This time, it’s a bit short.
Another side
Carter could see Jiro and the others slowly moving away from the area.
However, he only registered it in the corner of his vision; the largest portion of his sight was occupied by the man smiling innocently with no tension whatsoever right in front of him.
The Demon Lord.
At first glance, he appeared to be a man in his early thirties with handsome features and blond hair.
If this were not a battlefield, and if his attire were not armor but that of a mountaineer, and if he weren’t constantly exuding overflowing magic power that didn’t suit his expression.
His presence brought forth a gentle smile that was so unfitting for the situation, it made one imagine various “what ifs.”
“Hero, as the Demon Lord, I am greeting you, but you are not returning my greeting?”
Even though they both knew they were enemies, the Demon Lord seemed to be enjoying the conversation as if greeting a friend, waiting for Carter’s response.
Meanwhile, Carter’s earlier relaxed expression had vanished. While his gaze remained fixed, he was casting his senses around cautiously, planning his escape.
The Demon Lord perceived this attitude.
This was why he reiterated his question.
“…”
Carter merely kept his hand rested on the Holy Sword and did not reply.
“You’re so cold.”
Tension hung in the air.
Despite Carter’s response, the Demon Lord let out a sigh as if he had no choice and gently waved his staff.
“Well, but that’s fine, isn’t it? I don’t expect you to talk to me honestly, nor do I intend to ask about your goals. I am the Demon Lord, and you are the Hero. Therefore, what we must do is clear.”
Carter reacted to this gesture, but before he could, a barrier enveloped both the Demon Lord and Carter. The origin of this barrier was connected to the flow of magic emanating from the Demon Lord’s Castle.
“This is the stage you desired. Please enjoy it, and do your best to behead me.”
Carter suppressed the urge to click his tongue at the Demon Lord’s words.
His unspoken reaction suggested that Carter should not be fighting at this very moment.
“Ah, that’s right. I might as well send you this word, too.”
However, such conveniences were irrelevant to the Demon Lord, who found the current situation quite agreeable.
In a turn of events inconvenient to Carter, the Demon Lord spoke with a smile, having seemingly waited for an opportunity to utter words he had heard and longed to say for a certain reason.
“You cannot escape from the Demon Lord.”
This became the signal for the fight between beings who participated in the grand narrative of Hero and Demon Lord.
If Jiro were here, it would probably have looked like flashing lights colliding.
Sounds like a barrage of fireworks exploding erupted instantly, and the two fought at speeds that ordinary people couldn’t even perceive.
The limited space within the barrier was illuminated by the glorious yet fierce light of magic power.
They exchanged attacks that seemed effective, each a finishing blow – an attack that would inflict more than just a mere wound – and they neutralized each other’s blows.
Carter unleashed the Holy Sword, intending to vanquish the Demon Lord with the power of light.
The Demon Lord, as if daring the light to come at him, met it with magic, a smile on his face.
It was a battle that could be called the final confrontation.
When Carter swung the Holy Sword, a beam of light swept across the ground, causing a chasm.
When the Demon Lord swung his staff, even with a light gesture, the ground exploded.
Whether the landscape changed or the very land disappeared, everyone believed this battle would not end until one of them fell.
The two, who could be described as the epitome of excessive strength, clashed repeatedly.
“Now then, there’s something I’d like to ask, if that’s alright with you, Hero?”
In a battlefield where it seemed not just grass, but anything in its original form would cease to exist, the Demon Lord, despite fighting with evident intent to kill, calmly directed a question to the Hero with a smile.
He moved closer, unheeding of the Holy Sword’s reach, ensuring his voice reached Carter.
“…”
Naturally, Carter had no obligation to answer such a question. He silently swung the Holy Sword, aiming to decapitate the Demon Lord.
However, the Holy Sword’s strike was deflected by the staff, failing to achieve its objective and only managing to cleave a rock in two.
Neither of them paid any mind to this scene.
The only thing that mattered was defeating the opponent.
The difference lay in Carter’s sole focus on killing the Demon Lord, while the Demon Lord was momentarily diverting his attention.
“Do you hate this blood so much?”
“You—”
“As expected, you react to this topic.”
At the Demon Lord’s words, which indicated a detour, Carter finally responded.
