Shera’s concentrated attack linked with Rem’s most trusted summon, and Rem herself joined in on the attack.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The enemy didn’t dodge. All the attacks connected, and Rem definitely felt that she had hit. Her fist had smashed into his face!
Did we finish him?!
Blood spurted out—but it was Fafnir who was wounded! It screeched, its massive body thrashing about.
“If you two call yourselves summoners, at least do it after learning how to use 《Back Passing》.”
“...What?!”
“You can use it at level 100 and above. It’s a spell that lets you transfer any damage you receive to your summon beast instead.”
“You can do that...?!”
If he’s unharmed, we can’t stay this close to him!
Realizing this, Rem made to hop back, but a warmth spread across her stomach. She crumpled to the ground.
“...Gaah?! Kaaah?!”
Gewalt had slashed her across the abdomen and blood was gushing out.
See... This is why getting close to the enemy is a bad idea...
At the very end, she relied on her fists. She just couldn’t match him in her knowledge as a sorcerer. She could hear a girl scream through her fading consciousness.
Shera?!
Fafnir’s tail knocked her away as it rampaged. Shera’s body smacked against a tree and fell limply to the ground.
“Shera!”
†
“Have a biscuit!”
Rem came to with a start, and looked around hurriedly. She was in one of Faltra’s bakeries called Petre’s—albeit now it was more of a Fallen café. The time was noon.
“...Huh? Wasn’t it nighttime, and wasn’t I fighting a palace knight in the forest?”
“What’s wrong, Rem?”
In front of her was a table, and on it was a plate with a heap of biscuits on it. Klem held one out toward Rem.
“Go on, eat it.”
“...Thank you.”
Rem accepted the biscuit, examining the pastry. Klem was happily stuffing her cheeks with biscuits.
“Tasty! This is delicious!”
Rem regarded her with silence.
“B is for breathtaking~♪ I is for incredible~♪”
It was the biscuit song. And the one who made it up was...
“...What about Shera? Where is she? Is she late?”
Rem grasped the biscuit in her hand tightly.
“...Where... Where are we, Klem?”
“The interstice.”
Their surroundings went black at once. It wasn’t a bakery anymore. There were no tables, and the plate of biscuits disappeared.
“...Interstice?”
“Between this world and the next. It is your second time coming here. Do you remember?”
“...Somehow, I do.”
“Back then, Shera brought you back. Normally one cannot return from this place, but... I suppose that’s what one could expect from a descendant of the divines.”
Her memory was gradually growing clearer. Not of that time, but of what happened immediately before this.
“...What about Shera?! And Fennely?! What did Gewalt do?!”
“I don’t know what happened after you lost consciousness. I have no way of knowing.”
“...Just who are you?”
Klem knitted her brows.
“Hmm. Something along the lines of... residual thoughts? This Demon Lord isn’t the real Demon Lord, but a shadow of them that remained inside you as a remnant. Yes, that’s about right!”
“...What am I supposed to do?”
“What do you wish to do?”
That question made Rem think. What did she want to do?
“...I want... to protect Shera.”
“Truly? In that case, you should have chosen to cast aside the Kobolds from the get-go.”
“...I can’t. If I live like that, Shera... and Diablo will hate me. I want to live in a way that would make my comrades proud of me.”
“You’re a greedy one!” Klem laughed.
“...You’re right, I am. I think that wish is far larger than I deserve.”
“Heheheh... That’s good. What is freedom without grand wishes?! And I’ve already given you the power to make that happen!”
“Huh?”
Klem pointed at Rem’s right hand.
†
“...The biscuit?”
The sound of her own voice jolted Rem awake, only for her to be assailed by intense pain from her stomach.
“Gah?!”
She was in the middle of the forest. Despite it being night, a red glow lit the place. She turned her face. Over the backdrop of the burning forest were figures fighting. It was the Kobold chief Boldboss... and the other warriors, too. Fennely had warned them of the raid, but they chose to stay and fight instead. And their enemies were Gewalt’s summon beasts... The winged venomous serpent, Fafnir, and the fiend of flames, Efreet.
The Therianthropes had already taken a few casualties, and Boldboss was injured. Diablo wasn’t there yet either.
“Kuh... What do I do...?”
And then she remembered. It was likely a dream, but Klem had told her something...
I’ve already given you the power to make that happen!
Rem opened her clenched hand.
What was there wasn’t a biscuit, but a small white fragment.
A tooth.
It was something Klem had given her once before, though it should have been sitting in her pouch. She remembered.
“When you wish to no longer depend on Diablo, but on your own power, press this against your forehead. I imagine its effects may be a bit dire though...”
“You pulled out your tooth—for me?!”
“This Demon Lord enjoys living in this city with you. That’s why I’m giving this to you, to keep you safe.”
Rem pressed the 《Demon Lord’s Fang》 against her forehead. If she truly desired power of her own, there was no better moment than now to wish for it.
Something rang in her ears... But nothing happened.
Was she just teasing me?
