Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 1===
For the future of the two factions of the Demon Realm — a decisive battle was soon about to begin. The ancient arena that was the stage for it was filled with audience members who had come to witness this historic moment. The majority of the audience which was made up of various races were residents of Lundvall. These people from the Current Demon Lord faction all believed in and looked forward to seeing Leohart and the others obtain victory. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, there was a single person who stood upon the stage with everyone’s eyes upon him. The youth with his eyes lightly closed and standing still was the Demon Lord Leohart.

“…………”

Although Leohart was bathed in the trusting eyes of the audience and their expectant cheers, his mind was in a melancholic mood. —In order to forge a truly meaningful decisive battle, Leohart originally chose the arena to be in a place that ordinary people would not see, so that he, as the Demon Lord would not leave a single trace of regret behind — more importantly, it was for the atmosphere that the battle that would decide the future of the Demon Realm should have. However, the Council which had interfered midway were not satisfied with just forcefully adding in their representative members, they also heavily modified the battle, and they basically turned it into some kind of entertainment-festival event. Of course, Leohart also understood that from a political point of view, making the decisive battle public would also promote the authority of the winner. For Leohart, who had unified the Demon Realm and now hoped to eliminate the Council, this wasn’t a bad thing. However — starting from the very instant that the audience entered the arena, the political nature of the battle decreased, and it inevitably became more like a performance. Despite this, Leohart still insisted on a serious decisive battle. This was to be the decisive battle which consisted of seven one-on-one duels — but currently, Leohart was the only one from the current Demon Lord faction present on the stage. If the representatives were gathered in front of the audience and introduced or identified one by one as they came out onto the stage, this battle would become a competition — and the war itself would become a trifling matter. Hence, the representatives of each faction were not going to be announced to the audience before the battle, and neither would their order of appearance disclosed, so that the battle between the two sides would remain tense.

Taking into account some basic respect for the audience, they couldn’t simply start without warning, so the representative leaders of each faction had arranged to meet face-to-face with each other before the battle, thus Leohart was currently standing in the arena for this purpose. Unfortunately, these thoughts and ideas of Leohart were meaningless in the eyes of the Council…for them who had lived for so long and found it boring, the battle between the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction which would decide the future of the Demon Realm was nothing more than a form of entertainment to stimulate their boredom. However — Leohart didn’t mind. Regardless of what the Council thought, or what kinds of evil intentions they planned to commit, it would not change his only mission.

''…You old bastards, just wait and see.''

Leohart looked across towards the special viewing area that the Council was in from the stage as he calmed his mind. After the Moderates faction, it’ll be you guys. Then—

…Aneue<ref>Respectful manner of addressing an elder sister.</ref>…

The image of Riara appeared in Leohart’s mind, although she was currently in Lundvall Castle. Within the secret chamber in the West Tower, there was a magic device which was capable of receiving a magic broadcast, and she was most likely looking at that now. Although any attempt to enter the top floor of the West Tower would be met with resistance from a barrier, Leohart still sent Gardo to protect her so that he could fight with peace of mind. Although Gardo’s right arm still had yet to fully recover, Leohart was able to rest assured knowing that Gardo would be there to accompany her.

''…Once again, you just need to wait for me to finish what I need to do.''

Riara was the person that Leohart had made an important promise with. He couldn’t disgrace himself in this battle while she was watching him.

“——”

Leohart returned his gaze to the front, and then suddenly narrowed his eyes. In the depths of the passageway that led to the opposing Moderates faction’s rest area — the silhouette of a person slowly emerged. A few seconds after Leohart, the audience also noticed the same situation, and the arena suddenly became silent. It was the calm before the storm, after which the Moderates faction representative that was soon to appear would be jeered at by everyone. The tension in the air suddenly multiplied, and amidst that explosive atmosphere — the representative of the Moderates faction didn’t seem to fear any of that pressure at all, and they stepped into the arena. In that instant—

[——]

The roar that the audience had prepared to unleash was stuck in their throats — and all that could be heard was the silence of their breath. It was because it was the figure of a girl that had appeared within their sights, and her powerful presence had whisked away their voices. The person who walked into the arena was a girl whose long hair was tied on both the left and right sides by a ribbon. She was wearing a set of human clothing that the Demons did not seem familiar with, and at a glance, the impressive curves of her body could be seen — it was clear that Zolgear ignored Leohart in order to monopolise her, and it was not only for Wilbert’s power, but her own as well.

