Mondaiji-tachi ga isekai kara kuru soudesu yo:Volume 7 Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Part 1
———Kouen City Palace Headquarters – Third Right Wing.
It was around the time when the hazy moon rippled between the clouds. The pendant lamp that hung off the pavilion creaked in the night breeze, which enveloped the city in a warm airflow, disturbing the anxiety. Closely resembling dusk, Kouen City showed a truly beautiful landscape at night. The city was illuminated by all kinds of colored lamps, and cheerful ghosts and strange nocturnal creatures became rampant. The time when the moon rose up into the sky was Kouen City at its best. It would be about time for drinks at the bar. However, for this night, it was different.
The goblins running rampant in the city quietly retreated, and the candle lamps around the main road were blown out as they rocked about in the night breeze. All of the residents, who sensed the nervous atmosphere, held their breath as they stayed inside their homes. Kouen City was a city in the northern side governed by Salamandra. Living at a five digit outer gate, they are sensitive to Little Garden’s natural disasters————————the presence of a demon lord.
Izayoi and His Highness’s battle which happened at dusk became a rumor that spread like wildfire in Kouen City, and became common knowledge. From the scale of that war, there were few who didn’t sense that there would be an attack by a demon lord in the near future. To protect their community, they had already begun to move. There were those who left the city after sensing danger. There were those who would hole up inside the headquarters until the battle with the demon lord was over. There were also those spirited ones who considered it a blessing to be able to hold up the head of a demon lord high. Those who wanted to test their power and make a name for themselves were all currently gathered in Salamandra’s palace headquarters in the third right wing.
Sandra and Pest lightly coughed and went up on stage in the conference room.
“From this moment on, we will be begin the meeting on the demon lord alliance————————the group called Ouroboros, and a way to deal with them.”
She declared in a dignified voice as her red hair swayed. Next to her was Pest, who up until recently was imprisoned, but she was released in exchange for information. It seemed there were voices of protest among Salamandra’s leaders, but in order to prepare for the attack, they needed as much information as they could get, which was how Sandra persuaded them. Also present were the communities that she selected.
Salamandra, which held the symbol of a fire dragon. Will-O'-Wisp, which held the symbol of a blue flame. Perseus, which held the symbol of the Gorgon’s head. No Name, without a symbol.
The aforementioned communities were set up in the VIP seats. When the time comes to go against the demon lord alliance, Uroboros, they foresaw that the fight would happen at the main axis. Participating in the meeting on behalf of the No Names, Jin Russel, was talking to the pumpkin head sitting next to him, whose name was Jack.
“………What a crowd.”
“Yahoho! There’s more where this came from. If communities who were involved with the first generation Dragon Lord of the Stars and Seas join us, it would make us even stronger!”
Jack cheerfully bobbed his pumpkin head. Jin also replied with a wry smile.
Including the demons active in Kouen City and the six digit communities, their numbers exceeded twenty. They were active under the protection of Salamandra, and in emergency cases, they would send their main forces in terms with their contract. Among them were many who had experience in a demon lord’s gift game. Communities affiliated with Salamandra, including the five, six, and seven digit communities, totaled five hundred twenty. Participants totaled over forty three thousand. Adding to this was a squadron of winged dragons and four thousand aerial fire dragons on standby. Although these numbers wasn’t even half of what they had in their heydays, for the 5 digit communities, it was all they could’ve asked for.
“Come to think of it, Salamandra’s ancestors, the Dragon Lord of the Stars and Seas, what were they like?”
“Who knows? When I came to the Little Garden, their name had already been shouted out, after all. Rumors say they are Taoist star spirits who fought with communities like Queen Halloween and the White Night King for sovereignty of the sun.”
“Taoist………star spirits?”
Jin tilted his head in surprise. He had heard that they were of the strongest class, but he imagined that they would be of the dragon type. Furthermore, when speaking of Taoism, one thinks of a group of gods comprised mainly with holy spirits and dragon type divine beasts. Not only does its influence include the twelve dragons of the celestial equator who govern the sun, but Taoism itself is full of holy spirits.
(Speaking of Taoist dragons, the yellow dragon clan is pretty famous. Is that from a different sect altogether?)
