Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7

Novel Illustrations

These are the novel illustrations that were included in volume 7

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Prologue: Respective Nights

This is a goal I must accomplish no matter what it takes.

Even if – these hands had to be stained with foul blood, I will still not hesitate.

Part 1

The most majestic castle in the Demon Realm, its name was Lundvall.

The Current Demon Lord Faction that the young Demon Lord Leohart led, used it as its base.

Not only was this castle a primary military powerhouse, it also became a political center after the new Demon Lord had ascended onto the throne.

But however – the Current Demon Lord Faction’s decision-making power, does not consist of just Leohart himself.

That is because of the Council – the existence of the group of living history of high-class demons.

--In this night where the moon shone light this late into the night,

Alone, Leohart walked through one of Lundvall City’s silent corridors.

With every step he made, chilly sounds echoed over and over again in that spacious area.

His destination, was West Tower.

Other than Leoheart himself and those he had given permission to, no one else was allowed to step inside this place.

After being transferred into the central passage, the wall was replaced by a large window.

“………”

Under the pale moonlight shining through the window, Leohart continued walking forward with a long shadow following him.

Before the entrance to the West Tower, he stretched out his right hand and started the soul recognition, and after that he walked in after the heavy doors opened; after opening the double layer of protection which required the matching of soul and Demonic Power, the automatic elevating equipment began to start up, and a giant magic circle appeared on the ground.

The next moment, the magic circle began to rise upwards while supporting both of Leoheart’s feet. Although its speed was increasing, Leoheart’s long hair did not move even once due to the wind. The reason for that, was that a field to prevent winds was set up when the elevating device started up. Thus, Leohart closed his eyes, and began thinking deeply.

Today Leohart – had received orders from the Council to utilise the recently excavated spirits and attack the Moderates Faction’s Wildart City, which also happens to be the previous Demon Lord Capital.

Objective? To capture the sole daughter of the previous Demon Lord Wilbert, Naruse Mio.

The one who took command of the attack was Gardo who was once closer to the throne of the Demon Lord than Leohart and the high-class demon Nebula was sent by the Council to supervise the attack.

---However, the attack had ended in failure in the end.

As for how it had happened, Leohart had already received a full report on it.

Just like who the Moderates Faction had sent people to monitor the situation, Leohart too just in case had also placed a compatriot he trusted to take care of it – Lars, to keep himself updated on the latest developments of the battlefield.

Once he found out that Gardo had been taken captive, he ordered Lars to rescue him and thus sent out a final proposal.

The contents of it were, to have a decisive battle in this Lundvall City, to settle this once and for all.

Leohart firmly believed, that this was the correct choice.

Naruse Mio who had inherited Wilbert’s power, had already begun to awaken it. Toujou Basara’s fighting potential had exceeded expectations to the point of being able to rival Gardo. As for the rest, they would be enough to deal with the spirits army that Luca had prepared. Also, on the first time Ramsas had appeared on the battlefield, he had shown power able to eliminate a high-class spirits in a single attack.

Furthermore – Toujou Jin who had crossed swords with Leohart not long ago was rumoured to have also joined them.

Although his own side has the advantage of an overwhelming army, it would take too much to just defeat the Moderates Faction; even if he was able to cross the giant hurdle of defeating them, the enemy that was opposing Leohart wasn’t just the Moderates Faction alone, so there is a need to maintain their military strength. The Current Demon Lord Faction led by Leohart and the Moderates Faction led by Ramsas were simply just the Demon Realm’s two largest forces, so obviously there would be countless other smaller forces in existence that cannot be crushed all at once.

…More importantly,

There were still the annoying toxic roots known as the Council. Those old leeches were an even bigger obstacle than the Moderates Faction that needs to be removed as soon as possible to try to reduce sacrifices and losses.

--From Leohart’s point of view, there were two important things in this few-participant decisive battle between the Factions. Firstly, it was completely different from a large-scale fight where he could push the chances for the Council's intervention or a spy mixed into them right to the minimum. Secondly, this method would be more advantageous towards the Moderates Faction – for the Moderates Faction whose troops were inferior, a representative battle between the Factions would be preferred over an all-out war.

In other words, this was just to accommodate the Moderates Faction’s weakness – and in order to not let the Council do as they please, it was a necessary sacrifice. In order to create a battle where the Council could not interfere, this is the only possible way.

Hence, Leohart had made this choice, and had sent the message while Gardo’s rescue was in progress. Thereafter, he used a video recording crystal to record the proposal for the battle and used demonic energy to mark his official stamp on the crystal’s surface, and then used Wyvern to have it delivered to Wildart City.

As of now, the crystal should already be in the Moderates Faction’s hands and having its contents being looked through. Since his proposal would push the current war situation towards a better direction, they most probably would agree to it.

…With that, I would say we’re now a step closer.

Thinking that, Leohart then opened his eyes, and the elevating device also began to slow down. When it came to a complete stop, a heavy door was there before his eyes.

At around eye level of this door, there was an ornament which seemed out of place with the door’s solemn colours – a wooden board with a red-coloured heart shape. On the wooden board, there was something written in chubby handwriting:

『Be ready for a spanking if you forget to knock, okay? ♥』

Seeing the wooden board, Leohart smiled slightly, and knocked on the door as the sign told him to.

“………?”

However, there was no reaction from behind the door.

It’s already this late, so maybe she’s asleep?

Thus, Leohart tapped on the door a few more times, and after making sure that there was no response, he opened the door slightly and silently, and entered the room.

Part 2

Wilbert, was hailed as the strongest Demon Lord in history.

Ramsas who had continued after his great brother’s work, was currently in his office watching the contents of the recording crystal Leohart had sent over.

“—the recording ended here.”

With the display of the recording on the wall getting smaller and smaller, Lucia reported, and then began to think silently.

After receiving the attacks from those giant spirits, the situation between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderates Faction had changed rapidly. Leohart’s proposal need only few representatives from each faction, and the one-on-one battles will take place will become the decisive battles.

…It isn’t actually all that bad.

Although it was a suggestion from the enemy, it was one that was advantageous for the Moderates Faction who had the disadvantage in overwhelming military force, and there was no reason for the conflict to turn into an all-out war; moreover, although they had the assistance of Basara and the others and had successfully withstood the sudden attack with the giant spirits from the enemy, the number of their troops who had died or sustained injuries aren’t small.

“…So, what do you plan to do, Ram-chan?”

As Lucia was in deep thought, a man addressed the Ramsas she respected and loved in a unimaginable way, breaking the silence in the room. Usually, Lucia would never allow for anyone to show disrespect to her own master. And yet she kept her silence. It was because she understood all too well, that just what kind of man that person was.

Toujou Jin, the scary figure of the one called God of War back in the last Great War. He had once fought with Wilbert who was also similarly known as the strongest Demon Lord, and they had fought neck and neck with each other. As that battle had happened secretly, no records of it were left at all.

…Not only that.

Lucia had heard her mother Sheera say before, that despite their positions as enemies, they were very heroic, bold and loyal, and after going through many different twists and turns, an unbreakable bond of trust and brotherhood had been born between them; reportedly, even Wilbert’s decision to withdraw his troops from the Human Realm and end the Great War, was all because of a secret promise between the two.

And now, Ramsas had inherited the bond Wilbert had with Jin. Thus, if Lucia were to scold Jin for his disrespect, she would be the one not knowing her place.

…Speaking of which,

Jin was currently sitting on the sofa opposite to Ramsas, shaking his legs while smoking as if without a care in the world, and there was a certain strange charm unique to him to it. Lucia who had already pledged her allegiance to Ramsas of course can’t fall for him; but amongst the servants serving Jin, there was already someone head over heels over him.

“—we don’t really have the option of rejecting.”

Just then, Ramsas opened his mouth and let out a low voice.

“For them to suggest a decisive battle tailored to cover up for our problems, I’m afraid that there’s a inside story that’s no trivial matter. Even if it was truly a trap, this suggestion raised is still not bad to us.”

Lucia had no objections towards Ramsas’s view. Rather, she was still expecting for Leohart to change his mind and raise the request for them to decide the results with their military mights.

“Well, I guess that how it is then…”

Jin replied.

“Ah, that right, what about that old man Klaus? Did he say anything about this?”

“The spy he had sent into the Current Demon Lord Faction and saw as a trump card… it seems he had taken a large blow at the news of Lars’s betrayal, and had voluntarily took up the responsibility for the robbing of the captive and its consequences and wanted to let everything be decided by us for this battle.”

“Lars is Basara’s best buddy with the alias Takigawa, right? I had heard that his mind was very sharp… To be bitten by one of his cards, it really does seem the Virtuous Elder has really become old.”

Jin sighed while making a bitter smile.

“However, things would originally not go as one had planned… Like with Wilbert’s death, it was earlier than planned by two years, and now even Mio had returned back to the Demon Realm. Just where had their judgements went wrong?”

“The reason for bringing forward Wilbert’s death, was that the number of people in the Moderates Faction who had had stupid dreams exceeded expectations.”

Ramsas answered Jin without any hesitation.

“As for… calling Mio back to the Demon Realm, it was because the youth the Council had brought out as the new Demon Lord had gained much more influence than we had expected.”

“I see… Nn, well that young man called Leohart, did indeed look very much like his role.”

Jin then said with a hand on his chin, as if completely understanding:

“Before coming here, I had first dropped by over at their capital to see how he looked like, and while we had fought for a while, judging from his looks, he is definitely qualified enough to get the title of the Demon Lord.”

“In any case, he is indeed the one chosen by the Council to succeed the throne of the Demon Lord. Tch, I was expecting for them to choose someone who would listen to them obediently while toeing the line, someone easily manipulated.”

Those guys in the Council probably saw that the influence of Wilbert hadn’t died down, and had done something like this out of fear. If they didn’t have the power to counter-balance it, the whole chain of power would collapse……. Really, how ironic.”

“………………..”

Hearing Jin say that, Ramsas, remained quiet.

“However, since things are going to be settled like that now, it just shows that no matter how much their plans are going to change now, it still wouldn’t have much impact on the whole script at all.”

Jin then continued:

“Let’s change the topic. Speaking of which, I had went to the meeting spot we had agreed on if something happened, but there was not even 『Her』 shadow there… Is there anything on your side?”

“…None, I don’t even know of her whereabouts.”

Towards Jin whose tone became slightly serious, Ramsas shook his head and said:

“If she really wanted to hide, not even the Council will be able to find her… But as the situation already turned like this, I don’t understand just why won’t she come and look for us.”

Just then—

“Actually… I feel that Safia-chan isn’t even in the Demon Realm at all.”

An innocent immature voice cut into Jin and Ramsas’s conversation. Turning to look, sitting beside Jin on the sofa, was a very small succubus who had appear since some time ago – Sheera.

“Okaa-sama… Haven’t I advised you multiple times to go through the door properly when entering Ramsas-sama’s room?”

Although Sheera was like Jin, having a close relationship with Ramsas, Lucia was unable to be accommodating to that extent to her own family. [Stop being so strict~].Sheera shook her hand while trying to appease her. While Lucia sent an accusing glare at her, she thought—

Speaking of which, why are they bringing up Safia-sama’s name now?

Lucia knew clearly who that person Sheera had mention was. Other than her, it seems practically no one else in the Moderates Faction knows about her existence.

However, she was unable to comprehend why Jin and Ramsas’s conversation had brought up Safia.

Most probably – it had contained something that couldn’t be leaked to Lucia.

“—what are your thoughts, Sheera?”

“I can’t make any guarantees… I can only say that it’s a woman’s intuition.”

“Your intuition has always been accurate…”

Jin said while casually scratching his head:

“Shucks, nothing over here too… Never mind, in any case we have to deal with the problem before us first, or things will turn bad. So, regarding the battle – what are you plans for that?”

“At the very least, it mustn’t be completely left to those kids.”

Seeing Ramsas say so with a heavy expression, Jin sighed.

“Oi Oi, Ram-chan… I held myself back despite wanting to make a move badly and came to look for you, you know? At least try to help me in that department, okay?”

Well—

“Well it is correct that Leohart was much stronger than expected, the situation now has to be left to those runts. If we were to stupidly run out into the open, the situation might turn into one much worse than we expected, making it impossible for us to advance to our goal; Besides, the you right now can’t really fight, right?”

“I’m fine either way. If those kids were to lose, all of our efforts made in the past would just go to waste.”

“I too know that. Going by the current situation, they will indeed have much difficulty in defeating Leohart and his subordinates, but… isn’t there still a few days before the decided battle? Though short, before they go over to their territory, we can use our way to teach them a little – on a way for them to achieve, one that they can possibly do. It still wouldn’t be too late if we were to defer making our conclusions to until then, right?”

Jin gave a crooked smile to Ramsas, and then sighed a few times going: [Uuahh].

“Alright, that’s all for today, I guess. I want to go and take a rest now. After doing such a long trek, I am slightly tired now. How’s Fio doing?”

“The boy Jin-dono brought along? He’s probably resting in one of the guest rooms.”

Hearing Lucia say that, Jin stood up from the sofa.

“While we do have an empty bed… however, wouldn’t it be better to use the same room as Basara-dono? I’ve heard that you two haven’t seen each other in a long time, don’t you two have a lot you want to say to each other?”

The God of War of the Heroes – Toujou jin, smiled at Lucia’s caring vision, and said:

“Forget it… For today, it’ll be better for me to sleep in a different from.”

Part 3

The situation is as Jin had predicted.

Basara was currently in the room he was lodging in – busy subjugating Mio.

Mio is currently facing Basara, straddling his thighs in only her panties.

“Yaah! Aaa… Onii-chan, oniichan~… Haa-aaaaahh♥”

She had her hands wrapped around Basara’s head like a spoiled baby while he was kneading her breasts which had become extremely sensitive and sucking on those tips; every movement, caused her cute face to be intoxicated with confusion, while sweetly calling out 「Onii-chan！Onii-chan！」.

This reaction, would earn affection from people. With countless climaxes from Basara’s hands, Mio’s uninterrupted feminine reaction from Basara’s relentless attacks at her breasts caused her to subconsciously begin twisting her hips and push her panties stained with her lewd secretions, causing the only piece of clothing of his body, briefs, to gradually get wetter.

At this moment, Basara suddenly opened his mouth and bit the hard tip on Mio’s left breast.

「～～～～～～～～♥」

Mio immediately clamped her legs around Basara’s waist, and climaxed abruptly while her upper body reacted.

And then, with the breast that was so hot to the point of almost melting, Basara once again sucked fiercely and caused the breast to stretch.

“ !! ….Aahh…♥”

Stimulating Mio to an even higher peak, her hips continued to shake uncontrollably on his thighs. The moment Basara released the breast with a ‘Chuu~’ sound, Mio collapsed backwards, exhausted, laying on the bed.

“Haah… Haa, nn…”

With her eyes completely unfocused, Mio leaked sweetly hot pants. However--

“—Basara-san, that’s nowhere near enough.”

Despite Mio’s current state, the small loli-succubus watching from the sides said so. The reason Maria is currently only wearing a pair of striped knee socks, is to assist in helping Basara subjugating Mio even more.

--After all, this is currently happening because Maria had started it.

During the day, in the battle along with the Moderates Faction over Mio, the Wilbert’s power that she had released had crushed the high-class spirits, and the recoil from the powerful attack had caused her to lose consciousness on the spot.

When Mio regained consciousness, the joy from finding out that Basara and the others were safe did not last long. The thought that enter her mind soon enough, was that her own existence had brought about a lot of destruction to the Moderates Faction’s soldiers and the city, and had also caused Yuki and the others to receive injuries from the battle, causing her to blame herself.

Zest who had been fighting until the end of the battle, as well as the succubus Maria who had strong self-healing powers had already recovered to the extent of being able to help out the the current state of emergency; and as for the Heros who are affected by the Demon Realm’s demonic power – Yuki and Kurumi, despite being treated with magic and various medicines, they are to be confined to bed to recuperate until tomorrow.

As for Basara, while his injuries weren’t as serious as theirs, fatigue is taking its toll on him.

Despite everything… Everyone managed to return back from the battlefield alive, that’s the silver lining to this cloud.

Of course, even before coming to the Demon Realm, she had understood that things such as this happening were very hard to prevent and thus had done some mental preparation for that… but actually seeing soldiers die left and right before her eyes still dealt a large blow to her.

Thus – After asking Zest to look after Yuki and Kurumi, Maria had brought the depressed Mio to Basara’s room, hoping that he would be able to comfort her pained heart.

--Basara had originally planned to just simply tell her some words, but it was common for depressed people to take things way too hard. Mio had seemed to think that him comforting her is just troubling Basara, which thus activated the curse of the Master-Servant Contract even before she had walked past the door to Basara’s room; actually seeing the injuries Basara had sustained, deepened her self-blaming and had brought her state of arousal deeper to the next level. And the choice Basara had made in the end, was to team up with Maria to subjugate Mio and forcefully drive away the pain in her heart.

「………………」

So, if Maria had said that it wasn’t enough, then it definitely wasn’t enough at all. Hence Basara tipped Mio’s lying down body, making her breasts which were originally pointing upwards to be pulled downwards to her side by gravity – and after that, after lying down sideways too behind Mio’s back, he picked up Mio’s breasts within his hands and began kneading.

“Fuaaahhh ♥ Yaa….onii-chan, fuu… Nn! Aahhh♥”

Mio gave a reaction immediately, and began twisting her body around within Basara’s arms; however, this is not the end yet. Hence—

“Maria—“ “Okay, leave it to me♪”

Maria giggled while answering to Basara’s call, and laid down too on the bed sideways facing Mio. After that, Mio’s breasts that were being kneaded – maria then proceeded to suck the tip into her mouth.

“Don’t… Maria – aa – aahh…… Fuaaaahhhhhhhh♥”

Caught in a pincer attack on from the front and back, Mio could no longer control herself… And after climaxing time after time from their pincer attack, the marking of the Master-Servant Contract finally disappeared from her neck.

「………………」

After helping Mio by covering her up with a bathrobe so that she won’t catch a cold, Basara went down from the bed and looked outside the window, and Maria helped Mio into the attached bathroom wash off the sweat on her body. Amidst the sounds that came from the bathroom, Basara began thinking back on the battle with the Current Demon Lord Faction that had happened during the day while looking at the broad night scenery.

About how much of a threat the giant spirits were, as well as how valiant the high-class demon Gardo was.

The one who had rescued Gardo from the prison, was Takigawa who possibly had become his enemy.

…and,

The fact that he will have to fight with the Current Demon Lord, Leohart.

Under the current conditions that there were hostile relations with the Council, he must help Mio to break free from her fate as the Demon lord’s sole daughter and help her live a normal girl’s life. There were still many obstacles he needed to overcome, and the current situation appears to be grim.

Though finally reuniting with Jin brought him a much-needed lucky break, it’s still very likely that he wouldn’t personally come forward to the frontlines.

After all, Jin is a hero of the hero tribe, the equivalent of the number one scourge to the Demon Race. If he were to openly attack both the radical Faction and the Conservative faction that had merged to become the Current Demon Lord Faction, just a single mistake would very much anger the masses of the Current Demon lord Faction and thus bring the situation to a large-scale war.

…I’m probably thinking too much into it.

Even if his fighting power was unable to be obtained, he would still likely to be able to get some advice from him. Historically called the God of War in the previous Great War, he most probably should be able to give him some suggestions to help him in breaking through the current situation.

“Basara-san~ Would you like to join us here in the bathroom~? We can help you wash your back, you know~?”

Just as Basara was thinking that, a naked Maria opened the door and invited in. Mio who was wrapped with the bathrobe, her face redden and pleaded him with misty eyes:

“Please, Basara… Come…”

“Alright, I understand.”

Basara agreed while nodding, and walked towards them slowly.

While calm as usually – he also pondered over what he should do tomorrow.

Part 4

Leohart stepped into the room that was the closest to the sky in Lundvall.

In the wide room in the shape of a semi-circle, high-class furnishings and decorations made by experienced craftsmen were everywhere.

Other than the canopy bed and a luxurious dresser and other furniture that would usually attract one’s sights, there were also many houseplants that relieved the mind that would also usually attract one’s sights too.

In this multipurpose room that functioned as the living room, dining room and bed room at the same time, there wasn’t an element at all which would cause trouble to anyone living in this room for a long time.

As the room’s position is in a tower much high than a watchtower looking out at the city’s wall for enemies, one can see the horizon and see the setting sun from this room; but under the hidden cover of the barrier here, the view isn’t visible from inside the room.

Leohart who had just entered this room, headed straight towards the large bed located right in the center of the rom.

“……?”

Upon not seeing a certain someone who should be there on the bed, not on the bed, he frowned and began looking around.

But just then, with the sound of something dropping, the door on the opposite side of the room from the door Leohart entered from suddenly slammed open, and a black shadow jumped out from within, running towards Leohart – a hellhound. It curled up at Leohart’s feet, as if sobbing, appearing as if having risked its bones despite its age.

“…What is it, why are you so drenched?”

The hellhound’s body was thoroughly wet, with its appearance much smaller due to all the water. When Leohart noticed the foam on its body and came up with a rough guess of what happened—

“Hey~! Don’t run away, I’m not with done washing you yet! If you don’t listen to me, I’ll have you neutered, you know?”

While saying that slowly, someone ran out from the door that the hellhound had ran out from.

That someone was a beautiful woman with translucent white skin and flowing golden hair and an appearance rare for female demons. Probably, she was having a bath behind that door just now. Just like the hellhound, the body of the stark naked female was drenched, and there was still some foam on her hair that was sticking to her body.

“Ah~ Leo-kun~… Waa -- It’s really Leo-kun~~♥”

The girl originally looking around the room to look to the jailed hound with a foul face, suddenly became very happy upon seeing Leohart and extended both her hands, and began running towards him while leaving behind wet footprints. The jailed hound received a big shock, and immediately hid behind him. Seeing this, Leohart covered it with a cloak, and then slightly opened his arms, letting that beautiful girl run into him and ignoring the wetness spreading onto his clothes.

Because he had even more important things to attend to.

“I’m back, aneue”

After saying that while lightly hugging her, his elder sister rubbing her head cutely on his chest – Riara, then looked up at him.

“Welcome back, Leo-kun. Thanks for working hard today again.”

With smiles and happy eyes, she welcomed him back lovingly.

Leohart’s expression, hence became naturally relaxed.

Taking off the mask of the young demon lord, it became one that is of loving the elder sister before his eyes – that of an ordinary young man.

–Demon Lord Leohart, has got a very important huge secret that is only known by his close confidents.

And that secret is, before he was adopted by Riara’s family, he was just living in an orphanage as an orphan who had lost his parents due to war.

Riara is from an extremely prestigious Duke house who had produced quite a number of Demon Lords. For an extremely prestigious Duke house to adopt an orphan like Leohart simply just like that, there was of course, a reason behind it.

It was all due to – Riara’s appearance. White skin, as well as golden hair… it was the appearance of those who had caused the greatest pain to Demons in the past by exiling them from the God Realm, the god race, and it just had to be that of the daughter of a Demon Race’s Duke family, Riara. However – Riara didn’t have that appearance right from the start. When she was born, she possessed the all that the appearance of her parents had; but as she gradually grew up, her appearance slowly became more and more like that of one from the god race.

It was a cruel and odious atavism.

In order to protect her, the duke and duchess who had lied that their daughter had suddenly died tragically, had hidden Riara’s existence from society and even their family; they had understood that if anyone where to know that they have had a daughter with an appearance that is so symbolic as akin to taboo, an impending massacre would be looming over all those related to them. After that, the family then requested them to give birth to a new heir, but for some unknown reason the duchess was unable to become pregnant again – and so they adopted an orphaned male in secret and with deceit, while announcing publicly that he had born a little later, brought up to be the eldest male in the family.

And that male orphaned boy, was Leohart.

The situation where he had learned of Riara’s plight soon after that, was still fresh as yesterday in Leohart’s mind. That beautiful young girl of similar age who had appeared before the young Leohart – as well as her sincere hug that she gave him when he was very anxious due to their sudden meeting, all of it are completely unforgettable.

Her own self being regarded dead, and being forced to live a life where she was not allowed to take a step outside – from a certain viewpoint, it was even more tragic from Leohart’s life as someone orphaned dur to war. But yet, Riara was much more cheerful and innocent than anyone else he had ever known… Very soon, Leohart became attracted to her.

“Mou… Do you even know how late it is already, Leo-kun? It’s already past midnight…”

While still warmly hugging Riara, he said to that pouting face:

“Sorry… I got caught up in the work that had suddenly came up and returned back late.”

“…Leo-kun, onee-chan hates excuses.”

Riara increased her pouting.

“While Leo-kun left onee-chan all alone for so long, can you even begin to fathom just how lonely onee-chan was? It was sooo lonely, that it was onee-chan-could-not-take-it-anymore-and-had-to grab-Pero-along-to-take-a-bath-first lonely!”

Just then, Riara then said as if suddenly remembering something:

“Aah, listen to onee-chan, Leo-kun – Pero was really naughty! It was a really rare opportunity for onee-chan to be the one giving him a bath, but then he suddenly ran away mid-way with its tail tucked between its legs while wailing! That damned dog… it couldn’t take it any longer after being stroked a few times with a metal brush, how unmanly. Hurry up came come out now, Pero~~. It’s time for you to be neutered~!”

Hearing Riara say angrily, the hellhound hiding behind Leohart trembled heavily.

“Aneue… I understand how you feel, but neutering Bearu is just…”

After Leohart finally said out loud the name of the hellhound Riara had been calling [Pero] up till now—

“Leo-kun… You’re not taking Pero’s side, are you?”

“I’m not. However, Bea-ru, is, a, girl. So technically she can’t be neutered.”

“Onee-chan’s needlework skills are super great, so that’s not a problem! I’ll just have to find a billy club from somewhere and sew it onto his crotch area, scold him ‘Why are you so wild, you’re practically no different from an animal!’, and then just amputate it with a saw!”

“…Aneue, there aren’t any billy clubs or saws in this room.”

Riara’s kinks cause Bearu to tremble greatly, causing Leohart to have a bitter smile while tryig to console her.

“Just ignore Bearu for now, you said you were in the middle of bathing...? You might catch a cold if you continue to expose yourself to the cold air. So return back to the bathroom first.”

“Muu… Leo-kun, then you will carry me there.”

Leohart nodded, and then gently carried Riara with his arms.

And just then, Riara wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him.

“——————”

However, Demon Lord Leohart wasn’t surprised.

Because he had already kissed his non-blood-related elder sister countless times.

And even had a much deeper relation with her.

“Nn…Chuu. Leo-kun, its Leo-kun’s turn to kiss now.”

Under the urging of Riara’s sweet fawning voice, Leohart used his lips this time to answer his elder sister’s request. Just like that, while kissing each other, he carried her into the bathroom.

The reason the duke and duchess had adopted him, was not just simply to help the Duke family to find a heir.

They also asked Leohart to have children with Riara in the future, so as to not cut off the blood lineage of the Duke family just like that.

But as Riara’s existence cannot be revealed at all, Leohart needed to find a wife for a cover, and then thus exchange the children of the mothers… That was the plan that the duke and duchess had thought up.

The time when Leohart had received that request was when the signs of the previous Great War between the Demon Race and Heroes ending appeared – when he had temporarily returned from the battlefield.

As parents, the duke and duchess wished to protect Riara’s life no matter what, but they still had to worry about the matter of the duty of children inheriting the Dukedom’s bloodline; hence on day, they told Leohart the reason of why they had truly adopted him as if confessing, as well as telling him – at the moment they adopted him, as Riara’s parents, they had already planned out what they would do.

The truth was just this cruel. But Leohart harboured no resentment towards them at all, because they had given the unrelated by blood him the love a blood-related child would receive – and he knew that they also loved Riara just as deeply, or perhaps much much more.

Not only did Leohart wish to fulfil his adoptive parent’s wish, he himself actually harboured a secret crush for her from when he was little. When he found out that Riara was willing to accept all that – when he asked her whether she would accept this younger brother whom she grew up with and she nodded as if it was natural, Leohart’s will to repay his adoptive parents multiplied.

The Demon Lord Wilbert back then despite the opposition and resistance from within the Moderates Faction and around him, his example of successfully bringing his daughter who has strong Human blood within her to the backseat, brought him much confidence.

Times have already begun to change… Who knows, society might very soon accept Riaara’s existence, and he might not need to find a wife just for show. Thus, he told Riara’s existence to Balthier and Lars who were his closest comrades and let them meet, and requested for them to fight alongside him for Riara’s freedom when the Great War ends.

Finally, Leohart had promised with Riara and his adoptive parents that when he returned from the war, they will discuss and come up with the method with the best possible endings for everyone before going back to the battlefield – carrying solid hopes for the future, he returned to the frontlines of the war.

However – those hopes were shattered by the extremely bad circumstances.

What awaited Leohart’s return from the War, was the notice of his adoptive parent’s deaths.

It said that they had died from illnesses. From then onwards, staying true to the saying that 'it never rains but it pours', another piece of bad news came to him – Wilbert’s wife Ashe had passed on. With that, it would seem that Riara will never be able to receive society’s recognition and approval as his relative.

--But, Leohart didn’t give up. No matter what happened in the end, Wilbert still had left behind the past example of leaving behind a daughter with Human Blood within her. Leohart had earned countless achievements in the Great War, and his fame had spread far and wide; with that as a foundation, he fervently sought out many materials, with the intention of shutting up his relatives who saw the face of the Dukedom as a lifeline and breaking the prejudice of Riara’s appearances being taboo, never once bowing his head to anyone.

At around half a year ago, when the news of Wilbert’s death shocked the entire Demon Realm, Leohart finally found an opportunity. When the Radical and Conservative Faction united as a new force in the Demon Realm – the Council revealed themselves and crowned him Demon Lord with their power.

After bathing with Riara, Leohart immediately headed for the bed the moment he got out of the bathroom.

For a man and woman who had tied their vows and entering the bed naked together, is something inevitable.

As if fearing wasting this alone time with each other, Leohart and Riara hugged each other and kissed on the bed. The speed at which their tongues intertwined increased gradually, and they started to seek for each other passionately, enchanted.

Roaming every single spot on the body with the mouth and hands, and taking turns to stimulate each other’s most sensitive spots, and after that, Leohart’s and Riara’s body and soul finally conjoined together.

The coitus engaged by a male and female completely aware of each other’s sensitive spots, brought the both of them immense pleasure.

The two of them lusted for the peak of the climaxes again and again, and in the end the both of them collapsed on the bed – still connected together.

It was only until their breathing and heartbeat had settled down, then did Leohart pull himself out from Riara and embrace her with his left arm.

And told her, the reason why he had showed up this late.

Receiving an order from the Council to attack the base of Moderates Faction, Wildart City, which had ended in failure due to resistance from Basara and the others, the Council’s scheming to assassinate Gardo, Lars rescuing an injured Gardo, his proposal of a decisive battle with only the few elites from each Faction – Leohart told Riara everything slowly.

“I see… Then I guess it’s about time.”

When Leohart finished, Riara gently smile while snuggling up against him.

“That’s right – it’ll be over soon.”

Leohart lightly nodded while looking up at the ceiling too.

Once he defeats the Moderates Faction as the new Demon Lord and further reunite the Demon Realm, he would be able to openly marry Riara – at the beginning, Leohart who had planned this from the start was grateful to the Council.

--But however, some secrets will only be realised after one took up a high-up position.

Not too long before he received the throne, Leohart found out the reason he would be getting the throne of the Demon Lord was not only due to his achievements in the Great War – it was also related to the deaths of his adoptive parents.

They had not died from illnesses. When Leohart returned to the battlefield of the War, the Council had found out about Riara’s existence, and had decided to take her, who possessed a rare and unusual appearance, as a toy to pass time; the duke and duchess had obstructed them with their all – only to be met with hostility from the Council.

The reason the Council had found out about Riara’s existence was due to the background checks the Council conducted into the successor candidate Leohart, when they began to be unhappy with the Moderates Faction’s Wilbert. To this, Leohart’s anger was unimaginable; but what angered him even more, was that the Council was originally just after the duke and duchess’s lives, using Riara as an excuse.

The death of his adoptive parents, pushed Leohart further to fulfil their wish of the two of them marrying and having children. In order to fulfil that wish, Leohart has got no choice but to become the new Demon Lord and unite the Demon Realm, which means not defeating the Moderates Faction is not a choice.

Everything – is happening as how the Council had written the script.

Additionally, the reason the Council had not touched Riara after causing the deaths of the duke and duchess, was simply because they can use her to clamp down on Leohart.

--The one coordinating this entire script, was Belphegor.

Such an unforgivable truth – was swallowed by Leohart, and he became the new Demon Lord whilst harbouring intense hate.

After becoming the new Demon Lord, he will make them pay for snatching away Riara’s future and prove that he is more than a simple Dukedom heir. Of course, as he closed the distance with the Council, he must further increase security to protect Riara; in the end, it was still the same as when she was still with the duke and duchess, living a life where she can’t step out of the house at all.

…How ironic.

Although he had wanted to dispel the traces of Wilbert’s phantom and become an absolute Lord who accomplished the reunification of the Demon Realm and give Riara a normal and safe life… what Leohart is doing right now is no different from Wilbert who had deprived himself of his freedom with his marrying of someone with mixed Human blood.

However, to want to protect a loved one… and give her happiness, is originally something that is just so difficult.

…I must succeed.

No matter what, I must surpass Wilbert…and accomplish what he was not able to.

And change the Demon ream to such that Riara will be able to naturally enjoy happiness – a world which is tolerant and forgivable. With that, the bullying because of things like weakness, birth, origins, blood, or appearances will be reduced.

To this day – the first step to fulfilling this dream, is about to be completed.

Finish the decisive match with the Moderates Faction.

--Demon Lord Leohart, has got something he wished to attain no matter what.

It was not something rare, but something everyone, no matter how big or small, will possess.

Even Wilbert’s daughter and Jin · Toujou’s son. Despite how common it is, Leohart will not make any concessions for it. As long as anyone obstructs him in eradicating his sworn enemy, the Council, and truly granting freedom for Riara, no matter if it’s Naruse Mio or Toujou basara, or even Jin·Toujou – all of them will be my enemies.

Just like—

The Council who are known as the living histories of the Demon Realm.

…That’s right.

Leohart put even more strength into his hands holding Riara’s shoulder.

Anyone who dares to get in my way, even if it’s a god, I will kill them without mercy.

All for the dream he had envisioned when he first met Riara – the future with the two of them together.

Chapter 1: Facing One's Reality and True Feelings

Part 1

In the home of the Moderates Faction, is the former royal capital Wildart.

From within the Oldora that was near it, there was a certain place where the sounds of swords clashing rang out continuously.

Those sounds were created by the reunited Toujou father and son, from live battle training.

Amidst the sounds of swords clashing, there were also the sounds of foliage being disturbed as they moved through the forest.

However – Blighasara and Jin were not on the forest floor.

They were in mid-air.

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Along with a fired up yell, Toujou Basara swung out the demonic sword Brynhildr.

The target was the one in his line of sight -- Jin who was holding a mock sword while in mid-air.

“—whoop”

Jin casually brushed away Basara’s sword.

Yet – his first attack being dispelled, was within Basara’s expectations.

“Haaaaaahhhhh!”

He then linked together countless number of slashes with a single breath, trying to use his speed to break through Jin’s defence.

“Hey hey, attacking is fine, but won’t you at least think about the situation first?”

Jin forcefully swept his mock sword to push aside Brynhildr and break Basara’s linked attack – when Basara realized it, it was already too late.

Basara whose posture was broken, received a horizontal slash taking advantage of the opportunity from Jin.

“Guaaahhh!?”

With the impact from the heavy blow, his option of landing with his feet was taken – he then slammed into the ground. Zzdon

“Ga…..u, aa…!”

Although he had managed to cushion some of the impact of landing, the remaining force from hitting the ground slammed the air from his lungs.

But Basara still used all his energy to stand up. On his clothes were the scars left by the forest from that impact just now, and on his face and hands were many many minor scrapes and bruises.

As to the spots in his body that were screaming in pain, were even more countless.

The dirt on his clothes showed that this has already happened numerous times, like how the pain in his body showed the same thing.

Just then, Jin landed lightly on the ground after him.

“It’s already not easy to dodge in mid-air, so your openings would become wider. And yet you, the speed-type who lost in terms of power, still chose to remain in a single place – is something wrong with you?”

Jin said while lightly tapping the mock sword on his shoulder:

“Since you’ve fought Zolgear, you should already understand that when facing an enemy with higher power, you have to maximise your usage of your weapons to even out the odds, no? It goes without saying that you must be creative with your attacks, but if you can’t exceed your opponent’s expectations or imagination—

“————!”

Before Jin finished his words, Basara already started his attacks again. Keeping his body low, he accelerated suddenly, and at the same time Jin entered Brynhildr’s attack range he forcefully twisted his shoulders towards the back, sending out a horizontal sweep.

“Making such a big swing right after I said that – Ooh!?”

Seeing this, Jin raised his mock sword while saying that, but Basara cancelled Brynhildr’s materialization before Jin made contact with it.

After eliminating the counterforce he would receive with the attack originally – Basara dug his left foot into the ground, utilizing the forces on his body due to the sudden change in motion to swing his right hand that was raised up.

If he materialized Brynhildr from that position, he could use lai with Banishing Shift – the [Banishing Shift] that had severed even the arm of the high-class demon Gardo. Yet—

“ ! ————?”

This attack of Basara’s was made useless. The movements of his right arm was stopped.

As if saying he wouldn’t fall for it, the floor of Jin’s right foot had intercepted it.

“Thinking of using this move was not bad, but just like how it’s easy for the opponent to make a move when you’re this close, the opponent can also easily defend or counterattack. If you really want to use something like this, remember to always break the pacing of the opponent when misleading them, if not… it’ll be bad if the attack is blocked!”

Basara’s collar was grabbed before he could react, and he then flew through the air before finally landing on his back on the ground.

“Gaa… uh… gu—!?”

He immediately sucked back the air that was knocked form his lungs. The mock sword in Jin’s hand, is now pointed at his throat.

“—and, this is what will happen then.”

Jin said with a smile, and pulled his mock sword away.

“So… do you want to continue?”

“ ! …Of course I do!”

Despite grimacing, Basara’s fighting spirit was still unquenched.

“I see. Rest for a while first then. If you continue in the state where it can’t really move, the training will have a reverse effect.

“……I understand.”

Seeing Basara nod, Jin gave a slight smile, and lit a cigarette.

Jin right now was very different from Basara, with his clothes being completely clean and no sign of any injuries on him, or not even being short of breath. After leaving the [Village] for five years… Jin also had a blank period of [Five Years] just like Basara, this man that was known as the strongest Hero, it doesn’t feel like there was any regression in him at all. From when Basara went against Takigawa, and then against Takashi and the others, then against Zolgear, and then against Gardo and the giant spirits after coming to the Demon Realm, he had gained quite a lot of real battle experience. Of course, if Jin who came to the Demon Realm wanted to, he could take part in a few warm-up rounds first; but if he did something like that, the news that he was in the Demo Realm would spread, creating a large crisis or trouble in the Demon realm by now.

…In other words

The reason was simple, and it was that there was already a large gap between his and Jin’s strength. Back when they were still in the [Village], Basara and sparred with jin a few times, so he personally knew that there was a big gap between him and Jin, but—

…no.

The gap between him and Jin’s strength is not important now, the problem is—

“Dad…”

While sitting on the ground, he lightly raised his head and asked:

“You have met the current demon lord… Leohart, right?”

“Yes. Now’s not the right time to say this, but he seems really young and very promising.”

“…What are my chances of winning?”

Jin had already fought with both Basara and Leohart, so Basara directed a question about the power difference between the two.

“Well…”

Jin gave a prelude, and continued:

“Firstly, you are bothered by your blank period, and feel that you haven’t really regained back your battle senses… but the current you, is already stronger than five years ago in the [village]; and in these five years, your physical body base had grown, and with the strengthening from the Master-Servant Contract with Mio and the rest, those girls are probably like that too.

“Uh, but…”

“You will once again go into a difficult battle, but that’s only because your opponent is just that strong, not because you’re weak.”

That’s right.

“You guys are strong. But unfortunately, the one called Leohart is stronger than the current you by two… no, three times. If I fight against him head-on, I’ll probably can’t win against him.”

“Even dad can’t…?”

Basara’s heart was shocked. Being stronger than him by three times was already enough, but to think that Leohart would be even stronger than Jin…? In Basara’s heart, his image of [No one can win against Jin] was very strong; when he heard that Leohart was even stronger, he couldn’t even feel that he had a fighting chance.

“No, not really. I didn’t say that I’ll lose… it’ll depend on the situation.”

Seeing Basara’s face become stunned, Jin said with a wry smile:

It’s the same with you... Basara, you still haven’t completely brought out your own and your weapon's power yet, right?”

“I…”

To the point Jin brought up, Basara confirmed it with silence. While he was indeed recognized by Brynhildr as its user, he still hasn't reached anywhere near [Sakuya] recognizing Yuki as its user.

“And also, you still don’t really know where your biggest talents are… although that’s partly my fault.”

“ ? What do you mean?”

“nothing… In short, once we solve that part of the problem, you’ll probably be able to fight against Leohart for a while/

Jin then said:

“I really would like to slowly spend time teach you until you can use it freely, but since the deadline the other party set is not far away, we don’t have that much time.”

“…Nn, I know.”

“If I tell you the reason, it might make you overthink it and not be able to grasp it…”

After Basara expressed his understanding, Jin stopped there for a while and asked:

“—you’ve rested enough already?”

“Eh? Ah, yes…”

Despite feeling Jin’s tone dropping, Basara still nodded.

At that moment, all sound around Basara and Jin suddenly disappeared – someone had put up a barrier. After that—

“I see – then I get a little more rough now.”

Jin said to the stunned Basara.

In the next moment, the aura emitted by Jin suddenly changed. Basara who received the brunt of the sudden change, had stopped breathing.

“————!?”

Basara’s whole body tensed up, frightened, and instinctively raised Brynhildr. If he didn’t take up his stance to fight, he wouldn’t be able to face the current Jin at all.

However, the body couldn’t lie. His whole body was trembling non-stop.

At the same time, a certain feeling appeared in his heart.

It was something he had not felt when facing Zolgear or Gardo – fear.

“—previously, I have said that I’ll clean up after you, remember?”

Jin slowly said in a heavy tone:

“Next, I will not be holding back at all. If you really want to resolve this matter with your own hands, struggle through it with your life. Not only just strength from risking your life on it, if you can’t appreciate it, can you really leave your life to it when in a pinch?”

Relax…

“If you really can’t, when the time comes – I will do it for you.”

At that moment, Jin’s mock sword released a dazzling green aura.

“If I make you only able to barely move, you’ll continue relying on me and become a hindrance… So that’s why I beat you until there’s only a single breath left in you, to make you throw that thinking away. If you feel that you can’t handle it, then give up.”

You hear me?

“If you make any bad moves.. making me clean up your corpse is not filial, okay?”

In the moment he finished saying that, his sword was swung – the green aura instantly gathered to become a wave of attack, going towards Basara.

“——————”

The Basara right now was stunned by the oppressive feeling from Jin, so although his mind could keep up with the pace of the wave, his body couldn’t react. Forget about using [Banishing Shift] to eliminate it, he couldn’t even meet the attack with even half of his power.

Hence – Basara’s mind flashed, thinking about how it would develop from here on.

--Jin had said, he had a chance of being able to defeat Leohart.

If things were left to Jin, it might end more beautifully than if he were to deal with it.

If he placed Mio’s matter as his first priority, he should just take Jin’s attack just like that and then lie down – this assessment, Basara could understand.

“——————!!”

Yet Basara’s hands, still held on to Brynhildr tightly.

His promise to Mio, as well as to the girls that were important to him like his family, has to be protected by his own hands. He can’t leave it to someone else – he can’t abandon his beliefs just because he’s faced with a life-or-death situation.

…That’s right.

Basara remembered, that even if he did not have the unparalleled power like Jin, he had vowed to protect everyone, just like how Jin protected him.

He can’t be like five years ago anymore, he had to control himself – he’ll decide if he’s weak and powerless after things end; he can’t do nothing and expect to be saved.

Hence—

“——————!”

The attack wave Jin released swallowed him whole – at the moment before it happened,

Toujou Basara took action.

Part 2

While Basara was in Oldora Forest receiving training from Jin.

At the girls’ group where Mio was at, they were undergoing special training in the courtyard in Wildart City under the supervision of the mother-daughter pair Sheera and Lucia. Close ranged fighters who primarily uses weapons or martial arts like Yuki and Maria were instructed by Lucia; mage-type fighters like Mio, Kurumi and Zest were instructed by Sheera. What they were doing here, is something that is not special training like for Basara. Sheera and Lucia who had the role of instructors held tactical workshops on the ways of fighting coordinated for Mio and the others, studying old match ups, or planning new moves.

The focus is on bringing out as much of their power as quickly as possible, and raising the strength or effectiveness of their base stats. By strengthening their foundation, it brings about more possible moves to use, thus making their strengths more valuable and effective; however – exactly because of that, this kind of training is very draining.

Thus, before they put in effort that surpasses their physical abilities, they have to continuously put in all their strength, and there was also no guarantee that they can break through their barriers holding them back. To grow beyond the limits, requires a reforming of the consciousness on a completely different level – in other words, an awakening is needed.

