“…What?” Leonis’s eyes widened in disbelief.
A figure emerged out of the dust—a beastman warrior, covered in a golden, glowing aura.
“It can’t be, you’re…?!” Leonise exclaimed despite himself.
“Oh no, oh no…!” Shary gave out a frightened screech and cowered behind Leonis’s back. This was one of the Eight Dark Lords who led the Dark Lords’ Armies. He was the greatest of all warriors, known by many titles: Tyranny Incarnate, the King of Destruction, the Demon Beast Emperor.
“The Lord of Beasts, Gazoth Hell Beast!” Leonis whispered to himself bitterly, wiping away the greasy beads of sweat that rolled down his forehead.
“Hmm, I’ll admit I didn’t expect this, though. So the one assuming Zol Vadis’s name was some human brat.”
The Lord of Beasts easily pulled out one of the swords stabbing into the rubble, and then took off his suit’s top, which was tattered from combat. Perhaps he’d fought something before coming here. He revealed the top half of his muscles, hard as steel, covered in a white tiger beastman’s silver fur. No—steel was far too brittle to compare to how robust his body was.
“But appearances can be deceiving. I saw how ya beat that Divine Dragon. And since it was a close call, I decided to give ya a little hand.”
The Lord of Beasts’ sole eye glared obsessively at Leonis.
…This intense, oppressive sensation is definitely him. That’s the real Lord of Beasts, no doubt about it! So Leonis thought, exposed to a gaze that would knock most people unconscious.
This wasn’t a big surprise, though, given that other Dark Lords and members of the Six Heroes had been resurrected one after another. And the Lord of Beasts in particular boasted of being immortal, albeit in a different way compared to Leonis. From the looks of things, he wasn’t corrupted by the Voids like Veira was, nor was he being controlled like Rivaiz was…
“Oh,” Veira suddenly said with an intrigued voice. “You’re alive too, Gazoth. I heard you picked a fight with the Swordmaster and got yourself destroyed.”
“Dragon Lord… And here I thought you’d croaked one thousand years ago,” Gazoth turned to look at her and smirked ferociously. “But I guess the chief lizard hibernated underground this whole time, eh?”
“…Excuse you?”
The air trembled, and the temperature around them rose at once.
…This is bad!
The Dragon Lord and Lord of Beasts were in constant conflict, partially because their territories bordered on each other. A battle between these two Dark Lords could last weeks, even months, and inflict significant harm to the surface world.
I remember Roselia often asking me to mediate the two of them…
If a battle between these two Dark Lords were to erupt now, the Seventh Assault Garden would be reduced to ashes.
“What is the meaning of this, Shary?” Leonis asked the girl standing behind him. “Does Gazoth know about Zol Vadis?”
“Y-Yes, my lord!” Shary replied, speaking rapidly as she gave her report. “During your absence the Lord of Beasts made contact with me. He took offense to the fact the beastmen were gathered under your banner…”
“I see… So there’s room for negotiations.”
In the midst of this explosive situation, Leonis raised his voice. “Wait, Lord of Beasts. Should we not resolve this in a civil manner, through dialogue—”
“Huh?!” Gazoth growled, turned around and swung his sword at Leonis.
“…?!” Leonis hurriedly hopped away, just barely dodging the sword cleaving into the earth with a mighty thud.
The ground was cut cleanly in half by a gigantic fissure left in the attack’s wake.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
“Dialogue? Don’t say stuff that kills the mood. I need to have ya pay the price for assuming the legendary name of Zol Vadis and poaching my subordinates.” Gazoth growled savagely, holding up his katana. “I’ll deal with ya later, Dragon Lord, so just be good and wait yer turn.”
“I can wait. But are you sure you can even beat this child?”
…Don’t taunt him! Leonis glared at Veira.
“Hmph, he beat one of the Six Heroes. He’s no ordinary child.”
“Wait, you should hear me out first—nhaa?!”
The Lord of Beasts casually swung his blade again, and Leonis just barely caught the attack with his staff’s hilt. But the air pressure produced by the slash sent him and the rubble he was standing on flying back.
“Guh…!”
His body was slammed hard against the rubble. Had he not cast a spell to augment his defenses in the last second, his ten-year-old body would have been smashed.
“Kuh…!”
He wobbled to his feet and tried to pick up his staff. But then he realized—the staff he was gripping with both hands was broken cleanly down the middle.
…M-my Staff of Death’s Eye!
While it paled in comparison to the Staff of Sealed Sins, it was still a one-of-a-kind, Legend-class magical tool, and a rare curio Leonis especially favored among his many treasures.
“Good block. I’d expect as much of one who assumes the legendary name of Zol Vadis.” Gazoth charged at him, sword in hand.
“…Damn you. Mel Ziora!” Leonis thrust forward the broken staff’s tip and cast a sixth-order spell, enveloping the Lord of Beasts’ burly form in a fireball.
