Vanir’s taunt didn’t help Darkness’s case much. The adventurers around her looked more and more threatening.
“Darkness! You think you’re all that just because a couple of your attacks hit something?!”
“Here I always thought you had it more together than anyone else in Kazuma’s party! And now you…!”
“Surround her! Everyone circle up on this quack Crusader!”
“(I-I’m not the one who taunted y—) Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa! Not even a swarm of you small fries would be a match for me! (Ahhhhh…)”
Vanir spoke in Darkness’s voice, so the adventurers weren’t sure whether it was Darkness or the demon cackling at them. They just got angrier and angrier at Darkness, until they started aiming their insults at her instead of Vanir.
“I cannot stand to see Darkness so vigorously slandered when she is merely being controlled by the enemy! Is there nothing we can do?!” Megumin tugged hard on my sleeve.
I looked at the battlefield. There Darkness was, overpowering a crowd of adventurers under a relentless torrent of put-downs.
“(Oh… Those I normally converse with so happily now look at me with such scorn…!) You feel…happy? What is going on?”
………
“I don’t know. She seems to be having a pretty good time.”
“S-still, we must help her! Don’t you have any ideas?!”
Megumin could ask as many times as she wanted. But in her current state, Darkness was a lot to handle.
The reality was, I didn’t have a good way to bring down that Devil.
Even Aqua’s magic barely had any effect. What was I supposed to do…?
“Will you just give already?! I’m getting awfully tired of you!”
“You think you are weary? Human wave tactics—a dirty trick! Don’t think I will waste my time with you lot forever just because I have said I won’t kill anyone!”
The battle between Aqua and Vanir continued.
The adventurers had realized that Aqua was Vanir’s target, so they formed a wall to protect her. Aqua kept flinging exorcism magic from behind them, but neither combatant showed any sign of winning.
Vanir, though, finally crushed the precarious balance.
He must have been getting used to Darkness’s body, because he hefted her massive sword easily and began to smack away the adventurers’ weapons.
If nothing else, Darkness was probably leagues ahead of her opponents in sheer strength and endurance. Combined with the battle experience the Devil had collected over a vast lifetime and the agility he granted her, the formerly quack Crusader was taking on ten people and more at a time.
“Hey, is it just me or does she look kind of happy today? Sort of radiant…”
“Cut the chatter and help me… Huh?!”
One of the adventurers finally failed to block Vanir’s attack and took a great sideward sweep of Darkness’s sword. The battle line began to crumble.
Megumin let out a little yelp at the sight.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! The time to exact my payment has come, O my old enemy! And I shall collect it with the hand of your own friend. What could bring me greater joy?!”
“Hey, hey, Darkness! I believe in you! You’re stronger than some Devil, right? Y-you’re okay in there, right? Darkness! Can you hear me?!” Aqua called out as she danced farther and farther back, but there was no answer from Darkness.
Now that the delicate balance between Vanir and the adventurers had been decisively upset, it was only a matter of time before he reached the back row and started targeting Aqua directly.
“Mr. Satou, are you not going to join them in battle? That Priest and that possessed Crusader are both your friends, aren’t they?! Are you just going to leave them there?!”
Sena sounded absolutely at her wit’s end, but what did she want me to do?
“Well, as you know, my class is Adventurer. Everyone out there is stronger than me, and they’re getting their butts kicked. How exactly do you think I could help?”
“Why, you—! You impossible man…!”
Sena’s face twisted in horror as she drew away from me. Meanwhile, one adventurer after another was being rendered powerless.
“K-Kazuma! Does this count as a crisis? Isn’t it pretty much the worst crisis we’ve been in?!” Aqua called out, on the verge of tears. Beside me, Megumin held tight to her staff and turned to me anxiously.
Well, she could look all she liked. I was still just too weak…!
Face pale, Sena watched another adventurer take a knockout blow, and I could feel her eyes on me, too.
I wanted to take this opportunity to lecture the official. To point out how I hadn’t caused this, how I was a victim who got dragged into these things.
…Geez. And they say I’ve got good Luck. Look what I get caught up in.
Some Luck, I said to myself.
“Kazuma! Kazumaaaaa!”
It was Aqua’s cries for help that finally pushed me over the edge.
“…I guess I’ve got no choooooiceeeee!”
More than a little desperately, I drew my sword and charged in, hoping that if my Luck was really as good as all that, everything would work out somehow.
9
Darkness had completely succumbed to Vanir.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bwaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Are you prepared, ancient foe of mine? Even I did not foresee that the day of your destruction would come here, in a place like this! …What is it, boy who is the weakest of all the adventurers here? I see all that you are. Shall I then offer a prophecy?”
Vanir spoke as I faced down Darkness.
“I say to you, who seeks peace and stability, do not overthink it and simply turn a blind eye to this scene. Your great Luck is rendered null by the immense Unluckiness of your friends. Good fortune will come from changing your party members, which I suggest for your own safety. If you do so…!”
As Vanir blathered, I wordlessly swung my sword at his mask.
He dodged it easily. I didn’t know what I was expecting.
