Chapter 10
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 10
The man’s figure, leaping high into the sky, instantly swelled into a massive vortex of darkness. It happened seamlessly—yet far too quickly for the eye to follow—as it took the shape of a colossal beast.
Though it was less than a quarter of its true size, the form was still vast enough to completely fill Patrick’s vision with black.
The heavy mass landed, and with a single kick of the ground, it was gone. In that solitary leap, it vanished completely from Patrick’s sight. A moment later, a violent gust of wind tore through the space Swallow had just occupied. As the cool, rushing air blasted against him, Patrick’s jaw chattered.
“Well, that’s one hell of a noisy departure.”
*
Only after the gust subsided and the dust that had been kicked several meters into the air settled did Patrick stand up.
He lightly brushed the dirt from his shoulder guards, then pulled a human newspaper from his breast pocket—today’s edition.
“The Genuine ‘Guillotine’s Tooth,’ 34th of the 36 Masterpieces, Up for Auction… What Will the Final Bid Be?”
“Things are getting more complicated than I thought.”
‘Guillotine’s Tooth’ was, without a doubt, one of the blades Rene possessed.
Miss Rene went to a human village. There, she handed over her cherished blade to the very humans she despised.
Why had she called the Boss to her secret sanctuary four days ago? There was no need to overthink it; it was obvious Miss Rene had feelings for him. However, an unexpected variable must have arisen. After all, what she had brought out was a mana stone possessed by a demon.
…She had given up ‘Guillotine’s Tooth’ and obtained a demon-possessed mana stone from somewhere. And because of that, she was nearly killed by the Boss when he lost his reason.
“The picture is starting to become clear.”
If the Boss found out about this, how would he react?
He disliked humans, but that didn’t mean wiping out humanity was some unconditionally happy ending for him. If that were the case, he would have done it long ago.
Not yet. It wasn’t time to destroy humanity.
Sighing, Patrick turned the page. The front was always about the Imperial Family. As he flipped to the next, a massive headline greeted him.
“Dungeon Subjugation Union Headquarters Confident: ‘We Will Conquer the Core Within 3 Days.’”
“Hmm.”
“You must return within five days.”
His own words suddenly echoed in his mind.
“This is driving me nuts.”
Phase 2
“To think mere humans managed to climb all the way up here. Impressive enough. Welcome. I shall grant you the special privilege of a glorious death.”
An arrogant voice echoed across the top floor. A throne sat several steps above a red-carpeted path. Looking down haughtily at the humans from her seat, the Demon King’s sharp fangs gleamed. Ominous mana seeped from the black crystal orb atop the staff in her right hand, choking the air.
“That’s the spirit. Makes it all the more satisfying to bring you down.”
The humans—a subjugation squad of eight, split into two groups of four—walked slowly toward the Demon King. At a distance of less than thirty meters, the bold-looking man at the front drove his sword into the floor. The Demon King remained seated, her expression relaxed as she curled her lips into a smirk.
“Oh? Driving your weapon into the ground? What’s this?”
“Even if you’re a demon, you’re still a dungeon boss, so I’m showing some respect. By the way, I didn’t expect the Demon King to be a woman. I naturally assumed you’d be a man.”
“What an amusing fellow. Is this bravado?”
“Unfortunately, provocations won’t work on me. My name is Kellumit, a swordsman from Riaze, the proud capital of the Empire. The reliable companions behind me are the elite warriors of the ‘Dawn Yellow Tiger Mercenary Corps,’ ranked 32nd in the Empire! We are the ones who will soon slay you and spread our names across the continent, so remember us well.”
“…I am Melju de Limp Agrea, the seventeenth descendant of Asmodeus. Consider it an honor to have learned my name—and die!”
With those words, the Demon King who called herself Melju shot to her feet. The staff in her hand floated into the air as if it had a mind of its own.
