Queen shouted, but realized that she was off the mark. Luna’s magic was extremely powerful, but as far as Queen knew, she didn’t dabble in Fire magic. If Luna was able to wield such a spell, Queen was sure that she would have bragged about it to her.
“I sensed no magic... But if that’s not a spell, then...”
Fuji also stared at the inferno spreading across the sky, unsure what to make of it. Its color, its power... All of it made this look like some calamity raining down on humanity. Even the Satanists stopped mid-riot to gaze up at the sky, dumbfounded.
At times, the momentum of battle can flip from the smallest thing. After the explosion, the Satanists had clearly began to relent. The knights began to capture the Satanists one after another, and even nobles started working together to put out the fire, rather than just watching from their high horses. If they didn’t, the fire would have soon consumed their houses, too.
“Well, it looks like this district’ll make it...”
“Yes. Lord Harts is leading a team to contain the opposition, as well.”
“That old fuck... Did he forget how ancient he is?” Queen spat out, but this put a smile on Fuji’s face. While it was difficult for one to earn Queen’s respect, Fuji knew that the old noble had garnered a considerable amount of it from his queen.
At last, the remaining Satanists began retreating, running in a particular direction. In that direction... stood the Holy Castle.
† † †
—The Holy Church in the Common District
Olgan was laying on top of the roof, watching the battle below, unamused. She had no interest whatsoever in conflict among humans. She was only there because Mynk, her partner, was getting way into it. Even now, Mynk covered half of her face with her right hand, incanting a spell as she stared down her enemies with her left eye. For some reason, this was Mynk’s preferred stance in battle. According to her, she was blessed by darkness.
“The deep darkness within me... rain down woe upon my foes...! Holy Rain.”
A forceful rain, full of the Holy element, rained down upon the group of Satanists. For those who worshipped devils, it must have felt like literal acid rain. Although, her line didn’t quite match the nature of her spell.
Her incantation continued. For an S-rank adventurer like her, chain incantations were an easy feat.
“Heh heh heh... Humans. So brittle... Bubble Heal.”
A healing foam covered the heavily injured members of the Holy Church. Their wounds immediately closed, and color returned to their faces. This was one of the best healing spells, which used the Holy element... despite her rambling nonsense.
“Thank you, Lady Mynk!”
“S ranking isn’t a joke... Such powerful magic!”
“B-But... What was that incantation...?”
“Shh! Can it, newbie!”
“She is a Star Player, after all. There must be a good reason for it.”
“Perhaps her powers stem from that incantation...”
The members of the Church chatted on. In this world, where the pre-teen emo phases wasn’t a well-known phenomenon, no one really understood what she was saying, let alone how it applied to her world-famous status as a Star Player. Some adventurers had even taken to copying her incantations and poses.
“Follow me. Give your blood to the freezing darkness...! Charge...!”
While some of them raised a brow in confusion, the members of the Church were revitalized by Mynk’s call, and charged into the group of Satanists. It was getting confusing which side served the darkness, at this point.
“What in the world is she fighting...?”
Olgan couldn’t help but wonder out loud. Mynk’s entertainment value was part of one of the reasons she travelled with her, though. When a subtle smile formed on Olgan’s face, a blade came down from above her. For her, it was laughably slow.
“What do you want...?” Olgan replied apathetically, dodging the blade with ease. She wasn’t even surprised to be attacked, let alone angry.
“Hah... ‘What do you want?’ huh? Ms. Firebrand’s got some balls. Some pretty big ones.”
“...”
“I was just here to slice up the infamous Demon Lord. Didn’t expect to see a Firebrand. All these tickets for fame are getting me giddy. Ooh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Alverd, the Sword Flash. Pleasure’s all yours.”
Olgan glared at the man. As far as she knew, she had eliminated all who knew her identity. How did he know that she was a Firebrand?
“Some pathetic Hellion I chopped up in a dungeon up north told me... about a little mixed-blood loser... Woah!”
