“So he got away...”
Nakajima Kojirou watched as the partly destroyed dragon vanished into the distance. He felt a desire to give chase, but...
“Oh well.”
He suddenly sighed.
“This is fine. No. This is for the best. I’m looking forward to when we next meet...”
He muttered to himself so that nobody could hear him. He had conviction. The Calamitous King Nakajima Kojirou possessed absolute power. Opposing him was a fellow Conduit, Majima Takahiro, who’d gained the cooperation of the first savior’s will and a Dimensional Cornerstone. Considering the difference in power between them, he had no objections to admitting this was Majima Takahiro’s victory.
That said, this struggle for supremacy wouldn’t last long. Considering the absolute gulf in power between them, the balance would soon break. When that time came, Majima Takahiro would have no choice but to stand and fight. If this world vanished, those he loved would die, after all. He couldn’t make any other choice. He would wield every last ounce of power he had to resist. Nakajima Kojirou was sure of this.
“So, I’ll focus on what’s before me first.”
He stopped looking up at the sky. The area around him had been reduced to a wasteland by the intensity of their battle. And there before him was a boy straddling a monster wolf.
“Show me a good time, Demon King.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kudou Riku stared at Nakajima Kojirou, his expression stiff. The battle had come to a temporary halt. This was because the first wave he’d sent in had been practically annihilated. However, around half of those losses hadn’t been at Nakajima Kojirou’s hands. Others were trying to break into the area to protect him.
“My king!”
Dora had also fallen back due to the danger. The trespassers were all unleashing a terrifying amount of mana. They were visitors. These appeared to be the exploration team members who’d entered those fabricated worlds to catch Jinguuji Tomoya. However, in that case, they would’ve been somewhat confused after witnessing Majima Takahiro escape from Nakajima Kojirou. The ones here showed no hesitation. That only made sense. After all, these weren’t members of the pursuit force.
“I see, that’s what’s going on...” Kudou Riku muttered indifferently. “You had other collaborators aside from Hibiya Kouji.”
Nakajima Kojirou had intentionally brought about the Colony’s destruction. In that case, it was natural to assume that he’d been the one to order the Absolute Blade Hibiya Kouji to murder the Beast of Darkness Todoroki Miya, dealing a fatal blow to the Colony in the process. In other words, Nakajima Kojirou and Hibiya Kouji had been working together closely.
To prepare for the Colony’s destruction, Nakajima Kojirou had likely carefully selected the members who’d stayed behind. However, just waiting for it to be destroyed wouldn’t have guaranteed the outcome. They had to have created enough chaos to pull a surefire trigger to end the Colony. As one of the few members of the upper brass who’d stayed behind, Hibiya Kouji had dealt a fatal blow, but having several others causing intentional havoc would’ve guaranteed the outcome. Those were the ones who were joining the battle now.
From Kudou Riku’s perspective, reinforcements were coming to the aid of an opponent he was already hopelessly outmatched against. Still, he remained calm.
“I see you’re not panicking,” Nakajima Kojirou said, curious about his behavior.
“It’s far too late for that.” Kudou Riku shrugged. He’d come here knowing he was going to die. He had nothing to fear. This surely wasn’t what Nakajima Kojirou wanted.
“Are you giving up?” he asked in disappointment. He wanted a desperate struggle from Kudou Riku.
“Give up? Of course not,” Kudou Riku replied, laughing scornfully. “How could I?”
This man didn’t understand anything. The mastermind behind everything stood right before Kudou Riku. The dark fire burning away in Kudou Riku’s heart wasn’t going to allow him to give up. He cursed this man. He couldn’t forgive him. Even though he knew he had no chance, even if he was going to be killed by his sworn enemy, even if the humiliation and hatred he felt wouldn’t vanish with this act, he couldn’t stop. He simply couldn’t. Kudou Riku had been broken ever since that day. He’d broken and had degraded into something else entirely.
“I’m the Demon King. I won’t stop. Not until I meet my end in the pits of despair.”
“Ha ha! Is that so? You’re not half bad.”
In contrast, Nakajima Kojirou looked like he was having the time of his life. On that day, Kudou Riku had been such a tiny being who should’ve died in that chaos. As if to congratulate him on his growth, Nakajima Kojirou gave him a friendly—and hence evil—smile. Seeing this, Kudou Riku felt relieved in a corner of his heart.
In essence, Nakajima Kojirou was a hedonist. Despite what he’d said, given the slightest opening, it was entirely possible he would leave this place to the others and chase Majima Takahiro. However, his attention was now focused on Kudou Riku. Kudou Riku no longer needed to worry about that possibility.
With that thought in mind, Kudou Riku prepared himself. This was a fight to the death. He had to confirm his forces before they started. His army was definitely on the decline. Among his named servants, the Mad Beast was dead, one zombie dragon had been annihilated, and the other had withdrawn from the battlefield. Of the pawns in his army, including the losses in the fabricated worlds, around two hundred were dead. Nevertheless, he still had the strength to consign the average visitor to oblivion.
“Dora, Caesar, Friedrich.”
In response to his call, the shadowy girl readied her blades, inorganic wings deployed from the Demon King’s back, and green mud floated in the air as a defensive wall.
“Gustav.”
What he summoned next was a separate force that rivaled his main army. The swarm of land-based fish was deemed a natural disaster in this world. It was a wave of violence that, once unleashed, couldn’t even be controlled by the Demon King.
“Anton.”
What’s more, the queen of shadows joined the battle at the head of the army. To avoid friendly fire from the uncontrollable Gustav, she was ready to charge while leaving a gap between herself and the swarm of fish. The Demon King’s army was all here and numbered nearly two thousand monsters. He wasn’t holding anything back.
“Go!”
At his command, the army charged.