Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 1===

A few days later — Basara and the main representatives of the Moderates Faction departed first, and they headed towards the location of the decisive battle designated by the Current Demon Lord Faction. The six representatives comprised of Basara, Mio, Yuki, Maria, Kurumi and Zest. As they were unable to determine where the endpoint for teleportation magic would appear, the risk was too high, so Basara and the others chose to travel over land by a horse-drawn carriage. However, under the current state of war, the roads to access enemy territory were dangerous and unpredictable; but the person who solved this problem was the Spirit Master Kurumi. The black elemental that Lucia gave Kurumi so that she could interact with the spirits in the Demon Realm — the elemental contained part of a high-class Spirit in it, so there was a powerful blessing from it; after forging a solid bond of trust with Zest a few days ago, and after she became honest with her own feelings and troubles, she became able to use it.

“—Leave it to me. I’ll try asking the Spirits to help us look for a safe route.”

After Kurumi communicated with the Spirits through the black elemental, they immediately answered Kurumi’s request, and prepared a route that was less susceptible to an enemy ambush. In the dimensional gap that they resided in — they built a route that could not be interfered with from the outside, directly towards the border of the Lundvall territory where Current Demon Lord Faction was. Thanks to this route made by the spirits, they were able to safely arrive at their destination two days prior to the day of the battle.

“There are a lot of soldiers…”

“…Yeah.”

As they looked out of the carriage window while it continued to advance, they could see the area surrounding Lundvall Castle, and Mio couldn’t help speaking up nervously, while Basara echoed his agreement while sitting next to her. Along the main road that the horse-drawn carriage carrying Basara and the others went through, a countless number of the Current Demon Lord Faction’s soldiers lined up magnificently; aside from the soldiers, another large group was composed of onlookers, and perhaps because the Current Demon Lord Faction had a greater proportion of those with different genetics, there were more beast races and irregular-looking demons. Looking at this crowd of people, it was almost as if the entire city was holding some kind of grand parade, but all of the eyes directed towards the horse-drawn carriage belonged to the enemy. As if to rain down upon the morale of the Moderates Faction before advancing into the Royal Palace that Leohart was in, the massive crowd likely would not dissipate.

“If all of those people outside charged over at once, I don’t think we would survive…”

Even Maria’s heart sank when she thought about it.

“Indeed…but there’s no need to worry about something like that.”

Basara replied. Since they were advancing into enemy territory, they did of course make preparations for situations like what Maria had described, but it was highly unlikely that that kind of thing would happen. Basara and the others accepted Leohart’s invitation, coming here so that they could fight; hence after entering the territory of Lundvall, they would be under the meticulous supervision of Leohart’s subordinates. If anything were to happen to Basara and the others in Lundvall territory before the decisive battle, though it would be favourable to the Current Demon Lord Faction, Leohart, the one who proposed this battle would be greatly discredited, so they were probably trying to avoid this.

''…His vision is probably also set on what comes after the decisive battle.''

If Leohart was attempting to use this battle as an attempt to boost the unity of his side, then it would be necessary for him to participate himself; so it was only necessary to be wary of unknown attacks whilst on the road, and once they entered Lundvall, their safety would actually be guaranteed. —At that time, the crowd of onlookers gradually decreased, whilst the number of soldiers gradually increased. It was a sign that they were getting closer to their destination — the horse-drawn carriage did indeed stop shortly afterwards, and Zest moved from the driver’s seat into the cabin, and said

“Basara-sama, we have arrived.”

“Okay…let’s go.”

Everyone then looked at Basara and nodded, before getting off the horse-drawn carriage one by one. Awaiting them outside was Lundvall Castle, where Leohart resided — the main gate. A young demon waited as he stood in front of a line of soldiers, he appeared to be a representative there to receive them. Although he was just standing still

''…Strong, he isn’t just on an ordinary level…''

Basara was able to feel that the demon standing before him was certainly of a high rank.

“Distinguished guests of the Moderates Faction…welcome to Lundvall Castle.”

The young demon smiled gracefully towards them as he continued

“I am His Majesty Leohart’s aide Balthier, nice to meet you.”

Then—

“Ramsas-dono…will be arriving a bit later, is that right?”

