An impact shook the tomb to the southwest of Balse like never before. Pieces of the impossibly strong walls crumbled, kicking up clouds of dust. The cause of the tremor was an extremely high-speed object entering the tomb for the second time. “Wh-what’s happening?!” Fore, who had been fighting Nicoletta until just a moment ago, couldn’t so much as guess at this new development. The vampire had disappeared just moments after he thought he’d killed her, and then the whole place shook a few minutes later. “I’m baaaaack!” Things soon became clear, however. Nicoletta had returned, looking fresh-faced. She gave a smile and a wink. “H-how is this possible?! My last move should have killed you!” Fore screamed, a cold sweat breaking out on his face. Something about this felt even more ominous and repulsive than when he’d fought a Demon Lord, and goose bumps formed on his whole body. “Sorry about before. That was an embarrassment to all masochists everywhere.” The woman’s eyes were bloodshot, and some kind of powerful, purple miasma was gushing out of her body. It seemed a task all unto its own for her to maintain control in her ecstatic state. “But now I’m back to my usual self! All right, Fore. Hit me with everything you have! I feel aroused in the greatest, strongest, most wonderful way! Punch me, kick me, suck me, cut me, stab me, hurl me, abuse me! Give me pain! WRYYYYYY!!!” Nicoletta screamed with deep-red, unfocused eyes, and an immeasurably large aura surrounded her body. Fore felt fear for the first time in his life as he watched the swaying and drooling Nicoletta approach him. Faced with such a sight, he ran. “Come on, are you not going to attack me? I guess you won’t give me the ultimate pain unless I attack you first. Oh yeah, if I do that, then I’ll be able to experience the blissful agony of a counter!” “D-d-don’t underestimate me, you lowly vampire!” Fore bellowed as if to distract himself from his own quaking and charged at Nicoletta. He then performed the strongest martial arts technique he knew, called “You Belong to Me and Only Me,” and chanted a spell called Pachizoma to send magic power inside her body and burn it. …However, Nicoletta didn’t even flinch. “Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Yes, that’s what I want. But that was just a tickle. That wasn’t strong enough for my body to register as pain. Show me more of your real strength! You Six Sages are the strongest and most terrible the human world has to offer, right? Give me the finest pain you can muster!” “Wha…? You asked for it…!” Fore used self-strengthening magic to increase his attack power as high as possible and unleashed his most ultimate of secret techniques. However, not only did Nicoletta not seem to feel any of it, but his attacks also seemed to please her. Flummoxed and shaken at this paradoxical opponent, Fore trembled. At the same time, Wonn kicked Mako with a killing move that he embarrassingly referred to as “Super Ultimate Gale of Darkness X Silver Wings Midnight Sun,” sending the demon crashing hard into the wall. The iron facade crumbled, covering Mako with a pile of rubble and dust as she hit the floor. “Phew. That was quite fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve faced someone this strong,” said Wonn, breathing heavily. His body was shaking from exhaustion, but he was confident Mako was defeated, so he made no effort to hide it. No opponent of his had ever taken that attack and managed to stand afterward. This demon may have been the strongest member of the Demon Army’s Four Demon Generals, but there was no way she would be able to move. “If not for the power I’ve absorbed from the Demon Lord, I may have actually lost. You were a worthy enemy. I’m just a little stronger and a little more experienced. You should take this defeat with pride when you awake in the next world.” Wonn slowly approached his bested opponent, clutching his injured and aching right shoulder. “Well, demons tend to be hard to kill. I’ll cut off her head just to be sure,” he muttered. A quick spell was all it took to conjure a knife in his right hand. As the leader of the Six Sages, he was a ruthless planner and decision-maker, and he never hesitated to do what was necessary to achieve his goals. His plan would be complete once he confirmed his opponent’s death. There was no room for mercy, even against an adorable beast girl. However… “Huh?!” …the mountain of rubble suddenly exploded, sending countless stones soaring toward Wonn. He batted them away in irritation and then saw something that defied reason. “Hmm, guess I really have no choice but to use this power.” Mako, whom he should have finished off already, was standing there nonchalantly, wiping sand off herself. A golden aura was flickering around her body. “What…? How…?!” In the best-case scenario, she should have been breathing her final breaths. But that wasn’t the strangest thing about this. All the deep wounds he had inflicted on her throughout their intense battle had vanished. “Ah, did I surprise you? Well, I guess this would. I don’t ever use this ability, and the conditions required to activate it are kind of ridiculous. Also, my injuries are healed for now, but you can bet I’m gonna pay for this later.” Mako’s easygoing manner seemed a stark contrast from Wonn, who was breaking into a nervous sweat. “That radiant glow… Don’t tell me, is this the power spoken of in beastman legend—?” “Oh yeah. That’s right. I bear the Golden Soul. I suppose this weird tradition does go back over three hundred years, so it makes sense that you know