Something like that, is not something that can be accomplished in a single night. Since they started around two hours ago, Mio and the others were already out of breath, and were already staggering.

“Ara ara, how surprisingly meaningless… no other choice, let’s all take a break first.”

Seeing their physical states, Sheera sighed while saying.

“Everyone, here. This is a magic water that can help in recovering from fatigue.”

The maid Noel who was waiting nearby then came and handed long water bottles into the hands of Mio and the others one by one. After feeling the slightly sweet and sour water moistening their throats and the thirst leaving their bodies, only then did the girls seemingly come back to life.

The training had not gone on for long, so naturally no one has gotten some new power yet, but everyone seemed to have gotten a vague feeling on what they should do. The reason was, that they had already found the direction and path they should go towards to take their fighting strength to the next step.

Kurumi’s goal is be able to borrow more power through the dark elements received from Lucia; Yuki’s is to be able to utilize [Sakuya]’s power in the Demon Realm by establishing a connection to the Human Realm through the dimensional boundary.

For cases of emergencies like in the battle against Zolgear, Maria could overload the central circuit of her spirit to turn into her [Adult Form]. In order to be able to use it in tight situations, Maria needed to enhance the condition of her body and mind for her spirit to remain in an ‘activated’ state, to make it easier to recover the energy required for refining the ‘Key’ required.

While Zest’s originally high combat prowess was raised even more after being subjugated during the establishing of the Master-Servant Contract with Basara, she was still a new comrade of theirs. Thus to fill in for her weaker points, she quickly learnt about the fighting styles and abilities of Basara, Mio, Yuki, Kurumi, and Maria, to build up more rapport and fighting combinations.

Everyone who had set down their goals, were still actively seeking advice or an exchange of opinions from either Lucia or Sheera even during the break. Except—

“…………”

Only Mio was sitting silently, looking down at the ground with a glum look. The other four has already begun their own training methods to become stronger, and Mio was the only one who has yet to find a direction.

Even if she had inherited her own father’s power – Demon Lord Wilbert’s power was really great, but the backlash from using it will cause her to lose consciousness, just like what had happened before in Wildart City when the Current Demon Lord Faction sent out giant spirits and the high-class Demon. While she could use that power… the price is the loss of consciousness, which could cause herself to become a burden in the decisive match with the Current Demon Lord Faction.

…Just what should I do?

Unable to find a specific solution, Mio clenched her fist. During today’s special training, she had also tried controlling Wilbert’s power, but no matter how many times she tried, she would always lose consciousness just after activating it a little. The power that Wilbert could use effortlessly, cannot do anything in Mio’s hands.

The base reason is that her power was too little, since—

…Even that person could use gravity magic very well…

Mio had heard that after she had lost consciousness in the previous skirmish with the Current Demon Lord Faction, Ramsas and Jin had resolved their crisis; and just like Mio, Ramsas had used a gravity magic attack that eliminated a spirit by itself and he could safely maintain his consciousness, showing that it was not a power that only Wilbert could use. As long as she could find a way, the more easily she could use it at will.

“—um, Mio-chan. That power is not something that can be controlled just so quickly, you know?”

As Mio became frustrated over her own helplessness with it showing up on her face, someone suddenly said that as if seeing through her thoughts. When she looked up, she realised that Sheera was already standing beside her.

“That power was given to you unilaterally to protect you, his only daughter; from the beginning, he was not even considering that you would master using it. Well, Wilbert aside, it doesn’t mean that Ramsas has mastered it yet.

“Eh… But he…”

Mio couldn’t help but ask.

“That is not a power that he has. He only knows about the theory to activate it, and had forced himself force it out; so compared to you who would lose consciousness, his burden is a lot more… if he overuses it, he might just lose his life.”

“Really…?”

“Really. He might appear to be fine, but from my point of view, he is just not letting it show.”

Sheera said with a bitter smile.

“From the start, Wilbert did not want you to inherit the throne of the Demon lord… that’s why he asked his subordinates to bring you to the Human realm to raise you; him choosing to give you the power before dying, is for you to protect yourself from danger after his death. Although it might seem contradictory, to him, that was his duty as a father.”

As if recalling those times, Sheera looked at a faraway place.

“That power is like a defense mechanism, activating when you are at your extreme limits when in a life-threatening situation or when your stress is too much. I can understand that since you have got such a powerful power, of course you would want to use it to help Basara-kun and everyone else; but you shouldn’t focus on that too much for now, and focus on raising your own power… While you may feel that this is simply just taking a detour, but if you really want to make use of Wilbert’s power, I think that this is the shortest route.”

“………”

As Sheera’s encouragement sunk Mio into silence—

“Nfufu, that’s right – Mio-sama”

“Ya! W-Wha… Ma-Maria!?”

Someone suddenly hugged Mio from behind and started fondling her breasts and Mio immediately turned around to deliver her scolding, but the culprit Maria ignored her and carried on with her actions.

“Forget about Wilbert-sama’s power for now, think about how to stretch your own strengths first.”

Wouldn’t that be fine?

“It’s exactly because you often spend time on these worries or you think that you can slack off and relax just because you are the first to do the Master-Servant Contract with Basara, that allowed Kurumi and Zest to catch up.”

Maria suddenly dropped a bomb.

“W-W-What are you talking about…!?”

Kurumi dropped her bottle to the ground from the shock, and her face grew red.

…W-Why does Maria…?!

Originally, Kurumi did not approve of the Master-Servant Contract between Zest and Maria, but after some unspeakable intimate interactions, a profound feeling was developed deep within her. That event, was also known to Mio, Maria and Yuki who had rushed to that room the next morning; but since Basara nor Zest revealed the slightest detail about it, Kurumi naturally chose not to reveal any of it too.

“? Catch up… What do you mean?”

“……Kurumi, I won’t get angry, so tell me all about it.”

Putting aside Mio who asked Maria in confusion, Yuki pressed for an explanation with an expressionless expression that carried great pressure and scary eyes staring at her target.

“You’re just too obtuse. While Mio-sama and Yuki-san had to be subjugated by Basara-san for their bond to deepen, Zest has already done many many things the moment she did her Master-Servant Contract – things like using her breasts and mouth to service Basara-san’s male organ.”

Hearing what Maria said, Mio and Yuki turned to look at Zest, dumbfounded.

“…My deepest apologies. Even though I knew that it would be shameless of me, I was unable to supress my desire to serve Basara-sama.”

Zest apologised frankly, confirming that what Maria just said was the truth at the same time.

“The Zest-chan back then, really is a feast for the eyes~”

Sheera who pushed forward the Master-Servant Contract between Basara and Zest, joined in with the comments after everyone found out about it—

“When Basara-dono and her helped straighten out Kurumi-dono’s feelings not long ago, her actions were even more aggressive, right?”

Even Lucia joined in in saying things as if like she knew what Kurumi and the others had done.

…W-Why…?

The cause of that incident was that baby doll negligee with the『Charm』effect that Sheera had put on her, and though it was merely just speculation, Maria and Lucia probably didn’t know about it. Just then, Zest seemed to recall the scene back then, and said with her face red:

“I brought shame to you… I’m very sorry for my silly clumsy service to Basara-sama.”

Lucia who had brought this up shook her head lightly.

“Please don’t say that. From the recording mother had showed me, I could see that you were leading the still stubborn Kurumi-dono while making Basara-dono very happy, which is already excellent.”

“Not only that, Lucia-oneesama, Kurumi-san also did well. Putting her mouth and hands aside, as her breasts are not that impressive, she sandwiched Basara-san in her most sensitive place armpit while saying『Hurry up and move, Basara-niichan….♥』, it really just scored a succubus’s super ultra-moe point, right!?”

“Why are you saying that you damned idiot!! No, why did you even show them that Sheera-san!!?”

Finding out that her own shameful acts had been shown caused Kurumi to push away Yuki who had pushed herself up against her and ask her that, forgetting about the issue of secretly recording her.

“I’m sorry~, it’s because Lucia-chan had not forgiven me for sneaking into her room, and Maria was angry at me for throwing her at Lucia while I ran away… Other than showing them your recording, I could not think of any other way for the three of us to make up.”

After Sheera gave a flippant reply with no remorse at all—

“Choosing an ero video that was specially set aside together after a quarrel… is a standard way of patching things up in a succubus family after all.”

Like her mother, Maria also proudly puffed her chest outwards.

“That’s why, Kurumi, in order for us daughters and mother to make up quickly after a quarrel, please continue to provide such interesting videos that’s really stimulating~”

“Are you crazy!? Of course not!!”

“Oya? Are you saying that you will no longer do any ecchi stuff with Basara-san anymore?”

“A-About that… I-It’s because…”

Kurumi glanced at Lucia. After spending a lascivious night with Zest and Basara and awakening the dark elements, Lucia had done some supplementary to the elements. The dark elements could absorb the user’s pleasure and excitement and turn it into magic power, and Lucia had them as it had the most efficient energy absorption of pleasure and excitement of that of succubi. Of course, with the elementals awoken, Kurumi no longer needs to contact the spirits of the Human Realm; however, lasciviousness stimulates the liveliness of the elemental and strengthens its power.

In other words, it was not just Basara, Mio, Yuki, or Zest the four of them that can strengthen their battle power through being subjugated as master and servant – it too would have the same effectiveness on Kurumi; compared to the succubus Maria who becomes stronger through absorbing pleasure and excitement of others, Kurumi can get stronger through the special ability of the dark elemental but needs to achieve it by herself.

…But still,

Nonaka Kurumi is not excluded from it. She herself wished to be treated like Yuki, Mio and Zest who had did a Master-Servant Contract and receive Basara’s commitment; even though she was not under a Master-Servant Contract, Toujou Basara was already Nonaka Kurumi’s master.

As Kurumi repeated that to herself—

“Ara ara, this is troublesome~…”

When Sheera said that with a smile, Kurumi looked up—

“Nn… Ah…!” “Haa….Nu…”

And saw Mio and Yuki hotly panting heavily with some difficulty, writhing about sweetly.

Nonaka Yuki suddenly felt a sweet and sour feeling welling up within her and growing quickly.

It caused her knees to lose strength, and Lucia quickly rushed in to hold her up.

Raising her sights, she found that Mio was also in the same state as her, and is being held up by Maria.

…Mio…

Seeing a significant collar marking appear on Mio’s neck, Yuki then understood what had just happened. She and Mio right now – are under the aphrodisiac effects of the Master-Servant Contract curse.

“To be surrounded by so many girls… Basara-kun is a really lucky fellow~”

Seeing Yuki and the others, Sheera gave a strained laugh:

“Although, it’s a really huge risk rushing into the stronghold of the Current Demon Lord Faction… Nice timing, the two of you, swallow this.”

And she put a red colour heart-shaped tablet into Yuki and Mio’s mouths. In that moment, a burst of sweetness spread within their mouths, and the tablet dissolved quickly just like a sugar confectionery.

They then immediately swallowed the tablet that has already become a sweet liquid—

“Eh--…” “No way… Why?”

Yuki and Mio let out their surprise simultaneously. The sweet and sour feeling expanding in their bodies disappeared – yet the collar-like markings remained. Being freed from the aphrodisiac effects while the curse was still activated, caused Yuki and the others to look at Sheera with shocked eyes.

“That was a medicine that can suppress the effects of the curse of the Master-Servant Contract… As the effects of your curses are that of a succubus’ aphrodisiacs, I had put in some effort in creating these tablets that can control the curses according to everyone’s spirit structures. It looks like the effects are quite good. Then Zest-chan, you take one too… you don’t want to become a burden to Basara-kun at this timing, right?”

“Yes. Thank you Sheera-sama…”

While looking at Zest immediately swallowing it the moment she received it, Yuki couldn’t help but to voice out a doubt within her.

“Since there is something like that, then why up till now…?”

“Although this tablet could be made as I am a succubus… for it to have any effect you’ll need to have your allegiance towards Basara-kun cross a threshold. As you’ve heard—“

Sheera continued her explanation:

“To release the curse of the Master-Servant Contract, there’s basically two ways to go about it; first is to dissolve the Master-Servant Contract, the other is have the Contract’s『Pledge turn into Vow』. To possess complete loyalty to the master and never do anything that will betray or cause guilt towards the master, will never cause the curse to ever trigger – take a look.”

Sheera snapped her fingers, and a large mirror appeared before Yuki and the others. As Yuki and Mio looked at themselves in the mirror, as well as the markings that appeared on their neck, Sheera continued:

“The degree of change each time is very small, which probably the reason you had not noticed it, but have you noticed that the colour of the collar is now quite red. When you reach a hundred percent, it’ll be deep crimson, which means that your relationships with Basara-kun right now has progressed to a point very close to that. That tablet, is able to temporarily fill up the needed amount to achieve having the『Pledge turn into Vow』… Zest-chan, go stand beside the two of them.”

“Understood…”

Zest nodded and moved, as if affected by some special magic. Despite Zest’s curse not activated right now, her collar marking still showed up within the mirror.

After looking at the colours of the markings of the three of them, Sheera said:

“Uun… Your loyalty towards Basara-kun from highest to lower, are Zest-chan, Yuki-chan, and then Mio-chan.”

“Eh--…?”

With these words, Mio who was beside Yuki suddenly raised a stunned voice. She had never thought, that she who was the first one to have the Master-Servant Contract done with Basara would have her loyalty being the lowest.

“No need to be so bothered, the difference isn’t really big.”

Sheera said while comforting Mio:

“Well, loyalty is something that’ll be affected by the personality… probably with you all, the difference is with how candid you can be towards Basara-kun.:

“I-I’m not really…”

Mio tried to refute quickly, but Sheera stopped her with ‘Don’t worry…’ and a wave of her hand.

“I already said that the difference isn’t really that big, everyone’s loyalty is already really high… Rather, it deserves praise. There are not many who are as dedicated towards raising loyalty like you. The reason is that after reaching this point, although the battle potential has been raised a lot, there’ll be restrictions on the ability to sense positions.”

“Restrictions…?”

“What you girls have is the 『Master-Servant Contract』… From the wording, you should be able to understand its meaning?”

Seeing a crease in Yuki’s brow, Lucia explained:

“The master of course will have the right to sense the subordinate’s position, but for the subordinate’s position, it is not one that has the right to be able to sense the master’s position with just a thought… If your master Basara is not willing to reveal it, you girls won’t be able to sense his position.”

“That…”

Sheera heaved a sigh, seeing Mio become anxious.

“Well, if you’re really worried, it’s probably because you’ve served Basarsa-kun to that extent in such a short time. Who knows what might happen in the future. If it continues, then—“

“? Then?”

Yuki asked.

“…Forget it, it’s nothing. I’m probably thinking too much into it.”

Sheera then resumed her warm gentle smile.

“…Don’t worry, Kurumi-chan.”

She then said to Kurumi whose face had imperceptibly turned pale:

“The reason why Mio and Yuki would get jealous and activate their curse, is not you. It’s because they had not serviced Basara-kun properly that they would occasionally blame themselves for it.”

“………”

Those words caused Kurumi to collapse onto the ground on her butt. Yuki saw Sheera lightly pat Kurumi’s head, and thought that what she had just said was the truth.

The reason behind Yuki activating the Master-Servant Contract curse, was not jealousy or ill-feelings towards Kurumi, and Mio also had the same thoughts.

However, just as Yuki was about to say something to comfort Kurumi and help her up—

A tremendous boom from Oldora Forest resounded out.

It was probably from around the same location where Jin was busy giving special training to Basara.

Thus – everything that happened next, happened in an instant.

“————!”

Kurumi activated spirit magic which sent everyone flying through the sky, and they landed at the entrance of Oldora Forest in the turn of an eye. However, before they could rush into the forest, the silhouette of a person appeared.

It was Jin. Basara who was carried on his shoulder was not moving, probably unconscious.

“Help me treat his injuries… Although I held back a little, I still went a bit too far.”

After saying that to Yuki and the others who was standing still, Jin showed a bitter smile.

While watching Mio immediately tending to Basara in a hurry, Jin lighted up a cigarette he took out from his chest area.

“—so, is Basara-kun any closer?”

Sheera came to beside him and asked lightly.

“Probably… though death nearly claimed a life.”

As Jin said that, the smoke that filled his lungs was then blown into the empty sky.

“Fufu~… and whose life might that be?”

Thus, Sheera asked with a smile filled with certainty, which was directed at Jin who was gazing at a faraway place.

At Basara and Jin’s special training location, where the scar was carved.

A part of Oldora Forest’s trees and earth, was wiped out in a fan shape – the dust in the sky has still not settled down, a testament to how severe the impact of that attack was.

Part 3

After Basara lost consciousness during Jin’s special training, he only regained consciousness after night had fallen.

After realising that he awoke on the bed in the guest room the Moderates Faction had assigned to him—

“Yo… you awake?”

Someone said to him suddenly. Turning around to look, he saw Jin smoking a cigarette by the window, calmly gazing at him.

“Dad… Uh—!”

Basara sat upright. But his face suddenly twisted in pain.

“Treatment for your injuries just finished, so don’t force it… The maid who tended to your injuries said that you need to recuperate for now.”

“Recuperate for now…? Then, doesn’t that mean…!?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll recover before you arrive at the Current Demon Lord Faction’s city.”

Saying that, Jin suddenly stopped smiling, and turned solemn.

“Let me ask you… do you still remember that during the last moments?”

That question, made Basara recall that last attack he released during the last moments from his training with Jin.

“……Nn, I still remember.”

After muttering that, he lowered his vision to look at his right hand.

Back then – Basara had released an attack that destroyed a large portion of Oldora Forest. Normally, Basara who is a speed-type fighter should be unable to release an attack with such great power and magnitude.

“Then, you better remember that feeling well and recall it constantly in your heart, until you can release that attack at will. When in a pinch, you can’t leave your life to ad-libbed moves.”

“I understand…but, what…”

“That, is part of [Banishing Shift]’s potential… Originally, it can only be activated when counterattacking, snuffing out the target by completely eliminating it or as an indirect attack; but that attack took it a step further to release the eliminating power, turning the counterattack into an attack.”

“Releasing the eliminating power… Wait, could it be!?”

Jin looked at Basara with solemn eyes and said to the stunned Basara:

“That’s right… Just like during the tragedy in the [Village], the principle is very similar to when you lost control of your power.”

“ ! ———— “

When he understood what Jin meant by that, Basara’s heartbeat suddenly went wild, causing him to grip his chest in pain. His heart twisted in pain, and his breaths became shallow, and his vision became blurry.

On that day five years ago, that scene before him – replayed itself again in his mind. As Basara’s consciousness was fading away—

“—Basara!”

Jin shouted at him while gripping his shoulders, pulling him back into reality. When he noticed that Basara regained himself, Jin gently said while focusing on Basara’s eyes that were looking into his:

“Calm down, breath slowly… you okay now?”

“ ! …Aahh…”

Basara nodded while stabilizing his breathing, slowly taking deeper and deeper breaths. After a while, he managed to calm himself down.

“You’re still blaming yourself over it, so asking you to do this is a somewhat cruel, but…”

Jin’s consideration, caused Basara to say while shaking his head:

“This is a problem that I must face and accept… something that I can’t leave alone. You said, from your point of view, the current demon lord against me…when fighting against the one called Leohart, I won’t have a chance if I don’t use that power?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Jin answered:

“Currently, you’re still regretting that incident from five years ago, so you’re suppressing your strength with your surface consciousness, and had set an upper cap with your sub-consciousness; when you were able to release that power before, it was Brynhildr that helped you dispel those reasons limiting you.”

“Brynhildr…?”

“Yes. However, although you see Brynhildr as a weapon, you care about Brynhildr a lot somewhere in your heart… as the cause of that tragedy was from Brynhildr being drawn out from the ground.”

“………”

Basara showed affirmation with silence to the question Jin raised.

Fighting poison with poison – to fight against evil spirits with the demonic sword Brynhildr, the [Village] used it to seal ancient evil spirits. But they had not expected it to be drawn out from the ground, and thus causing that tragedy.

“Compared to spirit weapons like a spirit sword that has the『Holy attribute』, demonic weapons like a demonic sword are much more troublesome. If used too indulgently, the user’s consciousness can be disrupted and eroded.”

Jin continued to explain:

“And your concern for Brynhildr’s sin to this day, coincidently prevented the demonic sword from eroding… but similarly, it also limited Brynhildr’s strength.

Do you understand?

“To put it simply, right now you have placed three limiters on yourself… but when you were pushed to death’s door during daytime, you forgot about Brynhildr’s sin and your strength exploded. To be able to match up against Leohart, you need to release at least one limiter, best would be two, otherwise your chances aren’t’ that great.”

“………I see.”

Jin’s assessment, caused Basara’s reply to be naturally downcast.

To protect Mio, he must win against Leohart. Yet, he didn’t think he could just leave the tragedy five years ago behind him with just merely a nod – that unforgivable painful past, is something he thinks he should not leave behind. The knot in his heart made him look downwards, and tightly grip his right fist. At that moment, Jin said in a tone that held a double meaning:

“Don’t be so pessimistic… I never said you have no choice but to defeat Leohart.”

“ ? What do you mean?”

“The problem is with where your final aim lies. The power struggle within the Demon Realm has been going on for countless years, and is simply just an entangled mess, a bottomless swamp; but your goal, is to end the situation with Mio being used as a negotiation tool, right? If you use methods that are too rough against the Current Demon Lord Faction, the Moderates Faction’s cries for Mio to be the new Demon lord would get louder.”

But—

“If you lose, there’s no guarantee of withdrawing safely; even if you manage to protect everyone’s lives, the title of [Daughter of the Former Demon Lord] will be a source of trouble. To quell their minds, the Current Demon Lord Faction will definitely hunt her to the ends of the words.”

“Then… you want me to get a draw against the Current Demon Lord Faction?”

Basara thought about Jin’s words for a while, and tried to understand the underlying meaning, but—

“Not exactly… Fighting a draw, wouldn’t change the antagonistic situation between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderates Faction; the Current Demon Lord Faction would continue trying to kill Mio, and the Moderates Faction would still want her to be the new Demon Lord. Listen closely—“

Jin then said out the summary:

“In other words… your final goal, lies outside of the victory of the Moderates and the Current Demon Lord Faction, understand?”

“I know what you mean… but, just how…”

He can’t simply win, yet he can’t lose, and a draw would be meaningless – he had to find a clever way to victory, including cutting off the Current Demon Lord Faction’s grudge against Mio, when the opponent’s strength is above his. Basara doesn’t really think, that such a beautiful way exists. Seeing his expression became solemn, Jin said while smiling:

“Don’t worry… I have a way. At least, I thought of a few ways already.”

“ ! –really!?”

Basara couldn’t hold back his surprise and shouted.

“Really… But the opponent has got their own plans too, so two parties pulling the strings, things may not go as I planned; pursuing too much perfection would only tighten the knot around the neck, so be careful. To raise the chances of success, the minimum is a draw against Leohart, and I hope that you can push him into a corner.”

“To push Leohart…”

Jin already said that unless he can release one, or two, of his self-imposed limiters, his chances are slim. Could he really do it? Just then—

“Actually… You still have an insurance that can be used in an emergency.”

“Insurance? What insurance do I have…”

Jin's puzzling sentence, confused Basara again.

“As it would only just shift the focus of the problem away, I would try to not use it… but to let you out into battle without a trump card, you’ll easily lose your life if you’re too nervous… Nevermind, looks like I have no other choice.”

“What is it…? You seem to like speaking to yourself a lot today, dad. Forget about that trump card, I still can’t make sense of what you said just now.”

“Indeed… but before I tell you what the insurance is, and how to win, there is something that I must tell you first. To tell the truth, I would really like to tell you at a later date… After all, it involves too many complications, but… since thing have come to this, there are things that I must make clear to you right now.”

“…Just what would that be?”

Jin gave a bitter smile, and said something to the doubtful Basara.

As if he was revealing a hidden secret.

“Actually… it has to do with your mothers.”

Chapter 2: Tangled-Up Thoughts and Desires

Part 1

A few days later — Basara and the main representatives of the Moderates Faction departed first, and they headed towards the location of the decisive battle designated by the Current Demon Lord Faction. The six representatives comprised of Basara, Mio, Yuki, Maria, Kurumi and Zest. As they were unable to determine where the endpoint for teleportation magic would appear, the risk was too high, so Basara and the others chose to travel over land by a horse-drawn carriage. However, under the current state of war, the roads to access enemy territory were dangerous and unpredictable; but the person who solved this problem was the Spirit Master Kurumi. The black elemental that Lucia gave Kurumi so that she could interact with the spirits in the Demon Realm — the elemental contained part of a high-class Spirit in it, so there was a powerful blessing from it; after forging a solid bond of trust with Zest a few days ago, and after she became honest with her own feelings and troubles, she became able to use it.

“—Leave it to me. I’ll try asking the Spirits to help us look for a safe route.”

After Kurumi communicated with the Spirits through the black elemental, they immediately answered Kurumi’s request, and prepared a route that was less susceptible to an enemy ambush. In the dimensional gap that they resided in — they built a route that could not be interfered with from the outside, directly towards the border of the Lundvall territory where Current Demon Lord Faction was. Thanks to this route made by the spirits, they were able to safely arrive at their destination two days prior to the day of the battle.

“There are a lot of soldiers…”

“…Yeah.”

As they looked out of the carriage window while it continued to advance, they could see the area surrounding Lundvall Castle, and Mio couldn’t help speaking up nervously, while Basara echoed his agreement while sitting next to her. Along the main road that the horse-drawn carriage carrying Basara and the others went through, a countless number of the Current Demon Lord Faction’s soldiers lined up magnificently; aside from the soldiers, another large group was composed of onlookers, and perhaps because the Current Demon Lord Faction had a greater proportion of those with different genetics, there were more beast races and irregular-looking demons. Looking at this crowd of people, it was almost as if the entire city was holding some kind of grand parade, but all of the eyes directed towards the horse-drawn carriage belonged to the enemy. As if to rain down upon the morale of the Moderates Faction before advancing into the Royal Palace that Leohart was in, the massive crowd likely would not dissipate.

“If all of those people outside charged over at once, I don’t think we would survive…”

Even Maria’s heart sank when she thought about it.

“Indeed…but there’s no need to worry about something like that.”

Basara replied. Since they were advancing into enemy territory, they did of course make preparations for situations like what Maria had described, but it was highly unlikely that that kind of thing would happen. Basara and the others accepted Leohart’s invitation, coming here so that they could fight; hence after entering the territory of Lundvall, they would be under the meticulous supervision of Leohart’s subordinates. If anything were to happen to Basara and the others in Lundvall territory before the decisive battle, though it would be favourable to the Current Demon Lord Faction, Leohart, the one who proposed this battle would be greatly discredited, so they were probably trying to avoid this.

…His vision is probably also set on what comes after the decisive battle.

If Leohart was attempting to use this battle as an attempt to boost the unity of his side, then it would be necessary for him to participate himself; so it was only necessary to be wary of unknown attacks whilst on the road, and once they entered Lundvall, their safety would actually be guaranteed. —At that time, the crowd of onlookers gradually decreased, whilst the number of soldiers gradually increased. It was a sign that they were getting closer to their destination — the horse-drawn carriage did indeed stop shortly afterwards, and Zest moved from the driver’s seat into the cabin, and said

“Basara-sama, we have arrived.”

“Okay…let’s go.”

Everyone then looked at Basara and nodded, before getting off the horse-drawn carriage one by one. Awaiting them outside was Lundvall Castle, where Leohart resided — the main gate. A young demon waited as he stood in front of a line of soldiers, he appeared to be a representative there to receive them. Although he was just standing still

…Strong, he isn’t just on an ordinary level…

Basara was able to feel that the demon standing before him was certainly of a high rank.

“Distinguished guests of the Moderates Faction…welcome to Lundvall Castle.”

The young demon smiled gracefully towards them as he continued

“I am His Majesty Leohart’s aide Balthier, nice to meet you.”

Then—

“Ramsas-dono…will be arriving a bit later, is that right?”

“Yes.”

Basara confidently said that in confirmation to Balthier question.

“As the leader of the Moderates Faction, of course he did not oppose the decisive battle between representatives from both sides…he will be departing later because he wants to minimise the risk of any accidents.”

“It’s also because I and some other people need to become familiar with the Elements and Spirits in this area before the decisive battle…you were already notified of our early arrival so that you could prepare, there are no problems, right?”

“Yes, of course there are no problems…well then everyone, please come with me.”

After saying that, Balthier lead them into the castle.

Basara and the others then followed Balthier down a long corridor that was lined with a red carpet. Only the minimal number of guards were present inside the castle, which was a stark contrast to its exterior.

“Those soldiers outside seem to be there just to scare people, and once we’re inside the castle, they’re nowhere to be seen.”

“…Yeah.”

After Yuki softly agreed with Kurumi’s thoughts, Balthier smiled as he walked ahead of them and said

“I’m very sorry…to allow you to see us in such a laughable state. Those soldiers are not there to intimidate you guys, please understand.”

However—

“Although the interior of the castle is under our control, the city outside is another matter entirely, there is no guarantee that some enemies will mix into the crowd, and act adversely against you.”

“Yeah…I understand.”

Basara nodded as he replied, after which he stared closely at the other end of the corridor and said in a low voice

“…It looks like it isn’t just you who’s come to welcome us.”

Mio and the others had the same feeling as Basara. There was a yet unseen person — but Basara and the others felt that there was undoubtedly someone waiting for them as they advanced through the corridor. There was an extraordinary aura that could be sensed from their presence, and that declared their position even while away from them. Then, Balthier turned around and said

“Of course. Since you’ve made such a long journey here, this is a necessary etiquette — our commander in chief insisted on personally greeting you all.”

As he said that, Basara and the others stepped into an open space. It was tall and vast, a large hall adorned with beautiful artworks and a dome-shaped roof. There — stood a young man. Despite being young, his entire body emitted an overwhelming aura that didn’t match his dignified clothing, and he also exuded a deeply calm and confident demeanour. There was no need for any introduction to see — that the man standing before them was the young Demon Lord, Leohart.

“You’ve come…Wilbert’s daughter, Naruse Mio.”

His clear eyes glazed over, and the voice that came out of his mouth was deep and powerful. Standing beside Basara, Mio answered

“Yes, I’ve come…so you’re the current Demon Lord Leohart.”

Mio didn’t seem to be overwhelmed by his presence, and she stared sharply back at Leohart.

“We finally meet…”

Underneath their voices filled with emotion, a shade of anger was present.

“Thank you for taking care of things all the way up until now…I came to return the debt to you.”

While she said that, a swaying red aura slowly drifted out of Mio’s body, as she pressured Leohart.

“…I’m happy that you have such eager fighting spirit.”

Leohart accepted Mio’s hostility unwaveringly, and then moved his sights towards Basara.

“You’re Jin Toujou’s son…”

“…Yeah.”

After Basara said so quietly, Leohart frowned slightly as he said

“He didn’t travel together with you, did he want to come later with Ramsas?”

“I don’t know…he simply said that he didn’t plan on participating in this battle.”

Basara continued

“In fact, I don’t know what my dad is thinking.”

“…I see. And I thought that we would be able to continue our interrupted duel…”

“—Are we not enough?”

Basara was not angry. In order to improve the morale of their team, he had hoped that Leohart would say something disdainful. However—

“That wouldn’t be the case…I’ve heard about your abilities from Lars and Gardo, all of you are formidable opponents.”

This young Demon Lord didn’t have any trace of carelessness.

…It appears that he’s more downright than I expected…

Basara calmly revised the odds of winning in his mind to an even lower figure.

“Oh? — I didn’t think that I’d be entering the city at this time, I really picked the right time it seems.”

A tired voice suddenly drifted down into the hall. At some point, several other demons came down from the grand staircase leading to the second floor.

“!——”

“……”

Kurumi gasped, and Zest also made a serious expression, causing the atmosphere to become tense. It was a skeleton-like male demon with four arms and long horns on his head.

…This guy…!

Basara couldn’t help swallowing. Looking at this demon, he was different from Leohart — and not only that, he was fundamentally different to all of the demons that they had seen so far. He exuded an extremely dangerous aura, an unfathomable deep darkness, and without any particular reason, he made people feel an instinctual sense of fear and intimidation, causing Basara and the others to stop moving momentarily.

“Belphegor…”

Leohart addressed that demon with a stiff expression, which allowed Basara and the others to understand that the high-class demon standing there was equivalent to the underground king of the Demon Realm. Then—

“I really am…how could I speak so condescendingly to His Majesty, I’m sorry.”

After Belphegor said that without any sense of remorse, he slowly walked down the stairs, and the scent of his strong perfume wafted into the room.

“I’ve recently offended His Majesty again when summoned, but I simply cannot help it, I’m very sorry. I was disciplining those women in Zolgear’s playground, so I got a little too carried away.”

“——”

When he mentioned a high-class demon that they had once fought against, Mio, Maria and Zest, who held a grudge against Zolgear immediately tensed up their faces, because they had once been in a situation of plight when they were persecuted by him. Perhaps because they found out that Belphegor was involved in the same dirty activities as Zolgear, the eyes of Mio and the others were filled with hatred and hostility, but Belphegor was completely unmoved as he continued

“I also heard…that in our battle against the Moderates Faction, that we will be sending out representatives for each faction, is that not so?”

“That is correct…as you can see, they are the representative team of the Moderates Faction, and they will be fighting against us the day after tomorrow. This is something that Ramsas and I…the leaders of our respective factions decided.”

Leohart firmly said

“You are the leader of the Council, and I originally would have sought your opinion on this, but it was unfortunate that I was unable to contact you…so I had no choice but to make the decision after discussing with other members of the Council.”

“I understand, so that’s how it was…”

Belphegor immediately grasped the situation and smiled as he said

“Hmm…doing that is actually a good decision.”

“…So this means that you aren’t against it?”

Leohart didn’t seem to expect him to answer in such a manner, and frowned.

“Yes. Since the Moderates Faction wants to hold onto the former glory of Wilbert until the end, we can allow the entire Demon Realm to recognise Your Majesty as the new Demon Lord of this world, so fighting against them is most effective.”

“…………”

Belphegor’s words rendered Leohart speechless. Based on the conversation which occurred in front of Basara and the others, it was evident that they didn’t have a good relationship with each other.

…It’s the same as what dad said.

Basara recalled the night of their training session, about what Jin had told him. The Current Demon Lord Faction was not currently unified, one part of them were the younger generation who supported Leohart, while the other part were the old generation of the Council who supported Belphegor. They were able to confirm now — that even if they were able to defeat Leohart in this battle, it would not solve any of their problems. In order to stop the demons from continuing to use Mio against her will, in order to destroy their selfish plots and desires, there was no other way but to exterminate the mastermind where the root of the problem was. Just when Basara became even more determined, Belphegor’s gaze shifted towards Basara and the others, causing them to suddenly become more wary, and ready to respond at any time.

“It is nice to meet you all…I am the leader of the Council that assists His Majesty Leohart with politics, Belphegor.”

After saying that, Belphegor’s smile suddenly became more sinister.

“I heard that our adversaries in this showdown would include the great legends Wilbert’s and Toujou Jin’s children, and when you actually called each other brother and sister, I was rather shocked…but I then understood. The boy is indeed handsome, and the girl is pretty.”

As if his gaze was considering something, his eyes crawled up and down their bodies, causing Basara’s and the others’ hairs stand on end.

“Your Majesty. Regarding the battle, I understand it…but would Your Majesty be able to elaborate some more on the details?”

“For example, how the battles will be conducted. How the arena will be set up, and so on — let us find a place to talk about it slowly.”

“……Of course.”

After hearing that, Leohart expressed his agreement to Belphegor. The young Demon Lord’s cloak then fluttered as he turned around, after which he looked back at Basara and the others once more.

“There is still some time until the battle…all of you have come here through a safe route, and it is inevitable that you will have some fatigue from riding in a carriage for so long, so please take the time to rest first.”

And he then left behind one final sentence.

“—The next time we meet, it will be in the arena of the decisive battle.”

Part 2

After Leohart and Belphegor left.

While Basara and the others followed the lead of Balthier, they continued to advance through the corridor that seemed much longer than it looked. A path to the side opened up, and it lead outside to a large courtyard with a fountain and fruit trees.

“—This way please.”

Balthier then exited the corridor, and stepped into the courtyard. It seemed to be a patio. Everyone marvelled at the size of Lundvall Castle which was next to the courtyard as they followed Balthier ahead. After a short while, they stopped at a building that appeared to be built of stone; there was someone leaning against a stone pillar, quietly waiting for them. It was the youth who had appeared in Wildart city a few days ago to notify them that Leohart had an invitation for them — Takigawa Yahiro. A smile was painted on his face as he lightly waved his hand and said

“Hey, Basacchi, you came rather early…don’t you feel like it’s a bit too hasty?”

“Takigawa…”

Basara’s face tensed up upon seeing him. —Basara and Takigawa had forged a secret cooperative relationship, and that had even killed someone together in the past. But now, Basara wasn’t sure if that was still in effect. Before — Takigawa had invaded Wildart city, gotten past the prison guards, and rescued the high-class demon Gardo that the Moderates Faction had captured; Basara and the others were unable to fight back, and could only watch him succeed. Takigawa was a spy who was sent into the Current Demon Lord Faction by the Moderates Faction. Based on his position, it was possible to imagine that there were often times when he would have to obey the orders of both sides. At the time, Takigawa was also playing the role of a messenger, and had told them about the battle format that would occur in this showdown against Leohart. Decisive battle, it meant that this could very well be the last battle between the Moderates Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction. If Takigawa stood on the side of the Moderates Faction, he wouldn’t have brought Gardo back to the Current Demon Lord Faction since it caused so much trouble; it would have been better if he returned to the Moderates Faction after he completed his undercover mission. However, Takigawa did not do that. After rescuing Gardo, Ramsas and the other high-ranking members of the Moderates Faction had not yet told Takigawa to end his undercover mission, but he no longer sent them any periodic reports, and he was even uncontactable.

…Does he plan on being undercover on his own until the very end?

So, what was his intention right now by being in contact with Leohart’s aide Balthier? Unable to guess what Takigawa’s true intentions were, Basara remained silent for a moment, while he maintained an air of caution; finally, it was Balthier who spoke for him, using an accusatory tone

“Lars…didn’t I tell you not to be in contact with the guests from the Moderates Faction as much as possible?”

He then sighed.

“Even if you are a comrade in the Great War, your position is still very delicate…if you continue to play this double-spy game, it will make things very difficult.”

“!——”

As soon as they heard Balthier say that, their expressions changed from being tense to serious. If he was saying that, then it meant that he was fully aware that Takigawa was a spy sent to them by the Moderates Faction. However, Balthier’s words did not end there.

“Don’t forget…you’ve been hiding it from us and the Moderates Faction, the person that you secretly teamed up with to finish off Zolgear.”

What he went on to say was what Basara and Takigawa had done, the greatest secret that they accomplished together.

“Moreover…didn’t you let him see you take Zolgear’s last breath?”

[——!]

“………”

Upon finding out about the truth, Mio and the others stared in amazement, but Basara was currently unable to answer to them right now. Until now, Basara had not given them an explanation; but right now, Balthier knew about Basara and Takigawa’s cooperation, that was the bigger problem. Since he knew, it probably meant that Leohart also knew. Even though they knew this…no, it may have been because of this that they truly accepted Takigawa, and allowed him to stay in the stronghold of the Current Demon Lord Faction—

“In this battle, I will also need you to represent our side, so please recognise your own position as soon as possible.”

While Basara was considering such possibilities, Balthier finally said the words that determined the current situation. In response, Takigawa shrugged and reluctantly said

“I know that…but I was originally staying here, and it was you who brought them over, so how could you say that I contacted them?”

“Didn’t I tell you beforehand that their accommodation arrangements would be here? It’s not that you didn’t know, and coming around here makes it quite easy to arouse suspicion, you know?”

Balthier said, as if it were troublesome. Seeing the two of them speaking like old friends, the serious expressions of Mio and the others did not change.

“…………”

Only one person allowed their eyes to cool until their eyes became ice cold, and that was Basara.

—Takigawa may not necessarily have joined the Current Demon Lord Faction.

If that was the case, then there wasn’t a need for him to meet Basara and the others like this. Moreover, doing such things in front of Balthier would only increase his risk of being suspected, so it didn’t make sense. However, there was no way to guarantee whether or not he had betrayed them yet. The one who killed Zolgear for revenge was Takigawa Yahiro — the biggest goal for the one named Lars. The problem was that…if Wilbert didn’t send people whom Lars regarded as brothers and sisters to act as Mio’s foster parents, he also wouldn’t have had to seek such revenge.

It could be interpreted that the Moderates Faction caused the people that were important to Takigawa to die.

…Noelle asked me to take care of that guy, so what now?

Noelle and Takigawa had grown up in the same orphanage ever since they were young, and she still trusted Takigawa to this day. ‘Lars definitely has his own reasons!’ ‘So please, I beg you to bring him back alive!’ she had pleaded sorrowfully to Basara. Basara could understand her feelings, and he wanted to continue his cooperative relationship with Takigawa himself. Regardless of whether it was an emotional…or strategic consideration. However, unstable factors could not be used as an indicator; otherwise one would end up in a dead end with regret, in an unavoidable situation.

…Perhaps.

When Mio’s parents were killed, Takigawa’s loyalty and sense of belonging to the Moderates Faction also disappeared…until he completed his revenge against Zolgear, he saw hope in the future that his former comrade Leohart pursued, so he chose to leave the Moderates Faction that indirectly caused the people that he loved to be killed. While Basara was trying to imagine what Takigawa was thinging—

“I’m sorry, I knew the location was here, but the arrival time kept fluctuating…so considering security issues, the shorter these Moderates Faction people stay in this city, the better. Although they’re already here, I thought that they would arrive tomorrow at the soonest, so I’m sorry.”

After Takigawa apologised to Balthier as if surrendering, he finally directed his eyes towards Basara and the others.

“So, that’s how it is…please be lenient in the battle the day after tomorrow everyone.”

After saying that, Takigawa turned around to leave, while Basara and the others could only silently watch him leave. Since Takigawa was on the enemy’s side, it was going to become more difficult.

If asked whether I could relax against such powerful enemies, then I’m afraid the answer would be a definite no.

Part 3

The final place that Basara and the others were brought to was a guest house located within a large atrium. There was plenty of space within the house, it could be described as large even for six people; there was a single large living room, many bedrooms, and the kitchen was already filled with many lavish ingredients; the laundry room was set up with a large, magic-operated washing and drying machine, and there wasn’t a shortage of daily necessities in the bathroom either; all of the items that were necessary for a comfortable life were present.

“…This is good, we should be fine.”

For the sake of safety, Kurumi used her Spirits to check whether the house or any of the food ingredients were suspicious, but she luckily did not find any problems. The size of the Current Demon Lord Faction was much larger than the Moderates Faction, and they were also the largest faction in the Demon Realm at the moment; as Leohart was the Demon Lord who was the leader of this faction, he brought out the appropriate generosity to welcome Basara and the others who belonged to the enemy faction. After checking everything, Basara and the others gathered in the living room for a brief meeting.

“And here I thought that they would be somewhat troublesome…”

After Zest spoke out about her own doubts, Basara voiced his own opinion.

“This is the pride of the current Demon Lord. He wants to show that he can beat us even without any little tricks.”

It wasn’t just a matter of Leohart’s reputation, it also showed his generosity, one of the necessary qualities of a king. However, he did not seem to generously give them the freedom to go out. He had arranged for two maids to wait outside the guest house on standby. Although he had said that if there was anything missing or anything that they needed, they could ask for it at any time; the truth was that they were there to monitor them.

…Also.

Based on the conversation between Leohart and Belphegor before, it could be confirmed that the influence of the Council was indeed quite powerful. In spite of this situation, if they were able to pull off some trick before the battle to win, Leohart’s influence in the Current Demon Lord Faction would not be able to rise any further. Currently, it was still unclear what Belphegor’s stance on the decisive battle was. The plan that Leohart was counting on was a method of settling the dispute between the two factions whilst having the least possible interference from the Council, thus pulling the popularity that easily swayed towards the Council to himself instead. Well, perhaps—

“To him…fighting this battle with us is likely to be one of his moves to weaken the Council.”

And they had originally thought that Leohart sought to take Mio, who inherited the power of the strongest Demon Lord Wilbert, so that he could secure the cohesion and influence that he should have as the Demon Lord…however, this was just the process, as his true objective was the Council.

…In this way, it really is a pity…

If they had known about Leohart’s objectives earlier, he could’ve taken advantage of the time when he was cooperating with Takigawa to directly — and in a situation without involving any outsiders — hold a conversation with Leohart. Perhaps — it could’ve been possible for them to fight alongside each other. After all, the purpose of Basara and the others was simply to help Mio, and remove her from the political struggles of the Demon Realm.

…No.

He had been overthinking things, and it was impossible. The current Leohart had decided to use his victory over Basara and the others to declare his absolute power and influence both internally and externally, thus reducing the influence of the Council…perhaps, he actually planned on eliminating the entire Council. And up until now, he had to cooperate with them?

When Basara met Mio — her parents had been killed by Zolgear. From that moment on, everything was too late…no matter what, it was inevitable for the two factions to clash.

—Everyone’s encounters and circumstances were based on their own tragedies or pains.