“Yes.”

Basara confidently said that in confirmation to Balthier question.

“As the leader of the Moderates Faction, of course he did not oppose the decisive battle between representatives from both sides…he will be departing later because he wants to minimise the risk of any accidents.”

“It’s also because I and some other people need to become familiar with the Elements and Spirits in this area before the decisive battle…you were already notified of our early arrival so that you could prepare, there are no problems, right?”

“Yes, of course there are no problems…well then everyone, please come with me.”

After saying that, Balthier lead them into the castle.

 

Basara and the others then followed Balthier down a long corridor that was lined with a red carpet. Only the minimal number of guards were present inside the castle, which was a stark contrast to its exterior.

“Those soldiers outside seem to be there just to scare people, and once we’re inside the castle, they’re nowhere to be seen.”

“…Yeah.”

After Yuki softly agreed with Kurumi’s thoughts, Balthier smiled as he walked ahead of them and said

“I’m very sorry…to allow you to see us in such a laughable state. Those soldiers are not there to intimidate you guys, please understand.”

However—

“Although the interior of the castle is under our control, the city outside is another matter entirely, there is no guarantee that some enemies will mix into the crowd, and act adversely against you.”

“Yeah…I understand.”

Basara nodded as he replied, after which he stared closely at the other end of the corridor and said in a low voice

“…It looks like it isn’t just you who’s come to welcome us.”

Mio and the others had the same feeling as Basara. There was a yet unseen person — but Basara and the others felt that there was undoubtedly someone waiting for them as they advanced through the corridor. There was an extraordinary aura that could be sensed from their presence, and that declared their position even while away from them. Then, Balthier turned around and said

“Of course. Since you’ve made such a long journey here, this is a necessary etiquette — our commander in chief insisted on personally greeting you all.”

As he said that, Basara and the others stepped into an open space. It was tall and vast, a large hall adorned with beautiful artworks and a dome-shaped roof. There — stood a young man. Despite being young, his entire body emitted an overwhelming aura that didn’t match his dignified clothing, and he also exuded a deeply calm and confident demeanour. There was no need for any introduction to see — that the man standing before them was the young Demon Lord, Leohart.

“You’ve come…Wilbert’s daughter, Naruse Mio.”

His clear eyes glazed over, and the voice that came out of his mouth was deep and powerful. Standing beside Basara, Mio answered

“Yes, I’ve come…so you’re the current Demon Lord Leohart.”

Mio didn’t seem to be overwhelmed by his presence, and she stared sharply back at Leohart.

“We finally meet…”

Underneath their voices filled with emotion, a shade of anger was present.

“Thank you for taking care of things all the way up until now…I came to return the debt to you.”

While she said that, a swaying red aura slowly drifted out of Mio’s body, as she pressured Leohart.

“…I’m happy that you have such eager fighting spirit.”

Leohart accepted Mio’s hostility unwaveringly, and then moved his sights towards Basara.

“You’re Jin Toujou’s son…”

“…Yeah.”

After Basara said so quietly, Leohart frowned slightly as he said

“He didn’t travel together with you, did he want to come later with Ramsas?”

“I don’t know…he simply said that he didn’t plan on participating in this battle.”

Basara continued

“In fact, I don’t know what my dad is thinking.”

“…I see. And I thought that we would be able to continue our interrupted duel…”

“—Are we not enough?”

Basara was not angry. In order to improve the morale of their team, he had hoped that Leohart would say something disdainful. However—

“That wouldn’t be the case…I’ve heard about your abilities from Lars and Gardo, all of you are formidable opponents.”

This young Demon Lord didn’t have any trace of carelessness.

''…It appears that he’s more downright than I expected…''

Basara calmly revised the odds of winning in his mind to an even lower figure.

 

“Oh? — I didn’t think that I’d be entering the city at this time, I really picked the right time it seems.”

A tired voice suddenly drifted down into the hall. At some point, several other demons came down from the grand staircase leading to the second floor.

“!——”

“……”

Kurumi gasped, and Zest also made a serious expression, causing the atmosphere to become tense. It was a skeleton-like male demon with four arms and long horns on his head.

''…This guy…!''

