How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 9

by Yukiya Murasaki

  “No, that isn’t the issue right now... My point is, even back then, the Fallen were trying to find a way to remove the barrier.”

  “Right.”

  “And now they’re bringing ten times the number they brought before—they even have that damn Demon Overlord with them. We’re idiots thinking they didn’t plan for the barrier...”

  “So then...they’re still after Lady Celestine?!”

  “Of course, I do think the lieutenant general is wary of that.”

  They cast their glances toward the center of the city. There wasn’t a disturbance at the Mage’s Guild, was there? But as they looked at the peculiarly-shaped tower, sticking out like a lance toward the sky, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

  †

  The citadel city of Faltra was before their very eyes.

  “All forces, stop.” Eulerex spread out his hands.

  Lazpuras repeated his commander’s words, beckoning the magical beast user Manuela to stop as well. Her magic made the grand turtles slow down to a halt. However, their forces weren’t as orderly as the races’. Some of the Fallen roared in complaint, rushing forward to attack on their own accord.

  “That’s the Vahl faction, I believe.”

  They were Fallen who only operated on the single desire to slaughter the races. They were the type that often fought among themselves and had lesser intelligence than that of the beasts.

  Eulerex turned his back to them. “Cast them away. The fools followed us despite no one calling for them... All they’re good for is being disposable pawns.”

  “As you say, sir.”

  “Open the box!” Eulerex cried out, spreading his arms.

  The Fallen standing behind him began hustling about. Lazpuras escorted Manuela, motioning to get off the grand turtle.

  “Come, we must hurry.”

  “Wait.”

  “Make it quick.”

  “...I’m sorry...” Manuela patted the armor around the grand turtle’s legs regretfully. The chains were then severed by clashes of axes, releasing it from its bonds.

  “We haven’t the time.” Lazpuras picked Manuela up by her armpits.

  “Ah...”

  He flew off the shell with a nimbleness one wouldn’t expect from his fat stomach, landing behind the grand turtle. There was no time to spare.

  “Chains, cut!” the Fallen holding the axe called out.

  As that happened, Eulerex was flying in the skies above, the owl wings on his back flapping loudly.

  “’Tis time to open the box! Unleash the seal!”

  “Seal, unleash!” Several other demons repeated his words. They reached out to the front of the box, some poking it with the blades of their weapons...

  Then, it opened.

  Pure, dense magical energy spilled out. Solidified magical energy rolled forth from the box like black slime, touching the Fallen standing around it who shouted in pain as they crumbled into particles of light instantly.

  Annihilation... The magical energy was so potent it destroyed the Fallen with a single touch.

  Looking down on that sight, Eulerex called out, “Demon Overlord cannon—fire!”

  The magical energy surged forth from the box. Turning into a flash of light, it lit its surroundings as if the sun had descended upon the earth with blinding ferocity...

  Any who looked at it directly had the light burnt into their eyes. The Fallen may be able to withstand it, but the races would only go blind. Those who stood on Faltra’s walls, without a means to block the light, had instantly lost their eyesight.

  The light turned into heat. The grand turtle’s head was the first to evaporate. The front half of its body was unable to withstand the heat emanating from the box. Next were the Vahl faction Fallen, who ran on ahead, being quickly consumed by the conflagration and disappearing without a trace.

  The lump of massive heat was quickly approaching Faltra’s walls. The barrier screeched in anticipation. Ever since the city was created, it had faced multiple wars between Demon Lords and the races, but never had so much power been brought to bear against the barrier. The magical power was so intense that, had it not been for the barrier, the city would have surely been wiped off the map.

  Soldiers screamed atop the wall, the citizens of the city in a frenzy at the maddening sounds. As the screeching sound of the magical forces clashing thundered around them, the ground shook and the air shivered against the buildings in the city.

  But the barrier wouldn’t break. Its trait of blocking off “all ilk of the Fallen” was absolute.

  The barrier stood its ground. The light died down along with the intense heat...

