Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume18 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

"...''Sacred Maiden'', you say?"

Kamito's voice echoed within the dimensional gap.

Kamito could not understand what Solomon was saying at all.

"...By Sacred Maiden, are you referring to Sacred Maiden Areishia?"

"Indeed."

Solomon nodded and replied to confirm Kamito.

"The true identity of what lies asleep in the Demon King's Coffin is the Sacred Maiden's soul that had been lost a thousand years ago."

"...What do you mean by that?"

Kamito had heard that it was the Demon King's remains that were sealed in the Coffin.

But no, Kamito himself did not believe in the existence of such a thing in the first place.

He thought it more likely to be a legend made up by the Demon King Cult to reinforce their faith.

However, this man was saying that the Sacred Queen was sealed inside there.

"This joke is not funny at all."

Kamito shook his head.

"After vanquishing the Demon King, Sacred Maiden Areishia should have turned to stone because of the Demon Slayer's curse."

Kamito had shared Est's dream before.

Inside that dream, Kamito had witnessed the final moments of Areishia Idriss.

He had seen her entire body turned into stone by the sacred sword's curse, finally shattering into fragments&mdash;

"Yes, the Sacred Maiden's physical body turned into stone and shattered."

Solomon nodded and admitted it readily.

However, he continued.

"That stone, imbued with the Sacred Maiden's divine power, turned into the world's purest spirit crystal. Even now, it continues to seal the Sacred Maiden's soul within it."

"...! Don't tell me&mdash;"

Kamito widened his eyes forcefully.

"Indeed, that crystal was precisely the result of Sacred Maiden Areishia turning into a crystal."

Solomon declared in a calm tone of voice.

"What...!?"

The gigantic spirit crystal had held the projection of the spirit Iris.

(...I can't believe that crystal is what the Sacred Maiden turned into.)

Facing the speechless Kamito&mdash;

Solomon made an even more shocking announcement.

"She is still alive, simply sealed in the crystal, in a state of deep sleep."

"Say that again...?"

Kamito was at a loss for words.

...This revelation was truly unbelievable.

Under normal circumstances, one would simply laugh off such absurdity.

However, the person telling Kamito this was&mdash;

None other than Solomon himself, the Demon King of legend, even though he was just a memory fragment.

And that gigantic spirit crystal definitely existed.

"Suppose what you say is true&mdash;"

Kamito sighed deeply and started to speak.

"Why are you guarding something like that?"

Next&mdash;

"&mdash;In that case, allow me to ask you a question. First of all, what is the Sacred Maiden?"

The Demon King answered with a question of his own.

"What the heck is that, out of the blue?"

"Answer me."

Solomon stared intently into Kamito's eyes.

"The Sacred Maiden is the Demon King's natural enemy. A being created by the Five Great Elemental Lords for the sake of vanquishing the Demon King."

Kamito shrugged in response and answered.

During the Blade Dance's final round when they clashed blades, Rubia had told him this.

The Sacred Maiden was the counter born in response to the Demon King's awakening.

"Correct. I expected no less from my successor."

"Are you making fun of me?"

Kamito narrowed his eyes at the Demon King.

"Indeed, the Elemental Lords had granted her immense power as an elementalist. However, Alexandros&mdash;the Lord who stands as the leader of the Five&mdash;also poured a portion of himself, what you could call a soul, into Areishia Idriss."

"...What did you say?"

Alexandros. The true culprit who had created Demon King Solomon&mdash;

He had poured a part of himself into her?

"...What is going on? What exactly does this mean?"

"I suspect it was to prevent the Sacred Maiden from disintegrating as a vessel."

Solomon spoke.

"A human's body of flesh cannot withstand the power granted by the Elemental Lords. Hence, the Holy Lord made her into a suitable vessel by merging part of his being with hers."

"...I see."

It made plausible sense.

Like how the majority of people who inherited the Darkness Elemental Lord's power turned into Nepenthes Lore, the excessive power granted by the Elemental Lords would exceed a human body's ability to withstand.

"So that is the reason why we sealed the Sacred Maiden."

Solomon spoke calmly.

"Originally, after the Sacred Maiden completed her mission of destroying the Demon King, the soul poured into her body was supposed to return to the Holy Lord. However&mdash;"

"I get it now&mdash;"

Kamito finally understood.