Basara had suffered from the tragedy which occurred five years ago, he was expelled from [The Village], and only then was he able to meet Mio. Naturally, when he reminisced about it in his mind, and imagined his life away from all that tragedy and regret, it was very simple; everyone would be able to enjoy a happy life, understand each other, and develop their future relationships with each other. However — everyone who was here only existed in this present time. The reality was that everyone had experienced almost heartbreaking tragedies, they had met each other in their most painful state, and there was no longer any escape route. Even so, everyone still reached out with their hands to grasp the best possible situation for themselves, and before they knew it, they were all standing together here. The emotions that had built up like that, although they weren’t entirely happy…they were able to confirm that this was something that couldn’t be easily discarded.

So, we must also combine everyone’s efforts this time to overcome these difficulties — when Basara thought of this, he noticed that Mio was silently watching him, so he asked

“…What’s wrong?”

“…What that person said before, is it true?”

Mio lifted her eyes which were tainted with restlessness, and then asked her question.

“When Takigawa killed Zolgear…were you also there?”

The question that Naruse Mio asked brought silence to the room.

—Basara and Takigawa secretly teaming up, Mio and the others also knew about it.

When he fought against Zolgear, Basara was able to infiltrate Zolgear’s hideout and rescue Sheera thanks to Takigawa’s help. Afterwards, both of them explained this.

…Moreover.

When he explained it to them, Mio and the others simply understood that they would no longer be threatened by Zolgear. Basara and Sheera never mentioned the details of who killed Zolgear, but based on their explanation, it could be deduced that it was either Takigawa, or someone who worked for the Moderates Faction. Hence, Mio and the others did not pursue the matter any further. That was because, at the time, when Mio’s hatred towards Zolgear erupted, Basara said to her — that he would not allow the actions of people like Zolgear to continue. That was also the same for Maria and Zest…so, after Mio and the others found out that Zolgear had died, they just assumed that things had ended.

…But.

They had never imagined — that Basara was present to witness Zolgear’s death. The question that Mio asked in order to seek the truth…was also a common question in the minds of the others. Under the solemn gazes of everyone present, Basara’s lips formed a straight line. It was almost the same as taking this silence as an acknowledgement. Shortly afterwards—

“……Yes, that’s true.”

Basara clearly admitted the truth that he had concealed from Mio and the others until now. The three people who had the deepest relationship with Zolgear — Mio, Maria, and Zest couldn’t help gasping as their entire bodies trembled.

“—Basara, why did you do that?”

After Yuki spoke for the three people who were left speechless, Basara replied in a serious tone

“No matter what, I did not want Mio to soil her hands for the sake of revenge, constantly living in the shadow of that person; but, when it came to my own feelings…I could not forgive that guy.”

Basara tightened the grip of his right fist, and his eyes darkened as he looked down.

“I know it’s very selfish of me to say such a thing when I was the one who stopped Mio…however, to kill Mio’s parents, and to take Sheera as a hostage all for sake of getting his hands on Mio, and making Maria suffer for such a long time. In the end, he also denied Zest’s existence and efforts, and wanted to kill her without a second thought. If I allowed him to keep on living, it was certain that he would hurt the people that I care about again…”

Basara’s tone gradually became filled with a sense of strength. The origin of it could be attributed to his anger.

“I absolutely won’t allow something like that to happen again…so when Takigawa and I worked together, I put down one condition — he could kill Zolgear, but I also had to be present, so that I could personally watch his last breath.”

“Basara…”

Finding out about the truth caused Mio to whisper his name out of surprise. She understood that Basara cared about everyone, and she also knew that his will was incredibly strong; doing something like that was definitely for the sake of all of them, and he didn’t have any other motives. However, it was the first time that she had seen Basara so brazenly show his anger due to his personal feelings. It was the other side of Toujou Basara that Mio and the others did not know. Witnessing the surging anger within him caused Mio to feel a trace of fear, and at the same time—

…He actually got angry like this because of us.

As soon as she thought that, a violent sense of sympathy — worry arose from being the one to cause Basara to feel such bitterness, her chest tightened briefly, and she was unable to say anything.

“Keeping it a secret for so long…I’m sorry.”

Thus, when she saw Basara solemnly apologising with his head down, Mio was no longer able to restrain herself. She lightly pressed Basara’s head against her bosom, and said

“There’s no need to apologise…I’m sorry for making you bear so many burdens on your own.”

What Naruse Mio wanted to know — it was already enough. She believed that it was also the same for the others. So, Mio said that phrase.

“Please, Basara…let’s start.”

“Mio…uh, but—”

Mio’s wish caused the Basara against her chest to become surprised at first, such that he asked in a slightly puzzled manner

“Why don’t we have dinner and then take a bath to eliminate our fatigue from travelling, and then come back…?”

Maria seemed to speak for everyone present, as she said to Basara while everyone looked at him

“There’s no need to. All of our emotional states are very high right now…so there’s no time more suitable than now; having dinner, a bath, and sleeping are all things which can slowly be done afterwards. While our emotions have not settled down yet, we should start just like this right now.”

“………!”

After listening to what Maria said, Kurumi gulped with her face dyed a deep red, because she clearly understood what Maria meant. Mio’s face had already become so hot that she could feel it herself, and not only that, her entire body was becoming unbearably hot. Looking around, both Yuki’s and Kurumi’s cheeks were bright red, and their eyes were hazy. That was — the face of a young girl who knew how she would be treated next. Before they came to Lundvall, Mio and the others accepted the training of Sheera and Lucia in Wildart City so that they could fight against Leohart’s side, while Basara also received training from Jin. However, after arriving at the base of the Current Demon Lord Faction, the enemy’s eyes and ears were everywhere, so they could no longer test each other’s abilities out in the open. Each of their abilities and tactics had to be kept confidential, as they could not allow the enemy side to know about it.

…But.

In order to defeat Leohart, Mio and the others had something else that they could do besides fighting. Due to Basara becoming their master through a contract, Mio, Yuki and Zest were now his servants. After borrowing Maria’s power as a succubus who allowed lust and pleasure to enhance her strength, and after Lucia’s black elemental awakened, Kurumi could also turn her own desires and pleasure into strength.

Thus—

“……Please, Basara. Make us submit.”

When Basara saw Mio with her arms around his waist and begging at him with moist eyes, as well as the expressions of Yuki, Maria, Kurumi, and Zest successively, he understood their intentions. Every one of them nodded with an expression like Mio’s.

“I see…then come.”

After Basara said that in a soft voice, the footsteps of Mio and the others seemed to become entranced by some sort of attraction, and they followed him into another room.

The place that Mio and the others were brought to was the largest bedroom in the centre of the guest house. Within the room was a particularly spacious bed. When Basara arrived at the bedside, he extended his hands out to take Mio’s clothes off. This uniform was going to be worn during the decisive battle, so it couldn’t be crumpled or dirtied. However—

“—Basara-san, please wait.”

He was stopped by Maria.

“The goal this time is to have Mio and the others who have pledged a Master-Servant Contract with you display their absolute obedience towards you even further. Basara-san should command them, and they must obey those orders, so that they can demonstrate their submission to Basara-san.”

“……I understand.”

The young succubus’ proposal seemed to cause Basara to immediately decide what course of action would lead to the best results; after he replied like that, he allowed Mio and the others to remain standing, while he himself sat on top of the bed.

“Take it all off — no, take if off for me.”

As he blurted out that command, he amplified it with the cold expression in his eyes.

“………Yes.”

The blushing Mio nodded, and then proceeded to slowly untie the ribbon in front of her chest, and take off her uniform. Yuki, Maria, Kurumi and Zest; each of them leisurely, eagerly, shyly, and naturally took off their clothes.

“………!”

After their movements stopped, all of them were wearing only their underwear. All of them were wearing seductive lingerie which had been carefully selected by Sheera. It was because Sheera wanted to allow them to begin their submissive behaviour for the Master-Servant Contract as soon as they entered the city, so she made them put it on beforehand.

“———”

Basara gazed at the girls who stood there one by one. Upon becoming aware of Basara’s gaze upon them, their bodies gradually became numb and feverish, until their entire bodies experienced the so-called sensation of ‘inextricably linked shame and submission’.

“………”

Basara still did not utter a single word, and removed a red vial from the breast pocket of his uniform, unscrewed the cap, and gulped it down in a single motion.

“…Mmm…!”

Mio knew what Basara drank, and mirrored the motion of his throat, as she also swallowed the sticky saliva that her mouth was filled with. What Basara drank — was a strong succubus-made aphrodisiac that Sheera had made for Basara just for this moment; not only was it effective on Basara when he drank it, it would also have a powerful effect on Mio and the others beside her. It was the same as the baby-doll negligee that Kurumi previously wore, with ‘aphrodisiac’ and ‘charm’. At the same time, it showed that he would spend a very long time in making Mio and the others thoroughly submit. In this way, a temporary effect of Sheera’s drug was that Mio, Yuki, and Zest would not have their curses activated, and as for Maria and Kurumi who had not forged a Master-Servant Contract with him, they would also be able to fulfill their desires and enhance their strength as much as possible.

“—Get ready, I’m going to begin.”

After declaring that, Basara stood up. Mio and the others obediently nodded as they gradually closed in, and the five of them worked together to take off the clothing that he was wearing piece by piece.

…Ah…

Yuki unfastened Basara’s belt from behind, Mio undid the front zipper of his pants, and by that time the strong aphrodisiac seemed to have already taken effect, as Basara’s zipper couldn’t even be pulled down.

“…Mio-sama, do you need help?”

After Zest took Basara’s socks off and saw Mio struggling for a long time, she couldn’t resist trying to help. But—

“No need…please let me do this myself.”

Mio refused to let go of the zipper, and after a bit of effort, she was finally able to move it, and she slowly pulled it down. After removing his trousers, only a pair of trunks was left, making it even more obvious to see what kind of state that part of Basara was in.

“No way…compared to before…”

“…Mmm, it’s even fiercer.”

Kurumi and Zest, who had once seen Basara in this state for a long time, murmured in both excitement and surprise.

“!……”

How could I lose to you two — when Mio hastily began to grasp Basara’s underwear with her hands, she was dissuaded by the young succubus.

“Mio-sama, please wait…being proactive is a good thing, but if you begin to get too hasty, you’ll make it difficult to continue later on. After all, we’re not able to do everything with Basara-san.”

Then what should I do…Mio sent a puzzled look towards Maria.

“Well, at the very beginning, since the day that the two of you entered into a Master-Servant Contract, Mio-sama has done it nine times, so how about thinking of those experiences first? There’s plenty of time, so you can slowly recall those past experiences, and then you’ll understand that you’re already completely different from the way you were back then, and that step by step, you’ve deepened the extent of your submissiveness.”

After Maria finished saying that, she climbed onto the bed, put her thighs together to act as a pillow, and she smiled as she urged them

“Come, Basara-san, Mio-sama, please…”

“…………”

After Mio and Basara looked at each other for a moment, both of them sat on the bed.

“Onii-chan…I’m yours.”

Mio lay on top of Maria’s lap pillow, and without reservation, she revealed her breasts, after which Basara straddled on top of her abdomen.

“…Mmm, ahhh…”

Perhaps due to the effect of the strong aphrodisiac’s ‘aphrodisiac’ and ‘charm’, Basara’s weight on top of her made her feel lightheaded.

…Ahhh…

As Mio watched Basara’s large hands approach her own ample breasts, she recalled that day, how she had unwillingly become Basara’s servant, how she was afraid of the pleasure that she had never experienced before, and how she repeatedly resisted with both of her hands. But now, regardless of whether it was Basara’s hands, or the pleasure that he gave her…she no longer rejected it. Even when Yuki, Kurumi and Zest were watching from the side, she didn’t mind at all. Anything and everything, she was willing to embrace it…because she was Toujou Basara’s slave. —And both her mind and body were more than ready for it. The sensitivity of Mio’s prided breasts was simply incomparably to the beginning, and they had also become so enormous that the shirt and bra she wore at the time no longer fit. Not only her breasts, ever since the formation of the Master-Servant Contract that night, her body had been imbued with a countless number of pleasures and climaxes by Basara, and every corner of her body had developed into an erogenous zone. Thus, as soon as she thought that Basara’s hands were going to touch her — a comfortable tingling sensation gushed out from the depths of her chest, she couldn’t stop that pair of obscene breasts from trembling, as if she could already no longer wait. The powerful ‘charm’ that the Basara in front of her felt amplified the effect of the ‘aphrodisiac’, causing Mio, who was in a dream-like state when Basara’s hands reached for her breasts — just before that, she tightly closed her eyes —

“Ah! Ah! Aahhh! …Aaaaaahhh — ♥”

The very instant that Basara moved his hands down to begin kneading them, she released a sharp cry which reverberated throughout the room; the arch of her back trembled during that climax, even lifting up Basara, who was straddled on top of her.

“Mmm…haa…ahh…mmm…!”

Mio slowly opened her eyes after being immersed in the lingering pleasure that Basara had given her, wanting to see what kind of shape he had squeezed her breasts into helped to make herself become more submissive.

…Eh…?

However, after the white mist dispersed from her vision, Mio couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes. She thought that he had already kneaded her breasts quite deeply, but his hands weren’t even there.

“!…How could…”

The stunned Mio thought that her dramatic climax must have caused Basara to loosen his hands.

“Hoho…that isn’t the case, Mio-sama.”

Maria touched her red cheeks while a teasing smile was revealed on her upside-down face, as she told her how she had just climaxed.

“But please don’t worry — this is something to be proud of.”

Maria gently stroked Mio’s face, and while Mio’s face was flushed crimson from feeling greatly ashamed, she said

“You actually climaxed without even being touched…this clearly shows just how obedient Mio-sama is to Basara-san.”

“To Basara…obedient…”

“Indeed, today is most suitable for Mio-sama to take the initiative to raise her level of loyalty to Basara-san. Also — did you perhaps forget — that you’re currently the last in the line?”

Yes…how could I forget?

Amidst her hazy consciousness, Mio remembered something very important. In the Master-Servant relationship between her and Basara, she was actually lower than Yuki or Zest. At that time—

“Alright then, Mio — let’s begin.”

After Basara waited for Mio to calm down, he quietly reminded her.

“Yes…”

Mio nodded with an obedient smile. This time, Basara actually grabbed her breasts.

“! ———Mmm~~~~♥”

In an instant, Mio climaxed once again as Basara positioned himself on top of her entire body and silenced the cries of pleasure that leaked from her mouth with his lips — next, Basara continued to knead her breasts intensely, causing her to continuously climax. Not long after the two of them entwined with each other on top of the bed, Mio continued to feel constant pleasure like she did on their first night; but for them as they were right now, that was just foreplay.

“———”

After Naruse Mio returned to her senses, she realised that the others had already gotten onto the bed, and she also saw—

Yuki was on all fours on the bed, as she lewdly twisted her ass whilst she sucked on Basara’s lips. Zest had become intoxicated with Kurumi’s most vulnerable armpits as she licked them with lewd noises. Kurumi was sitting on top of Basara’s right leg at the same time, and she constantly slid her hips back and forth. Maria’s mouth was on Mio’s right breast, sucking hardly on it.

As for Mio herself — under the sensations from Maria and Basara’s actions, her two breasts were feeling an unparalleled heat.

…In front of everyone, I’m actually…!

It was truly hard to believe. What she was doing right now was something so lewd that she absolutely would not think about it normally. Yet, she was indulged in it right now, and without thinking about anything else, she was demonstrating the inextricable pleasure of the situation. Contrary to her sense of immorality, the forbidden pleasure was bringing tremors to Mio’s body — causing the last remnants of rationality in her mind to melt away. After coming to this point, there was nothing left which could stop them.

“Onii-chan…mmm! Fuwaa! Aahhh! …Haaa! Onii-chan…!”

Due to the vigorous pleasure that she was experiencing, her wet nether regions were becoming increasingly hot, causing Mio to instinctively twerk and lift her hips; the female juices which leaked out of the side of her panties continuously gushed down in waves, while Basara’s hard thing was being rubbed against by the pleasurable sensation of her legs, which further propelled Mio’s excitement to another level.

“Mio…”

Yuki seemed to have heard Mio’s panting and intolerable cries for Basara, and she let go of Basara’s lips; Basara then grabbed Mio’s chin — and pulled her head towards him.

“Mmm! Onii-chan…chu, gu chu…haa, mmm…mmm chu ♥”

For the current Mio, she was no longer able to control herself as soon as she saw Basara’s face before her eyes, and she instinctively began to kiss him. As soon as their lips made contact with each other, the two of them immediately began wrapping their tongues around each other’s as they kissed. Under Basara’s intense kneading of her breasts, Mio felt the pleasure of his tongue stirring around inside her mouth. The sweet climax of their two tongues wrapped around each other caused Mio’s entire body to tremble as she climaxed on top of Basara’s body, and a golden glow — indicating that their Master-Servant relationship had been enhanced also enveloped them at the same time. But Mio didn’t stop yet, she turned around to face Basara while keeping their lips together, and sat on his lap as they continued to kiss for a while before slowly separating; a string of sticky saliva lewdly stretched between the two of them, and then disconnected, and dropped down.

“Haa…mmm…ah…”

As if in a trance, and at the same time that she felt their emotions deepen again, Mio locked eyes with Basara who was in front of her, and Basara also returned a soft smile to her gaze. However, today would not be over after just enhancing Mio alone.

“…Keep going.”

After Mio and the others naturally nodded at Basara, the true love session between those six people finally began. Everyone fully indulged themselves in that manner, immersing themselves into their longest, most intense, and hottest sensual feast so far.

Part 4

“You mean that…you want me to change the rules of the battle?”

Within the high-ranking ministers’ meeting room that was located in the lowest floor of Lundvall Castle, the sound of Leohart’s voice was heard. Leohart came to this meeting room after meeting with Naruse Mio, Toujou Basara and the others in the lobby, and was explaining the decisive battle against the Moderates Faction in detail. At the other end of this question, acting as the leader of the Council, Belphegor smiled.

“Don’t say that, I don’t want something as excessive as that.”

“Your Majesty…Belphegor-sama simply asked you whether or not you could make an exception, and increase the number of entrants in the showdown.”

The next person to speak was another member of the Council who was sitting beside Belphegor. He was the high-class demon who held the seat of [Greed] amongst the Seven Deadly Sins — Mardones. Among the Council, Belphegor possessed absolute leadership, and like the seat of [Sloth] that he represented, he was often missing at meetings; during those times, the one responsible for leading the Council was Mardones. To put it bluntly, he was the second most powerful person among the Council members.

“In the decisive battle that Your Majesty has planned, both sides send out five representatives from their faction…but as of now, Gardo was injured recently during the attack on Wildart City, and of the people chosen from Your Majesty’s confidantes, although their strength is sufficient to fight on behalf of us and Your Majesty, the problem regarding the number of people is an indisputable fact. So, we want to provide a few of our subordinates to help out, please consider this, Your Majesty.”

Mardones said. Indeed, amongst the people that Leohart was able to trust, the only ones who were able to partake in the battle were Balthier, Luca, and Lars, a total of three people; because Luca was a scholar who didn’t normally fight, the heroic spirits or demonic beasts that he was contracted with would take his place. Even so, there were only four people including Leohart, so they were still short one person. However—

“There’s no need for you to go out of your way so far, Mardones. Luca will soon be able to arrange a high-class spirit no lesser than the one used in the previous attack, so it’ll be fine as long as we use that spirit to take Gardo’s place.”

“So to say, two large spirits will be used, in place of the boy called Luca and Gardo-dono…? In the previous attack, the spirits were eventually defeated; don’t you think that the risk is too high if we rely on those things? The citizens are likely to voice their concerns, and it may cause a panic.”

After saying that, a thin smile was still painted on Belphegor’s face.

“Belphegor, the risk that you speak of…wasn’t it caused by your subordinate who sneakily attacked Gardo during the attack on Wildart City?”

In return, Leohart resorted to using Nebula’s betrayal as an accusation against Belphegor.

“I really am ashamed to say it…Nebula was indeed one of my subordinates, for something so regrettable to happen, it truly is due to my lack of discipline…although he has already paid for it with his life due to the curse of the Master-Servant contract, I am still partly to blame for the injury that was done to Gardo-dono. That’s why I really hope that Your Majesty will accept the assistance of the Council, to give us a chance to make up for this blunder.”

That cunning Belphegor had shifted his own responsibility into a weapon, and was unwilling to budge.

“…If you think that the spirits are unreliable, then we can call back the Eight Demon Generals.”

Leohart brought up the Eight Demon Generals. It was the name that belonged to the eight military generals. They each led a large army, and each of them guarded the vast territory of the Current Maou Faction’s east, south, west, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest; each of them were similar to Leohart, and were mighty warriors who had made major accomplishments in the previous Great War. Hence, the Council was afraid that leaving them in the capital would leave Leohart with too much power, so all of them were sent to the frontier, but the situation had now changed.

“This decisive battle is key to determining who will hold supremacy in the Demon Realm, so we should naturally summon our greatest combat force.”

“You cannot, Your Majesty. That will actually do more harm than good.”

A cheeky smile was revealed on Mardones’ face.

“The combat strength of the generals is indeed undoubtedly high, but precisely because they are at the borders containing the other factions at the moment, in our capital — peace can be secured in Lundvall. Even if we call for a single one of them to return, one region will be without its leader…if we weaken our military strength at one of the frontiers just for this showdown, it will give rise to an opportunity for another faction to swoop in, so wouldn’t that be equivalent to putting the cart before the horse? Additionally—”

Mardones continued

“In a decisive battle for the sake of the future of the Demon Realm, seven is more suitable than five as the number of representatives, right?”

“………”

Leohart was speechless. In the Demon Realm, the number [seven] had a special significance, one of the best examples were the [Seven Deadly Sins]; Leohart had wanted the citizens to avoid thinking about the politics of the old demons, and deliberately chose to have five representatives. Without including Gardo in the four members, or no longer including Luca who had no combat ability on his own, there were still three members left, and taking into consideration the Council and the other opposing factions, it was possible that they would say ‘Leohart is trying to pursue his own interests during such an important situation, and is acting stubborn despite historical traditions’ for the sake of finding faults with him; that was why he reluctantly decided on five participants in light of Gardo’s absence, in order to avoid this kind of risk.

…But it is truly surprising that they could actually turn things around to take advantage of the problem of the absence that they created.

Although they had lived longer and were more thick-skinned, they were able to justify their own selfish interests, pitch it well, and appear inspirational to other people. In order to defeat this sly Council, it wouldn’t be so simple. However — also because of this, he had to defeat this bunch of old bastards no matter what.

…If I continue to insist, I’ll probably lose.

Based on the flow of the current situation, even Luca’s place would be lost as soon as he got careless. Thus…

“Very well…the number of representatives will be changed to seven. For the two newly added places, as well as Gardo’s third place, I agree to have your candidates as participants.”

“Oh, that is excellent…wise indeed, Your Majesty.”

“But — I have a condition.”

However, Leohart didn’t plan to give in so plainly, and said so softly to Belphegor who had a thin smile on his face.

Even though the opponent was the Council that secretly controlled the Demon Realm.

Even though he was the puppet Demon Lord that they had elected.

He couldn’t — continue to allow the bunch of old bastards in front of him to play with the Demon Realm in the palms of their hands.

Part 5

In front of the main entrance to the guest house that Basara and the others were using, stood two maids. Officially, their job was to cater for any inadequacies that Basara and the others might have during their stay there, but they were in fact there to monitor them to see whether or not they had any suspicious activity. Even so — Leohart emphasised his honour in upholding his reputation, so he still ensured their privacy. Hence, the guest house was surrounded by noise cancelling barriers; any sounds on the inside would not be transmitted to the outside of the barrier. The only limitation that Leohart set was ‘No one is allowed to leave the guest house’; they were free to do whatever they wished inside the guest house. In the few hours that Basara and the others had been inside the guest house, they had not left, nor had there been any signs of trouble. Anyhow, they had come to the enemy’s stronghold — they were also staying within the Royal Palace, so one could only imagine what kind of fate would await them if they were to act rashly, so it was assumed that they were unlikely to act foolishly. Amongst the maids of Lundvall City, these two belonged to the group that had exceptional combat abilities, which is why they were selected by Balthier to monitor the guest house; however, monitoring the battle representatives of the Moderates Faction did indeed give them a lot of stress. Fortunately for them, it would soon be time for dinner, and they would be able to change over with the next group of supervisors. Because Leohart permitted Basara and the others to take care of all three of their own meals, the maids didn’t need to cook anything for them, nor send any meals inside.

“…………”

“…………”

Perhaps the two maids were thinking of the exact same thing, and after silently staring for a while, they let out a sigh, slightly relaxing their edgy mood and the excessive tension in their bodies. It was just at that time that the door to the guest house was opened from the inside.

“! ——-”

They immediately tensed up again, and turned around to look.

“Umm ~ Excuse me.”

The cute face of a young succubus stuck out from the gap of the door and said

“We have some things that you two could help us with — would you be able to do that?”

“……Please, what orders do you have?”

One of the maids warily asked.

“I think it’s almost time to prepare dinner, but aside from me, all of the others are too busy to help me…so could you two help me cook dinner?”

After Maria said that with a smile, the two maids looked at each other.

“This…”

“That important guy called Balthier told us that we could ask you two for help if we needed anything…is that inconvenient for you?”

“…Of course it is not inconvenient.”

Balthier had instructed the maids that if Basara and the others had any inconveniences within the guest house, that they should do their best to accommodate them. Thus, despite the negative attitude of the maids, they expressed their agreement.

“That’s great…then, sorry for troubling you.”

And so, Maria opened the door fully — the next instant, the maids couldn’t help standing frozen on the spot as they looked blankly ahead. Maria originally just stuck her head out, and it was not possible to see that she was actually wearing a sensationally unbelievable set of sexy lingerie. It shocked them to the point that they momentarily retreated.

“…Come, please enter, please enter.”

Maria’s invitation caused the two of them to reluctantly follow her into the guest house. They were led directly into the kitchen.

“Firstly, please tell me what is in here.”

Standing before an array of cooking utensils and ingredients, Maria turned around to say

“I am not familiar with this kitchen, so it’s not too convenient for me to use. Since you two are the first group responsible for receiving us, you should know what is here quite clearly, so you would be ready to answer my questions at any time, right?”

What Maria said was indeed the truth. They weren’t only good at fighting; as maids, they considered themselves to be good at all housework, and they had a considerable degree of knowledge of everything in this guest house. After all, from preparing meals, to cleaning, managing the items in the house, making the beds, and so on; all of the preparations to make Basara’s and the others’ use of the guest house convenient was done by their hands.

“…Understood.”

“Then, I shall introduce them one by one in order.”

After the maids agreed in that manner, the young succubus in front of them lit up her face with a smile. She said

“Good…do tell me a bit more.”

Part 6

“They want to change the number of representatives in the decisive battle against the Moderates Faction from five to seven?”

In Gardo’s treatment room, Balthier repeated the news that Leohart had brought along. After Gardo was wounded in the operation to attack Wildart City a few days ago, he was hospitalised within this medical tower — currently, the three person group composed of Balthier, Luca and Lars had come here to visit him; and after Leohart had finished talking about matters related to the battle with the two key members of the Council, Belphegor and Mardones, he arrived here not long ago. Then, everyone heard about the newly changed rules from Leohart himself.

“To take advantage of the betrayal during the attack on Wildart City by making such a request, they truly have no sense of shame…moreover, they’re going to use their own people? To have the audacity to play such games in a situation like this, they really do live up to the reputation that they’ve built up over their long lives.”

“Indeed. But on the contrary, it also means that they’ve been forced into this and that they have no other choice.”

After Leohart calmly analysed the situation after dealing with them himself, Luca also nodded beside him.

“That’s right…it has already become a well-known fact that the members of the Council attempted to assassinate Gardo amidst the attack operation that they themselves advocated.”

Luca tensed up his childlike face, and Lars also half-closed his eyes as he said

“It’s not just the soldiers. The distrust of the Council will also soar up among the junior civil servants as well…they are rather terrifying to be able to counterattack so quickly.”

“The victim this time is Gardo-dono. If we just stay silent and do nothing, it’ll actually make things easier for the Council…”

Balthier shrugged as he said so. The scandalous rumours of the Council could be heard about even outside of the city, but this time it was not the same. Gardo was regarded as a hero among the demons, and the voices for him to succeed Wilbert as the new Demon Lord were even louder than those for Leohart. With the recent assassination attempt, it had become perfect material to cut down the influential power of the Council; in order to declare that Leohart was beginning to have the power to take down the Council, he couldn’t let go of this opportunity. That was why Balthier made full preparations before Leohart even issued the order, and when the time of the order actually came, he immediately spread the message to every corner of the city that the Council had attempted to assassinate Gardo in the most efficient manner. Then, Leohart closed his eyes and looked down as said

“I’m sorry, Gardo. I know that for a veteran hero like you, being hurt like this is highly dishonourable, and now it’s also being used as a weapon against them.”

Hearing that, the large man lying in bed laughed lightly as he replied

“I don’t mind…I am your subordinate now, Leohart. As long as my strength and my body can help you defeat the enemy, then you can use it as you wish.”

Moreover—

“I’m very sorry that I will be of no use in this battle.”

Gardo, who was smiling bitterly, had lost his entire right arm below the shoulder. That happened when he attacked Wildart City, and it was cut off by his opponent. —After recovering from other major injuries, generally speaking, severed limbs could be repaired with magic. But for some reason, the healers in the Royal Palace were unable to regenerate his right arm with magic, and even specially cultivated artificial arms were unusable. In theory, with such a clean cut, the connection should be particularly easy to combine, which indicated that the wound that Gardo sustained was extremely peculiar.

…Toujou Basara, huh.

The only son of Jin Toujou who was known as a God of War, the report stated that he was capable of using a strange kind of elimination ability; but according to Gardo’s own account, he was also capable of other things. However, since it was unable to regenerate or connect—

…It will have to be regarded as a side effect of that elimination ability.

This incurable wound meant that it would be impossible for Gardo to return to the front lines. Even if this injury could be attributed to Nebula, who was dispatched by the Council to attack their unity and reputation — losing the combat strength of Gardo was still a major loss. While Balthier was worrying over such things—

“Yes, Leohart — you wouldn’t have plainly agreed to the request to increase the number of representatives by the old demons on the Council without setting any conditions, right?”

Lars turned towards Leohart to ascertain his response.

“Of course. The situation with the Council is worse than it was before the attack on Wildart City, and heading onto the same stage with them could likely bring us down as well.”

Almost expressionlessly, Leohart said

“So not only did I allow the number of representatives to be increased from five to seven, I had them also agree to my terms that the five against five team battle would be changed into seven one on one battles.”

In this way, they could avoid the risk of the Council’s minions plotting against him amidst the disarray of the battle.

“That is quite a good approach…but how will we explain this to the Moderates Faction? We were the ones to propose a five on five team battle, so the representatives that they sent must be appropriate for that kind of strategy, which is why Ramsas wasn’t among them.”

Balthier continued his analysis.

“For our side where we have much higher individual strength, a one on one battle is naturally more advantageous, so it is rather vulnerable to their refusal; also, with a last-minute change of the rules to act in our favour, I’m afraid that it will rouse voices of criticism and discontent towards our side.”

Since it was not easy to finally reduce the cohesion of the Council, they naturally had to do their best to avoid losing the advantage that they had gained — after all, their own battle would only just begin after defeating the Moderates Faction. At that time—

“—There’s no need to worry about that.”

Leohart said

“I will give them a relative handicap…as long as they can defeat me, it’ll be the equivalent of winning three rounds.”

The showdown consisted of a total of seven duels — which meant that the Moderates Faction originally would have had to win four duels, but defeating Leohart and two others would be equivalent to getting five victories, so even if the Current Demon Lord Faction won the other four matches, they would still be victorious. Even if they were only able to win two matches, as long as one of those was against Leohart, then they would obtain four victories. If there was a tie with four wins on each side, then each side would send another representative for a final face off; and if there was a tie for more than two matches, then the Moderates Faction would also win that battle.

“The six of them that have already arrived in the city…was a group elected for the original purpose of a team battle; after changing it into individual matches, the representatives are likely to change dramatically, right?”

Luca asked worriedly.

“No matter how much it changes, I don’t think our adversary in the previous Great War, Jin Toujou, will participate; as for Ramsas, who crushed the high-class spirit that that traitor Nebula was manipulating, that is a vague possibility—”

“—It doesn’t matter. In fact, that is more to my liking.”

Leohart didn’t seem shaken at all by Luca’s concerns. With a tone embodying his role as the Demon Lord, he said

“This is our showdown with the Moderates Faction, and Ramsas is the current leader of the Moderates Faction; if we don’t defeat Ramsas himself, all that we’ll get is an incomplete victory. If we wish to truly unify this Demon Realm, then we must thoroughly defeat the Moderates Faction, otherwise it will be meaningless…in order to achieve that objective, if Wilbert’s brother Ramsas is willing to set foot in arena, then that will be a good thing.”

“I see…that makes sense.”

If they were to completely defeat the Moderates Faction, then the situation that Leohart desired was truly the best approach to victory.

…In addition.

The Council was afraid of their influence being transferred over to Leohart. In the situation that he could lure Ramsas out and successfully win the decisive battle, Leohart’s power would certainly exceed the Council’s, to the point that they would be left almost powerless. Even if they were willing to take tough measures, from the perspective of Gardo, whom they tried to eliminate due to his high influence, he believed that Leohart could break free of their control and fight back; inevitably, using the arena of the decisive battle to push the blame onto the Moderates Faction was an unparalleled choice. Simply imagining the possible outcomes, if the Council made any dishonest actions—

…Then.

It would be their turn to punish the Council, and they would be able to eradicate those old bastards in one fell swoop. Being somewhat overbearing wasn’t a problem, after destroying them, any of the reasons they could come up with wouldn’t pose a problem.

…Moreover.

Arranging such a duel was good enough in itself as a form of insurance, since they would also be able to lure out those after Leohart’s life who were working under the Council. If they won the decisive battle, Leohart would become a target for the Council’s assassination — in the slight chance that they lost, the Council would think that he had lost his value and would attempt to clean up the mess. Either way, it was a form of self-defence. Right now, Leohart shouldn’t be thinking about what would happen afterwards if they were to be defeated, but—

“Your Majesty…you’ve foreseen all of the possibilities, so that’s why you proposed that condition to the Council for a change to the format of the battle, right?”

“I’m not optimistic about the current situation to that much of an extent, and I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic.”

In a low voice, Leohart answered Balthier

“However — the opportunity to eliminate those old bastards in one fell swoop is only a fleeting one. Even if I’m able to seize this opportunity, and even if I take a risk of this level, it comes at a cost.”

“As your subordinates, we understand…a little later, I will personally explain the situation to the Moderates Faction. In regards to Wildart City, I will send out a formal letter by magic in the same manner that we initially informed them of the format of the decisive battle. Such conditions are highly favourable for them, so they should agree to it.”

After Balthier saw the firm determination in the eyes of his superior, he nodded as he said

“In fact, not long ago, they hoped that we could a certain thing for them through the maids who were responsible for catering to them…I will notify them at the same time that I give it to them.”

Luca listened in a puzzled manner and then asked

“Prepare something…what is it? Wasn’t that guest house prepared with adequate supplies for ten days’ worth, so everything should be perfect, right?”

“It’s because what they want is something that has a rather peculiar purpose…Lars, I have something to ask you.”

“Something to ask me…?”

Being addressed to, Lars suddenly turned around, and asked in surprise. Balthier then said

“Yes — it is regarding something in the playground that was owned by Zolgear.”

Part 7

As soon as Lucia received a notice from the Current Demon Lord Faction about the change in the format of the decisive battle, she went to report it immediately to her master Ramsas. Afterwards, she did not return to her own office, but instead went straight to her mother, Sheera’s room, and quickly conveyed that message to her in the room.

“They’ve changed the team battle into one on one duels…”

“—Indeed. What does mother think?”

Because this was a private location away from the eyes of any maids, Lucia used a more familiar manner when she asked for Sheera’s opinion.

“Hmm…I see, you could say that it’s a change that was within expectations. Right, Jin-kun?”

“Yeah. It’s mostly due to those old guys on the Council who forced this.”

Although Sheera’s appearance had regressed to her innocent childlike appearance, she was still inherently experienced and talented, and she calmly accepted the change in rules by the Current Demon Lord Faction like Jin. But Lucia was unable to lightly accept the truth like that, and she furrowed her brow.

“You two aren’t worried? In a one on one duel, it is clearly disadvantageous to our side which has fundamentally weaker combat strength.”

The ones who were actually going to be fighting weren’t Sheera or Jin — but Basara and the others. Regardless of whether it was as an aide to Ramsas who was the leader of the Moderates Faction, or from a personal standpoint, Lucia hoped that they would be able to win, and even more than that, she sincerely hoped that they would return safely. But in contrast, Sheera’s and Jin’s response seemed overly optimistic, causing Lucia to feel slightly unhappy.

“Don’t look so worried, Lucia-chan…what did Basara and the others say?”

While smoking a cigarette, Jin seemed to have seen through her emotions, and smiled wryly as he asked. Normally, no one would address Lucia with ‘chan’ aside from Sheera, and Lucia would not allow them to do so either. After all, she shouldered the responsibility of being the second in charge of the Moderates Faction, so she couldn’t always allow the powerful and influential seniors like Klaus treat her like a child. Perhaps in the eyes of the God of War that everyone dreaded, Jin, Lucia was still just a cute little girl.

“They have no objections to the change in the format of the battle…but after it was changed into seven against seven, Basara-san’s side only has six people, so there is the issue of insufficient personnel.”

After saying that, Lucia paused for a while, and then continued

“Even if all six of them who arrived beforehand enter the battle, we still need to add one more representative. Therefore, this shortage will be filled by the leader of the Moderates Faction, Ramsas-sama, or me, as his aide.”

“The final decision will be based on seeing what the situation is like on that side…there’s no other way, this is all we can do. Ah~”

After Sheera replied—

“No — you have to prevent Ramsas from heading entering.”

Jin adamantly retorted.

“If he participates, then it will only leave behind a lot of troublesome problems…about this new rule, what did that old man say?”

“Master simply said…[I understand].”

Lucia thought back to when she gave her report to Ramsas, and said

“As you said, it is possible that master’s participation will present many problems, however, I believe that he is well aware of that himself.”

Hence—

“If master insists on participating, as his subordinate, I am in no position to stop him…”

After Lucia indicated that she put her position as his aide first, Jin replied

“Lucia-chan…I understand that all of your heart is with that guy. After all, you and I are the same as Sheera, one of the very few people who know of his secret.”

But—

“You should also know — what kind of agreement Wilbert and I eventually made after that Great War, right? And now we’ve finally come to this point again. For what reason do you think Wilbert’s wife fought to give birth to Mio, why did Wilbert have to let go of that girl, and for what reason did Wilbert choose to die…you would be putting the hard work of these past sixteen years to waste in vain.”

“This…of course I understand that.”

“Then you should do what you need to do. Because you think for your master more than anyone else, from time to time you need to reproach him…isn’t that the role of an aide?”

“…………”

Jin’s words made Lucia silent, and all she could do was reply with silence.

“Don’t worry…it’s fine as long as that guy doesn’t fight against Leohart, I don’t think there’ll be any problems at any other time.”

Jin dabbed his cigarette into an ashtray to extinguish it. And with a strongly firm tone, he said

“I can guarantee you, at that time, that it will definitely become a situation that gets out of hand…just wait and see.”

Part 8

By that time that Naruse Mio awoke, it was already late at night.

“…Hmm.”

Having opened her eyes whilst embraced by a gentle warmth, Mio found herself lying on top of the bed in the bedroom of the guest house, her head was being cradled by Zest’s abundant breasts, and their legs were still entwined together.

“…Huh…”

While the comfortable fatigue remained in her body, it caused Mio to remember everything. She did not awaken from slumber, rather, she recovered from Basara making her unconscious. Indeed — Mio and the others were tending to Basara as their master, and were even unwilling to get off the bed to eat, so they ate the dinner that Maria and the maids from outside had prepared, all whilst making gestures of love to each other. —Afterwards, everyone pleasured Zest together, causing her to faint. The next one to become unconscious was due to order of Maria, following which Basara, Yuki, and Kurumi, worked together to attack Mio wildly. Because of Maria, both Yuki and Kurumi were making steady breathing noises on top of the bed. But, upon the bed, the only figure that couldn’t be seen was Basara’s. Thus, Mio quietly sat up, while trying not to disturb Zest, and when she saw the back of a the youth sitting on the edge of the bed, she clasped her hands over her chest in relief. The light that illuminated his outline in the dark interior was from a faint light that he held in his hand — the LCD screen of his mobile phone.

“Basara…?”

The sweet pleasure that was still warming her body made Mio’s consciousness relaxed, and she called out to him without a second thought.

“———”

Basara then slowly turned around. Even though she hadn’t yet seen his entire face—

“! ——”

Mio was completely awoken, and her heart pounded against her chest violently. —What made her heart beat violently was a fear completely opposite to love. In Mio’s eyes, the side profile of Basara’s face as he turned around — possessed a cold expression that she had never seen before, and it even made her regret calling out to him so casually. But—

“……Sorry, did I wake you up?”

When Basara completely turned his head around and looked face to face at Mio, it was the normal him. Due to the lack of light, coupled with her hazy consciousness, Mio guessed that it was perhaps her own blurred vision, and tried to think that way—

…But…

Her heart still pulsed rapidly, so in order to hide her nervousness, Mio asked

“…Were you calling Jin-san with your mobile phone?”

“Yeah…I just finished talking with him.”

With a quick movement, Basara finished an operation on the mobile phone, and then placed it on top of the bedside nightstand; before he could turn around again, Mio moved first. Mio hugged Basara from behind, gently sticking onto his back.

“…What’s wrong?”

“………”

When Basara turned his head to ask that, Mio quietly held onto him even tighter. It was a heartfelt plea she made in the hopes that he would be able to feel her intense heartbeat from his back, and understand her emotions.

“…Please, don’t do everything recklessly on your own like you did with Zolgear.”

—In every crisis that they had faced so far, Basara had predicted the changes to protect Mio and the others, and had been able to mark out a plan and implement it. Mio also clearly knew that no matter what she said here, as long as Basara deemed it necessary, he would not hesitate to act.

…Even if that is the case.

Naruse Mio didn’t want to see Basara self-sacrifice anymore, bearing the risk of any danger on his own. After all, she was one of his family members, his imouto, and even more so, the master that she had a Master-Servant Contract with. While Mio had such thoughts, Basara’s position became more and more grand — and precisely because of this, she had to tell Basara about her feelings once more clearly.

“……I’m sorry, I’ve made you worry.”

After Basara said that, he turned around and gently hugged Mio. Thus, Mio also hugged Basara back closely.

“Please don’t forget…you have me, and you also have us…”

“Yeah…I won’t forget.”

After Basara answered with a firmly determined tone, the two of them embraced each other for a little longer. And then — they naturally pulled away from each other slowly.

“——!”

All of a sudden, Basara hastily looked away, and Mio also subsequently realised why he did so. The two of them were immersed in loving skin contact just earlier, and naturally, they were still dressed the same way as they were before.

“! ——”

This made Mio shyly attempt to cover herself, the instant that Basara saw her caused a surge of embarrassment to come forth and her entire face became flushed, after which she said while staring

“…Basara ecchi.”

“!…I’m sorry.”

Mio’s protest caused Basara to suddenly feel guilty.

…Hoho.

He had clearly caused Mio to submit and pass out before, and he also did the same thing to the other girls. When Basara let his guard down like this, he would revert to his original contrasting attitude, and in Mio’s eyes, he was simply so adorable that she couldn’t resist, so—

“…Onii-chan~”

Even though she knew that doing this while everyone was asleep was sneaking ahead.

“I…can I be made to submit by onii-chan even more?”

Mio still childishly clung onto Basara, moved her lips closer to his left shoulder, and ‘chu’ kissed him. —Under normal circumstances, it was completely unimaginable for Mio to say such bold words. But right now, her Master-Servant relationship with him had fallen behind compared to both Yuki and Zest. In order to catch up to them, being proactive like this should be fine. Then—

“……Really?”

Basara softly asked back. After Mio firmly nodded, Basara didn’t say anything further. He directly — moved his hands down to her waist, and pulled her towards him. Mio and Basara then quietly moved into the bathroom. Basara turned on the shower handle, turning the hot water up the maximum, and then suddenly attacked Mio’s lips.

“Mmm…chu…chu, onii-chan…ah ♥”

Mio’s arms encircled around Basara’s neck, and she accepted his passionate kisses. With their entire bodies soaked wet with hot water, the intense movements of their tongues caused Mio’s body to become increasingly hot.

…Ah…

At the same, she felt a hard object driving in between her thighs, and it began to push up against the bottom of her crotch. Looking down, the towel that was wrapped around Basara’s waist had changed to match his contour, and as if attempting to lift Mio up, it continued to rise. The girls hadn’t taken off their underwear to act as a reminder that they couldn’t cross the final line, but the visualisation of it was still highly obscene.

…Basara has already become like this…

Basara, who always put Mio’s feelings first was not only intensely kissing her right now, he had become excited to such a degree…as soon as Mio thought that, her waist suddenly wavered.

“Onii-chan…I’ll help you do it, so lie down.”

Hearing Mio say that with moist, passionate eyes, Basara sat down on the spot, and then lay flat on the floor. Mio also lied down on the floor and cuddled up close to Basara.

“……I’m starting.”

