The beautiful elves in the Town of Yggdrasil were looking up at the sky. Large transportation gryphons were flying in formation, carrying an enormous contraption.
As five gryphons landed on the balcony of the Palatial Tree, five shadows jumped off. It was the Demon Lord’s team.
“The hell was that ridiculous strength?! Where’d a human like her get that?!” exclaimed the Demon Lord.
“So even you were scared on the inside, sir.”
“I’ve never fought someone so strong before. Man, that was nerve-racking!”
“Prince Richie was very strong too,” said Kukuri.
“And Phalaris...” added Arima.
“I was mino-astonished.”
The Demon Lord looked west, in the direction of Aryaka.
“We’d better hold a boot camp. I somewhat underestimated Lady Floortje. If I can’t beat her in my second form, I’ll lose without ever getting to the third one.”
“Let’s train, let’s train! I’ve been relying on my roots too much. If I stay in place all the time and don’t move at least a little, they can throw whatever they want at me!”
“Yeah, being able to move at all would make you stronger. Kukuri’s good as she is, she’s the only one on a win streak here.”
“We arachne have an advantage in sumo. Although my bout with the prince sent chills up my spine.”
“I want to fight strong opponents mino-too.”
“I dunno, your rank is too low to field you in this next one.”
“I’ll devote mino-more of myself to sumo...”
The Demon Lord fell into deep thought.
“I’m dead set on myself, Arima, and Kukuri. As for Uta and Gogontes, we’ll see how your training goes.”
“Oh, come on, I wanna join too!”
“Mino-same.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s the special abilities of monsters that make Demonic Sumo special. A rikishi who’s almost guaranteed to win their first bout would increase our chances.”
“Okay, I’ll train harder!”
“Me mino-too.”
“So yeah, we’ll see how well you do.” A natural smile adorned the Demon Lord’s face. “But damn, that was so much fun. Been a long time since things felt so tense.”
“Sumo is great, isn’t it?”
“I wanted to fight more...”
“All those Aryakan wrestlers felt good to fight.”
“Mino-agreed. Even that cute dwarf was mino-strong.”
“If they field her, I’ll send you in!”
“You mino-mean it?!”
“Yeah, well, she’s not gonna have long to train, and Aryaka is full of strong wrestlers, like Yustin and Maurilio.”
“I pray for Mamiana to advance in her mino-training.” Gogontes brought his large hands together in prayer.
As the gang chatted, all smiles, Chancellor Mickaël entered the balcony. All expression disappeared from the faces of the Dark Rikishi the instant they saw him.
“Judging by how much fun you seem to be having, I assume you’ve managed to capture Prince Richie and Crown Princess Candidate Floortje?”
Everyone frowned at the sight of his smile.
“Unfortunately, we’ve let them escape.”
“Wh-What?! Then why the hell are you all smiling like that?! Explain yourself, Demon Lord!!!”
“We did sumo and tied. So, they escaped.”
Chancellor Mickaël’s beautiful face grew beet red in anger.
“Wh-Wh-Why the hell are you playing children’s games like sumo?! You demons and monsters should act the part—just gang up on people and kill them! Are you all out of your minds?!”
The team of Dark Rikishi went silent for a moment.
“The Aryakan army is about to show up. We’re gonna hold a tournament at the Town of Yggdrasil and try to stop them.”
“Y-You can’t be serious! This isn’t what we agreed upon! Station your monsters along the border, or this will be a serious breach of our agreement!!!”
“Look, Mickaël... You’re done, and so is this town.”
“Wh-What are you talking about?! Th-The Elven Forest Republic was going to generously compensate you. Don’t you want that?”
“I don’t need your compensation or whatever. We’ve already analyzed the defenses of this town. I can attack whenever I want, and set it all on fire if I wish.”
“Th-That’s not what we agreed upon! You promised you would support our revolution!”
The Demon Lord looked upon the chancellor with contempt.
“Why did you, a member of a superior race, put so much faith in an agreement with base demons? Get with the program already—you’re done. The fairy king is about to return.”
“Wh-What???!!!”
“He’s escaped to Aryaka together with Floortje. Their army’s gonna come here under his banner. Good luck putting up a fight with your revolutionaries.”
The chancellor turned ghastly pale, struggling to breathe.
“P-Please, protect us! We’ve dreamed of this revolution for a thousand years!”
“Why should I care about elven dreams? It’s the end for you. Even if we win at the upcoming tournament, you’re gonna be our vassal state.”
“Wh-Why?! Just why?! I thought we had agreed on an equal friendship between us!”
“I see no point in being friends with a nation I can kill whenever I want.”
It was only then that Chancellor Mickaël finally realized that the demon standing in front of him was an evil existence. At last, he fully understood that he had been a fool for making a pact with demons and monsters and expecting them to fulfill their part.
“Verbal agreements have no value. You gotta be able to enforce them. And yet you went and gave up the secret behind the highly sophisticated magical defenses that were protecting you.”
“Y-You feeble-minded demons and monsters could never understand the workings of our magic! W-We’re gonna strike back, and you’re gonna see just how frightening our magic is!”
“You and the revolutionaries can’t use such powerful magic, can you? You’re all bark and no bite. Think I’m scared of you?”
Holding his head, the chancellor crouched and screamed.
“Serves you right,” uttered Uta, her words resounding across the balcony.