Ch.198Chapter 198 – The Demon Lord and the Dragon Warrior (2)

-CLANG!

Their weapons collided with a loud noise.

They immediately withdrew their weapons and swung them again at a speed almost invisible to the eye.

After their weapons clashed in mid-air about ten times, I saw the Demon King raise his sword high.

“Try to block this!”

Seeing the dark magic power gathering in the Demon King’s sword, I surrounded my halberd with magic power, preparing to receive the attack.

-CLANG!!

It was heavy.

When I blocked the swinging sword with my halberd, I felt my knees buckle slightly.

But I wasn’t cut.

That meant I could still fight.

As I spun around while releasing the halberd, the Demon King’s sword plunged into the ground.

In that brief moment when the Demon King tried to reposition himself, I struck his helmet with the back of my hand.

-THUD!

My fist, infused with magic power, was no different from a blunt weapon.

The Demon King’s head turned slightly, as if he hadn’t properly prepared for the hit.

However, he quickly returned to normal and raised his sword again.

I swiftly dodged the attack and retrieved my halberd.

“You got me there!”

Looking at the Demon King who shouted gleefully, I changed my halberd into a morning star and threw it.

The iron ball with its chain flew toward the Demon King’s body.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

The Demon King deflected the iron ball.

And I immediately saw him swinging his sword.

“I knew you’d block that much.”

If he hadn’t, the name “Demon King” would have been put to shame.

I ducked low to avoid the sword and, slipping past the Demon King’s side, changed my weapon to a sword and swung it.

“Ha, trying to cut me with a sword?”

I smiled slightly as I saw the Demon King preparing to counter.

For a Demon King who seemed to possess excellent martial skills, a simple tactic of slipping past and switching to a sword wouldn’t work.

If I thrust my sword, he would likely deflect it in an instant and swing his sword at my neck.

“I knew you’d react like that too.”

I changed my weapon, which was transforming into a sword, back into a morning star.

Because it changed mid-swing, the chain part of the morning star flew toward the Demon King instead of the iron ball’s end.

As a result, the Demon King’s movement to deflect my weapon was slightly thrown off, and his body became entangled in the chain.

In that state, I swung the iron ball, causing the Demon King to be lifted into the air while bound to it.

After swinging the iron ball about twice like that…

I hurled the Demon King down.

-CRASH!!

A cloud of dust rose as the Demon King hit the ground.

I quickly changed the iron ball back into a sword, charged forward, and thrust the sword toward where the Demon King had fallen.

-CLANG

“Blocked, huh.”

As I muttered quietly, the dust settled, revealing the Demon King half-risen.

He had gripped his sword in reverse, precisely blocking my thrust that had been aimed at his heart.

“You move better than I expected! I’m quite impressed.”

“Shut up.”

I abandoned my sword and quickly dove in, throwing a punch at his stomach.

However, the Demon King seemed unwilling to let me have my way any longer.

He immediately released his sword and caught my fist with one hand.

-CRACK!

I felt a terrifying grip strength on my fist.

“Now, it’s my turn!”

The Demon King pulled my hand as he rose.

As my center of balance collapsed, the Demon King’s leg momentarily disappeared from my sight.

-THUD!

The Demon King’s kick struck my head, and the impact sent my body sliding backward.

I also heard my weapon fall to the ground with a loud clatter due to the shock.

But I forced myself to maintain consciousness and shouted:

“Don’t think I’ll just take it!”

Using the backward momentum of my body, I extended my leg and kicked the Demon King’s chin.

Similarly, with a dull impact sound, I saw the Demon King’s chin lift upward.

Both the Demon King and I were now in similar positions, falling backward in mid-air, and we flew in opposite directions while rotating.

‘I have to hold on…!’

I exerted all my strength to forcibly stop the rotation.

I succeeded in stabilizing before the Demon King.

Then I moved my wings to stop my body and accelerate again, by which time my weapon had returned to my hand.

“I’ll pierce through you!”

I changed my weapon into a lance and charged at the Demon King, using my flying speed.

