She thought to herself as she moved through the small huts in the jungle. They all had special teleportation circles into them. When she came out of the last teleporter, she found herself in a small fortification. It was a cliff with several entrances carved into it, and resembled a fortress, or a castle.
The entrances seemed to resemble caves that had been altered by human hands...
“Looks like an evacuation site...” Fujiko said as she headed for the nearest entrance.
She went inside, but there was no light anywhere. She took out the flashlight she’d brought with her. When she turned it on, she could see bare corridors in the cold light. As she proceeded deeper inside, it felt to her like either a bunker or a mine. The deeper she went, the more labyrinthine it grew. Fujiko took notes as she headed into the depths. Her footsteps echoed in the dim corridor.
And then, suddenly, she stopped.
She’d heard footsteps that weren’t her own. But then there was nothing but silence. She began to walk again, and heard the footsteps once more.
“I’m being followed...”
Fujiko took out her incantation gun. It was loaded with real bullets, not mana ones. It was every bit as deadly here as a normal handgun. She walked forward cautiously. She passed all the same facilities she’d seen in the basement under Constant Magical Academy: a barracks, an armory, a command room. The footsteps followed her from some distance away.
Eventually, she reached a room at the very deepest part of the fortress, protected by a heavy iron door. Fujiko placed her hand on the door, and pushed inward. It opened with a heavy groan, revealing darkness within. She cast her light toward the inside, and was met with a black sheet in the form of a parabolic antenna, held within a clear case.
“Is this it...?” she whispered, approaching the case and turning the light on it to get a closer look. The sheet reflected the light in a prismatic hue, as if it were covered in oil. It seemed to Fujiko like it was still functional, even after all this time.
“Now then...” Fujiko turned around. With the flashlight, she lit up with the corridor. She saw a shadow low to the ground. It was a four-legged, slow-moving animal. A hairy dog.
“You’re The One, aren’t you?” Fujiko said, and the dog answered.
“Correct. As I’m sure you’re aware, I followed you here.”
“Why would you want to follow someone like me?” Fujiko asked, probingly.
“I intercepted your communications and followed you here. Of course, I already knew the rough location, so it wasn’t that hard. I’m after the Robe as well, you see.”
“I do see...” Fujiko pointed her incantation gun at The One.
“Do you know what this it?”
“I do. That’s why I want it.”
“It’s supposed to be a ticket to the afterlife,” Fujiko said, just to see what he’d say. He must’ve noticed what she was up to, because he just shook his head.
“No matter what it is, it’s nothing that we can do anything with. From what I’ve seen so far... I assume only Akuto and Keena can use it.”
“Oh dear... I intended to only give the bare minimum of information, but I let that slip, huh? That’s right. So you know why I want it then, don’t you?”
“You want to destroy it?”
“Of course. I’m glad you’re such a clever girl, it saves time. Now, please get out of my way.”
“Do you really think I’m going to do that?” Fujiko grinned.
“I don’t. I simply wanted a chance to avoid unnecessary bloodshed,” The One said calmly as he walked toward her.
“Don’t move, please. Can’t you see what it is I’m holding?” Fujiko held the incantation gun up. The One nodded.
“I do see it. It’s a gun, right? That’s a problem. There’s a small possibility that I’ll be shot.”
“Then stop right there.”
The big hairy dog froze as it was instructed.
“Just so we’re clear, I stopped so I could give you a chance to rethink this. If we fight, you’re almost certain to die.” The One said, as if he was completely certain.
Fujiko laughed.
“Nonsense. You can’t use your magic here. And I have a gun. Do you know what this means?”
“I do. You’re the one who doesn’t know what it means to not be able to use magic.”
“I don’t?” Fujiko just grinned. But The One’s attitude didn’t change.
“First, you don’t have your magically enhanced strength. Anyone under the effects of magic has enhanced muscular power, whether they recognize it or not. In other words, you won’t be able to handle the recoil of that gun. You’ll almost certainly miss me.”
“Nonsense!” Fujiko yelled. But The One remained calm.
“Secondly, I’m a dog right now. You don’t know how powerful dogs are when they fight. Muscles. Claws. Teeth. All of these are grave threats to humans. Even if a single bullet hits me, I’ll still have enough strength to take you down before I die.”
“So what am I supposed to do, then?” There was a tremor in Fujiko’s voice now.
“You’re supposed to get out of the way. In the best case, you injure me, and then die. In the worst, you die for nothing.”
What The One said made sense. But Fujiko didn’t move.
“That’s not happening.”
She held out her left hand forward, and readied the gun in her right.
“A sound strategy against a normal dog. You would let me bite your left hand, while shooting me with the handgun. But it would only work against the intelligence of a normal dog.”
“I can still get a single shot in, though!”
She pulled the trigger.
The sound of the incantation gun echoed loudly throughout the cavern. But nothing happened to The One. He’d started running toward her at an angle.
“Tch!”
Fujiko aimed the gun once more. Her hands were numb from the recoil. She hadn’t realized that aiming a gun was so hard. And then...
