We live in the Foothills of Dragon Peak.
The Demon Lord Succession Battle.
If we fall back to a defensive battle, we’ll be at a disadvantage!
Even so, I can’t afford to go easy on high-ranking demons aiming for the Demon Lord Seat.
This time, I kicked the floor hard and closed the distance.
And then, I performed the Dragon Sword Dance.
“No way!”
But, I couldn’t dance.
Whether it’s dodged or parried, the Dragon Sword Dance begins from that point. However, the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword I thrust out along with my leap pierced Gillar’s chest without any resistance.
Then, for the second time, I felt nothing, and Gillar, whom I thought I had grasped, vanished. Furthermore, an attack from behind with no presence at all caused my hand to stop.
“Oh my, what are you dancing for, in such a place?”
Gillar, with a grin, stood in yet another location.
Still leaning on his staff, he showed no signs of preparing for battle, even in the midst of a fight. Unlike Gillar, who exuded confidence, I couldn’t keep up with the situation, sweat beading on my forehead.
He was indeed right in front of me. The first white sword, the second Spirit Tree Wooden Sword – they had both definitely hit Gillar. Yet, as if I had seen a phantom, Gillar disappeared from in front of me before I knew it, and stood in a different place.
And what’s strange is the attack coming from a place where no one should be. Even if Gillar disappears from in front of me, he stands in a different spot, keeping his distance from me. So, how did he attack? Is it magic? Or…
“Come now, please stop with the half-heartedness. Dance to your heart’s content, and become my sustenance.”
Gillar was just standing there. Yet, a sense of crisis suddenly welled up from my blind spot, and I swung my white sword as I turned around.
*Kiiin*, a shrill metallic sound and sparks scattered.
A magic sword with a blue blade?
I saw it for just a moment: the magic sword emerging from empty space. Then, was someone behind it? Thinking so, I immediately swung the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword. But, the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword merely cut through the air.
“Boring. How utterly boring!”
Gillar’s presence intensified. Simultaneously, magic that would shatter space was unleashed.
I evaded with Spatial Jump. The air burst, and a sharp shockwave spread. I defended with Dragon Arts. It broke through the barrier, and a sharp wind sliced my upper arm. Ignoring the wound, I activated Spatial Jump. I entered Gillar’s interval and swung my white sword. Then, I swung the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword in a completely unexpected direction.
The white sword sliced Gillar, and the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword blocked an attack from the magic sword that extended from empty space.
…What is this?
I furrowed my brow at the discomfort. What am I seeing? What am I trying to cut? And what am I protecting myself from?
Gillar’s fierce attacks, conversely, brought me back to a state of calm. Ah, it seems I was still carrying the mental state of lounging around on that tasteless throne.
Talk about arrogance.
Dodging Gillar’s pursuing magic and deflecting the sudden attacks of the blue magic sword, I took some distance from Gillar for now.
Even so, Gillar wasn’t moving. Or rather, he didn’t seem to be moving.
“How understated,” I muttered. Gillar’s expression twitched at my remark.
“Aiming for the Demon Lord Seat? Trying to prove your strength by showing off to the demons in the Demon Capital? For that, you’re remarkably modest, it makes me laugh. How can you become a Demon Lord like the Giant Demon Lord or Kusharilla with that?”
“…For a human, you speak quite boldly. When you can’t even capture me.”
Gillar retorted my provocation with his own. I scoffed at his words.
“As far as I know, Demon Lords are outrageously flashy and unrestrained. I can even blow away the upper part of the Demon Lord’s Castle. You know what? I’ll show you. I’ll show you that you can never become a Demon Lord!”
I took a deep breath. At the same time, I unleashed the Dragon Jewel to its maximum. Ares-chan, who had already merged with me, reacted to my intent and went all out.
As my presence swelled, Gillar, perhaps wary, unleashed his magic with full force. Gillar appeared before my eyes. My magic power swelled. Gillar and I displayed our power as if to boast of our existence.
I make the first move.