Rather, maybe they were aiming for a misread or camouflage with that. The name of the strongest species that was part of specific sects and groups of gods was well known so they rarely hid themselves.
“Hmm………maybe Izayoi-san would know something about this, but………”
“That’s it! That’s also been bothering me! I don’t see Izayoi-dono or Lady Asuka around, but should they not make their appearance in this meeting?”
“Y,Yes. It seems that everyone is making their own adjustments. ————————Ah, it’s starting.”
Jin pushed his thoughts about the Dragon Lord of the Stars and Seas to the recesses of his memory and focused his mind on the meeting. Jack also looked over to the two girls on the stage. On the stage, Sandra instructed Pest to talk about Uroboros.
“Black Percher. Please explain in detail about Uroboros, the community you were affiliated with.”
“………Alright.”
Sandra went as far as to call her by her demon lord title. That was probably an act of demonstrating her authority over a demon lord. Pest didn’t take kindly to this act, which was more like a warning, but she reasoned that this was how all defeated leaders are treated. Briefly looking at everyone’s faces, Pest took a breath and then————————let out a small sigh.
“About the Demon Lord Alliance………I have no objections to talking about Uroboros. But before that, I have one thing I need to say.”
The meeting room murmured in an disrespectful attitude. Jin and Jack were quickly overtaken by a bad feeling.
“S,She won’t say anything weird………will she?”
“Y,Yahoho! It’ll be fine! Even if it’s Lady Pest, she wouldn’t be so daring in this place………”
————————Or maybe she would. As a matter of fact, she was the maid group’s biggest problem child. Pest glanced at everyone sharply from the stage, and declared with an indignant attitude.
“You all suck. Go home. You’re all too weak. Take your luggage and go.”
((Wow!))
The palace’s third right wing was assailed by a breeze of absolute zero. Even as a joke, everyone gathered here were stalwarts who had confidence in their abilities. Winged dragons, spitting flames from their mouths, and demons, popping up anger veins, glared at Pest.
“You bitch………you, a defeated general, shouldn’t be saying something so pretentious.”
“Hmph. Even if you're a former demon lord, you’re still just a small girl.”
“Everyone gathered here are stalwarts who have won battles against demon lords. There’s no reason we won’t be able to shut that impudent mouth of yours, you know………?”
The old-timers’ eyes shined. They were so agitated that they released their human transformations and extended their horns to threaten Pest. Panicked by the unexpected developments, Sandra cut in.
“P,Please wait! Now is not the time to be fighting amongst each other! Pest, please refrain from saying anything unnecessary————————”
“I,It’s bad news, Sandra-samaaaaaaa!!!”
A winged dragon messenger burst into the meeting room with a bang. Suppressing the uneasiness in her heart, Sandra, as the leader, questioned calmly.
“What is it? Did the demon lord,”
“I,It’s not that! It’s the No Names! A group of three people from those No Names went to the practice area and said they wanted to test their skills………T,They’ve started taking on the stationed troops one after another!”
Wow, Jin groaned as he held up his head with his hands. Pest, while concealing a smile, whispered quietly.
“See? You’re all just a bunch of rabble.”
“Tch, don’t get carried away, you bitch!”
“We have our pride too! We can’t back down after listening to that!”
“Yeah! We’re not going to take your crap————————!!!”
They continued to release their human transformations one after the other. Starting with the werewolves and fox spirit like goblins, demons released hot air from their entire bodies and the winged dragons all rose up from their chairs. Broadly grinning, Pest jumped out through the palace’s third right wing’s window to the aforementioned practice area. The angered participants followed after her. Unless they fought this out, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Sandra was speechless, but soon came back to her senses and glared at Jin.
“————————Jin.”
“Y,Yes.”
“I’m going to the practice area. I’m going to stop them, so come with me.”
Jin took her voice that wouldn’t let him respond head on, and hurriedly left the palace’s third right wing behind.
Part 2
————————Kouen City Palace Headquarters – The practice area in front of the barracks.
