Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume20 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

"&mdash;The first to descend into madness was Ren Ashdoll."

The avatar girl spoke softly.

"To stop her from turning into a Gate that brought forth angels, the five Elemental Lords formed an alliance with Holy Lord Alexandros as the leader, with the intention of destroying her. Namely, that is&mdash;"

'&mdash;The Spirit War.'

The demon sword of darkness in Kamito's hand suddenly spoke.

"Restia?"

'I heard everything you two said. Sorry for waking up too late.'

"It's okay, we went through such a deadly battle, after all&mdash;"

'Miss Sword Spirit seems to be quite spent.'

"Yeah, because she used her power to analyze the angel. Let her rest properly."

Kamito lightly tapped the demon sword's hilt.

"&mdash;May I continue, demon sword of darkness?"

'Yes, please do. I am very interested in this topic too.'

Restia replied to the Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar.

"&mdash;The Spirit War, that was when I was born, right?"

"Yes, and the result of the Spirit War is as you know."

The war between the Darkness Elemental Lord and the Five Great Elemental Lords.

Its records were kept in the Divine Ritual Institute's sealed library and rarely circulated.

Its purpose was to eliminate the Darkness Elemental Lord who had been corrupted by the Otherworldly Darkness, huh?

"The Spirit War was very intense. The aftershock broke Astral Zero into two, one of which became the human realm. To protect her last followers, the defeated Darkness Elemental Lord allowed herself to be sealed in the dimensional gap by the Holy Lord and reincarnated her power in the human race&mdash;"

The Darkness stolen from the origin was eliminated together with Ren Ashdoll.

&mdash;That was what was supposed to have happened.

"However, the victorious Elemental Lords were already corrupted by the Otherworldly Darkness. The Darkness Elemental Lord was simply the first to be discovered."

After several thousand years, the Elemental Lords gradually changed in nature.

By the time they realized, it was already too late.

The Blade Dance held by the humans were able to bring temporary peace to the corrupted Elemental Lords' souls, but at the same time, large scale warfare in the human realm also agitated their souls.

"And now, Holy Lord Alexandros is using the Elemental Lords as a Gate, intending to connect Astral Zero to the origin again."

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar waved her fingers, causing the orb of darkness to disappear.

After a moment's silence&mdash;

"...There's something I don't understand."

Kamito spoke.

"Why is the Holy Lord the only one untainted by the Otherworldly Darkness?"

Indeed, the four Elemental Lords of fire, water, wind and earth had all descended into madness. But for some unknown reason, only the Holy Lord seemed completely free from the effects of corruption.

The avatar girl shook her head.

"This I do not know. Although I doubt that the Holy Lord's element of light could produce resistance against the Otherworldly Darkness, still&mdash;"

"...I see."

No matter what, at least he now knew what had happened in Astral Zero in the ancient past.

Kamito also wanted to ask about the true meaning of what she had said earlier.

"Then what exactly did you mean when you asked me to inherit the Darkness Elemental Lord's power?"

Kamito was already swallowed by the Darkness Elemental Lord's power.

Awakened as the Demon King, Kamito would surely destroy the world in a state of insanity.

Or perhaps, he could end up like the other Elemental Lords, turned into a Gate connected to the origin&mdash;

"You and the darkness spirit will liberate the insane Darkness Elemental Lord."

'What did you say?'

"Is that even possible!?"

Kamito and Restia exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes, it was precisely for this purpose that she created the darkness spirit Restia, even reincarnated her power in the human race, and waited for thousands of years&mdash;"

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar turned her gaze to the Vorpal Sword in Kamito's hand.

'She created me to liberate herself?''

"&mdash;Indeed. Restia Ashdoll was created with the true Darkness element as the core, the only darkness spirit. Only you are capable of devouring the Darkness corrupting her."

"...I see&mdash;"

Back when she recovered her memories at Dracunia, Restia had taken away Millennia's Darkness.

That power was born for the sake of taking away the Otherworldly Darkness corrupting the Darkness Elemental Lord&mdash;

The darkness spirit who was the Demon King's guide, Restia Ashdoll.

The human who had inherited the Darkness Elemental Lord's power, Ren Ashbell.

Corrupted by Otherworldly Darkness, knowing her mind was insane, she used the last remnants of her rational mind to prepare these two keys.

&mdash;Then she waited all this time.

Waiting for the Demon King who would have the power to liberate her several thousand years later&mdash;

'So basically, Kamito&mdash;'

"Yes, indeed. I am the fragment of her final will, left behind by her. I am the being created for this very moment, to offer advice and prepare opportunities for the one who is truly qualified to become the Demon King."

The Darkness Elemental Lord's avatar turned around.

Just then&mdash;

Oh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

"...!?"

In the distance, out in the endless darkness, a terrifying roar was heard.

It sounded like all grief and cursing in the world had coalesced into one mass.

Kamito looked around. The surroundings seemed to be shrouded by darkness that was even darker than before.

"The monster of darkness that had swallowed you, it has arrived&mdash;"

'&mdash;Good morning, Kamito.'

Est greeted him sleepily.

"I'm sorry, Est, I need to ask you to lend me your strength when you just woke up."

'Yes, Kamito. I am your sword, your wish is my command... Yawn...'

'...Say, will you really be alright?'

Restia asked with concern.

"There is little time left. Unless you liberate the Darkness Elemental Lord before your soul is completely consumed, you will never be able to turn back to human again."

"So basically, I just have to defeat that thing, right?"

&mdash;No sooner than Kamito finished speaking...

The surging mist of darkness condensed and the monster was revealed.