Happy New Year.
This is the first post of the year.
And, I hope you will favor me again this year.
It was a moment of stagnation.
After gathering my resolve again and continuing the fight, I had been fighting for so long that I no longer had time to look at a clock, and my perception of time itself began to warp.
The soul of the Demon Lord that had taken over Amelia’s body, for a brief moment, perhaps less time than it takes to blink, had indeed stopped.
“!!”
My body began to move, as if wasting even a second to shout “here!” in a vision where each second was stretched out an immeasurable amount of time.
The instant I saw the opponent stop, my intuition moved my body before my mind could even process it.
I urged my tired, dulled body forward, channeled the fighting spirit I had saved like a secret stash, instantly recreated movements from when I was in perfect condition, and pushed my limits with movements that didn’t consider what came next, as if I were removing the limiter in my brain.
That unnatural movement wasn’t a trap; something within me screamed that something had clearly happened, and my teeth clenched.
Grinding my teeth, I channeled power into my entire body, starting from the point on my jaw where I had tensed it.
The others watching from afar must have understood this as well.
Without any questions or doubts about what might have happened, magic was deployed in multiple layers from behind me and shot out, as if to say, “Take the rest of your magic power.”
Kitamiya’s and Kaido’s attack magic collided with the opponent’s automatic defense system’s barrier, neutralizing its function, and the intercepting attacks meant to hinder me were blocked by the barrier deployed by Minami around me.
I could hear shouts from behind me, telling me to go for it.
I trusted my friends.
It might be a cliché, but because I didn’t hesitate, I was able to move a breath faster.
Believing they would pull through, I shifted to offense without thinking, and as a result, they created a situation that allowed my movements to be utilized to their fullest.
If they responded to my actions, then it was my turn to produce results for them.
As if to answer them, I moved forward without hesitation.
I took my biggest stride of this battle towards the opponent waiting ahead.
“!!!!”
I took the shortest path and positioned myself in Amelia’s line of sight, within my attack range.
Tensing my jaw, I swung down the Ore Tree with all my might. The single sword stroke, aimed at the opponent who had stopped moving as if their power had suddenly run out, was about to strike Amelia’s body.
“Valse-san!!”
The opponent had no barrier to defend or magic to deflect the attack. If this continued, the blade I swung would surely cut them down. I was waiting for that moment.
Just as it was about to touch, at a timing that defied evasion. Even though I had activated the magic power I had saved for summoning by then…
“Yes, yes, leave it to me!!”
Valse-san answered. The trump card is truly something to be kept until the very end. The Ore Tree glowed, not with a faint light, but with an intensity that made such a description impossible, and from it emerged a white serpent.
“A time-space barrier, how rare to experience this.”
The long, massive body of the serpent quickly coiled around Amelia’s body, restraining her. The coiled serpent flicked its tongue with a hiss, as if to intimidate. On the serpent’s head, Valse-san stood with a pose like that of a Kabuki actor, holding a palm towards Amelia.
“Well, with me here, it’s nothing. Don’t think that even the soul of the Demon Lord can easily break free?”
She might be puffing out her chest with pride, but I didn’t have the luxury to see it. I stabbed the Ore Tree into the ground like a staff, leaning on it, barely able to stay upright. Despite circulating highly pure magic power, the consumption was immense. Abandoning incantations during combat through high-speed summoning required a considerable price for bypassing procedures. It consumed more magic power than usual, and I was also maintaining Valse-san’s presence. As a result, my magic power was razor-thin. But I managed to prepare it.
“As expected, you’re reliable.”
My body screamed that it couldn’t fight anymore, wobbling precariously. Yes, I understood without being told. I slowly regulated my breathing and continued to circulate my magic, but I couldn’t exert full strength. I understood how depleted I was. Still, I somehow managed to straighten myself and look around. I saw Amelia, bound by the white serpent and encased in a white cocoon-like form in the center, and a little distance away, Kaido and the others, their tension broken, had collapsed onto the ground.
However, this wasn’t the end. Our original goal was to use magic power to awaken Amelia’s ego. Sealing her with a strong barrier would be meaningless. This was merely time buying. I chugged a potion, trying to recover even a little stamina. The magic permeated my body, alleviating the faint, anemic sensation, and my footing finally felt secure. Kaido and the others were also drinking potions, trying to heal their fatigue. Himik was fighting in the sky, but it was quite a distance from here. A brief respite on the battlefield. I tried to use those few moments to recover my strength.
“Oh? They’re falling this way.”
“Huh?”
But it seemed I wouldn’t even be granted that brief moment. At Valse-san’s words, I looked up at the sky and saw two lights falling towards us with considerable momentum. Instead of falling in separate directions, they seemed to be adjusted to fall near each other. The two lights, after crashing into the canyon wall, weakened and finally fell from the wall to the ground.
“Those guys…”
“They look like angels.”
Even from a distance, there was no mistaking their forms. They were the Seraph twins, who had flown earlier, lying there motionless, perhaps unconscious. And in the sky, Himik was deploying a large magic circle.
“The finishing blow.”
Mercy on the battlefield would lead to our own demise. I understood that. Therefore, I would not stop Himik’s actions. They were enemies, after all, and had to be defeated. I understood that it was cruel. I had no intention of accepting it or making excuses. But to bring about the results we needed, I would accept this outcome. I thought that if she came here, the possibility of saving Amelia would increase. Just as I thought this and was waiting for the magic to be unleashed…
“Ngh!? Himik!!”