“Boy whose own life is most important to him, what brought on this change of heart? Whatever you do will not avail you. Desist, and I shall give you a Vanir doll and a mask that matches my own. I advise you to take them and go home.”
“N-no thanks… Hey, Darkness, what are you doing in there, anyway? Are you just going to let any Devil who comes along dominate you like this? I didn’t know you were such a pushover.”
At my taunts, Vanir responded:
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! It is useless. As you can see, I have already— (Why, you…! Who’s a pushover?! And he’s not dominating me! I’m just really enjoying the emotional turmoil of being under this Devil’s thumb…!) So your words cannot reach…your… Hmm. I had not expected such iron will. In all the eons I have lived, I have never encountered one I was unable to control.”
Naturally, our test-of-endurance-loving Crusader was still conscious and well in there.
“All right, Darkness, listen up. I’m going to take the seal off his mask. Then I need you to get back control of yourself. Just for a second is plenty. Pull off the mask and throw it away. Then…”
Once Darkness was rid of it, Aqua could handle the rest.
But Vanir must have been able to read those thoughts, too.
“Hmph. Not a terrible strategy, but you have one problem. How are you, a weakling, going to reach this seal when I can deploy my host’s full strength? It turns out I’m quite happy to fight my old enemy like this. I may let you break the seal…after I’m done with her. (Hrm, I admit I’m disappointed to hear you underestimate me. Right now I could take on the world!)”
Suddenly, Vanir said…
“Y-you fool. Are you even now prepared to stand against me?”
All around us lay the unconscious adventurers who’d taken the blunt side of Vanir’s great sword.
And there was Aqua, casting restorative magic on them as Vanir and I squared off. She came over and stood behind me.
; “Kazuma, I’ve got your back! With my support magic, you can take down that Devil just like a real hero!”
Easy for her to say.
“Heh-heh! I’ve got a pretty good streak of Luck myself. All right, Kazuma. It is time for you to awaken the power within you. You don’t have to hold back anymore. Take back Darkness from that Devil!”
Easy for Megumin, who had joined us, to say.
So what was this power I had within me?
For that matter, why did Aqua and Megumin think I could face down Vanir head-on and get that seal?
Vanir took up a stance.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Shall you force me to yield? (You think) you can take this (seal)? I’d like to (see you tr—) Shut up, shut up! Those are my lines!”
“You were both so unhappy about that seal earlier. You want it off or not?”
While I jumped into their argument, Aqua prepared her exorcism magic.
“You are planning something, boy. The shining aura from that despicable creature behind you prevents me from seeing exactly what. But I know you do not mean to cross swords with me… Hmm. Some kind of skill, then? (It’s Steal! That’s his favorite trick!)”
“Wh-what the hell is wrong with you, giving away my ideas!”
She sounded so proud of herself, too. Vanir smirked at me.
“Kazuma, my magic’s ready!”
“Great, leave the rest to me! All right, Darkness, here we go! How about another bet? Just like at the training grounds. If I win, I’ll add something absolutely unbelievable to that ‘awful demand’ you already owe me. If you win, you can do whatever you want!”
“(Ahh! To m-mention that h-here…!) H-hey, you! Don’t be distracted by that boy’s sweet nothings! Show no weakness—bring your heart to bear! Raise your magical power; prepare yourself to resist Steal—!”
Vanir’s hold on the conflicted Darkness weakened as her body came to a stop.
Behind me, I suddenly heard Megumin begin to chant Explosion.
I whipped around and found her focused on the dungeon entrance.
The adventurers who had gone underground with us were dashing out, Vanir’s dolls hot on their heels.
Vanir had noticed the same thing. The eyes of his mask glowed weirdly, and the dolls pouring out of the dungeon ran pell-mell straight at us.
They were going to take out Megumin.
“All right! It’s on, Vanir! And Darkness, you fight back—keep him from moving!”
And then I reached out toward his mask…!
“If you think the Steal of a mere Adventurer will prevail against me, you are profoundly mistaken! To those who resist, I show no mer—”
“Kindle!!”
The spell incanted at the top of my voice wasn’t Steal but the fire-starting Kindle.
There was no special need for me to steal the tag or remove it by hand. Burning it off would do just fine…!
“…Bwa! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Ahhh! No fair, Kazuma! You suck!) I must say I am somewhat impressed, boy! It is rare for anyone to deceive the all-seeing Devil!”
The tag stuck to his mask burned away, leaving nothing to connect Vanir and Darkness.
“Okay, Darkness, show us what you’re made of! Rip off that mask!”
The Crusader grabbed the mask and…
“(…! I… I can’t take it off…!)”
Vanir was still fighting to keep the mask stuck to her face.
And his dolls were still heading for us with murder in their eyes.
The adventurers who had come out of the dungeon formed a wall between them and us. They seemed to have intuited that we were fighting a boss monster and tried to hold off the smaller enemies.
“Kazumaaa! What now? Can I go ahead and use my magic?” Aqua called.
“No, wait, the mask is still attached to Darkness! If you use your spell now, her defense will just—”
But then…
“(Don’t worry about me. Do it.)”
Darkness spoke briefly, her hand still on the mask.