Gently holding onto Basara’s male part through the towel, she began to move.

…I’m actually doing something like this…

Mio seemed to be fully aware that she was touching that hard and swelling object, as she provocatively moved her hand up and down its shaft, as well as the behaviour that she was doing by herself almost made her enter a state of delirium from pure embarrassment. —However, Kurumi and Zest had already done something like this; and perhaps during the period that she had lost consciousness, Yuki and Maria also could have done it.

…I can’t lose.

After motivating herself in such a manner, Mio began to stroke even harder. While it was wrapped underneath a layer of a towel, it had become so thick that she couldn’t even grip it in one hand.

…How could it become so large…

Without even realising, Mio had already begun staring at Basara’s penis.

“!—”

At that time, Basara’s waist suddenly twitched a bit, frightening Mio, and causing her to quickly stop.

“S-Sorry…I’m not used to it, so I’m a bit clumsy. Does it hurt?”

“N-No…”

Basara replied somewhat awkwardly. That kind of reaction was not from pain—

…It should be quite comfortable, right…?

The instant that she realised this fact — a bittersweet sensation that she had never felt before arose within Mio’s mind. It was a female pleasure that arose from knowing that she had successfully brought pleasure to Basara. Not only did this make Mio feel elated, but it also made her proud…allowing her to cast aside all fear. Thus, Mio began to wholeheartedly serve Basara, and she continued to stroke.

“Onii-chan, onii-chan…mmm! Mmm chu…luu…”

She moved even closer to Basara, and mounted herself on top of his left thigh, placing her breasts onto his abdomen, using her tongue to lick his nipples in an intoxicated manner, doing her best to please Basara.

The movements of her tongue which were clumsy at first became smooth after repeating the motion several times, and not long afterwards, she made lewd licking sounds, and she smeared her glistening silver saliva all over his chest.

“!…Mmm…”

Basara’s left hand grasped onto Mio’s head, while his right hand gripped her breast and began to knead it.

“Ahh! Ah, onii-chan…muu…haa…mmm ♥”

The sudden pleasure caused Mio to cry out, but her tongue and hand still continued their action. At some point, Mio’s hand probed underneath the towel and grabbed him directly, causing Basara to feel even more aroused.

“Mmm…ah…!”

The sound of Basara’s constrained breaths became more and more frequent — and in that moment, he finally came. The instant that she felt a sudden expansion in her hand, a spurt of hot liquid sprayed out. —This scene was the first time that Mio had seen Basara climax. Basara fiercely lifted his waist, and the towel around his waist then fell down, causing his part to be exposed naked in front of Mio’s eyes. Basara’s hot penis was throbbing in Mio’s hand which was now covered with white liquid.

…This is Basara’s…

The thing that she only caught an accidental glimpse of in the public bath was now so large that it seemed like something completely different, causing Mio to subconsciously swallow.

“Ah—…”

After feeling stunned and not knowing what to do for a while, it was only for Mio to realise that he was still erect despite having released so much fluid, it looked like it was difficult to bear…and then she understood what she should do. That was to continue.

“Onii-chan…sit on this side this time.”

Mio used her hands which were covered in semen to glide back and forth on Basara’s penis with lewd sticky sounds, while she directed her eyes towards the edge of the bathtub. Just from this movement alone, Basara knew what Mio wanted to do next. Basara sat down in the position that Mio desired and spread open his legs to facilitate her action; and Mio sat between Basara’s legs, with his part right in front of her eyes.

…Oh my…

With a pressure completely different to when it was in her hands, Mio couldn’t help panting; however, this only took a few seconds of time, and Basara’s bulging penis was served by an eager Mio. Thus, Mio’s breasts which were made a size larger by Basara — his part was eclipsed within the valley of her breasts.

“!—”

The instant that he was caught between Mio’s breasts, Toujou Basara couldn’t help groaning slightly. Like a lone dot that stuck out from the top of Mio’s breasts, it was enclosed in every possible way.

“It’s amazing…for my breasts to be like this, it was all because of onii-chan.”

Mio emphasised the action of her chest and tightened it a notch as she said with a smile

“At school, the boys stare at me a lot more than they used to, it’s really bothersome…they also say things behind my back, like my figure has been becoming more seductive and sexier.”

“!…I…”

“It’s all right…it makes onii-chan look cooler that way.”

After Mio said that to the momentarily speechless Basara, she lifted her breasts and slid them up and down, and began an alternating motion. The semen that he had just released became a lubricant, causing sticky noises to be made every time Mio moved her chest, and this time Basara’s waist was subject to such pleasure that he was barely able to get up.

“As long as I want to…I can also do something like this.”

After Mio lifted her eyes to say that, she lowered her jaw, and slowly moved her lips towards her cleavage. In there, a small tip would emerge every time Mio moved her chest down.

“—!”

Upon seeing that, Basara quickly grabbed her chin and forcibly lifted her head up, while he bent over and forcibly occupied her lips.

“Mmmu — haa, mmm…chu…mmmu, ahh…gu…laa…”

Although the position was a bit uncomfortable, Mio felt pleasure from her sticky tongue, as she extended it into Basara’s mouth and prodded around with her tongue; all while she didn’t stop the movement of her chest, and she continued to pleasure Basara.

“…Ah…!”

Basara couldn’t resist a full-on attack like that at all, as he kissed Mio while moving through her chest. This time, not to mention his waist, even the strength of his legs was drained away — but Basara’s excitement still had not diminished. It was clear that Mio was also under the influence of the charm and aphrodisiac that Basara was releasing. Although Basara didn’t want to do anything excessive with her, but perhaps due to the effect of the drug, he was unable to inhibit the excitement in his body. When he finished ejaculating, Basara separated his lips from her, while a strand of saliva stretched out between the two people.

“Ah…mmm! Haa…fu…”

Mio reluctantly stuck half her tongue out. She constantly exhaled warm air; after calming down, her breasts were squeezed into lewdly shaped orbs, and Basara’s penis which was still erect remained in the crevice as she continued to move up and down.

“Like this, you can release a bit more…shoot until my breasts can’t fit anymore.”

After Mio said that with a fawning tone, the movements of her chest became even more intense, causing the amount of pleasure to breach past the limits of Basara’s endurance in the blink of an eye.

“———”

As Mio desired, his male juices squirted out all over her chest.

Part 9

That instant, Mio felt Basara’s penis twitch in between the valley of her breasts. Following that was the sensation of a hot flow spreading across her breasts.

…Oh my, it’s incredible…

She could clearly feel him convulsing while still immersed in Mio’s deep cleavage. While she felt a sense of accomplishment at having been able to please Basara, Mio saw that her own deep cleavage was close to being submerged in a bottomless pool of cloudy white liquid — she couldn’t help shivering all over as that pool of viscous, thick liquid began to trickle out of her cleavage, and fall to the ground with pitter-patter sound drops. At the same time, Basara’s penis slowly began to slide out of her cleavage—

…Ah…

Moreover, it was still bulging as much as it was before. Mio swallowed, and then moved her mouth towards it. This time, Basara didn’t stop Mio from doing it.

“Haa…mmm…chu.”

Mio finally put Basara’s penis into her mouth. The scent of Basara’s semen instantly scattered in her mouth, fully taking away all of Mio’s rationality; but that didn’t matter, as her rationality would only serve to hinder her own obedience towards Basara — so, when she began to carefully wrap around and cleanse Basara, when she swallowed the semen that filled her mouth, she cast aside the last strand of her rationality.

“Ah…mmm, chu…mmfuu, haa…chuu…mmm!”

Mio sat down with her legs in a seiza-like position, and used every ounce of her ability to please Basara with her mouth. After her saliva-covered tongue wrapped around it, she sucked hardly on it with chuu chuu noises, and then used her hands to gently massage it; soon after, Basara began to thrust his hips back and forth slowly, indicating that his pleasure was on the verge of a climax — this caused Mio’s excitement to intensify further, and she began to match Basara’s movements by moving her head back and forth.

“Mmm…chuu…haa, mmm…chuu, wuu…luu…haa, mmm, fuu…chuu…mmm! Chuu! Mmm♥”

While she was obsessed with sucking Basara’s penis with her mouth, in the instant that a vast amount of flowing hot semen burst out, a sweet climax also caused Mio’s entire body to tense up. It turned out that when Basara ejaculated inside of her mouth, a lot also dripped down towards her breasts. The sudden pleasure was so strong that she could not resist — but she was absolutely obedient to Basara right now, so even though her buttocks trembled to the point that her feminine juices soaked through her panties, she did not bite Basara, she just desperately propelled her throat, and swallowed everything that Basara gave her. However, Sheera’s drug caused Basara to produce a shocking amount…until Mio almost choked, Basara slowly withdrew from Mio’s mouth while still enveloped by the edges of Mio’s lips.

“Mmm! Mmm! …Chuu, ah — ah ♥”

At the same time that his tip came out, Basara’s white liquid spayed onto Mio’s face, frightening her such that she fell backwards. Basara then left the edge of the bathtub, but not to support her, but instead to move over and press down on her.

…Eh…?

Mio couldn’t help but stare in awe at Basara’s face in front of her, and she then became aware of what he wanted to do. Basara’s eyes had been ignited with a burning fire of male desire as he stared down at her with passion, and with a tone of voice which was hard to reject, he said

“Just underneath the underwear — can I?”

The moment that she understood the meaning of that sentence, Mio took a deep breath. What Basara meant, was that he wanted to satisfy his lustful desire — to insert it underneath her underwear to avoid crossing the final line.

…N-No…!

If she did something like that right now, she didn’t know what would happen. The final line that absolutely couldn’t be crossed would become blurred. Even though Mio thought that — when she thought about the fact that Basara had become so excited by her that he cast aside his reason and craved her even more, she felt so happy that she trembled, and so she swallowed—

“!…Mmm…”

Even though she knew that it wasn’t something she should do, she clutched the back of her knees with trembling hands to spread her legs apart, and exposed her private area in front of Basara. Her hot and wet feminine juices was soaked her underwear, but the contour underneath was also clearly visible, and it emitted bursts of obscene heat.

“Okay, onii-chan — come.”

Mio maintained that posture, and then coquettishly said that she was ready for Basara, after which Basara immediately — inserted his penis little by little from the opening into her underwear which was absolutely soaked all the way through.

“……I’m going in.”

Basara whispered, and then pushed into the deepest point in an instant.

“! —Fuwaaaaaaaaaa!”

Naruse Mio fiercely climaxed just because of this thrust. This was caused by Basara brushing past her opening…while at the same time kneading her sensitive breasts roughly.

“Ah…! …Mmm! Haa…ah…ah ♥”

Coming from the sensation of him being underneath her underwear was a climax on a completely different level from the past, causing her to even to forget how to breathe; it was a moment of anguish mixed with joy. While Basara slowly moved his hips, he pushed his penis against her underwear, all the way until Mio’s belly button before retracting, and then—

“! ——”

Wait — although Mio wanted to say that, she didn’t make a sound.

“—I’m going to move.”

The moment after Basara announced that, he began to intensely massage her breasts and rub against her private area, engraving into her again and again a countless number times — no, she wanted to count them, but she was unable to count the number of her innumerable climaxes.

Part 10

In the dead of night in the Current Demon Lord Faction’s stronghold of Lundvall City.

Lars came alone to ‘a certain shop’ in the city below the castle. It was a boutique store exclusive to female members that specialised in selling women’s clothing, underwear, shoes, socks, and even cosmetics products. Its customer range was targeted towards noble high-class demons, but in fact, the majority of customers were actually ladies and maids who wanted to satisfy the requests of their masters. Because these nearly uncontrolled requests came at all times of the day, in order to meet these needs, this shop was almost open all year round. The interior decoration of the store was uniform, and full of artistic style; placed upon shelves were a selection of high-grade products.

“—Sorry for making you wait.”

A male clerk took something from the back of the store, and came up to the counter in front of Lars. It was a small wooden box. The store clerk placed it on top of the counter, and opened the lid to show its contents — an eye-catching glass bottle with a carved golden lid, and a transparent liquid within the bottle.

“Is this the one that you wanted?”

“…Yeah, help me wrap it up.”

After Lars nodded, the store clerk placed the bottle back into the wooden box, began to pack it, and then said

“You know, I was really quite surprised. It was announced not long ago that this fragrance was going to stop production and would be recalled, so those who know that it is still in production are among the very few.”

“…I heard that there was a problem with the raw materials of the fragrance, so it was just a temporary stop in production.”

“Yes…I beg your pardon, could you please tell me where you heard about this news regarding the perfume?”

Towards the store clerk who was looking at him side on, Lars took something out of his pocket as a reply. It was a finely carved silver pocket watch. As soon as he saw the coat of arms engraved on the cover, the store clerk widened his eyes in shock.

“Isn’t that something only His Majesty Leohart…”

“If you tell anyone that I bought this bottle of perfume, it would cause trouble for His Majesty…it would probably cause the most trouble for this store, as well as yourself.”

But—

“As long as you remain tight-lipped, and don’t ask any questions, then nothing will happen, and you won’t have to worry about anyone getting angry. When you do the books, discreetly write the date that this bottle of perfume was bought before the recall date, and then forget about this. This is for the good of yourself and the store.”

“……I understand.”

Lars took the paper bag from the store clerk with a tense facial expression as he paid for it, and then left the shop.

“Seriously…why am I doing something like this.”

He then sighed in complaint as he stepped onto the road outside the shop towards the castle. Basara had requested the maids supervising the guest house to obtain for him — the bottle of peculiar perfume that was no longer available for circulation on the market that was now in Lars’ hands. The problem was, as a human, Basara was unlikely to be able to understand the perfume of the Demon Realm; Maria or Zest had a possibility of knowing, but if that was the case, they would have specified the correct item. Moreover, Basara’s request itself was very strange — as long as the shop previously sold the incense that was used in Zolgear’s playground, or the perfume that was used by the women inside, then he wanted to buy the perfume that suddenly halted production after Zolgear died from them — that was the request that he had mentioned. Normally speaking, the Current Demon Lord Faction had no need to satisfy their enemy’s request like this, but Basara and the others were currently VIPs under Leohart’s hospitality. He had also said previously that they should freely mention if there were any inconveniences; such as preparing anything that they needed, so they feared disgracing themselves now. Balthier was correct, Lars, who had long been seeking revenge against Zolgear naturally performed a detailed investigation of his playground; so he not only knew of the store that satisfied the requirement, but also joined as a member during his investigation. Originally, Balthier was reluctant to let Lars fetch the item that Basara wanted, worried about contact between them, but that was all he could do. Lars joined the membership in order to investigate Zolgear; using his real name would allow him to be found easily, and falsely using the name of another noble could spark further investigations between them, so he registered with a pseudonym. If this wasn’t left to Lars who had made transactions with them in the past, and he simply sent maids or other subordinates, it would likely arouse the store’s wariness, and they might have refused to bring out the problematic goods which were urgently recalled. But—

…What is that guy Basacchi trying to do?

Lars stepped onto the stone pavement as he thought about the true intentions of Basara. Basara had a Master-Servant contract with the others based on the succubus’ magic, and they could increase their combat strength by deepening the relationship between master and servant. Basara should be busy with the final sprint right now, causing Mio and the others to be more submissive, so perhaps he wants to use the special items that were used by Zolgear as a symbol of lust to add to the fun — that was the speculation that Luca made after hearing about the matter. The probability of that was indeed not zero. When Lars cooperated with Basara to defeat Zolgear, he had seen him at the time with eyes as cold as absolute zero; he knew that once he was set on particular goal, he was someone who would do anything.

…But.

No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think things were so simple. Zolgear was the enemy that Mio hated, so using the same items that he used, let alone making Mio submit, he was afraid that it would actually have serious adverse effects. Although he may have wanted it to provoke an even stronger curse effect, making her yield even more thoroughly—

…No.

By using Zolgear’s items, it was likely to even cast a shadow across Zest’s mind whereby she would recall the past. She currently had a Master-Servant contract with Basara, so she would definitely have wanted to forget everything about her past with Zolgear — and would even want those memories to be erased, so Basara probably wouldn’t want her to remember those kinds of things.

…Moreover.

Even if he really chose to do that, if he needed the help of that item no matter what, then Zest should be able to understand his request; and Sheera would be able to use the information that she provided to produce an identical product. Because — the incense and perfume that Zolgear used in his playground was a product that was prepared many years ago by the succubus with the greatest reputation, Sheera; if there really was a need for it, he would have asked Sheera to prepare it for him before they set off. After coming here willingly, and taking the risk that it could be mixed with poison by the enemy, it shows that—

…It can’t be wrong.

That was the message that Basara sent out — but the target was not Lars, rather, it was Takigawa Yahiro whom he previously cooperated with. However, the deliberate designation of ‘perfume no longer in circulation’ made Balthier think that this request was related to the decisive battle the day after tomorrow, so it was highly unlikely that Balthier would allow Lars to give the perfume directly to Basara; moreover, the components of every drop would be thoroughly examined before it was handed over, in order to investigate the ideas or intentions of Basara and the others, and whether or not Lars could be retained as an undercover spy. …But.

Basara should also have known that something like this would happen. In this way, his true purpose is…

“—Oh?”

Just when Lars began thinking about it more deeply, he suddenly felt a weak magic response from his breast pocket, so he put his hand into his breast pocket. What he removed, was a black mobile phone. Because there was a special magic chip installed into the battery, it could also be used normally in the Demon Realm. Balthier had asked him to hand it over so as to prevent him from contacting Basara, so in the end, what he handed over was a disguised counterfeit. Although Balthier immediately saw through it, for Lars to surrender his real mobile phone—

…But how could I show the real thing in front of him.

Lars had prepared another fake phone on him, and by handing over that second phone, he was able to evade any further questioning from Balthier. The one in Lars’ hand right now was the real mobile phone that he used to contact Basara with. Upon the LCD screen, it was evident that he had received a text message, and there was no need to look to even know who the sender was. After all, Basara was the only one who knew this number; and Basara also clearly knew, that only when the surroundings in every direction were clear, that Lars would look at his phone. Most of the contents of the short message was a request for help.

“Unfortunately, Basacchi…I don’t care what you want right now.”

Lars closed the mobile phone, and a bitter sounding voice naturally flowed out of his mouth. His current self was not Takigawa Yahiro…since he had already taken revenge on Zolgear, there was a limit to the benefits of continuing to cooperate with Basara, so it was better for him instead to lend a hand as Leohart’s comrade-in-arms. Because helping this young Demon Lord would also be an act of revenge for his parents, and to achieve a complete reform of the Demon Realm’s ambition, this was the shortest way to accomplish Lars’ current aspirations. To eradicate the Council — to eliminate all of those old bastards like Zolgear in one clean sweep, Leohart wasn’t the only one who desired this. The scum who was even far worse than Zolgear — Belphegor, it was not possible no matter how brutal the method was. If he continued to stay with the Moderates Faction, he was afraid that it would be difficult to do so. —So right now, that’s why Lars was here. He had just seen Basara’s short message. So now he could tell Leohart about its contents, and give him an advantage in the battle the day after tomorrow.

Part 11

Basara’s excitement towards Mio didn’t seem to dissipate at all no matter how many times he continued. Perhaps also because he had been holding back his desires and it finally burst out now, or perhaps Sheera’s drug was truly devastating. In the past, he just had to take a deep breath and he would become rational again, but he was still far from that right now. However — Mio seemed be in a state of charm and aphrodisiac because of Basara’s influence, and no matter how intensely she climaxed, she didn’t lose consciousness. While she continued to constantly experience a state of pleasurable climaxes, she felt unparalleled happiness from being able to submit to Basara far more than anyone else, allowing him to do whatever he pleased. In such a situation where no one could stop them, Mio was able to feel as though she had been thoroughly trained by Basara even more—

“Ahmm! …Haa, mmm…ahh! Onii-chan…fwaa, onii-chan — fwaaaa ♥”

And currently — in the bathroom that had become more like a bedroom, Mio rode on top of Basara’s waist and began to promiscuously writhe her hips with an expression as if she was in a trance. Basara’s hands instinctively grabbed her breasts, while his penis was naturally inserted into Mio’s underwear. —In the two hours that they had been inside the bathroom for, Basara’s wild desire for Mio never stopped for even a moment. During this period, a golden glow constantly veiled these two people. Their Master-Servant relationship and combat strength had evolved a countless number of times. Initially, it was Mio who was continuously and unilaterally stimulated by Basara until she climaxed, but now the pleasure had melted her consciousness, and she took the initiative to please Basara. She slipped her hands into her underwear to wrap around Basara’s penis as if she were holding it, while she repeatedly moved her own hips along with Basara’s upward motion. They aggressively moved up and down against each other with wet sounds. If there was even a slight mistake in the angle, it was a dangerous activity which would cause them to accidentally go over the final line if they weren’t careful…but with Basara’s immense size, it wasn’t so easy to enter the body of Mio, who was still a virgin.

…That’s right.

That’s why Mio didn’t worry, and continued to indulge in swinging up and down, and to maximise her ecstasy, she moved her hips with her opening rubbing against her underwear with the best angle for friction; whenever Basara’s thick rod brushed past the lips of Mio’s pussy, the excitement and pleasure of the two people instantly soared.

“——!”

“! —Fwaaaaaaaaaaaa ♥”

At the same time that Basara ejaculated, Mio also climaxed fiercely on top of his waist as she stiffened. The two of them filled her underwear with their secretions, and while she was naturally stimulated by the throbbing of Basara’s penis, she let out a wild moan.

“Mmm…mmm…haaa, fwaaa…mmm…!”

Mio arched backwards as she fell, and Basara immediately let go of her breasts, but moved to seize her buttocks, pulling her towards himself, whereby he took her left breast nipple towards his mouth.

“!…Ahh! Fwaaaa…♥”

Basara naturally put it into his mouth, causing Mio to moan out, forgetting that she was even sitting on top of him. Her hips involuntarily twitched, because Basara had moved his hands around behind her, underneath her panties to grope her, and his fingers were deeply touching her buttocks. Every time her buttocks which had been squeezed into a vulgar shape moved, her underwear slipped down a bit, gradually increasing the exposure of her buttocks. It was just a matter of time before they came off entirely.

…If we keep going, we’ll…

We may really cross the final line that we shouldn’t cross…while Mio was immersed in the pleasure of Basara sucking on her nipple, she thought about what could happen next. —Of course, Mio didn’t wish to do that. Because as soon as she gave her virginity to Basara, it was possible that she would lose the power within her body.

…But.

If Basara wanted it, she wouldn’t deny it herself…in Mio’s mind, she held such certainties. Naruse Mio would undoubtedly accept Toujou Basara. Not long afterwards, the moment that her underwear slid down to her thighs — the elastic on the right side suddenly snapped.

…Eh…

The instant that she realised this fact — Naruse Mio was invaded by a strong sleepiness.

…Strange, I wouldn’t be…

She wasn’t wrong…the drug that Basara took which had the effect of an aphrodisiac and charm also stopped. Mio’s body and mind remembered all of the fatigue that she had accumulated up until now. —The underwear of Naruse Mio and the others’ was prepared by Sheera. Perhaps, she foresaw that they might cross the final line, and so she prepared some sort of ‘insurance’ beforehand.

“Basara—…”

Even though her consciously quickly faded, Mio still called out the name of her master whom she was so obedient to.

“…It’s okay.”

Basara’s mouth let go of Mio’s breast, and moved towards her ear. That voice belonged to the usual Basara that she was familiar with — which is why she closed her eyes with peace of mind. At the same time, she also forgot about the feelings of jealously that she had recently harboured about catching up to Yuki and Zest. And even right now, she was able to express the feeling that she was able to do everything that she could do for this youth who was more important than anyone else, but she forgot that as well. All she could feel was a small happiness from being able to monopolise his warmth during this time.

Then — a few minutes later.

“……Huwaa.”

Basara returned to the bedroom with the fainted Mio in his arms, and then laid her down on the bed. The girls that Toujou Basara cherished, snuggled in bed with each other, sleeping together like a ball.

“———”

Basara naturally relaxed upon seeing this scene, as he watched their sleeping faces. They were very important to himself — the people whom he had vowed to protect. A group of young girls who were like family. But—

“……Come.”

That peaceful expression soon disappeared. It was because the mobile phone placed at the bedside stand notified him of a new message he had received. Thus he unlocked the mobile phone with fingerprint authentication and a special aura wave. And with ice cold eyes — an expression that he absolutely would not reveal in front of his cherished girls, he began to read the contents of the message.

Chapter 3: Contenders for the Future

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…

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—]

Part 2

After Mardones had made his announcement about the beginning of the battle.

Leohart turned around and walked back to the rest area of his side. However, Mio did not do the same as him, instead, she remained motionless upon the stage.

…So their vanguard is Naruse Mio huh.

Leohart had already gained an understanding of Mio and the others’ objective in coming to the Demon Realm based on Lars’ report. If Mio was to fight as a representative of the Moderates faction, and also use this decisive battle as an opportunity to escape from the shackles of the Demon Realm’s political conflicts, it was best for her to avoid facing Leohart at the end. If the daughter of the previous Demon Lord was to face off against the current Demon Lord, it would inevitably appear to be a battle for the Demon Lord’s throne in the eyes of the audience. If she was to win, she would be proclaimed as the new Demon Lord; but if she was to lose, she would be criticised for having ‘shamed the reputation of the great Demon Lord Wilbert’.

…However.

The Moderates faction should have known that the Current Demon Lord faction would choose Leohart as their last combatant. If Mio wanted to reduce her presence, let alone the final battle, she should have avoided the most prominent first battle as well; it would have been better for her to take the second, third, or even later positions in which the outcome of the fight would have less impact on the overall battle.

…Is it because ‘this is her fight’?

To fight in order to prevent oneself from being dragged into further conflicts — despite the contradiction in that, it felt as if Mio’s faith and determination in this decisive battle both ran deep. —But that alone was not worth admiring. It was not the case that she had unshakable faith. Which is why, when he stepped into the passageway towards his rest area, Leohart said

“…Are you shivering?”

“N-No…I’m fine.”

The person who replied to Leohart was tightly clenching his fist. This was the youth who was acting as the front-runner for the Current Demon Lord faction — Luka. However, his expression and his reply were at odds with each other, for upon his childlike face was a nervousness that could not be concealed. This was natural, and Luka clearly understood the importance of the front-runner in this decisive battle. Tension and fear…these two emotions had definitely snowballed together within him. Thus Leohart gently pressed his hand on top of his shoulder as he said

“Luka…although you may be young, your knowledge on magical research can already be said to be at an expert’s level in the Demon Realm. Not only do I, but Balthier, Lars, and even Gardo all recognise your ability.”

“……!”

After Leohart stated the truth with a serious expression, Luka couldn’t stop his entire body from trembling. This helped him to eliminate his unnecessary tension, but it didn’t make him let go of the sense of responsibility that was generated in his mind — for this battle. Then, Leohart once again enthused Luka as their eyes met with each other.

“Do you think that the you that we trust in…is worse than the girl who simply inherited the power of the previous Demon Lord?”

“…N-No. I certainly don’t. Leohart-sama!”

Although the first affirmation was weak…the second one was loud and clear. As Luka raised his head and looked towards the stage, a new expression was present upon his face.

“I will definitely win…!”

The Luka who said this as he walked towards the stage no longer appeared to be a mere boy. Rather, as he marched steadily onto the battlefield, he looked like a true warrior.

Part 3

Naruse Mio looked towards her opponent in this decisive battle — while the current Demon Lord’s vanguard set foot onto the stage. It was a boy whose appearance seemed as tender as Maria. —Having said that, Mio wouldn’t underestimate her opponent based on appearances alone. The appearance of a demon wasn’t always aligned with their age, so youth and cute looks didn’t necessarily mean that one was weak. Yet — from this youth who stood before her, the atmosphere and stance that he exuded did not appear to give off the feeling that he was particularly strong. His hands carefully held onto a large book similar to a dictionary which seemed like his weapon; but he seemed to have difficulty even holding it, so it would be somewhat cumbersome if used as a weapon and he also had fairly large openings in his stance. After Mio subconsciously carried out such an analysis, she was reminded again that this was the front-runner that the current Demon Lord had chosen, so she cautiously asked

“…So you’re my opponent?”

The youth facing her immediately answered with a

“Yes.”

“—However, the one you are fighting is not actually me.”

After declaring that, the youth opened the book with his right hand, and at the same time, not far away — a magic circle appeared upon the floor of the stage. The thing that slowly began to emerge from it caused a wave of exclamation to ensue from the audience. The first thing to appear was an enormous head…followed by thick, muscular shoulders, a torso, and finally, the even sturdier-looking lower body and feet. At last, Mio’s ‘opponent’ appeared before her eyes in its entirety. Mio knew exactly what it was, because she had seen similar things during the defensive battle against the Current Demon Lord faction in Wildart City a few days ago, only its appearance and size differed.

“Heroic Spirit…”

After Mio whispered that name under her breath—

“Indeed. However, this Heroic Spirit and the ones that were used to attack you the other day are different. Naturally, it is different from the high-level spirits that were used by those who were sent by the Council. It will not passively follow plain commands, it is capable of thinking of tactics to suit the situation and implementing them autonomously as a high-level warrior spirit…in the records of the era of the Demon God War, there have only been a few of these.”

The youth who stood before the great spirit continued.

“I used all of my knowledge and experience to forge a contract with it…although you might think that it is cheap of me not to take you on personally.”

Upon hearing this, Mio said to the youth with slightly closed/narrowed eyes

“I don’t care…you are also fighting with your own strength.”

Just like how Basara used his speed, Maria used her power, and Yuki used her various techniques, Mio also used her own magic to fight; and so this youth before her was simply using his knowledge as a weapon. If that was called cheap, then it denied all battles that involved abilities. So, Mio did not mind. Then — after both sides had confirmed their opponents and were ready to begin the battle, the entire ring transformed into another dimension just like Mardones had described. The familiar scenery was part of their daily lives, it was also the starting point of where they had once fought against the Hero Tribe in the past — it was the nearest station square from the Toujou household and Hijirigasaka Academy. It was evening. Aside from Luka, who was not actually fighting, Mio, and the enormous spirit that towered above her like a building, there was no one else in this dimension, all that existed were the shadows of false motorists as they drove along the road. Rather than a copy of the station itself, it seemed to be a copy of the entire situation.

“I see.”

Naruse Mio quietly expressed her understanding. The stable and peaceful daily life that she enjoyed was interrupted by the Current Demon Lord faction who were after the power that she had inherited from Wilbert because they thought of her as a threat that had to be ruled out; in some ways, fighting with a spirit here was more meaningful than anywhere else. After feeling satisfied by this stage for their battle, a sound echoed throughout the station’s modern square. It was from the large gong at the side of the arena — a signal for the beginning of the battle. Then—

“——”

[——]

Mio and the enormous spirit began moving at almost the same time. In order to widen their distance, and so that she could prepare more powerful offensive magic, the first thing that Mio did was use flight magic, whereas the first step that the spirit naturally took was an attack that utilised its enormous body to the limits — it thrusted its bulky fist out. —However, the spirit did not go for a straight jab, rather, it drew out a curved hook. Thus it sacrificed the shortest possible distance and took slightly longer, but more than made up for that in its second attack.

“!——”

Upon seeing it, Mio gasped whilst flying in mid-air via magic. The spirit’s hook punch had hit its target — not Mio, but the lofty building in front of her. Following the sound of the collapse of the building, a sea of shattered glass and debris was flung forwards toward Mio due to the impact, and everything around her was instantly consumed. Then, after that stunning wide-area attack — was a follow-up by the spirit’s massive right fist. Isolated outside the dimension of the battle, Luka saw it in that very instant. A stream of the dimension that the battle was occurring in was projected onto the stage, showing the scene of the debris and dust that submerged Mio, as well as the fist of the spirit that chased after her, resulting in an explosive and earth-shattering noise which caused the city of the human realm — the entire area to be razed to the ground. As the audience witnessed this scene, and also because of the impact that seemed akin to a meteor striking the earth, they became euphoric and shouted endlessly in excitement.

“………”

Despite the cheers of the crowd from all directions, only Luka’s expression remained serious. Although he did not possess any combat strength on his own, he had keen eyesight which allowed him to clearly see — something had flown out of the cloud of debris just before the spirit’s fist levelled the square in front of the station. The projection was still showing the site of the original incident, and showed the body of the spirit that had turned towards something in the distance — Naruse Mio, who flew through the purple sky at high speed. Even if she had been engulfed in the shockwave and debris, she appeared unharmed. Not only that, her clothing didn’t have the slightest trace of having been dirtied. Although it was not known how she had done it, it was clear that she had gotten away unharmed from that attack. But—

“—It’s not over yet.”

As Luka whispered, the projection returned to show the spirit. It pulled its fist out from the ground as it slowly stood up, and then turned towards the north-eastern corner.

[——]

And then it narrowed its eyes — tightly locking on to the flying enemy that remained within its sight as it curled its body forwards. It was preparing for the next pursuit. Naruse Mio continued flying away from the source of the explosion towards the horizon. She was able to escape from the shockwave of the building’s debris thanks to this flight magic. —However, she did not get out in time before the debris swallowed her. At that time — the instantaneous shockwave’s area was too vast, and it was necessary to get away from that debris as soon as possible. If she simply used flight magic to ascend, the debris and shards of glass would have certainly collided with her and she would be hurt all over, but she didn’t temporarily suspend her flight magic to create a barrier either — if she did do something like that slowly, she would have been crushed by the spirit’s fist so hard that not even any residue would remain. A shield made in that brief amount of time would not have been able to defend against that enormous spirit’s attack. So she continued to chant flight magic, and cast it — not on herself, but on the surrounding atmosphere, which successfully transformed it into a powerful gust of wind, and by wrapping herself in this wind, she was able to borrow its momentum to safely escape from the site of the impact.

“!…I’ve finally succeeded in finding cover.”

Mio let out a sigh of relief. She had chosen an area outside of the shockwave generated by the spirit’s destruction of the station — and descended into a station three stops away. Chanting powerful offensive magic whilst also casting flight magic required more time; in a situation where she had lost her concentration, she was unable to draw out that power. By stopping in a moving train, she would be able to focus on chanting offensive magic whilst moving away from the spirit at the same time. Luckily, Mio had landed on an express train. This dimension had faithfully reproduced the situation of the real world, thus the next station that it would stop at would be six stations away; it was faster than an ordinary car and would be able to increase her distance away from the spirit. She could not let go of this opportunity.

“——”

Thus, Naruse Mio immediately began chanting offensive magic. However, a large figure was still in the far corner of her vision, now bent down up in a crouching position. What did it want to do…that question was answered as soon as it was asked. Like a beast, it unleashed the power that it had stored within its body in an instant, and charged towards its prey with explosive energy. As she felt a slight tingling sensation on her skin, the premonition she had became a reality. The spirit had levelled everything that stood before it to the ground with one punch…yet its legs seemed far more powerful than its arms; so when those legs exerted their full power against the ground, that large mass instantly flew off with a frightening rocket-like speed. In the blink of an eye, that enormous body flew through the debris, parallel to the tracks over the river on the southern side. It charged in a straight line towards the city, approaching the express train that Mio was on.

“…Damn it!”

Mio hastily cast her explosion magic. The magic circle unleashed a torrent of flames that burned through the atmosphere and landed a direct hit on the spirit’s head — amidst the sound of the violent explosion, the rest of the spirit’s body became engulfed in flames.

“—?”

However, Mio widened her eyes in amazement. Even though her magic had struck its head directly, its speed didn’t decrease at all and it continued to charge towards the source of the inferno. Of course, that blow was only meant to delay it, but Mio hadn’t reduced her firepower, and the spirit’s head should have been damaged severely. She did not expect that—

[——]

Not only did the spirit continue to move, but the parts of the spirit’s head which had been damaged restored itself in an instant, almost as if time itself had been reversed.

“How could…!”

It was truly an incredible recovery rate. The spirits that attacked Wildart City could be temporarily immobilised with an attack to the head, which is why Mio aimed for its head directly…being able to recovery so quickly under such circumstances basically meant that it had an immortal body. There was no time to be surprised though, the spirit was quickly charging through the horse racing track alongside the road like a hot knife through butter — as soon as it caught up to the last carriage, one sweep of its arm would knock the whole train over.

“Haahh—!”

Mio jumped backwards, and at the same time, she cast wind magic. Following a sharp metallic sound, the gales of wind sheared the connection between the carriages apart — soon after that, the carriages following the fifth one that she had originally gotten on at were detached and fell off to the side with a ‘clang’. After narrowly avoiding that situation, the distance between Mio and the spirit had also been increased slightly, thus she immediately began to chant offensive magic—

[——]

But the spirit did not seem to care that the train that Mio was on was further beyond its reach, and continued with its next move. It cupped its left hand and continued to move it as if digging a hole — but before it actually began digging into the ground, it grabbed onto a particular thing. It was the train track. It was too late by the time that she realised that it was bad; the spirit pulled the tracks from the surface in an instant, catapulting Mio and the express train that she was into the air.

“!—”

This forced Mio to temporarily change her offensive magic into flight magic, and by re-enacting what had happened the previous time, she cast magic onto the surrounding atmosphere to keep herself safe. The impact that the spirit created on the ground was akin to a giant tsunami as it pounced towards Mio in the air — facing the overwhelming impact, Mio chose her route of escape as upwards. Since she couldn’t attack right now, she had to retreat first. Thus Mio focused on flight magic, and flew in a straight line to pull away from the spirit, and in one fell swoop, she had reached an altitude of several thousand metres above the ground.

[——]

But the spirit below her suddenly crouched down again — and in the next instant, it carved out a crater in the asphalt road as it jumped upwards with incredible force, and was likewise able to fly up into the air without the use of magic. Like this, the enormous body thrust itself upwards from the ground and gradually approached her at a pace even faster than flight magic.

…There are still other ways…!

She absolutely could not lose — that was what Mio impatiently thought. Of course, this was a set of duels, so even if she did lose, it would still count as a victory to Mio if the others were able to win.

…But.

Basara and the others came here of their own volition. If she lost, and had to rely on their help…no matter how much she wanted to stay together with Basara and the others, she would not be able to raise her head alongside them. In the face of this desperate situation, the thought of liberating Wilbert’s power flashed across her mind. However—

…I definitely cannot do that!

Just as she had declared to Leohart, this was her own fight. As soon as she used Wilbert’s power here, it would mean that this was a battle between the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction — the previous Demon Lord against the Current Demon Lord. Everyone wanted to help unshackle Mio from the fate of being the Demon Lord’s daughter, and from the political calculations of the Demon Realm; they were willing to lend their strength…they were even risking their lives to accompany her. Mio could not betray their intentions.

…Basara…!

Facing the spirit that was getting closer by the second, Mio recalled the youth who was more important to her than anyone else. —Late last night, Basara left the guest house on his own and did not return. She did not want to think about what the consequences would be if he was discovered to have taken individual action whilst in enemy territory. Mio and the others were worried about Basara’s safety, and had asked him to bring one of them along, but Basara insisted on acting along until the end, and remained firm on that.

[For the sake of this battle, there is one thing that I absolutely must do.]

That was all Basara had said before he asked Maria to hypnotise the guard maids while they were cooking, and ask them for information on the structure of Lundvall Castle and its guard configuration. He simply said

“I’ll do my best to come back before dawn”

He set off to take advantage of the night — but in the end, he did not return. Even though the sun had risen high — and the battle had begun, he was nowhere to be seen. According to Maria, the master-servant contract would immediately lose effect upon the master’s death, so as servants, Mio and the others would definitely notice; and so, they could confirm whether Basara was alive at the very least. As for the tracking ability, it was the same as Sheera had said; because the level of their master-servant contract had improved, they would not be able to sense Basara’s location so long as he refused. If that really was the case, it would mean that Basara’s consciousness was still normal, so there was no need to be too worried; but if Basara was inside a special barrier such as the one at Zolgear’s hideout, the effects of the master-servant contract would be nullified, and it would be hard to say whether he was safe or not. Moreover, that man on the Council called Mardones knew that Basara was not present. Basara was able to use [Banishing Shift], and that was a threat to them. If they found out that Basara had ventured out on his own, it was highly possible that they would seize the opportunity to ambush him. But—

…Basara will definitely be fine!

Naruse Mio’s trust in Toujou Basara was unshakable. Basara had also told Mio and the others what to do in case he did not return. Basara being the finisher, and Mio acting as the front-runner were all pre-arranged things. So — he wouldn’t be an exception this time either, he would definitely return. In this regard, Mio was certain. If Basara returned and what awaited him was the bad news of their team’s loss—

“If I disgrace myself here, how can I ever look him in the eye…!”

Basara had once said that when faced with life and death not to worry about the meaning of the battle, it was more important to stay alive, and even if she did have to use Wilbert’s power, she had to live on. Thus — along with Naruse Mio’s cry, she released the power that was within her. As the spirit soared through the air towards Mio with its fist prepared, Luka believed that he had obtained victory.

…She will die.

In the face of the attacking spirit that had such immense strength and dominance, Mio’s defences were paper-thin in comparison. Even if she was somehow able to escape the first hit, the spirit would simply continue to attack until a winner was decided. Sooner or later, Mio would eventually reach a junction where she would not be able to evade or defend, and even if she counterattacked, Luka’s spirit was able to regenerate its wounds instantaneously — as long as she used the power that she had inherited from Wilbert, she could use gravitational magic to crush it into a patty; on the other hand, if Mio showed any openings during her attack, the spirit instead would completely crush her.

…If possible.

Luke hoped that she would take the initiative to surrender before that. Leohart did indeed want to get hold of Mio’s power, but not by killing her. Although Leohart publicly declared that Wilbert’s only daughter who had inherited the power of her father was a great threat that could not be ignored, his true purpose was to obtain the so-called strongest power of the previous Demon Lord so that he could use it as a trump card against the Council. Once he succeeded in doing that, the Demon Realm would be unified by absorbing the Moderates faction. In order to achieve the latter, it was necessary for Mio to survive. Hence, Leohart immediately replaced Zolgear after he ignored his task when he tried to kill her, and chose the spy, Lars, whom the Moderates faction had sent as her new monitor and bodyguard to keep her safe. Even in doing so, it greatly increased the risk of the Moderates faction bringing Mio to the Demon Realm to endorse her as the new Demon Lord. When Leohart received the order from the Council to attack Wildart City with the spirits, he still asked Gardo to protect Mio’s life as much as possible. This was because Leohart himself — also felt a pain in his heart towards Mio who originally lived and grew up in the human realm, but lost both of her parents simply because she was the daughter of the former Demon Lord and was forced onto the path of revenge. Even so, Luka could not intentionally allow his opponent to win in front of the Council. Having come so far already, he could not allow the Council to use such faults as excuses. So — Luka did not control the spirit. And in that moment, the spirit threw out a right punch that was enough to turn Mio into dust.

“Eh—…?”

In that instant, Luka let out an exclamation of surprise. Just before the spirit’s colossal right fist struck Mio — from the fist to the elbow, the entire lower arm had vanished as if it had been instantly vaporised.

“That is…”

In the projection that displayed the dimension that the battle was occurring in, Naruse Mio’s body glowed red, and was emanating a red aura.

“—How could it be?”

Although the spirit began to regenerate immediately, its speed couldn’t keep up at all…the spirit didn’t even have a chance to repair its flesh as it seemed to be eroded by the red aura that Mio was radiating, and it’s body continually evaporated and disappeared.

[——]

The spirit then thrust out its other fist, but that wasn’t able to touch Mio either, as it disappeared before her as if it had been vaporised. The kick from its right leg suffered a similar fate, causing the gigantic spirit to lose its balance, and it crashed down into the city with a loud sound like a clap of thunder.

“The spirit’s body and self-healing ability have both been eliminated by her…?”

While Luka stared at the projection and murmured in shock, Mio landed in front of the spirit. The choice that Mio made when put into that desperate situation was not to use Wilbert’s gravitational magic. But the power that she possessed on her own. —In the past, Mio had also used this power when she destroyed Zolgear’s right arm. Now, her master-servant relationship with Basara was far deeper than it previously was, so she was able to instantly unleash her own strengthened power. And the result of that was the spirit that lay before her, unable to get up from the ground. The red aura encased around Mio also caused the very space around her to become unstable.

“…I know that you also have certain goals for which you must win.”

Mio extended her right arm out towards the spirit before her, and said to Luka, who was presumably watching this scene unfold from the broadcast on the stage

“But it’s very unfortunate — because I need to return to see Basara with my head held up high.”

At the same time, the red aura that she released swept from the feet to head of the spirit — destroying that gargantuan body without a single trace.

Part 4

In another lounge for the representatives of the Moderates faction, separate from the one that Mio and the others were using.

“—It seems like the outcome has been decided.”

After Lucia saw the change that had occurred in the battle dimension that Mio was in, she stated the results of the first duel. At that time, the projection device in the lounge showed Luka, who knelt down motionlessly on the floor of the arena, as well as Mio, who had safely exited the dimension of the battle.

“………”

And Lucia’s master, Ramsas, simply watched the projection of Mio, and didn’t say a word.

“How wonderful…that makes it a win. It is important to defeat the vanguard in a battle.”

