Chapter 58

CHAPTER FOUR Butterfly Effect Sihlwald the Black Dragon Duchess witnessed it. The Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol. An unshapely creature over five meters long. The one who would kill all the mortals in the future. It was a rare part of Veltol’s power in this time period, but Sihlwald, who had seen it herself and fought Veltol before, recognized it. This was the Demon Lord’s second form. The one to doom humanity fifty years in the future. “The Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol… Why…?” The look on Matoi’s face showed she could not keep up with what was happening. “What is he doing here…?” “It looked as though it came from Emilia’s corpse, but could it have indeed crossed time…?” said Veltol. “Me from the future? Was summoning the Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol to this age the goal of Emilia’s ritual…? Quite preposterous for someone professing to save humanity.” “W-wait a second,” Emi said. “Shouldn’t it be impossible for future Veltol and present Veltol to meet?” “Affirmative. That…should be the case. But since they are both here, I suppose the theory was wrong…” The Eschaton Demon Lord opened his boney maw. “Where…am I?” His speech did not travel through sound. It shook the aether and spoke directly into everyone’s heads. “There is…a discrepancy in the timeline. This aether is not from the end of 2099. It is earlier… Did someone interfere with my causality?” His voice sounded as much like that of a burly man as a delicate lady, a spunky child, and a sick elder. The flames in the dragon’s skull looked at Matoi. “Someone summoned me—someone plotting to change the future. But it is all in vain. There have been plenty of exceptions like this in my googolplex journeys. The causality will converge if I simply commence my destruction from here. The branch will continue stretching toward doom.” “Eschaton Demon Lord…Veltol.” Matoi glared at the Eschaton Demon Lord, and he looked back at her. “Ahh, did you become the trigger by coming to this timeline, machine doll? I see. This is a most curious pattern.” “Question. What happened…to the people in Washington?” “I killed them.” The answer came quickly. “Isn’t it obvious? That is my wish. Massacre. No mercy, no compassion; I slaughter young and old, male and female, any and all species. To turn everything to ash is my desire, and so there is no one in that era who knows Demon Lord Veltol. Einherjars…such brittle dolls. You are the one and only remaining Hero. At least entertain me a little.” “My sisters… You…!” “Only you or the Paladin had any chance of defeating me. And the Paladin, as talented as she was, had no weapon, and you fled to this era.” “No! I didn’t flee! I came here to change the future…!” “Calm down, Matoi.” Sihlwald grabbed her shoulders. “He’s trying to provoke you.” “…Right.” “Sihlwald, the Black Dragon Duchess…you rise in revolt against me?” “Well, duh. I don’t even know you.” “No matter. Your intent is not that important. Only your body is necessary.” Emi looked around. “There’s no escape route,” she told Veltol. “Not that he would let us go.” “Indeed. And it doesn’t seem like we can talk this out, either.” The Eschaton Demon Lord looked at each of them one by one. “One mechanical Hero, Sihlwald the Black Dragon Duchess…” He looked at Emi. “…a fly, and—” The Eschaton Demon Lord came to a halt upon seeing Veltol. “Who…are you?” The dragon skull had no expression to read. Yet the trembling in his voice was obvious. “You cannot tell from a glance? Then allow me to introduce myself!” Veltol declared. “It is I, Demon Lord Veltol Velvet Velsvalt!” “Vel…tol…?” “The one and only.” The Eschaton Demon Lord was paralyzed. “…No.” His burning eyes glowed brighter, pregnant with evident, fiery wrath. “I am Veltol! Not a stranger like you! You will regret calling yourself by that name! Blasphemy! Sacrilege! I should be the only one to remember that name!” The Eschaton Demon Lord took action. “I…” His burning wrath cooled as his voice turned chilly. “I am the Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol. The one to eradicate humanity and destroy the world. I am your doom. You may resist, but if you do not intend to fight—then die.” “Everyone prepare yourselves…!” Veltol cried. The Eschaton Demon Lord activated mana. “Dell…” Quicker than he could activate the spell, Emi saw the flow of mana and screamed, “It’s coming!” At the same time… “…Ray!” …twelve black rays shot from the Eschaton Demon Lord’s environs. It was the same spell as Veltol’s Dell Ray. It compressed mana and fired it through the aether; a basic spell taken to the highest level with increased reach, force, and speed. Twelve at the same time. The rays stroked the ground and decimated the area. Veltol and Matoi moved to cover Emi. But before they could, Sihlwald crossed her arms to shield them from a few of the rays. “Tch…!” Dragonscale Effect repelled the black rays into thinner ones that scattered. The black flashes stopped, and Sihlwald retreated, her arms smoking. “That mana output is insane! Bastard pierced my scales.” Sihlwald maintained a human form, but she was a dragon. Her skin had the same characteristics as dragon scales, and hers were special in that they repelled anything that could damage her. Regular magic could not scratch her, and yet that spell injured her scales. “It appears he simply expanded the mana output by forcing Dell Ray’s technic…” Sihlwald agreed with Veltol’s analysis. The higher the output, the more easily a spell’s technic could be expanded. “And my regeneration is slow,” she said. Sihlwald’s arms were covered in painful burns and mana scars. She had not only an immortal’s regeneration abilities, but a dragon’s, too. Any normal wound healed instantly, yet her injuries from the Eschaton Demon Lord’s attack remained. “Looks like he put some bold stuff in the spell. And it hurts like hell, too. I wanna cry.” Immortals felt no pain even if their heads were cut off or their hearts were crushed, so long as their injuries were from a regular physical or magical attack. None of that endangered them, after all. Only attacks that threatened their immortal lives could make them hurt.