Return and Discovery (3)
After her defeat in the duel against the Demon King Slayer, Sabnack managed to return to Granata with the help of her retainers. It seemed like she had barely escaped disaster. But Sabnack's misfortune was only just beginning.
The Raging Flames Demon King had lost her power. In the duel with the Demon King Slayer, she had burned away her immortality, and even the Rampage Flame authority that endlessly spewed hellfire had dwindled to half. The information leaked from the demon knights guarding her soon reached the ears of the other demons.
Cunning opportunists eyeing the half Demon Core she possessed sprang up like weeds.
"It's from the Imperial Guard. No doubt about it."
"And she took a serious hit in that duel with the Demon King Slayer, right?"
"Now's our golden chance."
The demons gathered under Sabnack's name began plotting usurpation in their own factions. Usurpation—the term for seizing the throne from one's lord through brute force. Upon hearing that Sabnack had been greatly weakened by her duel with the Demon King Slayer, the demons started dreaming of their own takeover.
"Kill Sabnack!"
"That bitch stole her Demon Core from the previous Demon King by force, didn't she? This is karmic justice!"
The blue-skinned Bluehide Tribe. Lizardmen of the Lizard Tribe who could walk upright. Leading these two tribes, countless demon factions rose in rebellion. It was no small-scale uprising. Long-pent-up grudges against Sabnack exploded all at once. Tribes that had lost many members to her indiscriminate mass-killing attacks—attacks that didn't distinguish friend from foe—took the lead.
"These... vermin...!!"
The red-haired woman was wrapped head to toe in bandages. Her condition was off. Though she'd suffered a near-fatal wound close to death, she should have fully recovered by now. Yet Sabnack remained unable to heal her injuries. If anything, they had worsened. The gruesome red inflammation and bloodied gashes peeking through the bandages told the tale.
"I'll tear you all apart."
Sabnack raised her rusty sword and charged at the demons pouring in from all sides.
Black Flame Five Swords: Demon Heaven Return
Black flames erupted from the rusty sword, swirling like a vortex and savagely striking the surroundings. Starting with the scale-covered lizard demons, armed devils wielding sharp weapons were swept away in an instant. The acrid smoke of burning demon flesh mingled with the crackling roar of the inferno.
"No matter how many mayflies swarm, they cannot extinguish a roaring blaze."
Sabnack emerged through the parting black flames—a vision of terror to the usurping rebels. She was supposed to be weakened! They'd heard she was on the brink of death after taking a blow from the Demon King Slayer! The shamans treating her had deliberately worsened her wounds with a special zimt poison. And yet, how was she still this strong?!
"D-don't panic! Look at those staggering legs if you have eyes! Sabnack isn't invincible! She's lost her immortality! Jam a blade into the Demon King's heart, and we win!"
The apparent leader bellowed, rallying the retreating demons. Most joined in. Only a scant few still loyal to Sabnack remained—veterans who had served in her Demon King army since she ruled the Libria Peninsula. It wasn't an exaggeration to say Granata was now overrun by demons deeply hostile to her. They had seized the city while she lay gravely wounded and hovering between life and death.
Sabnack was now a pitiful lone wolf, betrayed by her subordinates and stripped of her last stronghold on the Libria Peninsula.
"Heh heh heh, hahaha! Kekeke, kuhahahahaha!!!"
Surrounded by traitors on all sides, Sabnack dropped her rusty sword and burst into mad laughter. Rage and hatred. Self-loathing for losing everything to the elves once again. A chill ran through the demons at her maniacal cackle. Those who heard it instinctively stepped back, faces drained of color. Her frenzied visage was unnerving.
"Come fall into hell with me."
Black Flame Five Swords: Grim Harvest
A fierce wind whipped her red hair. Sabnack hefted her rusty sword. The black flames cloaking it radiated an ominous aura. As she swung it down, the vortex of dark fire intensified. Hundreds of demons were swallowed by the blaze, vanishing without a trace. Only Sabnack stood unscathed amid the inferno.
"Kuhk!"
The red-haired demon suddenly vomited blood. Crimson poured from her mouth. Forcing her authority had made her body scream in protest. Her wounds' healing and regeneration slowed dramatically—thanks to the vicious shamans' special zimt poison used in her treatment. Even with her superior physique, regeneration should have progressed, but the poison relentlessly aggravated the injuries.
"Come on! I'll kill you all!"
Facing the tens of thousands encircling her, Sabnack bared her teeth and swung her sword in a berserk frenzy.