  Boris sat on his hands and knees atop the walls, his legs shaking uncontrollably as thick beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.

  I was dead for sure... I know I was...

  He’d all but accepted that he’d be swallowed by the light and blown away.

  “Haah, haah! Hahah! Amazing... We’re alive!”

  The barrier had fought true. But when Boris raised his head, he heard a scream coming from the western gate.

  “Fall back!”

  “Huh?” he couldn’t help but stupidly utter.

  The light released by the Demon Lord’s army had completely died down, but the shouts and screams only seemed to be getting louder. Shortly after, the ground began quaking.

  “What’s going on?!” Boris stood up, placing his hands on the wall’s edge and looking ahead.

  I-It can’t be!

  The ground around the western gate was completely gone. The barrier extended to the ground as well, but it was gone as if something had shaved it off around the rims. Faltra was surrounded by a moat full of flowing water, but it had all evaporated into white steam.

  “Fall back! Fall baaack!”

  Soldiers ran away from the western gate. The place Boris was stationed began noticeably shaking.

  “Wh-What’s going on?!”

  This would naturally be what happened when a large structure lost the ground that supported it. The western gates toppled to the side like they were made of building blocks, creating fissures in the ground around the walls as they fell. With the walls structured to support each other, it didn’t take long for the one Boris and his group were on to fall apart as well.

  “Fall back!” the officer cried out.

  But those who had their wits about them had already begun running off before the order.

  “Aaah!” Their foothold crumbled, and Massa had tripped. “Aaah, the Fallen, they have me by the leg! Help meee!”

  “Calm down, you just tripped!” Boris grabbed Massa’s hand and pulled him up, urging him to continue running.

  Thankfully, the walls only lurched to the side. Finally reaching safe ground, Boris turned around and was shocked beyond words. His knees shook and he couldn’t catch his breath, for something that should have been there was now gone.

  A watch tower that acted as one of the Fallen-repelling barrier’s amplifiers had toppled over, along with the walls. It was reduced to nothing but a pile of rubble.

  “Th-The barrier...” Boris’s own voice felt awfully distant to him. “I-It’s gone?!”

  †

  “Gaaahaaa!” Several Fallen and magical beasts rushed upon the collapsed western gate.

  The citadel city of Faltra was on the verge of collapse itself. Some of the soldiers who were caught up in the gate’s collapse fell into panic. Some were running around; others stood stupefied and shocked. It was times like these that an adventurer usually made his appearance!

  Emile stepped into the the western gate’s square, shouldering his longsword. The once magnificent walls of the western gate now lay utterly crumbled.

  “My, my, they did quite a number on us.”

  There was no barrier to ward off the attacking Fallen, leaving the city completely exposed. Emile could hear his comrades calling for him.

  “E-Emile, what can we do against them...?!” screamed Turon, a friend of Emile’s who was a
healer clad in a white robe. There was also Eristoff, an enhancer sorcerer skilled at enchanting and reinforcing weapons. All four of his party members were present there.

  “What can we do, you ask? Why, we win! What else is there?” Emile proclaimed, pumping a fist. “The barrier is gone, which means this town and its countless women are under threat from the Fallen. By my name, Emile Bichelberger, I will protect all of the women from harm!”

  “Heheh...” The healer boy, Turon, curled his lips into a smile. “Traveling the countries really polished up your stupidity, hasn’t it?”

  “I’m not stupid!”

  Eristoff, the enchanter, shrugged. “I don’t think it’s the smartest choice, but we have to do this... Sitting on my ass and waiting for death just isn’t my style.”

  He swung his staff, and just like that, the whole party’s equipment was buffed with magic, tripling their attack and defense.

  “All right!” Grutas, a warrior who carried a shield in place of a weapon, stood in front of everyone. “Let’s do this! We’re the heroes of the new era!” He was another comrade in their party, belonging to the blocker class.

  “That’s right! We’re gonna defend this city!” Yuan, the party’s archer, was getting fired up too.