Alverd dodged the knife Olgan threw without a word. It flew at a considerable speed, but Alverd had the chops to deal with it. He had a lot of confidence for someone facing off against a Firebrand and world-famous Star Player.
“Four stars... Not bad for a B-rank.”
“More power means less freedom. It’s all about the balance.”
As Olgan had pointed out, there were four blue stars on Alverd’s armor, special made from Blue Steel, a rare metal. Adventurers are given more stars as they climb the ranks. The lowest ranking rookies have none, until they reach E ranking and receive their first star. Most adventurers never made it that far, and went back to their day jobs. In this world, only a select few could break through the limitations of their natural talents.
“Well, then... You wanna play, Mademoiselle?”
“You snot-nosed...”
When the pair faced off, an incredible explosion erupted in the sky above the Business District. They couldn’t help but shift their attention to it.
“W-Woah... Little girl. You didn’t call over your Hellion friends, did you?”
“Shut your mouth if you don’t want your heart eaten still beating.”
“That’s too far, yo... That flashy outfit’s gotta be...!”
Alverd’s trained eye spotted the gold outfit in the far distance. This made him think. If Carnival was in the center of that explosion, whoever did that to him was something incredible.
“D-Don’t tell me that’s the Demon Lord I’ve been hearing about? It doesn’t look like you’re the one who called them here, Mademoiselle...! Woah! You’ve got some sticky fingers!”
“Don’t get distracted during a fight...”
A number of whirling pulses of magic emanated out of Olgan. The immense magic caused her cloak to flutter. Still, Alverd’s confidence didn’t falter.
“Crumble the void, and show me the way... Abyss Beam.”
“...You gotta be kidding me! A class 5 spell!?”
The whirling magic converged into one point, firing a beam of black light. Alverd rolled off the roof to just barely dodge the blast, which pierced through the houses in its path, leaving behind a circular hole in wall after wall as far as the eye could see. Watching Alverd stumble to the ground, Olgan laughed. One of them was standing tall on the rooftop, and the other looked like a dog in a ditch.
“That’s where you belong... Doggy.”
“Heh... Heh heh... Dogs are pretty scrappy, you know? Then, when you least expect it, they go for your thro-... Dang! Hold on a sec, let me finish!”
Cackling, Olgan continued firing spell after spell, which used the Black element, an elevated form of the Dark attribute. She seemed to be toying with him, rather than trying to kill him.
“Come on, run. I’m being a nice master and taking you for a walk.”
“What a twisted kid! Who raised you like this!?”
Hearing that, Olgan’s expression changed. Any semblance of Olgan’s rationality had gone out the window. The topic of Olgan’s parents was an absolute taboo to her.
“Never mind... I’ll boil you alive.”
“N-No thanks...! The only place I’m going to die is on top of a hottie!”
“Scum...”
Just when Olgan was about to fire another spell, an outburst of confusion and cheers burst out from the direction of the Holy Castle. Everyone was shou
ting about the same thing...
“It-It’s the Dragonborn!!”
The battle that had suddenly began in the Holy City... was about to reach its climax.
Righteous Hero
—In front of the Holy Castle
The surviving Satanists from the groups that attacked the Noble and Common Districts were now converging in front of the Holy Castle. While they had done considerable damage to those districts, the Satanists had suffered devastating casualties, too. The most unexpected event of the attack was that not a single member of the group who attacked the Business District had returned. Their plan was to cease the attacks at a certain time, and use the three upside-down crosses together. Losing one of them was a huge wrench in their masterplan. One group being chased by Queen and the other by Mynk, the Satanists were herded into this location. The two Satanists who each led an attack team gave each other a look. Then, holding a cross in their hands, they each shouted as loud as they could:
“Summon Devil...!”