Do it? But it wouldn’t have any effect…
“(If Aqua’s magic won’t work, then… Don’t worry about me. Explode me and the mask.)”
Wait…
What did she just say?
“You idiot! I don’t care how tough you are, you can’t survive Explosion!”
“(Only one way to find out!) Now, there’s no need to rush. Let us talk.”
At Darkness’s words, Vanir finally sounded like he was starting to sweat.
Behind me, Megumin had finished preparing her spell.
“(Aqua! If I get the mask off, don’t hesitate! Use your exorcism magic!) Well, this has been fun. How about we call today a draw? (If I don’t, then use Explosion…!) A draw with the Duke of Hell, a general of the Demon King. Quite an achievement, I’d say!”
“I—I hear you, Darkness! When you get rid of that dumb thing, I’ll be right on it!”
Aqua watched the mask, hardly blinking, ready to fire off her exorcism at any moment.
“Kazuma, Darkness is not in her right mind! Even she cannot withstand this spell!”
Megumin was about to burst into tears.
Everyone—the dolls that had been heading our way until just a moment ago, Sena, and the other adventurers—kept their distance from Darkness, frozen.
And in the middle of it all…
“(…Hey, Vanir. We didn’t have long together, but I kind of enjoyed it. So…I want to give you a choice. You can get off me and be purified out of existence. Or we can be blown up together. Take your pick.)”
“Get destroyed or get destroyed”? It didn’t seem like much of a choice to me.
“…I am a Devil,” Vanir said grimly, “one of the enemies of the gods. Never shall I let one of them purify me. Bwa-ha-ha-ha… In a strange way, I am meeting my end exactly how I wished. I quite enjoyed possessing you.”
Explosion it was, then.
Hearing this, Darkness and the mask took a few steps away from us.
“(All right, Megumin!)” Darkness demanded harshly. Megumin gave a small shake of her head, not able to bring herself to do it…
Sena took in the entire scene with a vacant stare. I patted her on the shoulder.
“If anything goes wrong, I want you to testify that I gave the order. I’ll take full responsibility. Again.”
Sena nodded, her face white, and swallowed heavily.
Our Crusader was the toughest around.
The toughest in all Axel.
“Megumin, do it!”
I said the words. A moment passed.
And then a massive explosion rocked the field in front of the dungeon.
Epilogue
Epilogue 1 —Aqua—
A while after the battle with that weird demon…
…Kazuma and I were summoned to the Adventurers Guild.
Geez… Kazuma. That Kazuma.
How does he get us into one potentially deadly situation after another like this? If I ever see another general of the Demon King, it’ll be too soon. If only we could have a boring day once in a while.
Sure, I want to hurry up and get back to Heaven, but somehow it’s been nothing but hard times since we got to this world.
“…It’s weird. It’s like you have these great talents, but they’re all for things that are totally pointless,” Kazuma muttered as I drew a picture with water from my glass.
“Well, of course. Just who do you think I am?”
For someone who could control water at will, this was merely…
“If you called yourself the goddess of artists, maybe someone would actually believe you.”
I was tempted to fling a holy fist right at that dumb mouth of his. But I remembered my immense dignity and refrained.
It was definitely my dignity that kept me from doing it and not my fear of how he might get me back.
Because I’m not afraid of that. Not at all.
Kazuma has to struggle every day with the problems Megumin causes and with Da
rkness’s nonsense. I at least can try to be nice to him. Everyone else in the party is an irresponsible child. As a goddess, I have to watch over them.
“…Hey. What are you thinking? Something weird, I’ll bet. I see that pitying look. I hate that look.”
Here I am being the most grown-up person in the room, and look what he accuses me of. Is he drinking enough milk? I’ve heard a lack of calcium makes a person irritable.
But I’m sure he’ll learn to be more forgiving, starting today.
Because the reason we were called here is…
Epilogue 2 —Megumin—
I’m afraid I was not much help this time around.
I do cause Kazuma trouble on a daily basis—even if not as much as Aqua or Darkness—so I thought this one time, maybe I could do as he asked.
As the rational thinker in this party, it behooves me to be the most collected.
On the table, my familiar, Chomusuke, showed her affection for Kazuma. Perhaps he’d endeared himself to her by feeding her back at home.
“…I don’t get it. This thing seems really fond of me. But it won’t even go near Aqua. Maybe it’s true what they say about animals being able to tell who’s a good person.”
“I was just thinking how sorry I feel for you with all the problems you have to solve every day. I was going to show how magnanimous I can be by cutting you some slack. But I can’t quite ignore what I just heard. It sounded to me like you said that despite all my holiness I am somehow not a good person.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Chomusuke came running to me to avoid the fight brewing between Kazuma and Aqua. I picked her up and put her on my shoulder, where she always sat.
In a corner of the Guild, Yunyun, who was supposed to help me clear Kazuma’s name, sat eating by herself.
She didn’t have to. It was time for her to stop getting so caught up in our so-called rivalry and come join us.
I would have to thank her later. Admittedly, Kazuma had done a fine job on his own of convincing everyone he wasn’t one of the Demon King’s spies. But she had helped in the background.
You're Being Summoned, Darkness Page 15