Seeing this, the Demon King stabilized himself in mid-air and then placed his hands on his shoulder armor.

Something like a long rod appeared from his shoulder armor.

“Did you think I was unarmed?”

The moment the Demon King pulled that rod seemed to slow down in my perception.

Simultaneously, a scene flashed in my mind.

I continued charging without losing momentum, then released the lance and jumped high, seeing the Demon King swing the rod he had drawn.

-CLANG!

The lance flew away.

I saw that a flame-like sword had formed at the end of the rod the Demon King had swung.

‘What kind of beam weapon is that?!’

The scene that had flashed in my mind was of something pink and beam-like emerging from the rod-like object and cutting something.

If I had continued charging, the first sword would have deflected the lance, and the second sword in his other hand would have tried to slice through my body.

And there was an even more troubling aspect.

‘It was hot.’

It was clear that he was using heat as a weapon, not just cutting.

If I were to block it for too long, some part of my body might burn up.

In other words, if I got cut by that sword, I would suffer damage that would be difficult to recover from due to the heat.

‘This is bad.’

One wrong hit and I’d be dead instantly.

As I dodged another swing of the magic sword with a large movement, the Demon King laughed and said:

“Sharp-witted one! I like you more and more!”

“Well, I don’t feel the same!”

I retorted while retreating.

However, there seemed to be a limit to how cleanly I could dodge, as one of the swords grazed past, slightly burning my armor.

“Is it over already?”

“Not at all!”

While barely dodging the Demon King’s attacks, I kicked his arm.

The impact caused one of the swords in the Demon King’s hand to fall.

I rolled to avoid the sword that was chasing me, then grabbed the fallen sword and swung it.

‘Hot…’

I almost dropped the sword due to the hot handle.

However, I swung the weapon anyway, and the two magic swords became entangled in mid-air.

Then I quickly withdrew my hand, and the Demon King kicked that sword up with his leg, returning to his dual-wielding stance.

“I expected you to hold it longer.”

The Demon King muttered with a hint of disappointment.

But I wasn’t disappointed at all, so I simply continued to dodge his attacks.

“Sorry, but this ends now!”

“Says who?”

Just as the Demon King was about to swing his sword widely, my sacred relic returned to my hand, and I blocked it.

The Demon King laughed loudly as he saw the sacred relic blocking his magic sword.

“Your weapon is truly impressive, it should have been cut in two at this temperature!”

While the Demon King was saying this, I deflected his sword and swung my halberd low, aiming for his legs.

As if he had anticipated it, the Demon King pulled his legs back and shouted:

“I won’t give my legs to someone who hasn’t even reached the realm!”

“What realm are you talking about, seriously!”

“That’s… *cough*!”

The Demon King suddenly coughed up blood.

Then he smiled wryly and said:

“I was trying to hold back, but my body is reaching its limit.”

It seemed that the Demon King’s internal injuries were worsening from the continued battle.

As I gripped my weapon tightly with that thought, the Demon King said quietly:

“…From now on, I’ll have to get a bit more serious.”

The Demon King’s magic swords began to grow larger.

I immediately raised my halberd to block the magic sword, and the Demon King smiled.

“You’ll regret this.”

With those words, a change occurred in the magic sword.

-WHIRRRR!!

Suddenly, the blade part of the magic sword began to rotate.

Startled by the sound, I put more strength into my arms.

-CRACK CRACK CRACK

An ominous sound began to resonate from the halberd, and the Demon King said quietly:

“Objects infused with magic power can be freely manipulated once you master the technique.”

Pushing the rapidly rotating magic sword toward me, the Demon King said:

“This is also possible!”

The Demon King released the sword and shouted, and the sword began to fly at me as if it had a will of its own.

I blocked the rotating magic sword as it came flying.

‘It’s heavy…!’

Although I had raised my halberd to block it, I was being pushed back slightly.

After forcibly deflecting the magic sword, the Demon King began to swing his other magic sword.

‘…I’m starting to doubt he’s not in normal condition, seriously!’

Judging by his periodic coughing of blood, it was clear he wasn’t in normal condition.

