Final Battle - 2

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 03:59 ]

"Don't look down on me!"

The negative energy-infused crystals sprayed out at the running maid, Alpha. This was a bludgeoning and piercing physical attack, and the negative energy would drain her life force.

At least, it should have. However, Alpha kept running, with no sign that she had been hit at all.

"Kuh!"

Evileye took to the sky. Close combat was a very bad idea for an arcane magic caster. Putting more distance between them would increase her chances of victory.

As she floated into the sky, something bounced away before her eyes. It must have been an attack deflected by her [Crystal Shield], but at the same time, the sparkling light wrapping her body began dimming rapidly.

Although it could neutralize fairly powerful attacks, she would be lucky if the only things they threw at her were things the [Crystal Shield] could negate by itself. The [Crystal Shield] would only work against attacks below a certain level, and it was completely useless for anything more.

"Again?!"

The one using ranged weapons was the maid in the rear, Delta. She had fired on Evileye when she was flying earlier.

"Hah!"

Alpha's spirits rose as she lunged at Evileye. It made her click her tongue.

Normally, Evileye would not even take anyone coming at her with their bare fists seriously, but that was only the arrogance she felt toward the insignificant beings who had always been beneath her. Shortly after fighting with Alpha, she was keenly aware of that. Alpha was truly a fearsome opponent. Every time she tried to open a gap between them, her opponent would come in swinging, several times faster than herself. If she took a direct hit without the protection of her barrier, she would be destroyed.

If she was still with Gagaran and Tia, she would not have been so careless. Now, Evileye felt like she was walking on a tightrope.

The most annoying thing was their flawless coordination. Teamwork could greatly increase the fighting power of adventurers. Right now, the two of them were giving her an object lesson in jolly cooperation.

"Shit! how can demons work together so well... what the hell!"

I have no right to say that, Evileye thought. The others in her party were humans, but she was one of the undead.

A gang sound rang out, and the protective [Crystal Shield] grew ever thinner. One more hit and it would be pierced.

Evileye cursed, trying to get away from Alpha, who was intent on chasing her down and beating her up. Although Evileye's body was superior to a normal human's by virtue of being a Vampire, Alpha's physical abilities were even better than hers. The only reason why Alpha had not caught her already was entirely because of her [Fly] spell.

Using magic required focus, during which the body could not move. As a result, having to constantly back away was very difficult. Movement would disrupt one's sense of balance and make concentration difficult. This was why magic casters stood still to cast their spells. Because of this, Evileye had chosen to use [Fly] to maintain a distance without disrupting her concentration, and thus fight a mobile battle. That was nothing special by itself; any magic caster who could use [Fly] had mastered that tactic. How well they did it was a matter of talent, but as a Vampire, Evileye had the natural ability to fly and 250 years of experience to master it in.

Even so, it took effort to escape from Alpha. And although she could kite one opponent in circles in the large plaza, there were two opponents.

Another gang sound rang out, and the barrier protecting her was completely destroyed.

It was hard to believe anything could break the [Crystal Shield] in three hits, but there was nothing to be done about it.

"[Sand Field— All]!"

Sand particles dispersed throughout the surroundings. Although Delta was too far away to reach, Alpha was completely caught in the area. Because it would affect one's comrades too, this spell was useless in a group fight. Any opponent within its area would be immobilized, as well as being blinded, silenced and dazed. On top of that, because of Evileye's trump card, the sand was infused with negative energy that would drain life force.

This 5th tier spell was her own creation. It was one of the strongest cards Evileye had up her sleeve.

However, Alpha did not slow down, nor did she look like she was hurt at all.

"But how?!"

Was she immune to immobilization and negative energy?

"You deserve praise for that! What a splendid set of resistances!"

Alpha's answer was to blur into a haze. As though she had performed a short-range teleport, she materialized in front of Evileye and kicked her in the face.

Her mask cracked with a mekii sound as Evileye was flung far away.

She bounced off the floor with a dang, dang before she managed to recover, groggily shaking her head.

"[Crystal Wall]!"

Alpha's fist collided with the suddenly-materialized crystal wall, producing a thunderous crash. Cracks spread where Alpha had struck it, as though it had been hit by a wrecking ball.

"...Hmph!"

Another "dang" rang out, and as Alpha's foot struck the ground, she transmitted her inner force into the cracks in Evileye's wall, and it crumbled before her eyes.

"Is this fa jin?!"

At this moment, while trying to clear some distance with her [Fly] spell, Evileye felt a great tremor run through the earth. She did not know where it came from, but her instinct told her that it was the aftershocks of the battle of those two.

"Are they still fighting... no, most likely their fight has reached its climax. That means... I have to buy more time!"

As she said that, Evileye charged at the attacking Alpha.

She just needed a little bit longer. She had to drag this fight out. With that in mind, Evileye fully prepared herself for death, and carried out her kamikaze attack.

Alpha's hands were moving in circles in preparation to receive Evileye. She stood tall, like an invulnerable fortress, but even seeing this, Evileye did not stop—

-x-X-x-

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 03:53 ]

While Ainz and Jaldabaoth struggled with each other, they crashed into a house. The door shattered as Ainz drove Jaldabaoth into it, scattering splinters everywhere. The interior was dark and cramped, unsuited for Ainz to swing his sword.

Ignoring Jaldabaoth, Ainz rose to his feet and walked off. Jaldabaoth got up as well and followed him. They entered another room, with a small table, two chairs, and Mare.

Mare pulled up a chair for Ainz to sit. Then, with Ainz's permission, Jaldabaoth removed his mask, revealing Demiurge's face.

"Firstly, is this room secure?" Ainz asked.