The doubt surfaced in Rem. But then suddenly, and radically, the change happened. A shock ran through Rem’s body, as if something had pierced her through the forehead all the way to the back of her head.
“Gaaaah?!”
†
The magical clock in Gewalt’s breast pocket ticked away at the passing seconds. For a summoner, the passage of time was crucial. When was the next time their summon could use its special ability? How quickly was their summon depleting their MP reserves?
By accurately keeping track of time without relying on bodily sensation or intuition, he was able to apply his summons more effectively. Nothing was more shameful for a summoner than getting carried away by their powerful summons’ strength and running out of MP. Gewalt demanded perfection—and nothing less—out of himself.
“Oh bother, my manicure’s getting scuffed.”
He wanted to fix his nails immediately. It was just a small thing, but it was in his nature to be bothered by it.
Mm?
He noticed someone rise to their feet in the corner of his eye. A black Pantherian—the girl, Rem.
“Aaah...”
“My, you’re still alive? But you don’t have any summons left, do you? You can’t do anything.”
“...It doesn’t matter.”
“Huh?”
“You were the one who cut this large hole in my stomach, right?”
Her eyes glittered red and the air around her distorted. Gewalt had once fought high-level grapplers before, so he could tell this was done by making use of SP... but he’d never seen it done in such high concentration before. It felt like he was looking at someone else entirely.
“...Who are you?”
“You already know—I am Rem Galleu. I’ve only just become a bit closer to a Demon Lord now.”
She pried her own lips open with her fingers,
revealing fangs that reflected the moonlight. Fangs far too long for a Pantherian.
“A Demon Lord?!”
“You’ve done a lot of awful things, haven’t you? I’d say it’s time you learned a bit of regret.”
Rem kicked the ground, forming an explosion in her wake that scattered dust and sediment in all directions. The next moment, a powerful blow struck Gewalt’s gut, sending him flying back.
What?!
If he wasn’t wearing brand new EX-rank armor, she would have punched right through him and out his back. He rolled across the ground, and upon stopping, raised his head... to find Rem glaring into his eyes. There wasn’t a weapon in her hands.
“Surprisingly tough, aren’t you? I suppose they didn’t make you a palace knight for nothing.”
“U-Ugh... Gaaaaaaaah!”
Gewalt vomited onto the ground. It was humiliating, and his anger flared up with the same intensity as the contents of his stomach.
“Kill her! Fafnir!”
He used the special action he had reserved for cleaning out the Kobolds’ tunnels. The massive serpent blew his poisonous breath, but Rem held out a single hand.
“Shimmering Wave!”
A ball of light burst from her extended palm, dispersing the black, poisonous cloud and crushing Fafnir’s skull, annihilating it! Fafnir was reduced to a black crystal that retreated to Gewalt’s hands.
“M-My Fafnir?!”
“I wasn’t firing at full strength, though...” Rem cocked her head. “Well, Shera’s attack did damage it, and you did shift all the damage you took to it as well. I suppose it makes sense.”
The Kobolds howled and barked, cheering her on. Gewalt clicked his tongue.
“Don’t let it go to your head, you brat! I still have plenty of aces up my sleeve! Efreet, burn her to ash!”
The fiend of flame roared in response.
“Move away, Kobolds!” Rem called out. “Back to your holes! He’s my prey!”
They didn’t understand her words, but awed by the intensity of her voice, the Kobolds stepped away.
Efreet swung its fist at her, and Rem met it with her own fist.
“Yaaaaaaaah!”
Her punch crushed Efreet’s right arm to bits.
“It can’t be!” Gewalt watched what was a veritable nightmare for him unfold before his eyes. “Th-Those are my top rank summon beasts! A warrior with powerful equipment is one thing, but there’s no way you could match them with just your fists!”
“Is that a fact? I suppose I might not be a grappler, then.”
The words she said earlier flashed in his mind like alarm bells.
“D-Demon Lord?!”
Gewalt wobbled back fearfully. Rem’s lips contorted into a smile. Her right fist lit up, filling with so much concentrated SP that it was visible to the naked eye. The light swirled, forming the shape of a lance.
“《Spiral Lance》.”
Rem rushed forward.
“Hit her with all your strength, Efreet!”
“Shaaa!”
Efreet screeched. Its body split in two, lava spilling from within. Rem, who had rushed forward, was washed in it.
A direct hit!
But that moment of joy was soon replaced with utmost despair.
Deflecting even the lava, Rem pierced through Efreet’s torso. The massive amount of SP didn’t just turn her arm into a spear, it enveloped her entire body.
Efreet was reduced to a black crystal, leaving Gewalt without any fighting power remaining. He had other summons, but his strongest two were just one-sidedly crushed. What else would he call?
It seemed Rem’s clothes couldn’t withstand that overwhelming battle, as her outfit crumbled away.
“Such a bother.” Rem knitted her eyebrows. “Though I suppose I don’t lose anything by letting others see me like this... But let’s go with this.”
The SP coating her body turned into a sort of armor.
“What...?!” Gewalt’s eyes opened. “You turned SP into matter?!”