Despite it being late at night, the practice area was alive with cheers————————rather, it was bustling with roars. The practice area was only for the fire dragon clan, and was ten times larger than a regular practice area. Right now, the thoroughly prepared practice area was ablaze with a haze of fire.
“Grr, you shouldn’t be having this much trouble against a little girl!”
“Rebuild the formation!”
“Make use of our greater numbers! They’re not opponents we can’t win against!”
Seven fire dragons roared as they dashed. In the center of the practice area, Kasukabe Yō was taking on all seven fire dragons. The large winged fire dragons soared at exceptional speeds. They were just barely able to keep up with Yō, who was aloft on a sparkling whirlwind.
“Damn you………!!”
Yō rose further on her sparkling whirlwind and dashed through the sky. However, her legs did not have Pegasus’ armor attached to them. Right now, she was releasing a whirlwind with her own abilities.
“………You’re incredible, Kasukabe-san.”
Kudou Asuka was at the edge of the practice area, breathing hard. Sitting next to her was a young, enchanting girl———————Willa the Ignis Fatuus, who naturally nodded as she twirled her dazzling wings with her finger.
“Pegasus’ wings………It’s one of the gifts that Koumei left for Yō. Upon contact with a living thing, the genome tree interprets its phylogenetic tree and evolves its bearer.”
Willa shook her chest proudly as she explained. Sitting next to them, Izayoi also nodded in admiration.
“Hum. So right now, by using the gryphon’s and pegasus’ powers at the same time, her flight speed and physical abilities have rapidly increased.”
“That’s right. ———————But that’s not the important part.”
Willa pointed at Yō, who was fighting. After a moment, she released a surge of intense lightning. In her hand that released that dazzling lightning was———————three hundred and sixty kinds of beast kings. She was gripping a pike that looked like a Kirin.
“With this………!”
In a flash, she launched the pike in a straight line. Resounding with thunder, the lightning that shot out in a fan pierced all seven fire dragons.
“Impossible………!?”
The hardened scales of the fire dragons, said to be forged in an active volcano, was no match for the lightning of a divine beast. Unable to move, the fire dragons fell while convulsing and crashed into the ground. Izayoi, having watched the battle, rubbed his chin and chuckled.
“Obtaining mobility with the gryphon and pegasus while imitating the phantom beasts’ destructive powers through the genome tree. I see, this is powerful stuff.”
He nodded in admiration. But it was not as optimistic a battle as he said it was. Yō came down from the sky with shiny beads of sweat flowing down from her forehead and gasping for breath. Gently wiping off the sweat with her right hand, Yō took a deep breath, steadying her breathing, and did her victory pose.
“Victory. It’s thanks to Willa that I won.”
“Victory. But that’s Yō’s true power. And it’s thanks to Koumei.”
She responded with a victory sign. Yō, suddenly remembering, raised a question.
“………Willa, how did you come to know my dad?”
Truthfully, it was something she wanted to ask about sooner. But because of the commotion from noon, there wasn’t much time for an opportunity to ask about it. Willa pondered with a blank face, and murmured.
“Koumei………saved us from a vicious stalker.”
“S………Stalker?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t just any stalker. He had a peculiar infatuation and imagination, and repeated a disgusting manner of speech. I didn’t like him, so I ran from place to place with Jack, but………that guy, he followed us everywhere with teleportation.”
“That’s………”
Asuka and Yō expressed bitterness at the same time. Izayoi put their expressions into words and spoke up.
“Stalker + Teleportation, huh. That’s like a demon with a holy sword.”
“T,That’s right.”
“Scary. That’s scary.”
“Yes. It’s really scary. That’s why I asked Queen Halloween to let me into the Little Garden. ………But that was a mistake. He spent hundreds of years in the outside world piling up training and merits, and opened a gate to the Little Garden on his own.”
“And so Kasukabe’s father saved you from that.”
Willa nodded in affirmation. Listening to the story, Asuka sighed in pity and gently rested her hand on Willa’s shoulder.
“Willa’s gone through a lot too………being targeted by that stalker.”
“No, that might not be the case, you know? It could’ve been a decently good love story from a different perspective. What if you thought of his infatuation like this instead? ‘Devoting myself to studying my power for many months and years, passing the boundary of the outside world! Willa, I’ve come to take you home!!!’ ———————Like that?”
