Ch.116Demon Lord Astaroth – 1

Nikado, and the other succubi, seemed to notice that the situation was turning ominous as their expressions hardened.

“Y-Your Majesty. What is that? What should we do? We’re not going to die, are we? Right?”

“What should we do, Master? We’re not going to die, are we? Right?”

“……”

Watching the succubi clinging to their queen Nika, and Nika clinging to me, her master, I suddenly wondered how Astaroth had managed to make these creatures fight on the battlefield.

They seemed as far from combat-ready as one could possibly imagine.

“Just stay holed up in here. I’ll take care of this and come back. You’ll just get in the way if you try to help.”

“Yes… I’ll do that, Master…”

Even now, she was like this. Despite my blunt statement that she would be a hindrance, she nodded with enchanted eyes rather than getting angry. And it wasn’t just Nika—all the other succubi were the same.

Everything Ellisiere had said was absolutely correct.

“Um, Master. You know… I need more life energy for even minimal self-defense, so maybe just a little more… hehe.”

When I gave her an incredulous look, Nika stuck out her tongue slightly and grinned brightly. The fact that she could make such an expression after nearly being beaten to death moments ago made me think she had quite the positive personality.

“Hnngh… haah… mmm…”

After letting her absorb the life energy she wanted, I left the castle, leaving behind Nika who was twitching as if she’d taken some drug, and the other succubi who were watching her with envious eyes.

The black clouds had already covered almost the entire visible sky. My grip tightened on Eternal.

‘That looks exactly like that thing from before.’

I meant those ominous clouds that appeared when I fought Mahbat. They were also meant to strengthen Mahbat.

If so, I could roughly guess what those clouds were.

However, the situation was worse than before. Back then, Leona was with me, so it was possible to disperse the clouds with the holy sword, but now I couldn’t do that.

In the end, I could only hope that nothing would emerge from there or that no one associated with the demon god would come here, but honestly, even I thought that was a ridiculous hope.

Why else would those clouds form if not for that purpose?

“Master!”

While I was monitoring to see if anything was moving, not knowing how the situation would unfold, Nika jumped out of the castle and flew toward me, flapping the wings attached to her waist vigorously.

It was an absurdly cute action for a Succubus Queen. Of course, the revealing nature of her clothes and her figure were not cute at all.

“I told you to hide. Why did you come out?”

“I kept thinking about it, and I realized that leaving Master to fight alone isn’t proper behavior for a maid. I told the others to monitor the situation and evacuate on their own.”

“I already told you that you wouldn’t be much help even if you came. What do you think is going to come out of there?”

“Th-that’s because you’re too strong, Master! I can cleanly take care of most demons too! Why do you think I’m the Succubus Queen?”

“Even those ‘most demons’ would disappear with one swing of my sword, though?”

“Ugh…”

Nika drooped her shoulders, apparently having no further rebuttals. Still, it seemed a bit harsh to turn away someone who came to help.

“You can stay by my side, but don’t get in my way. I don’t want to use twice the effort. If things look bad, don’t try to act tough—just run away. Got it?”

“…! Yes! Master!”

A bright smile appeared on Nika’s face. However, unlike her pure smile, her outfit was far from modest. Only after I ordered her to change into a maid uniform did her exposure decrease somewhat.

“Master, look over there!”

Before long, the clouds began to clump together and descend to the ground. It was exactly the same precursor as when they tried to strengthen Mahbat.

“I knew it.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I said I knew this would happen. It’s obviously set up for something to jump out.”

The black clouds swirled down to the ground like a tornado. I couldn’t help but sigh. Was it too much to hope they would just pass by? They were blatantly advertising that something was about to happen.

“I’ll be right back.”

As soon as I confirmed something taking shape inside the tornado, I sprang into action. I had been using physical enhancement since the clouds started gathering and descending.

Moving at a speed that made the ground appear as a blurry afterimage, I swung Eternal. The blade, wrapped in white flames, sliced diagonally through the upper half of a horse-like lower body.

—KUAAAA!

A wave of white flames erupted along the trajectory. The purifying flames burned the body that had just revealed itself to the world. The severed area sizzled and smoked as it burned.

In the midst of this, I pushed away an axe blade that had come within an inch of my neck. Despite its body not being fully formed and its upper body being sliced and burned, it still managed to attempt a counterattack.