“………”

Her determined eyes met with Leohart’s, and she watched him as he stepped forward. In the span of two days between their last meeting, what exactly had happened…the girl’s cute atmosphere was still present, but she also exuded the stunning elegance of a completely different person. Upon seeing this—

“……So it’s you.”

Leohart looked back into her eyes, as he said that with a low whisper-like voice — as if somewhat surprised. This was the conversation between the representatives of both sides before the battle, so he had thought that it would be the leader of the Moderates faction, Ramsas or perhaps Toujou Basara.

“I didn’t expect that you would take up the duty of representing them on this stage…so does this mean that the Moderates faction has finally unified their opinion, and that they want you to become the next Demon Lord?”

The girl stood before Leohart’s eyes as soon as she walked up onto the stage and replied

“No…I don’t intend to reign over the Moderates faction at all.”

The girl — Naruse Mio, didn’t look away or try to hide as she looked directly at Leohart as she said

“However…even if that is the case, this is my fight. Even if I haven’t seen my father even once — the previous Demon Lord Wilbert, I don’t want to inherit his power, but this is still my fight.”

Moreover—

“Before we start, there is something that I have to tell you. I haven’t come to this battle as the daughter of the previous Demon Lord…I have come here to fight as Naruse Mio.”

Also—

“Just wait and see, I…we will definitely defeat you guys.”

“You can do whatever you want…either way, the result has already been decided.”

In response to the firmness in Mio’s eyes and declaration, Leohart also calmly stated that he would not give way. Just at that moment—

“—That’s enough chatter between the representatives before the battle.”

Someone butted in to their conversation from the side. Turning their heads to look, it was a member of the Council who had stepped onto the same stage that Leohart and Mio were standing on — it was Mardones.

“…Where is Belphegor?”

Leohart didn’t seem to have any complaint about the presence of the Council here, because they had already agreed that the Council would preside over the beginning and end of the entire showdown; and the one who was supposed to be in charge of this task was the leader of the Council, Belphegor.

“In regards to Belphegor-dono, he is not here yet…after all, all that he thinks of nowadays is that playground. Perhaps to him, playing with women is more meaningful than Your Majesty’s battle.”

Mardones said to the frowning Leohart

“However, Your Majesty, please rest assured…Mardones here will take over the role of hosting this battle in place of Belphegor-dono, and I can guarantee you that there will not be any problems.”

“…………”

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty, what worries you…?”

“…Nothing.”

''There’s a slight problem in the plan''…Leohart thought to himself, and he began to think of an alternative.

''…And I thought that the Council would try to target me.''

The direct reason why the attack on Wildart City failed was because Belphegor’s subordinate, Nebula, betrayed them halfway. The Council covered this up as Nebula’s individual betrayal, and avoided responsibility for it with the single phrase of ‘This has nothing to do with us’…but the Council’s attempted assassination of Gardo had a powerful response within the Current Demon Lord faction, and this was beginning to seriously shake the support and authority of the Council. As long as Leohart was able to obstruct the Council, and defeat the Moderates faction in battle, then the Council would easily lose its existing political power and influence, thus falling to the bottom from their previously high position. Therefore, the leader of the Council, Belphegor was likely going to be here in order to take command of the Council’s counterattack, so that they didn’t lose ground.

''…No, it’s hard to say.''

That Belphegor was extremely cunning, and even if it was unfavourable to Leohart, it was possible that he was wary of a sudden counterattack and deliberately chose not to come to the arena; it was the same as how Leohart didn’t invite Riara to the special viewing gallery near the spectators, but left her in the West Tower. Right now, he was probably staying in his hideout…the playground of Zolgear that he had made his own; he was watching this battle whilst being surrounded by women.

“It’s good if there are no problems. Well then, are we almost ready to begin?”

After saying that, and observing that Leohart was silent, Mardones turned his gaze towards Mio.

“Is the Moderates faction also ready to begin the battle?”

At this time, he also grinned with a ‘hmm’, as he continued

“The one who has formed a master-servant contract with you, Toujou Basara…doesn’t seem to have arrived?”

“…………”

Mardones’ words caused Mio to become silent as her expression sank.