"There is no problem. The words spoken here are for our ears alone."

"Is that so... Well, then. First off, I have a favor to ask of you. Do not harm the guards I passed on the way here. While this place is fairly distant from E-Rantel, helping people in distress is good publicity."

"Understood. Will it be acceptable to transmit orders by telepathy?"

"Go ahead. In the meantime, tell me about your plan."

Even though Demiurge had already explained the plan to Narberal via [Message], she had not told him anything about it yet. He was forced to remain silent and not express his displeasure in order to make sure the plan was not ruined, but in his heart he was worried about it.

"Very well. This operation has four main objectives—"

"Ho... I only counted three. Four, you say?"

Demiurge smiled. It was a smile of smug satisfaction.

"I feel as though I have gotten the better of Ainz-sama for once."

Ainz magnanimously waved his hand. Of course, he did not even know what the first three were, but Demiurge's words still made him uneasy all over.

"You've always been one step ahead. I've got a long way to go."

"What are you saying, my liege? Truly, you are too humble."

"No, really— hn, forget it. Then, tell me about these objectives."

"Indeed. To begin with, the objective of attacking the warehouse district was to secure the wealth and goods within and transport them to Nazarick. To facilitate this, I had Shalltear open [Gate] in front of the warehouses, and let Pandora's Actor handle the matter of transportation."

This was a very profitable objective indeed. Ainz silently praised Demiurge from the bottom of his heart.

Losing so much wealth would make life in the Royal Capital more difficult in the future, but at this point in time, Ainz had no way of knowing that. Right now, all he felt was relief that the problem of funds was solved for the moment.

"The second is to cover up our involvement in our attacks on the hideouts of the Eight Fingers in the area. As you have no doubt surmised, a direct attack on the Eight Fingers' hideout would arouse suspicion. If we are unlucky, it might even lead to the exposure of Sebas and his contacts. As such, we expanded the area of operations in order to make others think our true aims lay elsewhere."

In other words, they were using torn-off branches to conceal themselves in the forest.

"But can you do this? What will you use to convince them that you had another objective?"

"Please take a look at this, my liege."

Demiurge gestured, and Mare brought in a bag, which he opened. Inside was a statue of a demon. Each of the demon' six arms were grasped a different kind of jewel. A strange, pulsing light radiated from within.

"These jewels are imbued with the spell known as [Armageddon – Evil].

The 10th tier spell [Armageddon – Evil] was one that summoned a demon army. Although it could summon a massive amount of troops, each individual demon not very powerful. And if angels were hard to control, demons were even worse, with their tendency to go berserk at the worst possible moments, making it a very difficult spell to use. The normal usage capitalized on the fact that the summoned demons were not allies by default, so they could serve as live sacrifices for certain rituals and skills.

Much like how Shalltear used her Spuit Lance to kill her own summoned minions, this magic existed for a similar purpose.

"Though this item was created by Ulbert-sama, I feel it would be best used here."

From the perspective of this world, it would make sense that an item like this would draw Jaldabaoth's attention.

Ainz recalled the past.

It was about a friend called Ulbert, back when the Guild's power was at its peak.

Originally, there had been a World-Class Item which could summon an unlimited number of demons that would eventually consume the entire world. Although that would cause a huge disturbance, Ulbert had been overjoyed when he heard about it and strove to create an item to imitate it. But when it turned out the item could not cast six spells simultaneously, he lost interest in it and gave up.

It was plain to see that Demiurge was reluctant to give up a possession like this. That was because it was a relic of his creator.

Ainz reached his hand into a pocket dimension, and withdrew a certain item.

"Demiurge, there is no need to use that. Take this as a substitute."

The device Ainz withdrew looked similar to the demon statue Demiurge had prepared. However, its hands only held three gems, and it looked cruder in general.

"This was also a device made by Ulbert-san. Because it was a prototype, he wanted to dispose of it, but I thought that it was too much of a waste and kept it. How about using this instead?"

"How— how could I expend your treasures for my own schemes, Ainz-sama?"

"Is that how you see it? Very well, then. Demiurge, this is yours. Use it as you see fit. However, don't you think Ulbert-san might be embarrassed that his failed experiment was still around?"

"This is... how can I express my gratitude to you for gifting me with such a wondrous magic item?"

Demiurge rose from his chair and knelt on the floor. Mare, seeing him, frantically knelt down beside him.

"Enough, Demiurge. Do you not have something else to do? Think of this as a token of my appreciation for your loyalty."

"We Guardians were created by the Supreme Beings. As such, until the very moment of our extinction, we shall be utterly loyal to them. Even so, you have not only bestowed your mercy and care upon us in abundance, but you have even given into my keeping such a valuable treasure... although, I, Demiurge, have already sworn his complete and undying loyalty to you, permit me to once more offer my faithful service unto you, Ainz-sama!"

"Ah... erm, well, then, I shall look forward to your loyal service. Now, now, stand up. Demiurge. You had something else to say, no?"

"Ah, indeed I did! My sincerest apologies!"

Demiurge sat back down, and Mare returned to his standby position.

"Then, as I said earlier, Jaldabaoth targeted the hideouts of the Eight Fingers, and then proceeded to take control of the Kingdom's warehouse district. Seizing the resources of the warehouses was also an aim. Naturally, this device created by Ulbert-sama will be found in one of the hideouts' coffers."

"That much is clear now. And what about the third objective?"

"Yes. I have already transported roughly half the humans within this firewall into Nazarick. There are many uses they can be put to, and the blame for this will fall squarely on the demon Jaldabaoth."