  Emile stepped over the rubble and looked out at the city. The ground was still scorching hot, and even through his leather boots Emile felt his legs sizzle.

  “Hmph... So there were some adventurers who didn’t run away...” Another group appeared from behind them.

  “Hmm?” Emile turned around. The ones who appeared were more than one hundred regional knights, led by the governor himself, Galford.

  “Oh, it’s you... Your name was...”

  Two months ago, Emile had tutored under Galford to learn the ways of the blade. Though he was more of an intruding student than an apprentice...

  “Heh... My name is...”

  “...Emile Bichelberger, I believe. Have you been to the swordmaster?”

  He remembered Emile’s name?! The other adventurers were magnificently stunned.

  “Of course!” Emile puffed up his chest. “I’ve experienced the swordmaster’s full-blown slash on my very flesh. Thanks to that, I’ve been reborn!”

  “Hmm... We see you’ve grown in number as well.”

  The row of regional knights parted to the sides, making way for a beautiful woman teeming with allure. Her crimson hair was tied back, and she was clad in bright red armor.

  “Step aside... If you get in Our way, We may have to shoot through you, you know?”

  Fanis Laminitus had taken to the scene, a massive magi gun in hand. Its muzzle was pointed directly at Emile.

  “Wh-What are you planning?!”

  “We said, step aside. They’re already in my range.”

  “What?!”

  The Demon Lord’s army’s Fallen were attacking. They weren’t close enough to make out the features of their vanguard, but if Laminitus said they were in her range, it must have been true. She was well known for her skill as an accomplished Magi Gunner; very few wouldn’t know of her.

  Emile’s group moved away from her path as she pulled the trigger. The next moment, a series of bangs shook the air. Emile doubted even a massive magi gun could shoot from this distance. She may be able to shoot one or two of them, but that would achieve little...

  Suddenly, a massive explosion transpired.

  “What?!”

  The black smoke towered over the walls. Several Fallen lost all semblance of their original shapes in the blast, turning to particles of light before hitting the ground. Not to mention the explosions happened in three different spots.

  The shock waves reached the soldiers a few moments later. It happened so quickly; the explosions took place in a position that would take ten minutes or so to walk to.

  Emile’s fellow adventurers mumbled in surprise.

  “Wh-What was that?!” “Impossible!” “She just killed thirty of them!”

  “Did you set something up in advance?” To Emile’s eyes, it looked less like the bullets exploded and more like something in the ground had blown up.

  “Heheh... You have quite the pair on you. Perhaps what one might expect from a man Galford set his own eyes on.”

  Galford shook his head unpleasantly. “I expect nothing from an adventurer.”

  “Even after you trained him every day?”

  “I merely swatted him away when he got in the way of my morning training.”

  “Personally, without ordering your troops, and with a blunt sword meant for training?”

  Laminitus continued shooting her gun while teasing a man thirty years her elder. Another explosion occurred.

  “Emile, was it...? As you’ve speculated, We’ve rigged the area near the western gate,” Laminitus explained, her magi gun still in hand. “Their logic works the same as a magi gun’s bullet.”

  “You can do that?!”

  “The methods of warfare will someday change. But this just now was merely a bluff.”

  Galford nodded. “A battle with the Demon Lord’s army hinges on whether we can beat the Demon Lord itself.”

  “Hmph... the Demon Lord’s army doesn’t have that many pawns to sacrifice. If they can’t break through easily, they’ll send their stronger troops to face us soon.”

  As the two spoke, the Fallen heading for the western gate stopped, and everything suddenly fell silent. The sound of the wind rang in everyone’s ears. Something was walking toward the gate...

  †

  At first they thought the girl was one of the races, until they noticed her dragon-like wings. She had horns on her head, and carried her large Chinese longsword on her shoulder. Her tail swung left and right. The girl walked up to the mountain of rubble and stopped, standing roughly a dozen steps away from the soldiers.

