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

===Part 17===
“Forfeit…?”

When Mio heard the broadcast of the decisive battle from the Moderates faction’s lounge, she couldn’t help but frown. The Current Demon Lord faction had actually taken the initiative to forfeit the sixth individual duel.

''…What happened?''

Had something happened on that side, or was it another trap…either way, the sixth duel that Lucia was scheduled to fight in had been won by the Moderates faction, so both sides had now reached a tie situation with three wins and losses each. Everything now relied on the final showdown. Aside from Maria who lost to Takigawa due to the sheer difference in their strength, the other side had resorted to despicable means to take advantage of Basara’s absence to deceive Kurumi into defeat, followed by Zest’s loss by disqualification; they were able to draw with the other side, so this could be described as the optimal result.

''…But.''

Naruse Mio couldn’t stop frowning — because Basara hadn’t returned yet. Although the speed of the decisive battle had progressed faster than expected, that was slightly unsettling, but that wasn’t the reason. At this time, Mio heard an unprecedented and deafening round of applause from the arena. Upon the display that was mounted on the wall, Leohart had appeared in the ring.

“What are we going to do…if this goes on…”

This time, the Moderates faction would lose without fighting, which also meant that the Moderates faction would lose entirely. Just when Mio anxiously mumbled that to herself, someone entered the lounge. It was Lucia. Because she had won due to forfeit, she returned without taking to the stage. Upon seeing that Mio was the only one in the lounge, she said

“It looks like Basara-san still has not returned…so this round will be fought by Ramsas-sama, there are no problems with that, right?”

“Lucia-san, please wait just a bit longer…right now—”

It’s too soon to say that Basara won’t show up — before Mio could say this, the display showed that the stage had begun to change into a fighting space. Perhaps because this duel would be between the two leaders, they wanted to choose a veritable battlefield for the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction; the battle space gradually changed into an ancient city—

“…Now it’s impossible for Ramsas-sama not to head out.”

“What do you mean?”

Having narrowed her eyes, Lucia replied to Mio

“That is the royal city of the third generation Demon Lord, Lezonas, the ancient city of Lada. Lezonas is a descendant of the first generation Demon Lord, and after defeating the second generation Demon Lord, he ascended to the throne as the new Demon Lord…this ancient city was their battlefield. Because of its current historical value, it has been protected by high-level magic, so only people of the Demon Lord’s bloodline are able to enter. Since the battle space is a replica, it should be safe to say that its special characteristics have been maintained.”

“No…then doesn’t that…”

Lucia’s words caused Mio to stare at the image blankly. In this case, even if Basara was able to make it in time — he would be unable to stand upon the stage to finish this showdown between Leohart and himself.