So that was what he was up to, Ainz thought, but he still had some questions. Was there a benefit to letting Jaldabaoth's villainy grow? Rather, instead of inventing the character of Jaldabaoth, would it not have been better to let some other demon do it?

"...So you intend to build infamy, then?"

"That is correct. The intention is to place Jaldabaoth upon the throne of the Demon King."

"Now I see. So accomplishing my order was part of your plan, then?"

Ainz looked at Demiurge, who was bowing low to acknowledge that that was the case. He remembered the order he had given. He had handed out several of them, and one of them was to give rise to a Demon King.

"This touches on the fourth objective, which is to use this incident as a proving ground for our actions in the Holy Kingdom."

At that moment, Ainz understood. He asked a question which had been weighing on his mind.

"Come to think of it, were these demons summoned from Nazarick?"

"How could I? I would not dream of doing so without your leave, Ainz-sama!"

"Hm? Given that I entrusted the task to you, and you received Albedo's permission, I thought you would have used the forces of Nazarick..."

"No, my lord. Those were merely the summons of my Evil Lords. After a day has passed, they can be called forth again. The net loss to Nazarick is zero."

"Is that so... I see why there are so many demons without memories in Nazarick. No matter, I understand. Then, another question, you said you sent every human here to Nazarick. That was regardless of whether they were male, female, young or old, correct?"

Ainz was vaguely upset by the way Demiurge could so easily and casually answer in the affirmative.

Humans were irrelevant. Perhaps Ainz had once been a human, but this body he had now felt no sympathy or closeness to them. It was as though they were a whole other species that could be casually kicked out of the way with one foot. He would slaughter any number of humans for the benefit of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Even then, killing children still upset him. This was a vestige of the man who had once been Suzuki Satoru.

Ainz took a deep breath—despite having no lungs—and exhaled heavily.

"Demiurge. If a person has not given offense to myself or the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, they shall be slain swiftly and without suffering."

Demiurge bowed deeply, without saying a word.

Ainz Ooal Gown's priority was to ensure the stability and loyalty of his subordinates.

Since they had brought children back with them, releasing them safely would mean the details of Nazarick would escape with them. While it might be possible to raise them into zealots who were slavishly loyal to Nazarick, there were very few benefits to such a plan at the moment. As such, this was the greatest mercy he could give them.

"Then, are we done here?"

"There are two more matters for your consideration. Firstly, Mare has given us an excellent opportunity."

Ainz turned his vision toward Mare, the nervous, fidgety boy.

"And that would be?"

"At the moment, we are still in the training phase, so the exact degree of success is debatable. I shall elaborate further when we return to Nazarick. Secondly, from my observations of the situation thus far, It is very likely that the ones who brainwashed Shalltear have no connection with the Kingdom."

"I understand. Then, I look forward to receiving your help soon."

"It will be gladly given. During our battle afterwards, please feel free to defeat me. I would do anything for you, Ainz-sama."

"I see. Then, before I drive you off, could you damage my armor? It will be more convincing if I bear the signs of a hard fight."

"That is to say, you will remove it, and then I will damage it? It is unthinkable for one such as myself to dare raise a hand against Ainz-sama—"

"What happens if I remove it and it's so badly damaged that I can't put it back on? During the Shalltear incident, I had a smith create flaws in the armor before putting it on. If I took it off here and you beat it out of shape, I would probably be unable to wear it again."

Ainz laughed softly. The guardians before him, not understanding why, took on expressions of puzzlement.

"A-ah, Ainz-sama? I-isn't th-that armor m-made by magic?"

"That is incorrect. This armor was not created from magic. I can see how you would think that way given that I, as a magic caster, am wearing it so naturally. But the truth is, I cast a warrior transformation spell and put it on. During the break before we travelled to the capital, I sent a [Message] to Albedo to have her begin future preparations. It seems it was the right choice."

Sustaining the transformation spell and other magic would both lower mana and mana recovery rates to zero. Even though he could dispel the transformation if there was an emergency and use magic, he would be starting out from a depleted state. However, in this case it had been the right thing to do. Without it, the first battle with Demiurge might have been much more troublesome.

Demiurge's already narrow eyes narrowed even further when he heard Ainz's response. "As expected of you, Ainz-sama, everything dances within the palm of your hand. To think I would dare to match wits with such a great person... I should have expected nothing less of yourself."

As Demiurge chuckled to himself, Ainz's back ran with nonexistent sweat.

"Then, shall we begin? Demiurge, I'll leave the battle damage to you."

"Assuredly. Mare, send the signal. It will be an earthquake, like the last time."

-x-X-x-

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 03:56 ]

"Take my lightning!"

The [Lightning] spell lashed out, striking one of the maids.

"Guwaaaa-su~"

The maid making the incredibly fake cry of pain was blown away like she was jumping by herself, until she vanished into the distance.

"Eiiiii~"

The drill-haired maid threw her knives. They travelled in a lazy arc and struck Nabe's body.

"Kyaa—"

As Nabe let out a deadpan cry of pain, she followed after the maid that had been blown away. Entoma pursued her silently.

They landed in the alley, forming a straight line. Ahead of Narberal was the maid with the two braids. Behind was Entoma and the drill-haired maid. This was a classic pincer attack, but there was no tension at all. Then again, how could there be? Back then, there had been the pretense of a fight, but now even that had completely evaporated, and the mood was like a group of schoolgirls chatting in a cafe.

"So anyways, this place's been warded against spying by Nigredo-san. It should be okay now~"

"Is that so? Then... it's been a while, Lupu~."

The two-braided maid — Lupusregina Beta — laughed under her mask.

"It really has been a while su~ this is the first time we've met since you started running around with Ainz-sama, Nar-chan."