  “Heheh♪ I thought the Demon Overlord cannon would blow your whole city away... You’re surprisingly tenacious,” she said in a high-pitched, girly voice. “As a reward, I’ll toy with you a ton before slaughtering you!”

  “Demon Overlord cannon?” Emile asked. “That’s what you call that bright light from earlier?”

  “That’s right. I don’t really get it myself, but the box fires this magical energy the Demon Overlord stuffs inside it for a long, long time. I think Eulerex said it’s one of the Demon Lord of the Eye’s abilities? Or was it the Demon Lord of the Hand?”

  The Demon Lord of Madness, Modinaram, had absorbed the other Demon Lords and assumed the title of Demon Overlord. Apparently, that attack from earlier was an attack of one of the absorbed Demon Lords. But they doubted this girl would just come up to and tell them this information...

  “How many Demon Lords has the Demon Overlord absorbed?”

  The Fallen girl tried counting on her fingers, but apparently didn’t have enough on both hands.

  “...A bunch, okay?! And I, Ryoka, got him three of them! Aren’t I the best?”

  “So, it’s at least ten then.”

  “As a reward, he gave me power tenfold! There isn’t anyone left in the Demon Lord’s army I can fight at full strength against... But maybe you’ll put up a better fight?!”

  The Fallen girl called Ryoka smirked sadistically, murderous intent emanating from her body. Emile gulped nervously at the sight. It felt like something cold had slithered down his spine.

  “Uuu...” Eristoff the enchanter had trouble standing, shaking at the knees. “The image of her running her sword through me keeps flashing in my mind...”

  “Snap out of it!” Emile placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Part of what you just said doesn’t make any sense...” Galford stepped forward, speaking in a taciturn tone. “Do you mean to say you Fallen gathered ten pieces of the Demon Lord in such a short period of time? How inconceivable...”

  It truly was odd. Despite the annoyed expression on her face, though, Ryoka was as talkative as ever.

  “The Demon Overlord found them. Demon Lords have this ability to sense ot
her Demon Lords. They just never use it because it’s useless for butchering the races.”

  This was shocking information for the others, but Galford seemed convinced.

  “Did he gather all the pieces then?”

  “No, there’s still some in the Fallen’s territories. And there’s the one that got away, too.”

  “One that got away...?”

  “But that wasn’t my screw up! That Demon Lord was on the verge of awakening and refused to be absorbed, so he ran away.”

  “Another Demon Lord...? Pray tell, where might it be?”

  Just as she was about to answer, another Fallen ran up to her. It had three tails and a fox’s face with a body slightly larger than the races’. It brought its long mouth up to Ryoka’s ear.

  “Lady Ryoka, Lady Ryoka...”

  “Hm?”

  “An order from Lord Eulerex. He says to kill them quickly. And also to not say anything needlessly.”

  “Huh?! But earlier he told me to listen to what others say until they’re finished! Does that owl-head have feathers for brains?!”

  Ryoka pursed her lips in displeasure and glared at Emile’s group. “Fine, whatevs. I’m itching to fight, anyway.”

  Ryoka spun her Chinese longsword in one hand. She handled this massive hunk of metal with her slim, twig-like limbs so easily; she truly did have power far removed from that of the races. She then spoke to the group with the same unenthused, chatty tone as earlier.

  “Who wants to go first? Or do you wanna fight me all at once? I’m good either way!”

  The girl spoke with the same tone she might use to chat with a friend on the street corner, but despite that, she seemed the most menacing she’d ever been.

  “Kuh... This is bad...” Emile shivered.

  “True enough, its level is much higher than the other Fallen.” Turon the healer nodded.

  “Yes, with cuteness on a different level. And they’re a female, too.”

  “What?! Emile, it’s a Fallen!”

  “A female Fallen.”

  “The Fallen don’t have genders!”

  As Emile and Turon continued their bickering on the topic of Fallen gender identities, Galford stepped forward.