Demon King Sabnack (3)
cordova's body began crumbling into ashes, scattering on the wind. There was no holding on any longer. The lich had to finally accept the death he'd been staving off for so long.
His Life Vessel was shattered. And now even his flesh, the container for his soul, had reached its limit. He'd endured to the end to fulfill Demon King Sabnack's command, but once he'd crossed the threshold where sheer willpower couldn't sustain him, his body and soul began dissolving in tandem.
"What the hell... are you thinking...! We're cornered, sure, but opening the door on your own like this!!"
The lich's body toppled over. He collapsed straight onto the ground. With both arms gone, he had no way to support himself. He'd even lost his legs. Having poured every last drop of mana from the shards of his Life Vessel into the effort, Cordova stared blankly at the opening 'door' with hollow eyes.
Whoooooooosh----!!!
The door was opening. The portal designed to forcibly teleport every living being within the four central axes had arrived. It was the compulsory summoning circle that Salamanka's evil dragon had poured centuries of effort into perfecting. Its scale was one of the grandest on the continent.
It had already activated—monsters inhabiting the unexplored zone were vanishing before their eyes.
"Without me... those monsters... they'll just plummet from the sky and die... that's what I'm saying...! You stupid, dragon bitch...!!"
Even if the unexplored zone's monsters were safely summoned to the skies above Maherith, the elf kingdom's capital, the real problem came after. They'd plummet under gravity's pull. That's why Cordova had planned to ride the compulsory transfer magic first, activate an Anti-Gravity spell upon arrival, and ensure the monsters landed safely.
But,
"Gahk!"
Cordova's head exploded. Allen stomped down on the lich's skull. It burst with a wet crunch, like an elephant crushing fruit.
"Oppa! I took out the bonehead bastard for now!"
"What the hell is this...?"
Yushin raised both arms. A magic circle had appeared high in the sky above the unexplored zone. Unreachable even for him, it unfolded at an altitude where he couldn't touch it. He swung his sword, firing a thunder spear, but it passed harmlessly through the array.
Compulsory Transfer—a massive spell that forcibly relocated every living being within the summoning circle to another space. Only a dragon could pull off magic on this scale.
"Yushin!"
Kalen shouted. As if she had something crucial to say, she charged toward him. But she vanished before she could reach him.
"C-Captain... my body's acting weird...!"
Gareth disappeared. Like water evaporating, the man who had been standing there was gone in an instant.
"Ugh!"
"Where'd everyone go?!"
The others followed suit. Yushin's subordinates, the village elves—everyone began vanishing from the spot.
All of them were caught in the compulsory transfer magic. Yushin realized the dragon had pulled a fast one. He thrust out his Lightning Sword, severing the evil dragon's lifeline.
Thunderclap Eight Swords: Thunder Slash
The blade of lightning pierced the dragon's heart. Even its undead tenacity couldn't regenerate from that—the corpse dragon collapsed into a rotting hunk of meat.
"Captain!"
"Ch-Chief!"
Starting with Kalen, more people were swept up in the compulsory transfer. Half his subordinates were gone. Isana, Tucker, Hekadi—nowhere in sight. Despair crept across Yushin's face.
It was the dragon's trap. A compulsory transfer that beamed not just the village folk but every monster in the unexplored zone straight to the destination.
The burning question now was: where was it connected?
"Oppa!"
Allen cried out. She was starting to fade. The compulsory transfer magic was swallowing her next.
"Grab on!"
Yushin lunged, clasping her hand. But Alonne and Leticia shouted too.
"Master!"
"Teacher!"
The two high elf girls rushed over. Yushin's body was vanishing alongside Allen's. Having slain the dragon, Yushin was devoured by the compulsory transfer magic along with the others—teleported to the skies above Maherith.
* * *
Skies above the elf kingdom's capital, Maherith (approx. 4,000 feet)
The first to emerge from the compulsory transfer magic circle high in the sky were the monsters. Suddenly summoned, they reacted with utter confusion—yanked mid-rest or hunt into the thin air above the city.
Kerrrk! Groooaaarrr!!
The plummeting monsters flailed wildly before smashing into the ground, bodies bursting like water balloons.
Splaaat!!
Scarlet gore exploded outward. Bones and guts scattered unrecognizably, brains splattering like paint across Maherith's streets.
"A-Aaagh!"
"Demon King Army attack! Monsters falling from the sky!"
Citizens of Maherith fled into buildings in panic. The high-altitude drop turned the monsters into living bombs. Plenty died colliding with the falling beasts, roofs caving and pillars crumbling in the chaos.
The elf knights scrambled out in response to the catastrophe over Maherith, but there was little they could do.
"Everyone to the big buildings! Big buildings!"
"You human slaves over there! Damn it, get over here quick!"
As chaos reigned on the ground, the skies above were in equal turmoil. First the monsters dropped to their deaths, now elves and humans began falling.