“Ew, that’s disgusting!”
Willa shuddered as goosebumps appeared all over her body. Pushing her to say something that bad took outstanding talent.
“That stalker that drove Willa and Jack that far up the wall, he must’ve been that———————”
“Grr, what are those guys at Salamandra doing!!!”
They jumped in surprise and faced the direction of the voice. From the palace’s third right wing came the old goblins after Pest, one after the other as they ran into the practice area. It seems they were enraged from seeing the defeated fire dragons. Meeting up with Izayoi and the others, Pest suppressed her smile and laughed cynically.
“I’ve brought them just like you asked.”
“Well done. Looks you got them raring to go.”
“Of course. It’s all in a maid’s work. ———————So weirdo, what are you going to do?”
Pest chuckled in provocation as she looked at Izayoi. But before he could answer, the group that followed Pest roared while in a state of rage.
“You bastards………you’ve all ran wild for quite a while.”
“But your brutality ends here.”
“You’re going to pay for your big talk right here………!!!”
Undoing their human transformations, the old timers’ spiritual statuses all ballooned up at once. The three people’s spiritual statuses, suitably above all others in fighting prowess, gave off an intimidating presence that overwhelmed the average winged dragons.
Created from a pale spiritual body and able to grow a hundred strong arms, the titan clan———————the descendants of Hekatonkheire[1]. With the head of a goat, letting loose a sinister presence, the devils———————Baphomet’s[2] kin. Boasting two horns, the chief of demons———————Shuten Douji’s[3] faction.
In the middle of the practice area, while holding onto one arm, he bared his teeth.
“We man-eating fiends who have infested the northern side have passed many trials within.”
“Although we were struck down by the Dragon Lord of the Stars and Seas, we are still of demon lord bloodlines. Don’t lump us together with that halfwit.”
“Kuku……my blood hasn’t boiled like this in a while, human. Let the blood erupt and splatter like mist!!!”
“Hah!”
“”"GUAAAAAAAAAAAAA I’m dooooooown!!!”"”
Izayoi brandished his fists. Three of the goblins were blown away, crashing headfirst into the clock-tower in Salamandra’s headquarters. ———————There wasn’t anymore need to say it. It was a flat out degree of nonsense. Mandra, who was watching the events in the practice area from start to finish, was shocked as the edge of his mouth quivered.
“………. Is that really a human?”
“Who knows.”
Asuka, who was left behind, answered back. Izayoi, as if dusting off his fists, brushed his hands while looking at the old timers who had come from the palace’s third right wing and smiled fearlessly.
“Well, that’s just about it. What’ll you do, oh great old seniors?”
“Nu………!”
Their exuberance from before was nowhere to be seen, and their words faltered. They weren’t stupid. It didn’t take long for them to realize the difference in their strength. Izayoi looked at them, who were having second thoughts, and his frivolous smile vanished as his eyes became serious.
“Sorry to interrupt while you’re still shell-shocked. The demon lord this time around is about on par with me, or maybe even higher than that. ———————If you want to turn back, now’s your chance. The next battle is going to create a lot of casualties.”
“………,”
There was nothing false about his tone. Those words did not just silence the old timers alone. The people seated there, Kasukabe Yō, Kudou Asuka, Willa, Mandra, and catching up from behind, Jin, Sandra, and Jack, were unable to come to terms and were silent.
———————The storm is coming. A storm bigger than all others encountered up until now. It will resound in the heavens, it will shake the earth, and it will create mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, the worst natural disaster. A champion that cannot be allowed to exist along side the order of the Little Garden will come to dye the town of dusk in the colors of hell. Izayoi, who could sense this more than anyone else, narrowed his eyes and declared.
“———————I’ll say this ahead of time. I’ll be taking on their leader. I want you guys to handle the forerunners. Conversely, if you can’t do that, then there’s no chance of victory. To make that easy for you guys to understand, we called you guys out here.”
