How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 4

by Yukiya Murasaki

  “Now, become an ice sculpture!” Diablo bellowed, blood spurting from his mouth.

  Batutta quickly activated a Martial Art with his right hand. Using the technique 《Finger Blade》 to turn his hand into a naked sword, he brought it down—

  †

  Batutta’s left arm, white and frozen, fell to the ground— He had amputated one of his own limbs using a Martial Art. If he hadn’t done anything, he surely would have been an ice sculpture by now. The guy’s quick thinking and grit were something else, but it had to be a fatal blow for a Warrior to lose not only their weapon but an arm as well.

  Pulling the spear from his chest, Diablo threw it away from the stone staircase. Blood spurted from the hole gouged in his chest.

  “Heh heh heh...” A demonic smile crept onto his face. “What’s wrong, Batutta? Was it also part of your plan to lose both your weapon and arm?”

  He kept a composed smile on the outside—but was screaming on the inside.

  —THIS HURTS LIKE A BITCH, GODDAMNIIIIT!!

  The wound was only on his chest, but it felt like all his limbs were going to tear themselves apart as the pain surged throughout his body.

  Though he managed to pull himself back from the brink, it was something he never wanted to do again. Taking a blow that would cause instant death just to create an opening to strike—definitely a plan that was better said than done. He truly thought he was going to die once the spear pierced his heart.

  Diablo’s cape, the Curtain of Dark Clouds, had an effect that would leave him with 1 HP even after taking an attack that would normally reduce it to zero. He almost forgot about it, but it was just like he had confirmed back when he was first summoned to this world.

  To be frank, he was certain he would never be able to use it here. Being left with 1 HP could mean barely being able to move for all he had known.

  —It’s true I’m having trouble breathing, though. I might die if a mosquito bit me right about now...

  The instant death protection from his Curtain of Dark Clouds wouldn’t activate if he was at 10% or less of his HP. If he were to take another attack right now, that would spell actual death for him this time around.

  He had never tested this effect until now because of how dangerous it was, making it a gamble whether or not he would still be alive after taking Batutta’s attack.

  It seemed that even after being stabbed through the heart, he wouldn’t die—but it still hurt enough to feel like he would. If no one else was here he would be screaming and sobbing his eyes out.

  Despite the severity of his injuries, the hole in Diablo’s chest slowly began to close; even his left arm was starting to heal. Though it had only been hanging on by mere strands of skin earlier, his bones and muscles were knitting themselves back together.

  This was also an effect of his equipment: The 《Distorted Crown》 he wore on his head would automatically recover his HP over time. It wasn’t any significant amount when he was in any other fight, but it was actually possible to see how fast his injuries were healing now.

  Blood was still spurting out from Batutta’s wounds. Though, he had severed his limbs from the upper arm down, so that was only to be expected. Unless he took some kind of surgical action or received a healing miracle, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

  “Are... Are you supposed to be...immortal...? Not dying, even after I pierced through your heart...” His brow was slick with sweat.

  “Heh heh... I already told you—I am a Demon Lord.”

  “This cannot be...”

  “Did you actually feel like you knew everything this world had to offer? That was where your pride laid, in your supposed ‘wisdom’ from having lived thus far. All your knowledge amounted to was just a tiny fraction of what there is to know. Now then, shall we keep going? We both have one good arm left, after all...”

  The truth of the matter was that it was a miracle Diablo could still stand, though.

  Regardless, he thrust his hand out toward Batutta. Tenma’s Staff was still at his feet, but if he tried to bend down and pick it up, it would feel like he would collapse as he did so.

  The fact that he could make it seem like his wounds were no big deal, that he didn’t need a weapon, that he could still keep going, no problem—that was all because he was putting everything he had into his Demon Lord role play. He would never show any weakness in front of anyone.

  Batutta’s face contorted into a grimace. “Shiliu!” he shouted toward the pit below them.

  “Yes, Master!”

  When Diablo turned to look at her, the almost naked maid had pulled out a dagger, bringing it close to Rem’s neck.

  Diablo’s blood was boiling.

  “I’ll kill you, you whore!”

  Unperturbed, Shiliu kept the smile on her face, a sign of the advantage they now held over him.

  “This is a sign for you...not to move...” Batutta said in a hoarse voice.

  They were unabashedly using Rem as a hostage and holding it over him. He could try and bluff that there was no point in using hostages against a Demon Lord, but the fact he had come all the way here to save them meant that wouldn’t be a convincing argument.

  Shiliu wiped the drool from her mouth. “Hehe... In the end, it seems like this is a strategic victory for my Master.”

  “Diablo! Don’t worry about me—just fight!” Rem yelled.

  “Hah... Hah... Do not worry about me either...Lord Diablo!”

  Lumachina shouted, too, short of breath and her face flushed red. It seemed she had been subjected to Shiliu’s groping before he came here to rescue her.

  Diablo clenched his fists tight, his body shaking in rage.

  —If I could just abandon those two then I wouldn’t have even come here in the first place.

  What can I do? How can I save them!?

