Ch.118The Demon Lord Astaroth – 3

“W-what do we do now, Master? He looks really angry…”

Watching the imposing figure walk away, I was thinking that the Succubus Queen was certainly living up to her name when, not even seconds later, Nika’s face crumpled as she clung to me.

“Didn’t you think about the consequences before you spoke?”

“That’s not it… I just couldn’t stand how she was leaving out all the bad things she did and being so dirty and petty about it… but… hehe… he… waaah, please spare me! Master! I’m sorry!”

Nika tried to make excuses but eventually gave up, crying “waaah” as she clung to me. Over her shoulder, I checked on Astaroth.

“I should be the Demon Lord! I should be the Succubus Queen! Both should have been mine! That’s how it should have been!”

Whether it was because her anger had reached its peak and she’d lost her mind, or for some other reason, instead of charging straight at us, she was just screaming at the top of her lungs.

This was better. The more she lost her reason, the more openings she would create, and I wouldn’t have to fight with Nika and Ellisiere at my sides like now. As I got to my feet, I teased Nika a little.

“You provoked her because you could handle it yourself, right? So I can just watch?”

“What?! I’ll die if you do that! Please save me, Master! Nika was wrong! I won’t act on my own again!”

“Surely thou dost not speak in earnest. Move away from him, for we know not when she might charge.”

Ellisiere pushed away Nika as she tried to cling to me again. It seemed more like Nika allowed herself to be pushed away after realizing Astaroth might attack at any moment.

“Don’t worry. As if I’d make you fight something like that, Nika.”

I stood up. My left hand was still throbbing. As I massaged my trembling fingers that shook regardless of my will, Ellisiere asked with concern:

“Art thou well, my lord? Thy countenance hath been most troubled. And also…”

Her deep pink eyes glanced at my left hand. It seemed I had failed to manage my expression again.

“I’m fine. Using that just brought back some old memories. I’ve made up my mind several times, but it’s still not easy.”

“If it troubles thee so, perhaps there is no need to bring it forth—”

“What if I kill her improperly and she revives again?”

“…”

“Besides, I don’t think I can fight without you two getting involved. Think positively. It means you were that powerful a Demon Lord, Ellisiere.”

“How can I think positively when all that power was stolen, causing this disaster? Truly, thy encouragement is preposterous.”

Though Ellisiere looked worried, she didn’t try to stop me completely. She seemed to realize that once I’d made up my mind, there was no point in trying to dissuade me.

Right on cue, as our conversation ended, Astaroth raised her head. In that short time, she had transformed into something closer to a demonic beast than a demon.

Her eyes had turned completely black and were half-rolled back, her arms and legs were covered in dark red demonic energy, and her demon sword was twisted more grotesquely than usual.

Her hair writhed bizarrely as if each strand had its own consciousness, and even her wings had been consumed by the dark red energy.

The only things that hinted at her original succubus form were her unchanged figure and the faint traces of her lewd attire.

“What are you waiting for? Not attacking because you’re scared of the Queen who mocked you?”

While Ellisiere and Nika created as much distance as possible, I shifted my position to ensure they wouldn’t get caught in any blind attacks and twitched Eternal.

Mentioning her Queen status had a clear effect. Astaroth charged at me with a shriek. I parried the swinging demon sword.

—CRACK!

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I was sent flying.

The moment Eternal and the demon sword collided, the tremendous force shattered my wrist bones, and my legs were lifted off the ground as I tumbled across the floor. This happened despite using body enhancement and mana breathing techniques.

Her already destructively powerful strength had increased even further after losing her reason. With each step she took, the ground cracked like thin ice and shook as if an earthquake had struck.

I dodged the demon sword as it came down vertically. An enormous fan-shaped canyon appeared right beside me. It stretched to the horizon and was so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen.

‘Yes. Keep raging.’

I bought time by blocking attacks and being sent flying, regenerating shattered bones and battered body. I made sure to occasionally mention Nika and Ellisiere to provoke her further.

I couldn’t carelessly counterattack. I needed to wait for her biggest opening and end it in one strike.

—CRUNCH!

I deliberately put my aching left arm in the path of her sword. My left shoulder was not just torn but completely sliced off. I immediately cast healing magic to grow a new arm.

I had to do this or it would affect my ability to fight.

‘Just a little more.’

With bones breaking or internal organs shattering with each exchange, and my left hand constantly tingling—enduring this double hardship, I somehow managed to defend against Astaroth’s attacks. I needed her patience to run out before mine.

“AAAAARGH!!!!!!”

After sustaining injuries that would have killed me hundreds of times over without healing magic, the moment I’d been waiting for finally arrived.

Astaroth raised her sword high above her head. An enormous power, incomparable to anything before, began to concentrate in her grotesquely twisted demon sword.

