Act 5: Vanquish the Demon Lord
Chapter 12: The Road to the Inner Sanctum
THE fighting forces of Elle Village set out the next morning. I don’t have to worry about the others because I left the village in the very capable hands of Jasper the Trembler and Laurent, two of our appointed Four Grand Magi.
Julius taught Laurent how to create protection and invisibility barriers, so I’ve given him the new title of Iron Wall Laurent—no, Absolute Protector of Elle Village Laurent.
I also asked Jasper in private to lead the villagers as the mayor of our glorious Elle Village in the event something happens to me. I can trust him. He is Jasper the Trembler for a reason.
With the village taken care of, everyone on Team Vanquish the Demon Lord teleported into Analia’s royal capital through the magic circle.
We’re currently floating just outside the entrance to the Demon Lord’s castle on my magic carpet.
Everything from teleporting seven people and arriving in style on the flying carpet went off without a hitch thanks to Julius.
As for him, he has his poker face on even though we had that awkward moment last night. Kind of makes me hate him!
And speaking of last night, wasn’t that conversation a clear death flag? It’s bad luck!
I mean, I was too flustered to say anything at the time, but does he have to wait for the magic circle to be destroyed to tell me what he wants to say?! Shouldn’t he have said it before we stare down death?! What’s wrong with that? I want to know now!
Uh-oh. I’ve gotta stop working myself up before a mission. The final battle is about to begin. Today we vanquish the Demon Lord. I have to stay focused.
In the short time I take to put myself in the right mindset, Julius demolishes the castle defenses as soon as they come into sight.
Yep, that’s the same barrier it took me days to disrupt when I snuck into the Demon Lord’s castle. Julius brought it down with a snap of his fingers.
I’m starting to feel like Julius is the only person I needed to bring. But eradicating the magic circle would be too much of a burden on him alone. If you don’t let the magic power accumulated in the magic circle out in spurts before you destroy it, it will explode in your face. One person needs to be in charge of releasing the magic and another has to defend against attack, or it’s game over.
And to Julius it’s just as concerning for Aela and me, the two key players in reviving the Demon Lord, to be out of his sight. He’s quite the worrier.
Just like that, we arrive above the Demon Lord’s castle in no time and can comfortably check out what’s happening below without threat of the defenses tearing us out of the skies.
“It’s crawling with people,” I observe, peeking over the side of the carpet.
Palace sentinels serving under Regulus normally guard the area around the castle, but there’s an unusually large number marching the perimeter today. There are so many soldiers it makes me wonder if the entire squad is on duty today.
“Hrm. It seems that the elite guard I trained has assembled at the castle. Likely to stop our invasion. They’re smart men. They knew we were coming,” Regulus says with a hint of pride for the guards and their coordinated march around the castle.
“We won’t get anywhere if we don’t do something about those kids first…,” Sereniel says in a restrained voice. “How do you want to handle them? With our strength, we could rout them with ease, but…”
We have Julius on our side, and with the awesome me and my mastery of wide-area spells, we can drive out the enemy like sheep. But they are innocent Analians…
“Don’t fret,” Regulus says when I’m too torn to decide. With absolute confidence, he asserts, “They were originally my troops. They will listen to this old man.”
Right. Regulus used to command the elite guard until just recently! Routing the enemy is a piece of cake, but that doesn’t mean I want to hurt people who don’t know any better.
I smile encouragingly at Regulus. “Okay, I’ll leave persuading them up to you, Regulus!”
He gives me two thumbs-up, flashes a grin to say he’s got it, then leaps off the edge of the magic flying carpet. He drops down, not caring that we are hovering over the clouds, and lands with an earthshaking thud.
Guards rush to the loud noise.
Regulus swings his arms around, trying to explain the situation to them, and they flock to him in noisy droves as if welcoming him back and restrain his arms and legs in the process.
…Wait what?
“Hey, did Regulus just get apprehended?” I say, giving my honest appraisal of the scene unfolding below.
Aela peers over the side. “It looks that way,” she says, worried.
I watch for a while until Regulus looks up and sends his thoughts into my mind. (Sorry, I failed ☆ Tehe!) He laughs like a shy little girl and sticks out his tongue.
That old fart!
“Won’t it be faster if I just lob this down there?” Julius asks. I look over at his right hand just as he makes a glowing sun orb appear. He plans to drop a sun on them?
C’mon, Julius! Stop taking the most violent option first! I’m totally on board with you, I am, but we can’t do that!
“Goodness gracious, he can’t do anything without me,” Sereniel says in exasperation and shrugs. “He’s useless on his own, so I’ll hold back the guards here for you. Julius, would you be a dear and make the carpet descend?”
Julius nods.
“Do you have a plan, Sereniel? Just to be clear, I am against any genius plan involving wiping out the area with magic like Julius wants to do,” I tell her.
“Who in the world do you think I am? Please don’t insult me by lumping me in with that barbarian. For I was formerly Analia’s second-ranked Grand Magi, Sereniel the Temptress.” No sooner does she speak than a sweet fragrance wafts from her. The tantalizing scent spreads around the castle perimeter.
This is one of the telepathic mind-manipulation skills she’s so good at!
I look to where Regulus is captured and see the guards who are restraining him standing in place with glazed eyes. Their hands slide from his arms and legs. Regulus is freed from their grasp and waves at us.
We land and I run over to his side and…kick him in the shins.
“Ow! What was that for, Elle?!”
“That’s my question! Oh my gosh, do you know how disappointed I felt when you jumped off like some cool hero and ended up caught a few seconds later?!”
Also, don’t go sticking out your tongue at your age!
“Now, now, Lady Elle. Let him off the hook. Our path into the castle is secured now,” Guido cajoles with a smile bright as dawn on a dazzling summer’s day.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Aela says with an equally heartwarming smile.
They don’t get it! If the former third-ranked Grand Magi sucks this bad, what does that say about me as the rank beneath him?!
“Hurry on inside,” Sereniel urges. “I will keep the guards in check, but my spell won’t last forever. You’ve got about two hours tops.”
Now that she mentions it, spells cast over an entire castle won’t last long before they drain the user dry of magic.