I held the white sword and the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword horizontally and performed the Dragon Sword Dance. Outside of Gillar’s reach. Gillar, still with his staff, laughed at my nonsensical actions. Then, he unleashed densely compressed magic. The approaching magic. Simultaneously, a magic sword thrust out from another angle. Yet, Gillar hadn’t moved from his original position.
But to me, all of that was already an event within my consciousness. Gillar, whom I could see but not grasp, the great magic, the attacks of the magic sword – they were all just mere phenomena. As I began to dance the Dragon Sword Dance, the diffused Dragon Energy swirled, summoning a storm centered around the Demon Lord’s Castle.
I smoothly maneuvered my body and dodged the magic sword. The magic sword that cut the air disappeared back into space. Immediately, I parried the magic sword that reappeared from elsewhere with an elegant flow. The magic was swallowed by the vortex of Dragon Energy and blown far away, never reaching me.
The materialized Dragon Energy swirled green, engulfing Gillar, who maintained his distance.
“Guhh!”
Gillar panicked. But it wasn’t the Gillar I saw with my eyes. It was the real Gillar, near me as I danced the Dragon Sword Dance, poised with his weapon, having suppressed his presence.
If I could just be calm, it would be nothing. The visible Gillar was an illusion. I don’t know what kind of magic or treasure it is, but it’s just a trick. Of course, attacking a phantom wouldn’t work. And Gillar is so skilled at suppressing his presence that even dragons would be impressed. Laira herself, when her presence is suppressed, I can’t sense her even when she’s right next to me. I, fooled by the illusion, had overlooked Gillar lurking nearby.
But that’s no longer effective. With my ability to read the world and the Storm Dragon Arts, if the two are combined, you can’t escape from me, no matter how skillfully you hide!
Trapped in the storm’s vortex, Gillar was pulled towards me without question. Once within range, he was prey to my white sword. I parried the magic sword he swung in resistance and slashed Gillar. Still, he was a high-ranking demon. Gillar, having avoided a fatal blow, leaped away with brute force, creating distance between us. Perhaps judging that he couldn’t win in a sword fight, he rained down magic from outside my sword’s reach.
Is that so? A long-range battle, then. Gillar said he would show the demons in the Demon Capital that he possessed the power befitting a Demon Lord during our fight. Then, I’ll show him. I’ll show him that Gillar doesn’t have the power worthy of the Demon Lord Seat!
I continued to dance the Dragon Sword Dance. Maintaining elegance amidst the fierce battle. as if purifying the lives that scattered. As if offering it to Old Man Sleigsta who taught me the Dragon Sword Dance, to everyone who always supports me, and to the Goddess of Creation, I danced meticulously. While dancing, I deflected magic and tried to draw Gillar in. When he was about to enter my range, caught in the vortex, Gillar fled with all his might. He fled and unleashed magic.
But does Gillar even realize? The magic I deflected flies into the sky and explodes meaninglessly. However, the sky where the magic was deflected is now filled with thunderclouds, unlike before.
“A Demon Lord’s magic isn’t that understated!”
After deflecting a colossal magic, I pointed the tip of my white sword towards Gillar.
“What!?”
Gillar showed an irritated expression. At that moment, a roar and a blinding flash engulfed the sky of the Demon Capital. Gillar, surprised, looked up at the sky, and was engulfed by a band of light extending from the dark, eerily spreading thunderclouds.
“Now, witness this. This is the power of one who reigns as Demon Lord! Know with your very being who you dared to provoke!”
The rain of lightning poured not only on the Demon Lord’s Castle but throughout the entire Demon Capital. This is the second time I’ve rained lightning on the Demon Capital, but this time it is by my own will. I dropped it without holding back. The blue jewel embedded in the hilt of my white sword shone beautifully.
“Y-You bastard…!”
Even so, Gillar was a high-ranking demon after all. Despite being struck by lightning repeatedly, he endured and glared at me with a look of humiliation.
“Promise me. You won’t cross Dragon Peak and bother us again. If you do, I’ll let you go.”