‘Now.’

I concentrated mana in my legs and kicked off the ground. Even with my body enhanced to its limit, my leg bones were completely shattered from the recoil, but I recovered with healing magic and reverse-summoned Eternal.

Apparently not expecting that someone who had been barely defending while getting pulverized would suddenly counterattack, Astaroth’s bloodshot eyes widened.

‘I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can…’

Continuously hypnotizing myself, I gritted my teeth through the pain of my throbbing head and violently trembling left hand. Then I tried to summon the light spear in my left hand—

‘…Huh?’

The light spear…

‘What… is… this…?’

As soon as I recognized the familiar feeling emanating from the power Astaroth was drawing upon, a terrible hatred began to rise from deep within me, starting to consume my reason.

Something I had seen so many times that I could never forget. Memories eternally engraved deep in my heart began to surface one by one.

The savior.

The savior ‘of humans.’

“Ugh…!”

My head hurt unbearably. My legs gave out completely. I staggered and used my hands to support my collapsing body.

Due to my forward momentum, my fingers snapped and the skin of my palms was completely scraped off, but that was nothing compared to the primal pain in my head. I could only think that something was being ground away.

‘Why…?’

Why would the power I felt in the demon sword inhabited by this so-called demon god clearly contain the power of the Demon Lord from the previous world whom I had killed with my own hands?

With that thought, the demon sword carrying that all-too-familiar power came down toward my head.

Astaroth was sensing that something was wrong.

When Mira Crate, who had been charging at a terrifying speed, suddenly clutched his head in agony and crashed to the ground, she thought nothing of it.

When she didn’t miss the opportunity and swung her demon sword, almost reaching his head, she was certain of victory.

But.

“No… way…”

Why was Mira Crate, who should have been annihilated without a trace, completely unharmed? Why was the world that had been torn apart and destroyed by a single slash still intact despite her full-power strike?

And why was light gathering in Mira Crate’s right hand? She couldn’t understand.

“I said… no…”

With that tiny murmur, a great radiance burst forth.

A light that seemed not of this world, something her mind could not comprehend. Looking at that light, Astaroth truly felt overwhelmed.

Her reason, which had been consumed by anger and greed, returned in an instant. Like a river meeting the vast ocean and realizing its own size, Astaroth realized how insignificant the power she possessed had been.

‘No.’

Realizing what thoughts had just crossed her mind, Astaroth gritted her teeth and forcibly summoned her anger. The driving force that had brought her this far began to stir again, covering her reason.

Desire for life. Desire for the Queen’s position. Desire for the Demon Lord’s seat. Desire for power. Desire for authority. Desire for status. All these things swirled chaotically.

“I don’t want to go through this twice…!”

“Huh…?”

It was futile. Even the desires she had forcibly gathered scattered as soon as she saw the radiance in his hand.

In her heart, which had been filled only with anger, hatred, and desire, overwhelming fear was now engraved. She instinctively realized that this was something she could never defeat, no matter what she did.

The jealousy that had exploded when the new Queen appeared—jealousy so overwhelming that it had made her reveal herself even though she knew intellectually that she should have waited for a better opportunity—melted away helplessly.

Her mind, now free from jealousy and anger and able to make rational judgments, quickly reached a conclusion.

‘I need to escape.’

No, this wasn’t escape. It was just a strategic retreat. Since winning in a direct confrontation was impossible, she would target other weaker beings first to divert attention.

So what she was attempting now wasn’t escape but strategy and tactics, a way to win the war. That’s why Astaroth tried to open a dimensional gate to flee.

“W-why is this…”

Until she realized she couldn’t draw out more demonic energy.

The confused Astaroth tried to summon her power again. Nothing changed. And as she tried once more to deny the situation, she realized.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t draw it out. It was melting away in that radiance. Just as light drives away darkness, as the sun melts snow. By the laws of nature, it was only natural for demonic energy to melt away before that radiance.

Astaroth knew of a concept that possessed such power.

‘…A holy sword?’

While Astaroth was shocked by the possibility that had unconsciously occurred to her, the radiance took form. The golden light shone with the brilliance of the morning sun illuminating the dawn sky.

“No.”

A voice filled with fear escaped.

No. Astaroth denied the thought over and over. But it wasn’t denial in the ordinary sense. She wasn’t denying the power itself.

It was denial in the sense that even a holy sword would be no more than a lantern before the sun compared to that light.

In the brilliant radiance, Astaroth could see Mira’s face one last time. She saw tears streaming down his cheeks. His lips were constantly moving, saying something.

His arm moved. The sun in the sky faded before a more overwhelming light, the moonlight disappeared, and the starlight showed reverence.

There was light.