“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! When the Demon King is defeated, then I shall be the new Demon King…!”
“Megumin, calm down! You can’t become the new Demon King just because the old one gets defeated! I see how red your eyes are…but it’s just a bluff, right?! When the adventurers saw us off from Axel, they said they would treat us to a meal when we got back! But that’s only if we get home alive!”
✦ ✦ ✦
I looked over and, yep, still a stalemate.
That was when Darkness glanced at me and caught my eye…only to immediately avert her gaze again. Almost like she was trying not to let the Demon King and his forces notice me. But I thought Megumin was doing a pretty good job of providing a distraction. Maybe she was expecting me to resume the original plan, where I would stab the Demon King in the back.
“All right, I’m on my way. After I’ve teleported out of here, Aqua, I want you to let Megumin and the others know what’s going on. Be sure to tell them that I’ll teleport home if things get dangerous, okay? Otherwise, she might lose it again.”
I was just about to activate Ambush, but Aqua grabbed my sleeve and wouldn’t let go. “Kazuma… Why are you so bent on defeating the Demon King?” she asked anxiously. But she looked almost…eager. Like she thought I might say, It’s all for your sake, or something else awesome like that. I felt a flash of annoyance at the way her eyes sparkled, the way she was so obviously transported with the idea that she was a goddess seeing off her brave hero.
“It’s definitely not for your sake or whatever,” I said.
“This one time of all times, can’t you say something nice, like, I’m doing it all for you, O goddess?! …Listen, you tsundere NEET. If things get dangerous, you will run home, won’t you? You’re such a shrimp, Kazuma, I’m scared one good hit from the Demon King will straight-up kill you.”
Shrimp! Bah.
“I know that. Trust me. Or what—you think I’m the kind of guy who would be cool enough to try to take the Demon King in a fair fight? NEETs have one defining characteristic. We give up easily.”
“Yeah, I know. You all give up too easily, and you’re all cowards. And you get caught up in the moment too quickly, and you’re super awkward.” She was one to talk about ruining a moment… Couldn’t she just give me well wishes and send me on my way? “And I know that no matter what happens, you always come through somehow in the nick of time. So go kick the Demon King’s butt. Just try not to get yourself killed.”
Aqua looked right at me, real confidence in her smiling face.
✦ ✦ ✦
I crept along the wall, hidden beneath my cloak. The last thing I looked like was a brave warrior about to defeat the final boss, but I’d given up on the awesome heroics a long time ago.
As I edged nearer to the king, Aqua closed her eyes and spread her arms in a gesture of prayer. And then she started to glow with a light so bright, it filled the entire room.
Huh! For once, she almost looked like a real goddess.
“O my servants who exist in this world,” the firefly goddess began to intone, a drop of sweat falling from her brow. “I, Aqua, goddess of water, command you…”
Whatever she was doing, it wasn’t something you saw every day, and it got the attention of the Demon King and his lackeys. It looked like they wanted to stop Aqua, but Megumin’s threat had them pinned down.
Finally, Aqua slowly opened her eyes and exclaimed: “A seal upon those who are unclean!”
It was pretty quick, as incantations go; it almost sounded like she was just making up the words on the fly. And yet, at her proclamation, the room was filled with a sense of purity and cleanliness. I’d sort of flinched when she’d said, “those who are unclean,” but I guess her spell gave me a pass.
The Demon King’s bodyguards formed a wall, trying to protect their master from the light.
That was, until Darkness, covered in wounds, cried:
✦ ✦ ✦
“Decoy!”
✦ ✦ ✦
…and came charging straight at them.
“Huh?! Protect the Demon King! Hold the line!” one of the guards shouted, but Darkness slammed into him, and the Demon King was bathed in Aqua’s light.
I looked for Mitsurugi, wondering where the hell he was. I saw him finally getting to his feet; maybe Aqua had sent some healing magic his way. Good! That meant the others would have a chance against the bodyguards after I made tracks with the Demon King.
✦ ✦ ✦
While Darkness was feeding the bodyguards knuckle sandwiches and keeping their attention with Decoy, I managed to get around behind the big guy himself…
✦ ✦ ✦
My first impression of the Demon King up close was that he was a tall, elderly man. I could see a pair of horns poking out from underneath his white hair, but other than that, he looked more or less human. Between the over-the-top black robe and a dark mist that emanated from his body, strengthening his followers, though, anybody who saw him would agree he deserved to be called the Demon King.
“It’s a bluff!” the king was shouting. “That Crimson Magic girl is never going to fire. Focus on the man with the enchanted sword, not that Crusader! And the other Crimson Magic girl, too!”
That earned a twitch of Megumin’s temple. Shit, man, don’t antagonize her! She’ll do it; she really will!
“Damn it all… I never imagined an actual goddess had appeared in this world… So the light that descended on the beginner town was this slack-jawed deity?” The Demon King was mumbling to himself, looking annoyed about Aqua—with his back to me.
What should I do? Should I change the plan again and try Deadly Backstab on him? But if I failed, it would all be over. And anyway, Eris had said that poison and one-hit-kill attacks probably wouldn’t work on him.
All right, Teleport, then…!
✦ ✦ ✦
“The goddess of water of all things…! Isn’t your purview supposed to be some other world? What, did you get the urge to come riding to the rescue of your junior goddess?” The Demon King sounded pretty annoyed by Aqua’s presence. Anyway, it was, uh, mostly my fault that she was here. Very sorry, sir.
Ugh. He really is scary up close.
The Demon King was standing with his undefended back to me. This was my chance, right here before my eyes. All I had to do was take it.
Courage… If only I had something to inspire some courage in me…!
At that moment, I felt as if Darkness met my eyes, even though I was using Ambush. No… I didn’t just feel it. Our eyes actually met. And not just mine and Darkness’s, either. I found Megumin looking at me, too. They both looked away almost as soon as they had glanced at me, but I saw the hope in their eyes, the little smiles on their faces…
✦ ✦ ✦
Then my gaze settled on Aqua, who had a look of pure trust in me on her face, as if to say her work here was done.
It was time to stop hoping for some kind of cheat ability. No legendary magic swords, no incredible talents, no unbeatable powers. I didn’t need them.
Please, Lady Eris…
Please…Aqua.
Give this gutless shut-in the courage to vanquish the Demon King!
“…?! When the hell did you get there?!” the Demon King demanded, turning around. But I was already jumping at him, crying:
✦ ✦ ✦
“Teleport!”