Thrust into a sudden vista of blue skies and verdant cityscape, they screamed in horror as they plummeted.
-Nyoro~ng.
-Buuu.
Bubububu.
-Keehit. Kitkitkit!
Just like the tribal elves, Kalen—caught in the compulsory transfer and falling—was approached by spirits. Not earth spirits, but wind spirits drawn to the spirit mage.
Kalen cried out,
"Friends of the free winds! Can you help us poor souls facing this wretched fate? I beg you with all my heart!"
It had been centuries since she'd handled any spirits besides earth ones. The dark elf woman swallowed hard. Without their aid now, everyone here would die horribly.
Kalen Dae pleaded loudly with the wind spirits. They nodded at the dark elf's earnest voice.
In the elf kingdom, where even the elves had forgotten spirit arts entirely, a spirit-affine elf like her was unprecedented. Intrigued, the wind spirits agreed to help.
-Hyuuung.
-Buubut, butbutbut.
-Hit hit hit hit!
The wind spirits clustered around Kalen scattered at once, latching onto the falling people. Everyone she'd requested aid for—humans and elves, excluding the monster dropouts—was gripped tight.
Blasting wind upward against their fall, the spirits gradually bled off the descent energy. The high winds up here were their domain, letting them cover the crowd all at once.
"Whoa!"
"Am I... floating?"
Yushin's men twisted in shock, witnessing their slowed drop. They'd braced for death, praying, "Let me be reborn as a cat raised by a beauty in my next life," only to be saved by a hair's breadth.
Isana and Tucker shook their heads in bewilderment too. Gareth, who'd fallen earlier, had barely made it thanks to a wind spirit's last-second catch.
"I'm satisfied."
"With what?"
Protected by wind spirits like his men, Yushin and Allen descended slowly. He shot back at her words, and Allen beamed with satisfaction.
"I got to see your Thunder Slash."
"Shut it."
"Thunder Slash! It was so cool."
"If it weren't a corpse dragon and that damn lich, I wouldn't have bothered."
"Can't wait for the next one."
"Not happening. Ever."
Safely ferried to the ground by the wind spirits, the group touched down intact amid Maherith's streets littered with monstrous corpses. Around 300 souls arrived, including Yushin, Allen, and his crew.
"This is... Maherith?"
Spotting the verdant cityscape, Yushin realized they'd landed in the elf kingdom's capital. Salamanka's evil dragon had linked the compulsory transfer array directly to Maherith's skies.
Seeing the sprawled monster remains, Yushin finally pieced together the lich and dragon's scheme in full.
"Yushin Gilliard...?"
"Quick, inform the High Priestess!"
The elf knights who spotted them hurried toward the palace.
* * *
Yushin Gilliard had arrived. Hearing the news, Ileina bolted out as if she'd run barefoot, brimming with hope and anticipation toward where he was.
They crossed paths at the palace entrance—Yushin was heading there too.
"Ah..."
Ileina froze stiff. Her shoulders locked up. She hadn't decided what to say upon seeing him.
What should she say? Ask him to fight the Demon King right now? No, that was too shameless. Intentional or not, his men had been injured under her watch as dark elf overseer. The blame was squarely hers.
So Ileina steeled herself not to flee responsibility.
"Yushin Gilliard."
"No time. How far's Demon King Sabnack gotten?"
Yushin cut off her tense opener with a blunt question. Ileina froze again.
"We're fighting her now."
Tanya Mainz, chamberlain of the Holy Empire, approached and answered as she walked up. A white-haired girl with a small horn poking from her head.
But don't let the youthful looks fool you. Tanya had served the imperial court for centuries, a cornerstone of the empire—and third in its hierarchy.
"Goblin chamberlain."
"It's Tanya Mainz. Forgot my name already, you slug?"
Her tone was rough, but Tanya grinned. It had been ages since she'd seen the Holy Empire's benefactor.
"Fighting like that? You'll lose big-time. First hit'll probably flatten you."
"...Yeah, pretty much."
Right now, he was weaker than when he'd faced Agares. That's why he'd slogged through the unexplored zone. Not at his peak, but Yushin intended to fight Sabnack anyway.
He hadn't dreamed the array linked to Maherith's skies, but hearing the Raging Flames Demon King was ravaging the elf forces lit his resolve.
"Brought your armor. You're just plain vanilla without it."
"Not that vanilla."
"Lightning Sword and Gold Dragon armor. Gotta have both for the real Demon King Slayer, right?"
"Fair point."
Yushin nodded at Tanya's words. Lightning Sword and dragon armor—the gear he'd used to kill the Demon King. Tanya had brought the Gold Dragon armor straight from the Holy Empire, stirring memories of toppling the Tyranny Demon King.
Not pleasant ones. He'd sacrificed countless comrades to fell Agares, taking near-fatal wounds himself time and again.