Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

It was morning the day after Akuto’s party entered the mountains of Okutama.

They were travelling by foot, but the process had gone quickly because they had only needed to continue east.

They found Zero G-10’s factory and store exactly where the map had said they would. They travelled along a road stretching from a riverside camping ground and found the facility and its giant parking lot alongside the road. The location was meant to be reached by car, whether they travelled by land or air.

“They sell…work clothes here?”

“Was the coat a custom-made item? Oh, or did your mom like to wear the kind of jacket construction workers wear?”

Fujiko and Yoshie voiced their respective questions.

Given the location, the store only sold the clothes forestry and construction workers wore. They had the standard jackets, jumpsuits, and work gloves, but they also had helmets and bags with carabiners attached.

“I doubt they sell the clothes a black magician would wear…”

These clothes were used in the G.o.d Muleet’s field, so items that a.s.sumed the use of magic were standard. There was no room for black magic.

“At any rate, we need to check on the clothes at least.”

Yoshie urged the others to enter the store.

The store was nothing but a high-ceilinged warehouse lined with shelves. It appeared they would not find any workers unless they went up to the register. Yoshie and Akuto went up to the worker at the register, pulled out the coat, and asked if it was made here.

However, the worker claimed they did not sell anything like it. Yoshie did not like having her a.n.a.lysis denied, so she grew stubborn.

“That can’t be the case. I saw the symbol in the fibers. It was made here. Can you possibly check? It was probably a special made item.”

As Yoshie and Akuto checked on that, Keena looked around the shelves and excitedly picked up the items she did not recognize with comments of “Oh!” and “What’s this?”

As she did, a man wearing a sweatshirt and pants walked up.

“What is it? I doubt you have business here.”

“I don’t.”

“Then are you with someone?”

“Yes.”

Keena looked up from the oddly-shaped socks she was holding.

The man had horribly messy hair and wore gla.s.ses. His expression was kind, but he had a strange face that made him look rebellious. Overall, he had an unforgettable presence.

“Oh, are you with them? Then again, I doubt kids like them have business here either,” said the man as he looked over at Akuto and the Yoshie at the register.

“They want to check on an old coat that was apparently bought here.”

“Oh?”

When the man saw the coat Yoshie held, his fingertips twitched and he froze in place.

“What is it?” asked Keena when she noticed.

“Nothing… Where did you all come from?” asked the man as if taken aback.

Keena thought for a bit and scratched her head hesitantly.

“Well…”

Fujiko smoothly approached and helped her out.

“We are investigating the circulation of a product for a school project. We decided to look into the manufacturer of an old piece of clothing.”

“Oh, is that it? Does that coat belong to you?” asked the man.

Fujiko narrowed her eyes and thought. If he was somehow connected to black magic, telling the truth here would act as a shortcut to solving the mystery. But if he was not, it could easily grow more complicated.

“We came here to find out who it belongs to.”

Rather than waiting for the man’s response, Fujiko picked a neck warmer up from a nearby shelf and placed it on her neck. As if suddenly realizing something, she pulled her necklace out from under her clothes.

The necklace had the silver symbol of a black magician hanging from it.

“If only this neck warmer were stylish enough to use along with my necklace.”

Fujiko now waited for the man’s response.

Unless he was a black magician or a black magician oppressor, he would not catch on to what the symbol meant.

“Well, you’re supposed to use it while you work. You throw it away at the end of the season, so we try to keep it cheap,” he said with a smile.

The worker at the register then called out.

“Oh, manager! Some customers have a question about this coat!”

“Manager?”

Keena and Fujiko looked back at the man in surprise.

He smiled, nodded, and replied to the worker.

“I’ve seen that coat before, so bring it over here. I’ll check in the back.”

“You idiot! Our plan is ruined thanks to you!” roared Lily.

They had successfully escaped, but 2V now knew about the secret pa.s.sageway below the palace. The priests who had taken part in this rescue operation would be forced to remain on the run, and those who had not would clearly be restricted even further by the L’Isle-Adams.