A thicket of thorns sprung up on the crosses, as black fog enveloped the leaders and the rest of the Satanists. A bigger, more powerful one than when Carnival was summoned. In exchange for two crosses and nearly seven hundred lives, a high-rank devil appeared... Allit, the Duke of Darkness. Unlike Carnival, this was a powerful devil, adorning a classy tailcoat-like garment. His sickly, pale skin didn’t have a single blemish. On his head was an attractive face and hair that reached down to his waist, which was also a bright white, and on his back were beautiful black wings. He appeared to be more noble than any of the nobles in the city.
“Oh, I’ve been called to quite an annoying place.”
Allit frowned, noticing the Holy Castle directly in front of him. It was encased in layers upon layers of holy barriers, crafted from the blood and sweat of the Wise Angel and other angels. Just standing next to it would have been agonizing for any devil. As for Allit, he couldn’t help but feel a wash of lethargy and discomfort. It was only natural, since these barriers were laid out to increase their brightness and strength to match the power of the potential invader.
“Really... Annoying...”
Still, Allit showed no signs of moving from there. He couldn’t control his hatred for the force he sensed in front of him, and the very castle. He would have already smashed it to pieces if he could have. The urge to break through the barriers and tear what’s inside to pieces was becoming uncontrollable... as if he even tried to control it.
“The Duke of Darkness... What the fuck is happening...?”
Queen ran onto the scene, and fell speechless upon seeing Allit. There was no way that this devil had any right being in the realm of humans. However, Allit spotted Queen and returned her disgusted reaction. The already-annoying situation had gotten several times worse for him.
“And now that wretched angel’s hound... Influence the Public.”
“Close your eyes, shitheads...!”
As Allit’s eyes glowed red, Queen shouted. She had sensed him activating a skill in that instant, but her voice reached Fuji and the knights a second too late, as they were blown away.
“Who told you to walk on two legs, puny ants? Land of Beautyferno.”
He activated the skill reserved for devils. Invisible barriers secluded an area around him larger than when Carnival had activated the skill, excluding the Holy Castle.
“Listen up! Everyone make it to the Holy Castle!”
“You think I would allow such a thing?”
Allit shrugged with open arms in front of the castle. His aesthetic appearance made every pose he took photogenic. But his attractive face twisted yet again. An extremely powerful being wielding holy powers had entered the vicinity.
“Duke of Darkness... I see, darkness beckons darkness.”
Mynk, the S-ranking adventurer and Star Player. She was one of the best wielders of Holy magic in the continent. The Holy Maiden, a Star Player, and the Holy Castle’s barrier. For Allit, this was becoming an unbelievably unfavorable situation. Yet, he stood his ground... He was determined to tear to shreds the loathed existence he could sense within the castle. Realizing that Allit had no intention to retreat, Queen approached Fuji, who had been knocked down, and flipped his large body onto his stomach with her leg.
“...It has been a while.”
Queen grabbed the Hammer of Sigma from Fuji’s back. This was one of the most coveted legendary weapons in the continent for producing some simple spells in addition to its high Attack. The very instant she grabbed the hammer, Queen slammed it into Allit. The devil deflected the blow with his hand, but his face twisted in pain. Inflicting that much pain onto a high-rank devil was an impressive feat for a human.
“Such an undignified lady... Dark Beam.”
With no incantation, Allit fired a class 4 spell. However, the hammer in Queen’s hand emanated light to block it...!
“Protect me already. Wall of Light!” Queen spat out to her revered legendary weapon as if she were ordering around a slave. The wall of light clashed with the black beam, but the wall couldn’t stop it entirely, as it still pierced Queen’s body. Allit was ready to fire off the next step without giving Queen a second to breathe, but he ended up canceling the spell to deal with an interruption. Mynk charged over and swung her cross-like weapon down on him. Allit shielded the attack with his hands, but white smoke came out of his hands. Mynk was wielding an extremely dangerous weapon for devils: another One-of-a-Kind weapon called Twinkle. As a wielder of the Holy element, this was the perfect weapon for her.
“Ha ha! ...Not too bad, milk jugs!”
“M-Milk... What are you...!?”
