“Gotcha!”
Astride Satan, Lloyd was weaking havoc on both the locusts and machine soldiers.
It was like an exhibition. Soldiers and evacuated civilians alike were whooping it up.
Lloyd—and his comrades—had changed the whole tone of the battle, and this was the result.
“Let’s go! Match me, Satan, Surtr!”
“On it!”
“Hell yeah!”
Satan was zipping around the sky, while Lloyd and Surtr were working closely on his back.
“Aero!”
“Fiyaaaaaa!”
Lloyd’s wind and Surtr’s flames joined to produce a fire whirl that scorched the locust swarm.
Lloyd’s Aero had always been strong, and now he had total control over it. Satan was very impressed.
“Sheesh, I’ve got nothing left to teach you. Do we even need anyone else here?”
“Hey, Satan!” Surtr objected. “Don’t dismiss my contributions!”
“Oh, right, right.”
“Brushing me off now? I get why you’re rejoicing in the boy’s growth, though. Makes you feel like a dad.”
“True… Oh, Surtr, locusts on your ten.”
“Aye-aye, sir!”
Lloyd and Surtr were handling offense, while Satan watched for incoming attacks.
“Hm? What the…”
Spying something odd, Satan wheeled around.
“Whoaaa!”
“Dangerous maneuvers, Satan!”
“S-sorry, but good lord—”
He’d found Alka lying on the grass, and his yelp caught Lloyd’s attention.
“What’s wrong? Not many locusts left—is there a new threat?”
“I’m up for a break if you are, buddy!”
“That’s not it. If my eyes don’t deceive me… Sorry, going for a landing.” Satan dropped down, and Lloyd and Surtr were forced to grab his mane.
They landed on the ground and found—
“Oh, good eyes, Seta. Thank god you found me.”
“A-Alka?!”
She was lying in a heap, badly hurt.
Lloyd had never seen her like this. He ran over, shocked. “Ch-Chief?! Are you okay?”
“Oh, Lloyd…I can’t breathe… It hurts…”
“Oh no!”
“Can you give me mouth-to-mouth?”
“She seems fine,” Lloyd said. He was used to her shtick.
“If you could just act normal, you’d have him doting on you, Alka.” Surtr sighed.
“If you’ve got a shot at a smooch, you gotta go for it!” she wailed. “Those are the rules!”
“Alka, some rules were meant to be broken.”
Her kid grandma routine would never die.
“So what happened? Wait, what happened to Eve? Did you take her out?” Lloyd looked around but saw no signs of Alka’s opponent anywhere.
“……She got away. I lost,” Alka managed, her voice feeble.
“You lost?!” Lloyd gasped. “She got away when you were in demon lord mode?!”
“Goddamn!”
Alka had a totally OP ability to carve a nigh permanent rune into her foe’s body—and she’d still lost. She was ready to admit her failings. “I underestimated her.”
“What did she do?” Surtr yelped, flailing his turtle head around.
Alka was genuinely struggling to breathe, so it took her a moment. “She’s got a trick…that’s good against Kunlun villagers. Kahhh!”
“Okay, you need to rest. But first, tell us where Eve went,” Satan said.
“I don’t know… She’s plotting something!” Alka groaned. “Sounded like she had a target in mind, but…”
“A target… Oh!” Lloyd had an idea and ran off.
“Uh, Lloyd?”
But he was already out of Satan’s reach.
“Wait, Satan!” Surtr yelled, seeing him about to give chase. “We gotta get Alka to safety before we go after the boy.”
“R-right.”
Alka looked ready to pass out at any second; Satan hoisted her on his back.
Still, she was trying to summon her last reserves of strength to tell them something. “……Tell…”
“Mm? What’s that, Alka?”
“……Tell Lloyd…not to be scared. Just keep going.”
“Is she half asleep?”
Alka heard those words before she passed out. She murmured something else, too soft for either demon lord to hear.
“The poison only works on Kunlun villagers.”
“What was that, Alka? I can’t hear you!”
“You’ve got nothing to fear.”
And with that, her eyes closed.
Surtr craned his neck, peering into her face.
“Is she dead? Nope, still breathing. Just asleep?”
“She used her last reserves of strength to tell him not to be scared… Which was very her.”
A moment later, Satan smiled.
“But you’ve forgotten something, Alka. That boy’s no longer afraid. No matter what anyone else says, he’ll keep going with confidence.”
That had always been Lloyd’s nature. He’d had his goal in mind and had been working toward it—his reason for leaving Kunlun for Azami alone proved it.
He might have lacked confidence and let his nerves get the best of him at times—but Satan knew he’d never once backed down.
