Demon King
Eric was not a devout follower of the Church of Edel.
He believed that Goddess Edel existed and watched over the world of Silia, but he wasn’t the sort of man to put religion above everything else.
That belief had never changed, from the time he was a little boy to the adult he was now, and yet—
There had been a time when Eric had prayed to God with desperate sincerity.
So much that it nearly came out of his mouth as bile…
No, days when he kept rolling in the mud even after he’d spat out that bile.
Goddess Edel, if you would take pity on me, please… just once. Let me hit her. Just one time.
Eric, who had been ground into the dirt by Canaria when she was vice commander, had prayed for the power to reach the devil herself.
Of course, that prayer had never been answered, and thus Eric had never succeeded in mutiny.
There was a limit to how long a man could grit his teeth and endure, telling himself he’d land a single hit someday; no matter how brutally he trained, there was never any hope in sight, and the rebellious Eric had slowly, painfully turned into something like a docile lamb.
In the end, even as Grasis fell and the Crimson Flame Knights scattered to the winds, Eric never once managed to lay a hand on Canaria.
You can’t beat a natural disaster.
A colossal, unshakable fortress wall.
That was what Eric thought Canaria was.
No matter who came at her, none could possibly bring her down.
He had thought that, and yet—
“They say a woman’s transformation makes her even more innocent. Seeing your image change every time I look, I’m starting to think our old commander was really just a girl after all.”
Sounds like he’s got enough energy left to joke.
Was a cold remark about to come flying back at him?
“...”
“...”
“...I see.”
Eric, who had been half expecting Canaria’s reaction, gave up the moment he met those innocent eyes fixed on him.
It was one thing to hide your expression; it was another entirely to control the emotions in your eyes.
So if she looked at him like that, then she clearly hadn’t recognized him—nor had she understood a single word he’d said.
“Besides, our commander was never the type to hide her feelings anyway.”
Snick.
Eric drew the sword that had been sleeping in its scabbard.
Come to think of it, this sword really has been with me a long time.
It had been chosen by the commander herself, too.
And yet here he was, thinking about drawing that very blade against her, and guilt…
“Like hell I’m praising that.”
Eric let out a dry little laugh.
“When I heard a demon had suddenly appeared, I was worried we were about to have another war. When I heard what a demon looks like, I still wasn’t sure. As you know, pink hair and pink eyes aren’t exactly common.”
And yet he had still thought it couldn’t be her.
The commander, who had supposedly gone to the Holy Kingdom, had come back as a demon?
That wasn’t even the kind of joke you could laugh off with a single drink.
So when Eric first saw Canaria, he’d had no choice but to doubt his own eyes.
“Back when I ran wild without knowing my place, Commander, you were the one who taught me that the sky was higher than I thought. I resented you at the time, but now I think I’ve been able to live this long because of you.”
So that debt—
I’ll repay it now.
“You lot, stay back as much as possible and attack from a distance.”
“Yes, sir!”
The magi roiling around Canaria was obviously no ordinary thing.
Magi that could sap life force the instant it touched you?
Even Eric, who had fought all manner of monsters, had never seen magi this strong.
He ordered the subordinates he had brought from Ordo to fall back, then raised his blue mana and settled into a battle stance.
“This might sting a little.”
With those words, Eric charged.
Toward the commander he revered.
* * *
“Ghk— kh, huff!”
Blackened, dead blood dripped to the ground with an unpleasant sound.
“Captain!”
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
Spitting blood wasn’t a normal state of affairs.
Eric stopped his subordinates, who had realized something was wrong and rushed toward him.
“She’s… ridiculously strong, that one.”
Eric wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and lifted his head.
Unlike Eric, who had been rolled through the dirt until he was a filthy, battered wreck, a spotless girl stood before him, not a speck of dust on her.
“...Hoo.”
Anyone looking at him would think he’d been through a fierce life-and-death struggle.
But what Eric had suffered wasn’t a fight. It had been one-sided abuse.
At first, Eric had tried to subdue her without inflicting serious injury, but the moment he swung his sword, he realized just how arrogant he’d been.
Even approaching her vicinity had his body being gnawed at by that dense magi.
The sword he’d swung with all his might had been blocked by the magi and never even come close to touching Canaria’s skin.
Canaria had simply stood there and watched him, never once making any move to dodge or defend.
Those innocent eyes, staring as if nothing in front of her mattered at all, had scratched away at Eric’s pride without mercy.
“No, this is honestly cheating, isn’t it? You’re already absurdly strong, and now you’ve gone and learned some weird new trick—what’s a humble commoner like me supposed to do?”