—But he easily scattered the flames and barreled toward Leonis with all the might of a heavy tank!
“Haaaaaaaa!” He held his sword overhead and swung it down on Leonis—only for the boy’s body to shatter like glass.
“…Mm?”
“—You will pay dearly for breaking my staff, Gazoth.”
Leonis appeared behind Gazoth, emerging from his shadow. The one who was shattered was a skeleton soldier with an illusion spell applied to it.
“Eighth-order spell—Al Gu Belzelga!”
With a thundering blast, a white-hot explosion of heat hit the Lord of Beasts directly in the back. A massive pillar of flames appeared, rising up to the heavens.
“You were careless, Lord of Beasts. To charge at me without enveloping your body in vigor.”
“Hah, I don’t need vigor to handle these kinds of flames,” the Lord of Beasts’ voice came from within the raging flames.
“What?”
“Haaaa!” Gazoth let out a howl toward the sky, and the cursed flames scattered.
…He was able to break my eighth-order spell with just his howl?!
True, Leonis had exhausted much of his mana in his series of battles against the Divine Dragon and the Archsage, but still—he didn’t chant any defensive spells, and unlike Veira, he didn’t have any scales that offered him spell resistance. He had just dispelled high-order sorcery with nothing but his own tempered body.
…He always was one absurd creature. Leonis grit his teeth as he hopped back, trying to create distance from Gazoth.
“C’mon, how often do we get to have a one-on-one? Let’s have fun with this!” Gazoth laughed savagely, his fangs bared.
…I get the feeling he’s not so much indignant at my assuming Zol Vadis’s name as he is just looking for a strong opponent.
After all, the Lord of Beasts was so obsessed with finding a good fight that he challenged Leonis’s old master and strongest of the Six Heroes, the Swordmaster Shardark, to one-on-one battle.
But then—
“L-Lord of Beasts, please, stop!”
A shadow whip lashed out, wrapping around Gazoth’s right arm, which was gripping his sword.
“Shary?!” Leonis asked.
“I—I can’t allow anyone to wreak such havoc, not even you, Lord of Beasts!”
“Don’t butt in, maid. You’re spoiling my high.” Gazoth easily tore off the shadow whip and glared at Shary with his lone eye.
“Eeep…!” His menacing gaze made Shary cower, her knees giving out.
This was the eye of one who single-handedly defeated tens of thousands of troops in battle. And while Leonis was unaffected by it, Shary couldn’t withstand its pressure.
“What are you doing to my attendant?!” Leonis slammed his hand against the ground.
Leonis cast the eighth-order spell, Earth Tremor Impact—Graz Garud. Countless rock pillars manifested in midair and propelled themselves at Gazoth Hell Beast. This was a tactical-tier spell, and an impact from even one of these rock pillars was enough to instantly fell an extra-large Void.
“Hah, now we’re talkin’…!”
Gazoth swung his sword directly above him, unleashing a radial wave of vigor that crushed the stone pillars and hoisted their fragments in a swirling whirlwind.
“I’m not holding back with this one. Take this attack if you can, you shameless pretender…!”
“N-no, hold back, you fool! You’ll sink us along with the entire Central Garden!” Leonis exclaimed in outrage, deploying a force barrier around himself and Shary.
“Haaaaaaaaa, Bestial Destruction Slash!”
Vigor built up in Gazoth’s sword, but just as he was about to unleash it—
“Enough, Lord of Beasts.”
A gigantic blade of ice shot up in front of Gazoth with a whoosh, blocking his path like a wall.
“…?!”
Gazoth and Leonis both looked up.
“I swear. What are you two doing?”
Above them floated a girl with amethyst-colored hair, who looked down at the two Dark Lords with disapproving eyes.
“You… Are you the Lord of the Seas?” Gazoth asked, amazed.
“Indeed. Though I am only at one half right now, with my Leviathan lost to me.” The beautiful girl clad in a water mantle gracefully landed. “It’s been a long time, Gazoth Hell Beast. So you, too, were resurrected in this era.”
“Nngh…” The one-eyed white tiger let out a guttural growl.
It was a considerable departure from how he treated Veira.
“Incidentally, I recall you still owe me a debt from a thousand years ago, Lord of Beasts.”
“…Aye.”
“So out of deference to me, I ask that both of you lay down your arms,” the Lord of the Seas said, her voice soft.
Gazoth thrust the sword into the ground and sat down on the spot.
“Tsk. Fine. Aaagh, and we were just getting to the good part…”
“My apologies. But the Dragon Lord and I have words to exchange with the Undead King.”
“…The Undead King?” Gazoth frowned. “The strongest Dark Lord, Leonis Death Magnus, got resurrected, too?!”
“Mm.” Rivaiz nodded and looked at Leonis. “This child is the Undead King.”