“…………”
Murmurs stirred, spreading out between the fire dragons and old timers. They were conceited because they had escaped the jaws of death many times. Being told this head on by a young person like Izayoi was not pleasant. That is why Izayoi displayed his power ahead of time. It would be too late by the time the demon lords appeared. Especially against that boy who calls himself His Highness and Demon Lord Maxwell, the ones without power who attack in desperation would probably be throwing away their lives for nothing. One of the old demons, having pieced together what was going through Izayoi’s mind, snorted and took a step forward.
“………Hmph. You say that, but is there a plan?”
“There is.”
He immediately answered with confidence. The old timers opened their eyes wide with interest at his affirmation.
“We have a plan for dealing with each of the members we know of in Uroboros. So for that purpose———————we need everyone to be able to keep up.”
He wordlessly appealed for help. The old timers were quiet for a moment, but suddenly let out an exasperated sigh.
“Grr, so indirect! It’s courtesy to be humble when asking! Am I wrong!?”
“Then I ask of you. Please lend us your strength.”
Izayoi promptly bowed his head down. This time, the old timers raised up their arms and resigned themselves.
“Hmph………well, in that case, we will. First, tell us this plan.”
“We know that you’re strong. Feel free to make the game.”
“Hey, you Salamandra lads, get those guys down from the clock tower. It’d be cruel to leave them there any longer. The meeting will begin after that.”
“U,Understood.”
The young fire dragons spread their wings and lifted off. Izayoi turned around to face Asuka and Yō, laughing as he put his hands on his hips.
“The first stage is cleared. The problem starts here.”
“Yes………with Kuro Usagi in that state, we can’t use the judgemaster to hold this off.”
“Yeah. We’ll have to do our best.”
The three stared solemnly towards no particular direction. The reason they were able to win their gift games against the demon lords until now was indeed, because of Kuro Usagi’s judgemaster’s ability to put the game on hold. But Kuro Usagi is currently not in any condition to use the judgemaster.
“Kuro Usagi………I wonder if she’s alright. She was pretty upset after that, after all.”
“Obviously. Just imagine. If, when you woke up———————your ears were on the top of your head, you’d be scared too, right milady?”
Goosebumps appeared as Asuka held onto her own body.
“………I would be scared.”
“See. It’s basically like that. If you’re worried, just go visit her again.”
“Yeah. ———————Right now, we should decide who faces off with who.”
The three nodded to each other and thought about the objective for next time. There, Willa suddenly raised her hand.
“About that, I might have a proposal for you.”
“………Hmmm?”
Izayoi looked at her with a quizzical face. Willa was known as one of the best in the northern side, but to Izayoi, his impression of her is that ‘I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she sure has a big rack’ and that’s it. That she was participating in the game design was probably what was unexpected for him.
“Sure. I’ll be taking on that white haired demon, so………starting with Demon Lord Maxwell, who’s going to take him on? Like you, he can use the astral gate to teleport around. How will you keep that in check?”
“We’ll aim for the spot where he’ll reappear.”
Willa smoothly talked about this difficult issue while Yō and Asuka looked at each other, troubled.
“………That’s,”
“A bit hard, don’t you think………?”
Indeed, if they could pinpoint the location of his reappearance, it wouldn’t be that hard to conquer the astral gate. As a matter of fact, Asuka and Yō had seen Willa using the astral gate to teleport. That wasn’t the kind of thing you could hold down with speed and firepower. It was none other than these two who had fought him who felt this way. To conquer the astral gate, they would need power with a completely different sort of vector———————
“———————I get it. So Kasukabe’s father had driven off Maxwell using this method.”
“Eh?”
Asuka and Yō raised their voices in surprise. Izayoi raised his face and confirmed it with Asuka, Yō, and Willa, in that order. He smiled fearlessly.
“Great. With that method, even when fighting Maxwell, the gears will click. ———————The match up’s decided. Let’s go gather Salamandra and the old veterans.”
“B,But………who’s going to fight Maxwell?”
Asuka and Yō questioned puzzlingly. Izayoi smiled mischievously and pointed at them.
Part 3
On the other side, Jin and Sandra were taken aback as they observed the chain of events. They foresaw a huge fight breaking out, but probably didn’t expect it to be so anti-climactic. But not only did it become a huge fight, but the old timers took in Izayoi and the others and even began preparations for the strategy.
