We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Treacherous Demon General
Mistral brought his one-handed club down.
The Demon General met it with his two-handed scythe. However, Mistral’s strength was superior, and he repelled the two-handed scythe.
Mistral immediately drove his one-handed club into the Demon General’s abdomen.
Leaving a pale blue trail, the tip of the one-handed club sank into the Demon General’s side.
“Guf.”
Even while receiving the attack, the Demon General swung his two-handed scythe horizontally once more.
Mistral flapped his wings and spun in mid-air to evade.
Mistral, who had undergone human-dragon transformation, was about to corner the battered Demon General with his supernatural attacking power.
“Kuhah… Kuhahaha…”
But the Demon General chuckled ominously while enduring Mistral’s fierce attack.
And then, immediately after his compound eyes, of which only three remained on the left half, glowed ominously. Countless black orbs appeared around the Demon General.
All the black orbs were fired at Mistral.
Mistral flapped his wings again and ascended into the sky to evade. Nevertheless, he struck down all the black orbs that he couldn’t evade with his one-handed club.
Mistral’s distance was widened just as he was within an arm’s reach.
The Demon General, seeing this as a chance for a comeback, continued to fire an innumerable amount of black orbs at Mistral.
The Demon General’s consciousness was completely focused on Mistral.
Now’s the time!
I used Spatial Jump from my surrounded state by Demon Soldiers and immediately entered the Demon General’s blind spot. Imbued with Dragon Energy, I swung my White Sword with all my might to cleave the Demon General in two. Leaving a white afterimage, the White Sword slid horizontally into the Demon General’s abdomen!
Now with a bit more freedom thanks to Laira’s participation, I was observing the fight between Mistral and the Demon General.
“…!”
But. The White Sword’s slash, a blow with all my might, stopped after cutting in just a sliver into the Demon General’s abdomen.
“Cucucu… Hahaha…”
Still firing black orbs at Mistral, the Demon General’s attention turned to me.
“Weak. No need to defend… Kuhaha.”
No way…! The sharpness of the White Sword, which could easily cut through rocks, iron, and even the weapons of Demon Soldiers, was completely ineffective against the Demon General. I had thought the first strike was blocked by the Demon General’s black magic robe. Yet, it couldn’t cut even his exposed, emaciated skin…
“Elnea, that’s dangerous!”
The Demon General’s two-handed scythe attacked me, who had frozen for a moment. The two-handed scythe loomed directly before my eyes. Faster than I could react, my arm was grabbed, and I was blown backward. If Laira hadn’t instinctively grabbed my arm and pulled me back to evade, it would have been dangerous!
By a hair’s breadth. Saved by Laira, I retreated to the rear where Louiseine and the others were.
“Kuhahaha. Humans dare to stand against this Demon General Dantarl and regret it!”
A chill ran down my spine. The Demon General Dantarl, while continuing to fire preemptive black orbs at Mistral from above, raised his two-handed scythe, like one possessed by a death demon, high above his head. As the air vibrated with a low frequency, something like a giant, blackish-red human eye appeared above the raised two-handed scythe. The huge, blackish-red eye slowly opened and looked down at us ominously. Louiseine was chanting some kind of magic. However, immediately after the magic was completed and activated, it made a dry sound like thin pottery shattering and had no effect.
“Ugh…”
A fear that felt like my soul was being grasped, so intense that I felt I would lose consciousness, bound my entire body.
“Ah, I-it hurts…”
“Ah, it-it’s dreadful…”
Behind me, the Twin Princesses turned pale and cowered. I also felt like I was about to lose consciousness, but the blessing from Asher, which I kept in my pocket, protected us. The Spirit Tree’s Jewel in my pocket pulsed strongly. The protective Dragon Art that Asher had imbued into the jewel activated strongly, saving us at the last moment.
“Kuhaha… What is this strange thing protecting you? However, one of you could not withstand the curse. Kuhaha!”
No way! Who could it be? Even with Asher’s blessing, I couldn’t move my body freely from the terrifying curse that eroded my mind. In this state, I looked around at everyone’s condition.
“Uuu… Uuuu…”
Louiseine also crouched in pain, sweating profusely. Ares, and Priscilla and Nimia in his arms, were protected by a greater blessing than us, and they seemed fine. However… Laira, who had saved me from Dantarl’s great scythe, was convulsing in more pain than anyone else. A sound like something hard shattering was heard. The protective gear that Laira always wore around her neck shattered, falling away in fine dust.
“Aaaaaah…”
A pained sigh escaped Laira’s lips. We, resisting the curse that threatened to swallow us in an instant if we let our guard down, could only watch Laira helplessly. Laira, convulsing violently while standing, her eyes, once filled with fear, became vacant, and her lips trembled. I never imagined that her protective gear would shatter under the curse! Laira had been seriously injured in an incident west of Dragon Peak, and her life had been saved by Louiseine’s healing magic. However, strong healing magic had side effects. Her mental defenses became brittle, making her more vulnerable to mental attacks from others. Therefore, she always wore expensive and precious protective gear to compensate for her weakened mental defenses. But that had been broken. We, combined with Asher’s blessing, had somehow managed to endure. But Laira, whose mental defenses were originally weak, could not endure it.
“Kuhaha… Now, my curse is betrayal. Kill each other among yourselves!”
Dantarl’s grating laughter echoed.
“E-Elnea…”
Laira, tears welling in her vacant eyes, but her body not obeying, swung her one-handed club at me, who was writhing in pain.
“Please, run…”
A sliver of Laira’s consciousness seemed to remain. However, her vacant eyes fixed on me, and she mercilessly brought down her one-handed club!
“…Honestly. What a thing to do to someone you cherish.”