"I did return to Nazarick from time to time, but during those times, you were at the village."

"Oh well~ you know how it is, these things just happen. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you in a while, Sol-chan~"

"The same. However, your way of speaking..."

"Oya? Sol-chan and Yuri-neesan were concerned about the same thing su~. But it's okay~ I'll be careful. En-chan's the same way su~"

"That's good... speaking of which, why is Entoma so quiet?"

"Ah... En-chan doesn't seem to want to talk right now~"

"tHat lItTle bRaT ToOk mY VoicE!"

"I see."

Narberal nodded to her. Entoma hated her original voice, so she tried to use it as little as possible.

"i WAnT To TAKe hERs In eXCHangE!"

Even though her true face was covered by a mask bug, her murderous intent and anger were still overflowing in her direction.

"You know that's impossible. Since she is travelling with Ainz-sama, it will ruin his reputation if she doesn't come back alive with him."

Entoma was not happy with what Narberal said, but she kept quiet. It was obvious which came first between her master's good name and her own desires. Every battle maid knew this.

"That little lady was quite strong. What is her name?"

"I have no interest in the names of oversized mosquitoes. Although, I think her name was Evil-something."

"How mean su~ Didn't you guys come together as comrades su~?"

Narberal frowned at her companion's words, so Solution answered for her.

"...That would probably be Blue Rose's Evileye. Sebas-sama wrote as such in one of his reports."

"Ah, that sounds right."

Narberal was sure that Solution had the correct name.

"Nar-chan, are you becoming retarded su~? Are you all right su~?"

"Can you all actually remember human names?"

"That is no problem for me. I might end up needing to know them during the course of my duties. I took care to commit a few important names to memory."

"No probs here su~ actually, you could say I get along pretty well with humans, yanno?"

"No pRObLEMs HErE."

Narberal was slightly shocked to realize that she was alone among her fellow maids. Just as she was considering whether to pay more attention to names, the sound of an explosion rang forth. Because the buildings on either side blocked visibility, they could not tell what had caused it.

"Ah, they must be getting serious over there."

"Well, it's Yuri-neesan and Shizu~ they're always serious. But if the fight's not over yet, that means they haven't used their real strength yet."

"If iT wAs Up tO Me I WoUlD fIgHt hER tO tHe DeATh!"

"Evileye is quite strong. Going by levels alone, she might not be an opponent Yuri-neesan or Shizu could beat."

A shadow passed over the face of the battle maids for the first time. Only Narberal was different. She was confident.

"It will be fine."

As everyone's attention turned to her, she continued, "Evileye is probably an elementalist like myself. We are arcane magic casters that specialize in the use of a particular element. Although this means our attack power increases greatly, it also means that outside of our area of expertise, we are quite weak."

"Earth-type, then... there should also be acid, poison or gravity, right? Why crystals su~?"

"It must be a further specialization on gemstones within earth-type magic. So she's limited to crystal-type spells, but those are probably quite strong.."

"Bludgeoning and piercing physical attack magic... Seems ominous..."

If it were up to me, how would I kill Evileye? While the four of them were pondering this question, the earth shook. There was a slight difference between that and the shaking of the earth caused by a shockwave.

"ThiS EArtHqUAke mUSt HaVE BEEn caUsEd By MaRE-sAMA. thEn, ShALl WE moVE On to tHE nEXt stAGe?"

"Was that a sign of some kind?"

"That is correct, Narberal. Then, is it alright if we hurt you a little? It will not look good unless we rough you up a bit."

"I'll try not to hit you too hard, so forgive me su~"

"There's nothing to be done about it. It's work, after all."

-x-X-x-

[ Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 03:57 ]

"Calm down! Please, calm down!"

Climb tried not to raise his voice too high as he called out to the people. However, the warehouse had been packed with a lot of agitated people, so his current volume was completely insufficient to get them to quiet down.

"My child—"

"My wife was taken—"

"Mama, Papa—"

Male, female, young and old voices all blended together, washing over Climb like a wave. He could no longer make out what they were saying any more.

Climb had found the 300 people here at great risk to himself, and they were the only residents he had managed to find. The people locked in this small warehouse had no idea what was going on outside, and all they could do was whine about how their family members had been taken elsewhere.

It was a very natural response to the current circumstances, but it was also a very dangerous one.

Even though they had not encountered any demons on their way here, that did not mean that there were no demons present. In fact, they had already seen the silhouettes of the demons several times in the alleys they passed through on their way here. If they heard the cries coming from this warehouse, then it was only a matter of time before the demons arrived here.

"You are the only ones we've found so far—"

"Where's my wife? Go find her!"

"That—"

Perhaps if he raised his voice he might be able to shout them down. Climb, as a warrior, was far stronger than any mere city guard. If he roared at the man, he could easily seize the hearts of everyone present. But Climb did not do this.

Climb was the ambassador of the princess. He was here because Renner had seen fit to put her trust in him. If he used methods that terrorized the citizens and made them dislike him, that might easily spill over to Renner as well. With that in mind, Climb found it impossible to work himself up to using harsh methods on them.

"Hurry up and answer us—"

"My kid's still young—"

"Papa! Mama—!"

"—Shut up, all of you!"

It felt like the trembling air in the warehouse had suddenly blown all the voices away. Brain could no longer tolerate them, and his shout — the anger of a first-rate warrior — had devoured the hearts of all the weaklings present.

"The lot of you are chattering like chickens just because he kept quiet. We're in the territory of these guys, and there's no way to guarantee your safety. If you don't move quietly, the demons will come and they'll kill every last one of you. If you understand, shut your mouths."