  A single arrow sped across the cylindrical building—

  An arrow that Shera had fired.

  It cut across the empty space, leaving behind a trail of pure darkness, most likely a result of the magic enhancement Klem had done to it. It traveled at such a speed that even Diablo was having trouble keeping track of it.

  The arrow headed toward the altar. By the time Shiliu had noticed, it pierced clean through the hand holding the dagger, severing the tendons of her fingers and causing her to lose her grip on the weapon as it was sent flying away.

  “GAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!” Shiliu let out a guttural scream.

  “That’s my 《Angel Shot》!” Shera shouted down after the fact. It was the name of a Martial Art.

  “AGAHHHHHHH!!”

  Shiliu’s right hand began making crackling noises as it turned an ashen gray. This wasn’t the effect of Angel Shot, which was a technique that was only supposed to greatly increase the user’s accuracy. What was going on?

  Soon enough, the maid could no longer make a sound as her entire body turned to stone.

  This could very well be the effect of the magic energy Klem put into Shera’s bow.

  “K-Klem...” Shera was visibly shaken. “This is so scary it makes it hard to use!!”

  —It packs way more of a punch than I thought...!

  Diablo was quite shocked on the inside.

  While the bow she used was souped-up thanks to Klem’s magic, Angel Shot was a level 60 technique. He hadn’t expected Shera to be such a high-level Archer.

  Thinking back on it, she did say she was determined to be level 40 as a child...

  Because of her happy-go-lucky attitude and ditzy nature, he never thought to rely on her in battle. He noticed when she used a Martial Art back when they were fighting against the shinobi, but this could be the first time he had seen her get serious when using her bow.

  Batutta was in a daze. “Shiliu...? Why won’t you answer me, Shiliu...?”

  There was no response from the maid turned to stone. Who knew how long the petrification effect from a weapon enhanced by the actual Demon Lord Krebskulm would last.

  A shadow stealthily moved along the alta
r, sporting a pair of rabbit ears that bounced to and fro—

  Horn.

  “Ehehe, gotta show off my usefulness to the boss up there, right?”

  “How did you manage to get here!?” Rem said in shock.

  “All I did was jump along those jaggedy walls back there, straight down.”

  Horn unsheathed the shortsword on his back, cutting through the binds around Rem’s arms and legs; she was finally free again.

  “Th-Thank you!”

  “Hm-hm-hmm~ Feel free to thank me more!”

  The two of them immediately went to help Lumachina as well.

  “I do not know who you are, but thank you so much!”

  “Oh yeah, guess I didn’t introduce myself yet, huh. I’m Horn! Let’s go conquer a dungeon together!”

  †

  —Looks like I managed to win...somehow.

  He breathed a sigh on the inside.

  “Hmph... What’s the matter, Batutta? Are you not going to make your move? Then I will reduce you to ashes with my magic,” Diablo said as threateningly as possible.

  “Th-This cannot be...”

  “For losing to have that much of an impact on you... That only shows how prideful you really are. All your prudence and caution is nothing but your own misguided assumptions.”

  “Ngh... Curse you... Curse you...!”

  “Hmph. There is no worth using my magic against someone who has lost their will to fight.”

  Diablo lowered his hand while Batutta fixed his glare on him.

  “You will all fall...into the depths of despair...”

  “Oh?”

  “I regret...not being able...to see the looks of anguish on your faces when that happens...”

  He made a fist with his right hand.

  —This guy still wants to fight!?

  Diablo focused himself on casting a spell.

  Batutta’s hand began to glow, and he was able to get his technique off faster.

  “Wooooooooargh!!”

  Just like Finger Blade, this was a Martial Art that could be performed when unarmed. Diablo couldn’t be sure what move he was using without actually seeing it in action, but he didn’t have the luxury waiting around to find out. If Diablo took another attack as he was now, that would be the end for him.

  Batutta thrust his fist forward. An SP-infused ball of light was sent flying toward Diablo; judging by the look of it, this was probably 《Shining Blow》.

  “《Darkness Cannon》!!” Diablo shouted.

  An advanced Dark-elemental spell that unleashed a condensed mass of pitch-black magic energy.

  He didn’t have Tenma’s Staff, so it turned into a clash between the almost exact same techniques, even though Dark and Light were the polar opposites of each other, element-wise.

  The two techniques crashed and grinded against one another, a shock wave spreading out from the impact. The stone walls creaked and grated against themselves, with rocks and stones falling down from the ceiling, followed by a veritable waterfall of sand. The stone walls might not be able to take any more...

  Diablo declared:

  “Both my level and equipment outclass you! In a simple clash between our techniques—I have no reason to lose!”

  Darkness Cannon overcame Batutta’s sphere of light, striking him while he was still locked in place after using an advanced technique.

  “Gohahhhhhhhhhh!!”

  He was sent flying away, where he violently crashed into the stone wall, causing it to collapse much more than Diablo thought it would. The impact caused even more sand to pour down from above.

  Batutta was no longer moving.

  An unpleasant noise resounded throughout the chamber, as if the whole building was groaning. It looked like Diablo had dealt significant damage to the structure itself.

