Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 4 Prologue (section)

===Part 1===

Demon Lord Leohart.

After the death of the previous demon lord Wilbert, dominating at the peak of the demon realm was the new young lord.

Although Wilbert, who was part of the moderates, had the reputation as the strongest, he had chosen to evacuate from the human realm in the previous war, choosing to have a stable and peaceful life. After the war ended sixteen years later -- loyal to their basic instincts, both the Conservative and the Radical Factions in the demon realm had a desire for revenge against the Gods, harbouring strong resentment.

-- Until about a year before Wilbert's death, when the state of affairs in the Demon Realm had a big change.

The Moderates Faction that gained tremendous power because of Wilbert fell apart, and the Radical and Conservative Factions gained momentum.

In the end -- the two factions merged, and crowned the new demon lord, Leohart.

Him having the blood of the immediate family of the duke house which has produced generations of demon lords since ancient times, and also with his display of valour in the last war, was the reason that he was chosen. Back then, Leohart was different from Wilbert, who was better than him at controlling the situation of the demon realm. He had led the elite forces in the forefront of the front lines, and achieved excellent military exploits. Although there was another demon on the front lines with a similarly splendid record, contact with that demon was lost in the war. Hence, the honour of a war hero was given to only Leohart -- it was with this honour, that had gained him the support of the Conservative and Radical Factions, thus earning him the seat of the Demon Lord. 

However, Leohart was still very young, and since he was hailed as the successor of the strongest demon lord Wilbert, it just isn't so awesome. Thus for the symbol of the authority of the throne, he specifically chose the biggest, grandest, and the most stately palace in existence in the demon realm for his use.

-- But right now, Leohart's palace had suddenly received an intense shock. No, that's not a metaphor. It was an intense vibration that had originated from the throne chamber, literally shocking the whole palace. Immediately--

"--------"

Leohart escaped from the chamber from a hole made in the wall by the attack, and landed lightly in the the atrium. Looking up, he saw a shadow coming after him, jumping from the collapsing wall. The hem of the jacket flapped in the wind and with the strike of a sword aimed at Leohart, this was the strongest man, the [God of War] from the last war with the hero tribe.

Jin·Toujou.

Leohart immediately raised the demonic blade in his hand, barely managing to block Jin's strike. ''Thung!...'' The sound of their swords clashing instantly sounded out. Due to the strength of the strike, there will be after-effects. And so with a boom, the aftermath from the attack spread out in all directions, instantly destroying the floor of the atrium and the other facilities in the palace such as the fountain and the pool. Presently--

"Hahahahaha!"

Leohart then brandished his sword against him. Jin then quickly retreated backwards with a backflip and faced him. Resting his large sword <ref>A sword with an especially gigantic blade</ref> on his shoulder, Jin bitterly smiled and said:

"Ah~ I've really dulled... Seems like imagining the actions and actually doing it are totally different..."

And pat his shoulder with the ridge of his sword. Just then--

"--Your majesty Leohart!"

"Are you all right your majesty!?"

Guardsmen hurried to Leohart's side, raising their magic weapons at Jin, at the ready to fire.

"Stand down. You are not a match for him."

But they were ordered to stop by Leohart's calm judgement. The elite troops guarding the throne chamber were all knocked out, so if the normal soldiers were to fight him, their aftermath could range from never being able to fight again to being a worthless sacrifice. However, when Jin looked around--

"...Is that so? Apart from you, there seems to be quite a few fitting the role of a hunter..."

Said like he has seen through the situation.

''...Even his analytical surveying of the situation is so keen, this really is troublesome.''

Right now, Balthier who was Leohart's trusted courtier <ref>A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and the social and political life were often completely mixed together</ref> should probably be awaiting orders, hiding in either the crowd of the normal soldiers or the nearby buildings. Following that--

「（Your majesty Leohart -- may I ask what would be the best course of action to take right now?）」

Balthier, unsure, asked for orders.

「（...None of you make any moves. I shall be the one to take care of him.）」

And Leohart ordered the courtiers to remain on standby, since this was a rare opportunity.

-- After all, he was the one known as Jin·Toujou, the strongest hero.