Rather than asking if he knew, he seemed to want to know what precisely he knew, his anger intensifying.
“I investigated you thoroughly, from your birth to the present day. Oh, well done, Hero. You’ve done a splendid job becoming the being known as Carter Isperio. If you hadn’t pulled out the Holy Sword back then, even I wouldn’t have noticed.”
And then, to the Demon Lord’s words, which implied that Carter was not who he appeared to be, Carter, the Hero, was convinced that the being before him knew everything.
“A magnificent history. It was perfectly crafted. A single being existed, flawlessly. It’s understandable that one wouldn’t see through it.”
The battle between the Demon Lord and the Hero intensified, already akin to a natural disaster.
The ravine turned into a wasteland, and the scattered rocks, before falling back to the ground due to gravity, were sent flying into the air again, becoming stepping stones, shattering into gravel, and attacking the opponent.
Even as they fought in a space where gravity itself seemed to be warped by magic, the Demon Lord’s monologue continued.
“You know, descendant of the Demon Lord, descendant of the Hero.”
“!”
The Demon Lord’s words, hitting the mark, caused the Hero to visibly falter.
“The battles between our Demon Lord’s Army and the Heroes have been repeated countless times throughout our long history. The outcome of these battles often results in our Demon Lords’ defeat. However, there have been Demon Lords who fell alongside their Heroic opponents. And even rarer, there have been Demon Lords who successfully defeated their Heroes.”
The Demon Lord, fighting while narrating like a storyteller of old fairy tales, parried the Hero’s fierce onslaught, which seemed aimed at stopping his speech.
“Among those, there are even rarer, but nonetheless existing, stories. War is cruel, and it’s not uncommon in history for a Hero to defeat a Demon Lord, only to be unable to return to their original world. Abandoned by their companions. Or simply unable to return because the connection to the Dungeon was severed. The reasons vary. You are a descendant of the Hero who defeated the eighth-generation Demon Lord, abducted his daughter, and disappeared, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Silence can sometimes be an affirmation. You’re not unaware of that, are you?”
And so, the act of parrying the fierce attacks seemed to be coming to an end.
Once, the Demon Lord deflected the Holy Sword with his staff, he did not stop his tale.
They created distance and faced each other, landing on the ravaged earth.
The Demon Lord’s Castle, floating in the sky, silently bore witness to the battle.
“Well, that’s fine. I’ve been speaking at length because I wanted to ask about your own objectives. While fighting to a conclusion like this is one option, it goes against my principles to simply execute you without asking anything. I can roughly guess the reasons behind your ancestor’s actions and the education they imparted, but what is the purpose behind your own actions?”
The moon emerged from behind the Demon Lord’s Castle, illuminating the battlefield.
And its light shone upon the two, along with the Demon Lord’s smile.
“You should know without me saying it.”
The Demon Lord’s previously flippant demeanor vanished, replaced by words that illuminated the Hero’s face, now contorted with rage.
“To stain this body with abhorrent blood, to distance my clan from our homeland, and to abandon the glory I should have held. It is to destroy all demons.”
To these words, born from his furious emotion, the Demon Lord merely nodded with a disappointed expression.
“Hmm, then I suppose there’s no other way.”
The Demon Lord nodded as if finally understanding, the smile he had worn moments before disappearing.
The expression that took its place was one of keen anticipation.
“Shall I get a little serious from here?”
He seemed to be enjoying the upcoming battle, his smile genuine and from the heart.
With an innocent yet cruel smile plastered on his face.
“Allow me to apologize in advance. It’s been a while since I’ve unleashed my power.”
His cold eyes gazed at the Hero, who had reached for the Holy Sword.
“Please do not expect any mercy.”
He then enveloped the Hero’s body in darkness.
“Now, entertain me for at least a little longer.”
A colossal spell was unleashed towards the Hero, now further submerged in darkness.
The Demon Lord’s rampage had begun.
This concludes this installment.
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*The first volume of this novel has been greenlit for publication by Hayakawa Bunko JA.
It was released on October 18, 2018.
An e-book version was released on October 31 of the same year.
Volume two will be released on December 19.
The content has been revised and expanded from the version posted on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, with an added unpublished interlude.
We hope you will also consider purchasing the new volumes!
Furthermore, a comic adaptation has been decided for Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