Turned into stone by the curse of Terminus Est&mdash;

Taking the Holy Lord's soul with her, she was sealed inside the spirit crystal...?

"In other words, Iris and you ''sealed the soul of the Holy Lord.'' Is that what you mean?"

If the Holy Lord's soul that was poured into the Sacred Maiden remained sealed&mdash;

Then it could not reincarnate era after era like that of the Darkness Elemental Lord's.

"Indeed. As for the reason, since you have seen my past, there is no need for me to elaborate here."

What triggered the hero, the man from the Zoldia Kingdom, to become the Demon King was all thanks to an opportunity offered by Holy Lord Alexandros, leader of the Elemental Lords.

Creating the Demon King by his own hand on one side&mdash;

While giving part of his soul to the Sacred Maiden to destroy the Demon King.

Why did the Holy Lord do such things?

"Sealing Holy Lord Alexandros' soul inside the Sacred Maiden was the least I could do for atonement and revenge for bringing devastating calamity to the continent."

Kamito could see a faint flame light up in the eyes of the weakly whispering young man.

"...However, the Sacred Maiden's seal has been broken. By the Holy Kingdom's hand."

"Yes, indeed."

The Demon King nodded.

At that moment, what resembled an earthquake's noise was heard from a distance.

Solomon looked up into thin air.

Following his gaze, Kamito saw countless small cracks spreading in the pitch-black space.

"...What now?"

"The Demon King's Tomb is collapsing. This dimension will soon vanish."

"What will happen when the dimension vanishes?"

"You will be trapped in the dimensional gap, unable to return to the human realm."

"...! H-Hey!?"

"Rest assured. I shall deliver you out of here safe and sound."

Saying that, Solomon began to recite an incantation of High Ancient.

A crack appeared in space with bright light pouring out from it.

"This Demon King City will disappear. Leave as quickly as possible before the Sacred Maiden completely awakens. Otherwise, she will annihilate you, the Demon King."

"...Yeah, I get it."

Kamito nodded.

Although he was quite curious about Est's contractor from a thousand years ago, now that the Holy Lord was involved, it was a completely different matter.

He must meet up with Claire and the others and leave the city as quickly as possible.

"By the way, allow me to offer this to you, my junior Demon King. A parting gift from me."

Saying that, Solomon took out something from his chest pocket.

"...What is this?"

Kamito cocked his head.

It was an ancient silver ring without any decoration.

"A ring used by the Demon King in the past. It should prove handy to you."

"...There's no weird curse cast on it, right?"

"Rest assured, you will be fine."

"What's that supposed to mean...?"

With suspicious eyes, Kamito accepted the ring.

"Next, I have one more thing&mdash;"

"What else?"

"Yes, take this too... The famous Demon's Mask of legend."

Out from thin air, he plucked out&mdash;

A skull mask that looked a little familiar.

...It was identical to the impostor Demon King mask that Rubia had personally made.

"No, thank you. I mean it."

Kamito resolutely refused.

"Why? This is a legendary-class magic artifact that Demon King cultists can only dream of acquiring."

"Like hell anyone would want something so tasteless!"

"I cannot believe you called it tasteless..."

The Demon King was taken aback... He looked a little shocked.

Putting the ring in his pocket, Kamito stepped before the crack in space.

He looked back.

"Say, what happens to you after the Demon King City vanishes?"

"My existence is akin to a reflection in the water. I will disappear once the Pyramid disappears."

"I see..."

With a mixed expression, Kamito lowered his head.

Solomon Yelsion, the previous Demon King born a thousand years ago.

Kamito wondered if he was being too sentimental... But upon meeting someone like himself for the first time, he felt some kind of camaraderie.

"Please do not wear such a look, ''my descendant''. It was a great pleasure to meet you."

"...Thanks for looking after me."

"Not at all. Sending lost travelers on their way is precisely my job."

Facing Kamito, who was smiling with his head bowed, Solomon laughed magnanimously.

After shaking hands lightly with the Demon King, Kamito stepped into the crack in space.

"Walk a different path from mine, Kazehaya Kamito."

With these last words&mdash;

Kamito's view turned pure white.