As I spoke, the lightning stopped. However, thick thunderclouds still swirled in the sky, showing my willingness to continue the attack depending on his answer. Gillar, his body covered in burns, glared at the sky and me in a pathetic state. I dislike hostile stares, but I am not cruel. If Gillar were to surrender, I wouldn’t kill him unnecessarily. Ruilala would probably tell me to kill him, though.
For a moment, Gillar and I faced each other in silence. Then, an unexpected person arrived.
“W-What is this…?”
Perhaps having lost his sense of balance due to the ear-splitting thunder and shock, the human boy who had disappeared with Gillar, the red-haired Graus, appeared swaying.
“Elnea!? Wait… did you come to save me?”
With tears welling up in his eyes, Graus’s expression turned joyful when he saw me, and he ran towards me. I wasn’t just dropping lightning indiscriminately. I had kept track of the humans who were forcibly left behind in the Demon Capital as slaves, and adjusted so that I wouldn’t hit them. And Graus was among them.
“Hey, you’re unharmed.”
I sheathed my white sword and held out my hand to Graus. Graus, staggering, ran towards me with momentum and extended his own hand.
“Hah! Who do you think you’re talking to? You let your guard down!”
In Graus’s outstretched hand was a dagger.
“Haa…”
I sighed, grabbed Graus’s hand, mercilessly threw him, and then used the Spirit Tree Art to bind him completely. Perhaps due to the tight binding, Graus let out a strange scream and fainted into unconsciousness.
“Don’t say foolish things. I didn’t come to help you.”
I’m not so soft-hearted as to rescue someone who tried to kill me and bring them here. I only intended to take them back alive and have them judged according to the laws of the Armēdo Kingdom. Therefore, Graus’s actions caught me completely off guard.
However, in the brief exchange between Graus and me, Gillar had regained his posture. He stood up, leaning on his staff, and shouted.
“Kuhahaha! I admit it. That power. Wonderful. Indeed, if I defeat you, I can reach the Demon Lord Seat. This is truly worthy of a battle for the summit!”
Gillar’s voice, as if using magic, echoed throughout the Demon Capital.
“Now, my subordinates! My army, my servants! Slay the Dragon King! And claim the Demon Lord’s seat for me!”
Responding to Gillar’s roar, the demons of the Demon Capital began to surge with fighting spirit.
What, this is… The previous rain of lightning was meant to show off the Demon Lord’s power and break the morale of the demons in the Demon Capital. It was a warning to everyone except Gillar, and I didn’t hit those who seemed unlikely to withstand the lightning. Like last time, I struck high-ranking demons who wouldn’t die even if hit. But that seemed to have little effect. The demons in the Demon Capital, under Gillar’s dominion, are apparently all enemies filled with malice.
Demons with wings soared into the air, and an organized army rushed towards the Demon Lord’s Castle.
“No, it can’t be…”
Seeing my speechless state, the battered Gillar grinned triumphantly. I, feeling the turn of events and despairing at the fanatically loyal demons, let my shoulders slump.
“I can’t believe it… I have to resort to my trump card.”
“What?”
Gillar’s expression stiffened at my mutter, which came out with a sigh.
“I really didn’t want to use this. But if you continue to resist, I have no choice…”
I put away the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword and glared at Gillar, thinking, “It’s your fault for not admitting defeat.” Then, I raised my hand high into the sky.
“Once more. I will make you regret showing me hostility.”
With a surge of determination, I uttered the forbidden words.
“Great Summoning, Thousand-Handed Spider! Appear, Teruru-chan!!”
The thunderclouds split. The sky was torn apart. Everyone froze in place, hearing a disturbing, eerie grinding sound as the spatial anomaly occurred, and looked up at the sky in astonishment. The divided sky was pure darkness. In the darkness beyond the rift, eight crimson lights flickered into existence.
Click the heart to easily convey your support. (Login required)
Support
Login if you have an account.
Learn more about the reading experience on Kakuyomu.