about it, meow.” Mako licked her arm, incredibly closing up a wound. “I’m pretty sure this ability is only given to one demon in the entire Beastman Tribe. I don’t really remember. It’s apparently some kind of soul containing a piece of the ancient beastman god’s power. It wasn’t all that interesting, so I don’t know the details.” “This is impossible… The Golden Soul should only manifest to protect the chief of the Beastman Tribe. You fight to save the Demon Lord! How did you tap into the power?!” Mako frowned in irritation. “…That’s why I said the conditions are ridiculous. Anyway, I don’t know anything about this custom. I am a beastman demon, but the others of my kind are selfish and arrogant, and I couldn’t care less about them. Doesn’t everyone choose who they want to protect for themselves anyway? I’ll take that over someone deciding my loyalties for me any day.” Wonn sensed the power flowing from Mako and gulped. “Are you saying you chose the Demon Lord as your guardian…? A savage beastman demon like you couldn’t select someone from outside your tribe—” “Are you listening?” Mako interjected with a sigh, “Surroundings, rumors, tribes—none of that matters. Those are all just assumptions you made on your own. I don’t want to be tied down by laws and traditions; that kind of stuff has nothing to do with me. Your limited viewpoint is so typical of humans.” “What…?” Wonn could not bring himself to attack now that he was facing an opponent who wielded this fearsome power. More importantly, his body was still crying out in pain from the last fight. “Ah, also, I chose the Demon Lord as my guardian because she gives me no special treatment. Naturally, I had plenty of other reasons. She’s nothing like you. You talk like you know everything when all your knowledge is only based on your own biases.” Wonn ground his teeth in frustration, unable to even respond. “I’m really fortunate this activated, though, given all the conditions required. If I hadn’t already known your weakness beforehand, you probably would’ve killed me.” “Weakness…?!” “That’s right. The Hero and Cass did some intense research on the internet. Ah, did it not occur to you that everything about you, including strategies to take you down, was easily accessible online? You really don’t have a sense for modern times.” “That’s imposs—” “Oops, I said too much… Eh, it doesn’t matter. Let’s finish this,” Mako stated, eyes blazing with power. Wonn cursed under his breath. Hesitation would spell his doom. Quick as he could manage, the old man threw up a defensive magic shield around himself. “Too slow.” With leg strength significantly more incredible than before, Mako closed the distance between her and Wonn instantly and punched him square in the chest. The blow far surpassed any she had thrown previously, and it penetrated the barrier handily. “Gah!!” Blood gushed from the old man’s mouth. Still, Mako showed no mercy. Not because she had almost been killed but because the dearest person in her life had been hurt. Mercy was no longer something the demon needed to concern herself with. “This place seems pretty sturdy. Guess I might as well make use of that,” Mako mused to herself. She tossed Wonn up in the air, then kicked off a wall rapidly to attack him over fifty times a second. “Arrrrgh!” Wonn was the strongest of the Six Sages, yet he was helpless in the face of Mako’s many strikes. “You all hurt the pure and kindhearted Demon Lord!” Mako cried, raising her voice to a yell for the first time in the fight. The gold aura burned bright around her. “You’ll pay for that!!” The tomb echoed with the sounds of Mako’s lightning-quick attacks and Wonn’s pained shrieks. Thus, the strongest member of the Demon Generals had defeated the strongest member of the Six Sages. Meanwhile, the battle between Oniko and Tew was near its own climax. “You damn geezer!!” Oniko screamed, swinging her club forcefully at Tew C, who had been a left arm. The attack connected, splitting the little man in half. “Die already!” She then thrust her club into the torso of Tew F, who had been a right leg. That just made Tew D laugh unsettlingly. No blood ran through the clones’ bodies, and the smell of rotten flesh filled the air. The two halves of Tew C joined back together. “As I said, I’m immortal. No attacks of yours will damage me. You’re simply wasting your energy.” Oniko cursed to herself, looking visibly frustrated. The other four Tews (A, B, D, and E) then charged at her simultaneously. She did her best to fight them off with her club, but just as Tew said, she didn’t seem to injure a single one of them. “You goddamn monster!” “Hmph. I’d rather not hear that from an ogre like you.” Catching Oniko off guard for a second, all the Tews launched explosive magic and sent her flying. She may have been fine against one spell, but avoiding six coming from different directions was impossible. Oniko was running out of energy, but Tew showed no sign of exhaustion and had no visible injuries. Anyone observing this one-sided battle would undoubtedly have declared victory for Tew. Oniko hung her head after she landed. “Ha-ha… Ha-ha-ha…” However, she then began to quietly laugh. “…What’s so funny?” asked the Tew that had grown from his head, coming to an abrupt stop. “I finally figured out your little secret.” Through the bruises and cuts, Oniko’s face radiated confidence. It looked as though she’d already won. “You’re a zombie, aren’t you? I’m surprised. Usually, the undead that have unfinished business in this world or impure souls are reborn as demons. You’re able to maintain