After breakfast, we once again circled up for a meeting. Naturally, our first topic of discussion was the last thing Mia had talked about.
“The Demon Lord’s jumped to another world from where the school mountain was,” Shiki informed us.
While most of us were immediately skeptical of her words, Arisu and Tamaki seemed completely lost. They clearly didn’t understand the significance of that information.
“And so, there’s a high possibility that the Demon Lord is currently on Earth…” I guessed.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. Good thing for the people of this world. I mean, there’s still the other monsters, but at least we don’t have to be afraid of the Demon Lord anymore… He’ll probably never come back to this world.”
Leen and Rushia nodded in agreement.
Arisu finally understood. “Does that mean…?!”
“Earth is under attack by the Demon Lord!” Arisu finished.
“That sounds like a strong possibility,” I confirmed.
Tamaki raised her hand. “Yup. But, Kazu-san, surely the Self-Defense Forces or someone will do something about it, right?”
Arisu sighed in relief. “Yes, that’s right, but…”
“Remember the giant jellyfish we fought at the Temple of Tepat? It seemed like it was related to something that was related to the Demon Lord. Mia said that the Demon Lord has the same traits as his kin.”
“Uh, does that mean… swords or spears won’t work on it?”
“Yeah, and probably not guns or shells either. Maybe it would be different if we dropped a nuclear bomb on him… but other than that, we shouldn’t hope for much.”
Mia hadn’t gone that far in her explanation. But, you know, given the rules of monsters in this world, if they had traits like those, they would be thoroughly invincible.
“Like we talked about yesterday, there’s a possibility that magic actually exists on Earth too, we just can’t see it. If the Demon Lord invades, maybe there is a way to repel him.”
“Uh… like Keiko-san’s master, right?”
“Keiko-san also said she really doesn’t understand it fully.”
Glancing at Yuuki, I saw him nod hesitantly. Apparently, even he couldn’t make a judgment about this situation.
“The first important point is that we finally know the reason your school mountain was transferred to our world,” Leen stated. “The Demon Lord’s transfer and your arrival were simultaneous. It wasn’t that you were chosen; more like you were just caught up in the event. Even so, there are still lots of mysteries, like the White Room. Most importantly, obtaining clues about what’s currently happening on the school mountain is what matters right now.”
“Wait a minute. What do you mean by ‘currently happening on the school mountain’?”
“That’s something we should discuss,” she said before touching the water mirror that was situated in the center of our circle.
✦ ✦ ✦
The water’s surface rippled, then showed what appeared to be the mountain our school sat upon. In the air above this landscape, an intense battle was underway between two formidable presences. A shadowy entity was locked in combat with a grey adversary, their high-speed maneuvers erupting in showers of sparks visible even from afar.
The land, too, had become a battleground: all around our school, vast arrays of monsters were embroiled in fierce skirmishes. On one side, an army primarily composed of animal-like monsters took form, while the other was a ghastly assembly of skeletons leading their ranks. A moment of brutality was captured as a skeleton warrior cleaved a massive bear in twain, only for a horde of wolflike monsters to descend upon it and scatter its remains. Everywhere I looked, another battle raged. The scene was pure chaos.
“Last night, while you, visitors from another world, were busy purging the ogres and orcs, there was a sudden onslaught of monsters,” Leen explained. “In the chaos that followed, I quickly ordered a retreat… and then, the monsters divided into two factions and began their own conflict. It’s been like this ever since.”
My attention was particularly drawn to the aerial duel, and I wasn’t the only one. “That’s him, right?” asked one of the girls.
“Yes, that’s Algrafth, the Black-Winged Mad Wolf. And the only entity capable of standing toe to toe with him would be…” Leen trailed off, the weight of her implication clear.
“The last of the Four Heavenly Kings, who we thought was vanquished in the explosion,” I surmised. As unbelievable as it was, the fact that Algrafth had survived lent credence to the possibility of another’s endurance. The Four Heavenly Kings were entities of unparalleled might, a fact I had come to understand all too well through my own lethal encounter with Azagralith.
