Volume 3 Chapter 21
Plains of Vitality I [Demon King"s Army Arrives]
{General POV}
While Shuten and Desiree were fighting each other to the death, and about when the news of the Demon King"s Army reached Crane.
Near the rear of the advancing Demon King"s Army, two men observed the white tower in the distance. How were they going to devastate that city? While considering how they would use their power in the upcoming slaughter, they expressed their dissatisfaction with their subordinates.
"Orcs, Kobolds, Goblins, and Lizardfolk…what an uninspiring mess."
"It can"t be helped. The demons that can walk under the sun without any issues are limited. And we are the few exceptions of demons who are strong and that can slip out of the magic continent."
"I know that. Ahh~ I want to be healed by Eurekchan when I get back~"
They are both part of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords of the Demon King"s Army, Reckless of "Balance" and Braument of "Reason". These two are in charge of the "Invasion Festival of the capital city of Eden" this time.
Braument was a tall man dressed in a tailcoat, and under the top had he had a wide grin like the edges of his mouth had been ripped.
The other man was shorter and broader, a demon with enough muscle you could call him manly except for the face that looked like you could turn it into a hamburger. Compared to humans, he was hairy, and had tusks pointing out from under a squashed snout.
But those aren"t the only notable features of Reckless.
"Hey, Braument. What do you think about the current salary system? As another man who chose money rather than land." (Reckless)
"No complaints." (Braument)
As the two were pulled along in a swaying carriage with a open view, they traveled towards the holy capitol city Eden. You could say their conversation was merely chit-chat to pa.s.s the time before the battle.
“For me, it"s tough. You see, if it"s for Eurekchan I will endlessly spend gold." (Reckless)
"You are unique. I"m thinking you should try to remember the word "restraint" a little more." (Braument)
"Even if you say that, what"s cute is cute." (Reckless)
Reckless wore a jacket made of leather. It was thin enough to be considered light armor, and could certainly be considered a stylish leather jacket[1]. Except for one difference.
On the back was the image of a pretty girl with incredibly fluffy waves of short pink hair. The girl in the picture wore a short frilly skirt, which strongly accentuated her loveliness. She was posed with her right hand on her waist, while her left hand was outstretched in a "peace" sign.
Wearing this girl"s picture on his back, Reckless gave off an impression that was very distinct and easy to comprehend. Additionally, if one paid attention to him, he could sometimes be seen with a towel draped around his neck that also had a print of the same girl, and the shield he often carried had her drawn on the inner portion.
However, Braument pretended to ignore this, looking out over the landscape instead.
"Isn"t it about time we arrived at the Plains of Vitality…?" (Braument)
"There"s a disruption in the front. It looks like a strange beast." (Reckless)
"A monster?" (Braument)
Looking forward, there was certainly a beast attacking the frontline of soldiers. The name of the monster that resembled a giant bear is the Goldfisted Bloodbear. It got this name because it is famous for bashing its opponents with its gold-colored arms, while after the battle they would turn red with blood.
However, it is not a monster that would be seen in the plains.
Even if you tilted your head wondering where it came from, it was simply an obstacle that need to be eliminated for the demons. With a sigh, Reckless made a movement to jump off of the carriage being pulled by lizardmen.
But he suddenly felt an immense pressure from beside him. He quickly noticed that the source was Braument, and could not hide his surprise.
"Oh, to think you were so strong." (Reckless)
"I will clean up." (Braument)
"O-okay" (Reckless)
Braument immediately leapt out. Leaving behind the carriage with Reckless, he went ahead.
"Lord "Reason"!!"
"Lord "Reason" is here!!"
The formation of Kobolds had broken easily. At their center was the crazed Goldfisted Bloodbear. Every swing of its golden arms smashed another Kobold.
It"s the same as that time. Braument thought.
A while ago, he was attacked by a frenzied Griffon. It was a monster that Braument had faced which had more power than the average Griffon should have. However, Braument was one of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords. When he defeated it, a fragment of something that sparkled fell out. Since it flew into his chest, he was able to gain a great amount power.
This seemed to be the same.
"What a great opportunity to become stronger again…!!" Braument"s torn mouth widened further, increasing his eeriness, and he laughed. "Haha….haha…!!"
— Ancient Spell – Endless Steel Thread —
The steel thread that appeared from both hands flew forth endlessly. The amount is incomparable to a before.
But at the same time bitter memories come back.
A few days ago, that Oni suddenly appeared. Not only did he block all of Braument"s steel threads, but had pushed back and smashed them all with immeasurable power.
"If I could get another of those fragments…!" (Braument)
In the blink of an eye his steel threads surrounded the blood bear.
"Guruu!?"
"Die, small fry." (Braument)
Blood and pieces of flesh splashed.
As thin but sharp slashes crashed into the Bloodbear from all sides without giving it time to react. It was just enough to not overdo it. Yes, I am a strong existence. He reaffirmed to himself, as if it was to be expected.
"Ohh!! Lord "Reason" did it!!"
"Truly the power of one of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords!! A moment to remember!!"
"We are saved…!!"