yourself and your humanity as you split off and reproduce your body. I’ll bet you absorbed many souls while performing zombie research, overwrote their wills with your own memories, preserved your body in culture fluid in a halfway state before turning into a demon, then used some forbidden spell to create a body that doesn’t die. That about right?” If the Hero had been there, he probably would have pretended to understand what she had said by saying, Ahh, that makes total sense. “Hmph, what does it matter that you figured that out? By solving my secret, you’ve only proved I am invincible. Furthermore, thanks to the power I took from the Demon Lord, this body will never know injury, and it will never feel fatigued. That’s how incredibly strong your master was. With this strength, I feel ready to resume my research on eternal youth.” Oniko looked at Tew incredulously and laughed again. “Tell me one thing, old man. Can you really say that you’re ‘living’?” “…Huh?” “Whether human or demon, eternal life does not guarantee happiness. Our lives shine bright because of our limited time. This world would rot if it were full of idiots like you sages with your old-fashioned way of thinking,” Oniko declared, angrily slamming her club into the ground. “Life is something you are entrusted with. We teach our children about its preciousness. That’s why we do our best during our limited time to live and grow, which is how we make progress as a society. Just look at the Demon Lord. After many long years of conflict between demons and humans, it was her generation that finally realized the futility of our discord.” Tew clicked his tongue in irritation, and Oniko continued. “The current era does not need old legends like you who think nothing of life. I don’t like humans too much myself, but I know there are good people among them. You sages are sacrificing lives for stupid self-satisfaction. That won’t get you anywhere. None of you will find happiness. Understand?” Oniko reached out an arm and opened her palm. “It’s about time you old geezers kicked the bucket.” Tew ground his teeth in frustration, his calm expression finally waning. “…You talk a big game, daughter of the ogres. But that is not going to help you. Without a way to properly combat me, my victory cannot be overturned.” “You sure I don’t have a way to beat you?” Oniko inquired with a mischievous smile. “…What?” “I said it earlier. You’re a zombie. That means you’re weak to revival magic that purifies souls and sends them to the next life.” Tew burst out laughing. “Revival magic? Ha, you may be right. But that only works against souls in coffins. No such spell could penetrate my body. I also highly doubt a demon could use light-elemental magic, though I welcome the effort.” “…In what era did you hear that demons can’t use light-elemental magic? Hate to break it to you, but you’re mistaken. We demons learn and progress. The idea that we can’t use light-elemental magic is just another arrogant misconception of yours.” A ball of holy light appeared in front of Oniko’s right hand. There was no mistaking its divine energy. “What the…?!” “By the way, my light-elemental magic is still low-level. However, the Demon Lord can use all the advanced resurrection spells that humans can. That is what we call progress.” “…Huh. Don’t get full of yourself. Even if you can use such magic, all I have to do is evade it.” “…I’d like to see you dodge this,” Oniko stated with a grin. The luminous sphere hovering above her right hand split into five. “It’s a good thing I received magic power from the Demon Lord the other day. Thanks to that, I was able to learn advanced revival spells that are guaranteed to destroy you.” All the Tews paled. “No, you couldn’t have—” He recalled all the times that Oniko had pierced him with her club and split him in two. If, by chance, she had planted that revival spell inside his bodies at the same time… “That expression tells me you already understand what’s happening. Then let’s get this over with. As soon as I give the command, my magic will automatically activate within all six of your bodies.” The resurrection spell she used brought party members back to life automatically when they died, making it extremely convenient to cast before entering a difficult battle. Immediately, Tew comprehended that this situation could not be worse for him. “N-no, don’t!” All six of Tew’s bodies charged at Oniko together, and she clasped her hand tightly around the five balls of light. “Autolife.” Five of Tew’s bodies burst simultaneously. “AAAaaaAAAaaaAAAA!!!” The original Tew screamed in terrible pain. Not a shred of his copies remained, but because they had been formed from parts of his body and were connected to his brain, he felt the agony of all their destructions. “What a disgusting fireworks show,” Oniko remarked. She had decided not to obliterate the original, perhaps because she wanted to honor her vow to the Demon Lord not to kill even in such a dire situation. It was also possible she aimed to deny the sage release from his pain. “AAAaaaAAA, AaAa, AAAaaaAAA!!!” Tew’s screams no longer sounded human. His entire body began to emit an indescribable noise, and his arms, legs, and torso crumbled. One could say he was finally being punished for all the lives he had sacrificed in pursuit of his foolish goals. “Well, you are a zombie. You can live just fine as a head.” Oniko had won. Even if Tew attacked her again, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish much without a body. Still, Oniko wasn’t foolish. Her opponent was one of the