There was someone who seemed relieved as they replied in the place of Ramsas to Lucia, whose words had almost become a soliloquy. It was the girl who had voluntarily accompanied Ramsas and Lucia to the territory of the Current Demon Lord faction — the maid Noel. Noel was the childhood friend of Lars, with whom she had grown up in the same orphanage…she was still unable to believe that Lars had joined the Current Demon Lord faction, and so she begged Lucia to bring her along. Noel was the maid of another significant elder of the Moderates faction, Klaus; since Klaus was in opposition to Ramsas in the way that they treated Mio, Lucia originally had no need to allow this from her. But, the work that Noel did under Klaus was not something that she had a say in, the feelings she had for Lars were genuine, and in addition to all that, Mio and the others had also asked Lucia to take care of her — after Lucia obtained permission from Ramsas and Klaus, she brought Noel along as an assistant. Since they were both representatives of the Moderates faction in this war, Noel shared the workload for some of the tasks that were required for assisting Ramsas. Presently, Lucia was watching the projection on the wall, while Noel poured a new cup of tea for Ramsas in the corner of her vision. The display switched to show Mio returning to the lounge through the passageway as she gradually moved further away.

“My Lord, how about taking this opportunity to speak with her for a while…?”

Despite being aware that she would most likely not receive an answer, Lucia still asked.

“…There is no need for that.”

Although Ramsas’ reply was brief, the tone conveyed by it was serious. Indeed, perhaps from his point of view, he simply needed to continue staring at her performance. Even the tea that he liked the most was left untouched. …It really is cruel.

This was the path that ‘he’ had chosen. While Lucia was not present, Ramsas seemed to have spoken about a lot with Jin and Sheera — it was not known what kind of result this was in his eyes. Just as Lucia plunged herself into these deep thoughts, Ramsas watched the projection on the wall as he asked

“…Has that guy’s son returned yet?”

“Not yet…there has been no news so far, I’m afraid…”

Lucia had heard about Basara’s disappearance from Mio and the others rather early. When the format was changed to a seven-on-seven duel, Lucia was almost forced to compete on behalf of the Moderates faction, and under the circumstances of Basara’s disappearance, it was very probable that Ramsas himself would take to the stage.

“Is that so…of all the nice things he’s said, the result is that only his mouth is powerful.”

In response to Ramsas’ disdainful words, Lucia made a rare objection

“…Wouldn’t it be alright to delay your judgement of Basara-san until a bit later?”

Although Ramsas did not have a good impression of Basara, Lucia still said that for Basara.

“At the very least, that boy has protected Mio-sama until now…not only did he help her defeat Zolgear, he also repelled the spirits sent by the Current Demon Lord faction several days ago. It should be harmless to agree with him on this part.”

The reply that she received was—

“……Is that also the case for Maria?”

In response to Ramsas’ low murmur, Lucia said

“Yes…that child is also one of the people that Basara-san has saved, and I believe it is also similar for Yuki-san, Kurumi-san, and Zest. Basara-san’s movements are unknown for the time being, but they are still fighting for us as representatives of the Moderates faction without any complaints; Mio-sama has taken up the responsibility of being our front-runner, and they have successfully secured our first victory. Mio-sama only has her current fighting potential because Basara-san is partially responsible for that; I don’t think it would be too late to make your judgement of him until the battle is over.”

This time, Ramsas did not answer at all. He simply continued to watch the projected image on the wall in silence. After the defeated Luka and Mio both disappeared into the passageways of their respective rest areas — the Moderates faction’s next representative appeared. A full crowd of boos were directed towards that young succubus, but Lucia stared at the projection, and cheered for her in her heart.

—Make it a good fight, Maria.

After Maria set foot onto the stage — her opponent appeared very soon afterwards. The next representative of the Current Demon Lord faction was the youth who called himself Takigawa Yahiro in the human realm. Everyone present in the room knew who he was.

“Lars…”

For Noel, who knew him the most, she sadly recited the name of her childhood friend as she watched the projection.

Part 5

Upon the stage, the next representatives of the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction faced each other.

“So my opponent is you huh…”

“That seems to be the case, please go easy on me.”

Naruse Maria looked at the flippant youth with relaxed shoulders in front of her without hesitation. —The Moderates faction could be further divided into two major factions, one of them was Ramsas’ faction which hoped that Mio would relinquish Wilbert’s power, whereas the other side was Klaus’ faction which hoped to use Mio to revive the Moderates faction as the new Demon Lord faction. Maria and her sister Lucia both belonged to Ramsas’ faction, and at first they did not know that Klaus was harbouring Takigawa — Lars. Of course, in terms of the nature of his secret task of infiltrating the Current Demon Lord faction, although Maria was Mio’s bodyguard, she was still only a front-line combatant, and naturally didn’t know about Lars’ existence; as for those who knew the truth about the situation such as the leader Ramsas and other high-ranked members like Lucia, they did not communicate this information to Maria, a sign that they didn’t think it was needed. Hence, Maria did not feel deceived, and because Lars had cooperated with Basara during the incident with Zolgear to rescue the imprisoned Sheera, she actually felt grateful towards him.

…But.

Since she was now facing him with the identity of an enemy, those things would have to be a separate matter. After Lars dealt with Zolgear’s matter and returned to the Demon Realm, it seemed as if he had cut off his ties with the Moderates faction; the next time that he reappeared was after the spirits had attacked Wildart city, to rescue Gardo, who had been captured by the Moderates faction, hence there was no room for any excuses. Yet, Maria still wanted to ask

“Did you betray our Moderates faction, and turn over to the Current Demon Lord faction because you have fulfilled your revenge against Zolgear?”

Noel, who had grown up together with Lars had once told Maria about her feelings for Lars, and that there had to be a reason for his move to the Current Demon Lord faction. After Maria asked that question in the place of Noel in order to dispel her doubts—

“Hey hey hey, what’s the point of asking such a question at this point? If I told you that ‘I have my reasons’, will you go a bit easier on me? It’d be great if you could do that, as it’d help me save a lot of energy.”

“………”

Lars shrugged his shoulders as he said this, leaving Maria speechless. It was entirely within expectations. Since the youth standing before her had elected to assist the Current Demon Lord faction in this final showdown, it was clear that he was an enemy. Although Maria was able to understand Noel’s concerns for a friend, her support for Mio was more important than that. —So, Maria clenched her right fist, and the stage began to change at the same time. The location chosen for Maria and Lars — was a forest at night time, moreover—

“Isn’t this…”

“…So it’s here.”

The familiar scenery caused Maria and Lars to murmur at the same time. The place that they had come to was where Basara, Mio, and Yuki had once gotten entangled in a desperate battle. This was the forest in the local public park that was close to the Toujou household. Back then, Maria and the others struggled to finally defeat Lars in a four-on-one confrontation, but they were actually deceived by Lars, because he had already escaped some time ago.

…I see, so they want us to reiterate that situation.

Thus, Maria jumped and stretched lightly as she took a deep breath, while Lars remained at ease. When the ring of the gong echoed out to signify the start of the duel — both sides began to move at the same time.

Unlike Mio who pulled away right at the beginning, Maria took on a strategy that was the complete opposite. She approached her enemy with an incredible speed. Based on both of their fighting styles, this was the natural choice. Maria was a power-based melee warrior, so being at a close distance naturally meant that she would be able to make use of her potential; compared to Lars, who was able to manipulate dark spheres of magic, the further the distance was between them, the more disadvantageous the situation would be for Maria. —What was most troublesome was the fact that Lars was able to freely control the quantity, power, size and speed of his dark spheres. Within the range of his magic, he was probably able to control the power and size of his dark spheres, possibly even splitting them. They were capable of both offense and defence, making him highly versatile. However, there was still a way to take away the advantage of Lars’ ability — and that was by shortening their distance. Simply by charging towards his chest, he would not be able to attack freely, and there would also be a danger to himself. Simply put, the method that Basara used to repel him last time was the best solution to dealing with Lars.

—Get as close as possible to him, and then hit him with surprise.

After she became certain of that idea, Naruse Maria put it into practice. Upon seeing her low stance as she rushed towards him—

“—I guess this isn’t very surprising.”

Lars manifested a countless number of dark spheres, and sent them flying towards Maria all at the same time. The barrage meant to delay Maria almost instantaneously moved closer.

“——!”

Maria constantly weaved through the forest in an irregular manner, using the branches as natural cover. She continued moving towards Lars without decreasing her speed, and in the moment that she came within five meters of attacking range, she pounced towards Lars.

“Jumping at a time like this…be careful not to jump into a dead-end, okay?”

Seeing Maria in mid-air with her fist raised, Lars jumped backwards; at the same time as that, he generated a giant dark sphere between them to act as a shield, obscuring her field of view. Stuck in a leap towards that location, Maria was unable to evade; but if she attacked it with her fist, it would definitely result in a large explosion that could blow herself away, and using the swing of her fist to generate a ‘soft strike’ with its shockwave was also unsuitable. Since she was unable to stop or turn back whilst in mid-air, she had no choice but to plunge herself into the range of the explosion. Even so, Maria’s expression remained calm. Just as Lars expected Maria to actively shorten their distance, Maria also understood that Lars would use such attacks. He used a countless number of dark spheres in a volley to delay her movements — even with her premature take-off, he had set up a trap for Maria, but all of this was within expectations. So, Maria thrust out her right fist —

“Yaaaaahhhhhh—!”

But she did not go all the way, she stopped roughly halfway — as if the air was her goal. In the next instant, the air that was compressed burst out in different directions with a shockwave, striking the large dark sphere that Lars was controlling, resulting in an enormous explosion that blew all of the surrounding trees away. But in actuality, the only things affected were the trees to the left and right of the sphere. The shockwaves combined to form a barrier of air, which allowed Maria to resist the impact of the explosion. —That was the technique that had previously been used by that burly demon against her. As the same kind of power-type demon, Maria had also studied it, and practised to turn it into this as a secret weapon.

“Don’t try to run—!”

Maria immediately charged towards the other side of the explosion, where she found Lars standing before her, and so she immediately stretched her leg back, and mercilessly swung her leg towards Lars with a spinning kick. Her target was the right side of his head. Her right foot impacted him with a solid blow.

“……I didn’t imagine that you would use Valga’s technique.”

But, the voice that Maria heard from him remained calm. Lars had simply raised his right arm, and generated a dark sphere on the back of his forearm to block her kick. When she fought against him in the past, Maria’s punch had once broken through his defences, but that was because Lars had been careless. Maria had already grown stronger due to the activities of Basara and the others yesterday, she had absorbed a lot of excitement and pleasure to increase her own power, yet she was still unable to break through Lars’ defences; there was only one reason for this. Lars’ true power was still greater than Maria’s.

“Haah!”

Maria used her right leg as a fulcrum to bend down, and then swept her left heel up to strike against Lars’ jaw.

“—Oh?”

All Lars had to do was move his body slightly to evade this kick. —However, her response time in a melee battle would definitely not be any slower than his. Maria once again used her right leg to hook onto Lars’ right arm, using the strength of her lower body to forcibly pull him down and grab his shoulders, ready to thrust out with a single punch…but—

“!——?”

Maria had temporarily jumped towards his back from above — and at the same time, Lars’ dark spheres moved to a position that was below her original position.

…He’s actually attacking from this kind of a distance…!

Maria could not help but curse the oversight of her own thoughts. So long as there was a slight gap, Lars was able to put up a barrier, ensuring that he himself would not be affected by the explosion of the spheres. Maria’s continuous assault of blows had to go on, otherwise it would give Lars the opportunity to defend or counterattack. The last time, it was Maria’s surprise attack which had given Basara the chance to utilise his speed, and a flurry of slashes to repel him; but Maria had no one to rely on right now, so such ideas would be difficult to accomplish.

“Is this okay? —Why did you pull away from the shortened distance that you tried so hard to establish?”

Lars got up and dusted off his clothes as he said so, and at the same time — Maria paid the price for inadvertently letting the distance between them grow. Numerous dark spheres appeared in the air to surround Maria, and soared towards her simultaneously. Originally, if they were approaching Maria, or had already come close to Maria’s back, she would be able to evade them and Lars would be able to defend or evade if facing the correct direction. Maria was currently behind Lars, so such a problem did not exist. And even if Maria used Valga’s move to attack, such a technique could only be blocked from the front, it couldn’t be defended against from the back or the sides. However—

“——!”

Maria punched with her right fist — towards where her own feet were.

Lars clearly saw Maria’s right fist strike the surface of the ground. At the same time, the area of the ground that she had struck offset large amounts of rocks and gravel. —Put simply, debris alone was unable to defend against Lars’ black spheres. However, she stopped her fist just at the very instant that it touched the ground, generating a shockwave which hit the ground and rebounded with debris flying up, causing that rock and gravel to perfectly cover Maria — finally succeeding in blocking Lars’ black spheres.

…But.

During this time, Lars’ wasn’t simply standing in a daze, he further widened the distance between them. He took into account their respective abilities, speed and fighting styles; it was a safe distance that was enough for Lars to attack Maria unilaterally whilst remaining outside of her attack range. Just as he was about to make his move whilst he had this advantage, he noticed that the debris surrounding Maria had dispersed along with a burst of pink radiance from the inside. Looking closely, there seemed to be an object resembling a key inserted into the chest of Maria who was floating in mid-air.

“Hmm…”

That key appeared to be rotating in Maria’s sweetly heaving chest, and then made a crisp ‘click’ sound as if something had been unlocked — at the same time, a rose-coloured light enshrouded Maria’s entire body. Lars knew very well what had just happened before his eyes, hence—

“Hey hey…did you seriously think I would be so foolish to allow you to finish that transformation?”

After saying that with a tone of ridicule, Lars unleashed a merciless attack. An enormous dark sphere suddenly appeared over Maria’s head, and then crashed downwards almost as suddenly as it had appeared. Facing Lars’ full-powered attack, Maria simply replied with a leisurely tone

“Of course…this is the perfect countermeasure for those with shallow thoughts.”

In the next instant, as soon as Lars’ black sphere touched the rose-coloured aura surrounding Maria, it shattered into tiny fragments, and then vanished without a trace.

“How could…?”

Seeing this, Lars couldn’t help being startled. And now, Maria had already turned into a beautiful mature succubus.

“—Hoho.”

And right after revealing a soft smile — her figure suddenly vanished. Lars reflexively erected a barrier in front of himself. There was currently sufficient distance, and time to defend—

“Gaaahhh——!”

But in the next instant, Lars was struck with an intense impact, and was immediately sent flying. It was Maria’s fist that had relentlessly bored through Lars’ barrier with no regard, and landed directly onto his body.

After Maria’s punch landed a direct hit on Lars, she immediately started pursuing. Since Lars was unable to react to such a speed, and couldn’t defend against that attack—

…This will be the final attack.

Maria sped up and continued forth as she said this to herself. After being pushed away, Lars tumbled across the ground several times, and he only stopped when his back landed against the trunk of a large tree. Maria quickly closed in on him, and leaned her body forward to prepare for a straight left punch at the closest possible distance.

“Hm…!”

But Lars moved sideways and quickly avoided it. Maria’s fist stabbed into the tree trunk behind Lars, causing the mass of wood to immediately crack, the impact from that strike sent shivers down Lars’ spine whilst in mid-air when he jumped to the side. Maria immediately pursued, with both of her fists following prepared. Despite the rapid flurry of punches, each one of them carried remarkable power. It was more powerful than Lars’ barrier, its speed was also greater than his own, and her victory was almost assured. Yet—

“!……?”

Aside from the first punch which had sent him flying, he had evaded all of the attacks which followed.

…Why?

Maria thought that she had cornered her opponent, but she was beginning to develop serious concerns. At that time—

“—Ever since you turned into an adult, your strength has certainly increased to an incredible degree.”

Lars had completely seen through the method to avoid Maria’s punches, and calmly said

“But, you currently have no way to control that enormous power. Based on my observations, you have only used this transformation twice. The first time was in the human realm to save Naruse, the second time was after Basacchi eliminated the barrier around Zolgear’s hideout. So, this is the first time that you’ve been able to release your full power as a demon in the Demon Realm, right? Your thoughts are too naïve, despite having such little experience, you thought that you could use this power that you are not yet used to in actual combat and obtain a result from it. Moreover—”

His voice moved behind her.

“In order to obtain victory, you definitely must have absorbed a lot of energy by taking advantage of the time when Bassachi and the others were strengthening their Master-Servant contract, but that has actually backfired on you. Even if you are faster, if your reaction speed can’t keep up with your actions, evading is not particularly difficult.”

“! —Haah!”

Maria immediately sent a backhand swing of her fist towards the source of his voice. But this blind assault caused her a fatal injury. Maria’s fist struck Lars’ dark sphere — the next second, an explosion of light and sound occurred before her. The object that Lars had thrown towards Maria was a dark sphere in the form of a bomb. No matter how much her physical strength was enhanced in this form, her consciousness had not grown powerful enough to respond to or avoid such attacks; coupled with vision and hearing that had become more sensitive than usual, the sudden shockwave blinded her field of vision and deafened her eardrums, overwhelming her.

“—But you know, to be able to stand up like this, you’ve certainly got enough backbone.”

Before Lars’ eyes as he said that with a wry smile—

“Ngh…uh, ngh…!”

The succubus who had been directly affected by the dark sphere and subjected to a severe shock still stood up shakily; her fighting intent hadn’t yet dissipated, and she still clenched her fists with a fierce expression. But her eyes were no longer able to see Lars, and neither could she hear him.

“You really wanted to be the second consecutive win after Naruse…I’m sorry.”

Thus, while Lars said this, he struck the back of Maria’s neck with a chop of his hand. The bigger the body, the easier it was to shake the mind. Hence—

“——”

After that single strike from Lars, Maria powerlessly fell to her knees, and then flat onto the ground where she lay motionlessly.

Part 6

Gardo was currently in Lundvall Castle, watching the battle that was unfolding in the distant ancient arena. He was at the top of the west tower — in the room of Leohart’s older sister, Riara. Through the projection device that Leohart had prepared, when they witnessed the outcome of the battle—

“Mmhmm, Lars certainly did well~. he was steady unlike his opponent, right?”

With a satisfied smile on her face, Riara sought his agreement.

“Yeah.”

Gardo then nodded and continued

“That guy knows exactly how to beat his opponent, and he executed it perfectly.”

Gardo calmly commented as he watched Lars’ laidback figure exit the stage after being released from the dimension of the battle, leaving behind the fainted Maria. In terms of pure fighting prowess, although Lars could not match up to Gardo or Leohart, an important ‘headroom’ during battles could always be sensed from his body — a bottomless impression. As for Maria who had been carried off the stage by Lucia—

…Even if that succubus can master the power of adult transformation…

The majority of the outcome would not have changed, and Lars would still have used other methods to defeat her. At that time—

“Gardo…if you were to fight against Lars, could you win?”

“…I don’t know.”

If Gardo was in a complete state, he probably wouldn’t lose to Lars. However, he was unable to predict whether he would win or not. In an imaginary duel, even if he was able to corner Lars, Lars would most certainly slip away right at the critical moment…that was the result of Gardo’s speculation. When faced against a stronger opponent, escape was somewhat equivalent to victory. He simply felt that no matter where Lars was, and no matter who his enemy was, he would be able to escape with his life intact…being able to make people think in this manner was one of the things that he excelled at.

“I see…so Gardo wouldn’t be able to win so easily either~”

After Riara heard Gardo’s uncertain answer, the shape of her eyes changed, and they seemed to indicate delight.

“I once told Lars to ‘get along well with Leohart’…fufufu, is this what one would call ‘having an eye for talent’?”

“Indeed…”

This woman’s candid smile caused Gardo to naturally respond with a silent smile. In order to protect this smile, Leohart was determined to become the Demon Lord to unify the Demon Realm — despite knowing that he would be manipulated like a puppet in the hands of the Council. That’s why Gardo was currently here. —Originally, Leohart did not allow any man aside from himself into Riara’s room. But, he made an exception for Gardo to enter the room to act as ‘insurance’ in case anything was to happen.

Leohart wanted to use this decisive battle to eradicate the Council that had killed his foster parents and scourged the Demon Realm; on the other hand, the Council also wished to silence Leohart, who was becoming increasingly difficult to control. Therefore, either during or after this decisive battle, a great change more significant than the battle between the two factions would definitely take place. In Leohart’s past, the Council had murdered his foster parents while he was away on the battlefield. Worried that they would make a move on Riara at such a time again, he asked Gardo to accompany Riara until the end of the decisive battle; Gardo promptly agreed to the request so that Leohart could concentrate on fighting. Although Gardo had lost an arm and was still in the midst of recovery, if something really did happen, he still had the power to escort Riara to someplace safe.

“—Ah, it looks like the next one is starting.”

Riara’s words caused Gardo to direct his eyes back towards the projected image of the arena. The third representatives from both sides were currently on stage. The representative of the Moderates factopm appeared to be a girl who was still yet to reach maturity. A spirit magic user of the Hero Tribe — Nonaka Kurumi.

“Hmm, is that one of the members sent by the Council…do you recognise him, Gardo?”

Riara asked about the youth facing Kurumi while she looked at him with a neutral expression.

“…Yeah, I know him.”

Also looking at the same broadcast, Gardo nodded as he replied. In the middle of the stage, the person with a slight grin on his face as he sought a handshake with Kurumi was—

“He is Admirath…a subordinate of the seat of [Greed] on the Council, that which belongs to Mardones.”

Part 7

Upon the stage, Nonaka Kurumi and the high-class Demon whom she would be duelling against confronted each other.

“My name is Admirath…a pleasure to meet you.”

The handsome young man smiled as he extended his hand, gesturing towards Kurumi for a handshake.

“…Trying to get along with an enemy before fighting, is there something wrong with you?”

But Kurumi felt that it was a boring joke, and so she turned around and walked away to distance herself from him.

“—Ah, you dropped something.”

“What are you saying…—!?”

Kurumi turned around to the voice that was behind her, but was instantly startled. Because as soon as she turned around, Admirath was right in front of her, and he had grabbed her hand as if it were his prey.

“Jin Toujou’s son still hasn’t returned yet after so long, it must be worrying and troubling for you.”

“……?”

Taking advantage of their forceful handshake, Admirath stuffed a certain hard object into Kurumi’s hand.

“!—”

When Kurumi looked down to see what the object was, she could not help but gasp. The object that Admirath had given her was a button from the uniform of Hijirigasaka Academy that belonged to Basara.

“You should understand what we want, right? Please make it seem as natural as you can, so as not to let anyone find out that you’re faking it…his fate depends entirely on your performance.”

After Admirath said that to the stunned Kurumi, he calmly turned around and returned to his starting position.

“……!”

On the other hand, Kurumi was shaken and her face had gone pale.

…What can I do…!

It was likely that a threat at such a time was nothing more than a lie, but it was also a fact that Basara had yet to return. For Kurumi, this meant that she could not deny the possibility that he had fallen into the hands of the Council. If what Admirath said was the truth—

…If I don’t handle this well, then Basara will…!

Basara had told them to disregard him if he was captured. The decisive battle was most important, and Kurumi and the others had agreed. Therefore, the correct choice for her right now was to overcome the opponent in front of her with everything that she could muster. Kurumi clearly understood this…so much so that it pained her heart. But—

“——!”

Kurumi instantly materialised her gauntlet for communicating with the spirits, and through the dark element, she asked the spirits of the Demon Realm to verify whether or not Basara was safe. Though in the end, the spirits’ response was that they could not complete her request.

Upon seeing that Basara had not returned even after dawn, Kurumi had tried several times, while Mio and the others who had a master-servant contract with him were not able to sense him either. Regardless of whether Basara refused to disclose his location or had been captured, the hope that the spirits would bring good news was nothing more than wishful thinking.

…But, please, I’m begging you…!

Nonaka Kurumi still asked the spirits to search for Basara until the end of battle. For the sake of Basara, as well as Mio, whose future life would be greatly affected by this battle, this was the most that Kurumi could do. —In any case, she could not afford to lose this battle. But even if they won the decisive battle but lost Basara, it would be similarly meaningless. It was because the youth called Toujou Basara was that much of an irreplaceable existence in their hearts. Yet no matter how many times Kurumi asked, the spirits were unable to find Basara.

The relentless sound of a gong to declare the start of the battle rang out, and the space that Kurumi and Admirath were to fight in gradually appeared.

Part 8

In the lounge, Leohart watched the broadcast of what was happening on the stage.

“Galaliel Canyon huh…”

After seeing the spectacular landscape that had been constructed in the battle space, he uttered its name. Those dangerous cliffs and majestic, rocky canyons were chosen as a battlefield many times in the long history of the Demon Realm.

“There is hardly any shelter there, so attacking range and manoeuvrability are extremely important. If Luka was there, he should be able to tell us what kinds of characteristics those formations have.”

When Balthier said that—

“—What is it? Do you want me to head over to the infirmary to ask him?”

Having just finished his battle and returned, Lars was the one to ask. After Luka’s own high-level spirit was defeated, he was rather depressed, and so Leohart ordered him to rest for a while in the infirmary. Having lost this one duel, it meant that the Current Demon Lord faction had to take back at least one victory, otherwise they would have no chance of winning overall. Although Leohart had originally considered the possibility that one of his subordinates would lose, he still felt that it was unexpected. Luka had fought as a replacement for the injured Gardo, so it was hard to blame him for the shock.

“There’s no such need, now is not the time for a history or geography lesson.”

Leohart watched the broadcast intently as he said

“Also, this battlefield is not particularly beneficial to either of them.”

“Indeed. I’ve heard that that girl is a magic-type spirit user, but if you consider Admirath’s fighting style, it wouldn’t result in a handicap.”

As a testament to what Balthier said, it also occurred in the broadcast. Kurumi called forth wind magic as soon as the fight began, and she flew into the air. Admirath swept his right arm horizontally — in the middle of the magic circle that he had created on the ground, a tall Pegasus with two wings and a head of strange bones appeared. Admirath jumped onto the Pegasus’ back, and then called forth his own weapon. The luminous particles released from his left hand gradually formed into a long-handled slashing weapon, one which was able to reap any life — a giant scythe symbolising death.

“………”

Leohart looked at the young demon who smiled leisurely while mounted on the back of the Pegasus, analysing the representative that had been forcibly sent by the Council. According to the rules, it was not necessary for the Current Demon Lord faction or the Moderates faction to publish their list of representatives in advance, and within the Current Demon Lord faction, neither Leohart nor the Council had shared information on their representatives — in simple terms, this was not possible. It was because the Council refused to reveal their candidates to Leohart, and even their lounges were separate.

…The first one is Admirath huh.

Having said that, because Leohart’s trust only extended to those among his subordinates, it meant that the Council knew very well which candidates were on his side, while Leohart remained unaware of the Council’s candidates. All they knew in advance was the order in which they would fight. Admirath was once named as a candidate to become the Demon Lord, so as a high-class Demon able to compete against Leohart, it was only natural that he would be strong — that was why the Council chose him. Admirath was the third warrior, while the remaining two candidates selected by the Council were ordered as the fourth and the fifth; one of them was probably already waiting in the passageway, whilst the other one was likely watching the situation from their lounge area.

…The other two shouldn’t be too different from him.

Leohart was convinced that in this decisive battle, the only person that couldn’t lose was himself. Without a doubt, the Council that was in a tough position had also gambled their future on the outcome of this decisive battle.

Part 9

The spirit magic user Kurumi and the Pegasus rider Admirath.

As soon as the two sides began to fight, the form that the battle took was inevitable — aerial combat. Kurumi flew with magic parallel to the ground at high speed while using her right thumb and index finger in the shape of a gun to control the spirits with her gauntlet—

“Haaaaaahhh!”

She continuously fired highly compressed bullets of air from her fingertip towards the front. Within Kurumi’s vision and upon the Pegasus that galloped in mid-air, Admirath smiled as he faced the storm of air bullets — at the same time, a magic circle that appeared underneath the hooves of the Pegasus caused it to instantly accelerate, and the air bullets that Kurumi launched sprayed onto the rocks below, noisily kicking up clouds of dust. Followed by the flapping of the Pegasus’ fierce wings, it rapidly turned around and soared at a speed greater than that of Kurumi’s flight magic.

“——!”

Admirath’s assault caused Kurumi to stop firing, and instead focus on evasion. Simply moving to the left and the right would most likely not be enough to escape from the giant scythe, whilst flying upwards would only result in the Pegasus catching up to her. Hence Kurumi chose to make a quick descent, while Admirath’s giant scythe sliced at the air over Kurumi’s head with just the slightest margin. In the midst of her sudden descent, Kurumi twisted her body around and extended her left arm out to release explosive fire magic as interference which left a trail of sparks in the path that Admirath followed. The fast-moving Pegasus was unable to dodge in time, and charged into the sparks carrying Admirath — subsequently, countless chain explosions occurred which turned the surrounding atmosphere into a raging inferno. But—

“—Is that all you’re capable of?”

Admirath calmly said that, and then continued to chase her after charging through the inferno. In front of the Pegasus, a hemispherical magic circle formed.

“A magic barrier…are you a magic type?”

“No? I just happen to dislike magic so I’m only at this level.”

Kurumi asked out of surprise, only to find out that her opponent was a technique-type, and Admirath answered as if it was a natural response — like this, both of them increased the speed of their descent.

“……!”

Nonaka Kurumi glimpsed at her approaching opponent from the corner of her eye, and couldn’t help but clench her teeth. He actually dared to say that he ‘only at this level’. Under the circumstances where it was impossible to know whether or not they had really captured Basara as a hostage, how could she possibly bring out her full strength?

…But.

Kurumi hadn’t yet given up on the possibility of victory. —After being threatened by Admirath, Kurumi chose to stall for time. Regardless of whether Basara had been imprisoned or deliberately concealed his whereabouts, at the very least, he was currently in the outside world, in some place where there was a barrier against magic and abilities. Kurumi was able to control spirits, so before Basara rushed over here — she would immediately detect his presence as soon as he left that place, and she would know that he was safe. In other words—

…Even if he has been captured.

Basara would definitely try to escape. Therefore, Kurumi in turn used Admirath’s threat to ‘fake it naturally’; she believed that Basara would definitely come back as soon as possible, and the situation would change once the opponent knew that Basara was safe. After all, Admirath would also avoid any decisive moves, so as to avoid suspicion in case the victor was decided too easily. He was just going along with the current state of things, and since it was possible that Basara was actually imprisoned, he couldn’t casually make his move until Basara’s safety was confirmed.

“………”

However, her strength wasn’t able to match up to Admirath’s — although the original situation was unfavourable, it was deteriorating the more she was pressured, but Kurumi did not give up hope, and continued to courageously step forward. Even if she eventually lost, the powerful Zest was next; if she couldn’t confirm Basara’s safety for her beforehand, she would probably be coerced into the same predicament due to her loyalty for Basara. Perhaps — Kurumi was already doomed to defeat when she was threatened, but even so…she wanted Zest to be able to fight with peace of mind.

…That’s right.

Kurumi tightly clenched her fist. She couldn’t lose in vain, she had to fight until the very last moment. That was her currently her own — Nonaka Kurumi’s fight.

Part 10

Nonaka Yuki was currently watching her younger sister’s fight from the lounge of the Moderates faction. Mio had gone to the Moderates faction’s infirmary to visit the fainted Maria, while the fourth warrior, Zest, had gone to the passageway to prepare, leaving Yuki alone in the lounge. —Kurumi and Admirath’s duel had turned into an intense aerial fight. In terms of distance, Kurumi had the advantage as a magic user, but her opponent held the advantage in speed. Because Admirath was able to create robust barriers, the use of powerful magic capable of penetrating that kind of barrier would take a considerable amount of time, giving the opponent a chance to get close.

Thus, the basic structure of this battle revolved around Kurumi making use of her time to chant powerful magic, while Admirath closed their distance during those gaps to attack; the outcome of either side was hanging on that theory — by reason, that should have been the case, but—

“…Kurumi?”

The current battle situation caused Yuki to furrow her brows in confusion. —Kurumi’s evasion timing always seemed overly early. At the beginning, she thought that it was to maintain a lengthier distance just in case, but that wasn’t what was happening. If her evasion timing was a lower priority than her accumulation of power, at the very least, she should have increased the number of attacks, or done something else differently, but she wasn’t doing that. The possibility that she didn’t want to imagine subconsciously slipped out of her lips.

“She…isn’t using her full power?”

Part 11

“…There’s something strange going on.”

At this time, Leohart also noticed that something was not quite right with the battle. Aside from Admirath’s overly rapid avoidance of Kurumi’s magic attacks, he occasionally used his giant scythe to slash, while pursuing with his mount at the same time. Yet each time he only missed by a slight margin, allowing Kurumi to narrowly escape. It was as if—

…Is he deliberately allowing his opponent to escape that narrowly?

If he and his mount were to seriously assault, his speed and power would not be as simple as it was now.

…But.

Kurumi’s performance was even stranger. Based on Admirath’s fighting style, she should have first tried a strategy to reduce his mobility, but her only target was on Admirath himself; moreover, all of the magic she used was flashy, but quite monotonous. An ordinary audience would not be able to see through such contradictions, it was something that only people with a certain level of power would notice. Generally speaking, Kurumi was a member of the Hero Tribe who had come to the Demon Realm to help Mio, so she shouldn’t bear such a negative attitude. If this was justified—

“—Most likely, Admirath has made up a story about Toujou Basara’s absence to scare her.”

Lars presented a possibility.

“Something like that could be possible…Leohart-sama, do you need someone to deal with it?”

Balthier hinted to Leohart that he could take the opportunity to suspend the duel, and hold the Council responsible for it. That was a possible move to make. This decisive battle was nominally managed by the Council, so if it was revealed that their side had threatened and coerced the other side into holding a false battle, the public’s trust in the Council would surely collapse. When Leohart considered this and compared it to his original plan, the one which was easier for him to achieve his objective was—

“There’s no need — it’ll be better to watch and see how this plays out.”

Lars chuckled and then said

“We don’t have any evidence of the Council’s foul play. Even if that really is the case, this isn’t a sports game; this is a fight where each side bets on their future and justice. The desire to have an honest showdown is something that I can understand, but a psychological battle is also part of the fight. No matter what she and her opponent have said, and no matter what plans the Council and Admirath have made, if she’s been affected by something like this, then it simply means that that is her weakness. We don’t have to have too much sympathy for our enemy’s weakness, do we?”

Moreover—

“That guy is a dog of the Council, so the psychological battle that they’ve arranged may actually be there to lure us in. If we act rashly, we may fall into their trap.”

“Indeed…but, I want to know what kinds of plans the Council has first.”

“I understand — I’ll go and scout the situation.”

After hearing what Leohart had to say, Balthier nodded and said

“After all, judging by the current situation, it will still be some time before I head on stage.”

When he stepped out of the room — a change occurred in the battle between Admirath and Kurumi. Both of them were originally exchanging blows in the air, but they had now dived into cracks that existed throughout the vast and rocky canyon.

Part 12

Travelling between these rock formations was like navigating a labyrinth of narrow corridors. Because of the complex terrain, any delay in judgement could result in a deadly collision. But Nonaka Kurumi was under the guidance of the sprits as she flew at high speed throughout the canyon. —However, she was still unable to shake off Admirath who chased behind her. In order to get rid of her opponent, Kurumi flew in front and from time to time, she moved from wide open spaces into narrow slits that only she was barely able to pass through. Unfortunately, none of her feints worked on Admirath, he always remained in hot pursuit by taking the shortest path that he and his Pegasus could pass through. It was possible that the Pegasus could feel changes in the airflow, and was able to detect the terrain of the canyon in advance.

…If it was Zest…!

At such times — Zest could fly with her own wings, and use her earth magic to control the surrounding terrain to create a variety of traps or obstructions. A high-level magic user like Mio could also use wind and earth magic simultaneously — but Kurumi was unable to do that. Kurumi’s magic was activated by borrowing the power of the spirits. Earth magic and the wind magic that enabled her to fly clashed with each other. Using magic that clashed at the same time made it very easy for their abilities to cancel out, and even her flight speed would drop…she could even lose all speed and fall. She could only use the same type of wind magic, or fire or water — but this canyon was vastly dry, so it was difficult to use enough water for an effective attack, and explosive fire magic like before would not be enough to delay him.

“Then I’ll…!”

Kurumi released a large wind blade towards the front, waited for a moment, and then released numerous small wind blades in the same direction. Then — a slate of rock tens of metres wide protruding out from the rocky wall fractured, and began to fall. The myriad of small wind blades that came after it from a variety of directions sliced it apart into a countless number of one metre wide rocks that flooded down like a waterfall. It was not meant to block anything. Kurumi flew past the downpour of falling rocks that almost hit her, and then immediately twisted her body back—

“Haaah—!”

She extended both arms out in front of herself, and unleashed a powerful gale of wind towards the large number of falling rocks from both hands. The rocks that were blasted away by the powerful air currents all flew towards Admirath at the speed of a cannon shell.

“Good grief…”

Upon seeing the array of rocks that whistled as they pierced through the air, Admirath smiled wryly as he swiped his giant scythe; the resulting shock wave blew the rocks away, while the shield around him and his Pegasus blocked all of the remaining debris that fell from above. The blasted rocks hit the left and right side of the canyon walls, and set off a billow of smoke so as to impede his advance, but Admirath didn’t care. His Pegasus had already sensed the terrain and space ahead, so he did not hesitate to charge forward—

“……That’s strange?”

When he passed through the dust, there was something that surprised him. He thought that Kurumi was originally flying in front of him, but she was now almost directly below him…on the floor of the canyon. Kurumi’s right hand was on top of the gauntlet on her left hand that she used to control spirit magic, and a five-layered magic circle was prepared in front of her.

“……Ah.”

The instant that Admirath realised Kurumi’s intentions and let out an utter of admiration — the sharp clap of a thunder strike resounded throughout the air and lightning surged towards him from below.

Part 13

In that moment when she unleashed lightning magic, Kurumi saw her strategy succeed. Kurumi used lightning that favoured speed over power. Although the damage wasn’t significant, as long as it hit, it would slow down her opponent’s speed. Having been threatened using Basara, this was the most helpful attack for Kurumi who had to make the best use of her time. The problem was — it had to land a hit first.

“Eh—…?”

Nonaka Kurumi suddenly widened her eyes. Before the bolt of lightning could hit the Pegasus from below, Admirath’s giant scythe was swung downwards with a simple motion, and like a lightning rod, it changed the course of the lightning, and it hit the scythe instead. However, Admirath did not appear to have been injured. The lightning that Kurumi had unleashed was stored inside the giant scythe, causing the blade to glow with a pale light.

“I cannot possibly accept such a plentiful gift.”

Admirath smiled as he swept the scythe down towards Kurumi — along with the violent roar of thunder, lightning that was amplified by several magnitudes poured down on Kurumi.

“——!”

Kurumi hastily erected a barrier. The lightning struck the barrier that had just made it in the nick of time, erupting with a loud explosive noise, and dying everything around her completely white. Although she had blocked the lightning strike, the dazzling electric light was still burning in Kurumi’s eyes.

“Kuh…!”

Having closed her eyes shut tightly, Kurumi was anxious to restore her vision, but—

“—Too slow.”

By the time she heard Admirath’s voice from the front, her entire body was violently sent flying.

“Aaaaaaaahh—!”

Nonaka Kurumi’s slender body crashed against the left and right rock walls several times, falling slightly each time she hit a wall. She finally landed onto the ground, accompanied by a cloud of dust.

“Ngh…ha…uh, gu…!”

The pain that she felt was so intense that it seemed as though all the bones in her body were broken, causing Kurumi’s face to grimace in pain when she tried to lift her head. She then watched as the Pegasus-mounted Admirath gradually approached her.

“!……”

Nonaka Kurumi understood what had happened to herself. In the instant that the electric light blinded her vision, Admirath immediately closed in and rammed into her with his Pegasus. He probably began to move at the same time as the lightning that was released.

…I miscalculated…!

Her own strategy was used against her, it was entirely her own fault that she had subconsciously let down her guard.

…Ah…

While Kurumi clenched her teeth in regret, she noticed that there was something on the ground in front of her. It was the thing that Admirath had given her before the battle began — a button from Basara’s uniform.

…Basara, onii-chan…!

“…Ugh…!”

Although Admirath was already close, Kurumi still stretched out her left hand desperately, trying to grasp Basara’s button — but that hand was pinned down by the Pegasus’ front legs with such force that even the ground beneath cracked.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!”

It was so painful that Kurumi instinctively lifted her head, and a horrid scream was let out from her mouth.

“So you were thinking about how you could deceive me huh…didn’t I ask you to lose more elegantly?”

Admirath said with a volume that only Kurumi could hear

“But by doing this, it does make the battle a little bit more interesting. Well then, I should also arrange an ending no lesser than that — I will kill you with one strike.”

Accompanied by a brutal smile, he raised the giant scythe up high.

—The rules state that one cannot attack an opponent that has surrendered.

However, Kurumi hadn’t yet surrendered; and based on the speed of the scythe that Admirath would use to behead her, it would definitely be much faster than her cry of surrender. Kurumi didn’t want to increase the burden on others by asking for help, but they had all agreed in advance that as soon as they encountered a certain-death situation, that they would immediately surrender — all of them had to return safely. But Admirath would not give Kurumi the option of surrendering.

“Thank you for accompanying me for this pleasant dance…young Hero girl.”

“——!”

Kurumi wanted to call out Basara’s name, but she was unable to make a sound. Admirath’s giant scythe swept down towards Kurumi’s neck. In this manner, Kurumi was beheaded by this strike and lost her life — or so that should have been the case. In the next instant, the sharp ‘gakin—!’ of a metallic collision coldly rang out. That kind of solid noise was not one that would be produced by the removal of Kurumi’s head.

“……?”

Having closed her eyes during that moment as she awaited her death, Kurumi now opened them again slowly. In her painfully distorted vision, there was a something by her side protecting her — an obsidian barrier. The person who had stood in front of Kurumi and effortlessly blocked that powerful strike from Admirath was a beautiful female Demon with brown skin — Zest. When Kurumi saw the back of a sister-like Zest, she knew that she had already been rescued; so she slowly closed her eyes, and relaxed her entire body. She fainted.

“Oh? …And what are you doing?”

Upon the back of the Pegasus, Admirath asked with a smile.

“—The victor has already been decided.”

Zest quietly stated the truth. Kurumi was in a state in which she could no longer fight.

“I don’t think so — since she has not surrendered, the fight goes on.”

“Then as a representative of the Moderates faction, I declare that Kurumi-san has lost, is that alright?”

In place of Kurumi, Zest surrendered to the frivolous Admirath.

“However, according to the rules…”

Just when Admirath seemed as though he still had more to say—

[—Very well, I accept the surrender of the Moderates faction.]

The voice of the Council representative, Mardones, resounded throughout the battle space…the battle space was then lifted and the stage was restored to its original state. Being able to save Kurumi’s life caused Zest to feel relieved, but—

[However — even if it was to save your comrade, you still interrupted this battle before the outcome was decided. Such outrageous behaviour that insults the noble spirit of the duel is something that I cannot turn a blind eye to.]

“………”

Amidst the overwhelming echo of the audience, Zest was unable to make any words in defence.

[The one who has violated the rules is not the girl named Nonaka Kurumi — it is you, Zest.]

Mardones said with a smile

[So in my opinion, I think it is most fair that you receive an automatic loss in the fourth round that you were to take part in due to the rule violation of the Moderates faction…what do you think of that?]

“………!”

Zest unwillingly bit her lips. Even if she was filled with dissatisfaction, it was a fact that she had committed a major violation, and continuing to fight against it would only serve to worsen her side’s position, and it could even put Kurumi into a dangerous situation again.

“…I understand.”

After Zest accepted the penalty of disqualification, the centre of the arena became silent again. Surrounded by malicious outbursts from the audience, Zest carried Kurumi off the stage. After walking some distance into the passageway leading to their lounge, she saw a person standing before her. It was the fifth warrior who was supposed to go after Zest — Yuki. Upon seeing her, Zest lowered her eyes and said

“I’m sorry…I simply couldn’t help it.”

Including Zest’s automatic defeat, the Moderates faction had now suffered three losses. Perhaps she should have asked Yuki or sought the opinions of her other team members before acting. Although this battle had taken the form of one-on-one duels, it was in fact the decisive battle between the two major factions of the Demon Realm. Even if everyone had agreed to do their best to return safely, the battle was always something where they could lose their lives at any time, and Kurumi must have held that thought in her heart. —But, Zest could not restrain herself. She could not allow Kurumi whom she treated like her own younger sister to simply die in front of her own eyes.

“…How is Kurumi?”

Hearing Yuki ask this with a whisper, Zest carried Kurumi in her arms until she was right in front of her. Kurumi was bruised and injured, but her breathing was stable.

“She’s fine…at least, her life is not in danger.”

“……Thank you for saving Kurumi.”

“You’re welcome…”

When Zest replied shortly, and Yuki’s expression relaxed a bit — something fell out of Kurumi’s hand, and it made a crisp sound as it rolled to the side of the stone slate ground. Looking closely, it was a button from the uniform of Hijirigasaka Academy that Basara wore.

…Why does Kurumi-san…

Have this thing? …In front of Zest, whose mind was filled with such doubts, that button drew a circle on the floor and then stopped moving. Since Zest’s hands were occupied while she held Kurumi, Yuki kneeled down to pick it up — but she did not expect that she wouldn’t even be able to touch it, as the button seemed unable to retain its form and it turned into a powdery dust.

“——”

Seeing this — Zest immediately understood everything. The reason why Kurumi’s performance seemed dismal, as well as what tricks Admirath and the Council had used against her, all of it was made clear.

“Those cowards…!”