I could only stare at Laira’s strike blankly. It was Ares who caught the approaching one-handed club. Ares, while holding Priscilla-chan with one arm, caught Laira’s blow with his other hand and sighed deeply. I was saved. As much as I was relieved, I remembered how dangerous this situation was. Even though he stopped one blow, Ares was barely managing to restrain the rampaging Laira. Mistral seemed to be struggling to evade Dantarl’s black orbs and couldn’t return from above. But Dantarl, who continued to fire black orbs, and the swarming Demon Army were still active. If this continued, not only my life, but everyone’s would be in despair! A sense of crisis crushed my chest as I looked at the demons.
“What is this…”
My breath hitched at the bizarre sight I turned my gaze to. Dantarl, still holding his two-handed scythe high above his head. An ominous eye still floated above the scythe. And the Demon Army, as if mesmerized, looked up at the eye above the two-handed scythe.
“I desire a sacrifice. Now, offer me all of it. Souls. Lives. Magic Power!”
Kuhaha, Dantarl chuckled ominously. The Demon Army flinched once. All the Demon Soldiers present stood like廃人 (haizin – mentally incapacitated persons), their eyes vacant and mouths slightly agape. Those Demon Soldiers began to disappear in pillars of black light. At the same time, Dantarl’s shadow stretched towards the pillars of black light. With a disgusting slurping sound, the Demon Soldiers vanished without a trace as the black pillars of light disappeared.
“Kuhaha… hahaha…”
Dantarl continued to laugh, a guttural sound. Looking at Dantarl’s figure, I shuddered. Dantarl, who should have been battered, was regenerating. The bruises all over his body disappeared. His deeply sunken left shoulder returned to its original position. The left half of his face that was lost regenerated, and his six compound eyes intensified their glow. And his tattered black robe was restored to its original state.
“Ah, ahh… Elnea…”
“This won’t do, Elnea. This girl is about to go even wilder. Do something.”
Ares, who had initially seemed to have the situation under control, was now desperately holding Laira back after putting Priscilla-chan down. Priscilla-chan hugged Nimia, looking at us with anxiety. Nimia seemed to be protecting Priscilla-chan with all her might, gritting her teeth, closing her eyes, and letting out a “nyaaa.” But this is dangerous! Laira excels at Dragon Arts for improving physical ability. If she went berserk in her Dragon Art release state, she would exhibit power that would make even an adult male of the Dragon Race blush. I have to do something…! My mind raced. But as Dantarl regenerated, the power of the curse on us also increased.
“Elnea, everyone!”
Mistral tried to fly to our rescue, but was blocked by the fierce barrage of black orbs.
“Uuu…”
If only I could at least immobilize Laira. If Ares were free, he could move to the next step. As fear consumed me, I poured all my Dragon Energy into the Spirit Tree in my left hand, feeling an unpleasant sweat all over my body.
“Hmm. This time is special.”
Just as I was about to activate the Spirit Tree’s Art, the Giant Demon Lord watching the battle from above slowly descended to our side. Immediately, the curse, which had threatened to make me lose consciousness, vanished. The fear gripping my soul suddenly disappeared, and I staggered, barely resisting the urge to lose consciousness. Everyone except Laira also seemed to be freed from the curse; though still cowering, the pallor on their faces began to improve.
“Kuhaha… Giant Demon Lord, are you going to interfere!”
Dantarl shouted with loathing.
“The deal is off. After I dispose of the humans, I will devour you too!”
“Cucucu. Fool. You’re foolish to believe in a verbal promise between demons. I’ve changed my mind. These ones seem interesting. It would be a waste to give them to you.”
The Giant Demon Lord laughed, looking down at Dantarl.
“Damn you…”
Dantarl gnashed his teeth resentfully. He fired some of the black orbs that he had been directing at Mistral towards the Giant Demon Lord and us. However, all of them dissipated before reaching us.
“Kuhaha… Still… still not enough sacrifices.”
Dantarl continued to fire more black orbs at Mistral and the Giant Demon Lord. All the while, Dantarl kept devouring the Demon Soldiers. He was trying to increase his power by devouring the surrounding demons while keeping us at bay with black orbs. His black robe swelled. Four new arms grew from the cuffs of his black robe. The arms, initially thin, gradually gained flesh and transformed into a massive body.
“Creepy.”
The Giant Demon Lord glanced at Dantarl, who had grown spider-like arms by devouring his own subordinates, and turned on his heel. He then walked towards the Twin Princesses, who were still cowering.
“Twins. Hand over the largest of the Spirit Tree jewels you possess.”
So the secret weapon is known to be the Spirit Tree jewels! More importantly, did the Demon Lord know about jewels and Spirit Trees? Several questions arose, but there was no time to ask. The Twin Princesses looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded in reply. The Giant Demon Lord took a larger Spirit Tree jewel from Nina, clenched it in his right hand, and then walked towards me. What was he going to do? Regaining my composure and catching my breath, I watched the Giant Demon Lord. The Giant Demon Lord walked up to me and crouched down. Oh! Before I could react, my White Sword was snatched from my right hand. In a panic, I stood up to try and get my White Sword back. However, my lower body still wouldn’t cooperate, and I stumbled. Worse still, I fell towards the Giant Demon Lord. My face landed on the Giant Demon Lord’s chest with a soft thud. Ohhh! My mind went blank. However, the Giant Demon Lord, unconcerned by my panic or everyone else’s reactions, pressed his right palm against the hilt of the White Sword he held. A high-pitched, yet not unpleasant, vibration spread from the White Sword. What had the Giant Demon Lord done? I put my feet firmly on the ground, lifted my face from his chest, and looked at the White Sword in his hand. Embedded in the hilt of the pure white sword, carved from the fangs of Old Man Sleigsta, was a pale blue, glowing Spirit Tree jewel.
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