“Well, the Saintess has joined us. Himik, can you repair it as promised?”
The Demon Lord nodded, considering it a stroke of luck that he could borrow Eshlee’s power, though he wasn’t sure if Eshlee had become a comrade after so many twists and turns.
As expected of the highest authority in a nation, even if she was in a special prison, any prisoner could be released with just one word from this person.
It was an unbelievable display of absolute power, unimaginable in modern Japan. However, Eshlee was not completely free.
“I still haven’t accepted Giro entering Chaos.”
“Himik.”
“…I won’t accept it. We’ll all lecture you later.”
Eshlee had a sealing magic circle placed on her neck by the President.
Eshlee, who was told that betrayal would lead to death, touched her neck where the magic circle was and looked at Himik with concern. Himik reluctantly accepted the instructions from the President.
A lecture from all his wives.
It looked like it was going to be a rather tough night.
There would probably be a gag order, but someone like Evia would find out easily, and if she knew, it would definitely be spread to the whole family.
Someone like Keiri would require an explanation from him, so he should be prepared for a straight right punch.
Her punches are quite heavy, which is difficult.
“I’m prepared.”
“Is the Human King already being walked all over by his wives?”
“It’s advice for the President.”
“Oh, I’ll listen.”
As soon as the plan for the night was decided, he made up his mind.
Would she cry, be surprised, or get angry?
All of these were probably going to happen.
Because he understood that, he gave advice to the President with an expression of half determination and half resignation.
“The key to a happy marriage is to hand over the reins of the household to the woman. A man should focus on being the pillar that supports the family. That’s the ideal.”
“Hahahahahaha! Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
He wondered why this Demon Lord had no consorts.
He received so many marriage proposals, yet the President must have received them too.
However, he hadn’t heard from Instructor Kio or Evia that the President was married.
He’d like to ask about it eventually, but not now.
This was the research section of the detention facility.
Originally, it was an area for researching whether the Holy Sword could turn someone into an angel, but since the facilities were complete, they decided to repair the Holy Sword here.
“How are you going to fix it?”
“By transferring a part of my soul into this Holy Sword and creating a copy of the original soul.”
“Transferring your soul? Is that okay?”
“My power will only weaken for about a week. It’s nothing life-threatening.”
This Holy Sword would be the key to saving Instructor Kio.
Understanding this, Himik, who respected his will, reluctantly agreed to the repair.
The energy source of the Holy Sword is magic power, but the source of its abilities is the soul.
Therefore, when Himik said she would transfer her soul, he felt half convinced and half worried.
He thought, “What right do I have to say ‘sacrificing myself’?”
He was more of the person who caused others to worry.
He had done everything he could, but there were many things that could only be achieved by exerting his full strength.
From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem reckless, but from his perspective, he had acted with the conviction that he could succeed on the very edge.
He had repeated such actions many times, but there were also many times when he thought it could have gone terribly wrong if he had made one wrong move.
A person walking a tightrope, even a veteran circus performer, would watch the acrobatics on the dangerous footing with bated breath.
A thrill called worry.
He continued to act in ways that inflicted that on others.
He felt sorry about that, but in reality, he couldn’t handle the work otherwise.
That’s why he was sincerely accepting Himik’s lecture and diligently working on self-improvement in the form of body reinforcement.
When they had time, they would engage in practical training that was close to a battle to the death with Instructor Kio.
Honestly, it was a training method that could only be described as insane, but in a real battle, especially a war, you couldn’t win against strong opponents without it.
There was only one rule: a degree of restraint that would allow them to barely survive.
Even if an arm was blown off or a blade was plunged into the abdomen, as long as they survived, it could usually be healed with magic.
Both he and Instructor Kio had a reputation for their tenacity.
Instructor Kio’s supernatural toughness, and his own high magic power affinity and the vitality from his dragon blood, led to growth that didn’t stop even as he became stronger.
So far, his battle record was completely inferior to Instructor Kio’s.
That was only natural.
The previous battle was a victory won on thin ice after extensive preparation, and during training, he hadn’t used Valse to allow for his own growth.
He was fortunate to be able to win battles with the Ore Tree and his own techniques.
Of course, Instructor Kio also sealed the technique that dramatically boosts his physical abilities, which was his trump card.
They both knew that if they used it, it would turn into a genuine battle to the death.
The Tree King had commented that it was an insane training method, but in reality, it was training that everyone except Amili, who was pregnant, and Evia participated in with considerable frequency.
The Dragon King happily participated, while the Giant King and the Tree King felt the necessity, and when they had time, they would engage in battles close to a fight to the death with the generals, after getting permission from the President.
War was approaching, and everyone secretly predicted that it would be a war of unprecedented scale in history.
The training between generals, comparable to that of past Demon Lords, was no different from a fight to the death, with a certain degree of restraint.
Furthermore, since all the generals had different combat styles, it provided unparalleled high-quality experience.
Their growth was non-stop.
By the way, in terms of the number of wins, Instructor Kio was clearly ahead, followed by the Tree King, with the Dragon King and the Giant King slightly behind, and then himself.
Even so, the difference between the top four wasn’t that significant.
It was a difference in skill that could be reversed under certain conditions.
There were also battles where the environment was advantageous to him, which contributed to his record of losses.