Not wanting to miss a split second, the swordsman Kellumit yanked his sword from the floor. The sharp blade sliced through the air with a keen whistle. Behind him, the tense members of the Dawn Yellow Tiger Mercenary Corps began casting magic circles with practiced ease, while the archers drew their bowstrings, aiming straight for the Demon King’s heart.
“Burn!”
Black mana scattered in all directions. Countless particles, like fine dust, simultaneously erupted into a massive wall of fire.
Kellumit pulled the large alloy shield from his back and charged through the flames. Behind him, amidst the storm of fire, the members of the Dawn Yellow Tiger Mercenary Corps providing cover began to fall one by one. Screams loud enough to drown out the explosions echoed from his rear. Yet, charging forward with his shield raised, Kellumit didn’t retreat a single step.
Her attack pattern was simple, but her execution was flawless. The flames died out weakly against his alloy shield, unable to inflict any damage.
Assessing the situation, Melju prepared a second physical-destruction spell. At that moment, Kellumit threw his shield aside and leaped. The sharp edge of his broadsword, already stained with the blood of monsters, aimed for Melju. Simultaneously, Melju, having nearly finished her casting, thrust her hands forward.
At the very instant the point-blank magic and the decisive strike were about to collide—
BOOOOOOM!
With a deafening, ear-splitting roar, something crashed down right between them. A massive shockwave erupted, kicking up an immense cloud of dust and thick smoke.
The object had fallen in the literal blink of an eye. Unable to withstand the aftershock, both Melju and Kellumit were sent tumbling across the floor.
A sword and a staff clattered loudly as they rolled away. Red blood trickled down Kellumit’s head, likely from being struck by flying debris. Melju rolled several times before slamming hard into the wall of her castle.
But she was a Demon King. Supporting herself with one hand, she managed to push herself up. Drops of blood dripped from her mouth alongside a faint groan. Kellumit, too, barely managed to get to his feet.
“What… in the world?” they both uttered at the same time.
A chilly wind blew in. A hole had been punched through the ceiling of the Demon King’s castle. Golden sunlight streamed through the gap, illuminating the dark interior as if an angel had descended. The light shone only on the area directly beneath the hole.
The dust and smoke, made visible by the sunbeams, gradually dissipated under the downward draft.
The first thing they saw was a small crater in the floor. Next was a silhouette, faintly visible through the smoke.
As the wind slowly parted the curtain of dust, the silhouette grew clearer.
It was a human shape. Seeing it, faint smiles appeared on the faces of the subjugation squad members. If the unknown entity was human, it surely wasn’t an enemy.
—Where the dust cleared, a tall man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stood blankly.
“Ah.”
That was the first word out of his mouth.
* * *
“Ah.”
Dammit.
I thought something was off when I was falling, but this is completely messed up.
This is the third time I’ve ended up in the wrong place. I thought I was just bad at Polymorph, but my teleportation magic is a total disaster, too. Now Patrick’s words finally hit home: ‘Boss, your internal mana is in complete chaos. Please don’t use magic.’
At first, I thought the coordinates were wrong, but now I see it’s not a coordinate issue. It’s just a total train wreck.
Ah, I’m screwed. I should have just walked. If I’d walked, I would have reached the village ages ago.
“Then again… I can’t even Polymorph properly, so what was I thinking trying to use teleportation magic?”
The tall man—Swallow—brushed his hair back in frustration. His messy black hair was already blocking his vision, which only added to his annoyance.
Looking around, he saw a monster that looked like a dungeon boss on one side and a group of humans on the other, all staring blankly at him.
Their intense, piercing stares were uncomfortable, so he deliberately looked away, but their lingering gazes were just as burdensome.
Judging by the traces of magic and the arrows stuck all over the floor, it seemed he had interrupted a fierce battle.
What was he supposed to say in a situation like this? Sorry for interrupting? Don’t mind me, please carry on?
While he was pondering his opening line, a question that sounded like it was from a third-rate actor came from the human side.
“W-Who are you?!”