“How to say this………it’s typical Izayoi.”
“…………”
Jin smiled in astonishment, but oppositely, Sandra looked at them quietly.
“………? Sandra?”
“Jin. Take care of them. I’ll bring the rest of the people remaining in the palace’s third right wing. Having him explain things will surely go well.”
Turning on her heels, she went to return to the palace’s corridor with a desperate expression.
———————The hazy moon had been hidden by the clouds at some point in time. The light from the pendant lamps also dimmed slightly late at night. Illuminating the corridor were only Salamandra’s crafted glass candles’ flames. Sandra, while striding down the dim corridor alone, remembered the scene from before and stopped walking.
(………If I’d done the same thing, things probably wouldn’t have turned out that way.)
The veteran goblins and the fire dragon guards. To bring them together, she didn’t need the position of the leader of Salamandra. Strength and achievements. Without using these two to fascinate the strong ones, there’d be nothing to talk about. But the eleven year old Sandra did not fulfill either of these when she became the leader. Normally, to become a floor master, one must pile up achievements, but she became the leader without any of that. There were many who were dissatisfied about this in the community.
If it was Sala[4], who had matured with the strength of the winged dragons. Or, if it was Mandra that took over———————
(………Let’s stop this. Going on with this would be rude to my bigger brother and sister.)
Her wise sister cast aside Salamandra and absconded. But she must’ve had a reason for it, Sandra believed. Sala was not the kind of person who would cast aside her home town for no reason. She must’ve had a deep reason, a memory of heartbreak that caused her to leave it behind.
Her hard working brother’s dragon horn growth was poor, and had no choice but to give up on being the heir. This was also nothing more than being born with bad luck. If she had understood Mandra’s pain and helped him. Even while she felt the weight pressing down on her back, she took a step forward as if to shake it off.
———————No, to be accurate. She had intended to shake it off.
(———————……!?)
For a moment, Sandra imagined that the darkness was enveloping her. But that wasn’t the case. What was taken from her wasn’t the light. What was taken from her was the landscape’s colors. The palace that was lit with candles suddenly became clad in monochrome shadows. Except just one———————’mixed’, that one word on the clothes of a demon monkey.
“How pitiful. Normally, you’d be enjoying your time with your parents at this age, too.”
The demon monkey glanced at her pitifully. There, Sandra finally realized who the enemy was.
(It can’t be………the Demon Lord of Confusion!! This is bad, I have to let everyone know………!!)
“Ah, that’s not happening. I’ve put the ‘Activity Prevention’ curse on you. You can’t do anything anymore. You don’t have to think about painful things while putting in effort anymore either.”
The Demon Lord of Confusion walked around the monochrome palace leisurely. But there was no hostility from him. His eyes filled with pity as he closed in on Sandra.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I was created from the mind of a child who, like you, was unreasonably twirled around by the people around him. I understand you better than anyone else.”
A demon lord created from the mind of a child———————the Demon Lord of Confusion smugly looked at her while tapping her chest with his hand and whispering to her in a melancholy voice.
“In the depths of your heart, you wanted to live freely, but because of the stupid adults, all you became good at was putting on a fake smile. Your position got in your way, and even if you made some effort, no one praised you for it. It’d be stifling no matter what.”
(———————You’re wrong……!)
“The sister who you thought was wise got her own freedom and went to enjoy life. Being judged for her every move, she thought nothing for her own little sister.”
You’re wrong———————She wanted to shout that, but she couldn’t move even a finger. But Sandra knew. That her older sister would never have absconded for that kind of cold-hearted reason. That her older brother tried desperately to support her from the shadows. Don’t be misled, as she strongly persisted. Nothing but flattery has come from this demon lord’s mouth. Don’t be fooled. His objective lies elsewhere. Her ties with her family lie within her heart.
“Really———————Aah, I really can’t go along with this!!! Just because you were a brat, your life was swung around on a stick, after all!! Because you ascended to the throne, you couldn’t carelessly let out your real intentions!! Those friends you made in your loneliness too———————”
The Demon Lord of Confusion’s hand brushed Sandra’s cheek.
