✦ ✦ ✦
†
Raumunus of the Ash and Viridinus of the Emerald seemed to waver at this statement.
“How much do you know...?!”
“Uu...”
He could tell them Erina told him this and that would have settled it quickly, but Doriadanph would hear him. And there was no telling what he might do if he found out she leaked information... And so, Diablo simply kept glaring at them.
“What are you doing?! Kill them!” Doriadanph bellowed, kicking them in the back.
Raumunus’ pilot clicked her tongue and moved forward.
“If you’re not running, we’ll kill you! Sorry, but these are my orders!”
Raumunus approached Diablo, sharp claws extended from the back of its hand with a clink. Bear claws, as they’re called.
Whoa! This is... kinda cool.
But as cool as they looked, each claw was as large as a spear, and Diablo couldn’t afford to zone out with this thing sweeping down to kill him. After all, Lumachina and Horn were behind him, and if they were to be attacked by a Magimatic Sol, the result would be gruesome.
Viridinus of the Emerald also moved, hoping to support Raumunus. It was armed with a gigantic mallet. Normally, the ones armed with melee weapons took the vanguard while the ones carrying ranged weapons guarded the rear, but this time, all three Magimatic Sols were melee fighters.
This was likely because they were in the middle of an enemy stronghold and surrounded by Imperial soldiers. If Diablo and his group were to run around, there was no telling how many losses the Empire might take from a ranged weapon. Even Doriadanph could potentially be hit by a stray bullet.
That’d be a lucky accident for us, though...
But Diablo could only feel like their operation here was falling apart.
“You are truly foolish to challenge a Demon Lord to battle!” he said menacingly, but his heart was full of bitterness.
I guess I have to fight them after all...
After hearing Erina’s story, Diablo didn’t want to fight the Magimatic Sol pilots if possible. But the situation didn’t allow for it, and Diablo was only left with regret. Couldn’t there have been a better way? It was regrettable, but he couldn’t afford to retreat.
“Gather forth, Light,” Diablo chanted, pointing his staff. “《Hercules Lance》!”
A level 120 light element attack. A massive lance of light that dwarfed even the Magimatic Sol’s mallet shot off at blinding speed, aiming at the opponent’s head, specifically its less-armored eyes.
The enemy was of course aware of all this, and was cautious of Diablo’s attack.
“Whoa...!”
Viridinus evaded the spell, but at the cost of losing its balance.
“Flare Burst!” Diablo rapidly unleashed another spell.
“Ugh?!”
The spell hit its mark head-on, but didn’t deal enough damage to destroy the unit.
“Oh, you did it now...!”
“Its magic resistance is high, so spells that aren’t above the limit break cap don’t affect it, huh...?” he pondered aloud.
“Saya! Let’s take him on together!”
“...Mm!”
Raumunus and Viridinus split off, approaching Diablo from both sides. Diablo remembered this from Girls’ Arms, a 《Combination Attack》 that used two units.
“《Volcanic Wall》!” Diablo fired a spell at one of them.
“Huh?!”
Viridinus’ charge was impeded when a wall of flames billowed up right in front of it. The fact it stopped its charge so easily was a bit suspicious... But Diablo assumed the pilot just didn’t have the nerve to keep going.
With this, Viridinus was impeded, but Raumunus was still barreling toward Diablo, its claws up.
“Ooooh! This is war, where the weak die!”
“I agree completely...《Rock Cannon》!”
Using his omit skill, he fired powerful spells in fast succession without chanting. A giant boulder formed near the tip of his staff and was launched forward, hitting its opponent at close range.
“Nnnnnng?!”
At first confident that there was no chance the Magimatic Sol could dodge that one, Diablo’s eyes widened as Raumunus curved its upper half back like a string.
“It can’t be!” he exclaimed in shock.
The spell skimmed and scraped off some of Raumunus’ head armor, but it wasn’t a direct hit. All three of them moved back, making distance between each other.
“Kahaha! Not bad! I think I wet myself a bit there!”
“...Uuu... Fire, scary...”
How did it dodge that Rock Cannon?! I fired it at point-blank range! Did she read my line of sight?!
On the surface, though, Diablo cloaked his surprise.
“Heheheh... I’d expect no less. It would be all too boring if you two were to break down now!”
“Tch... This guy’s a combat nut, just like Toaha. Maybe we should have let her handle him instead...”
“They’re... almost done over there.”
No way!
Diablo turned his gaze to where Rose and Erurenus were fighting, and at that same moment, the sound of something metallic snapping echoed through the room.
†
“Nngh...?!” Rose crumpled to the ground.
“Ahahaha! I’m surprised! It’s the first time I’ve fought a Zeronus of the Black model that’s this strong! How did you manage it? Is it because you have a lot of EXP? Or are you just special?!”
“R-Rose has...”