Despite that, I couldn’t think of a way to defeat the Demon King.

His combat techniques were compensating for his weaknesses.

‘The story about conquering the demon realm with just one sword might be true.’

If it weren’t for the injuries he sustained while forcibly crossing the gate, there would have been nothing about me that could surpass the Demon King in terms of skill or strength.

But there was one thing I was confident I could surpass.

“…I absolutely won’t let you go that way.”

Behind me was where Eve, Chris, and Beatrice were fighting.

“Because there are people dear to me back there.”

I rose with fighting spirit.

The Demon King pointed his sword at me.

“Then I shall definitely cross over there.”

The Demon King said quietly.

“Because behind you are my precious subordinates.”

After confirming each other’s resolve once more,

we began to clash again.

+

The battlefield became chaotic once more.

Initially, the battlefield had become chaotic with the demon invasion, but now it was chaotic with the demons retreating.

At the Demon King’s command, the surviving demons who had been fighting scattered gathered in one place, and Baphomet took the lead in breaking through the encirclement and began to flee.

And in the sky, the Demon King and Kay were clashing, each with their wings out, their weapons colliding.

A little distance away, fierce exchanges were still continuing.

“We must assist His Majesty the Demon King!”

“Out of my way, human!”

The Dark Elf and the Vampire Duke, who had initially been heading toward the World Tree, were now fighting to join the Demon King.

And Beatrice, Eve, and Chris were fighting to prevent that.

‘Kay…’

When Kay, wearing the white dragon armor, flew up to chase the Demon King who had ascended into the sky, Eve felt her heart sink.

Wearing that armor would definitely shorten Kay’s lifespan.

She had prayed that it wouldn’t happen this time, but in the end, he was using that power to clash with the Demon King.

‘At the very least, I need to reduce his burden.’

If they let the commanders pass through, it would directly add to Kay’s burden.

Kay was already struggling against the Demon King.

Even if the commanders were weakened from injuries, adding them to the mix would clearly increase the pressure on him.

With that thought, Eve thrust her sword, slightly cutting the Dark Elf’s cheek, and shouted:

“Christina!”

“Holy Light!”

Immediately, light from Chris’s staff targeted both the Dark Elf and the Vampire Duke.

“Ugh, this is why outside the coffin is dangerous!”

The Vampire quickly retreated as parts of his body caught fire.

While the Dark Elf could somewhat resist, holy light was fatal to vampires.

As the two commanders hesitated, Beatrice extended both hands and shouted.

Immediately, Eve shouted:

“Defense! All directions!”

“‘Protect us from the countless evils.'”

A golden barrier protected Chris and Eve.

As if she had anticipated their move, Beatrice smiled and cast a spell.

“Gravity Sphere!”

“Oh no!”

The black sphere she launched flew toward the two demons.

Beatrice’s gravity sphere began to bind and crush the two demons.

“Damn it, aaaargh!!!”

The voices of the two commanders echoed, and soon the gravity sphere exploded.

Looking at the two commanders who fell, covered in wounds, Beatrice muttered:

“…They’re tough, those things.”

Their bodies were still twitching.

It was clear they were still alive, even after being crushed by a gravity sphere that could temporarily restrain a dragon.

Beatrice smiled and said:

“…Finally, landed a hit.”

It was the result of persistently engaging the two commanders who had been constantly blocking and countering her powerful spells.

To quickly finish off the two commanders, Beatrice took out a bottle containing a blue liquid from her bosom and drank it.

‘According to Miss Serra, this should help with magic recovery…’

Before this battle, she had mentioned it was a prototype made by gathering magic over time.

She drank it with determination.

“Ugh!”

She had been told it was flavored with lemon for palatability.

However, she questioned if this sourness was truly lemon flavor.

It was even slightly bitter, almost making her spit it out.

Beatrice forced herself to swallow it.

‘…It’s helping a bit.’

The change was faster than expected.

The magic absorption rate wasn’t great, but the magic itself had recovered a bit.

The poor efficiency was probably because Serra was still a beginner in learning magic.