“A gunshot? Fujiko? Is that you, Fujiko?”
She could hear Akuto’s voice echoing from far away.
“Akuto!” she shouted.
“Damn it. I’ll need to hurry...”
The One howled, and then jumped. There was another echoing gunshot.
○
Gunshots. Howls. Screams. Akuto heard all of these as he ran. The mana around his body was suffused with energy, and gave him enough power to accelerate. There was no map of the caves, but the mana coursed ahead of him, and there was no risk of getting lost.
He turned a corner. Two more turns and he would be at the source of the gunshots. He turned the first. The screams and howls continued. He turned another. The screams had stopped.
“Fujiko!” he cried.
What he saw filled him with despair. Fujiko was lying on the ground, and The One was standing over her. He could see blood beneath them.
The One turned. His mouth was covered in blood.
“You bastard!”
Akuto charged. The One began to laugh as he fled.
“Hahaha! You should give that girl my compliments! She succeeded in stopping me from reaching my goal. It’s harder to die than I thought!”
Akuto’s body went hot with rage, but for now he needed to focus on healing, not chasing The One. He helped Fujiko up.
“I’ll heal you right now, okay?”
He poured mana into her body, repairing the internal structures from within.
“Say something, please. I’ll be done in just a second...”
He mended the tear in her neck, and the severed arteries in her limbs. As her blood poured over him, he ran his hands down her body, healing every wound he could find. But...
She didn’t wake up. The mana and energy around him were almost completely gone.
“W-Wait... this doesn’t make sense. I’m supposed to be able to cure any wound...”
Akuto shook her. Her body remained limp. He fell silent. He couldn’t understand what was going on
. But a groan poured forth from his lips.
He silently lifted her up.
—This can’t be...
When Junko died, she’d been far away. But this time it was different. He could feel the weight of Fujiko’s death, and it paralyzed him. But still, he felt like he needed to see what it was that she’d died for. He staggered through the door behind her, and saw the Robe of the Fire Rat.
—She died... for this?
Akuto was in shock. If nothing else, at the moment it certainly didn’t seem like it was worth it.
“What the hell is this thing?”
The words fell from his lips. Keena had caught up with him, and was standing behind him silently in shock. He turned around to face her, and repeated himself.
“What the hell is this? Where did we go wrong?”
○
“It’s whether you’re prepared to carry the burden of the people’s mistakes,” Marine said. He was flying above the ocean, and had just answered Nonimora’s question.
“Is that what you think it means to be a king?” Nonimora nodded in understanding, but she didn’t seem to agree with him.
“But that way of thinking may not be able to put a stop to this battle, you know?”
“True, perhaps. But if that’s the case, I have my own way of taking responsibility.”
Ahead of them, they could see Brave and Kei fighting. No, it wasn’t just Brave and Kei. The whole scene was one of chaos. Kento was fighting Brave. Kei was fighting Kento. The people of the Republic were fighting Kei. It was bad enough that even the two of them couldn’t immediately comprehend what was going on.
“Why protect Kei, after all this?” Brave screamed.
“Because things have changed! What The One wants is clear now! He’s trying to annihilate humanity!”
Kento was trying desperately to persuade Brave, but also Kei as well.
“That doesn’t get rid of the fact that you tried to betray me once! The fact that you used Brave to try and kill me!” Kei was overcome with emotion.
Brave kept trying to attack Kei, but Kento was blocking him with his own body. Kei kept up his own attacks on Kento, trying to deal non-lethal damage. And the ships of the Republic must’ve sensed their chance, because they were raining attacks down on Kei.
“What the hell is going on here?” Nonimora asked.
“I don’t know, but this may be a good chance to stop the battle,” Marine said. He flew upward and began to call out toward the Republic ships.
“Wise citizens of the Republic...!”
The attacks from the ships stopped.
“Our goal was not to conquer the Empire. We have the Faceless Power now. What we need now is to sue for peace!” he continued.
“You’re far too naive, brother,” a voice answered. It came from one of the ships. A mana screen appeared above the sea, showing a beautiful girl with amber skin. She looked a little similar to Marine.
“I know you haven’t forgotten what that demon king did. And you know that our family isn’t allowed to directly lead the people!” The girl was wearing elegant clothes, and waving her hands as she talked.
“But we have to stop the fight anyway, even if it means breaking that rule!” Marine protested, but the girl shook her head.
“No! The will of the people has turned toward war! You saw the miracle that happened when the Faceless Power dwelled within us, right? And that will remains strong even now!” Her cheeks were flush, and her words were slightly slurred.
“Why can’t you realize that what you’re doing is wrong? All you’ve done is bring death to innocent people!”
“In the end, this will mean less deaths. Less deaths than if we let that demon king get what he wanted! Now, if you want to end the fight, end it! You have full access to the Faceless Power, and you can put an end to the fight! All you have to do is defeat the Demon King in front of the people!”
His little sister’s speech, Marine knew, was right. And even if it wasn’t, it must have resonated strongly in the hearts of his people. And she continued:
“The Faceless Power is the people’s power! The Faceless Power is an expression of the general will! Absolute righteousness lies within it!”