If I hadn’t caught it with my hand, it probably would have pierced my carotid artery by now. The healing magic would have prevented me from dying, but it certainly would have put me in a foul mood.

‘This is…’

I frowned when I checked what kind of creature would use an axe. The weapon in its hand was the axe used by the Demon King Army’s 6th Corps Commander, Raptarukus.

I remembered it from our previous encounter.

‘Could it be that this one too?’

Just as the missing witch Circe had appeared half-dead with tentacles parasitizing her body, this one might be in a similar situation. Otherwise, there was no explanation for it appearing with the power of the demon god.

I would need to ask Ellisiere if Raptarukus had also gone missing when I saw her.

—CHWAAAK!

But first, I needed to deal with this not-yet-dead creature.

As soon as I confirmed that its right arm was twitching, I blew away the entire shoulder joint. The axe-wielding right arm rolled on the ground.

“You’re still not dead even in that state, huh?”

Despite having its entire right side from the collarbone to the left flank torn away, and even its surviving right arm severed, the creature was still alive. I jumped backward to create some distance.

Squirming, almost simultaneously with my retreat, crimson tentacles shot out from the severed surface and tangled with each other.

In an instant, several strands protruded from the tentacle mass that had transformed into an arm shape, picked up the fallen axe, and gripped it in the writhing hand. The horse-shaped lower body slowly began to move.

“Master! That thing is—”

“I know! It’s just like Circe!”

I was about to swing Eternal again after confirming my correct guess, but this time the opponent was faster. The distance I had created was closed in the blink of an eye.

The axe was swung at an angle only possible with an arm made entirely of tentacles. Despite the enormous movement, the swinging speed was beyond imagination.

—KWAAANG!

As soon as it struck the ground, the earth twisted around the impact point. As if an earthquake had occurred, the ground that couldn’t withstand the shock was completely overturned, with pieces rising up against each other.

It had clearly become stronger than when we fought in the cave. Whether it had limited its power then due to being inside a cave at an outpost established by another corps commander, or for whatever reason, that was the case.

—KUUNG! TUEONG!

It was even getting faster. Now the creature’s body was only visible as a blurry afterimage. Although it was clearly circling around me, its attacks were coming in almost as fast as I could assume a defensive stance.

“Nngh…!”

Nika, after confirming that all the magic she could use was ineffective, just stomped her feet in place. She seemed to be faithfully following what I had told her.

That was the right approach. Trying to forcibly help would only be a nuisance. Besides, this creature didn’t seem interested in her either.

“Nika!”

“Yes, Master! How can I help—”

“Retreat to the castle! Now!”

Nika didn’t ask twice. She immediately flapped her wings and returned to the castle at maximum speed.

With no need to worry about bystanders, it was time to use a different method. Rather than matching the creature’s speed for a counterattack, I would try something quite different.

“Alright. Let’s see if you can run like that in mid-air.”

I infused mana into my right leg. As I drew a magic circle, I stomped the ground with all my might. A blue light rose around my right leg, forming geometric patterns.

With a cracking sound, the world collapsed.

The ground around me, except for the small part where I stood, began to fall. An endless abyss indiscriminately swallowed the pouring earth and rocks.

With nowhere left to run, the creature, seemingly out of options, stepped on one of the falling rocks and kicked off from the ground.

Subjectively, it took only one breath for the creature to reach me, but that was more than enough time for a counterattack.

I deflected the axe aiming for my heart, changing its trajectory, and swung Eternal while activating a spell.

A binding spell caught each of the creature’s legs. Its kneecaps twisted with an audible crack, unable to withstand the momentum.

I burst the upper body that had come right up to me with an extreme twist. The blade, which tore through flesh and completely ground up the tentacles densely packed and writhing inside, continued downward without stopping.

Eternal vertically cleaved the creature and emerged below. The body, with its middle part exploding and split in two, passed by my left and right sides.

Turning my body half a circle, I wrapped Eternal in white flames and burned the remaining pieces. The remaining flesh and tentacle fragments that were still squirming to recover their original form were engulfed in white flames.

The fragments of the 6th Corps Commander, burning in white flames and falling into the bottomless abyss, completely withered away before reaching the bottom. After watching this, I flexed my right hand.

‘…Was it like this before?’

This wasn’t my first time crossing weapons with the 6th Corps Commander. But something seemed different from before.