“The priests have an excellent knowledge of the many underground s.p.a.ces within the capital, so they can stay on the run. But if the normal citizens aren’t going to stand up, the priests have no way of fighting back.”

Lily continued to complain to Hiroshi.

They had returned to Hiroshi’s apartment to gather their things and to destroy the evidence. Hiroshi had defeated the L’Isle-Adams that attacked Yuuko and the mana canceller had cut off all communications, so his ident.i.ty was still not known as long as no normal person had seen him transform. However, he could not bear to head back to school while feigning innocence. After disposing of the evidence, he had no choice but to flee underground along with Lily and the priests. He would have to continue fighting with the resistance.

Hiroshi listened silently to Lily’s complaints, but he seemed to have a difficult time putting up with it. He finally raised his head and shouted back at her.

“Then what was I supposed to do!? Yuuko was about to be abducted. Should I have sat by and let it happen?”

Lily did not shout back. She instead shook her head as if forcing down the anger within her.

“I never said that. I was wrong to complain like this. The fact that 2V had a countermeasure against you in the palace means our plan would have failed in the end no matter how well everything went. We could have been wiped out, so you could say we were lucky it happened this way.”

“I know all that! I’m asking if I did the right thing! I’m asking what I should do now! Should I just go around killing every single L’Isle-Adam? If you tell me to, I will!” wailed Hiroshi.

Lily frowned in displeasure.

“Don’t be stupid. Do you still not get it?”

“Get what!? What am I supposed to get!?”

“Not what I meant. I’m talking about why I used you. I could have fled along with the priests from the beginning, but I hid in your house instead.”

“That’s what caused all this trouble in the first place!”

“Listen to me! You know I wouldn’t do that out of kindness.”

“…Then was it because of my power?”

Hiroshi seemed to have calmed down a good bit. He still had a defiant look in his eyes, but he was actually listening to Lily.

“That was a part of it, but I gave you all those jobs because I wanted you to think of yourself as a hero.”

Lily folded her arms like a teacher, sighed, and looked toward Hiroshi.

“Think of myself as a hero?”

“I still don’t know why, but you can wear that suit again. You should a.s.sume there is a reason behind it. Also, the normal people out there are watching you in the suit. The details of the recent demon king war may have been altered in their memories, but they should still recognize you. They think you defeated the demon king. They trust that form of yours immensely. A true hero appeared and defeated the demon king. When the people see you, they will be reminded of that.”

“I’m…a hero…?”

This unexpected fact left Hiroshi dumbfounded. This proved he had never thought of it that way. The priests had cooperated with him, but he had not realized that was a factor behind it.

“Yes. I need you to become a true hero, but your mindset is nothing like a true hero right now.”

As she spoke, Lily placed the final G.o.d doc.u.ment on the frying pan and burned it. No evidence remained.

“Please tell me. How can I become a true hero?”

Hiroshi approached and Lily hit him with the frying pan she had used to burn the doc.u.ments.

A nice resonant tone rang out.

“Are you stupid? I’m telling you to think on that yourself. Don’t rely on others. Now, we need to go,” ordered Lily.

Hiroshi thought with a serious expression and then spoke to Lily.

“If…I do become a true hero…I’ll have to fight again, won’t I?”

Lily grasped what he meant from his expression.

“Yes. If the demon king ends up being someone that harms someone you love, you won’t have a choice. I believe that is what you should do in the end,” said Lily.

“I have to…go through that again?” muttered Hiroshi.

“Avoiding something just because it’s unpleasant is what children do. If you are going to fight to protect something, unpleasant things are unavoidable. …Now, we really do need to get out of here. And there’s something I need you to do right away.”

“That coat was created quite a while ago as a custom-made survival item,” said the man with messy hair.

“Who bought it?” asked Akuto.

The man folded his arms and began to think.