Still, just because his attacks weren’t landing didn’t mean he could retreat.
If Eric withdrew now, there would be no one left to stand in Canaria’s way, and she would step into the city without opposition.
Into Ordo—his hometown, and the place where countless people lived.
If they withdrew immediately and began evacuating now, they could probably still get everyone out in time…
But would everyone actually follow the order?
Having seen all kinds of people during his years as a knight, Eric didn’t think so.
Even if they miraculously managed to evacuate everyone, how long would the city have to remain empty?
A day? Two?
...Maybe they wouldn’t even be able to return for over a week.
There was no way the city could have enough supplies and shelter for every last resident to live elsewhere for several days, so they’d have to rely on another city—and even another city might not be able to absorb that many people so easily.
And what about the economic losses from a city that had been paralyzed for days? What about the administrative manpower needed to restart it afterward?
Just thinking about it made Eric’s head throb, so he stopped thinking altogether.
Honestly, he wondered whether there was any point in worrying about that at all.
It would all become a place where people couldn’t live anyway, thanks to the magi.
“So, Captain. Couldn’t you turn back even now?”
“?”
“Trying to act cute won’t make this any less impossible. You know I’m not the sort of man to fall for the commander’s flirting, so why are you doing this?”
Tilting her head like that was kind of adorable.
But more than cute, the fear carved into Eric ran much deeper.
Just as no one would be fooled by a monster that ate humans and then tried to act adorable, Eric wasn’t swayed by Canaria’s behavior either.
Swish.
Eric felt his ragged breathing settle and rose to his feet.
Within his blue eyes, black magi gathered.
Magi.
That black haze wrapped around Canaria was the problem.
Because of it, his sword wouldn’t reach her, and even walking forward posed a threat to life itself.
If the king of all the demonfolk from rumor were to appear, perhaps he would look like this.
Heh.
“Demon King, huh.”
It would have made sense if she had gone to fight the Empire out of boredom and come back after subjugating the demonfolk, but that was an absurd fantasy.
But Eric didn’t know that, although Canaria hadn’t gone off to subjugate anything, she had come back from doing something very much like it.
Brushing off his own thoughts as childish nonsense, Eric began to think it through.
A way through the magi…
Ironically, the first person who came to mind was the very girl standing in front of him.
The strongest swordswoman Eric knew was Canaria, so naturally, when he searched desperately for a solution, he thought of her.
A swordswoman who had reached Master was practically the bible of swordsmanship.
As he recalled the sword techniques Canaria had used while hunting monsters, Eric shook his head.
Knowing the answer and being able to do it were two very different things.
Unless he underwent yet more training and reached a higher realm, there was no way he could perform swordsmanship like that.
“But… maybe. Just a little. If it’s only a little…”
Maybe he could at least imitate it, however clumsily, however incompletely.
If retreat wasn’t an option, then shouldn’t he try something?
He couldn’t keep shooting arrows forever and just prevent her from approaching.
The blue in his eyes deepened into resolve.
“Sss—”
His breathing sank low and heavy.
From Eric’s mouth, a thin breath escaped like mist.
At the tip of the sword he had lifted to eye level, the image of the pink-haired girl shimmered.
Could it really reach her?
No.
The thought itself was wrong.
It will reach her.
Grip.
He fused the strike he had polished more than any other with the strike preserved in his memory, and crossed the wall that had stood in his way.
Whoooosh—!
A blue current surged through Eric’s body.
In that instant, he forgot every sword technique he had practiced countless times until now.
His subordinates, the trees, the road, the stones.
Everything that entered Eric’s sight turned blue.
In a world dyed blue even in his own image, there was only one figure that still held color.
The moment Eric perceived that, the entire world was sucked toward that tiny point.
It swallowed everything, and at last it swallowed Eric’s mind as well—
...Ha.
After what felt like an age beyond counting, when Eric finally came back to himself—
The world that had been dyed blue had returned to normal.
The leaves were green, the rocks were a dull blackish gray, and fallen leaves lay scattered messily across the road.
Everything looked exactly as it should have, just as Eric knew it.
But Eric understood.
“...How is it?”
That his strike had reached Canaria.
Shhk—
A red line had been drawn across Canaria’s cheek.
Her small hand, lifting clumsily to touch the wound, smeared the blood, and a bright red bead slid down her finger.
“...Ah.”
Those pink eyes, watching the blood run down, slowly turned toward Eric.
The light went out of her gleaming gaze, and darkness settled there instead.
“Didn’t I tell you,” Eric said with a grin, “that I’d reach you?”