* * *
A massive rebellion against Sabnack erupted in Granata. Upon receiving the urgent report, Ileina put the Demon King subjugation on hold and opted to observe the situation in Granata. Now was not the time. It was time to watch the beasts tear into each other in the arena called Granata. They were exhausting their strength by slaughtering one another—a development the elves welcomed with open arms.
"Why have the demons turned against Sabnack?"
Ileina asked. A subordinate priest stepped forward to answer. The elderly elf priest, with his thick white hair and beard, was one of the advisors who had served the first High Priestess at her side.
"To steal the Demon Core from the Raging Flames Demon King, Sabnack, and become the next Demon King."
"How barbaric. So savage..."
"That is the nature of demons. Cruel, ferocious, and fond of crushing rival tribes under the logic of power."
"Similar to humans. Maybe even to us."
"All races on the continent influence each other, directly or indirectly, through endless cycles of slander and slaughter. The origin of that instinct to dominate through strength remains a mystery..."
The old advisor was quite the eloquent speaker. Ileina could see why the first High Priestess had kept him close. The third High Priestess listened quietly, like a granddaughter hearing grandfather's tales. She lacked experience. Her ability to respond swiftly to crises was lacking. Thus, Ileina always consulted her advisors before deciding.
"Grandpa, can that damned Demon Core attach to just anyone?"
"Hm... The demons who killed previous Demon Kings and stole their cores were all infamous monsters. The six current Demon Kings are all such beasts."
"I asked a foolish question. No demon who slays a Demon King—by whatever filthy means—could be ordinary..."
Sabnack herself had killed the previous Raging Flames Demon King and seized the core. The vicious cycle of the law of the jungle turned demons into an endless wheel of death and killing. Her duel with the Demon King Slayer had left her gravely wounded and in decline. Witnessing that, the demons lost faith in her power and authority. Combined with their long-suppressed rage and hatred, it sparked the massive rebellion in Granata.
"Whom do you hope survives, High Priestess?"
The elderly priest inquired. Ileina answered without hesitation.
"Sabnack."
"Unexpected. I thought cautious you would want her captured and executed by the demons."
"She can't die that easily."
A fierce anger and killing intent frosted over Ileina's sky-blue eyes. Sabnack had to be executed by elven hands. A gruesome death at the hands of her own kind would tarnish her name. But Ileina firmly stated that Sabnack must be put to death by elves.
"Countless kin have died by Sabnack's hand."
Ileina clenched her fist. Her nails dug into her palm. She seemed to recall the resentment of her compatriots slain by Demon King Sabnack. Of course, the elves had struck first. But that didn't excuse her atrocities. One side had to die for the war to end. For the prosperity of her homeland and people, Ileina believed Sabnack must perish by elven hands.
"High Priestess!"
A handmaiden waiting outside rushed in to Ileina, who was conferring with the priests. Urgent news had arrived. At the report of tidings from Pamplona—the slave city—Ileina's brow furrowed.
"Pamplona? Valua Kingdom's forces haven't crossed the Akiteon Mountains... Did the slaves riot?"
"No."
Denying Ileina's guess, the handmaiden relayed the news from Pamplona.
"Warrior Captain of the Second Seat, Miguel LaMancha, has arrived in Pamplona."
"Miguel LaMancha?"
A familiar name. And a peculiar one. Miguel LaMancha—the mightiest warrior captain, whom no one save El Seed could withstand. With El Seed barred from war by the covenant, he was the Liberia Elf Kingdom's top fighting force. A man who yearned above all to be a hero and had finally achieved that dream. He who had set off for the Holy Empire's eastern front, harboring the arrogant yet grand ambition to protect all races of the continent from the myriad demons.
"Miguel LaMancha..."
"The man who's been silent all this time shows up now."
The priests reacted uneasily upon hearing the name, as if it were some ill omen. Had he not been hailed a hero in the Holy Empire, they might have demanded his sacred relic be reclaimed and him banished from the territory. Miguel LaMancha was a figure of such renown across the continent that even the High Priestess's close priests dared not touch him.
"Granata's massive rebellion. And now Miguel LaMancha's return. Why do all the big events pile up at once?"
Ileina grumbled. While pondering how to handle it, she ordered Miguel LaMancha in Pamplona to be summoned to Maherith Palace posthaste.
"One more thing... A message from Warrior Captain Miguel."
"What? There's more?"
As the handmaiden hesitated, the impatient Ileina gestured for her to spit it out. The handmaiden continued.
"Warrior Captain Miguel said that the Tyranny has awakened once more."
"Tyranny...? Tyranny means..."
Ileina's face twisted in confusion at the handmaiden's words. But as the meaning sank in, her expression turned to shock, and she urgently reiterated the command to summon Miguel LaMancha to Maherith Palace as quickly as possible.