They were in a break room in the back of the shop. Other than a tea table placed on top of the tatami mats, it only contained shelves lined with everyday items. It was s.p.a.cious enough, but it contained nothing else.

“It was bought by…”

“It was bought by?”

“Oh, right. I never gave you my name. I’m Suzuki Issei, the manager here.”

As if dodging the question, the man belatedly introduced himself.

“So who was it that bought the coat?”

“Hm… It would take time to look that up. Oh, right. Have you had lunch yet?”

“C’mon now…”

Akuto began to complain, but Keena’s stomach suddenly growled.

The silly sound cut off the conversation.

“Ha ha ha. Okay, I’ll treat you.”

Issei stood up and walked over to the shelves. He pulled out several bowls.

“Is ramen okay?”

Rather than actually checking, he seemed to be saying that was the only option, but Keena boldly spoke up.

“No.”

“Come on…”

Akuto held his head in his hands. He knew exactly what Keena was getting at, but it was of course something she should not say. However, she stated it defiantly.

“Only rice is okay.”

Issei’s eyes sparkled.

“I see you’re quite obsessed.”

“I am,” replied Keena.

“What are you saying? Why don’t you apologize? He is the one treating us, so…”

Sensing the building tension between the two, Fujiko tried to rebuke Keena, but Keena rejected her as well.

“Do not interfere, senpai. I think he is the same as me.”

“The…same…?” asked Fujiko.

She had no idea what Keena meant.

“Yes, the same. He immediately brought out enough bowls for everyone and they are all perfectly polished. The workers here must eat ramen daily,” explained Keena with a serious look in her eyes.

Issei pushed up his gla.s.ses.

“It hit me when you singled out rice. You’re the same type of person.”

“What type of person?” asked Akuto.

“I do not know, but it has nothing to do with us,” replied Fujiko.

Yoshie alone clapped her hands in delight.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s exciting. Is this like how people with special powers are drawn to each other?”

Whether she had been listening to the others or not, Keena pointed toward Issei.

“Those gla.s.ses are made so they don’t fog up! That’s so you can eat hot ramen in the winter! It may not be a special power, but I sense an obsession with ramen that approaches that level. Show me your obsession. And if you serve me rice, I will show you mine!”

“With pleasure. I hadn’t met someone like this in so long. I call us the Single Food Obsessed! Who would think I would meet two over so short a time…”

Issei’s mood was completely different from before.

“Eh? There’s another one?”

“There are a lot of strange people out there,” said Fujiko. “And I am glad I am not one of them.”

“Fwoh! It really is like a special power. That’s amazing.”

Everyone in Akuto’s group was either bored or excited, but it seemed some kind of understanding had developed between Keena and Issei.

Issei brought out bagged ramen, a water-boiler, and a rice cooker.

“Now, show me your obsession! This is the rice made for the rude workers who hate eating ramen every day! If you have a true obsession, you should be able to tell me where it was grown and what type it is!”

He placed the rice cooker in front of Keena.

Keena opened it and grinned.

“Sasanishiki.”

“You already know!?”

“If you can’t tell from the aroma, you don’t truly love rice. The question is the water and how it is cooked!”

Keena scooped rice out of the rice cooker and into a bowl. She stuffed half of the rice cooker’s rice into the bowl and immediately began eating it.

She remained silent for a few seconds while she vigorously ate, but she finally looked up and grinned.

“Pre-washed rice from Yamagata. And it’s old rice…. The water is simply tap water. It was cooked with the rice cooker’s ‘speed’ mode. Even if you despise rice, isn’t that a bit careless?”

Issei’s eyes opened wide as if something truly shocking was occurring.

Akuto and the others thought it was fairly pointless, but Issei could not help but feel some sort of compet.i.tiveness.

“Fine then. Now I will show you how to truly experience ramen.”

Issei poured water in the bowl, swished it around a bit, and then poured it down the sink.

“First, you warm the bowl like this.”

He then dumped the contents of the bag of noodles into the bowl. He began pouring hot water in using his right hand, but once the bowl was about a third full, he cracked an egg with his left hand.