With that thought, Beatrice began to gather the surrounding magic again while drinking the magic water.

“We need to help Kay…”

Chris looked up at the sky with concern.

Even now, he was tenaciously fighting the Demon King, using various weapons.

But Eve muttered with frustration:

“…Neither I nor Christina can join that fight.”

Simply put, Eve and Chris didn’t have a means of flight.

Beatrice could do something akin to flying, but…

“…Beatrice.”

“I guess I have to go.”

She was the only one among them who could join that fight.

As Beatrice was about to turn with that thought, it happened.

“Watch out!”

“Dodge!”

As Eve embraced Chris and took evasive action, Beatrice stood right in front of the two and extended a shield made of magic.

A whip made of blood and a black sphere shattered the magic shield, and behind it, the two bloodied commanders could be seen rising.

“To His Majesty…”

“You won’t go…!”

Beatrice took a step back at their fierce determination.

Seeing this, Eve frowned and said:

“…I can feel their determination to not let us go there to help Kay.”

“I guess people are the same everywhere. They’re thinking the same as us.”

It was clear they were determined not to let anyone go to where the Demon King was.

‘…They’re risking their lives.’

Beatrice could understand their resolve by the look in their eyes, a look she had seen once before.

‘This is serious.’

Beatrice thought for a moment.

No matter how injured they were, commanders were still commanders.

It was too dangerous to leave them to Eve and Chris and withdraw.

‘Considering the merchant lady’s strength and the nun’s power, they might win against them in this state, but…’

If the two were to get hurt…

Then she wouldn’t be able to face Kay.

“You… will never pass!”

The Dark Elf’s desperate cry was heard.

“We, you know…”

Beatrice immediately searched for a solution.

As she considered a method that had just come to mind, she hesitated.

‘Still, to use that…’

Just as her thoughts were leaning toward hiding her final card…

“…Beatrice! Go now!”

“Please help Kay!”

“Hey?”

She saw Eve and Chris preparing to face the commanders without her.

“It’s too dangerous for you to face them…”

“I know!”

“But Kay is in danger too!”

Beatrice nodded quietly at their urgent voices, so different from their usual demeanor.

‘That’s how precious Kay is to them.’

They wanted to protect the man fighting the Demon King over there, even if it meant facing a dangerous situation themselves.

After all, this battle had begun with the hope of finding a clue to restore his lifespan.

‘He’s fighting like that because he knows their feelings.’

To be honest, the World Tree matter was the elves’ business.

Yet he was fighting so fiercely.

‘My comrades are too kind.’

Beatrice lowered her head and thought.

‘I really am too wicked.’

She felt foolish for having hesitated to reveal her trump card.

“Let’s stop thinking about it.”

She could handle the aftermath.

What was needed was the power to help Kay.

‘You won’t let us pass?’

Then.

She just needed to send the power to help Kay over there.

“Both of you, step back.”

“Beatrice…?”

“It’s alright.”

Beatrice stood in front of them and said.

Then she grinned.

“Watch closely, commanders.”

A black magic circle appeared in front of Beatrice.

Not something evil, but a magic circle that gave a sense of nobility.

And showing the magic circle bound by chains, Beatrice said:

“You’re lucky.”

Beatrice smiled fiercely.

“This is something I cherish so much that I’d never let witnesses live.”

Looking at the two commanders who were almost in a state of death, Beatrice grinned.

And from her mouth, along with words imbued with magic power, the magic circle began to shine.

“‘In the name of…, I declare.'”

The chains wrapping the magic circle began to unravel.

“‘Guardian hound of the royal family, shadow guardian, in accordance with the sacred contract, bound by the chains of promise, respond to the call of the chosen one and rise, breaking the long seal.'”

“Summoning… magic?”

As the Dark Elf’s eyes widened, the magic circle began to change.

A massive jaw began to appear, and Beatrice shouted:

“‘Tear apart the enemies of the royal family.'”

The magic circle shattered.

A massive demonic hound with fur that seemed to ripple like black shadows appeared before Beatrice.

“‘Garum.'”

The demonic hound howled.