“And he no longer lets himself get hung up on things. He’s got the confidence he once lacked. It’ll take a lot to stop him now.”
Alka could not hear his words—but Satan sure sounded like a doting dad.
✦ ✦ ✦
In Azami’s treasure vault…
Two figures stood in the room where the Holy Sword was kept. Behind them lay a horde of downed Azami soldiers.
Before them stood Eve, and—
“……Damn it.”
—Anzu, holding her katana and wearing a look of fury.
Riho’s sister figure, Rol, had been in charge of vault security, and she was shaken to the core.
“Wh-what’s going on, Lady Anzu? You’ve turned traitor?”
She’d assumed the domain’s leader was on their side.
“How much did she pay you?!”
“Why are we assuming this is about money?!”
“It isn’t? Then…did she agree to publish your self-training guidebook? That’s a bad deal! Stores won’t take self-published books; they’ll just rot in storage! Don’t buy her excuse!”
“Sounds like the voice of experience, Rol,” Eve interjected. “Anzu hasn’t betrayed anyone. Just to be clear.”
“How is that clear?! Gimme a break!” Anzu roared. She was standing perfectly still, sword raised—as if she couldn’t move. It was increasingly clear that this was unnatural.
“Aw, I let you hit them all with the back of your blade! Didn’t want you losing sleep over it later.”
“That doesn’t help at all! Release this vile spell!”
Apparently, Anzu was under Eve’s control somehow.
Eve cackled and wriggled her fingers, moving Anzu like a puppet. “Yes, yes, enough chatter.”
“?! Run!” Anzu yelled, swinging at Rol.
Her hands and legs moved—a bit stiffly, but that just made it more terrifying.
“Easier said than done! Augh!”
As rattled as she was, Rol tried to dodge…
“Too bad.”
…but Eve got her treant root hooked around Rol’s feet, draining the life energy from her.
“Hngg!” Rol passed out to the sounds of Eve’s laughter.
“I prepared for this and embedded the seeds of control in any number of acquaintances.”
“When…?!” Anzu growled, gnashing her teeth.
“Your hair ornament!” Eve purred, pointing at Anzu’s head. “I’m so glad you’re still wearing it.”
“Tch, I forgot you gave me this! Should have put it out with the trash.”
“Don’t be like that, Anzy! I’m only telling you the secret because we’re such good friends.”
“Friends, my ass! Friends don’t make friends do this!”
“I wouldn’t know! I’ve never had a proper friend… That sounds rather sad in hindsight.”
Done talking, Eve moved farther in. They arrived at an imposing door.
“Okay, Anzu! Cut it down!”
“!”
Anzu scowled, but she had no say in this. Her powerful sword skills easily cleaved the lock in two. The sound of the door toppling over echoed through the basement.
Beyond it lay scores of treasures, an odd-looking statue, letters and massage coupons Marie had given her dad as a kid, and at the very back—
A conspicuous sword, arranged to draw the eye.
The Holy Sword—made by Rinko and also the key to the Last Dungeon.
“Holy Sword, come to Mama!”
“So that’s it?”
Eve went skipping merrily over and tried to grab it, but—
—her hands went right through it.
“My, my.”
It was like trying to grab a rainbow or a holographic projection.
It was a strange object, indeed. And Eve just smiled.
“Even in my new body, if I’ve got demon lord powers, I can’t touch it. She made it so visitors couldn’t pull it out—only the natives.”
“Why go to all that trouble?” Anzu asked.
Eve explained Rinko’s motives.
“Rinko originally planned to head back to our world once she’d thoroughly enjoyed a long vacation with her newfound immortality.”
“Your world… I still find it hard to believe there’s more than one.”
“But she’s surprisingly diligent, really. She knew aliens in their midst may cause chaos here—and wasn’t about to stand for that.”
Like ecologists trying to study an ecosystem but finding their presence disrupts it.
“She wanted to find humans who could seal demon lords like Abaddon and the Erlking. People she could teach runes to. So she made a Holy Sword only super-strong local humans could pull.”
“Someone who’d handle demon lord mop-up for her?”
“It turned out that Alky had one of the Kunlun villagers unwittingly dispatch those demon lords. Poetic, really.”
Eve shook her head, smiling.
“But in the end, Rinko started to like this world and didn’t want to leave. As to why the key is a sword— Well, she’s just a big nerd for old-school RPGs.”
Eve waggled her fingers—and Anzu was forced forward, grabbing the sword’s hilt.
“Oh?! I can grab it?!”
“Pulling the blade from its original position requires powerful mana—but I guess anyone can handle it afterward. Or is it because you’re a master swordswoman from the domain? You do seem like the sort of person who’d open a portal to another world.”
✦ ✦ ✦