Brain surveyed the now-silent warehouse, then looked straight at Climb. The citizens who were closing in wilted under his fiery gaze and slowly backed away.

"Now then, Climb. Time for you to make a decision."

Climb was largely sure what decision he had to make. However, he had no confidence that it would be a wise one.

"It's hard to say, then? Never mind, I'll do it. First things first, you lot had best get it into your heads, the next time someone speaks when I do, I'll kill him on the spot. I can't even be sure you lot are all humans."

Brain exposed a little of his katana, and the reflected light seemed almost blinding.

"I'll bet you lot are wondering what I'm on about, but take a look at the person next to you. Are you sure all the people here are humans?"

The captives looked at each other in shock.

"Listen up. We saw a lot of demons on the way here. Some with wings, some with tails. Some even looked like people without skin. There were a lot of those. The ones roaming outside might be those guys... you should have seen them on the way in, right?

Everyone Brain turned his attention to nodded, their faces pale.

"Then, who can guarantee that there aren't any demons among you? No skinless demons wearing someone else's skin?

They had not been allowed to speak, but there was still a disturbance. They looked at each other with suspicious eyes, and then began adjusting their positions. The warehouse was small, but not small enough that everyone had to squeeze. There was enough space for everyone to avoid contact with everyone else.

"Relax. If any demons make it here, we'll kill them. As long as you understand where we're coming from, it'll be alright." As the mood seemed to relax, Brain capitalized on it and continued, "But, if the demons from outside come in like an avalanche, then I can't make that guarantee. Don't you think, if a demon infiltrated in here, wouldn't he want to loudly shout that there were intruders? Do you see what I mean by killing anyone who made noise? Oh sure, some of you will think, "but I'm human, why are you killing me?" but the rest of us won't know that. So for the sake of protecting everyone here, anyone who makes a noise that draws the demons will die."

Once again, he bathed everyone in the killing intent brimming from his eyes.

"Looks like you get it. First up, we've searched a few warehouses before this one. However, not only did we not find anyone, all these warehouses were empty. Taking the area surrounded by the firewall into consideration, even if this is a warehouse district there should be more than 10'000 people here. Since there's only 300 here, that means there ought to be at least 33 warehouses like this, right?"

Brain took a deep breath.

"A question, then. Why haven't we found anyone else besides you? Maybe it's just bad luck. After all, we were avoiding the areas where the demons were on alert. But... do you think anyone could accept that? Most likely they were transported from the warehouse district to somewhere else. Don't panic! We have no idea where they've been taken. But anywhere the demons take them can't be good."

Those who understood raised their heads, and there was also the sound of sobbing.

"And you lot were slated to be taken away by the demons. That means for now, you've avoided a nasty fate. But remember, we're still in the middle of the demons' territory. If you're not careful and don't move quickly and quietly, you'll be killed while fleeing. Oi, you look like you have a question. I'll allow you to speak."

The man who had the katana pointed at him asked his question in a frightened, small voice.

"What if we stay here?"

"Then you'll be taken away. And it'll be by those guys whom you know very well are demons, to wherever kind of hell these demons come from."

"I—"

Brain glared at him, and the woman who had raised her voice cut it out immediately.

"I allow you to speak."

"...My child is only three years old. If I stay here, and go to the same place as him..."

"Really now. I have no interest in helping anyone who doesn't want to run. But this guy is different. Just so you know, if your son's been taken to another warehouse, there's the chance he'll be rescued by another team. If you want to ignore that and stay, then I won't stop you. A kid without his mom can live by himself, but I haven't seen anyone take care of their kid to this extent."

Brain spoke coldly to the disheartened civilians.

"Then I'll say it one more time. If you stay here, you'll be taken away by the demons. If you accept this and want to stay, I won't stop you. After all, when you leave this warehouse, there's a chance you might get killed in a demonic attack while fleeing."

Climb had to interrupt here. Since Brain had said this much, it was necessary.

"However, we will defend anyone who wants to flee."

"I don't like troublesome things, but I'm doing it because of this soldier of Renner's. So I'll protect you lot. We'll move out in a few minutes. Staying or leaving is your choice. If you want to discuss your freedom softly, that's your choice as well. Do as you like."

There was no discussion. This was because they were worried that their neighbors might be demons but because many of them were hoping that their relatives would be rescued by another team and they would be reunited.

There shouldn't be another team. We checked so many warehouses, and only a couple weren't empty.

Brain decided not to think too much on the matter, instead gripping his sword and glaring fiercely at the captives, making sure that none of them made too much noise. Climb walked over to Brain, and spoke softly.

"Thank you, Brain-san. You did what I couldn't do for myself."

"Don't worry about it, all that crap was stuff that someone like you, who serves Renner, couldn't say. But for a mercenary like me, it shouldn't cause any problems in the future. Just think of me as a whip."

"Even so, I'm still grateful."

A wry grin appeared on Brain's face.

"It'll get troublesome if we get stuck in an endless loop. I get it, I'll accept your thanks. Hm? That fellow's back."

The thief entered Brain's field of vision. He should have been keeping watch on the outside and remaining on standby. Since he wasn't coming back in a hurry, that meant it wasn't a dangerous situation.

"What happened?"

"Ah, no, Unglaus-san. The demons don't look like they're coming over yet. But like you said, it's only a matter of time."

"That it is. Who knows, this might be their final objective. Did you take a look around outside? What was that earthquake just now?"

"I have no idea. Maybe the ground caved in and demons came crawling out of the earth?"

"Don't say that sort of thing, that's the worst-case scenario..."

"Sorry, sorry, Climb-kun."

"Then, let's get ready to move."