''…I see, so that’s how it is…''

The situation was quite simple. Mio was standing here as the representative of the Moderates faction not because of any political considerations, but because she was forced to.

—The Council wished to maintain control over the Demon Realm as if it were in the palms of their hands forever, so naturally, Leohart wasn’t the only one, the Moderates faction was also a thorn in their side. Moreover, aside from those who remained an ally of the Moderates faction in Wildart, Basara was capable of dealing with Gardo, and also prevented Nebula from detonating the high-class spirit to destroy Wildart; he was a far greater destabilising factor to the Council than Mio. Furthermore, Basara was also an emotional pillar for Mio and the other female members of the team.

…In other words. As long as only Basara was not here, defeating the girls who were representatives of the Moderates faction would be much simpler. Based on the slight unease in Mio’s expression, Basara’s absence was surely unexpected. In that case, it was likely that he had been ambushed somewhere…based on Mardones’ tone, it was possible that Basara’s disappearance had something to do with the Council.

''…I see.''

Leohart himself had wanted to defeat Basara in return for him defeating Gardo, but it seemed as though there would not be an opportunity for that. However — Leohart did not have any sympathy for him. This was war, and for them, this was enemy territory; nevertheless, Leohart still provided Basara and the others with his guarantee of safety — so long as they did not leave the guest house. If he was attacked, it would mean that he had left the guest house of his own accord. Leohart had not received any reports of this, which meant that he may have concealed himself from the maids who were monitoring them. If he had not considered how dangerous it would be to act in secret whilst in enemy territory, then it was naturally his own fault, and he did not deserve any sympathy.

“—It seems you agree. Well then, please allow me to perform the opening announcement.”

The second-in-charge of the Council revealed a deep smile at Mio’s silence, and then expanded a sound amplification magic circle and declared

[Dear audience members, the battle between the representatives of our Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction is now officially starting!]

Amidst the heated cheers, Mardones began to speak about the rules of the decisive battle first. The mode was going to be one on one, with no time limit, and in order to maintain the safety of the audience, the space upon the arena would become a separate dimension from the one that the audience was in as soon as the match began; and at the same time, so would the environment and area within the dimension. It would also change into an environment that was suitable for both sides. Then—

[Once a person can no longer fight, or voluntarily surrenders, the winner will be declared immediately. Being no longer able to fight naturally also includes death; but if anyone continues to attack or kill a person that has surrendered, their victory will be retracted…under such circumstances, it will be considered a tie for both sides, and not a loss. Because this battle is a war, and not a competition, such judgements are made in order to maintain its actual nature.]

Having said that, Mardones made an elaborate wave with his hand towards Leohart, and then continued

[In addition…the Moderates faction have come to us despite being enemies, and they have also accepted the change in the original form of the battle; in order to pay tribute to their courage and to maintain fairness, His Majesty Leohart has made a special consideration. A voluntary concession — if they are able to defeat His Majesty, they will gain the equivalent of three wins…that is, three wins with one fight.]

Mardones’ statement of a handicap to the Moderates faction caused the audience to go into an uproar.

''…So he actually said it like this.''

Leohart couldn’t help changing what had originally been a team battle into a series of one-on-one duels because the Council forced him to allow their own subordinates to be included, and it was also three at once…although it was not more than half, the risk was too high in having so many of his enemy’s subordinates in a team battle; if a wrong step was made, it would be easy for the outcome of the decisive battle to be manipulated by the Council. And for the people who were not familiar with the situation, perhaps this rule could be regarded as Leohart’s own risk. But—

''…It’s up to them what they think.''

If even an adversary of this level couldn’t be overcome, how could he possibly fulfil the oath that he and Riara had made? While Leohart was secretly thinking this in the depths of his mind, Mardones narrowed his eyes and grinned as he faced the audience’s doubts; he seemed to have enjoyed using an exaggerated tone to incite their expectations.

[Please do not worry. We of the Council believe that…even with such conditions, knowing His Majesty’s brilliance, he will certainly be able to defeat the Moderates faction to become the most absolute ruler of the Demon Realm that has ever existed!]

The excited yells that slowly arose soon become a wave of cheers that flooded every corner of the arena. At that moment, the stage that would decide the future of the Demon Realm was finally complete.

[Very well, it’s time…the fateful battle that will decide the future of the Demon Realm is now officially beginning—]