This was no trivial feat, either. She was certainly above level 140. A normal member of the races could never achieve this.
She’s a genius.
And not just that, this was the feat of one with rare talent who had trained themselves to the utmost limit.
Is she actually a Demon Lord?!
She was just a regular summoner until a few moments ago. Gewalt did sense she had a great deal of latent potential, but he never imagined she had this much devilish power hidden away. Rem stuck out her right fist.
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten to pay you back for Shera, too.”
“Aaah...?!”
“It’s Shera we’re talking about, so she’s probably still alive... But for now, I’ll just beat you to high heavens for what you did to her.”
“I-I give in! I surrender! I didn’t even want to do this stupid mission in the boonies anyway! I’ll go back to the capital, I promise!”
“Really now? But if the Therianthropes were to surrender, would you accept it?”
“Of course I would!”
“Lying bastard.”
Her fist—not the one with the Spiral Lance, but her left one—sank into Gewalt’s face.
“Gaaah?!”
He took to the air as if it was some kind of joke, flying back until his back slammed against a tree. His mind was muddled.
I-I’m gonna die. I have to run away....
His consciousness was all the more weakened because of all the MP he wasted. Even getting up was difficult.
“Ugh... Trap Worm...”
The summon beast gulped up Gewalt, along with the ground beneath him, before burrowing underground. He sank into the darkness.
N-No... If I go unconscious now, the summon will disappear inside the ground...
Gewalt struggled to maintain consciousness as it threatened to slip away like water held in his hands.
Final Chapter: Speaking to Rem
The forest was dark. Diablo had defeated Solami and taken off after Rem, but...
Crap, I can’t see anything!
Elves, Pantherians, and Dwarves had good night vision, but Demons didn’t have that kind of sensory advantage. Hurrying would just make him run into the trees. Thinking of a more effective way to go about it, he lifted himself above the trees with flight magic.
With the moonlight on his side, Diablo was somehow able to survey the sea of trees. But from this position, he wouldn’t be able to see any of the markings on those trees, and consequently, wouldn’t be able to find the village. But just as he was at a loss over what to do, a pillar of fire flared up in the distance.
The enemy’s spell?!
He flew off at max speed. Still, it wasn’t all that much faster than walking on foot, and it took him the lesser part of an hour to arrive. By then the fighting had ended, and the forest was burning.
“《Weather Rain》!” Diablo waved a hand, conjuring up a magical shower of water.
Perhaps owing to the rainy climate, the clouds formed swiftly, moistening the ground. The flames burning the forest gradually shrank.
There was a figure standing in the rain. Her outfit was somewhat odd, but it was...
“Rem!”
Diablo called her name, to which she turned around.
“Oh, you... You came at just the right time.”
“I did? The fighting’s already over from the looks of things. I only put out the fire.”
“...Yes, leaving it be would be disastrous.” Rem nodded.
“The way you look... What happened?”
Her appearance was similar to something he’d seen before. It was close to how she looked when the Demon Overlord Modinaram possessed her.
“...If I told you I had a change of heart, would you laugh?”
“Don’t tell me another Demon Lord took over your body.”
Rem’s expression turned quizzical.
“...That’s not quite right, but isn’t exactly wrong, either. But this time, there’s no Demon
Lord in my body. This is the influence of my own emotional state.”
“What emotional state?”
“An unfortunate one.”
“Mm.”
Rem’s eyes glinted red.
“...I wish to kill you... And then myself.”
She thrust her right hand forward, pressing the palm of her hand against Diablo’s left breast. It was just about the spot where Solami had ran him through earlier, and his clothes were torn. Rem’s hand touched his skin directly, and through that, Diablo could feel her Glow.
It was a seething heat. An intense storm. And he could feel, indeed, a sorrow, strong enough to spill into his own emotions.
She was crying.
Rem was weeping, all alone in a dark room...
Such an image surfaced in Diablo’s mind. And he realized he’d betrayed her. A person that hurt another had no way of seeing just how much the other side was hurt. Diablo surely knew that deep down, and yet...
The Glow emanating from Rem was too powerful. With Diablo being as defenseless as he was, even a single blow would be a fatal one. But she didn’t perform a single technique.
Why isn’t she doing anything...?
Someone had embraced Rem from behind.
Shera.
“Don’t. You can’t do that, Rem.”
She had hugged Rem from behind, shivering. Her voice was shaking, too. Diablo could tell at once that Shera was injured, too. Her clothes were violently torn and dripping with blood.
“...I know,” Rem whispered. “I haven’t lost that much of my reasoning.”
“Really?”
“...Who knows? If you hadn’t interrupted me, I might have run through him just now.”
Tears trailed from Shera’s eyes and down her cheeks. Those transparent pearls fell on Rem’s black hair.
“You can’t hurt Diablo.”
“...Even if you’ll never forgive me for it, I can live with that.”
“No. If you do that, you’ll cry, too.”
“...I swear, you’re always so...”
“We’d all be sad.”
“...Yes. I won’t be able to forgive myself either. That’s why I’ll use my own two hands to...”
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 11 Page 14