famed Six Sages. She wasn’t going anywhere until what remained of Tew was unconscious. “Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Have you finally run out of magic power, fallen angel?” A dull whack sounded in the tomb as Thrie kicked Pino in the side and sent her flying into a wall. The blow snapped multiple ribs. Blood bubbled up from Pino’s mouth. Her defense-boosting spell had ended. “…” Yet Pino still had life in her eyes. Then, as if enjoying herself, she looked up at Thrie and laughed. “Huh? Did I say something funny?” Thrie was a total airhead, and he couldn’t understand why Pino was laughing from her clearly inferior position. To him, it seemed his triumph was a foregone conclusion. “It took a while, but my preparation is complete,” Pino declared weakly, and she flapped her black wings to fly up near the ceiling of the chamber. A dark aura was drifting from her battered form. “Preparation? Ha-ha, what are you talking about?” Thrie responded, dismissing his opponent’s words with a laugh. “Foolish question. Preparation for defeating you.” “Defeating me? Hoh-hoh-hoh! You’ve been on the defensive the entire time, and now you’re saying you can best me? That’s rich. You know that your magic has done nothing more than scratch me, right? Quit your bluffing and surrender already.” Thrie spoke with utmost assurance, but he did have a point—Pino had struck him with hundreds of advanced spells, but they hadn’t even slowed the sage down. It was a testament to how insurmountable Thrie’s physical strength was. Without something truly miraculous, it seemed Pino was doomed. “…You’re probably right that I can’t defeat you with magic alone. Or should I say, with my magic alone.” “Huh?” Thrie had absolutely no idea what Pino was getting at, but then he suddenly caught sight of purple magic circles that dotted the walls of the tomb. “What in the…?” Thrie could not hide his shock. Growing panicked, he looked this way and that. “You did a wonderful job of chasing me throughout the entire tomb, Thrie. And as you did, you were unknowingly leaking the Demon Lord’s magic power and feeding my magic circles.” “The Demon Lord’s magic power…! Y-you can’t mean…?!” “That’s right. This is my homage to the forbidden Magic Pentagram that you all used to restrain the Demon Lord. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I don’t respect you at all, so I suppose it would be more accurate to say I stole the array to give you a taste of irony.” Pino spoke very matter-of-factly, but there was a pep to her voice as if she was finally getting a chance to vent her anger. “Did you not wonder why I was doing nothing but soaring around the tomb and evading your attacks? I thank you for behaving as I anticipated.” Thrie could be thickheaded at times, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. Hundreds of magic circles surrounded him, and he knew full well how much trouble he was in. “I—I, uh… Well, you’re a gross demon loser!” Sadly, all he was able to do was respond with an insult that demonstrated his miserably limited vocabulary. “All I hear are the cries of a man who realizes he’s lost. Still, if I hadn’t known beforehand that you specialized in physical combat, I probably wouldn’t have been able to pull off this strategy… Guess I have him to thank for that…” Pino then raised her hands like a conductor at an orchestral performance. “All right, I think I’ve given you enough explanation. One last thing, though. The power these magic circles sapped from you belongs to the Demon Lord… However, seeing as it’s been tainted with your filth, I can’t return it to her.” Thrie assumed a stance, summoned up the last of his strength, and took position to charge at Pino. “Prepare to be purged with the power of my magic circles,” the fallen angel declared. “Don’t get cocky! You’re just a failed, sullied creature from the heavens!!!” Thrie screamed. He leaped at Pino, but her attacks proved too swift for him. Hundreds of powerful blasts erupted from the magic circles, ripping through him. “Argh, gah, hyeee, oough!” Thrie screamed pathetically as a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand surges of energy buffeted him without pause. The magic the Six Sages had leeched from the Demon Lord was supreme, and this demonstration of Pino’s made it abundantly clear why magic circles were considered taboo throughout the world. These arrays strengthened the power they absorbed before launching it, making them function as a kind of never-ending firing squad. And Thrie was the unlucky one caught in the middle of them all. Even if he was one of the Six Sages and possessed brawn greater than any other human in the world, there was nothing that could withstand such an onslaught. “Here’s a piece of advice,” Pino began, watching her victim without a hint of pity. “You called me both an angel and a fallen angel, but I am neither.” She narrowed her eyes. “I am a loyal servant of the Demon Lord, a demon who was given a second chance. Don’t get that wrong again.” Thrie had already lost consciousness from the uncountable number of beams tearing through him, the sound of which filled the tomb with a harmony reminiscent of classical music. “Not that you can hear me right now anyway.” Pino turned and dismissed the magic circles with a snap. Even if Thrie managed to attack her again, he’d been weakened to the point where the Hero would’ve been a challenge for him. Pino confirmed that her opponent’s connection to the Magic Pentagram barrier had been severed and headed outside to save the Demon Lord.
Chapter 14
20 min read