“Humans...!” From this point, Allit was always on the back foot. The match-up and the location were not on his side. Ordinarily, he would have never stuck around, and instead would have tried to take his opponents on at a different location. However, even the collected Allit couldn’t contain the wrath boiling from the pit of his stomach. The lair of the arch-nemesis of all devils, whose very existence was carved into their DNA... was in front of Allit’s very eyes.
Once Queen had engaged the devil in close combat, Mynk incanted another spell.
“I am the wearer of blood-spatter black... Angel Garb!”
A holy armor materialized on Mynk’s entire body. Allit groaned at the painful light emitted from it. For him, the light seemed to carve his soul away just by looking at it. With a powerful anti-devil buff on her, Mynk joined Queen and slammed her weapon against Allit. The Holy element invaded his body, as Allit’s Dark element retaliated against the two warriors. As they clashed once, twice, and thrice... all three of them were worn out worse and worse. Considering the match up, this was like punching each other bare-knuckled with no guards up. Allit’s unfavorable situation was only getting worse with time. If things kept going at this rate, the pair of warriors would surely defeat him.
But then, a black liquid fell from the sky and splattered on the ground. They looked up to find a girl floating in the air. Tartarus had been dropped out of the open box in her hand. The black liquid spread wide in an instant, reaching the feet of Queen and Mynk.
“Fuck... Not again...”
“What!? What’s Tartarus doing here!?”
Their strength drained, they crumbled to the ground. Perhaps from draining so much power, the Tartarus was far more powerful than before.
“Puny... Humans!”
Allit kicked Queen as she was curled up on the ground, sending her tumbling. Then, he stretched out the claws on his right hand and tore at Mynk.
“This is the end... Abyss Beam.”
He fired a heinous class 5 spell that shot through the two warriors and so many buildings behind them, crumbling the cityscape to the ground.
“You thought the barrier alone would lead to victory...? Human scum.”
The two couldn’t even react to Allit. Witnessing the defeat of a Holy Maiden and an S-rank adventurer, the crowd fell silent. To boot, Allit was healing with every second because of Tartarus.
“Queen!”
“Stay back, sis... Hold that damn barrier...!”
White couldn’t help but come down to the entrance to the Holy Castle, but Queen shouted for her to remain where she was. The barrier on the Holy Castle would lose much of its effect if there were no Holy Maidens inside. If that were to happen now, the Holy Castle would surely fall.
“Let us begin a wonderful feast. Now, pay for the sin of irritating me.”
Allit stomped his foot down at Queen’s midriff, and the sound of shattering bones echoed. Then, he grabbed Mynk by the neck, and held her up, punching and punching and punching her all over. There were a million more effective ways to damage it, but he seemed to want to tear the wretched armor apart with his bare hands.
“Y-Your darkness... is nothing... to me...”
“Silence, bug.”
With every moment, Tartarus spread, as the ruthless beating ensued in front of the Holy Castle. Each blow was calculated as to not kill his victims easily. While Allit was ordinarily very logical and kept his cool, he was undeniably a devil, after all.
(What the... You gotta be kidding me...!)
After finally arriving at the Holy Castle, the Demon Lord was dismayed by what he saw. He had made his way up a clock tower that seemed safe enough to scout out the situation. From there, he spotted the crazy Holy Maiden of Fury Road and a strange monster, which he assumed to be another devil.
(And that chick... Guessing by what she’s wearing, she’s the last Holy Maiden.)
Noticing the Holy Maiden shouting something from the entrance of the castle, he felt a shiver go down his spine. She looked absolutely gorgeous, too, but seeing how Luna and Queen turned out, the Demon Lord doubted the third sister was anywhere near normal.
(Goddammit... I can’t have some monster acting like he owns the place!)
He had research to do and a business to start. All of that would go out the window if Holylight was torn to shreds. On the other hand, to avoid red tape down the road, he couldn’t waltz on out there in front of everybody.
(Right...!)
A lightbulb sparked above his head...!
Demon Lord, Retry! Volume 1 Page 20