“The Ghost King, Diasnexus,” Leen said, nodding gravely. “A sovereign of the undead, the embodiment of death itself.”
The final member of the Four Heavenly Kings—an entity synonymous with disaster.
✦ ✦ ✦
True to his name, The Ghost King, Diasnexus, stood at the pinnacle of the undead. His most troublesome aspect was his mist-like physical form, which made physical attacks even less effective on him than they had been on the jellyfish. Even worse, Diasnexus was a high-ranking mage who layered himself with magic-resistant spells—so he would be immune to the few physical attacks that did land on him, and he was highly resistant to magical attacks as well.
“Um, isn’t this guy a bit too overpowered?” I grumbled.
Shiki sighed. “It’s no wonder he can keep up a fight with Algrafth all night.”
“Considering his level of trouble, he might even surpass Azagralith and Algrafth,” Yuuki pondered, arms crossed.
Yet, for some reason, Diasnexus and Algrafth were still fighting.
“Why are these monsters fighting among themselves?” Arisu asked, genuinely confused. It was a moment that made you want to pat her on the head for her straightforwardness and innocence, although this wasn’t the place for such gestures of affection.
“Based on what Algrafth mentioned the other day, he seems to have broken away from the Demon Lord’s control. He’s leading his own army in rebellion. So, it’s reasonable to assume that Diasnexus is still aligned with the Demon Lord’s forces,” I explained, piecing together the motives behind the clash.
“Algrafth mentioned that he’d be in trouble if this continent sank. So, Diasnexus must be thinking that the sinking of the continent doesn’t concern him,” Yuuki added. In other words, there were two contrasting loyalties here: Diasnexus’s absolute allegiance to the Demon Lord, even at the cost of the continent, and Algrafth’s priorities that lay beyond the Demon Lord’s command.
“If the continent sinks, that would be, uh… a huge problem!” Tamaki exclaimed.
“It seems Diasnexus wouldn’t be bothered by that,” I replied.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Well, if he’s planning on leaving this world, then why would he care what happens to it afterward?”
Tamaki gasped in surprise. “So, does that mean Diasnexus’s goal is to follow the Demon Lord out of this world?”
“Yes, but that’s just a guess for now.”
Shiki took over the explanation. “So Algrafth wanted to stop that from happening.”
“That’s why he asked us the day before yesterday to stop Azagralith.”
It was all speculation, piecing together various statements and circumstantial evidence, but I had a feeling that we were on to something.
“So, for now, Algrafth is the epitome of ‘the enemy of our enemy is our friend.’”
“Don’t be naive, Kazu-kun. Given how he was the other day, I have a feeling he’d attack us if we got close.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. We should probably avoid getting involved in that fight.”
Instead, we might want to wait and take advantage of the situation. Once one falls, we can try to take down the other one. Although, it was dubious whether we could actually manage that…
“When we fought Azagralith, we had a lot of MP to use. It would be great if we could do something like that again.”
“Kazu-kun’s build does get stronger the more MP he has. Maybe you should ask in the White Room.”
“That might be an option, but without leveling up, it wouldn’t really matter…”
Just then, Rushia’s hand shot up. Her expression was as impassive as ever, but I thought I could sense a hint of pride in it. “I’ve been suppressing our level-ups,” she announced.
“Brilliant!”
Wow, that is seriously impressive. Rushia-san is something else.
“With everyone here, not including Leen-san, there are exactly six of us. If Leen-san can’t participate in the meeting, we could continue this discussion in the White Room…”
“Then, I’ll delegate my full authority to Rushia. Please regard her words as my own,” Leen said without hesitation. Observing their mutual nod, I accepted their decision, appreciating the depth of their trust.
“Shall we head to the White Room, then?”
Arisu, Tamaki, Rushia, Shiki, Yuuki, and I quickly formed a party of six.
“Hmm, it seems somewhat out of place for me to intrude upon Kazu-dono’s harem…” Yuuki joked with a sly grin.
“Shiki-san is different,” I laughed.
The urge to punch him was palpable, even with his cheeky smile. Still, being teased about stuff like that hardly bothered me anymore.