With an indescribably repressed anger, Zest clenched her teeth and turned around…she turned back towards the stage in order to correct the sordid behaviour of Admirath — but she was unable to step out. Zest did not stop of her own volition. There was a hand gently pressing down on her right shoulder, as if to pull her back. Normally speaking — her anger would not be stopped by something like this, it would be easy for Zest to free herself. But — Zest could not do it. It was because the aura that was released from the girl who stood by her side with her hand on top of her right shoulder felt so cold that it might even have frozen her. —Her beloved younger sister who was just as precious Basara, Zest and her comrades had been exploited and trampled over by others. An unforgivable anger had instantaneously transformed into a murderous intent that was as cold as absolute zero.

“…I’m leaving Kurumi in your care.”

Yuki looked towards the other side of the dark passageway — the stage of the battle. After softly saying those words, she left behind Zest and the Kurumi in her arms, and slowly advanced forwards.

Part 14

Located at the highest part of the ancient arena was the special viewing room that overlooked the stage.

Admirath arrived here to report that he had lived up to their expectations of victory. Every one of the Council members smiled and applauded at him.

“Ahaha, a splendid victory…as expected of Mardones-dono’s number one confidant.”

“Indeed. Not only did you obtain one win, you also caused the opponent of the next match to break the rules and be disqualified, all according to plan.”

In front of the master, Mardones, everyone praised his subordinate, Admirath.

“As the recipient of everyone’s great praise, I am deeply honoured. Since that girl would have lost without a doubt, I simply gave it some further thought to win in a way that would make all of you even happier.”

After receiving a round of praise, Admirath grinned as he said

“Just by taking a slight advantage of the absence of Jin Toujou’s son, I said that we had taken him hostage, and she was scared into obedience, it was really so cute.”

In fact—

“In order to lure the opponent into interfering and breaking the rules, thus causing an automatic loss, it feels a bit regretful that I couldn’t kill that girl…since victory in the end belongs to us all the same, I really want to finish off that desperate girl personally.”

While Admirath said that to the other members of the Council, he slowly walked up to face his lord

“—You did well, Admirath.”

After being praised by Mardones with a slight smile, Admirath respectfully bowed. Mardones felt fully satisfied with his subordinate’s performance as he thought—

…During these four battles, we’ve had three wins and one loss.

Two of these wins were by the Council — moreover, they were both single-handedly by Mardones’ subordinate, Admirath. The credit for this was undoubtedly monopolised by Mardones, and would not be covered by just the ‘Council’. The fact that Leohart’s subordinate lost one round was also a miscalculation that made them happy. If the Council had not obtained two wins, then they would only be even with the Moderates faction right now. This would make Leohart’s unity decline, and the public would once again reconsider the importance of the Council. At this time—

“Excellent…this means we’ll be able to stick to the plan, and preserve [that thing].”

The words spoken by the other members of the Council caused Mardones to feel even more satisfied. This way, not to mention the Moderates faction, not even Leohart would see the treasure in his plan. The effect of this matter would definitely be even greater in the future. Since Belphegor was currently absent, the one in charge of this plan was Mardones. If it was successfully completed, the positions within the Council would skyrocket/soar.

…Let’s wait and see.

Mardones didn’t want to remain below Belphegor forever as the Council’s number two person. By using this decisive battle, he could put away the Moderates faction as well as Leohart and his subordinates. Using these merits as a weapon, he could go after Belphegor’s decision to make Leohart the Demon Lord, as well as his dereliction of responsibility in being absent for this key decisive battle, choosing instead to play with women, thus he could force him to resign. Therefore, the future of the unified Demon Realm would belong to Mardones. The position of the new Demon Lord to replace Leohart would be given to Admirath, allowing him to deal with the political affairs on the surface. Belphegor’s mind was occupied only by his new toy, Zolgear’s playground; that old guy who had long been hiding in the shadows as he controlled the politics of the Demon Realm should have long tired of the political game. Racking one’s brains all day long was better than not thinking about anything at all, such as simply seeking amusement by soaking in a bed of women all day.

…He can have as many playgrounds as he likes, so long as the Demon Realm is in my hands.

Just when Mardones was secretly snickering with his own ambitions—

“—Speaking of which, where exactly has that son of Jin Toujou gone to?”

Unconsciously, the discussion between the Council members had shifted to the whereabouts of Basara. Let alone the Moderates faction, even the Council couldn’t find out where Basara was; Leohart’s side was unable to find any clues either, he was completely missing.

“It would be funny if he ran away with his tail between his legs, but something like that is unlikely.”

“His opponent will most likely be Leohart. That elimination ability is indeed a threat, but I don’t think he’d be a worthy opponent even if he was to face Leohart directly. If he had any self-knowledge of that, he might currently be hiding in some place to do some final practice for his secret strategy.”

“That is reasonable, and certainly very possible. The Hero Tribe can use barriers…as long as they use that, we can’t track down his spiritual reaction.”

“In any case, it’s just his final struggle…no, it would be better to call it a completely wasted effort.”

“Indeed, that’s what it is.”

Everyone followed on from each other as they smiled from ear to ear—

“———”

It was only Admirath who expressionlessly opened the door to check on the movements in the corridor outside of the viewing room.

“What’s wrong?”

His subordinate’s sudden action aroused the questioning of Mardones.

“It’s nothing, please don’t mind…it seems like it was just my imagination.”

After saying that, Admirath gently closed the door.

In the quiet corridor.

“I can’t stand this…they keep chatting back and forth about conspiracies, and they seem happy about it.”

Appearing out of thin air space was Balthier, who had been ordered to investigate the movements of the Council. It should be said that it was not unexpected for the Council to harbour such intentions. The most intriguing thing was—

“…Like this, they can [preserve that thing], huh?”

Balthier stepped through the corridor as he thought about the conversation that he had just heard. Based on that tone, it was probably a trump card of the Council…but there weren’t enough clues so it was impossible to guess. Based on the possibilities of the present, perhaps the special ability to win the fight that Admirath reserved—

“Perhaps…it’s the representative for the fourth battle.”

The Council hadn’t revealed even a word of their list of members to Leohart’s side. Before they went onto the stage, there was no way of knowing what kind of people the Council had chosen.

“Just in case, it would be best to investigate…”

Because the fourth round was won without a fight, the identity of the fourth warrior would remain a mystery if ignored. Continuing the decisive battle with such uncertain factors could actually result in fatal issues at a critical juncture.

…If I remember correctly, the lounge prepared for the Council’s representatives was on the south side.

While those thoughts went through his mind, the sound of thunderous applause was suddenly heard from the arena, causing Balthier to stop in his tracks, and observe the situation on the stage through a window that seemed as though it had been dug out of the wall. The fifth representative of the Moderates faction was already on the stage, and the fifth representative of the Council had just emerged from the passageway. The Moderates faction had sent out a girl from the Hero Tribe…the elder sister of the girl who had lost to Admirath. On the other side—

“That is — Lord Benares’ subordinate.”

As Balthier whisphered, a tall burly Demon appeared in his sight as he stepped onto the stage.

Part 15

Nonaka Yuki frowned as soon as she saw her opponent. Her opponent’s arms were as thick as logs, and his enormous body left no room for doubt that he was a powerful opponent. But that was nothing to be surprised about. Although it was a physique that could not belong to a human, among the Demons, there were even stranger ones out there. What puzzled Yuki was the fact that she had seen this Demon’s appearance before; and that Demon had died in front of Yuki’s eyes. And then, the large Demon opened his thick lips and spoke with the same familiar voice to Yuki

“So you’re one of the Hero Tribe. Based on your appearance…you were the guys who killed my older brother, right?”

“—Older brother?”

“Yeah, the one that you guys killed before was my older brother.”

Upon seeing Yuki’s frown deepen, the Demon laughed as he said

“Don’t misunderstand me…I don’t hate you guys. That guy’s physical ability is roughly equivalent to mine, but in reality, he’s just all bark and no bite. So don’t compare this Volga-sama, to that failure.”

“…………”

Yuki simply answered Volga with silence. While simply holding [Sakuya] in her hand, she patiently waited for the starting signal. But—

“You really are such a cute woman. Is it because your little sister suffered such a miserable defeat that you’re too ashamed to even speak? Huh?”

“………”

This mockery made Yuki’s shoulders tremble, but she still kept her lips closed as she narrowed her cold gaze towards Volga.

“What…do you even have any emotions?”

Under the gaze of Yuki, Volga laughed as he said

“The exalted I doesn’t play the same kind of boring battles that Admirath does…since you’re the older sister of that garbage, I’ll let you in on a little secret, just so you put in a little more effort.”

After saying that, he opened the palm of his thick right hand towards Yuki.

“———”

Nonaka Yuki could not help but widen her eyes. It was because she saw a twister-like magic activate in the palm of Volga’s hand — which then formed into an object. It was Basara’s uniform button. That was probably a technique that was able to convert magic into material.

“………”

To Yuki, the principle behind that technique was not important. The problem was that the means through which Admirath was able to deceive Kurumi’s virtue – came from Volga.

“Do you see it, the exalted I is strong, yet delicate…how do you like that, and it’s pretty close to the real thing, right? Using this to deceive that simple child was such an easy task.”

“……I see.”

Yuki only spoke those two words to Volga, whose shoulders were shaking from laughter. She finally got it — she completely understood. Although the one who actually harmed Kurumi was Admirath, the reason for it came from the Demon in front of her. For Yuki, such provocations were too uncivilised…it didn’t disturb her mood. However, the truth that Volga had spoken, as well as his insult to Kurumi — all of that was carved into Yuki’s mind.

“Hmph…”

Seeing that Yuki simply stood there without a word, Volga forcefully crushed the replica button out of boredom, and then scattered the fine debris into the air — and then, that moment came. —In each of the previous battles, an appropriate fighting space for both parties was chosen before starting. But this time was different. As if this arena was a suitable location for the duel between Yuki and Volga, the space did not change, and the clang of the gong to signal the beginning of the fight had already echoed out.

“———”

In response to this irregular situation, Nonaka Yuki immediately moved her previously still body. She pushed against the ground of the stage, and dashed in a straight line towards Volga. In Volga’s eyes, this girl of the Hero Tribe was rushing towards him like a bullet. She was ignoring this abnormal situation, and planned to land a pre-emptive strike.

“Hah, how naïve…!”

However, something like this was already well within Volga’s expectations. So—

“Ngguuuaaaaaa!”

Volga roared at Yuki who was making a beeline for him, and with all the energy in his body, his rapidly swelling body was covered with glowing purple particles — in the next instant, his appearance had completely changed. His entire body was covered in armour that he had created using his magic, similar to the amour of the Demon Beast Behemoth. This was the reason why Volga was able to ridicule his older brother Valga as a failure — [Spirit Armament]. Arm strength, leg strength, physical strength, defence, and various other physical abilities had been greatly enhanced by Volga, and he also materialised a long-handled battle-axe. When Volga raised his weapon, Yuki had already reached the area in front of his chest, and began to slash at him continuously — but Volga did not care. Equipping this spiritual armament was his most complete defensive stance.

“———”

Using a draw-sword stance, Yuki drew her blade to commence a flurry of attacks.

“Uuoooooooohh!”

Volga fiercely swung down his axe as a counterattack. —What followed from that was a loud shockwave that resounded across the entire arena and caused it to tremble. With that one strike, Volga split the stage in half, and because of the impact generated, he had lost sight of Yuki’s figure. On top of that, Volga didn’t feel that his body had been wounded at all. From the looks of it, that counterattack had scared her off so she had to temporarily halt her attack and retreat. As a result, that delayed reaction must have caused her to be hit.

“Ha…has she been turned into dust just by one strike? She’s also too weak!”

When Volga, who had been ridiculing Yuki decided to lift his axe from the split floor of the stage—

“Uh…whoa.”

He had no idea why he was falling forward, but he quickly moved his leg forward for support. But — Volga still fell forward as he held onto his axe.

“Huh? How could…”

It was the first time in a long while since he had last equipped his spirit armament, and under these circumstances where he had dropped the axe with all his might, perhaps it was his first time doing so. Could it be that he was too excited and overexerted himself, and put the cart before the horse? These thoughts caused Volga to subconsciously turn his head, and look at his lower body.

“Oh—…?”

And then he frowned. Volga’s lower body was still standing, his waist and legs were still standing steady, yet Volga still continued to fall — those two things were contradictory. It was as if his upper and lower body was not even joined together.

“———”

And then Volga saw — on the other side of his own lower body that was still standing there. The back of a girl who was holding a sword faced him.

Part 16

Even though Volga’s enormous body had been cut into two sections, he still seemed to want to fight, as his upper body continued to struggle. However, the immense blood loss quickly caused his consciousness to fade, and then he stopped moving.

“Come on…how could this guy die even quicker than his rotten older brother?”

Volga’s miserable state caused Lars to smile bitterly in the lounge. Upon the display, when Yuki returned her spirit sword to its sheath with a ‘ching’, the stage that had been destroyed by Volga was restored. Based on that, it seemed that the battle space had not been changed, rather, the entire stage was copied. Yuki then walked off the stage, and didn’t even look at what was left of Volga on the floor. Yuki’s anger towards Admirath for deceiving Kurumi didn’t seem to have subsided yet, and that aura overwhelmed the audience, so much so that none of them dared to say anything. When the staff waiting at the side moved Volga away on a cart, Lars stopped looking at the display of Yuki returning to the Moderates faction’s lounge through the passageway and said

“So, what now, Leohart?”

“………”

Leohart replied to Lars with a heavy silence. The Council’s candidate, Volga, had been defeated, but that wasn’t enough for him to let his grievances out…because the sixth representative, his adjutant Balthier had gone to investigate the Council’s situation, but was still yet to return.

“It’ll be a problem if he’s not ready to head out, and I’m not able to reach him with communication magic either, huh?”

“…Yeah, I’m not able to detect Balthier’s spiritual reaction either.”

This meant that let alone speaking to him, it wasn’t possible to construct a link to him at all. Balthier was Leohart’s most loyal subordinate, it was unlikely that he would be hiding at such a time, so the most likely scenario was—

“After Toujou Basara, now even Balthier has disappeared…could it be possible that both of them have been captured by the Council?”

“…I don’t want to think that, but it’s not impossible.”

Lars seemed to sigh as he spoke to Leohart, whose expression was becoming more serious

“I can’t take this…if we don’t deal with this quickly, we’ll be giving the Council an excuse for trouble again.”

“But — we don’t have anyone else who can go right now.”

If Balthier wasn’t present, the Council would definitely send their own representative to fight. At present, Lars had one win, Luka had one loss, while the Council had one loss because of Volga, but Admirath had defeated Kurumi, and also caused Zest to lose through disqualification, a total of two wins. Under such an unfavourable situation, if even Balthier’s position was to be filled by the Council, and if they won — then even if Leohart won his duel, three of the five victories of the Current Demon Lord faction would belong to the Council. It would be equivalent to the Council winning the final substantial victory.

“So — you’re not just going to sit here and watch, right?”

Lars lifted his eyebrows as he asked. The young Demon Lord shook his head and stood up.

“How could I? I don’t want to give the Council any more than they already have.”

Leohart then said

“Even if there’s no one among us who can go — there are still ways to stop them.”

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.

Part 18

In the ancient city that had been replicated as a fighting space.

Leohart stood atop one of central high-rise buildings in silence. This building was the palace that Lezonas had elected after becoming the third generation Demon Lord. Before his opponent could make his way onto the stage, it had changed into this ancient city that only descendants of a Demon Lord could enter, which meant that Leohart’s only opponent was Ramsas. At least, among the remaining representatives of the Moderates faction, there wasn’t anyone else who could stand upon this stage.

…In the end, Toujou Basara still has not appeared.

Despite feeling slightly disappointed, Leohart accepted that this was fate. After Balthier went to investigate the Council’s situation, communication had been cut off with him soon after. It could be guessed that Basara was most likely imprisoned by them.

…So be it.

The final outcome of this situation was not actually bad for Leohart. Not only was Ramsas able to eliminate Nebula’s high-level spirit in one blow, he was also Wilbert’s older brother, so he was more than qualified to act as the trump card in this final duel between the Current Demon Lord faction and Moderates faction. Leohart had actually hoped to personally fight against Mio, who had inherited Wilbert’s power and bloodline, in order to cut off the last remnants of the dead — he had declared himself as the Current Demon Lord under the shadow of the previous Demon Lord who was recognised as the strongest in history. However, the opposing side had deliberately avoided a confrontation between him and Mio, so expecting such a thing was too greedy.

…It should be soon.

Soon, he would be able to achieve the cherished wish that he had held for years. Leohart lightly closed his eyes as if to suppress the rising emotions within him while he waited for his opponent to arrive. Ten seconds later — accompanied by a shrill sound, everything in the surrounding space began to shake slightly.

“…………”

Leohart slowly opened his eyes, and projected his sight downwards towards the opposite side — at the top of the opposite-facing high-rise building, at some point unbeknownst to him, a youth had been quietly looking at him whilst holding a large silver demonic sword in his hand. There wasn’t much need to explain who had arrived.

“I see…”

He had most likely used that elimination ability to destroy the barrier that only allowed Demon Lord descendants to pass through. After whispering that, Leohart also materialised the demonic sword Loki in his hands, and then declared

“—Let’s begin.”

“Yeah…”

The youth who was once a Hero — Toujou Basara nodded in response to Leohart’s declaration. From here on, the two of them would no longer need any other words. —The signal to begin rang out. But this was not the same gong sound as it previously was. The bell of the grand clock in the ancient city chimed at the same time. Was this to be the ceremonial bell to bless the new order that was to be born in the Demon Realm? Both sides pushed off from the roof at the same time. Like this, they leapt towards the space in front of them, wielding their demonic swords to sweep out a full-powered blow. Toujou Basara and the Current Demon Lord Leohart put everything that they had behind this one blow, and in that moment, a hurricane of intense sparks erupted from their clash.

Chapter 4: Beyond the Endless Dream

Part 1

The ancient city of Lada that the third generation Demon Lord Lezonas ruled.

Within the artificial space that emulated what was once the royal city recorded as a turning point in history, a particular sound continued to ring out unerringly. They were the continuous sharp sounds of clashing blades, and from time to time, intense vibrations from impacts made in the air. These sounds alone were able to describe just how fierce the battle was. The source of the sounds were not set in one place, they didn’t stop moving for even a moment. At the source of the sound — there were two silhouettes leaping between the rooftops of the historic buildings, and like two gales of wind crossing each other, they clashed successively in mid-air. One of them was a human youth who wielded a silver demonic sword, while the other one was a demon youth who swung a jet-black demonic sword — Toujou Basara and the Current Demon Lord Leohart. After the two of them clashed at full-force with their first hit, they then made full use of the entire space for their high-speed battle.

…Truly fast.

Even though Leohart’s speed had similarly increased to such a degree that he seemed to have become one with the wind, he still appeared to be amazed at the speed of his opponent. In terms of pure strength and swordsmanship, Leohart was clearly superior, but Basara who was darting in front of him was significantly faster. Leohart had fought against many Heroes in the previous Great War, and he had also witnessed many of his powerful comrades such as Balthier, Lars, and the Eight Demon Generals; but to be honest, he couldn’t remember if any of them could achieve such speed. In Gardo’s report, he mentioned that Basara was faster than him at his best, but—

…It can’t be wrong.

The current Basara was definitely much faster than when he fought against Gardo. Gardo’s power in that state was indeed amazing, but his speed was still below that of Leohart’s; moreover, Leohart was chasing after Basara’s afterimage at the moment, and he could barely keep up. However, Basara with his speed advantage was no longer keeping his distance from Leohart. Basara was no longer leaping and accelerating from the many rooftops present, while Leohart used his leg strength to maintain his speed, prepared to leap at any time. Basara twisted his body in mid-air, turned his legs to change direction, and faced Leohart who was chasing him from the rooftops behind. After tearing through many red tiles as he skidded, he suddenly charged straight towards Leohart.

“……!”

Leohart prepared to swing towards the ground in a single strike. The purpose of that was not to defend against Basara’s sword that was aimed towards the upper right, but to repel him with force. Then, just as the sound of their colliding swords rang out, Leohart used the contact point and pressure of their blades as support to jump up directly over Basara’s head; and after a mid-air somersault, he chose to land on an adjacent rooftop…but he didn’t descend immediately, and instead performed a horizontal slash behind himself beforehand. The sound of metal pushing against metal was heard in the next instant. After Basara saw Leohart jump up, he immediately turned around for another strike, and that was why Leohart was forced to react. In the instant that he finally landed, the battle had turned into a close-quarters sword duel in which he had no chance to rest. Within Leohart’s entire range of movement, Basara began a non-stop high-speed onslaught, while Leohart remained fixed to the spot as he defended. The sound of clashing blades was heard a countless number of times from every direction, and gradually surrounded him. It was not long after the fierce slashing sounds began that a particular phenomenon occurred before Leohart’s eyes. The wielder of the sword, Basara, appeared to multiply.

“This is…”

It was the critical phenomenon that had occurred as a result of high-speed movement at a close distance. Afterimages of Toujou Basara had appeared in front of Leohart’s eyes.

Part 2

The decisive battle between Leohart and Basara had finally begun. The stronghold of the Moderates faction was in the far-off Wildart City, but there was also a live broadcast there. Leohart believed that the Moderates faction had a right to watch the battles of their own representatives, and the direction that the war would take the Demon Realm towards, so he allowed the battle’s broadcast to be sent towards Wildart City using magic waves. And through Sheera, who was at that location to adjust the frequencies of both magic projection systems to be the same, they were able to view the situation of the battle in real-time. Klaus and many others paid close attention to the evolution of the battle’s situation in their lounges, rooms or other locations. However, there was one particular person in Wildart city who had hung up a hammock in the midst of several trees, and was taking a leisurely nap on it while a pocket-sized book sat on top of his face as a sleeping mask. It wasn’t just anyone, it was Toujou Jin. After being brought here by him, the young soldier of the Current Demon Lord faction, Fio, walked up to his side and asked in disbelief

“Hey, your son’s battle with Leohart-sama has begun, aren’t you going to watch it?”

Jin first answered with a simple “No”, before removing the book from his face to say

“It’s already gotten to this stage, so there’s no need to watch it any further…”

“No need? …It’s currently three wins and three losses. The outcome of this decisive battle will decide the future of the Demon Realm, you know? How—”

Fio then continued to say

“To a human like you, the future of demons like us may be unrelated to you…but you can at least worry about your son a bit, can’t you? What other reason do you have not to go?”

“Because I’ve already done what I needed to do.”

The man who was formerly called the God of War said

“All that I can do is give him some special training before the battle, and to clean up for him after the battle. Regardless of whether he wins or loses, the result is the same…of course, there are some changes in what actually has to be done, but this is fine for now. Moreover—”

Jin continued

“If I rushed over there to join in, it would make the situation even more complicated, and then that would just cause trouble. Although it may not seem like it right now, my relationship with the Demon Realm is an endless cycle of reason and chaos.”

“You look like this all the time, not just right now.”

Fio sighed, and then asked again

“Well, what’s your perspective? Can your son win against Leohart-sama?”

“I wonder. As a father, of course I’d hope that my precious son can win…”

Jin shrugged as he said

“If it was that simple, we wouldn’t have to work so hard. Basara’s chances of defeating him — is only twenty percent at most.”

Part 3

In front of Leohart’s eyes, Basara was constantly increasing his speed, creating more than ten afterimages. It was a phenomenon caused by instant acceleration and deceleration; it was the result of the difference between visual and cognitive signals in the brain. However, although Basara was indeed faster, Leohart was still able to roughly make out his position. As for why he insisted on creating afterimages — Leohart could somewhat understand why.

…The perfume was for this?

When they initially clashed, Leohart could smell a strong odour on Basara’s body, it was from that bottle of perfume. Originally, that would’ve been a stupid act that would expose his own position, but for someone who used speed as a weapon, that was a different matter. By performing high-speed movements and emergency stops with vast amounts of perfume on, he had become something that was almost like a human incense which caused Leohart to misjudge Basara’s position.

—This perfume also had other effects. To Leohart, it had a provocative and distracting effect on his mind. What Basara had asked the Current Demon Lord faction to prepare was the perfume that had halted production after Zolgear’s death. He originally thought that it was the perfume that Zolgear gave to the women in his erotic playground, and when Belphegor became the playground’s new master, he stopped its production to remove Zolgear’s impression from it.

—He was wrong. After analysing the perfume that Basara had asked Lars to obtain, they discovered that it was the same perfume that Belphegor wore when he met with Leohart the other day. The main reason was so that Belphegor could fully unify the women in the playground by choosing a fragrance that belonged only to him; he prevented it from circulating on the market, most likely so that those women would have a unique fragrance in the Demon Realm. And the day before yesterday, they weren’t sure whether Basara was after Zolgear’s or Belphegor’s perfume. When the two representative sides met at the beginning, he was not able to smell this from Mio’s body, which meant that Basara had put on the perfume for the sole purpose of disrupting Leohart’s judgement.

“———”

While enduring Basara’s constant flurry of attacks where even a slight mistake in guarding could prove fatal, Leohart had to perform various defensive measures in an instant, and analyse the combat situation while avoiding the attacks. Up until now, he had crossed blades with Basara a countless number of times, and in the vast majority of those cases, he was on the defensive. His opponent was completely dominating the flow of combat. This happened because his speed fell behind that of his opponent.

…But.

Leohart wasn’t anxious or nervous at all. While Basara’s speed was certainly impressive, and the afterimages generated with assistance from the perfume were dangerous, Leohart was currently able to deal with all of that quite comfortably. The reason for that was because each of Basara’s attacks was of low quality — every one of his strikes was rather weak. From the perspective of the viewers who were outside the fighting space, Basara’s continuous attacks at a dizzying speed were putting pressure on Leohart, but that was only a superficial visage. It wasn’t a matter of physical arm strength, rather, it was clear that Basara was unable to utilise his full strength.

…I don’t know where he was before.

In short, his current injuries were not minor. Known for his swiftness, he was currently able to maintain his maximum speed, but under such circumstances, it seemed unlikely that it would last very long. Using Belphegor’s perfume for disruption or provocation was the most desperate struggle that he could put up right now. —He was deliberately stalling for time, at least until he fell. However, this kind of behaviour meant that Basara was simply using a petty trick. It was the day before yesterday when Basara asked for the perfume, and he disappeared late last night. In other words, Basara had planned to put this plan into action from the beginning, and decided to use the perfume against Leohart. Leohart didn’t want to stoop as low as Basara. He wasn’t opposed to using tricks, but he simply insisted on fighting until the end in a manner befitting that of a Demon Lord.

“—Roar, Loki.”

At the same time as Leohart’s call, the demonic sword in his hand responded by whipping up a wild tempest, dispersing the scent of the perfume in the surrounding area.

“———”

In the moment that Basara paused out of surprise because his afterimages had dissipated, Leohart unleashed a single pure strike. A slash of pure power.

“!——”

Basara lifted Brynhildr up to block it, but that was a poor decision. Leohart slashed down with Loki with no hesitation, causing both Basara and Brynhildr to be forcibly swept aside. Leohart’s ruthless strike had instantly sent the opponent in front of him flying through the air. He was sent flying towards the tall and distant twin towers.

“Gaaaaaaarrrgghh—kuh!”

Leohart’s powerful strike immediately sent Basara flying backwards.

…This is bad, if I don’t think of a way…!

In the scope of Basara’s upside-down vision while his upper body had been knocked into the air, he noticed the large building along his route.

“—Haah!”

As he saw the large twin towers quickly approaching, Basara struggled as he swung Brynhildr with all the strength that he could muster. Using the sharp gale of wind that was generated from his swing, Basara pierced through the wall and flew inside the tower; he attempted to stab Brynhildr into the ground in order to slow down, but the stone floor was too hard and all he left on it were scratches.

“Gah…help me…stop—!”

Basara did not give up on using the full weight of his body, and the tip of his blade finally pierced the floor, resulting in a sharp screech which echoed out, as well as an eruption of sparks across the floor — after sliding over a distance of a dozen metres, he finally succeeded in stalling his momentum amidst the wreck of a countless number of tables and chairs. In the space that appeared to resemble a parliament hall, he stood up on the dark floor.

“!…Hah, hah…kuh—!”

The sudden pain in his abdomen caused the expression on Basara’s already breathless face to tighten. It seemed that he had overexerted himself in trying to brake, causing his abdominal wound to reopen.

…He’s definitely found out that my condition isn’t optimal.

Although he had used the perfume to mask the smell of his blood; given how many times he was in close-quarters combat with Leohart, it was clear that someone of Leohart’s level could detect that something was wrong with Basara’s condition. —This was something that couldn’t be helped. Basara’s abdominal wound was received when he alone performed a ‘preparation’ for this decisive battle. It was an absolutely necessary preparation, something that had to be done. Hence, Toujou Basara didn’t regret his own injury, moreover—

…I have to deal with this quickly.

He was racking his brains on how to deal with Leohart at the moment. Belphegor’s perfume didn’t cause Leohart to lose his cool, and using the afterimages which were amplified by the odour was unable to disrupt him. In this situation, he was also no longer able to fight at maximum speed as he did before. When Basara hastily tried to think of his next strategy, he heard a loud and blunt metallic noise, which then lingered in the air.

“!…What is that..?”

Basara could not help but frown as he felt the entire tower shake from the ground in synchronisation with that sound. The word ‘earthquake’ entered his mind, but when he saw the adjacent tower outside the window—

…No…!

He realised what had happened to the place that he was in — the cause of the large tower’s tremors. The scenery outside the window was turning on an oblique angle…which meant that the metallic sound from earlier was the sound of the tower’s walls being cut apart. It seemed to be a position several storeys below that had collapsed, and the section above which had lost its support had begun to slide. There was no need to mention who’s doing this was. The battle was not over yet. Basara immediately tried to leave the area — but he was unable to do so. It was because the young man clad in black jumped in through the hole in the wall that Basara had made when he was sent flying.

“———”

As soon as Leohart spotted Basara, he rushed towards him in great strides.

“!…Damn it!”

It was impossible to escape at his current speed, it would be equivalent to death. Thus, Basara stood up to attack and charged towards Leohart — when their blades crossed, the phenomenon that was to happen sooner or later occurred. The upper section of the large tower that the two people were in finally slid off the edge — and began its descent towards the ground. While the floor rotated, the walls became the ceiling, and the wreck of tables and chairs began to fall—

“Oooooooooohhh!”

“Haaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Amidst the chaos, Basara and Leohart continued to fight as they searched for secure footing in the ever-changing space, cut apart the rubble, and continued to clash with their demonic swords. Every time sparks flickered from their clashes, it briefly illuminated the two figures within the dark space. The ceiling, floor, and walls were all footholds as their battlefield shifted from a flat plane to a three-dimensional space.

“—Hah!”

During this, Basara was the first to try breaking out of the current situation; he suddenly dispelled Brynhildr halfway through a clash and then summoned it again, using a quick-draw sword technique as he distorted dimensional boundaries — [Dimensional Slash]. His aim was to destroy the weapon — to destroy Leohart’s demonic sword Loki. However—

“Using a high-speed slash the moment the demonic sword is summoned increases its power and sharpness, I’ve heard—”

Saying that faintly, Leohart blocked Basara’s [Dimensional Slash]. After quickly restricting the movement of Basara’s arm before he started to use the technique, Leohart similarly released and re-summoned his demonic sword to cause a dimensional disruption to interfere with Basara’s technique — blocking it so that the [Dimensional Slash] became an ordinary slash.

“What…!”

“Although I cannot imitate it, it’s more than enough to stop your technique.”

After saying that to the surprised Basara, Leohart dragged the tip of his demonic sword across the ground as the resulting shockwave moved along the ground towards Basara.

“Kuh—”

Basara hastily jumped towards one side to evade it, but that caused him to lose sight of Leohart’s figure, and it was already too late by the time that he realised he had appeared beside him.

“—-!”

Upon seeing Leohart swing down the sword that was above his head, Basara was able to lift Brynhildr to block it in time, but his legs — crashed through the wall as a result of the impact. By the end of Leohart’s swing, Basara’s entire body had been knocked down towards the bottom of the falling tower.

“Gaaah—…!”

He was still roughly a hundred metres from the ground — so if he fell from this height, it would surely mean death, but Basara was fortunate enough to be able to find a foothold. In between the tower that Basara was in, and the other adjacent tower, there was a passageway between them that was still hanging in the air. Although he could safely reach the ground through that passage, Basara wasn’t out of danger’s way yet, as the tower he was in continued to fall. As for Leohart who had jumped out of the tower from another window, he wasn’t at risk of dying unlike Basara.

“———”

A countless number of black particles manifested in mid-air above Leohart’s back — in the next instant, two enormous black wings spread open, allowing Leohart to effortlessly float in mid-air. For Basara who didn’t have this kind of ability, there was only one way for him to stay alive — so Basara decided to use that move. It was one of the two trump cards that Jin had entrusted to Basara. Toujou Basara gripped Brynhildr with both hands to unleash a full-powered attack, turning the power of [Banishing Shift] into a destructive force.

“! —Ooooooooooohh!”

The destructive wave that Basra unleashed spread out in the shape of a fan, instantly turning the upper section of the tower that was falling down on him into rubble. A vast amount of smoke and dust gushed past Basara like a sandstorm, but it was nothing more than that.

…I succeeded…!

Having just escaped with his life, Basara lifted his head with a solid sense of confidence, only to see Leohart holding Loki at his waistline as it was wrapped in a dark luminance.

“Your destructive power is certainly strong…but it’s my turn now.”

After a single breath—

“—Devour him, Loki!”

In the instant that Leohart swung his jet-black demonic sword — the black torrent that could even distort space swept through the air as it rushed towards Basara.

“Uoooooooooohhh!”

Even though the pain from his abdomen caused his face to distort in pain, Basara still gritted his teeth to unleash [Banishing Shift]. Of course, it was not to fully eliminate Leohart’s black torrent, he aimed to just barely stop it, an attempt to disperse it, however—

…S-So heavy…!

The force of Leohart’s black torrent was so incredibly powerful that it almost knocked away Brynhildr while it was being gripped with both hands, forcing Basara to double the strength he was putting into his arms. Even though the bleeding from his abdomen was so severe that it seemed as though a blood vessel had burst — he still swung with all his might.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Accompanied by Basara’s beastly roar, he unleashed [Banishing Shift]. And then — after he had painstakingly dispersed Leohart’s black torrent, a voice suddenly came from in front.

“—I’ve also heard about your elimination ability.”

As he turned to look, he saw in the right corner of his vision — Leohart was in a low stance, as if he was ready to swing his demonic sword Loki at any time.

“!——”

[Banishing Shift] could only be used when holding Brynhildr with both hands in a full swing. Leohart had spotted this subtle flaw in the technique. Leohart’s slash closed in towards the right side of Basara’s abdomen which was unguarded because Basara had just swung Brynhildr—

“———!”

Since he was holding the sword with both hands, Basara immediately removed his armoured right hand from the sword, and used his arm to block Loki’s strike directly. —That armour was a derivative of Brynhildr’s manifestation. The strength of the material was naturally the same as Brynhildr’s blade — but, there was one clear difference. And that was its thickness. If the armour was as thick as the blade, Basara’s right arm would become too heavy to wield Brynhildr; so since it had to be light, the armour was correspondingly thin. As a harsh metallic sound rang out, the armour on Basara’s lower right arm — its exterior had been broken, revealing the inner section that even Basara was only seeing for the first time. However — now was not the time to be surprised or to delve into thought. Leohart’s strike seemed to have hit a major blood vessel, and so his armour shattered and bright red blood suddenly began to spray out. Even so, Basara had taken the opportunity of that strike to find a clear path to the passageway, and he jumped into the air.

…Ah…

When he felt stunned — Toujou Basara had begun falling to the ground. As Leohart looked down at him from the edge of the passageway, his consciousness began to fade.

[———]

What he then saw was the figure of Leohart’s back as he turned around to leave at the far end of his vision. It was as if the outcome had been decided.

“………”

As seconds seemed like minutes as they passed in this critical situation, a thought emerged in Toujou Basara’s mind — if he died like this, how would the situation change? Firstly, the Moderates Faction would lose this decisive battle. —But, Mio and the others would probably be fine. Because Jin had once said that if Basara was defeated, that he would disregard the agreements of the past Great War and step forward to deal with it. Jin was the father that Basara was proud of, and it was possible that he could solve the various problems in the Demon Realm in a way that Basara couldn’t even begin to imagine in order to guarantee Mio’s freedom and safety and also so that Yuki, Kurumi, Maria, and Zest wouldn’t need to worry either. Although he was unwilling, Jin did have such a capacity. Right now, Basara’s body would no longer listen to himself…perhaps it was better to leave the rest to Jin, and to honestly accept his own defeat and death, it would be so easy to do.

“……!”

But Toujou Basara simply couldn’t give up. He still had people that he cherished waiting for him, and he still had promises to keep; he couldn’t turn himself into a liar and a traitor, that was one thing that he couldn’t concede on. He absolutely couldn’t give up! So — Toujou Basara played his last card in that moment. —Before he left Wildart, Basara had asked Sheera to prepare some medicine for him. One of those was an aphrodisiac to deepen the master-servant bond between Mio and the others, while the other — after that life-threatening special training where he learned from Jin that he possessed the blood of two mothers, he asked Sheera to make — a stimulant that could strongly awaken one particular side. In Toujou Basara’s mind, there were some things that he just couldn’t back down from. In order to protect them, even if both of his hands became tainted with blood, as long as it was something that he had to do, then Basara was willing to do it. It didn’t matter even if he was no longer himself of the past. So with the tablet that had been hidden behind his molars, Basara used the tip of his tongue—

“———”

And swallowed it. The tablet containing magic was immediately decomposed after going through his oesophagus, and was fully absorbed by his body.

“…—Rampage, Brynhildr.”

When Basara uttered that — he was only ten or so metres from the ground.

Part 4

In this manner, the decisive battle was won by the Current Demon Lord Faction. That was what Leohart thought.

…But, there are still some obstacles that must be eliminated.

Until those old bastards in the Council had been eradicated, this battle wasn’t over yet. Just as Leohart began to focus on the next battle in his mind—

“——?”

The violent shockwave and sudden attack that came from below caused him to take a deep breath. Since the beginning of their confrontation until now, Leohart thought that Basara was a respectable opponent, and even if he was an enemy, he didn’t want to see him fall to his death or be reduced to a figure that no longer seemed human. However—

“What…?”

Leohart looked down from the connecting passageway towards the ground, and could not help but feel surprised. Not only did Basara survive a fall from that height, he was standing tall as he stared back while his entire body was enveloped in a burning red aura.

…That is…

Deep down, Leohart knew what the colour of that aura represented…or perhaps it was better to say that it was impossible for him not to know. It was because that aura was the same colour as the previous Demon Lord Wilbert who was regarded as the strongest in history; it was also the power that Leohart had always desired so that he could dominate and unify the Demon Realm. This reproduction of the ancient capital of Lada was a space that only descendants of the Demon Lord could enter, and it was now clear that Basara was able to enter not because he used the power of [Banishing Shift] to break through the barrier.

…It can’t be.

After being stunned by the colour of Basara’s aura, Leohart finally returned to his and noticed the other changes in Basara’s body. His entire body was covered in a black battle armour that resembled Leohart’s, and Brynhildr in his hand had also changed shape like a Valkyrie that had spread its wings; the length of the sword had almost doubled, and as if its self-defence instincts had been fully liberated, it had changed into an awakened form.

[——]

Basara lifted Brynhildr up, then swung it down, and in an instant—

“Guh — aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Heavy crimson waves assaulted Leohart from directly above, causing him and the passageway — to be forced down to the ground that Basara was standing on in an instant. Leohart lay on the ground in front of Basara, using all the strength that he had to endure the immense pressure that made him feel as though he would be crushed to death if he relaxed for even a bit.

…G-Gravitational magic? …N-No…!

Perhaps it came from the same origin, but this was not magic. Basara had swung Brynhildr down towards Leohart — this action may have been the trigger for the magic’s activation, but a more natural possibility was that this was the same as when Leohart poured his full power into the magical circuit within Loki to release that black torrent. Basara swung Brynhildr to unleash a red aura towards Leohart that resembled gravitational magic. That would also explain why Brynhildr had transformed into such a strange form. While Leohart speculated about such things, the powerful gravitational surge that pushed down his entire body showed no mercy, and before he realised, it had carved out an enormous crater in the ground surrounding him.

…! I was too careless…!

Although he hadn’t underestimated Basara, he became too focused on his ultimate goal of defeating the Council and dropped his guard. While Leohart’s entire body remained paralysed, he cursed at his own hasty move which had caused a reversal in the situation. A single moment of negligence or regret was enough to lose one’s life on the battlefield.

“———”

Leohart clenched his teeth as he attempted to lift his head, only to see Basara looking down at him with a cold and merciless stare while he once again swung Brynhildr down with his right hand.

“Gah! …Ah…ngh…!”

The muscles in his entire body distorted unnaturally, and his bones made creaking sounds as if they were wailing in pain. Even though Leohart could no longer bear the pain, Basara didn’t seem willing to loosen up with just that.

“———”

He gripped Brynhildr in silence, and made an action to further increase the pressure. He was going to completely crush Leohart.

…Aneue…!

As that sword was swung down, the wish that he had embraced for so long, his dream for the Demon Realm’s future, as well as Riara’s smile and warmth — all of it would turn to naught. The system known as the Council that was secretly dominating the Demon Realm at the moment would also continue on forever. However, although Leohart at present had the attitude that something had to be done no matter what, he couldn’t think of any way to escape from his peril. And so, Basara swung Brynhildr down like that, completely crushing Leohart’s body and soul — but an instant before that could happen

“…—No.”

There was a sudden voice and a girl who had arrived stopped Basara. —It was not Riara. If Riara had come to save Leohart, she definitely would have stood between Basara and him to protect him from Basara’s attack. The girl — hugged Basara from behind to stop him. The girl whose arms reached around to Basara’s chest as she hugged him while her face remained close to his back was—

“Naruse…Mio…—?”

Indeed. The girl who saved him was born as the Demon Lord’s daughter, but chose to live as a human. The girl’s sudden interruption caused Leohart to say her name in surprise, and he inadvertently noticed something. He could speak…the powerful gravity waves that attacked Leohart had weakened. —The reason was in front of Leohart, who had chosen the path of the Demon Lord. Mio’s red aura gently covered Basara’s aura of the same colour.

Part 5

From the beginning of her duel until the very end, Naruse Mio never used the power of the former Demon Lord Wilbert. Now, she was using it to stop Basara. —Mio didn’t understand why Basara was able to use the power of gravity. In any case, Mio’s intuition told her that aside from the interference of her own gravity magic to supress Basara’s gravitational power, there was no other way to stop Basara in his current state. —Last night, before Basara left the guest house, he confessed to Mio and the others about something. Although the possibility was very low, in the off-chance that Basara attempted to kill Leohart — they had to do everything possible to stop him. Mio and the others didn’t understand why, but they knew that Basara had his own reasons, and so they immediately agreed to Basara’s request. Seeing Basara act so seriously, it was only natural that they were unable to refuse. At least for Mio, Basara was her absolute master — and an important family member. Moreover — of all the people present, Mio was the only one who was able to enter this space. And that was why the burden of fulfilling this request was entirely on Mio’s shoulders right now. It wasn’t for the sake of helping Leohart, but to stop Basara from losing control, and at the same time, she also had to maintain control of her own power and stay conscious. After all, her target was Basara, so all she had to do was prevent his movement. So, Mio carefully adjusted the Demon Lord’s power in her body. —In the past, Takigawa had advised her to get stronger, to the point of being able to kill Basara in the very unlikely event that she had to. However, Mio was still not at that level yet.

…But.

This was enough. Because everyone had forged a deeper bond with each other, they had powerful feelings that would not break no matter what came at them. Everyone believed in those feelings and decided to treasure each other, and live together. Hence — she had to stop Basara no matter what.

“Basara…it’s enough already.”

Mio softly called his name, and she pressed her chest against Basara’s back — as if to move their heartbeats closer together. The most important thing was to tell him that she was here. Just as Naruse Mio accompanied Toujou Basara in the past, that would not change from here on either. Then — Mio straightened her back, and spoke in a whisper that was only audible to Basara

“—Please, onii-chan.”

The curse of the master-servant contract had not activated — but Naruse Mio still addressed Basara in that way. She knew that when she called him like that, that Basara would definitely respond.

…Indeed.

Because Basara was that kind of person, Mio was that kind of sister, a loyal submissive girl who loved him. This strong emotion that filled the heart would never abandon her.

“………”

Brynhildr was slowly lowered…it was not swung, Basara had loosened the grip of his arm, and he slowly lowered it. After letting out a heavy and long sigh, he put his left hand on top of Mio’s hand that was on his chest.

“……Mio.”

It was the normal Basara who turned around to call her name. Different from when they had first met — the current Basara saw Mio as someone much more precious to him now. So—

“———”

Naruse Mio could no longer supress the overflowing emotions in her heart, regardless of the number of people watching them from outside the fighting space. She tightly embraced Basara once more. —An important fact was conveyed to everyone who watched this scene. She did not belong to the Moderates faction or the Current Demon Lord faction, and neither did she belong to the Council. For a long time now, Naruse Mio — belonged to Toujou Basara. Outside of the fighting space that Basara and the others were in, was silence. The audience members who were watching the broadcast of the inside were all speechless. —Mio’s interference had interrupted the duel between Basara and Leohart. But no one dared to clamour or say that Basara should be disqualified unlike the time when Zest had done the same. Because, no matter what the reason or intention, she had saved Leohart from Basara.