Just as Brain was about to order the citizens around, there was a sound of something landing outside the warehouse.

The warehouse fell silent immediately. The thief stuck close to the doors to carefully check out the outside. His hand began moving in signs. They formed the shapes that the three of them had decided meant "demon". Following that, he signalled, "a strong one".

Climb and Brain exchanged looks. Then they quietly moved to where the thief was.

They saw a demon outside. It was completely different from the ones they had encountered before. It gave off the feeling of tremendous power.

Its body was nearly three meters tall, and it had bat wings upon its back. Its head was a goat skull, and in its hands it held a large hammer.

The demon turned its gaze to the warehouse, and Climb's concealed party felt its eyesight on them. Had it used magic to sense them? It was definitely waiting for them to show themselves.

"That guy looks really strong..."

"No doubt about it."

Brain muttered, and the thief answered. Climb nodded his head in agreement.

Climb quietly watched Brain. He had angered him during that encounter with Shalltear. As such, if Brain told Climb to flee, Climb fully intended to obey.

"...Climb, fight with me."

"Yes!"

Climb answered in a soft yet earnest voice.

"Will it be all right?"

"Ah, just look at that guy. He must have fled from a fight. He's covered in wounds. If he were unhurt, I don't think all of us together could beat him. But now, if we can charge him simultaneously, we might be able to win in one blow."

"I'm counting on you," Brain said as he patted Climb's shoulder.

Climb nodded his head vigorously, and activated his ring's power. This ring, made by the Dragon Lords using Wild Magic, contained a spell that could temporarily increase a warrior's strength. If the strongest man in the Kingdom Gazef Stronoff used it, he could step into the realm of heroes, but Climb had not reached that state yet. Even in combination with his martial art [Limit Breaker — Mind], he could not even touch the bottoms of Brain's feet. However, it would still grant Climb the power of a mithril-ranked warrior.

"All right, let's go."

The thief stopped Brain, who was leading the way.

"Unglaus-san—"

"Shouldn't you call me Brain? You're older than me, calling me -san or whatever makes me uncomfortable."

"...then, Brain. What should I do?"

"Just stay here, Lockmeyer. That guy might think we're just a decoy."

"...I'll come to help you if you're in danger."

"Then I'll count on you. Come on, Climb-kun. Although you probably know by now... don't get cocky."

"Yes sir!"

[Lower Fire Month (9th Month), 5th Day, 04:03]

"Kuh!"

Evileye grunted as she took a hit to the belly. Although she was largely insensitive to pain, her sense of touch from her days as a human being was not completely gone yet. If she was attacked, she would definitely feel it.

In the brief window when her concentration was broken, Evileye ate another hit from Alpha.

The explosive force of the blow knocked the air out of Evileye, and sent her flying. SHe felt the negative energy inside her depleting.

Evileye's objective was to draw the battle out. As such, she could not use the strategy of converting physical damage to mana damage. Without mana, Evileye would be unable to fight. This meant she would have to expend her health and mana evenly.

Her mud-stained body was dragged back up into the air by the [Fly] spell.

At this moment, Evileye saw Nabe, who had been knocked flying by her own opponents.

She looked like she had been beaten up pretty badly too. Evileye flew over to her. The enemy did not follow— were they waiting for us to join up before killing us together?

"Oh, it's you."

Evileye had been planning to help up the fallen Nabe, but she stood back up immediately and spoke coldly.

Although her injury-covered body looked like she had been in the fight of her life, something felt wrong about her. There was no fear of death, or rather, she believed that Momon could defeat Jaldabaoth before she died.

Goes for me too, Evileye thought.

"Can you still fight?"

"Of course. No problem."

That had been a stupid question.

Speaking of which... this woman has exceeded humanity as well. Could she be a God-kin too?

She had suffered assorted injuries and her clothes were stained by blood, but none of the wounds were lethal. For all she knew, Evileye might have been more badly hurt.

Compared to Evileye who had only two opponents, being able to perform this well against three opponents... though Evileye was loath to admit it, she had to admit that Nabe was better than her.

"You look like a mess."

"Not exactly."

Evileye laughed at the reply, which was so much like Nabe.

Although the mask covered Evileye's expression, Nabe could still feel that the air had changed, and surprise showed on her face.

"No, I was thinking that that reply was just like you."

"...Was it now. So, what will we do now?"

"What can we do? How can we draw this battle out?"

Evileye turned a sharp look at the five enemies. Apart from the insect maid, whose murderous intent stabbed at her like a lance, the others did not radiate any hostility at all, though from their attitudes they seemed pretty confident of killing them both easily.

"Your enemies are there too."

"Looks like we're out of options. If the numbers were even we might have a chance to win. But if they're on the same level as us and there's more of them, then we'll lose for sure."

"How about running? If you turned around and fled, they might not pursue."

"If you want to do that, I'll cover you from the rear."

Dissatisfaction twisted Nabe's otherwise prim face. Although even an ugly expression on her face would not detract from her beauty in the slightest, Evileye thought in with a rather out-of-place sense of appreciation for a rival.

Suddenly, a person was blown through the air as a building collapsed. He bounced several times on the floor, tumbling head over heels before grinding to a halt.

Evileye did not need to breathe, but she still held her breath.

For a moment, she thought it might be Momon who was sent flying, but that was not the case. It was Jaldabaoth.

Seeing Jaldabaoth unsteady on his feet, Evileye became excited. It was obvious who had wounded him so badly and knocked him back so far.

Evileye's vision spotted the warrior standing where the body had come flying from.

The jet-black armor was heavily damaged, making it clear just how intense their duel had been. Even so, the man standing there did not waver in the slightest, showing Momon's clear superiority in comparison to Jaldabaoth, who was getting to his feet.