Basara couldn’t help swallowing. Looking at this demon, he was different from Leohart — and not only that, he was fundamentally different to all of the demons that they had seen so far. He exuded an extremely dangerous aura, an unfathomable deep darkness, and without any particular reason, he made people feel an instinctual sense of fear and intimidation, causing Basara and the others to stop moving momentarily.

“Belphegor…”

Leohart addressed that demon with a stiff expression, which allowed Basara and the others to understand that the high-class demon standing there was equivalent to the underground king of the Demon Realm. Then—

“I really am…how could I speak so condescendingly to His Majesty, I’m sorry.”

After Belphegor said that without any sense of remorse, he slowly walked down the stairs, and the scent of his strong perfume wafted into the room.

“I’ve recently offended His Majesty again when summoned, but I simply cannot help it, I’m very sorry. I was disciplining those women in Zolgear’s playground, so I got a little too carried away.”

“——”

When he mentioned a high-class demon that they had once fought against, Mio, Maria and Zest, who held a grudge against Zolgear immediately tensed up their faces, because they had once been in a situation of plight when they were persecuted by him. Perhaps because they found out that Belphegor was involved in the same dirty activities as Zolgear, the eyes of Mio and the others were filled with hatred and hostility, but Belphegor was completely unmoved as he continued

“I also heard…that in our battle against the Moderates Faction, that we will be sending out representatives for each faction, is that not so?”

“That is correct…as you can see, they are the representative team of the Moderates Faction, and they will be fighting against us the day after tomorrow. This is something that Ramsas and I…the leaders of our respective factions decided.”

Leohart firmly said

“You are the leader of the Council, and I originally would have sought your opinion on this, but it was unfortunate that I was unable to contact you…so I had no choice but to make the decision after discussing with other members of the Council.”

“I understand, so that’s how it was…”

Belphegor immediately grasped the situation and smiled as he said

“Hmm…doing that is actually a good decision.”

“…So this means that you aren’t against it?”

Leohart didn’t seem to expect him to answer in such a manner, and frowned.

“Yes. Since the Moderates Faction wants to hold onto the former glory of Wilbert until the end, we can allow the entire Demon Realm to recognise Your Majesty as the new Demon Lord of this world, so fighting against them is most effective.”

“…………”

Belphegor’s words rendered Leohart speechless. Based on the conversation which occurred in front of Basara and the others, it was evident that they didn’t have a good relationship with each other.

''…It’s the same as what dad said.''

Basara recalled the night of their training session, about what Jin had told him. The Current Demon Lord Faction was not currently unified, one part of them were the younger generation who supported Leohart, while the other part were the old generation of the Council who supported Belphegor. They were able to confirm now — that even if they were able to defeat Leohart in this battle, it would not solve any of their problems. In order to stop the demons from continuing to use Mio against her will, in order to destroy their selfish plots and desires, there was no other way but to exterminate the mastermind where the root of the problem was. Just when Basara became even more determined, Belphegor’s gaze shifted towards Basara and the others, causing them to suddenly become more wary, and ready to respond at any time.

“It is nice to meet you all…I am the leader of the Council that assists His Majesty Leohart with politics, Belphegor.”

After saying that, Belphegor’s smile suddenly became more sinister.

“I heard that our adversaries in this showdown would include the great legends Wilbert’s and Toujou Jin’s children, and when you actually called each other brother and sister, I was rather shocked…but I then understood. The boy is indeed handsome, and the girl is pretty.”

As if his gaze was considering something, his eyes crawled up and down their bodies, causing Basara’s and the others’ hairs stand on end.

“Your Majesty. Regarding the battle, I understand it…but would Your Majesty be able to elaborate some more on the details?”

“For example, how the battles will be conducted. How the arena will be set up, and so on — let us find a place to talk about it slowly.”

“……Of course.”

After hearing that, Leohart expressed his agreement to Belphegor. The young Demon Lord’s cloak then fluttered as he turned around, after which he looked back at Basara and the others once more.

“There is still some time until the battle…all of you have come here through a safe route, and it is inevitable that you will have some fatigue from riding in a carriage for so long, so please take the time to rest first.”

And he then left behind one final sentence.

“—The next time we meet, it will be in the arena of the decisive battle.”