remove the barrier around the city!” Paradura threatens the others from within Eraser’s stomach. Chaos Machina clicks her tongue, and Rosalie’s breathing grows harsh. I am curious to know Seiya’s reaction and turn around…but I don’t see him anywhere. “What the…?!” I restlessly look around for Seiya. A few moments go by until I finally see half of his burning face along with Cerceus’s peeking out from the shadow of someone’s house a few meters away. I immediately sprint over in a fluster and yell: “What the hell are you two doing over here?!” “Hiding, of course. While I may be perfectly protecting myself with these flames, I still want to avoid the small chance I get a parasite like Eraser.” “An ant wouldn’t even be able to get near you with that much fire! Come on, stop hiding! You have to do something!” “I actually don’t. More importantly, let’s see if this demon was worth the decade-long wait for the Human-Demon Alliance.” “…?” I look in the direction Seiya gestured and gasp. Lucifer Crowe, who was quiet up until now, is glaring at Paradura. After she takes a step forward, she says in a voice as cold as ice: “How pitiful. When did Gaeabrande become a world populated by weaklings?” “What did you just say to me? ‘Weaklings’? Me? Heh-heh-heh-ho-ho-ho! Can you not see that you’re at my mercy? You fool! Whether you demons live or die is up to this ‘weakling’!” “That is nothing more than an illusion. No one is at your mercy.” Lucifer Crowe slowly moves her arms like she’s pulling a bowstring. Even though she doesn’t have a physical weapon, a black mist appears around her hands as it materializes into a magic bow and arrow. A pitch-black bow…! That’s Lucifer Crowe’s special move! After elegantly drawing the string back while bearing a close resemblance to Mitis, the Goddess of Archery, she shoots the arrow not at Paradura but the sky. “D-does she even know how to use that thing?” Cerceus jeers. The single slender arrow soars high into the sky, piercing the heavens. The infected demons all watch the arrow while cackling, but I’m more focused on what emerges from the clouds. “What is that…?!” An enormous black sphere appears in the sky with countless “eyes” twitching on its surface! “Rista! What is that monster?! Did she summon that? Wasn’t Lucifer’s special move supposed to be a magic bow?!” “I-I don’t know what that is!” “…That must be it.” Seiya’s utterance leaves me speechless. Th-that monster is a Magic Bow?! That’s nothing like the Magic Bow skill that Seiya once learned! As Cerceus and I gawk at the utterly bizarre sphere, Lucifer murmurs: “Remove yourself from my brethren’s bodies.” She then crosses her arms. “O Seeds of Disaster, fall upon my enemy: Diablos Rain.” Light immediately bursts from the monster in the sky. I manage to see it split into countless trails of darkness, raining upon the demons on the surface at incredible speed like guided missiles. “Khaaa!” Eraser grunts as a black ray runs right through his body. It isn’t just Eraser, though. The demons in the city rapidly drop to their feet as countless trails of darkness fall upon them. However, the trails never once fall near Rosalie or Chaos Machina. Of course, Seiya, Cerceus, and I are safe as well. That’s when it hits me, and I yell to Seiya: “Is she only sniping the demons who have been infected?! But how?!” “That round monster must have scanned every demon’s body in town. Then, she decided to take them all out at once with Magic Bow.” “S-so she’s only killing the demons that have been infected?!” “No…” When I follow Seiya’s gaze, Eraser is on the ground, moaning in agony and throwing up Paradura’s bisected body. He’s coughing, but he’s miraculously still alive. The other demons gradually begin to get up as well. “B-but how?! The black light pierced their bodies! How are they still alive?!” “Those magic arrows must be made with dark magic, which demons are resistant to. That would explain why Eraser and the others aren’t dead.” Seiya explains from the shadows as Lucifer Crowe coldly looks down at the tiny dragonewt crawling on the ground and on the verge of death. “With my Magic Bow, I have simultaneously disposed of all one hundred and eighty-one dragonewts which infected my kin.” “Y-you were able…to hit every one…of my doppelgängers…at the same time… Th-that’s…!” Paradura withers until he can no longer move. And then…there is only silence. Both humans and demons remain silent for a few moments until, all of a sudden, Chaos Machina speaks up in a voice trembling with excitement. “Wh-what a miracle! A miracle! How wonderful, wonderful—ah, how wooonderful!” Every other demon in town then lets out a cheer as if that were the signal. They gather around Lucifer and begin showering her with praise. Unlike the excited crowd of demons, however, I am trembling deep down inside. Th-the situation seemed hopeless, and yet she destroyed the enemy like he was nothing! Who knows what else this monster is capable of?! Before I even realize it, Seiya has left the shadows and is walking ahead. It looks like he deactivated the spell that protected his body with flames as well. He approaches the group of demons who are surrounding Lucifer with cheers, then gives her an almost sarcastic applause. “Good job. Very impressive work.” “How arrogant can you be?!” “Just as I expected, you should be able to put up a good fight against the Dragon Lord. From now on, I will be supporting Lucifer one hundred percent from behind the scenes.” “A-are you being serious?!” “Warped Gaeabrande will surely be saved now.” I-I can’t believe what I’m hearing! Supporting Lucifer from behind the scenes?! That’s something a random background character does, not the Hero! But as I sigh with grief, Rosalie, standing behind me, mutters: “Yes. That’s perfect. Mankind simply needs to support Lucifer. This legendary demon can surely defeat the Dragon Lord!” Her cheeks flushed, Rosalie passes through the crowd of demons, then extends an arm to shake Lucifer’s hand. “Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Rosalie Roseguard of the Human-Demon Alliance, and I speak on behalf of all mankind.” Lucifer doesn’t even attempt to shake hands. She simply glares at Rosalie. Nevertheless, Rosalie expresses no concern as she boldly requests: “Lucifer Crowe! Please save mankind from the Dragon Lord’s reign!” Lucifer’s suddenly knits her brows. Then, she asks not Rosalie but the demons around her: “I was wondering about these humans. They don’t seem to be slaves…so why are demons tolerating their existence?” “Humans and demons have joined forces to defeat the dragonewts.” Rosalie then pulls out the Testament and shows her, but Lucifer’s cold expression doesn’t change. Rosalie faintly smiles at her. “I understand how confusing this may seem. You have no idea of our history together this past decade, after all.” Eraser then steps in between Rosalie and Lucifer. “Rosalie, let me explain the situation to her.” “All right. Thanks.” Eraser reverently explains: “Over ten years ago, the Dragon Lord defeated the Demon Lord Xenosload. After that, a three-way war broke out between the dragonewts, demons, and humans. During the war, we demons were able to increase our power tenfold by utilizing Deathmagla’s black magic and Kilkapul’s summons. However, the humans were able to enhance their capabilities as well.” Eraser points at Rosalie while speaking. “The nation of Roseguard also came up with a method to transfer demonic power into human subjects. From then on, Rosalie Roseguard, the late mage Flashika, and numerous other humans gained extraordinary power. However, as the humans and demons continued to fight, the dragonewts only grew more powerful. Therefore, we made a pact to work together in order to defeat our common enemy.” Rosalie nods firmly. Eraser then takes the paper from her hand and says: “This… This is the Testament—the false pact we made to fool the humans until your resurrection, O Lucifer.”