In the past year -- Leohart had already eliminated many old demons who wanted to use him as a puppet for their own desires. But there were still many traitors, like Zolgear, who were still not yet eliminated;if he was able to force Jin to retreat here and now alone, he might be able to force the remaining Cardinals to become restless.

However...

Whether was it sympathy, or that he had a chivalrous heart, he didn't know -- Jin had taken in Naruse Mio and her subordinate Naruse Maria, letting them live together with his son. He had sent Lars to survey the situation, and Leohart had learned much from his reports. Could it be--

"...Did you to came here directly to settle your score with me in order to protect your son and Wilbert's daughter, Jin·Toujou?"

"Nope, I've had no such intentions. The reason that I came to the demon realm, was to personally witness the changes that had taken place after Wilbert's death, and to just take a rest at your place on the way...
Fine, fine, this is a warning to you guys, to not let anyone to bully and take advantage of my son's intentions."

Even while talking, Jin's eyes were focused intensely on Leohart.

"And here I was thinking that after taking Wilbert's position, you would be reluctant to have the orphaned girl who has inherited his power. The one who doesn't know that she has the blood of the demon lord and have been raised as a normal girl, and could possibly have been a potential demon lord, must have been played around with very well. And for the other party to be a rather unexpected chivalrous young male hero?"

"-----Shut up."

Leohart rushed towards the Jin who was wryly smiling, maximising his speed by lowering his body. he reached high speeds in just a moment, and slashed at Jin. 

--In the war, Leohart's skill with his blade had taken the lives of many from the Hero Tribe.

However, every single strike from him was being blocked, and what's even more surprising was that there wasn't any sign of swordsmanship in Jin's movements of his sword -- it was just purely reflexive brandishing of his blade that was nullifying Leohart's relentless swordsmanship, and their swords clashed countless times.

"For you to have this much skill, it really seems possible for you who is still this young to be on the Demon Lord's throne...additionally, you still have a pair of eyes. Ah... If that's the case, you really are someone noteworthy."

Jin gave a smile, like he had just understood the truth. Even if he was from the hero tribe, one had to wonder whether or not he was a human; a human was weaker than a demon by several levels. And for a human, he was past his prime. 

Yet Jin was able to match up with the current demon lord, possibly surpassing him.

''...This is really unbelievable... So this is Jin·Toujou?''

Amazing -- he really was worthy the title of [God of War]. Although he had participated in the wars that lasted until sixteen years ago, Leohart had never had the chance to fight with Jin--

''...To think that he had such power.''

Many high-class demons of calibre similar to Leohart, had suddenly disappeared in that war. And it was very likely that it was just like the rumours said: they had crossed paths with Jin. In the sixteen years that had followed, Leohart had studied to reach the even more advanced levels in martial arts. But still, it was likely that he would only be able to barely stand a chance against Jin.

After the war -- no. Even during the war, Leohart had never met such an opponent.

「----So what!?」

Leohart then let out a horizontal slash much faster and sharper than before, and made a different metallic clashing sound. Leohart's demonic sword, had broken Jin's gigantic sword.

"Ohoh--!"

Jin widened his eyes in surprise, and Leohart slashed at his back, but he jumped aside. Following that, Jin watched the cursed blade in Leohart's hand let out a black aura.  [''Hou~''] He became impressed, and discarded his broken blade.

"I knew that wasn't just a normal demonic sword... But, should I say: [As expected from the Demon Lord's weapon]?"

"That's right -- you better not blame me."

Leohart's demonic sword Loki, was the currently known most powerful demonic sword. Since their combat prowess was at a similar level, their weapon would probably be the deciding factor between victory or defeat. 

"--Devour him, Loki."

As Leohart said that quietly with a low voice--

「————————」

The cursed blade emitted a dark glow in response. After considering the cohesion and influence brought about from defeating the strongest Hero, Leohart decided that he must do it at all costs, even if it means leveling the city.

That's why -- Leohart released the demonic blade Loki's limiters on its dark fluctuations.

-- A loud sound accompanied the atmospheric vortex  that formed. The space distorted in where the darkness surged out wildly.

This darkness could devour Jin whole, with the potential of leaving no traces of his body or spirit. A complete annihilation attack.

