“Ha-ha-ha, I’ll admit, that was a pleasant duel, Leonis.”
“Hmph, I feel the same way, Lord of Beasts. My blood hasn’t rushed like this in a thousand years.”
“Ya didn’t even have any blood coursing through your veins a thousand years ago!”
“…I-it was a figure of speech.” Leonis said, clad in his uniform, as he took off the goggles he was wearing.
The virtual forest field around them vanished, revealing a room with white walls in its place. They were in a combat simulation room in Excalibur Academy. This place could access a portion of the Astral Garden, allowing students to experience virtual combat training. It not only recreated the powers of registered Holy Swords, it was also capable of simulating over two hundred types of terrain fields, including urban areas, wastelands, and forests.
Normally, this was a cutting-edge device used for anti-Void combat training, but many students used it as a playing ground. Leonis himself became quite hooked on it for a time after Elfiné introduced it to him. Of course, even in a virtual space, Leonis couldn’t reveal his Dark Lord powers, so Elfiné one-sidedly pummeled him in their training match.
Either way, by using this device, they were able to fight to their hearts’ content with no holds barred without damaging the Seventh Assault Garden.
“This is an interesting gizmo, though. I like it,” Gazoth said, looking at the goggles curiously.
“Mm, mankind’s technology has advanced so much it surprises even a sorcerer such as myself.” Leonis shrugged and displayed the score of their match on his terminal. “Our scores are basically tied.”
“Well, that’s the result I’d expect from two Dark Lords going all out. No complaints there.” Gazoth nodded magnanimously.
In the earlier parts of the match, Leonis had the advantage owing to his familiarity, but the Lord of Beasts’ supernatural reaction speeds allowed him to gain momentum, and he won back all his points in the latter half of the game. If their match lasted longer, Leonis would have surely lost.
…It’s a good thing Gazoth is a Dark Lord who stands by his word. Leonis thought to himself in relief.
Veira would have demanded a rematch and blasted the area with her fiery breath when denied.
“Then, as decided, I’ll hand over half of the Demon Wolf Pack to you.”
“Yeah, but I get to pick who.”
“Very well.” Leonis nodded.
Gazoth preferred to have the Red Lion clan and Ashen Bear clan, beastmen from clans that had great combat prowess. And while it may have looked like handing over the stronger beastmen was a concession on Leonis’s behalf, Leonis preferred beastmen of the Shadow Wolf clan, which were more geared toward stealth and gathering intelligence.
…Losing subordinates is a painful blow, but it’s a reasonable price to pay for making peace with Gazoth.
Gazoth Hell Beast was a seasoned warrior that always fought on the front lines of the Dark Lord war. He could make for a reliable ally when the time came to fight the other resurrected Undead King.
“Well, it’s about time I went back to my base. Can’t leave it vacant for too long.” Gazoth raised his hulking figure from the seat.
He was currently running an underground syndicate of beastmen in the capital, it seemed. He opened the door and made to leave the training facility, but then—
“Oh. That reminds me…” Gazoth turned to look at Leonis. “While you were fighting the Divine Dragon, I ran into this suspicious guy. He looked human. Aaah, what was his name again? Used to work under the Devil of the Underworld.”
“…Nefakess Reizaad?” Leonis asked sharply.
“Yeah, that’s the name. He used these sneaky methods to challenge me to battle. Who is he anyway? Surely he didn’t join your side after resurrecting, did he?”
“I don’t know what he’s scheming, either.” Leonis shook his head. “But I do know he’s been going around trying to resurrect the slumbering Six Heroes and Dark Lords.”
It wasn’t limited to just Nefakess Reizaad, either. Leonis’s former officer, the Mad Alchemist Zemein, was involved too, as was the exiled Queen of Shadows, Scheherazade, who had crashed the Holy Sword Dance Festival and created the massive crack in the sky above the capital.
“It must have been him who awakened my other self in the Rognas Kingdom ruins.”
“Oh. So that was him.” Gazoth growled. “I shouldn’t have played around and killed him after all.”
“Well, if nothing else, I’m keeping a careful watch over his actions. He’s not very powerful on his own, but his scheming is proving problematic.”
