Although the sun should have been hanging overhead, its rays failed to extend to the ground. The rain that had been falling since early morning was gradually intensifying, and the wind was blowing hard. It was probably going to be a downpour.
—As fitting as weather for a decisive battle could be.
Diablo gazed up at the leaden sky. He’d gone out to the Inner Sanctum’s drenched balcony without even bothering to put on his robe.
One woman was there as the leader of their group, and Diablo stood still, listening as one of her subordinates. It was the first time he’d followed someone else’s lead since coming to this world.
That woman’s name was Noah Gibun. He didn’t know what her name was in the old world. She did tell him, her voice thick with resentment, that she was an office lady from some kind of exploitative business.
“We will now begin our attack on Emperor Gelmed’s castle,” she said, her voice dignified.
“It’s finally time to go ham!” Alan the Dwarf raised his voice enthusiastically.
The other members of the Palace Knights shrugged. Diablo felt like it had nothing to do with him, but he was still technically part of this group now. He heaved a small sigh.
—A party... Playing as a member of a party, huh...?
Never in his life did he ever perform well when it came to cooperation, team games, or really any group activities. It hung over him like a thick, smoldering cloud of depression. But he wouldn’t be able to overcome the enemy on his own.
The Magimatic Castle Viovix was capable of shutting down all manners of magic. If his teleportation or flight magic were to be canceled, he’d die a terrible accidental death before the fight even began. But Noah seemed to have some kind of transportation method in mind that could circumvent the castle’s defenses. Diablo didn’t know what her plan was; he was interested in finding out, and could ask her... But asking a question in the middle of a group discussion was too difficult for Diablo.
In fact, with his crippling social anxiety, even holding a conversation was a challenge in and of itself. He’d somehow managed to barely speak to people in this world by playing the part of his Demon Lord player character, but that wouldn’t fly here. He was a party member now. Even Diablo knew that throwing around arrogant “Demon Lord” lines at a time like this would be extremely tactless, so he had remained completely silent ever since this meeting began.
But while he held his tongue, all the words he wanted to say were bouncing around in his head.
—Aah. This reminds me of living back in my old world. Games were all I lived for, I’d only open my mouth when I had to eat, and I’d get to be a powerful Demon Lord in the MMO.
His past flashed before his eyes. But as Diablo was lost in his reveries, Klem spoke up next to him.
“How do we get to that castle?” she asked, pointing at the gigantic Magimatic Castle floating in the sky above them.
She may have looked like an adorable girl, but she was in fact a real Demon Lord. And not just any Demon Lord — she was Krebskulm, said to be the strongest of all Demon Lords. Krebskulm was normally a gigantic, armored monster, but she had sealed that form for the time being, instead appearing as a young girl.
“You’re not going to suggest we climb all the way up there, are you?” she continued.
The Emperor’s castle was looming ever closer, like a poisonous insect poised to devour the fruit that was the capital. It was half a day away at best. It walked on tower-like legs, the castle itself standing higher than any mountain. The idea of climbing to that height was daunting.
“We’ll use 《Teleportation》,” Noah answered.
“Mm...? But won’t its barrier deflect magic?”
“That won’t be a problem,” Noah said, taking something out of her pockets. “We’ll use this magic item. We’ve already tested it and confirmed that it can break through the castle’s protection.”
It was a folded fabric. It didn’t look all that expensive; it appeared no different from any hemp cloth sold on the market. But when Diablo focused and tried to see if he could detect any magic energy flowing through it...the light-brown fabric seemed to be glowing with light.
“Hmph,” Klem scoffed at it. “It reeks of magic this Demon Lord doesn’t know. Did you make it?”
“No, I received it from the Archsage Marine. She’s lived for many years and created many unusual magical tools.”
“I see,” Klem said and fell silent, her expression still slightly dubious.
Apparently something still felt somehow off to her. Diablo knew very little about this world’s Archsage, since Marine was an NPC that hardly appeared in the game.
However! A Demon Lord couldn’t let on that he didn’t know about something. That would look lame. And so, Diablo crossed his arms with the most pensive expression he could muster and nodded briefly.
“Hmph, a magical tool made by the Archsage,” he said vaguely.
Noah and the sorceress Utata snuck suspicious glances at him, but neither of them actually asked him if he knew about it. Thankfully.
“This time, I asked a certain woman for help,” Noah continued. “She should guide us within the castle.”
As if that were her cue, a Kobold girl appeared, clad in the Gelmed military’s uniform.
“I’m Aira Arjana, former commander of the Gelmed Empire’s Magimatic Sol unit. I was forced into servitude by the Empire, but thanks to him, I’ve been set free.”
Everyone else followed Aira’s gaze, which settled on Diablo. All the attention almost made him squeal, but he desperately suppressed his panic and kept up his Demon Lord role play.
“Hmph! You think a Demon Lord like me would save you? Don’t delude yourself! I merely sentenced a fool who opposed me to death!”
This was his attempt at masking his embarrassment. But his appearance and the acting he’d perfected to the point of muscle memory actually made it convincing.
“M-My apologies...” Aira winced.
The Palace Knights all looked at him, their eyes clearly nervous. The only ones who remained calm were Klem; her attendant, Edelgard; and Noah, who knew Diablo’s true identity.
“Regardless of what happened before, she’s on our side now,” Noah said in an indifferent tone. “We should set aside our differences, so as to not create unnecessary discord.”
Diablo held his lips, so as to urge her to continue. Noah continued her briefing.
“This magical tool can form a door that will lead us to any place our eyes can see. This means it won’t help us indoors, and as you can see, the castle is quite large, so we’ll absolutely need Miss Aira here to guide us. She was once in charge of the castle’s garrison, after all.”
“Yes,” Aira affirmed. “It’s been a couple of years since then, but there hasn’t been any major remodeling that I know of.”
“I’d imagine. It’s said the Empire’s castle has never been breached by enemy soldiers before. They wouldn’t remodel the place if they didn’t have to.”
“The Empire only acts based on rationalism, after all,” Aira nodded.
“We’ll be relying on you,” Noah told her encouragingly.