Evileye's body was filled with joy, and she tightly clenched her fists.

Momon slowly lowered his swords, and spoke to the rising Jaldabaoth.

"Well, that was fun. How shall I put it... it felt real. I could feel myself really battling with you. So this is what it feels like to be the vanguard... in the past, I used to overpower all my opponents in melee combat, so I didn't feel anything, but now I feel like a battle maniac. So, can you show me your full strength now?"

Telling one's opponent to use their full strength was a grave insult. Thinking about this, Evileye shook her head. Perhaps this was Momon's true desire.

A strong man like Momon rarely had the opportunity to go all-out. Most of the time his opponents would be slaughtered before he could get serious. A man like him would be overjoyed if he got the chance to face an opponent that required his full strength.

"Then, please allow me to do so."

Jaldabaoth had probably understood it as an insult, and so he repaid it with exaggerated, sarcastic politeness.

As she watched him, Evileye was filled with the pride of knowing that she understood Momon better than Jaldabaoth.

"Then, I shall come at you seriously."

"Bring it, Jaldabaoth."

With those words as the signal, the two of them clashed in the middle of the plaza.

Their exchange was like a replay of the time Evileye had first met Momon. His high-speed, consecutive attacks were deflected by extended claws. Since they could parry his greatswords, the hardness of those claws must be beyond human understanding.

Momon leapt back in a grand, soaring arc. His jumping strength made her think that he might have been using the [Fly] spell. In the moment where her view of Momon was blocked by his spinning swords, she saw him produce a spear from nothing, from the corner of her eye.

It was a crimson spear whose point was like a cyclone of fire. Momon hurled it at Jaldabaoth. So fast did it fly that all she saw was its crimson trail seared into her vision as it headed for Jaldabaoth.

"—[Aspect of the Demon: Hellfire Mantle]."

As the spear struck, a roaring flame blazed up from the ground, and a massive shockwave erupted from Jaldabaoth.

"Kuh!"

In order not to be blown away by the titanic displacement of air, Evileye crouched down and tried to weather the storm. Fortunately, because she wore her mask, she was able to keep her eyes open during the tempest.

Looking ahead, she saw Momon picking up his sword from where it lay at his feet, amidst the wildly-blowing wind. Then, he charged Jaldabaoth again.

Jaldabaoth was ready to receive the attack. His body was wreathed in flames, and the spear from earlier was lodged in the ground by his feet.

As Momon swung down on him, Jaldabaoth caught the sword with both hands. Smoke rose from his palms, and the metal between his fingers started to melt.

"So, you're able to melt a weapon like this... the ability has gotten stronger."

Since it was a blade favored by Momon, an adventurer of the highest caliber, it must have been made of an amazing material indeed.

But that was not important. What was important was that Jaldabaoth could summon fire that could melt steel, and that Momon could still talk casually to him despite being so close to the deadly flames.

"―These two are incredible."

Evileye was terrified. She already knew how strong the two of them were, but her body was still trembling uncontrollably.

"It is as you have surmised. The fire-type damage was strengthened by a special ability."

On closer observation, the flames wreathing Jaldabaoth had a blackish tinge to them.

"Hellfire, is it?!"

"Just so. Even a being protected with fire immunity will not escape unscathed, don't you think?"

For the first time in their battle, Momon took a step back in retreat, but Jaldabaoth would not permit it.

This time, it was Jaldabaoth's turn to close the gap, launching a flurry of blows at Momon. That attack could have slain a human being in an instant, but Momon expertly parried them all with his gigantic swords.

While engaged in close combat that was slowly melting his armor, Momon once again reached into nothingness and drew forth a strange weapon.

"[Frost Pain Modified— Icy Burst]!"

A wave of frigid air rushed forth from the weapon, dropping the surrounding temperature instantly. Although it seemed as though the cold could even freeze fire, Jaldabaoth's hellfire burned hotter than normal flames. Still, for a moment, the heat was suppressed.

Jaldabaoth's surprised exclamation reached Evileye's ears.

"What was that? It was like the spear from just now."

"Since I can't use magic, I made up for it with elemental weapons. Although this was a copy of Frost Pain made as an experiment... well, I should count myself lucky it turned out stronger than the original. Granted, it's a tool that lets me use a high-level spell three times a day, but without skills to power it up, it should be nothing to you."

The dialogue between the two of them beggared belief.

They were supposed to be engaged in an intense struggle for their lives, but the mood felt like they were merely testing each others' strength in an easy and relaxed manner.

Evileye recalled something Gagaran had said once. When warriors put their lives on the line, sometimes they would be able to fully grasp the thoughts of their opponent, and it would create a feeling as though they were close friends who had known each other for a long time.

At that time, she had wondered what she was talking about. But now―

"Maybe she had a point after all."

Evileye had learned to accept a lot in the space of one day. She was determined not to reject potential wisdom in future.

She was starting to become jealous of the closeness between them.

The man in the jet-black armor, which had lost its shine due to its melted surface, and the demon whose tuxedo had been shredded by countless sword blows.

The two of them who had dueled each other in a domain beyond the grasp of humanity seemed like old friends to Evileye.

"Your puissance is unparalleled."

"Indeed, so is yours, Jaldabaoth."

"In that case, might I make a proposition?"

Momon raised his chin to Jaldabaoth, as though telling him to carry on.

"If I concede this battle and the victory to yourself, perhaps we can both take a step back from the edge? Or rather, to be more precise, I will withdraw myself from this incident, and I hope you will cease your pursuit of myself."

"Are you kidding me!"