“———————Betrayed you and became enemies. The friends you finally made betrayed you.”
When the Demon Lord of Confusion touched her cheek, there was a tear on the end of his finger. She wanted to believe in her family, but she couldn’t. The people she thought were her friends, Rin and His Highness, left Sandra alone. The moment she dealt with a demon lord one on one, Sandra was aware of her own weaknesses and incompetence.
(Brother, sister………His Highness, Rin………Jin………!)
Against this demon lord who could perceive naiveté, Sandra couldn’t do anything to resist. If she peeled off her mask of floor master, there would be nothing left but an eleven year old girl. Even in monochrome, she knew that her face was pale. If she could move, her entire body would be quaking with fear.
“Truthfully, you were afraid to fight a demon lord. Of course you were. You’re still eleven years old, after all. For that, I’m fully sympathetic for you. ………You’ve done great up to this day.”
The Demon Lord of Confusion sent her a compliment from the bottom of his heart. That was the last compliment Sandra would ever receive. She was not a fool. She had realized what kind of fate was in store for her after this.
(Am I going to be spirited away………?)
“Yeah. Your consciousness won’t resurface. You’ll become a part of me. This monochrome world is the last thing you’ll ever see.”
There was nothing to worry about anymore. That was the last whisper from the Demon Lord of Confusion.
Sandra’s vision faded and became completely black. Her body’s senses floated up and felt like they melded into the air. The last moment when her consciousness and body were connected———————her sister and brother, and the people important to her, their faces floated up and vanished, and as if clinging onto those bonds, Sandra shouted for the first time in her life.
‘Help me’.
This youth’s death throes would not be heard by anyone in the world, becoming foam and vanished. Having watched the entire event from the opposite side of the corridor, His Highness and Rin confirmed that things had proceeded smoothly and nodded at each other.
“Sandra has fallen in our hands. With this, the Dragon Lord of the Stars and Seas’ heritage———————the False Star Creation Chart is halfway into our hands.”
“Yeah. We’ve seized the most important gift of all. After this is the capture of the Genome Tree and the origin candidate.”
“Yeah. In the case that becomes impossible———————”
The two both swallowed their words. Putting that into words meant for these two that they would reluctantly be using their last resort.
“In the case that we fail………we will undo that demon lord’s seal and withdraw from Kouen City.”
“Yeah. If that becomes the case, I’ll follow my own judgement. Let everyone know. No matter what happens, everyone must live.”
It was a light tone, but His Highness’ face was unusually stiff. So was Rin’s. Her normally bright smile was clouded over like the night sky. Rin uneasily peered at His Highness’ face, and mending her normally mischievous smile, questioned His Highness.
“We………can win, right?”
“We can. You’ll make that happen, right?”
His golden eye gleamed as he retorted in response. Confidence returned to Rin’s eyes upon hearing his voice.
“Of course! We will definitely win this for His Highness!”
“I’ll be expecting it. So, what’s the next move? When do we make it?”
They had already collided with Izayoi and the others today. Retreating would also probably be one of those moves. But Rin swung her head to the side.
“The day won’t come. During this night, we will conquer Kouen City.”
“Heh? That’s quite hasty.”
“A lot’s been discovered about us, after all. There’s also no more reason for Pest-chan to regret providing information. Right about now, the plans they have to counter us should be in shambles. ———————That’s why we should seize this opening. Now, while they’re agitated and making their preliminary preparations, is the last opportunity.”
Her black hair fluttered in the night breeze as she advised him in a dignified voice. His Highness tapped his chin and thought for a while, but as soon as he raised his face, he smiled excitedly.
“Alright. Let Aura, Graiya, Maxwell, and everyone else know. In one hour from now, we will begin the war throughout the city. I will be giving out the signal, so match up with that.”
“Aye aye, sir!”
Rin, having gotten back her cheeriness, gave a bright reply as she became invisible. His Highness, who was left in the palace, erased his presence and held his breath in the dark. Looking up at the cloudy night sky, he whispered with strong determination.
“………We’ll win. We’ll show them. Because for us………there’s no going back.”
Translator's Notes