  “Diablooooo!!” Shera clambered down the staircase.

  “Y-You fool! Why did you come here!?”

  “’Cause you looked like you were in trouble!”

  “Can’t you see the building is coming down!?”

  “Yeah! That’s why we have to hurry up and get out of here!”

  It seemed the option to escape by herself just didn’t exist for Shera.

  She picked up Tenma’s Staff off the ground for him. Then, a loud crashing noise came from somewhere above the staircase.

  Turning to see what it was, he could see the entrance crumbling away, right where Shera was standing before.

  “Eeeeek!?” Shera let out a scream.

  If she had thought about keeping herself out of harm’s way, she would have been lying at the bottom of a pile of rubble by now.

  “Phew...” Diablo steadied his breathing.

  Shera had tears in her eyes. “Wh-What do we do now!? We lost our way out!!”

  “We’re heading to the bottom, and fast.”

  “Fweh!?”

  “I don’t have time to explain.”

  The amount of sand falling from the ceiling just kept increasing; the building really wasn’t going to last much longer.

  One of his arms was still on the verge of falling off, so that made it a chore to run...but the 《Demon Lord’s Ring》 was on his left hand. If all else, he couldn’t afford to lose that.

  They rushed to the bottom, Shera holding on to Tenma’s Staff as they ran.

  Making his way to the bottom of this place, Diablo dodged around the others still indulging in their sinful pleasures as he ran. Even as they were buried in sand or crushed by the falling rocks, they wouldn’t come back to their senses.

  He made his way to the altar—

  “Diablo!!”

  Rem jumped into his arms. For someone as calm and collected as her to get this emotional...

  A solemn expression suddenly came over his face. “Th-They didn’t go all the way with you, did they...?”

  “Wha—!? What kind of nonsense are you talking about!? They did not lay even a single finger on me!”

  “Then what about Lumachina!?”

  Lumachina’s face turned so red he thought it might burst into flames. Coupled with the fact that it looked like she had bawled her eyes out, everything became awkward very fast.

  “N-Nothing of the sort was done to me! Th-There was some touching...and licking...but that was it! They didn’t do that to me, right, Rem!? Please, you say something to him, too!”

  “...Let’s hurry up and get out of here, Diablo,” Rem said with a dead serious expression on her face.

  “Reeeeeeeem!?” Lumachina looked like she was on the verge of tears again.

  Though it was important to make sure the two of them were still mentally sound after their ordeal, they could worry about all that after they escaped from being crushed by falling rocks and sand.

  “H-Hey, boss! Wh-Wh-What do we do now!?” Horn jumped into the conversation.

  “So you’re still here. I thought you already ran off the first chance you got.”

  “That’s harsh, man!”

  Taking Tenma’s Staff from Shera, Diablo thrust it directly into the altar. This spell needed direct contact to work, and required some extra time for him to concentrate on casting it.

  —Don’t everything come crumbling down on me now, got it!?

  As Horn continued to freak out, Rem managed to shut him up by putting him in a full nelson. Shera and Lumachina stared at him with earnest eyes.

  Diablo chanted his spell:

  “Obey my will and change to the position I desire— 《Adzet》!”

  The altar rose up into the air—

  —when the ceiling collapsed.

  Countless rocks and a mountain of sand plummeted toward them.

  “D-Diablo, HELLLLLLLP!!” Shera screamed.

  “Just leave this to me.”

  —I’ll put every last drop of my MP into this next spell!

  “Twist and howl, O mighty air, and transform into a spiraling vortex that shall pierce through both heaven and earth! 《Grand Tornado》!!”

  Epilogue

  In the we
stern side of the town of Zircon Tower—

  It was right before daybreak, and the sky was clear. Light began to hit the tents gathered here. There wasn’t a soul to be seen where the usual throngs of people would line up. The mysterious explosion during the night, combined with the repeated bouts of cryptic rumblings, caused the people to back far away from the collection of tents.

  One of the tents was even sucked into a hole that opened in the earth.

  Another hole opened in the ground. Sand continued to fall down the crater as the hole continued to grow in size.

  The people watching from afar screamed as if it were the end of the world, or as if the gates of hell had swung wide open.

  A raging tornado burst from the pit.

  Rocks, sand, and even a portion of the tent that had sunk into the earth earlier were sent careening toward the sky, then strewn all over the place as they fell back down. Massive, weighty objects that would take a crowd of people just to lift up came back down like rain.

  The people screamed, trembling in fear. That’s when they saw it—

  An altar rose up from the depths of the hole in the ground, with a group of girls huddled on top of it. There was a man standing at the center of the altar, cloaked in an outfit of pure black with horns growing out of his head.

  Someone whispered breathlessly:

  —A Demon Lord...

  †

  “W-We’re floating!? Like, holy crap we’re floating!?”

  “...Don’t make a fuss. You’ll ruin Diablo’s concentration.”

  As Horn showed no signs of calming down, Rem covered his mouth with both her hands.

  “Mmh!? Mmph!?”

  “...Just be quiet.”