Previously, whenever our weapons clashed, I would stagger or be slammed into walls due to the overwhelming difference in strength. But now, it felt manageable, and I even had the impression that I had won.

Whether the creature had weakened or I had grown stronger was impossible to tell.

“Wow…! You’re amazing, Master! That creature looked incredibly strong, but you defeated it so easily…!”

Nika, who had flown back at some point, clung to my side and showered me with flattery. She seemed to be trying extra hard out of embarrassment for not having done anything despite offering to help.

Letting the flattery go in one ear and out the other, I took out the necklace. It was fine for Nika to see this. After all, she had already witnessed Ellisiere appearing and conversing with me directly.

The other succubi were too far away to hear.

“Ellisiere, can you hear me?”

“……”

There was no response. It was quiet. I wondered if she was busy because of Circe’s disappearance. I wanted to tell her that Circe had appeared here. I also had other things to discuss.

“Ellisiere. Can you hear me?”

I called again, but it was the same. The necklace remained silent.

“You… now…”

After some time, Ellisiere’s voice finally came through, but with severe static.

Static? Something was off. Was this device even capable of producing static?

“I can’t hear you clearly. What did you say?”

“Asta… Demon King’s Castle…”

“What about the Demon King’s Castle?”

The voice went quiet again. Growing impatient, I was about to ask Nika if she knew where the Demon King’s Castle was when a completely different voice came through.

“Hello, Mira Crate? Were you enjoying a secret rendezvous with our little traitor? Hmm?”

“…Astaroth?”

Nika’s body stiffened at the name that escaped my lips. I also asked back in shock.

“What’s going on? You should definitely be dead…”

I had cut her throat with my own hands and even burned the corpse. I had confirmed multiple times that there was no life response. How was this possible? Could the Astaroth I killed have been a fake?

However, Astaroth’s next words completely denied this thought.

“That’s right. I died. More precisely, I was dead. Oh, right. Instead of this, why don’t we talk face to face? I have so, so, so many things I want to say to you both.”

With those words, the necklace crumbled powerlessly. As I stared blankly at the necklace fragments flowing down, a dark red dimensional gate appeared nearby.

“Kuhak!”

And from within it, Ellisiere was thrown out.

Ellisiere rolled on the ground several times, vomited blood, and then struggled to get up and assume a stance. I hurriedly moved to her side and supported her body as she was about to collapse.

“You… I’m sorry. I lost to that woman, *cough*, I did…”

“Don’t worry about that, just focus on recovering. What on earth happened?”

Ellisiere was strong enough to toy with the Sword Saint, and even I couldn’t guarantee victory in a direct confrontation. I couldn’t understand how she could be injured to this extent.

After I used healing magic to recover her wounds, Ellisiere seemed to regain some strength. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth while glaring at the dimensional gate.

“It’s the demon sword. That woman Astaroth has gotten her hands on it.”

“You’re plenty strong even without a sword. Losing just that wouldn’t have put you in this state, would it?”

“If it were just the demon sword that was lost, I would have won. However—”

“You’re missing the most crucial part.”

As demonic energy overflowed from the dimensional gate, filling the ruptured space to the brim, Astaroth slowly walked out. In her right hand was a demon sword glowing a deep red.

“You lost because you’re no longer the Demon King, because you had all your power taken away by me. That’s the most crucial part that you shouldn’t leave out, our dear traitor.”

“…No longer the Demon King?”

I asked, blocking Ellisiere. Astaroth, apparently not intending to attack right away, answered readily.

“Because the demon sword revoked the qualification that traitor held. Just as the holy sword chooses a hero, the demon sword can choose the Demon King, can’t it?”

A laugh that couldn’t contain her joy flowed out.

“It means a woman who slept with a human male doesn’t deserve to be the Demon King. Isn’t that right? Hmm?”

“……”

“It’s ridiculous. It wasn’t even your own power, but power borrowed from the demon god through the demon sword, yet you ruled so arrogantly? What about the time I devoted to you in loyalty? What becomes of the time I served you?”

Astaroth, who had been growling, smiled brightly again. Her emotions changed so rapidly that it was hard to tell what was genuine.

“Ah, but it’s okay. I’ll be a much better Demon King than you ever were. I’ll prove it to you starting now.”

Thunk. The demon sword was thrust into the dark red demonic energy covering the nearby space.

“Shall I start by destroying the human world first?”