Braument found it pleasant to be praised by everyone. Yes, this is the way it should be. A few days ago, he had been utterly humiliated. It was an unpleasant day where he was caught up in the battle with Imperator and struggled to even survive.
He refused to repeat that experience.
Something fell out from the corpse of the bloodied Bloodbear.
Gazing at the brilliance of the object that came out of the monster, Braument picked it up. I"ve found one again. As he thought so, the pearl piece became black and stained. It was as if dirty water had flowed out from the center. Seeing the drastic color change, Braument tilted his head in confusion.
"…I wonder why the color suddenly became cloudy?" (Braument)
Unlike that day, the fragment did not suddenly leap into Braument"s chest by itself. However, it had shone up until just this moment. For a long time he stood there thinking.
Before he noticed, the army had flowed closer and the carriage he had previously jumped out of arrived. He was no longer standing alone on the plains.
"Hey, we need to keep moving!" (Reckless)
"…Understood." (Braument)
Braument walked over in response to the call of Reckless. He jumped back on the carriage and observed the pearl piece that he had no idea how to use at all.
"What is that?" (Reckless)
"None of your business." (Braument)
"Alright." (Reckless)
It was hard to tell if it would be a good thing to put into his body, but he had the groundless conviction that it was the same as the fragment he had found before. And as far as he"s concerned, there"s no reason to give it to others.
Before that, however, is human hunting.
If he happened to get into an emergency situation…then he may try and swallow the piece.
These were the thoughts of Braument as he remembered the sudden appearance of the Oni from before, and how that had caused an emergency situation.
~~~
At that time, Veloce Vie Atmosphere was at the eastern end of the mountain range that overlooked the capital city of Eden. Ironically enough, this was the same place where Hiragi and Shuten were looking at the city of Eden as before.
With a gentle breeze that blew the hair around her ears, Veloce tried to keep her blonde hair from getting messed up. However, rather than looking at Eden itself, she is looking past it. To the West of Eden, the Demon King"s Army marched…led by two Demon Lords, the crowd of demons snaked slowly closer and closer, as if a river had overflowed and was eroding the soil. Instead of looking at Eden itself, it is Eden"s direction.
However, Veloce"s attention was elsewhere.
"…Looks fun~" (Veloce)
A naginata and large axe clashes over and over. Instead of sparks, an explosive shock wave as if from a grenade scattered wind pressure and caused the ground to sink. It is clearly a fierce battle where both sides fight without holding anything back.
"…Shuten is at 80% strength because of the semi-sanctuary. The magic librarian is also failing to use his Divine Phenomenon Phase Skill to its full potential. If I had to say which one had the advantage, it"s hard to tell…because something so interesting is happening, I want to crush Eden quickly." (Veloce)
For now, she had chosen a thick tree branch to sit on in order to watch the game.
Without the appearance of THAT woman from before who got in her way, Veloce briefly considered what would happen if she killed Shuten"s opponent for him…but she quickly discarded that thought.
"…Desiree McRein."
She took a scroll out of her pouch. She had heard that he was the Fifth Seat Magic Librarian of the Imperial Academy, but her information seemed slightly different than what she was observing.
The problem was not that he could fight evenly with Shuten, nor that his Divine Phenomenon gave off a strange, almost foul aura.
"I"m surprised that lineage survived until now…strange. I had thought they were supposed to be destroyed during To-sama"s[2] generation though…"
There was no doubt that to the eyes of Veloce, something invisible could become visible. However, it is probably impossible to understand what that "something" is.
"As a researcher, I"m a little interested…but well, if I do anything extra, THAT woman is likely to fly over and interfere…what to do…" (Veloce)
Hmmm. Placing her index finger on your cheek she tilted her head slightly. She stayed like that for awhile, just thinking.
Even though law magicians and an army had exited Eden at some point, Veloce didn"t seem to care.
"Because "Wheel" did not come out, I knew we would half-fail…but I cannot completely blame "Wheel" for not helping, as even if he did…he would have tried to fulfill his greed with a flashy slaughter."
The battle between the armies of Eden and the Demon King began in earnest. Magic flew, while clangs and roars rang out from below. However, all of this was child"s play compared to the battle to the South.
"It"s fine if you two try to kill each other for two more days…right? I will wait a little longer. This seems like it was a good idea. Also, it seems it wasn"t only Shuten and Braument who became stronger from a mutation…Ok, let"s look forward to it. Shuten will certainly bring a lot of enjoyment…as for Desiree McRein, we"ll just have to see. Fufufu~" Veloche laughed mysteriously.
She smiled as if she was looking at the pieces on a board, exuding the aura of one who is overwhelmingly powerful.
However, if it were from an outside observer who happened to pa.s.s by her, she looked more like a girl in love who was feeling a little lost.
Translation Notes
Something like a modern biker jacket it seems, especially considering the print on the back. とーさま I am unsure who she is referring to at this moment, but "To-" (p.r.o.nounced "toh") feels more like an abbreviation rather than the whole name of Desiree"s ancestor, which is why I left sama rather than calling him a Lord, Master, Ruler, etc depending on context like I did earlier with "Lord Reason" (since he"s a Demon Lord), as I do not know what To"s position was.