He had to admit that Instructor Kio, who could win even in disadvantageous situations, was genuinely amazing.
Occasionally, Amili would also pit her prototype golems against them, but she easily defeated all of them, including him.
Amili’s true strength was limited by the quantity of resources, and if she were to deploy a force that could truly contend with them, the expenses would be exorbitant.
Therefore, she was only gathering information through prototypes.
“…Are you alright?”
“Yes, thank you for your concern.”
Was it strange for him, who was trying to reduce future worries through such near-death battles, to worry about Himik, who was sacrificing her soul?
To protect his beloved family, he gained strength, and then worried that family.
However, the very person who was supposed to protect that family was constantly causing worry.
Truly, it would be better if there were no wars.
Peace is truly good.
“Understood.”
Thinking that such worry was unnecessary, and with a sense of self-mockery about his own actions, Himik gently pricked her fingertip with a knife from the laboratory.
The tip of the knife, reinforced with her own magic power, slightly cut her white fingertip, and a drop or two of red blood dripped down.
As it dripped onto the blade of the Holy Sword, a change immediately occurred.
“Is this the ritual for restoring the Holy Sword?”
“This is my first time seeing it too. It’s true that an angel supporting a hero would improve the combat power of the hero’s allies, but I heard the Master’s main objective was to repair the Holy Sword and not decrease combat power. Indeed, reducing the risk of losing a weapon that can kill the Demon Lord would be beneficial.”
A sacred light, should one say? Using Himik’s blood as a medium, a gentle light enveloped the Holy Sword, and with Himik holding her hand over it, a magic circle was woven.
The Holy Sword floated from its pedestal, and like a CT scan, the magic circle slowly moved from the hilt to the tip of the blade.
Eshlee gasped in surprise, and the President exclaimed with admiration.
The scene of the Holy Sword being restored.
“President, you haven’t seen this before?”
“No, after all, I’ve never heard of an angel cooperating with a Demon Lord in history.”
“But the owner of this Holy Sword…”
He posed a question to the President, who was seeing this for the first time, but then remembered Eshlee’s presence and chose his words carefully.
“Ah, she had become an angel. In that case, she should be able to fix it herself, right? However, her angel wings were a pair, and while she had the ability of a Principal Angel, she wasn’t as high-ranking as a higher angel. In terms of combat power alone, she far surpassed a Seraph. Therefore, she could draw out the Holy Sword’s abilities, but she couldn’t repair it. No, perhaps God didn’t teach her. It’s customary for angels to assist heroes. Judging by the ritual, manipulation of holy attribute magic power is essential, the magic circle uses quite specialized ancient script, and the manipulation of magic power is meticulous. This is naturally understandable, as it is a spell that manipulates souls…”
The President replied, keeping that in mind and choosing phrasing that could be interpreted as a hero who challenged the Demon Lord in the past, rather than using the word “grandmother.”
And it seemed he knew about the ritual of Holy Sword restoration itself. Was there a certain disposition, or rather, a level of ability required for the Holy Sword restoration?
“I believe the owner of this Holy Sword also had an angel by her side.”
“Yes, she had a Cherub. He seemed quite competent, but he was very devout to God and didn’t get along with her, so their relationship was minimal.”
“Within that minimal relationship?”
“Yes, it probably included the repair of the Holy Sword. However, the owner of this Holy Sword was one of the top five strongest individuals in history. She could moderate the burden on the Holy Sword to the minimum extent possible. At least to the extent that she didn’t ask past generals for repairs.”
“…So this is…”
“Ah, this is genuinely the first restoration. It suggests a lack of trust relationship with the angel, wouldn’t you say?”
It wasn’t that she hadn’t reached that level of ability.
And because she didn’t trust God, she was given a Cherub, one level below the highest combat power, the Seraph, rather than a Seraph, as the owner of this Holy Sword.
Knowing the outcome of that recently, his feelings were quite complicated.
The nature of heroes was polarized.
Mentally independent heroes would rebel and be suppressed by some means, reluctantly engaging in battle, or be buried in darkness.
Mentally compliant heroes would happily engage in battle, die in that battle, or survive and become heroes who then became puppets.
As for the former, Himik, who was repairing the Holy Sword. Did the hero lose because of God’s insufficient support, or did she not intend to win?
The President, who knew this, remained silent, his gaze fixed on the Holy Sword being repaired.
A winner prepares meticulously to win.
The more they neglect preparation, the more the reasons for defeat increase.
The factor that holds them back is likely the issue of vested interests.
The vested interest of God’s position.
The greatest obstacle to that is us, the Demon Lord’s Army, so we will prepare forces to eliminate it.
Depending on their nature, it’s daunting to choose between declaring their eventual elimination or using them until they’re worn out.
“President.”
“What is it?”
“I’m glad I joined the Demon Lord’s Army.”
“Perhaps I guided you to say that? At least, what you usually do is something a normal person would consider insane.”
The fact that there was an option other than those two choices made him feel better.
Even though the President subtly implied that it was crazy.
“As long as I feel that I’m fulfilling myself to the point of madness, there’s no problem.”
“I see. Indeed, you have a nature suited for this side.”
He thought that was okay.
Today’s Word: The difference in preparation makes a big impact.
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