Evileye's cry was fueled by intense emotion. For someone who had filled the capital with this much chaos and death, a plea for mercy and forgiveness was nothing short of shameless.

However, a calm voice accepted Jaldabaoth's proposal.

"It's all right."

Under her mask, Evileye stared goggle-eyed at Momon. She could not understand why Momon, who was in such a superior position, was accepting Jaldabaoth's terms.

Sensing Evileye's confusion, Jaldabaoth shrugged his shoulders. Much as she hated to admit it, he looked quite stylish while he did.

"It baffles me why Momon-san would bring an air-headed woman like yourself along. A moment's consideration should reveal why Momon-san accepted my proposition."

Turning to Evileye, Jaldabaoth continued speaking.

"In order to bring Momon-san here, and to keep others from interfering with our battle, you committed a lot of your friends and allies to the fight, did you not? Did you really think they would be enough to keep the demons from intruding into this conflict?"

Evileye felt as though she had been impaled through the spine with an icicle.

"The demon army is always waiting for a chance to assault the capital."

It was the worst-case scenario.

Although Marquis Raeven was patrolling inside the capital with his troops, she honestly could not believe he could deal with all the demons Jaldabaoth had in store. A similar conclusion awaited if the demons started taking hostages from throughout the city.

But if they defeated Jaldabaoth here—

"Even if you kill me, do you think they will vanish? I have but to give a single mental command and my infernal hordes will immediately begin rampaging through the city. Granted, their numbers might be somewhat diminished... but how many casualties do you think they will cause in the time it takes to kill them?"

"But then, how do we know that you'll actually keep your promise?"

If Jaldabaoth continued fighting with a top-class warrior like Momon, he had no guarantee of actually winning. That being the case, why not withdraw all his troops and beg off from the pursuit? If not— well, then if he died, he was going to take everyone else with him. Something like that.

However, with the capital's population as hostages, their circumstances were not even.

It was a truly manipulative and cunning offer.

I see, Evileye thought, her opinion of Momon rising even further up. He had grudgingly accepted Jaldabaoth's proposal because he had already foreseen this development. Indeed, he had no other choice.

"Then, since this outsider has accepted it as well, I will begin my withdrawal, though it is a shame I could not recover the item. I pray we will never meet again."

"Same here, Jaldabaoth."

Jaldabaoth laughed under his mask, and then gathered the maids around before they vanished via a high-tiered teleportation spell.

"They're gone..."

Evileye floated in the sky, her eyes looking to where the wall of fire had been. Nothing was left; only a slightly livelier patch of the night skyline.

The curtains were drawn on this disturbance. But what had been born of today's sacrifices?

The fact remained that Jaldabaoth existed, a demon with power surpassing the Demon Gods by far. And against him stood Momon, a top-ranked warrior. What would the world make of these two once the word spread, and how would the world change after that?

Evileye shook her head to scatter the thoughts which had blended into a big pile inside it. She would consider these things slowly, in the future.

There was something far more important than this. Evileye landed on the ground and opened her arms.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

With a joyous cry, Evileye broke into a run. Although her [Fly] spell's duration had not yet expired, this was a situation which called for running.

Evileye ran toward Momon. Perhaps out of surprise, Momon took a ready stance with his swords. Ignoring this, Evileye leapt through the air toward him. Since she had been running at full tilt, it felt like she had hit a wall. But because of her Vampiric physiology and endurance, no harm was done.

And so, Evileye tackle-hugged Momon.

"You did it! You won! You won! As expected of Momon-sama!"

"I... uh... do you mind, I'd like some space here."

Momon spoke calmly to Evileye, who was hugging him like a koala. Maybe he was embarrassed.

I win as long as I hug him.

Evileye was banking on a piece of trivia she had heard of in the past. Some men would use members the opposite sex to bleed off tension after a battle. She was hoping that Momon would be such a man, and that he would pick her for that duty.

Evileye glimpsed at Nabe, who was glaring at her.

First girl wins.

Although Evileye was grinding her soft body against Momon, his armor meant that he probably did not feel anything, and if she bumped a wound, it would hurt.

"Haaah... forgive me, Nabe, hold my swords."

Realizing that this was just wasting her strength, Evileye let go, falling from the tree that was Momon.

Well, that's true. I should keep an eye out for a good opportunity next time. Now that Jaldabaoth's seen Momon-sama's power, there's no way he'll break his part of the bargain. But even so, there were those who fought, and those who died... ah, pursuing my own desires will be bad in so many ways.

The battle for the capital had ended.

But Evileye's battle as a woman had just begun.

Evileye, who was thinking of her next move, turned at the sound of ringing steel.

Before her was a group of people. They were adventurers and soldiers and—

"Is that the Warrior Captain? With everyone else?"

Beside Gazef Stronoff were Lakyus and Tina. Gagaran and Tia were there too. Everyone was covered in grime, a testament to the vicious battles they had fought to get here. They looked around at the aftermath of the intense battle that had taken place here, and then, with an intake of breath, they all looked at Momon.

Sensing the meaning of that gesture, Evileye whispered to him.

"Momon-sama, lead us in a cry of victory."

But Momon did not do so. Just as Evileye was starting to get suspicious, she heard a still, small voice.

"I'm feeling a bit shy right now."

The surprisingly human reaction from the superhuman warrior made Evileye laugh out loud.

"...But, doesn't that honor belong to the one who did the most for us? Don't let this chance go by."

Momon gripped his sword tightly and thrust it toward the sky.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"

In the next moment, everyone in the plaza raised their fists to the sky, shouting in celebration of their victory. In everyone's mouths was the name of Momon, the hero who had saved the nation—