You could ask that with a bit more confidence…
Swallow pointed a finger at himself as if to ask, Me? The group of humans nodded in unison.
Now that they’d asked who he was, how should he answer? As he was mulling it over, a second question came flying. “No, w-who you are doesn’t matter! Whose side are you on?! You look human… Y-Yes, are you reinforcements?! Who sent you?! The Guild Alliance? The Imperial Family? More importantly, how did you fall from the sky?! No, wait! First, take this chance to quickly defeat the Demon King!”
The human was trembling as he spoke. With an expression that screamed he couldn’t care less, Swallow turned his head. He locked eyes with the demon, who was staring at him with a sharp gaze filled with tension and hostility. If what the human said was true, then that was the Demon King?
She’s quite different from the Demon Kings I saw in the past.
Of course, a lot of time had passed, but the Demon Kings Swallow knew were massive, monstrous entities, closer to beasts. The demon stumbling before him, however, looked quite different.
First of all, she was female, which was rare. Her purple hair, tinged with red, reached her waist. Her sharp eyes, fangs, leathery wings, and the two horns on her head were certainly symbols of a Demon King, but she didn’t look particularly threatening. Her flowing clothes weren’t suited for combat, either.
First Rene, now her. Is this the trend these days?
Of course, most of this was just his personal opinion. But one objective fact was that this Demon King was young.
By human standards, she looked to be in her late teens. For a demon of her caliber, she was probably just under two hundred years old.
Not that it matters.
He didn’t have time to leisurely admire the Demon King. There was a much more pressing issue.
“Do you guys happen to know the way to a village called Hastin from here?” Swallow asked, addressing the humans.
The Hastin Territory. The closest human territory to the Primordial Core, and the village Rene visited most often.
When she went to sell a large quantity of mana stones a few days ago, it was highly likely she’d gone to Hastin. For now, finding her traces there was his top priority.
“Huh? Stop talking nonsense and answer our question!”
“Answer my question first.”
“Are you… not reinforcements? Or is there something wrong with your head?! If you ignore me one more time, I’ll consider you an enemy!”
“Shh, quiet. You, who appeared so suddenly. I am Kellumit. I understand your question, but it is only proper that you reveal your identity first.”
“Are you lowly humans ignoring me right now?!”
—Ah, what a mess.
He just wanted to know the way to Hastin, but the Demon King was making a racket on his left, and the humans were making a racket on his right. Clutching his chest as if he were about to go mad, Swallow let out a deep sigh. The stifling feeling pooled in his lungs. If I stay here any longer, I’ll rot to death from frustration.
There’s no information to be gained here. Having reached that conclusion, he watched as arrows and magic began to fly past each other again, with him caught in the middle. Most of the attacks missed, but a few grazed and tapped against him.
It felt like they were testing his patience. A sudden urge to just flip the whole place upside down rose within him as he looked back and forth between the Demon King and the humans.
He also happened to be hungry. He hadn’t been able to eat properly for the past few days, too worried about Rene.
“Hey, you guys?”
“Die! An unidentified intruder may have broken in, but it doesn’t change the fact that you will die by our hands!”
“Lowly creatures, savor your pain!”
…It seemed conversation was impossible. Well, was there really no one else around besides these guys?
With that thought, Swallow slowly relaxed his body.
And opened his mouth.
A split second was more than enough.
His tall, well-proportioned body deformed grotesquely as a mass of darkness surged from him. Like contents forcibly stuffed into a tiny pouch bursting out, the colossal black shape expanded and contracted countless times. It was unclear whether the unstable substance was liquid or solid. As the process began to stabilize, a massive mouth capable of swallowing shadows gaped open toward the Dawn Yellow Tiger Mercenary Corps and Kellumit.
Squelch.
With a grinding, crunching sound, the black maw stopped moving. A mouth large enough to swallow all of them and then some now hovered over the subjugation squad, drool dripping from its roof. As if they had rehearsed it, everyone uttered a confused “Huh?” in unison.
None of them imagined it would be their final word.