[———]

In the broadcast, Basara stretched his hand out to Leohart, who was trying to stand up.

[………………]

After a long silence — Leohart slowly grabbed his hand. The Current Demon Lord, the previous Demon Lord’s daughter, and the son of the man known as the God of War all stood together in this moment. No one could have imagined that something like this would happen in the decisive battle between the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction. This scene — caused every single person in the arena to envision a future in which the Demon Realm was no longer at war. However — there were some people who held differing thoughts, and were waiting for this development and the arrival of such a situation.

The son of the God of War Jin Toujou, the wielder of [Banishing Shift], Toujou Basara. The only daughter of the strongest former Demon Lord in history, Naruse Mio. The striking young hero who had become the new Demon Lord after Wilbert’s death, Leohart. What those people were waiting for — was a situation in which they could take down all three of these people.

“—The sacrifices are in full attendance. Eat to your heart’s content, Chaos .”

At the same time, when Mardones said that while in the Council’s special viewing gallery as he looked on, ‘that thing’ began to take action.

[——]

In the next instant — a burst of white light flashed through the fighting space that Basara and the others were in. It was immediately followed by vigorous tremors and explosions on the ground.

Part 6

“Incredible…those are the flames of purgatory that melted the eternal tundra in the arctic long ago.”

The members of the Council who watched the broadcast of the battle between Basara and Leohart saw the enormous explosion occur within the fighting space and were no longer able to quell their excitement. Even though there were several layers of barriers between the inside and the outside of the fighting space, the shockwave from that explosion could still be felt from their observation room.

“It’s like the beginning of a new era. Today is a perfect turning point for the history of the Demon Realm, and this is a perfect ending to the past.”

When one of the members of the Council said that, the broadcast shifted to the area of the sky in the fighting space above the explosion. It showed the outline of ‘that thing’. —Recently, the Current Demon Lord faction had discovered a relic of the ancient Demon era in the western region. The humongous heroic spirit that attacked Wildart the other day had been excavated from there. Leohart and the others fully re-adjusted it, and after making a contract, it was given to Gardo to command. At the same time, the Council had privately carried out their own investigation and excavation. For the purpose of ‘monitoring’ the attack on Wildart City, Nebula was paired with the high-level heroic spirit that they had excavated. As for this decisive battle, the one that Luka used as the front-runner of the Current Demon Lord faction was an even higher-level heroic spirit than the one that Nebula used.

“No matter how a heroic spirit is used, it is still just a spirit…”

According to legends, these so-called heroic spirits were used in the ancient Demon era as spiritual weapons. Indeed — they were simply weapons. So, who was the person that controlled them? During the time of the Council’s predecessors, the [Council of the Seven Sins], they did not yet have full control over the entire Demon Realm. Belphegor accidentally made contact with a deep magic boundary, and was able to successfully summon a super high-level creature that was capable of summoning heroic spirits into this dimension. Belphegor controlled this creature, eliminated all rebel forces in one fell swoop, and became the master of the Demon Realm. Because the creature possessed such incredible power beyond all imagination, the later generations gave it another name that represented its absolute status. It was above a ‘Demon Lord’ — a ‘Demon God’.

“Chaos…oh, it has been thousands of years since I last saw that thing.”

One of the members of the Council passionately said. —It was the first time that the five members of the Council including Mardones had seen Chaos’ awake in all its grandeur. Of all of the people present, none of them were among the [Council of Seven Sins] at the time. These five people, as well as the already deceased Zolgear, or the six members not including Belphegor in other words, had all been chosen to become members of the Council after what was known as the ‘Great Demon God War’. In other words, six of the seven seats among the Seven Sins had become empty during the war, and Belphegor was the only one of them who remained. —The reason for that was the Demon God Chaos. In order to control the Demon God, vast amounts of magic and spiritual energy were required as sacrifices. However — Belphegor still managed to successfully control the Demon God at the time, and wiped out all of the rebel forces. This was possible by turning the other six members of the [Council of Seven Sins] aside from himself into sacrifices. Like chaos that engulfed everything — that was how the name of Chaos came to be. Later on, when Belphegor became unable to maintain control of Chaos by himself, Mardones and the other current Council members helped Belphegor to seal Chaos, putting it into a deep slumber so that it could never again awaken — finally, its name became something that could only be heard of in legends. Until — today that was.

“The Current Demon Lord Leohart is here, as well as the daughter of the former Demon Lord Wilbert, Naruse Mio…on top of that, there’s also Jin Toujou’s son, Toujou Basara…”

Moreover—

“There are also the representatives of the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction, as well as a full house of audience members…with so many offerings, it’ll certainly be enough for him to eat.”

Indeed, the Council became involved in this decisive battle and attracted such a large number of audience members for the purpose of playing this card. The Council was clearly aware that Leohart was after their lives — and he also knew that the Council planned to get rid of him during this battle. To this end, they prepared a secret strategy to crush Leohart’s ambitions. The fourth representative of the Current Demon Lord faction who originally would have fought against Zest…the Council had prepared Chaos for that; but the situation suddenly turned in their favour, so of course, they chose to alter their original plan to summon him. Hence, the third representative Admirath threatened Kurumi, causing a situation in which the next combatant, Zest, was forced to interfere, thus allowing their plan to succeed.

“Look…it’s already happening on that side.”

Everyone followed that person’s joyous words as they looked out, only to see the members of the audience who were dumbfounded by the explosion in the fighting space that Leohart and the others were in cry out in shock — it was because many large magic circles had appeared within the arena, and heroic spirits were emerging from them one after the other. In order to control Chaos, everyone in the arena had been made into sacrifices, aside from the Council and their subordinates such as Admirath. Chaos summoned its own heroic spirits in order to reap its sacrifices.

[———]

The heroic spirits with fierce light in their eyes looked at the audience members, and then charged towards them — it was the beginning of a frenzied massacre. Amidst the sudden tragedy which had set off a wave of screams and loud noises—.

“Like this, we’ll be able to get rid of all eyewitnesses to Leohart and clean everything up.”

Mardones said with satisfaction. All that was left was to wait for all this to pass, say a few words to turn Leohart’s death into a tragic story, proclaim Admirath as the new Demon Lord, and then all of their problems would be solved.

“What’s going on with Jin Toujou’s side?”

“No problem…look.”

Another broadcast was then displayed, showing the situation in Wildart City. A countless number of high-level heroic spirits which were even stronger than the ones from the previous attack were advancing towards the former Demon Capital. This was because the last time that Jin invaded Lundvall Castle, the Council analysed Jin’s spiritual waveform, and they also marked him as one of the sacrifices.

“Even if it’s Jin Toujou and the leftover forces of the Moderates faction, there’s no way for them to deal with this many high-level heroic spirits. Even if they are defeated by them, Chaos has long been the answer to that problem, and Chaos can simply deal with them directly.”

“What about Gardo?”

“There’s no need to worry, I’ve also marked him as a sacrifice for Chaos.”

Another broadcast showed the heroic spirits which were attacking Lundvall Castle.

“What a pity…that castle was rather extraordinary and I actually liked it.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s just a castle, it can simply be rebuilt. This time, we’ll construct something even grander.”

“That’s true…”

When the two of them laughed—

“Speaking of which, Mardones-dono…where is Admirath?”

“Ah, it seems like there were a few people that he wanted to personally clean up.”

Just as Mardones smiled and replied, the white light that enveloped the fighting space rapidly faded, but it was not because the supply of air for combustion had run out.

“That is…”

In front of Mardones’ eyes, among the burnt out remnants of the ancient capital — three silhouettes stood upon the earth. One of them was in a stance where they held a large demonic sword. Seeing this, Mardones smiled as he said

“That elimination technique huh…interesting. With such heavily injured bodies, just how long can you and Leohart hold out against Chaos, I wonder?”

Part 7

Upon the ground where even rubble had evaporated after the explosion of immense heat finally receded.

“Damn it…that’s where it came from!”

Basara lowered Brynhildr after he had just used it to execute [Banishing Shift], and looked at the sky as he shouted. The power of that white light was immense, and he was unable to completely eliminate it; the scorching burnt earth was the aftermath of that blinding flash of light. At the other end of his gaze, there was a strange thing floating in the air; surrounded by a dangerous purple aura, it had six arms and two legs longer than its chest; its long arms which kept on moving around intertwined with each other like tentacles, while its bizarre form floated in the air.

“I’m afraid that’s Chaos…”

Leohart uttered the name of that thing with a serious expression. Thanks to his immediate use of the demonic sword Loki’s barrier, there was enough time for Basara to use [Banishing Shift] to eliminate the aftermath of the light so that the three of them could remain safe.

“In the past, Belphegor had successfully formed a contract with that Demon God, and that’s why he stands in the Council with absolute authority right now. According to the legends, Chaos’ tough body has vast amounts of magic stored within it, and it has a barrier that blocks all magic. This is something that happened a long time ago, before the people in Wilbert’s generation were even born. That’s why this is the first time I’m seeing it…/this is also the reason why Balthier didn’t return after he went to investigate. But — a great amount of magic and spiritual energy is required to control it, and that’s why Belphegor used it once before sealing it away…the purpose of awakening him now is probably to get rid of us, to turn the three of us into sacrifices, and perhaps that also includes everyone on the outside.”

“That way, not only will they get rid of obstacles like us, they’ll also be able to silence the mouths of all witnesses…it’s like hitting two birds with one stone for them — so what should we do now?”

“We have to make it out of here alive regardless…I’m not going to sit here and let it turn me into an offering.”

After Basara answered Mio’s question, he lifted Brynhildr up.

“Shall we call it a truce for now?”

“No problem — it’s more important to find a way to stop that.”

Leohart also took a step forward, and stood beside Basara as he lifted Loki up. Under the current circumstances, the Current Demon Lord Leohart was a powerful ally, but—

…It’s difficult.

To be honest, this wasn’t such a simple matter. Chaos’ aura was far stronger than S-level, it was simply immeasurable; and on top of that, he was also injured.

…I have to think of something quickly.

With just a three-man team, there was no chance of winning.

“You said that sacrifices are required to control him…will he disappear if a sufficient period of time has passed?”

“It’s not impossible, but that’s simply our optimism. It’s too dangerous to fight on that premise. Also—”

Leohart continued

“If sacrifices are the condition for its awakening, I’m afraid that it won’t disappear before it kills us.”

“If the three of us aren’t able to defeat it, can’t we just have the people outside assist us?”

“—The people outside are able to see a broadcast of us in this fighting space. There would definitely be a commotion among the audience if they could see Chaos, and our comrades will also take action. It’s impossible that the Council wouldn’t have predicted this.”

In other words—

“I’m afraid the outside is already a mess…the fact that no one has come here is the best proof of that. According to the legends, there were many heroic spirits under Chaos’ command. It’s highly likely that it has summoned those heroic spirits on the outside, and they’re killing the audience as sacrifices so that it can replenish its own magic and spiritual energy.”

“We can’t stall for time, and we can’t contact our comrades on the outside…so we’ll have to come up with a way on our own, and quickly.”

“Yeah…as long as we can defeat it, even if the heroic spirits have been summoned, they’ll disappear as well. This way, we’ll also be able to help the people on the outside.”

Just as Basara and Mio got ready for the fight—

“There’s no time left to talk — it’s here.”

After Leohart reminded them, the two of them looked over to see the Demon God Chaos descend towards them after it had seemingly decided that its wide-area attack was useless against the three of them due to [Banishing Shift].

Part 8

In the Moderates Faction’s infirmary, in the instant that Basara and the others were attacked.

Although the injuries that Kurumi received during her battle had been treated, the injuries were still quite severe, and she had not yet regained consciousness…as her elder sister, Yuki naturally wanted to stay by her side. Maria, who had fainted during her duel against Takigawa was also still asleep, and her elder sister Lucia was similarly accompanying her. The sounds of explosions from the arena, along with the tremors and the cries of the audience had all been transmitted to the infirmary that Yuki and the others were in. It was clear how catastrophic the pandemonium outside was. —If this continued, this infirmary would soon also be exposed to the threat of the enormous heroic spirits, so there was no time for them to relax. More importantly, the attack on Basara and the others was very worrying. So after Yuki asked Lucia to take care of Kurumi, she turned and rushed towards the arena. But she was unable to do so — because this infirmary had also become a battlefield.

“!……”

Yuki’s expression turned cold as she summoned [Sakuya], while closely watching the enemy in front of her. The person who had come to obstruct her from rushing to Basara’s side was the one who had hurt Kurumi with underhanded means — the high-level Demon Admirath.

“I originally came to deliver the finishing blow to my opponent, but I didn’t expect there to be so many extra gifts, you know?”

After Admirath said that with a leisurely smile while holding an enormous sharp sickle in his hand, Lucia calmly said

“So you actually planned to secretly kill an injured person…is that how dirty the Council is?”

“No, this is my own way of doing things. Once I see my prey, I have to take its life, it’d be rude of me otherwise.”

Even though he was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers as he had to face both Yuki and Lucia at the same time, Admirath continued to smile with the same relaxed smile on his face.

“Go ahead and resist if you like…but under these circumstances, you two ladies are definitely not opponents for me.”

“——!”

Admirath’s words caused Yuki’s expression to sink; beside her, Lucia’s reaction was similar, meaning that Admirath’s words were correct. The ones who were being driven into a corner were Yuki and the others. —The heavily wounded Kurumi and Maria were both in this infirmary. Yuki and Lucia had to use a strategy that would avoid spreading damage to them, so as not to aggravate their injuries. Both of them deeply understood that this was extremely difficult to do. Yuki and Lucia respectively held [Sakuya] and a whip in their hands as since they were both technique-type warriors. They didn’t have an ability capable of eliminating their opponents’ attacks like Basara’s [Banishing Shift], nor were they like Kurumi who could utilise a convenient wide-area magic barrier according to the situation. In contrast, Admirath had put up a powerful defensive wall during his fight with Kurumi, an indication of his magical prowess. It was also easy for him to use wide-area magic attacks. With Admirath’s magic, he could instantly turn this infirmary into a ruin if he so wanted. —Of course, Yuki and Lucia could also utilise wide-area attacks. But since they could not further harm Kurumi and Maria, it was not possible for them to do that at present. Furthermore, even their opportunities to use powerful techniques had been restricted. Under these highly demanding circumstances…Yuki and Lucia realised that there were also other things that they had not considered.

“……?”

While Yuki worried about getting Kurumi and Maria caught up in this, and hesitated on whether or not to take the initiative in attacking, she realised that she could not stop her vision from shaking, and her legs became weak as she kneeled on the floor. Lucia seemed to be in the same condition, and she supported herself with one hand against the wall.

…Could it be…?

Yuki looked up in surprise only to see Admirath’s smile deepen.

“Did you think that the battle hadn’t started yet? How careless.”

He then told them that their current conditions were his doing.

“You’re enveloped in a magic miasma that drains your life force. Since it’s effective even against that Succubus, it must be quite painful for a Hero like you, right?”

Admirath had pretended to have captured Basara as a hostage, fought at full-strength against Kurumi who was afraid to retaliate, and even forced Zest to be disqualified for breaking the rules. She wasn’t careful enough against such a tricky opponent, and so Yuki paid a painful price.

“!…Uh…kuh!”

Not only was she dizzy, she also found it hard to breathe, resulting in a lack of oxygen. Yet she still struggled to stand up and hold [Sakuya] so that she could protect the wounded and unconscious Kurumi from the hands of this despicable villain. Lucia also revealed a similar expression to Yuki, and held her whip. Seeing the two older sisters risk their lives to protect their beloved younger sisters—

“That’s a nice look…well then, let us begin.”

After Admirath said that with a slight smile, he approached with a large scythe in his hand.

Part 9

Zest was fighting amidst the panic and frenzy in the arena. Her opponents were the numerous giant heroic spirits that had appeared out of thin air without warning. She originally wanted to rush over to Basara’s side with Mio, but she was unable to enter the fighting space. Perhaps because the stage had been destroyed by the heroic spirits, a failure had occurred with the system responsible for constructing the battle space, and it could only be fixed by Basara’s elimination of the barrier. Zest turned around to face the fist of an enormous heroic spirit, and then dived.

“Haaaaaaaaaaahh!”

With her elongated sharp claws, she slashed through a heroic spirit’s Achilles tendon with a blinding silver flash of light. The heroic spirit that kneeled down and tumbled forward on the spot was then struck by Zest’s earth magic. A large obsidian cone emerged from Zest’s magic circle on the ground — its tip pierced through the heroic spirits head from its jaw; and on top of that, the cone decomposed into sand and dust as it poured from the mouth into its throat, and all the way into the heroic spirits body—

“—Explode.”

When Zest forcefully clenched the right hand that she had extended out, it turned into a sandstorm. The body cavity and organs of the heroic spirit suddenly began to inflate from the inside, and then its enormous body blew up into pieces. At that time, Zest had already locked onto the next heroic spirit and left. —In response to this sudden disaster, the ring full of spectators could only cry out and flee in all directions, as they had no idea of what was going on. However, that was not the case with Zest. After seeing Basara and the others take an attack from an unidentified enemy in the fighting space, she had a rough idea of what was going on. So she spread her wings, and flew up to a bird’s eye view of the area at the height of the giant heroic spirits.

…Basara-sama and the others, I’m afraid that they’re up against Chaos.

Zest had heard the former Council member Zolgear describe the ancient Demon God, and she quickly realised that this large group of heroic spirits were summoned by Chaos.

…If so…

Since there was no way for her to enter the fighting space, the most helpful thing that she could do right now was to defeat these heroic spirits, and reduce Chaos’ power as much as possible.

“I already swore — that if anything threatened Basara-sama’s life, then I would kill it.”

After reaffirming her reason and will for existence once more, Zest instantly made a rapid dive towards the horde of heroic spirits. In order to annihilate all the things that would harm her master.

Part 10

In order to fight against the Demon God Chaos, Leohart, Basara decided to change the location of where they would fight. Chaos’ first strike had completely burned down everything except for the surface of the ground, so let alone escape, it was impossible to dodge or defend there since there were no objects that could be used for defence. Leohart’s wings had been damaged by Basara’s gravity waves, making it difficult for him to fly at high-speed, so he flew together with Basara using flight magic to an area with a dense population of high-rise buildings. As soon as Chaos saw them moving, it followed them at the same speed; it was in no hurry to catch up, yet it would not allow them to pull away either, it simply maintained a certain distance.

“This place should do — take us down.”

After Leohart said that and confirmed that Chaos was following them, Mio nodded as she released the flight magic on Leohart and Basara, allowing them to descend towards the ground. Mio moved further away, and landed on top of a building some distance away. If the legends were true, then Mio’s magic would most likely be ineffective against the Demon God Chaos, and she obviously couldn’t engage in close combat with it either. So in this battle, Mio was relegated to a support role while Leohart and Basara who specialised in close combat would face off against Chaos. Currently, the two of them were standing atop tall buildings along the road while they looked up at Chaos. At the same time—

[——]

The Demon God Chaos also rapidly descended, and in the hands of four of its six arms, various weapons such as a gigantic sword, a long spear, a war axe, and a war hammer manifested while it flew closer.

“—I’ll leave half to you.”

“Alright — understood.”

Leohart raised Loki, while Basara beside him also nodded whilst gripping Brynhildr tightly. Facing Chaos as it used four weapons to attack at once, Leohart and Basara both spread out and prepared to dodge — and then, the ground in a ten metre radius began to rumble as explosions occurred. It signalled the beginning of their death match against the Demon God Chaos. The ground damaged by the earthquake turned into sand, and despite all of the dust surrounding Chaos, Leohart and Basara moved forward at the same time. With one person on each side, they charged towards Chaos whilst swinging their swords down. Leohart was immediately met with a solid sensation against his hands and a harsh metallic noise. The war hammer and gigantic sword in Chaos’ hands had blocked both of their attacks.

[——]

When Chaos raised its long spear and long-handled axe to counterattack, Leohart and Basara evaded it, and they prepared for a second assault. The two of them had moved to the front and back of Chaos respectively, where Basara slashed at its left shoulder diagonally while Leohart slashed from below. As Basara was in front, Chaos used its enormous sword to block, but for Leohart who was behind it, that was beyond the reach of its limbs, so he precisely drove his sword directly into Chaos’ back — but Leohart felt a strange sensation that was very different from a normal stab in his hands.

“—!”

Looking around, two of Chaos’ tentacles had moved around to its back, and blocked Loki’s strike. Although Loki had cut off Chaos’ tentacles, its body was still unharmed. A purple liquid then gushed out of the cross-section of the tentacles, filling Leohart with a bad feeling that caused him to reflexively jump backwards. The liquid that spilled out then dissolved the ground, and made sizzling noises as it did so.

…Its body fluids are a strong acid!

If his sword pierced through its body, it could possibly cause effective trauma, but its body fluids could ruin the blade. When Leohart jumped backwards to gain some distance after being faced with this tricky new problem, Chaos began to chase after him. The tentacles that had been cut off instantly recovered, and they stretched forward to chase after Leohart. Even though he dodged from side to side, the tentacles were still in hot pursuit, and after tracing out curves in its path, they straightened out and continued moving straight towards him.

“Kuh…”

Leohart moved to the left to evade once more, and at the same time, the tentacle swiped across horizontally — and with a boom, it toppled the high-rise buildings behind him in a single sweep.

“——”

Leohart used one hand to roll over to the side, followed by a backflip to swiftly escape the scene. Amidst the sound of the mayhem and crumbling of the buildings behind him, Leohart moved towards Chaos’ body, and at the same time he heard a loud voice from the top of a building that was opposite the road—

“—Oooooooooooooooohhhh!”

In front of him, Toujou Basara unleashed an ultra-high speed assault against Chaos’ four-pronged attack. Let alone defence, the counterattack of his blade simply appeared like flashes of light each time. But in order to go on the offensive, it was inevitable that he had to sacrifice defence and evasion. Basara found an opening amidst all of Chaos’ mad attacks and slashed horizontally, but it was flawlessly blocked by Chaos’ war hammer. The heavy impact pushed Brynhildr away forcefully, causing Basara to lose his stance slightly — and the tip of the spear was immediately thrust towards him.

“—As if I’d let you!”

Accompanied by the cry of a girl, a blade of wind deflected the tip of the spear away. Since Chaos’ body was unaffected by magical damage, Mio aimed at its weapons to provide cover. When the spear which had strayed off its original course went past Basara and pierced into the ground, Chaos had entered the attack range of Loki.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Leohart’s fierce slash from diagonally behind it successfully sliced off the hand that held the spear from the very root of the arm.

…That’s one.

When they felt that there was some progress in the battle’s situation—

“—Leohart!”

Basara suddenly shouted, but his tone was not thankful, rather, it carried a tone of warning. Because of that, Leohart instinctively turned around, but Chaos’ tentacles immediately rammed into his cloak from behind. By the time he felt the tentacle touching his cloak, Leohart’s body had already been thrown into the air.

“……!”

If he didn’t break free, he would be pounded into the ground or into a nearby building. Leohart made shaking off Chaos’ tentacle his first priority and quickly undid the buckle on his cloak, but this still didn’t eliminate the inertia of the swing. Simultaneously with the loosening of his cloak, Leohart flew straight towards the wall of a building — however, there was a sudden gust of wind that formed a buffer between him and the wall, allowing him to escape unscathed from the collision.

“………”

After recovering his stance and landing safely, Leohart didn’t look back at Mio, and simply kept his eyes looking in front. It was enough for him to simply keep his own eyes on the enemy that had to be defeated…Mio would not ask for thanks either. Her attention had long left Leohart, and her attention was now fixed on Basara who was in close combat with Chaos. Until now, they had successfully taken off one of Chaos’ arms — so long as they continued, victory would be within their reach. In order to obtain that necessary victory, Leohart charged straight towards Chaos. Chaos’ movements shifted between straight lines and curves. The tentacles without any joints acted like whips, meaning that there was no restriction on its range of movement, and its attacks could change at will. Its arms that held a variety of weapons were continuously engaged in multi-angled attacks. The strength of its limbs far exceeded the level of a human or a demon, and if blocked incorrectly, one’s arms could be instantly paralysed, resulting in a loss of offensive and defensive ability. However — the cooperation of Basara and Leohart smoothly dealt with Chaos’ actions. —There was no tacit understanding between Basara and Leohart as comrades. But, they both had a way of cooperation and understanding as two people who had fought each other to the death. They knew how their actions would affect the other party, and after the other’s actions, they knew what their own next move would be. Because when they were enemies of each other, they recognised each other’s strength more than anyone else, and when it was time for them to cooperate, the same trust could be established between them.

“Uoooooooooooohh!”

“Haaaaaaaaaaahh!”

Basara and Leohart shifted positions indefinitely, and changed positions front, left, back, and right at incredible speed as they unleashed strike after strike on Chaos. When it was Leohart’s turn to attack, Basara blocked against the difficult to avoid counterattacks for him, and when Basara struggled to defend against the stream of Chaos’ attacks, Leohart’s actions would allow him to switch onto the offensive — the two of them complemented each other in this situation, gradually improving the accuracy of their cooperation in the battle so that they could take the most suitable course of action for each other. Together with Mio who provided cover for them from afar in critical situations, this allowed Basara to move towards its body to unleash a full-powered strike, while Leohart swiftly swung his sword as he moved past its side, allowing them both to cut off the arms which held the axe and war hammer. Including the unarmed hands that it had kept in front of its chest, only three remained now. However—

They had finally gotten to the halfway mark. But—

“……!”

The facial expression of Basara who had constantly engaged with it at high-speed and at a short distance began to look heavy. Fighting continuously at a close range underneath Chaos’ oppressive aura grinded away at Basara’s consciousness, and the drain on his stamina was beyond expectations. Leohart’s body appeared to be in a similar condition, and his movements were clearly not as good as they were before. Of course, Chaos had lost three of its arms, so the battle situation had become more favourable for them, but—

…The problem is those tentacles.

Chaos’ tentacles were different from its arms, and they would immediately regenerate regardless of how many times they were cut off, meaning that effort on them was wasted. Before becoming physically exhausted, it was impossible to come up with a way to defeat Chaos…under the gradually increasing pressure of these thoughts, Basara attempted to slice off the arm that held the enormous sword—

“! ——?”

But his anxiety caused a slight slip in concentration, and that put Basara in danger. The two arms of Chaos that had remained motionless so far suddenly moved. Once the number of its arms had been reduced, it was natural for this to happen, and it was something predictable. But for Basara in his current state, that was actually outside of his expectations — and after jumping away from Chaos’ sudden move Basara realised that his choice was a fatal mistake. The new weapon that Chaos summoned was an enormous bow.

[———]

Chaos then drew back the bowstring, and released a magic arrow that had no physical form.

“Kuh — oooooooooohh!”

Basara jumped backwards as he unleashed [Banishing Shift] to just barely eliminate the arrow. There was no other way of saving himself — but that was only able to deal with the immediate threat before his eyes, the crisis had not yet passed. —In this battle against Chaos, Basara had not used [Banishing Shift] until now. In order to use [Banishing Shift], he had to be focused and had to wield Brynhildr with both hands. This action would always result in momentary opening in his stance. Hence, Basara only used it to eliminate long-range attacks during his battle against Leohart. Moreover, it was necessary to eliminate its barrier for complete erasure, but Chaos was so overwhelmingly strong even without the barrier in its body. He couldn’t fully unleash it, but he was able to more or less scatter Chaos’ attacks. But if it was ineffective against Chaos, then the moment he used that technique, it would result in a fatal injury for Basara. Under the circumstances where the three of them were cooperating, they had all been forced into a corner by Chaos. If Basara was to fail and die, Mio and Leohart would probably be killed one after the other. But at the moment, Basara had used [Banishing Shift]. The Demon God naturally did not let go of this opportunity.

[———]

Chaos leaned forward with its body close to the ground, and the tentacles wrapped in front of its lower body violently hurdled out. The winding tentacles across the ground rapidly approached, and they gave off the impression that they were a single large and dreadful snake. Leohart, who had moved around behind Chaos, was unable to stop the surprise attack, and was tossed into the air by the shockwave that Chaos generated. The bad things all have to happen at the same time — when Basara thought that, Chaos was already in front of him.

“—Basara!”

Just in the nick of time, Mio’s help arrived. Basara was propelled into the air by a powerful blast of wind from below — and when Chaos noticed that it had lost its target, it turned towards Mio who was the cause of it. This is bad — just as he had a bad feeling about it, Chaos jumped towards Mio who was on top of a distant building.

…!…

In that instant, Basara could hear the intensification of his heartbeat in mid-air. Mio was a high-level magic user, and it was impossible for her to cause damage to Chaos. Leohart had mentioned the legend that magic was unable to harm it, and that was confirmed in their earlier attempts. In order to combat Chaos’ weapons, Mio used offensive magic to provide cover, but when she missed and it landed on its body, it all disappeared without a trace the moment it came in contact with its body. Even so, Mio could not use flight magic to escape. Doing this would only serve to further increase her own distance from Basara and Leohart, which would isolate herself and make it more dangerous. —Of course, they also considered the situation in which Mio became Chaos’ target. That was why Basara always occupied a location to fight where he could protect Mio, so that if anything was to happen, he would immediately be able to rush over to Mio’s side. In a hurry, Basara lifted Brynhildr up while in mid-air to rescue Mio—

“!——”

But he suddenly stopped his own body. In order to stop Chaos’ attacks, he had to use the power of elimination. But if he attacked Chaos from his current position, not only would he put Mio in the line of fire, he could also be blown away just like Leohart was. In that period of time — Chaos continued to move closer to Mio.

“Damn — iiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttt!”

Even though he was angry at his own hesitation, Basara still didn’t give up on acting. Treading on the wind that pushed him up, he flew towards the side of a building along the main road — and with a forward facing position on the surface, it was a preparatory stance so that he could sprint ahead at full speed. —As Basara was desperate to make it to Mio’s side, he felt that even Brynhildr was too heavy. So he dispelled the demonic sword and instantly accelerated. As he directed all of his energy into his legs, he became like the wind, there was barely any sound as he ran across the side of the buildings; he ran upwards diagonally across the flat walls of the grid of buildings one after the other — but he still could not catch up. Basara was still some distance away from Mio, but there was no doubt that Chaos was a step ahead of him. However — Toujou Basara still did not give up on the girl that he cherished.

“—Mio!”

At the same time that he cried out her name, the girl at the far edge of his vision responded with an action. She released offensive magic towards Chaos as it approached from just below her.

The magic that Naruse Mio chanted was lightning magic. Towards the rapidly approaching Chaos, she released a plasma ball that discharged electricity. —Even magic that was more lethal than that would simply disappear the moment that it touched Chaos’ body. So, Mio did something else just before it made contact with Chaos.

“——!”

When the offensive magic was about to hit, she suddenly clenched her right hand, and the plasma ball immediately burst. It was not because went out of control and it collapsed. The explosion of the plasma ball erupted with a thunderous boom, dying everything around it a dazzling white — Mio had used that flash of lightning to blind Chaos’ eyes. —Magic was unable to harm the Demon God Chaos. It was probably because it had some kind of ability or barrier, a power that allowed it to block magic. So, it was likely that Chaos used sound or heat sensing to identify objects. So when Mio detonated the plasma ball, it was an attempt to hinder Chaos from detecting her presence.

“———”

Mio had closed her eyes before the detonation to protect her sight, and she jumped sideways to get away from Chaos amidst the blinding white light — she leapt into the air on her left side above the road from the rooftop that she was standing on. There was no time for her to cast flight magic, and all she could do was jump towards the ground.

[———]

There was an enormous sensation of pressure in the air that brushed past Mio’s right side in that instant — and then, the sound of an explosion could be heard behind her, most likely from Chaos smashing the rooftop that Mio was originally on. It succeeded — Chaos lost sight of Mio, but that was also the same for Mio who had closed her eyes. Due to the blinding white light that pierced through even her eyelids, Mio had lost her balance and was freefalling, and she didn’t know what state she was in, she only knew that she was falling. The violent flash was so blinding that even Mio couldn’t tell where she was. But — there was a unique person in this world who knew where Naruse Mio’s body was. That was the person who was connected to her soul and had made a Master-Servant contract with her, the one with absolute authority who could make her sacrifice everything, and also the person who would fight for her with everything on the line. Precisely because he called out Mio’s name, Mio was able to jump off the roof without any hesitation. —Afterwards, Mio’s idea had become reality. There was a force that sturdily intercepted the falling Mio from the side. A pair of strong arms carried her firmly, and pulled her into his chest as if he was reluctant to let go — so, Mio slowly opened her eyes within the dazzling light, and the face of ‘him’ appeared before her as though it were only natural.

“………”

Basara smiled gently at Mio. No matter the distance they were separated by, he would rush to her side in a moment.

“———!”

Naruse Mio’s heart became elated for a moment, and she hugged onto Basara tightly. Within the blaze of light on the battlefield — it felt like a moment that belonged only to the two of them.

The Demon God Chaos noticed that the girl who should have been a sacrifice had escaped. Since Chaos was a being greater than a human or a demon, its eyesight recovered quickly, and it looked down from the rooftop. It then looked over to see Basara and Mio who had landed on the road a short distance away. —But Basara was holding the girl with both hands, so he couldn’t move his arms. Chaos immediately understood what that meant.

[———]

In the next instant, Chaos reached out with its remaining right arm, and used the same burning ray of light that it had first used in this fighting space. Even if Basara could summon his weapon, he would not make it in time. They would be erased along with Leohart who was rushing over to help them. The absolute light that was able to destroy everything instantly expanded in an arc from where Chaos stood — but there was a sudden boom, a red dimensional fault encircled and blocked Chaos’ attack.

[………]

The gravity of the entire surrounding space suddenly surged, leaving the Demon God Chaos with a seemingly puzzled expression. There was a man who stood in front of the young boy and girl who had been marked as sacrifices to protect them. It was a red-haired demon with a sharp gaze — Ramsas.

Part 11

At that time — a battle had just begun in the Moderates Faction’s infirmary.

“!…Ah…”

“Kuh…ugh…”

Yuki and Lucia collapsed onto the tiled floor as they groaned in pain — Admirath looked down and leisurely watched them as he said

“Look, as I said…you two are definitely not opponents for me.”

The two of them had to protect the fainted Kurumi and Maria from the battle, and couldn’t use any powerful attacks, and they had also inhaled the gas that Admirath released. It was a miracle that they had been able to hang on until now in such a disadvantageous situation, and they had already done everything that they could, but they were still no match for the Demon Lord candidate Admirath. It was easy for him to take their lives with his enormous scythe, but Admirath only used the back of the blade on purpose so that he could beat them until they were rendered completely immobile. The reason was absolutely clear, it was all — in order to allow them to witness the moment in which Kurumi and Maria died by his hand.

“Lay there on the ground obediently for me, and watch me take away your precious family members.”

After saying that, Admirath swaggered towards Kurumi’s bed.

“!…Ku-rumi…!”

Yuki tried to lift her head, and she desperately tried to call her little sister’s name to warn her, but it was all in vain. Admirath arrived at the bedside, and looked at Kurumi’s adorable sleeping face as he became more and more excited on the inside.

This is great. Next, I’ll pinch her thin cheeks, and watch as her hypoxic face gradually turns purple, while slowly enjoying the sensation of ending her life. Moreover, it’ll be in front of her sister Yuki.

…Could there be any better arrangement?

Should I kill Kurumi before all of them and then similarly strangle Maria, and then kill Lucia after torturing her? Or should I kill Maria first, so that the two sisters suffer before I kill another one? No…what about killing Lucia first, it would be nice if she died without knowing how her little sister was going to meet her end. In any case — no matter what, the first person to kill won’t change. So—

“Alright…this time, I’ll definitely be taking your puny life.”

Admirath’s left hand edged ever closer to Kurumi’s body. However, that hand suddenly made an excruciating ‘crack’ sound — it was crushed by another hand that had reached over from the side.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!?”

Without even the time to be surprised, Admirath yelled out in pain and immediately tried to throw off the unknown threat that had attacked him. But the hand that had crushed his lower left arm did not let go — after continuing to struggle until the end, Admirath had no choice but to collapse to the ground when he had finally broken free.

“W-What guts…to dare to destroy my good moment…!”

His own shameful appearance caused his anger to swell up as he gritted his teeth and looked up to see the beautiful succubus Maria, who was originally asleep on the bed next to Kurumi. Although she had fallen unconscious after losing to Lars, she still retained her adult form.

“What—…”

At that time, Admirath suddenly uttered something with an expression of deep hatred while he stared at her face. Maria’s hand was holding a particular object. So he sheepishly looked at his left arm, and at his left arm which had gone numb after a searing pain — he had lost the part below the wrist, and a vast amount of bright red blood was dripping out.

“M-My hand…my…aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Maria disregarded the agonising screams of Admirath, and turned around to look at the messed-up room, as well as her older sister and Yuki who were unable to get up.

“I see…so even Lucia-oneesama and Yuki-san have been…”

After muttering that, Maria tossed the hand that she had pulled off in front of Admirath and said

“How impudent…you wanted to attack Kurumi while she was asleep after beating the two of them.”

“H-How dare a tiny succubus like you be so arrogant…!”

Admirath lifted his gaze from his severed left hand and cursed, while Maria simply responded with ‘hmph’ and said

“Listen carefully okay? Kurumi-san is my most valuable playthi…my most precious friend!”

“D-Damn it!”

Admirath grimaced in pain as he desperately tried to swing his enormous scythe — but he could not do so. It was because Admirath’s remaining right arm had been severed from the shoulder by a blade of wind just before that. Upon seeing his right hand attached the scythe fall to the floor—

“What —Aaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Admirath screamed in shock. And then, Kurumi, who had woken up at some point sighed as she said

“…Maria, were you about to say ‘plaything’ just then?”

It was only now that she turned around said to Admirath

“What is it…I was wondering who it was, so it was the scum who took Basara hostage.”

Then, Kurumi realised that Basara was safe because she could see him on the broadcast of the fighting space on the display device in the infirmary.

“……I see, so it was a lie.”

After murmuring that in a low voice, Kurumi looked down at Admirath.

“After making me feel so bitter, I’ll have to repay that to you…”

Kurumi slowly floated up from the bed. Using the black elemental as a catalyst, Kurumi’s magical power swiftly heightened, and all of the spirits in her service appeared around her.

“I’ll pay you back for hurting onee-sama and Lucia-san right now!”

Kurumi’s left palm stretched over — when Admirath thought that, his entire body had been blasted into mid-air together with a loud boom.

“! —Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

The powerful high-pressure airflow had instantly swallowed Admirath, and in pushing him backwards, a countless number of walls and rooms in a straight line had been destroyed. He was even pushed out into the arena, where he made a crater in the thick rock wall in the hills behind it, and almost split the entire mountain in two.

“!…Ugh, ah…ngh—?”

There was a figure that appeared in front of Admirath as he groaned in pain. It was Maria, who held her right fist close to her torso—

“—It ends here.”

At the same time, the adult Maria smashed through Admirath’s chest with a single punch. Maria’s blow completely released all of the power that had been built-up in her right fist.

Together with a booming noise and a heavy impact, her fist was met with a solid sensation. —So, when the dust settled after the rock wall had been blown apart, Maria set down the fist that she had held in mid-air. In the cave-like pit that she had generated with her blow — she glared harshly and heatedly yelled to the already motionless Admirath

“You’re far too arrogant — if you think you can get away with attacking Kurumi in her sleep in front of me!”

Part 12

While Zest flew gracefully in the air and destroyed the enormous heroic spirits one by one, the mayhem in the audience stands was still yet to subside, and there was an individual who did everything that she could to help the audience members who were caught up in the panic. It was a girl of the Moderates faction — Noel.

“Please stay calm everyone! It doesn’t matter which path you take, none of the exits are any quicker than the other to take refuge from!”

After putting up a magical barrier, Noel continued to cry out, but no one in the audience paid any attention. This was natural, as in the face of such an absolute threat, everyone was equally weak, and they all blindly crammed into the nearest exit. Even though Zest was gradually reducing the number of the heroic spirits, there were still more heroic spirits than could be counted on two hands raging endlessly in front of her. The audience members who had packed the passageways to the brim were equivalent to perfect targets. When the ruthless heroic spirits swung their fists or kicked, a countless number of lives where thus turned into bloodstains and strands of flesh strewn across the floor. In this hellish plight, Noel still insisted on staying behind. All of the audience members in the arena were enemies belonging to the Current Demon Lord faction, so Noel had no obligation to risk her life to help them as a maid of the Moderates faction. But — for Noel who grew up in an orphanage, she didn’t want to see any more children end up with the same experience as her. Among the audience members, there were many who had families, family members waiting for them, and children to look after. Even if they were enemies, their children were still innocent, and they shouldn’t have to bear the pain of having their parents being taken away by this absurd situation.

“! —— ?”

As Noel desperately fought on with these thoughts in her mind, the sound of ‘crying’ that suddenly entered her ears caused her entire body to freeze. It wasn’t from an adult who was crying at the horrific scene, but from a child who could truly do nothing else but cry. Noel was not the only one to discover the crying child. From Noel’s point of view, there was a heroic spirit opposite the child.

“Kuh…!”

As soon as she saw the heroic spirit raise its enormous fist — Noel rushed out.

…I won’t let it happen!

She didn’t care about the fluttering hem of her skirt; she simply used all of her strength to rush over the broken tiled floor of the arena.

[———]

Just before the heroic spirits fist crushed the child — Noel picked the child up and jumped away.

“—Gah…!”

The heavy impact that she felt on her chest caused Noel to groan. Although she had evaded the heroic spirit’s fist, that fist had dislodged a large piece of rock which had unfortunately hit her. At that time—

…Ah….

Noel still continued to hold onto the child, but she realised that she had not considered the next step after escaping from it because there was still another heroic spirit before her eyes — it opened its large mouth in front of them. Although the intense pain had caused her consciousness to fade, Noel wanted to bring the child to a place where they would not be endangered by the heroic spirits. However, such a place did not exist in this arena.

“——!”

While Noel clung on to the child — the heroic spirit with its mouth agape suffered a blow to its face and was sent hurtling backwards. At the same time, there was a person who embraced them in mid-air.

“…Lars…”

Seeing the side profile of his face while in his arms, Noel subconsciously called out the name of her childhood friend. Then — after confirming that it was not an illusion, she fainted.

After Lars caught Noel and the child in mid-air, he smoothly landed at the topmost level of the audience stand. After setting down the unconscious Noel who was still holding the child in her arms—

“How reckless…”

Even though he complained with a slightly annoyed tone, Lars still checked to ensure that her breathing was steady, and then let out a sigh of relief. And then, the large heroic spirit that appeared behind them threw down its enormous fist — but it was solidly blocked by a barrier-like black magic sphere. The child in Noel’s bosom seemed to be surprised at having been rescued, and at some point, it had stopped crying.

“Be good…stay just like that, and don’t run around.”

After smiling as he said that to the child, Lars slowly turned around.

“—Rotten doll, don’t get carried away.”

The instant that Lars spread open his arms and said that whilst full of rage, a countless number of magic spheres shot out. Not only did they blow away the heroic spirit in front of him, almost half of the remaining heroic spirits in the arena were blown away. —Until now, Lars had never let anyone see his true strength. But in his current state, he no longer had any thoughts about holding back, forgiveness or mercy. When the heroic spirits seemed to notice Lars’ counterattack, the entire horde scrambled towards him.

“Let me tell you all…how it feels to be unilaterally destroyed.”

After making such a declaration, Lars slowly moved towards the horde of heroic spirits. Lars and Basara were the same, they both had things that they could never back down on. So, the heroic spirits in front of him only had a dead end awaiting them. It was because they had hurt the person that Lars valued the most.

Part 13

In the instant that Toujou Basara saw the back of the figure standing in front of him — when Ramsas protected him and Mio.

“Why—…?”

Mio confusedly asked while in Basara’s arms. Ramsas did not look back and still faced the front, but—

“………!”

His stance suddenly faltered, and he kneeled with one knee on the ground as if he had lost balance.

“…Are you okay!?”

They had once heard that using gravity magic would cause a great burden on Ramsas.

“—Are you okay?”

When Basara and Mio hurriedly moved forward to support him, Leohart also followed to meet together with them.

“…If you have the time to support me, you should think about how to deal with that thing instead.”

Being surrounded by the three people, Ramsas reprimanded them.

“Think of a way…how?”

After fighting against Chaos until now, they still had not found any means of restraining it, causing Mio to reluctantly say that. But then—

“—No, but there is one now.”

With a clear voice, Toujou Basara brought forth a beacon of hope. Before their eyes — Ramsas’ gravity magic barrier had succeeded in suppressing Chaos, causing it to remain in the same place. Although Chaos was supposedly able to block magic, it was trapped within the barrier because Ramsas’ gravity magic affected the entire surrounding space, generating a dimensional fault that Chaos was unable to cross. In other words—

“Gravity-based attacks may be able to seal it into another dimension.”

