Chapter 11

CHAPTER FOUR The Demon Lord Does Battle Let us rewind time to just as Veltol was going out for his package. Machina was preparing dinner at home. Her cutting board had all the ingredients she’d bought earlier, and her virtual retinal display had a cooking app open to a recipe that used each ingredient. “I’ll make some curry tonight.” The most important ingredient of all is love—so said the app whenever you booted it up. And love had to be transmitted verbally. She fired herself up by saying the name of tonight’s dish out loud. Machina opened the music app, and her Familia started playing a song directly into her brain. She hummed merrily to the tune. “I have to say, my diet has truly come a long way from what it once was.” Machina thought back on the past. When the wars and the Immortal Hunt and poverty were at their peak, it wasn’t rare for her to go an entire month without eating. Even after the wars, she had no stable income and no place to call home—she always had to cut down on food expenses. There was a period of time when she had to line up early in the morning for some insipid soy rations, a leftover surplus from wartime. “Each city had their own specialties. Abashiri’s was the best… Though I think I ate a lot of Sendai rations, too.” Machina reminisced about the soy rations and their sickening color that came from the food-grade cryoprotectant mixed in. Abashiri’s rations had just a semblance of flavoring, which made her reexamine exactly what counted as food. Now, that was only a pleasant memory. Their diet had gotten much more luxurious thanks to Veltol’s earnings as a streamer. And it wasn’t just a matter of luxuries—his mere presence was enough to bring color back to her life. Although she couldn’t tell whether this was due to the Demon Lord’s inherent charisma or a change in her own heart. “All right, let’s do this!” Just as Machina started putting on an apron, the cheap doorbell rang. “Who could that be?” Not Veltol. The door was locked with magic, and he had no reason to ring the bell. It couldn’t be Takahashi, either, since she always let Machina know beforehand when she was coming over. Maybe a delivery? Some sort of proselytizer? A salesperson? Questions filled Machina’s head as she opened the door. And that’s where she found the one person she was least expecting. “Hello there, Machina. It’s been a long time.” It was the CEO of IHMI, former member of the Six Dark Peers, traitor to immortalkind, and regicidal maniac: Marcus. “—!” She reflexively moved as soon as she saw him. There was no need to talk to the traitor and rebel. All surprise instantly turned to rage. The characteristic trait of the ignia people showed on her body. Her initialized mana ran through her hair and eyes, lighting them up like a bonfire of burning, vivid crimson, and the surrounding aether glowed like blazing sparks. “Phoenix Blaze!” That proclamation was her greeting. She no longer thought of him as a fellow; she didn’t hesitate. The Familia’s quantum processor reverse engineered the construction and expansion from the maginom’s proclamation. Fire lit up at the tips of her extended hand’s fingers, immediately forming a line of flames that burned everything in front of her, blowing the housing complex’s guardrails away. The words security deposit flashed through her mind, but she quickly shook them off. With a wave of her hand, Machina was engulfed head to toe in flames that became the black armor made from her mana. It was armament forged from her soul, summoned in the same way as Veltol’s. The aether reacted to the mana emitted by the armor, shining like the ifrista, a black stone with flames at its core, and a tiara of flames appeared on her head. Lovely yet stern—such was the Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze’s battle armor. Machina took a step out the entrance into the hallway. Marcus was standing on the empty parking lot outside the tofu apartments. He didn’t seem the least bit injured. Although, even if he had received the attack directly, mere flames weren’t enough to kill an immortal. Machina jumped down to the parking lot. The phoenix and the vampire stood facing each other—true crimson versus deep crimson. “Marcus…!” Machina glared at him, her scarlet eyes burning with wrath. Meanwhile, Marcus’s thin, collected smile stayed glued to his face. “Not even a hello? My, how violent you’ve become. You used to be such a well-mannered young lady, remember?” “Silence. You came to destroy me, yes? You betrayed the immortals; you betrayed our king! Even the most painful death won’t be punishment enough.” Machina lowered her body like a beast aiming for its prey, then leaped. The ground exploded from the sheer force, while she kept on accelerating thanks to her mana-strengthened muscles.