—That’s not true! Marine wanted to scream.
It didn’t seem to him like the people had put aside their general interests to make the right choice. But pointing out that mistake now, and getting into a debate, didn’t seem to him like it would lead anywhere.
“Then be righteous until the very end! Now, I will give you the time to see if you’re right!”
Marine said, and charged toward Kei. Now it was a four way battle in the sky, with Kento, Kei, Marine, and Brave all participating. A look of shock appeared on Kento’s face as he deployed a mana shield. But Marine easily ripped it apart.
Kei dodged Marine and tried to flee higher up into the sky. Brave went to follow, but Marine intervened. Kei fired mana balls, which Marine deflected. The light of mana, the light of the Faceless Power, and the shining light from Brave’s nuclear reactor all made beautiful trails in the sky as they collided.
“Marine, are you really okay with this?!” Nonimora said. She was the only one not participating in the battle.
“This is what I have to do! I have to carry the burden of the people’s mistakes!” Marine answered.
“It won’t stop the war!”
“I know that! But it will give them time to think about peace!”
That was Marine’s hope. Meanwhile...
“Did you hear that? Either way, if we kill Kei the situation will change!” Brave said.
“No! What The One wants to do is distract us! His real goal is that asteroid! He’s caused all this chaos in order to reduce the number of ways we can deal with it!” Kento shouted.
“But that’s got nothing to do with defeating Kei, does it? This is all just about your personal feelings for him!”
“What I’m telling you is that there’s no point in killing him!”
“You’re the one who said he needed to die since he was under The One’s control!”
“And now fighting The One is pointless!”
“Then just shut down my suit! You’ve got the power to do it!”
“I’m not, because I don’t want you dying on me.”
“Is that because you want me to fight the real Demon King, not Kei, after this? Don’t think you can get everything you want!”
Brave fired a warning laser at Kento. Kento broke out in a cold sweat as the laser passed right by him. And...
“All you ever wanted to do was use me!” Kei screamed.
“It’s shocking how small-minded you are! You may have the intelligence of a genius, but you’ve got the mind of a child! You’ll never accomplish anything like that! And that’s why you...!”
Kei fired mana balls as he shouted insults. But he wasn’t using his full power. Kento’s arm had been wounded, but he was still able to easily block them.
“I’ve done everything I can to save the world!”
“That’s not what I’m talking about! And all you’ve ever done is lurk in the shadows, making small changes! That’s what makes The One better than you!”
The four of them collided in aerial combat. Marine and Brave soon found themselves back to back, realizing they were getting nowhere.
“Is it safe to kill that man?” Marine asked.
Brave shook his head.
“He’s got the controller for this suit. We can’t kill him until it leaves his hands.”
“Understood. I can find the location of the controller and get it for you. I’ll handle him. You take the Demon King.”
“So we split the work? Got it.”
Brave broke right and Marine broke left, and the two of them came barreling down on Kei and Kento from both sides.
“Damn...!”
It was a losing fight to begin with, but with two enemies working together, it was all but hopeless. Kento panicked. He moved so he was back to back with Kei.
“We need to work together too.”
“That’s true, but...” Kei looked at him with cold eyes.
“...Why don’t you just cut the switch on Brave’s suit?”
“Because... I still need him. I can’t have him dying.”
“Are you trying to manipulate someone for your own purposes again?”
“That’s not it!” Kento yelled, but he didn’t seem to know how to express his own feelings.
“Then turn off his suit! Or do you not care if I die?”
“That’s not it!”
“It is! It’s about what’s most important to you! If you turn off the switch, I can kill both Brave and the Republic prince. But you...”
“Calm down! We need to stop The One together! He wants to wipe out all humanity! With that asteroid! So we need to cooperate...”
“I can beat that dog on my own! So..”
“He’s got an implant in you!”
“Don’t lie to me! I know you can remove those things! So...”
Before he could continue, though, Brave and Marine were upon them. Kei and Kento began to climb up into the air, circling, backs pressed together, and just barely managed to dodge.
“So...!” Kei continued, “So turn off Brave’s suit and just tell me one thing! Say you love me! And that’ll solve everything!”
“Kei...!” Kento fell silent.
He’d never said those words before. He knew that the desire to hear them was at the base of every action Kei took, and he’d constantly taken advantage of that fact. But could he really say that he loved Kei, right now?
“Stop it, Kei! Now’s not the time!”
“If now’s not the time, when is? I’m asking you to pick between me and Brave!”
“Just give me some time...” Kento hesitated, but Kei yelled at him.
“Answer me! I can only keep us alive another 3 seconds!”
From the intensity in his voice, it was clear that Kei was telling the truth.
“3...”
But Kento remained silent.
“2...”
Maybe he was as small as Kei said, if he couldn’t answer here.
“1...”
He’d...
And then there was a low rumble.
“K-Kei...” Kento let out a groan. Kei’s arm was embedded deeply into his chest.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 12 Page 5