Toujou Basara recalled how when Wilbert’s power went out of control in Mio’s body, it formed something like a black hole. Also, it was not just a simple physical phenomenon, it was a magic black hole. If they could recreate that kind of black hole again to absorb Chaos, then it was likely possible to seal it into another dimension. —Hence, Basara explained his battle plan to everyone present. As soon as Ramsas lifted his gravity magic, Basara would use [Banishing Shift] frontally to supress Chaos and Mio would use her gravity magic at full strength again to generate a black hole; Chaos would naturally try to dodge — so at that time, Leohart would use Loki’s power to push it, so that the black hole could swallow it — that was Basara’s plan. After listening to the explanation, Leohart and Ramsas nodded with acceptance.

“………”

However, Mio had so far been unable to control Wilbert’s power, and her expression seemed uneasy. Seeing this, Basara lightly put his hands on her shoulders and said

“Don’t be afraid…believe in me. Didn’t we promise that we would finish all of this and then go home with everyone?”

After Basara saw Mio nod keenly, he slowly began to step forward.

“I’ll leave the end up to you…”

“…Very well.”

After Leohart lifted Loki and responded to Basara, Basara continued to move forward by himself — towards Chaos.

“———”

After he was a sufficient distance away from Mio and the others, he lowered his stance and concentrated — it was the stance for an all-conquering Dimensional Slash. By using [Banishing Shift] at the same time as his Dimensional Slash, even if he could not entirely eliminate his opponent, he would be able to significantly enhance its power. So Basara concentrated every fragment of his mind, and waited for that moment. In this state where his concentration was at its maximum, even all noise in his ears had been blocked out.

“………”

When the entire world appeared to enter a state of silence — Ramsas lifted the gravity magic.

[———]

As soon as Chaos broke free of the dimensional cage, it jumped down from a rooftop and landed in front of Basara who was closest to it. Facing the overwhelming incarnation of death in front of him, Basara was still unable to move. Chaos also appeared to be on alert, and did not move. Amidst the silence, only the atmosphere continued to intensify. And then — that moment finally arrived. The first one to act was Chaos.

[———]

In response to the remaining right arm that slashed down with its enormous sword, and the thrust of the incoming tentacles, Toujou Basara unleashed the ultimate blow. Raising all of his movements to their maximum speed, he charged towards the Demon God. Using Brynhildr, he let loose a Dimensional Slash — and on top of that, [Banishing Shift]; everything finished in an instant. Amidst the sharp ringing sound of a ‘clang’, Chaos’ tentacles, the right arm that held the gigantic sword, and even the area from its shoulder to its lower torso all burst into droplets — but the battle was not over yet. Toujou leapt towards Chaos in front of him while shouting

“—Mio!”

When she heard Basara’s cry, Mio had already completed the preparations to activate her gravity magic. Using the small gap after he had cut from Chaos’ right arm down to its lower torso, he passed by the side of Chaos’ body as if he was changing position—

“———!”

In that moment, Naruse Mio unleashed the gravity magic that she had built-up within her body to the limit. That power pushed Chaos down from directly above, and generated a black hole — this kind of thing did not happen.

“——!”

Just as Naruse Mio’s consciousness began to blur after she put forth all her strength, something happened. Although her gravity magic was indeed covering Chaos, the centre point was a little further forward. I must not harm Basara…these kinds of thoughts caused Mio to subconsciously move the position a little forward, but — this was a fatal mistake.

[………]

Chaos used its tentacles like legs against the ground, and pushed backwards to jump away and escape from the area of Mio’s gravity magic. Failure — the worst possible word evoked thoughts of desperation in her mind.

…Ah….

But, Mio then saw Basara’s figure as he moved around to Chaos’ back and used his right leg as a pivot to turn around, and swing Brynhildr horizontally.

“………”

“Uuuooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!”

The instant that his blade was swung, Brynhildr unleashed a red wave. It was the same as before when he had almost crushed Leohart — the gravity wave had turned into a slash.

There was gravity magic that Mio had released from above, and the gravity wave that Basara had unleashed horizontally. The clash of their two attacks caused the black hole that Mio generated to greatly distort, and the red torrents that flowed towards the dimensional hole immobilised Chaos as it tried to escape.

[———]

Even though it suffered blows of gravity both vertically and horizontally, Chaos still made every effort to move towards an area with less influence — it was struggling for its life. —However, the Demon Lord Leohart would not allow it. Before Chaos could act, Leohart poured all his strength into the magic circuit of Loki while in mid-air—

…So he anticipated this from the beginning huh.

When Leohart flew to this position at the timing that was decided in advance, he understood Basara’s intentions. After cutting off Chaos’ right arm — Basara’s method of escape was to run from the area in front of Chaos to its back so that he would essentially swap front and rear positions. If he only wanted to evade Mio’s gravity magic, there was no need to risk getting closer to Chaos; retreating backwards or to either the left or right sides would have been safer. Deliberately choosing to move behind Chaos was so that he could remain in position. If he retreated backwards or to the left or right side, he would increase his distance from Chaos — in that way, after having its right arm cut off, Chaos would have likely chased after Basara in reflex. But — if Basara deliberately closed their distance, Chaos would continue to attack in that position. This action had indeed succeeded in trapping Chaos under the effect of Mio’s gravity magic. He also unleashed another gravity wave from behind it, which impacted with Mio’s gravity magic to spawn an even more powerful vortex of gravity, further limiting Chaos’ means of escape, resulting in the most beneficial results. Despite the fact that this perfect implementation before his eyes had brought forth a slight feelings of astonishment, Leohart still fulfilled his own role without any hesitation.

“Slumber eternally in the dimensional gap, Ancient Demon God!”

Together with his yell, Leohart brought Loki down. The black wave unleashed from the full-powered magic circuit of the demonic sword surged into the gravitational vortex of Mio and Basara, and moved straight towards Chaos.

[———]

The ancient Demon God that had awakened in this world was thus pushed into the centre of the black hole. In the next instant — Mio’s black hole twisted beyond the critical point, and instantly collapsed because it was unable to sustain the mass.

The swirling vortex of air and magic subsided, and the space also returned to normal. After the black hole that swallowed everything around it disappeared, all that was left on the ground was an empty crater. The figure of the Demon God Chaos had already disappeared without a trace. So—

“………”

Leohart slowly lowered Loki, and then dismissed it. —This action represented that the battle had truly come to an end. At the same time, Ramsas supported the unconscious Naruse Mio in his arms. Toujou Basara moved forward steadily, and walked towards her.

Epilogue: Consequences of the Necessary Path

Part 1

After the Demon God Chaos was defeated by Basara, Mio, Leohart, and Ramsas.

When the Council realised that their plan to assassinate Leohart and the others had fallen through, they decided to resort to their final trump card — using the device that was installed underneath the arena, they planned to completely destroy everything including the venue itself and turn it to dust.

“Seriously, I can’t believe that we even have to use this last resort.”

“It can’t be helped. Chaos has been banished into an unknown dimensional space, and we don’t have the combat power to directly take down Leohart.”

Despite this, the attitude and tone of the Council members was still quite easy-going. Using this arena as the battlefield for the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction was the Council’s decision. Once they activated the device that would completely erase everything, a chain explosion would generate the energy to swallow and destroy everything around the arena. Toujou Basara’s elimination ability was certainly troublesome for them, but based on its power, it seemed to have various other restrictions apart from not being able to be used for a counter, plus it didn’t have the ability to eliminate all of the explosions in every location. That was why they were so relaxed. But among them, only one of them appeared to be depressed.

“—Oh, it’s such a pity, Mardones-dono.”

“………”

While that was spoken in a light-hearted tone, Mardones clenched his teeth upon hearing it. Because Belphegor was absent, the role of coordinating this plan was handed over to Mardones. And in the end, this was the result. One of the Council members smiled thinly as they spoke to the silent Mardones

“And Admirath also said that he wanted to ‘clean something up’, but he ended up losing his life. The heroic spirits belonging to Chaos that were sent to attack Wildart were all slaughtered by Jin Toujou before their master was defeated by Leohart and the others, how unbelievable.”

“…Not yet, it’s not over yet! As long as we activate the elimination device, victory will still be ours, and we can follow the plan…there won’t be any problems then!”

Mardones couldn’t help but raise the volume of his voice in response.

“Certainly, as long as we can quickly dispose of Leohart and those Moderates faction people, it won’t have any effect on our plan at all.”

When they said that, another Council member laughed as they said

“But — has the situation truly gone according to your plan?”

“……!”

When that was painfully pointed out to him, Mardones gritted his teeth once again. Mardones originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of Belphegor’s absence to gain a foothold to become the next leader of the Council, and at the same time make his subordinate Admirath the next Demon Lord, but they ended up losing their treasured Chaos as well. With such a heavy loss, even if he compensated by completely eliminating Leohart, his position as the number two rank would be in danger, let alone the chances of improving his own status.

“Anyway, we need to quickly resolve the immediate problem. Especially Leohart and the other few, we must absolutely finish them off here. After all, if Wilbert’s daughter had not interrupted midway to save him before we sent Chaos out, Jin Toujou’s son would’ve killed him…even if the audience thought he was just a young Hero, after seeing him like that, his image would’ve changed into something more powerful than that.”

When Mardones clenched both his fists in order to supress his anger, another member said

“Currently, Leohart’s image as the Demon Lord has already been watered down…rubbish that has lost its use should be cleaned up as soon as possible.”

“…………”

It was certainly a valid point. Trying to clean or restore his sullied name at the moment would only make matters worse. Their priority should be to deal with the matter at hand, and then plan their comeback. Although they had failed this time, they definitely had to regain the upper hand next time. In this way, he would eventually be able to take his seat at the head of the Council. When such thoughts went through Mardones’ head and he began to recite his part of the elimination device’s activation code—

“Ah~ so you were here after all, onee-chan has sharp intuition!”

In the special viewing room that only Mardones and the other Council members were allowed to enter, a somewhat frisky voice was heard. As he turned around to look, there was a beautiful woman standing in the doorway. Although she was a demon, she had the characteristic blonde hair and blue eyes that were a trait of the Gods. Every single member of the Council clearly knew who she was.

“Fufu, hello everyone~ ♪”

The person who smiled innocently and greeted them was Leohart’s older sister — Riara.

“Princess Riara…what brings you over here?”

Riara should have been in her room in Lundvall Castle together with Gardo. Gardo had also been marked as one of Chaos’ sacrifices, so there were some heroic spirits that were sent to attack Lundvall Castle…at the time, Riara should have been inside the royal palace.

…What does this mean?

Gardo was a highly faithful person, so it was difficult to imagine that he would break his trust with Leohart and leave Riara’s side. But right now, they were unable to sense Gardo’s spiritual reaction in the arena. Although they were unsure of how Riara had entered the arena by herself—

…For the sake of safety, we should kill her.

“Mardones-dono…don’t jump to such conclusions so quickly. Just because we’re getting rid of Leohart, it doesn’t mean we have to kill her as well.”

When Mardones vigilantly concentrated the magical energy in his body, another member smiled as they persuaded him, while their eyes stickily crawled over Riara’s body.

“She’s so beautiful, and her God-like appearance is very rare…this boring battle has made us suffer heavy losses, so at the very least, we could keep her as a little souvenir to play with.”

He revealed an even more wretched smile

“Come on, Princess Riara…please follow us obediently.”

After that, both the right hand that he had stretched out and his smiling head flew into the air.

“Eh…?”

After a small voice barely leaked out from the head that was in mid-air, vast amounts of blood gushed out.

“You…ah…?”

The arm and head rolled onto the floor in front of the stunned Mardones and the others — and then the body fell down and sank into a gradually expanding pool of blood. For a moment, the others were unable to comprehend what had happened, but Riara giggled out loud ‘hehehe’. In an instant — Mardones and the others were no longer able to move.

…T-This is…!?

The powerful sense of oppression that Riara disseminated — was so great that it momentarily took away their freedom of movement. The principle was similar to the mental restraint Zolgear used when facing an opponent with a significant gap in strength. But for Mardones and these members of the Council who secretly manipulated the Demon Realm, they all had similar or greater strength to Zolgear. Riara was still able to kill one of them, and completely halted the actions of the other four. —Why? It was because the sense of pressure that Riara emitted was even heavier than Chaos’.

“You can’t run away~ onee-chan thought that you could truly make Leo-kun strong, and because of my great generosity, I allowed all of you to live until now. But now that you’re thinking of such hatred and trying to kill Leo-kun…how could onee-chan possibly allow you to do something like that?”

While Riara said that, she approached them with audible footsteps.

“…Ah, ugh…!”

However, Mardones and the others were unable to move, and couldn’t even utter a single word. All they could do was cower in extreme fear at the strange presence before their eyes. And then—

“Ah, but one of you did say something rather meaningful, didn’t you? Um~ how did it go again…”

Riara poked her cheek with her index finger and tilted her head for a moment, and then she smiled when her expression suddenly livened as if she had remembered. Her seemingly innocent eyes carried a fierce expression within them.

“Rubbish that has lost its use should be cleaned up as soon as possible…right?”

The very instant after they heard that sentence.

…W-What…?

Mardones’ world turned upside down. Until the very end, Mardones didn’t realise that it wasn’t the world that was upside down, but it was his head that had separated from his body and flown into the air — that was how his long tenure had come to a miserable end.

All of the other members of the Council met a similar fate. And as the odour of blood began to fill the room

“…Hmm~ I guess onee-chan’s work is all done now?”

After Riara joyfully said so while looking down at the five dead bodies on the floor—

“By the way…the person over there, how long are you going to hide for~?”

She suddenly spoke towards the wall that had nothing on it.

“……Geez, so I was discovered. You’re pretty scary, ojou-chan.”

After a bitter reply came from the wall, a figure emerged from it. A seemingly male silhouette gradually became clear, and his face was also clearly visible. Riara knew the name of the man that had appeared in front of her. So, she opened her mouth in praise

“I thought a lot of heroic spirits were sent to Wildart, but after you dispatched all of them, you still had the time to hide in such a place…you certainly are incredible, War God-san.”

“I really don’t deserve such praise. Those old men of the Council didn’t notice me at all, so I thought that I’d completely eliminated my presence…”

Scratching his head as he spoke was a Hero of the Village — Toujou Jin.

“Onee-chan’s womanly intuition is rather sharp.”

When Jin put a cigarette into his mouth from his pocket, Riara proudly puffed out her chest and said

“But you’re so naughty War God-san, you were clearly in this room first, but in the end you left everything to me.”

After taking a breath—

“—War God-san, you also came to kill these old men, right?”

After Jin lit his cigarette with his lighter and exhaled a puff of smoke, he replied

“How could you say something so scary…this fight is a matter between Basara and the others against your adorable younger brother. I’m here for insurance, just like you.”

A calm smile surfaced on Jin’s face.

“Anyway…I didn’t think that when I came to check-in on the Council that I’d discover someone like you on this side.”

He then narrowed his eyes and looked at Riara as he asked

“Your appearance is rather rare among demons, but that isn’t just an ancestral regression…what exactly do you have to keep fed in you to get that kind of monstrous aura?”

Riara giggled as she replied

“You can’t stare at me so much~ onee-chan’s selling point is her mysteriousness.”

Moreover—

“If you’re going to say something like that, then aren’t you the same, War God-san?”

Riara confidently said

“You don’t smell like just any ordinary human, you also have hints of a dragon’s smell…and not just any, but a high-level ancient dragon.”

“———”

These words surprised Jin so much that soot from his cigarette dropped onto the floor. But he didn’t change his attitude, and puffed out a mouthful of smoke and said

“Those kids really had a narrow escape from death…they’re lucky that you weren’t a representative of the Current Demon Lord faction.”

“Onee-chan wouldn’t participate because that would be against the rules. But—”

Riara continued

“If War God-san was to fight, then onee-chan would consider it.”

“I see, then it’s a good thing that I kept a low profile…I almost gave myself some extra trouble.”

“O-Onee-chan is not a troublesome woman! How rude!”

After Riara pouted, she continued

“But, onee-chan is really happy to meet this War God-san, because this solves the mystery of your son’s dimensional transfer ability.”

“……Yeah.”

“That boy’s smell is even more complicated than War God-san’s…not only is he an example of ‘three types of mixed blood’, but he’s also the only one with the power of dimensional transfer, so onee-chan was always wondering about it. So…he also has a dragon’s blood.”

And then, Riara coldly muttered in a low voice

“…It’ll be bad if that boy becomes Leo-kun’s enemy, what should I do? Should I take advantage of this time to—”

After saying that much, Jin’s aura rapidly expanded in front of her, and at the same time—

“Say ojou-chan…this time, I want to remain as insurance until the end, okay?”

“That won’t do, War God-san. If you scare onee-chan like that, it’ll only have the reverse effect, you know?”

Because—

“In this way, you’ll make onee-chan want to help get rid of another obstacle for Leo-kun.”

In the face of Jin who had released a powerful aura, Riara also released the power that she had concealed within her. Amidst the tense atmosphere, their tremendous auras violently clashed like fire and water, producing a frenzied airflow. —Just as neither side would back down, and the situation progressed towards an unavoidable fight. Someone rushed into the special viewing room that had almost become a battlefield. It was the youth who had just cooperated with Leohart to defeat Chaos not long ago. Toujou Basara. His eyes immediately homed in on Jin, who wasn’t supposed to be here.

“…Dad? W-what is…?”

He then noticed the corpses of the Council members scattered across the floor, and was so surprised that he took a deep breath.

But he wasn’t surprised at their death — but because of Riara. He thought that the person confronting Jin was a member of the Council.

“Onee-chan is a little impressed right now…you actually showed up here.”

With strength as great as Jin’s and Riara’s, he was able to detect the confrontation of their murderous intent from afar. The two of them had also released nearly enough pressurising aura to get rid of any interference, but Basara still stepped into this place. It was simply because of this courage that he had gained her praise.

…More importantly~

Basara didn’t come here because he was worried about Jin’s safety. Based on the distance between here and the fighting space, even if Basara was a speed-type, it meant that he ran towards this viewing room immediately after the battle was over in order to make it in time. In other words, it was before the confrontation between Riara and Jin — he was already on his way before the Council members had been wiped out. That meant that Basara rushed to the viewing room without knowing of the existence of Jin or Riara. —Then why had he come? There was only one answer. It was for the same reason as Riara and Jin. This youth had been in constant battle against Leohart and Chaos, he left the fainted Mio in the hands of Ramsas to take care of, and under circumstances where he had no other comrades to meet up with or to heal his injuries, he came directly for the Council members’ lives.

…Ah…

Then, Riara noticed that there was one more person outside the room. They were hiding carefully, so as not to allow Riara to discover their presence, it was Lars.

…That’s right, they killed Zolgear together before.

Taking their safety into account, letting go of the Council would only bury the problem for Basara, and add to his risk. As for Lars, he held hatred towards Zolgear and the other despicable Council members who had killed the brothers and sisters that he had grown up with in the orphanage. Although she didn’t know who first proposed cooperating, both of their interests aligned.

Interesting — truly interesting.

As Riara thought that, she could not help but allow the edges of her lips to float up.

“…………”

Upon seeing this smile, Jin’s alertness elevated even further. Hence, Riara completely relaxed her expression and said

“Don’t worry, War God-san. Onee-chan isn’t thinking of doing anything reckless here anymore.”

She then smiled widely and dispersed her aura.

“The Council is already dead, and they can’t destroy the arena anymore. It seems like onee-chan did it herself, but it would’ve been taken care of either way. Don’t look at onee-chan like that, I’m very busy and have a lot of things to do, it’s time for me to excuse myself.”

After she said that, Lars presence disappeared.

Ah, he slipped away. I’ll call you over directly another day to see how onee-chan will deal with you…after deciding so in her mind, Riara felt that the agreed time was close, so she finished everything that she had to say

“Umm, can I call you Basara-kun? You seem to get along with Lars. Now that the Council of those old men are gone, the gaps between the Current Demon Lord faction, Moderates faction, and other factions will certainly disappear over time. Although a lot has happened between you and Leo-kun, you have to find ways to live in peace and be good friends with him, okay?”

“Umm…”

Basara couldn’t keep up with the sudden change, and was left dumbounded. But that didn’t matter.

“Alright then, War God-san, see you later?”

After Riara smiled and said goodbye, Jin also seemed to confirm that she had no intention of fighting and relaxed.

“Yeah…please find a place to meet without the smell of blood next time, and your attitude should be as cheerful as it is now, like ‘nohoho’.”

“O-Onee-chan never said anything like ‘nohoho’~!”

After Riara ‘hmph~’ stuck out her tongue, she left the special viewing room. Once she was at the corridor—

[—Aneue, can you hear me?]

She received a telepathic message from her adorable little brother, and she responded in her mind.

[Mmm, of course I can, Leo-kun. I’m sorry, although onee-chan wiped out the Council all at once, there was a minor unexpected incident.]

[…Was there a problem?]

[No, no problem at all! Onee-chan is really strong.]

As Riara walked, she energetically flexed her slender right arm.

[I know…but it’s my duty to worry about you aneue.]

What she then heard were words of delight. After saying such adorable things, we’ll see how onee-chan will pay you back for that; after deciding that, Riara asked

[—How is the situation on that side? Is Belphegor there?]

Indeed, Leohart was not actually in the arena. He was in the playground that Belphegor was probably staying in. Just as Basara immediately went to the special viewing room to destroy the Council after defeating Chaos together, Leohart also went to Belphegor’s location as soon as possible. The plan that the two of them had originally agreed on was…Riara would eliminate the Council members in the arena, while Leohart would search for Belphegor’s position, and would monitor the location until Riara arrived so that they could defeat him together. Not allowing Leohart to do it alone was because it would be too risky for Leohart to try and face the leader of the Council, Belphegor, alone. Hence—

[Just wait a little longer, Leo-kun. Onee-chan will use teleportation magic to get there.]

After moving some distance away so that neither Basara or Jin would be able to detect her presence, Riara prepared to initiate a magic circle, but before she teleported to the position of her little brother that she was communicating telepathically with, she noticed that he did not reply, and so she asked in puzzlement

[Leo-kun, what is it?]

[…To be honest, there’s been a bit of a problem here on my end.]

The answer from the other side sounded stiff.

[Hmm?]

Riara tilted her head.

[Could it be that Belphegor isn’t there?]

[He is…just come over first, and then I’ll explain it properly.]

After saying that, Leohart ended the telepathic call.

What could it be…his tone did not seem urgent, so it shouldn’t be a major problem.

“Mmm…I guess I’ll find out once I’m there.”

Riara did not want to waste any time on speculation and spoke her mind, and then she walked into the magic circle that had manifested before her eyes.

Part 2

After confirming that Riara’s presence had completely disappeared, Basara finally relaxed. After a layer of uncomfortable sweat had built up on his back, he felt as though he had barely escaped with his life intact.

“…Dad, what was that…”

“I don’t know…she should be Leohart’s older sister, a truly relentless person. She killed all of the Council members in the blink of an eye.”

Jin also kept his eyes on Riara who had just left the room, and only after answering the question did he turn back towards Basara.

“Seriously, how reckless…”

Smiling wryly, he stretched his hand out and brushed the dust off Basara’s cheek with his fingertips.

“You fought well…truly, I didn’t think that you would get so far. This way, the road to peace between the Moderates faction and the Current Demon Lord faction will improve. Just looking at the results, this is pretty good.”

“Just looking at the results, that may be so…but, I fought very dangerously from start to finish. I only found a way to defeat Leohart because of your help, dad. And being able to defeat that Demon God is all because Ramsas came to help us, as well as the combination of Mio’s and Leohart’s power.”

Basara smiled bitterly as he replied, and in the end—

“…I wasn’t actually talking about that.”

“Then what?”

Jin smiled at the confused Basara.

“It’s fine, I won’t talk about that…the situation has been resolved now.”

He then looked outside the window. So—

“……Well, for the time being.”

Basara also followed Jin and looked out. Outside the window — overlooking the arena, everyone surrounded Mio and Ramsas. Yuki and Kurumi, Maria and Zest, and even Lucia and Noel were present. After confirming once more that everyone was safe, Basara gently stroked his chest and muttered a heartfelt whisper

“I really hope that Mio will never be dragged into the politics of the Demon Realm from now on…”

“Although things will never go as planned…I think that should be fine.”

Jin continued

“After all, just as that ojou-chan said, the Council no longer exists.”

Part 3

In the erotic playground that Zolgear built, but was now managed by Belphegor.

At the other end of Riara’s teleportation magic was the location of where Leohart was — he appeared to be in a large bedroom. —However, Leohart was not the only one waiting for her. A large corpse lay in the centre of the bed that was dyed red by a pool of blood, and there was a large hole that went straight through its chest to its back.

“Belphegor…”

Riara looked down at the miserable corpse, and then murmured the name of the high-level Demon who had secretly dominated the Demon Realm for a long time.

“When I arrived, he was lying on his belly. In order to investigate whether it really was Belphegor and his cause of death, I turned him over.”

And then, Leohart began to recount the circumstances of his arrival.

“His female companions have only fainted, so I woke a few of them up to question them, but all of them said that they couldn’t remember what happened last night. It’s probably the effect of a memory-erasing drug or fragrance.”

Riara turned towards a corner of the room, and the group of women in their underwear huddled together in a corner trembled.

“Hmm…that’s a problem. Huh, did Leo-kun put this bed sheet on?”

Riara’s gaze suddenly turned paused on the bed sheet that was covering Belphegor’s lower body. Blood hadn’t seeped into it, so it was indicative that it had been placed there some time after his death.

“…Yes, I didn’t really want aneue to see that kind of thing.”

“Eh~ when onee-chan hears Leo-kun say that, she only wants to see it more…!”

Leohart’s words actually stimulated Riara’s curiosity, and she immediately lifted it up.

“Wow…how strong.”

And then she exclaimed out loud when she saw the reason why her younger brother had covered it up. The lower body of Belphegor that was covered up by the bed sheet — had an even more severe wound that was different from the fatal wound on his chest. A particular organ had been chopped off from the root with a sharp weapon.

“Wow, oh my. So the legend that Belphegor had two was true?”

“That’s enough, aneue…”

Leohart snatched the bed sheet from Riara’s hands and covered the problematic part.

“Leo-kun Leo-kun, speaking of the severed part…ah, could it be that?”

“…Yes.”

After Riara noticed that some distance away from the bed that there was an unnaturally placed bed sheet, Leohart displeasedly nodded and said

“But aside from us, who would do something like this…”

It wasn’t strange for someone else to be after Belphegor’s life, but the problem was a matter of who would actually do it. —Normally speaking, people could not escape the toll of time and the fate of losing power. But that was not the case for everyone, and one of those people was Belphegor. This high-level Demon was able to become the chief of the Council and manipulate the Demon Realm within the palm of his hand because he had immense power. Being able to successfully form a contract with Chaos was the best proof of this. The immense power that he had held onto from long ago had still yet to wane, so Leohart did not want to act rashly. And so, Belphegor, who stood at the summit of the Demon Realm and dominated it, had now become the ridiculous corpse in front of them.

…Could the War God-san have done this?

Speculating based on the people who had the ability to kill Belphegor, the first person that Riara thought of was Jin. As for Balthier who disappeared halfway through the battle, the probability was much lower…unless he possessed great power that Riara and the others did not know about. He had always been very loyal to Leohart, so it was difficult to imagine that he would deprive his master of the opportunity that he had waited many years for. As far as the available information was concerned, it was more likely that he was killed by Chaos when he was investigating the situation. Of course, there was also the possibility that someone else had taken the opportunity of the battle to assassinate him. But all of the other powerful factions were under the surveillance of the Eight Demon Generals, and the security level of Lundvall Castle was at the highest level, so it was difficult for anyone to infiltrate. Someone able to accomplish such a task would require strength that was on par with Jin. Thinking about it like this, if it was really Jin…when Riara considered the most probable possibility, and looked around for any clues on whether it was the man known as the God of War—

…Huh, isn’t this smell…

Riara’s nose suddenly picked up a particular scent. Amid the putrid stench of Belphegor’s blood, and the perfume that was used by the women of the playground, traces of another scent were hidden. It was the smell of blood — moreover, Riara knew who it belonged to. It was something that she could not forget. After all, it was the extremely rare scent that she had just smelled. —However, it did not belong to Jin. Moreover, when Jin confronted her in the special viewing room of the ancient arena, his body was in perfect condition. Riara didn’t find out that Jin had a dragon’s blood in his veins through the smell of his blood, but through his natural smell and aura. Although it was possible for her to speculate on the smell of Jin’s blood, speculation was only speculation after all. Presently, the smell of this blood was one that Riara had definitely smelt before. It was quite close to Jin’s but the race was more complex. When she thought of that person — everything made sense.

“Yes…so that’s why he used perfume.”

Riara exclaimed in a tone different from her usual coldness. It was highly probable that he had been injured by Belphegor’s counterattack, which is why he carried such a heavy odour of perfume onto the battlefield. When she met him in the special viewing room, although she knew what his intentions should have been, Riara believed that it was a trick he used against Leohart. But she was wrong, the truth was not like that. That youth — used it to eliminate the scent of Belphegor’s body and his blood. Based on the state of the corpse, he had been dead for around half a day. It was possible that he infiltrated the playground last night to assassinate Belphegor, treated his own wounds, and then eliminated any evidence that he had been here…and before that, the perfume had been used to eliminate his own scent in order to facilitate his infiltration. So, that was why he only appeared at the last minute when he fought against Leohart

“…So that’s how it is.”

When he burst into the special viewing room, that was already enough to surprise Riara; she did not expect that he had also snatched away their primary goal of taking Belphegor’s life. But then, why did he reluctantly carry the injury from Belphegor to fight against Leohart in a death match? Belphegor was an absolute symbol of the Council, so if news of his death was disclosed before Mardones implemented his plan to take the position, the Council’s power would suddenly collapse, and it was possible that there would be no need for the decisive battle, which meant that Mio and the other girls with him wouldn’t have had to risk their lives to fight in the arena.

…No, it’s not that simple…

Although they and Basara and the others wanted to eliminate the Council, their motives were different. In order to protect the safety of Wilbert’s only daughter, Naruse Mio, Basara prevented her from being used as a political tool. If he first disclosed that Belphegor had died by his hands, even if the threat of the Council disappeared, Leohart’s side would regard them as a new threat. In order to avoid that situation, the best option was to deliberately allow the remaining Council members in the arena to implement their plan to kill Leohart, and then with Leohart — cooperate with the Current Demon Lord faction and Moderates faction to defeat the malice of the Council. As long as they cooperated to defeat the Council, they would be able to provide peace for the two factions. As for the daughter of the former Demon Lord, she only had value in troubled times. Once there was peace, it would actually be easier for her to become a seed of conflict, and she would be viewed with fear. But they couldn’t actually kill her, and so the peace between the two factions would be resolved. In simpler terms, maintaining Mio’s safety and keeping a distance from her was the best way for the Current Demon Lord faction and Moderates faction to maintain peace. —It was truly hard to believe. This decisive battle between the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction was a key battle to determine the future of the Demon Realm. Regardless of which of the two factions won — whether they eliminated the Council, or the Council assassinated Leohart, it was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Demon Realm. However — the situation was not like that. That youth had deceived everyone before that, and changed the course of the Demon Realm’s history alone. This truth—

“…I’m sorry, Leo-kun. Onee-chan may have made a grave error.”

“Aneue…?”

When Leohart confusedly asked, Riara sighed lightly. Considering the high likelihood of Basara and Leohart clashing again the future, it would have been better to kill him off early — that intuition was certainly correct. But, even if that meant a death match with Jin, her chance to kill Basara was only that one time when they had met in that viewing room just earlier. Jin had heard what Riara had blurted out about her intent to kill Basara. Since he knew the extent of Riara’s true strength, he would probably come up with strategies to protect his son, making it more difficult to kill him. Even so, a risky assault was a valuable option—

“It’s fine. Leo-kun, let’s go.”

Riara linked arms with Leohart beside him as she spoke. As long as she didn’t make a move, Basara probably wouldn’t be detrimental to Leohart. Because doing so would then get Mio involved in the Demon Realm’s matters again and put her in danger. Although it was a pity that she couldn’t personally kill Belphegor, she had at least gotten rid of Mardones and the other Council members. Her and Leohart’s goal of ‘Erasing the Council from the Demon Realm’ was already complete. So right now, there was no need to ask for more trouble. At the moment, there were still other things to do — like giving a thorough reward to her own beloved little brother. So, Riara carried a sweet smile as she spoke

“Congratulations, Leo-kun…after we get back to the bedroom, I’ll thoroughly reward you again.”

◎

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◎

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The showdown between the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction that would decide the future of the Demon Realm — the eve of that day.

In the lustful erotic playground, there was a room that was filled with an obscene atmosphere. It was located in the depths of the building for the pursuit of ultimate pleasure. Only specially selected members knew of its existence — a VIP room. Opening the large doors to enter this extravagant and ultimate space, the first thing that was felt was the comfortable and soft touch of the bright and thick red carpet that covered the floor of the room. The ceiling and walls were decorated with pure gold carvings to give visitors a gorgeous visual feast of luxury. —It was just before the historic day for the Demon Realm, and a few hours into the late night. In the VIP room of the playground, there was one person enjoying every possible minute of his pleasure. It was someone among the seven seats of the Council who seemed to be more focused on [Lust] than his own position of [Sloth]. The high-level Demon whose name was synonymous with history — Grand Duke Belphegor. After becoming the new master of this erotic playground, Belphegor completely changed the appearance of everything to suit his own preferences, and didn’t leave a trace of the previous owner Zolgear. Picking a great number of different women every day, he indulged in deep lust and pleasure with them. On the night of this day, Belphegor also appeared upon the giant bed in the depths of the VIP room. Among the dozen or so stunning beauties that he had chosen, nearly half of them were gathered around his crotch.

“Fufu…I’ve taught you for so long, so I’m sure all of you should know the taste of my treasure by now.”

Belphegor laughed joyfully. Not only did he have four arms, he also had two male parts which split at the root and sat on top and bottom.

“Chuu…ah, kuu…hah ♥”

“Chuu…hah, Belphegor-sama…♥”

The women sucked on the tips of Belphegor’s rods with intoxicated expressions, slid their tongues back and forth along his shafts, and placed his testicles into their mouths. Two women gathered on both his left and right side and were held close with his four arms. The breasts of those two on the inside constantly changed shape, while the two on the outside knelt on the bed while they allowed his fingers to poke around in their underwear as he pleased.

[———]

The women who were in a deep aphrodisiac state due to the effects of a special drug wildly climaxed continually with every one of Belphegor’s hand movements and they disseminated their feminine odours. Soon—

“Which one…I’m about to release.”

When Belphegor said that, he followed his instincts and desires to shoot his load. Although he had already fired off around ten times, his two tips still released a fountain of semen, dying the faces and chests of the women below his crotch white. The women who were drenched in semen then cleaned up his thing with loud slurping sounds, and seemed to indulge in pleasure as they licked the fluid off each other’s faces, breasts, and then passionately kissed each other with their white tongues. While Belphegor enjoyed the obscenity of the women with satisfaction, his eyes suddenly darted towards a corner of the room.

“—Say, how long are you going to stand there for?”

“!…Ah…guh…!”

The silhouette leaning against the wall seemed to respond with a groan of pain before they stood up. —It was an uninvited guest who had dared to infiltrate this playground. Belphegor knew who that youth was. They had met a day earlier, and it was impossible for him to forget his appearance. He was the only son of the man known as the God of War, Jin Toujou, and would soon duel against Leohart — Toujou Basara.

“Speaking of which, you actually dared to come and kill me on the eve of the decisive battle…fufu, you’re an interesting little brat.”

Belphegor had immediately found out that the youth had infiltrated his playground, but he deliberately ignored that rudeness. —For Belphegor who had lived who knows how many years, his greatest enemy was ‘boredom’. These days which involved re-training had caused the women to forget about their previous master, and the unexpected situation was a good form of entertainment for Belphegor. So, Belphegor allowed him to search around everywhere, waiting for him to come. So not long ago — Basara finally made it to the VIP room and raised his sword at Belphegor. However, Belphegor brushed him aside with a slight hand gesture.

“……!”

Basara expended a great amount of effort to get back up, and he raised his silver demonic sword at the enemy. The large blood stain on the right side of his torso was caused by a hole that Belphegor had made by firing out a magic beam from his middle finger. Although it wasn’t a fatal injury, it wasn’t a light injury either. A lot of blood had been lost, and if it was not treated, his life would be in danger — when Belphegor thought so—

“———”

At the other end of his gaze, the bright green aura around Basara that was specific to all Heroes began to mix with a touch of red light.

“Ho…it’s the same glow as that guy, isn’t that Wilbert’s red aura?”

Belphegor slightly widened his eyes to look at Basara and said

“I understand now…I remember at the end of the last Great War that Wilbert’s younger sister disappeared for some time. It was said that her troops were withdrawing from a battlefield when they encountered Jin Toujou midway, and to allow her subordinates to get away, she stayed behind to stall him…there was no word of her for six months, and people thought that she had died. In regards to what happened between Jin Toujou and that woman, nothing was ever heard.”

So that’s how it was.

“I had heard that she and Jin Toujou had met on the battlefield several times…so that’s what it was.”

Although it was not known what other romances had occurred outside of when the Hero encountered the Demon Lord’s younger sister on the battlefield, that was the only theory that could explain the red aura surrounding Basara’s body. Although the pregnancy of Demons was shorter than that of humans, it was not as short as being able to give birth within six months. It was likely that Jin and her had used some kind of trick to speed up the process. Basara’s Demon lineage should normally have been supressed by his human lineage and would not be able to awaken, but it had suddenly awakened now, perhaps because this peculiar playground had a much higher concentration of magic than the normal Demon Realm. The VIP room was also filled with Belphegor’s magical energy, and both of these had entered Basara’s body through his wounds to cause Basara’s Demon bloodline to become active enough to awaken. Mio was only able to use this power because she succeeded Wilbert, while a chemical change had been produced because of Jin’s blood and the Demon’s. With momentary curiosity, Belphegor shooed the women off his bed as he said

“How interesting…I’m starting to want to know a bit more about you now.”

“———!”

Basara dashed towards Belphegor, and without a second word he slashed down with Brynhildr—

“—Fufu, you’re still so lively?”

Seeing this, Belphegor laughed as he snapped his fingers — and at the same time, the sparks that he produced became an electric current that pulsed towards Basara who was in mid-air.

“Guh, gaaahh—!”

The violent burst of lightning that had hit him caused Basara to scream as he fell to the ground where he lay motionless.

“Oh, too bad…”

Belphegor grinned as he reached out with his left hand to touch Basara, and then used his power to cause Basara to float up into the air, and place him onto the bed. He then slowly and carefully observed the youth before his eyes. He examined every corner of his flesh, and even his spiritual composition.

“Hoho…not only a human and a Demon, but even the blood of a God has been mixed in.”

The mixed blood of three races. Discovering the secret of Basara’s birth only served to deepen Belphegor’s interest in him. After further observation, he also discovered that in Basara’s soul, there was a sealed area that even he could not see through, nor release.

“This brat is truly quite appetising…”

Belphegor laughed and then discovered something new again.

“………Hmm, looking closely, you look rather cute.”

In Belphegor’s long life, Belphegor had played with everything that he could have. Regardless of whether it was male, female, young or old, as long as they could give him pleasure, he didn’t refuse anyone, and even went after Demonic Beasts. —However, even someone with rich experiences such as him had not tasted something with the blood of three races. After a great amount of training, the youth’s body was a rich and juicy fruit in Belphegor’s eyes. Faced with the fact that such a rare specimen lay in front of his eyes — this caused Belphegor’s lower body to instantly heat up. He had originally wanted to send both him and Leohart together to Chaos as sacrifices.

“Alright…getting a taste of boys isn’t too bad once in a while.”

After saying that, his two large male organs intertwined into a single giant thing, and then—

“Don’t worry…you’ll get used to my size soon.”

As long as Belphegor wanted, changing the external or internal structure of his limb was not an issue. Turning the youth with the mixed blood of three races into his own personal toy was undoubtedly the most enjoyable game for him. Mardones who was in charge of the decisive battle would probably raise some complaints, but that was his business. So, Belphegor stretched his hand out towards Basara—

“………Hmm?”

In that instant, Belphegor saw something fly across into a corner of the room, and so he turned to look. There was a familiar object that continually twitched around over there.

“———”

When Belphegor looked down in astonishment, he realised that the thing that should have been at his crotch was missing. Basara’s hand had let go of Brynhildr when he was struck by the electrical current earlier, but it had now manifested again in his hand, which explained the phenomenon that had happened to Belphegor’s body.

“—Gaaaaaaaaaahhh!?”

Belphegor grabbed his crotch in pain, and kneeled down as he began to fall forward. Underneath him, Basara suddenly disappeared before Belphegor fell on top of him, and then—

“Ah…ugh — gah!”

A certain object pierced through the struggling Belphegor’s back, pinning him to the bed as all the blood and energy was drained from his body.

…H-How could…!

With the essence of his soul being drained, Belphegor began to feel the gradual thinning of his own existence, causing him to stiffen.

“—I heard a lot about your deeds, and it seems like you’re even more revolting than that Zolgear.”

Behind him, the youth’s voice coldly drifted down.

“———”

The women at the bedside collapsed and fainted one after the other. Most of it was due to witnessing Belphegor’s miserable fate, as well as the relentless pressure that Basara released which their minds were unable to withstand. And then—

“Ugh…ah…ah…”

Belphegor’s lungs had been pierced making it difficult for him to speak, but Basara continued

“I was always thinking…about the final goal of this decisive battle, and how best to reach it. Even if we win the upcoming decisive battle, I’m afraid that the conflict between the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction won’t be resolved that simply…I think that regardless of whether Leohart wins or loses, he plans to eliminate all of you after the battle. And you guys already expected that and prepared a countermeasure. After killing Leohart while holding the greatest amount of power in the Demon Realm, the dissatisfied people are likely to organise another rebel faction.”

And then—

“Another seed of conflict will be planted in the Demon Realm…and just like before, Mio will be hunted, used as a political tool by some people, and her identity will be used for justification. The fate of being ‘the only daughter of the strongest Demon Lord’ will still haunt her forevermore — but, I won’t allow that to happen.”

In the next instant, Belphegor heard the final phrase that decided his fate.

“So Belphegor, I need to kill you…and under circumstances where no one else will see or hear of it, I must kill you alone.”

“……Ngh……!”

Belphegor tried to do whatever he could to escape this life or death crisis. But since the large demonic sword pinned his body down, his futile struggle only hastened his death, and he simply could not move.

“Understand this…don’t think you can just die happily, and don’t think that you’ll die as a dignified high-level Demon. It’s not the first time that you’ve used drugs or magic to make the women in this playground lose their minds…after living for so long, you must have had countless victims who have suffered by your hand. After playing with the lives and fates of so many people just to pass the time and your boredom…at this very moment, the time of retribution has arrived.”

The words of the youth behind him thus became reality. In that moment, Belphegor’s only fate was to await the arrival of his death.

—Then. Toujou Basara said one last thing to Belphegor. His icy voice carried a great darkness that could devour everything.

“I will be watching you. You will slowly suffer this shameful bitterness — and then you will die for me.”

Afterword

Hello, readers who have already finished the book, as well as those who have started reading from here. Thank you for reading this book, I am Uesu Tesuto.

The first thing to talk about is obviously this topic! Not long after the release of this book, the TV animation of <<Shinmai Maou>> will be broadcast. All of the relevant personnel have spent a lot of effort on this animation, so please be sure to watch it! Speaking of the animation, I have a bit of news about the eighth volume of the light novel. It seems like it will include a limited edition OVA, and it will also be a two-disc treat. The content will capture the sweet daily life of Mio, Maria, and Yuki as well as Hasegawa-sensei’s section that the animation company said could not be broadcast on television, and was dangerous even as an OVA! For those who wish to see it, please be sure to pre-order! This ends the promotion of the animation, and from here on will be more discussion on the contents of this volume.

As the readers who just finished reading will know, this is the second half of the Demon Realm arc. Because there were so many different perspectives, the various accounts of the story thus increased, and so this has become the thickest volume so far. However, I’ve finally written in the final scene that was originally planned, so I am quite satisfied. The prologue of the next volume will cover some of the process of the war’s aftermath, and will also expose more new truths (planned). Then, the stage will return to the Human Realm, and the characters who could not have a role in the Demon Realm will debut with their bright performances…I hope.

Next, I would like to thank all of the relevant personnel for this volume. Nitroplus Ookuma-san, thank you for drawing so many amazing illustrations again this time despite your busy schedule! Basara’s last illustration in particular was incredibly striking, it made me very excited! Miyako-sensei, thank you for publishing the manga every month throughout the year, this time the fourth volume of the manga and its bonus gifts for the agreements with particular stores has increased your work, so thank you for all the hard work! The tissue cover is the best! Kiso-sensei, congratulations on the urgent reprint of << Shinmai Maou Arashi>>, and thank you for your hard work at the same time! When I heard that there would be a special issue in Young Animal, I was also rather surprised!

And now, I would also like to thank all of the animation staff for all the effort that you’ve put in during this time! Although everyone may be incredibly busy right now, I still have to say this, I look forward to working with you in the future.

My editor-in-charge, and all the other relevant staff, uh…I really made things quite chaotic this time, I’m really sorry. I’m very grateful to everyone for putting in their best effort so that the book could be released on time.

Finally, I would like to dedicate my greatest gratitude to the readers who have purchased this book. Because of everyone’s support, this work had the opportunity to make it to the TV screen. Please continue to support me in the future, thank you!

Uesu Tetsuto

Translator's Notes and References

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