Erurenus of the Yellow tore both the arms off of Rose’s Magimatic Sol. Its weapon was smashed, shards falling to the ground. It was completely destroyed — Diablo wondered to himself with a sense of dread if it could even be repaired at this point?
“That was more fun than I expected!” Erurenus, by contrast, was mostly unharmed.
“Rose has not yet lost...!” She stood up, holding up her double-headed sword.
But of course, without a Magimatic Sol, she couldn’t hope to match them in battle.
“Step down, Rose!” Diablo shouted at her.
“M-Master...?!”
“I shall handle the rest!”
“...Understood,” Rose said bitterly.
Diablo was anxious the enemy might not let her go, but apparently they’d lost interest in her once she wasn’t able to put up a fight. Erurenus of the Yellow’s pilot, Toaha, turned her gaze to Diablo.
“Heheheh... It’s you, right? The sorcerer that defeated Rikka and Erina?” she asked.
“It was him?!”
“What...?!”
Diablo could hear the pilots of the ashen and green Magimatic Sols swallow nervously.
“Ahahaha, there can’t be too many people who can fire that many powerful spells in Lyferia, right?!” Toaha laughed.
“Kuh... So it was you... You’re the one who killed Rikka and Erina!”
“Grr...!”
Having someone direct hatred toward him for killing a friend was much more emotionally taxing than Diablo had imagined. He fought to protect his friends too, and that meant he understood how they felt.
“Kuh...” Diablo felt his pulse rising.
This was a dangerous situation. He was up against three essentially unscathed Magimatic Sols. Only high level magic could hope to properly damage them, and he didn’t have the time to chant. Rose was out of commission, and he had Lumachina and Horn behind him.
Lumachina chanted a prayer to increase her party’s offensive power, but it wouldn’t work on Rose or Diablo. Rose was a machine, and Diablo’s Demon Lord’s Ring would reflect it away. Lumachina knew all of this, as well.
Why is she chanting, then...?
Lumachina then raised her voice.
“Erina Reufelia still draws breath!” she proclaimed loudly.
“Huh?!”
“The red Magimatic Sol was burned away, but her race allowed her to survive!”
“Wait, she’s right... Erina’s a Vampire!” Raumunus of the Ash exclaimed happily.
Viridinus of the Emerald stirred. It was hard to tell, but the way she breathed out made it clear it was from joy. Erurenus of the Yellow, however, cackled loudly.
“Ahahaha! So Erina’s still alive! That’s good!”
It was a clearly superficial, hypocritical laughter. Compared to how she laughed during battle, any words of empathy for her comrades felt awfully fake.
Still, this was useful material for negotiation. The situation was heavily skewed in the Empire’s favor, and Diablo couldn’t confidently say he’d win a straight-up battle against three Magimatic Sols. Creating dissent among them might create an opening that would allow him to fire off a powerful spell.
“Tell me your true feelings! You do not actually want to fight, do you?!”
“Ahahaha! It’s true, I don’t want to fight! But when I get in this Magimatic Sol, my tail gets all tingly☆”
It seemed Erurenus of the Yellow — or rather its pilot — wasn’t going to listen to him. She claimed she didn’t want to fight, but let out clear bloodlust and enmity. She was drunk off of battle, but maybe there was a chance of convincing the ashen and green ones.
“Well, we...”
“Ugh...”
Diablo had hoped to buy time, but Doriadanph stopped their exchange with a shout.
“You dogs! You intend to defy my orders?! You can’t do that, and you know it!”
“Ngh...”
“Heee?! I’m sorry!”
“W-We know that already! Don’t shout at us, we’ll kill them soon enough! That’s what you want, right?!”
“Guhuhu... Don’t let a mere sorcerer give you trouble!”
The three Magimatic Sols turned their weapons on Diablo. He broke into a cold sweat. He’d failed to buy them any time.
“You’re scum...” He breathed out bitterly, fixing his gaze at Doriadanph. “You hold them captive with enslavement magic and hostages? Disgusting. Very well... I shall use my greatest magic to put an end to you!”
“Ahahaha! Really?! This is gonna be fun!” Erurenus charged Diablo with manic laughter.
Diablo prepared himself and clenched his teeth bitterly... Normal magic wouldn’t do enough here. But then...
“’Kay!”
Behind Doriadanph, who had been watching over the fighting behind the Magimatic Sols, appeared a shadow.
†
Just when did she get there? It was as if she’d appeared from out of the shadows. The one who had snuck up on Doriadanph’s large, corpulent back was none other than Horn.
“U-Ugh?!” Doriadanph groaned.
Horn stabbed her dagger into Doriadanph’s back. Her teeth were clicking audibly from fear and suspense. This was probably the first time she’d really injured someone. Her face was even paler than Doriadanph’s as his gaze slowly swerved toward her.
✦ ✦ ✦