The battle has already ended -- at least, that was how it was supposed to be. Demon lord Leohart instead saw unbelievable confidence from Jin.

Before Jin·Toujou was devoured by the darkness, he let out an impertinent smile, and following that--

"Wooooooooooooaah!"

With a roar, green flames appeared on Jin's body, and he then concentrated it on his right fist.

With exaggerated movements, he used his right fist to ram into the darkness with seemingly brute force, shaking the area with a heavy bass sound, and rebounded the dark energy back to Leohart. Faced with the dark energy rebounding back to him at a much faster speed--

"-----"

Deciding quickly, Leohart sweeped his demonic sword upwards to the right, cutting into that darkness and splitting it.

In next moment -- an earth-shaking shock and [Boom] resounded.

The deflected and cut dark energy, smashed into the giant wall surrounding the city south of the palace..

The impact was so strong, that it forced the atmosphere in the atrium into a frenzy, with confusion and screaming everywhere. Just then--

''All right... This should probably be enough.''

It seems that his purpose for his visit was already accomplished.

-- No matter how ambitious Leohart is, or how dense the evil intentions and dark desires of those around him are, the expansion of the former demon lord's faction would not stop, and would eventually one day dissolve the Moderates faction.

The most effective way to stop this, would be to shake the trust of the demons in the new demon lord's ability and charisma, creating doubts within the subordinates. And that is the reason why Jin chose the atrium, which was teeming with normal soldiers onlooking, to have a 'meeting' with Leohart. With Leohart's attack just now, he had exhibited his power to the surrounding people -- but then he had instead received Jin's counter-attack.

Not only did Jin rebound Leohart's attack back to him, he had shown his existence of being a very big threat to the demons in the city.

This would probably enough to deter the higher-ups of the Current Demon Lord faction, and to create doubt and unrest in the subordinates

''...I hope this would more or less scare them.''

Just as Jin·Toujou was about to decide to slip away, something caught his eye.

"------!"

The next moment, he created a thunder-like shockwave.

In the explosive impact creating a confusion maelstrom, Demon Lord Leohart personally saw ''that''.

Running across the atrium in an instant, Jin rushed into the falling rubble.

''...Hoping to escape in the mess?''

Beyond the city wall was a cliff, and under the cliff was a moat. It was likely that the water would ease the impact of the fall from jumping from the hole in the wall, so the chances of making it out safely was quite high. However, that was not accounting for the huge weight of the falling rubble. 
Based on his abilities, to scale the city walls was probably effortless, so why did he chose a rougher path? Just as he was thinking this, he saw it.

Jin, who was leaping into the air, reached out towards a small body within the falling rubble, and brought it into his arms. Wearing light body armour, it was probably one of the soldiers on the city wall. But rather, it seems like that he had taken Leohart's attack, and Jin who was an enemy had no obligation to help him. But--

''...That is?''

What Jin was hugging, was obviously a child. This caused Leohart to think, in the palace, there was a young soldier, who although was quite young, was highly praised and employed due to the power possessed.

Though young, he was still a demon, and since he was quite powerful, a mere moat couldn't possibly kill him.

But, if he was knocked unconscious from the large amount of falling rubble or from the shock from the explosion, then it was likely that he would die if he landed in the moat. Hence, the Jin who was in the air immediately took action. 

"Woaaaaaaaaaaaahhh--!"

While holding the young soldier within his arms, he kicked upwards.

The huge pieces of the city walls above them then burst into smaller debris. With the explosion that had already echoed, Leohart was still in shock, unable to comprehend just what had happened. While still in the air, Leohart's eyes' met Jin's eyes.

"------"

Jin had was smiling like he was the winner -- and with that expression, they fell off the cliff together with the large amounts of debris.

"--Shall we pursue Jin, your majesty Leohart?"

Seeing the situation, Balthier asked from his side.

"...Don't bother. There isn't the need. Continuing the fight with him would be just a waste of energy."

But Leohart shook his head, and just ordered Balthier to check on the injuries of the soldiers and clear the debris.

Given the direction Jin and the young boy fell a last look, he turned around and headed back into the palace.