“Yeah, next time I see him, I’ll crush him—no questions asked.” The Lord of Beasts gave an invincible smirk and waved at Leonis with his back turned.
After leaving the training facility, Leonis took out his terminal and turned it on. As soon as he did, it started ringing, and the voice of his minion girl came out of the speaker.
“Oh, Leo, good. I was worried because you weren’t picking up the phone.”
“I’m sorry, communications must have been unstable because of the Stampede…”
“Where are you now?”
“Hm, Excalibur Academy’s training area.”
“Oh, really? We’re on our way back right now. Let’s meet up in front of the auditorium.”
“All right.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“—Leo!”
“Kid, we’re over here!”
Ten minutes later, Leonis spotted Riselia and Regina waving at him from the auditorium’s entrance. Regina jumped, her twintailed hair hopping.
“Did I keep you waiting?” He hurried over, and Riselia wrapped her arms around him.
“Oh, Leo, I was so worried.”
Leonis felt himself flush over as her soft bosom enveloped his face. Thin strands of her silver hair brushed ticklishly over his cheeks.
“M-Miss Selia, I can’t breathe…”
“O-oh, sorry…”
Riselia hurriedly let go, but then kneeled and whispered into his ear.
“Thank you, Leo. You saved everyone.”
“No, I wasn’t…” Leonis awkwardly averted his gaze from her ice-blue eyes.
…He wasn’t doing this to save the humans. All he did was try to protect his kingdom.
…I’m not a hero, after all. He rejected the idea, recalling a bitter memory from long, long ago.
“…This reminds me, what did you do with the Thunderbolt?” He turned to look at Regina.
“I parked it in a parking lot in the Central Garden. It’d be trouble if I brought it to the Academy.”
“Yes, thank you for that.” Leonis was grateful for her quick thinking.
He had gotten the Thunderbolt through illegal dealings, and it was an unregistered military vehicle. What’s more, he had modified it to suit his tastes. So if the Academy’s Administrative Bureau were to catch wind of it, it would cause him many problems.
He could send Shary later to collect it from the parking lot.
—But then he remembered something important. Indeed, something much more important than the Thunderbolt.
“—Hm, what did you do with the Magia Droid you found in the ruins?”
The last time he saw the Deus Machina’s wreckage, she was connected to the Thunderbolt.
“I’m having Leite fixed. Apparently, she can get new limbs.”
“I see. So you did meet up with Miss Elfiné.”
Leonis was planning to have Elfiné fix her to begin with. Her Eye of the Witch would have been able to repair the Deus Machina’s damaged memory, too. However…
“…”
Riselia and Regina exchanged silent looks.
“Wh-what’s wrong…?” Leonis frowned, taken aback by their grim change in attitude.
“…Leo, Miss Finé—” Riselia placed her hands on Leonis’s shoulder and began explaining.
…
“So Miss Elfiné has a Demon Sword…,” Leonis whispered, holding back a groan.
He had just heard the story of how Elfiné appeared before them with a swarm of Voids in a Phillet research facility and used a Demon Sword’s powers, before disappearing along with the Voids.
…Was she corrupted by her Demon Sword?
As far as Leonis knew, anyone who wielded a Demon Sword’s power, without exception, had their mind corrupted by it. Like Muselle Rhodes, who attacked Riselia once, and Liat Guinness, the captain of Elfiné’s former unit, the seventh platoon.
“…Yes. If nothing else, she doesn’t seem to remember us.” Riselia shook her head weakly.
“I see…”
“I couldn’t save her…,” Riselia said, her voice trembling as she held onto Leonis’s shoulders.
“Miss Selia…”
“…Don’t worry, Lady Selia. Miss Finé won’t lose to this.”
“…Yeah. You’re right.” Riselia nodded and bit her lip.
“First we need to look for clues and figure out where she went.”
“Right…”
So Elfiné was abducted by her family… Leonis thought to himself.
This meant they weren’t without any clues at all. When he ran into Nefakess in the Rognas Kingdom ruins, he was accompanied by Seraphim, an Artificial Elemental, which took control of the Machina Soldiers and the Deus Machina. Seraphim was created by the Phillet company, which meant the priest was somehow backed by the Phillets.
…So if I capture him, I should be able to learn Elfiné’s whereabouts…