I felt an icy sensation run down my spine and shouted towards Himik, who I guessed was the target. I didn’t tell her to dodge or defend, just her name. Even so, Himik instinctively abandoned the magic circle and twisted her body downwards. A moment later, a streak of white light pierced the spot where Himik had been. A single beam of light that seemed to erase the very space it passed through. I recognized that light.
“Well now, it would be troublesome if they were defeated, wouldn’t it? Could you stop just about there?”
He appeared with a voice so gentle it was out of place in this situation. Had he flown here, or used Teleportation Magic? A great presence, which I hadn’t felt until moments ago, had appeared. Looking in the direction of that presence, I saw a gentle man walking slowly towards us as if on a stroll, a smile on his face. In his right hand was a Holy Sword, and I knew that the previous attack had been unleashed from it.
“And, could you let me kill that being with the abominable presence?”
Carter Isperio, the instigator of this commotion. He was a wanted individual, branded as a Hero by the Demon Lord’s Army. From his mild-mannered face, he spat words filled with a killing intent unbefitting him, turning his smiling gaze towards us as if he would erase everyone present if we didn’t agree.
“Oh? Are you going to interfere?”
“……”
Time’s up, I realized. The moment the Hero appeared, we had to retreat immediately. Otherwise, Kaido, who showed a serious expression and was trying to get up, saying he could still fight; Kitamiya, who was trying to stand up while leaning on his staff, refusing to give up; Minami, who was trying to figure something out with a wry smile; and Himik, who was standing in front of Carter, trying to buy time knowing she couldn’t win, would all die. Unable to find any solution in the few seconds of silence, I suppressed my heart that wanted to cry out that I didn’t want to give up, fueled by regret, and was about to say, “We’re running!”
“Move! Jiro-san!!”
But the moment I heard that voice, it wasn’t just me. Himik, who was in the line of fire, also instinctively dodged to the left, and a seven-colored light streaked through the empty space. I looked at the source of its appearance, disbelieving.
“Amelia?”
“Yes! I’m back!!”
The time-space barrier, a barrier said to be impossible to break by physical means utilizing dimensional rifts. Amelia, with her usual energetic smile, emerged from a hole opened in the cocoon, piercing that wall.
“Ami!!”
“Amelia-chan!?”
“It’s Ami, gozaru!!”
My friends felt the same. We couldn’t hide our surprise at her appearance at such an impossible Timing. There was no sign of her being controlled by the Demon Lord’s soul, nor did it look like the Demon Lord’s soul was acting. It was the Amelia we knew. However, the magic power emanating from her body was undeniably the same as the Demon Lord’s magic power we had been fighting against until just now.
“How in the world…”
Unable to keep up with the change in events, I honestly voiced my doubt.
“Thanks to Mike, I could come back!”
Amelia replied, giving a somewhat sloppy salute. Mike was the name of the Demon Lord who had lost his memory, wasn’t he? The Demon Lord should have no reason to cooperate with Amelia, yet she appeared imbued with his magic power. It was a completely contradictory outcome. I couldn’t understand. And yet, I understood that the person in front of me was Amelia.
“Ngh, explain it to me later!!”
“Yes!”
However, the situation had undeniably turned for the better. There was no time to ask about the circumstances. After all…
“Well, I’m surprised. I never thought you had such a trump card up your sleeve.”
It was the Hero. There was no way we could afford to be sluggish when he was here. It seemed Amelia’s attack had completely flipped his switch to kill, and there was no expecting mercy. Seizing this chance at the last moment, I activated a magic tool I kept at my waist, not wanting to lose the momentum.
“No! A genuine trump card is this!!”
And then, I tossed the activated magic tool high into the sky. A giant magic circle unfolded. No, it was an enormous magic circle. Its diameter…
“This way!!”
It was so large it obscured the giant moon, making it invisible. And the magic created by the overflowing magic power was…
“A summoning circle? But this size…”
Summoning magic. It was a familiar and common magic, but its scale was extraordinary. While Carter, his killing intent lowered and showing caution, wondered what would be summoned by this magic circle, I gave him a confident smile.
“If I say it can counter the Hero, you’ll understand, right?”
“No way!?”
“Yeah! Exactly! Open those beautiful eyes wide and look carefully!! This is—”
Finally, Carter’s confident expression vanished. It was too late for him to move to interfere with the magic circle. The summoning had begun. No one could stop it now. The light of the Holy Sword was repelled by whatever had appeared, and its colossal form began to reveal itself.
“It’s your nemesis, the Demon Lord’s castle where the Demon Lord lives!!”
It was the ultimate strategy given to me by the Supervisor to defeat Carter. It was the Demon Lord’s Army’s proud mobile fortress and main residence, ruled by the Demon Lord, and likely the counterpart to the Holy Sword. The Demon Lord’s Castle. The magic tool I was given was for summoning it.
Today’s Word:
Sometimes things work out at the last minute!!
This concludes today’s post.
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\※The first volume of the novelization has been decided to be published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. The e-book version was released on October 31 of the same year. The second volume will be released on December 19. The content has been revised and expanded from the original posts on “Shōsetsuka ni Narō,” with the addition of unreleased interlude chapters. We also hope you will check out the new releases!
Additionally, a comic adaptation has also been decided for Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