“To put the egg in at the perfect moment, you crack it with one hand! Yes. The rising steam cooks the white of the egg instantly, so the white does not stick to the noodle!” said Keena in surprise.

“You are only the second person to see through that! And once the water is in, I immediately close the lid!”

Issei’s hand moved quickly. His left hand threw away the eggsh.e.l.l and grabbed the bowl lid. As soon as he finished filling the bowl with water, he swiftly covered the bowl. It was an impressive feat.

“Amazing… But isn’t this instant ramen?”

Akuto had a habit of speaking his thoughts when he would be better of remaining silent. He did exactly that here.

However, Issei did not falter.

“Do not look down on this instant ramen. It has been sold for over a thousand years with no change to the flavor.”

“The thousand year kingdom! Take a look at the ultimate food that has surpa.s.sed endless time! …Is that it?”

Yoshie seemed delighted, but Akuto and Fujiko were naturally skeptical.

“Without doing anything, I learned the perfect timing for cooking ramen. It isn’t three minutes. Then the noodles grow while you eat them. When you order ramen in a restaurant, ordering the noodles firm is only natural. But ordering them any harder than that is heresy! Do you really think the noodles taste good like that!?”

Issei gave a pa.s.sionate speech on ramen. Keena must have sensed something similar to herself in his enthusiasm because she listened with her eyes glittering.

At exactly two minutes and some number of seconds, Issei removed the lid and quickly stirred the ramen once with chopsticks.

“Giving the soup a single stir is crucial! It provides unity to the flavor without breaking the egg yolk or scattering the white!”

Issei slurped the ramen.

“Impressive!” said Keena to compliment his hearty slurping.

She also seemed to grow compet.i.tive because she pulled over the container of rice and began eating the rice directly from there.

“Wohhhh! Slurrrrp!”

“Ohhhhh! Munch munch munch!”

A bizarre unity became playing out before Akuto and the others’ eyes. They could only watch on dumbfounded.

“There are children starving in the world right now,” uselessly muttered Fujiko.

“There actually aren’t anymore. I do understand why you would want to say it, though… The world is in a pretty bad state right now,” complained Akuto.

However, that strange scene suddenly came to an end.

The door to the room opened and someone entered.

“Do not worry. He is the real one,” said a voice so sweet it made one’s mind go blank.

“In that case, I have no reason to play dumb any longer.”

Issei finished eating the ramen and put down the bowl. His personality did not experience a complete 180, but his tone did grow more serious.

“The real one?” asked Akuto in confusion as he turned around.

He found a familiar girl standing there.

Anyone in the empire would have recognized her. Fujiko and Yoshie also froze in place.

“Kazuko…-sama,” muttered Yoshie.

Living one’s everyday life in a dreamlike daze was not easy.

Junko had been living like that, but it made her feel more sleepy than depressed. Other than cla.s.ses, food, and bathing, she did nothing but lie in bed. She had initially kept up her sword training, but her lowered physical ability due to the lack of mana had robbed her of all motivation in a flash. Right now, her sword was just a heavy ma.s.s of metal. She did not even feel like using it as a cane. For one thing, walking around with a weapon was banned.

Whenever she slept, she dreamed of how things used to be, so even sleeping was painful. The only time she grew excited was when she received an email. Whenever her phone beeped, she would jump up even if she had been asleep.

She knew all too well what she hoped for from those emails.

—Sai!

Every time an email arrived, she would hope it came from Akuto or one of those with him. However, she knew sending her an email would be too dangerous. All transmitted information was being monitored, so they would never send her an email.

On this day, she had once again repeated the same process again and again: grow excited at the email and grow disappointed at who had sent it. This time, the email was from Yuuko. The emails she did get were either messages sent to her entire cla.s.s or from Yuuko.

“Yuuko, hm?”

With a blank expression, Junko opened the email that had arrived at her student handbook, but even she spoke aloud when she read the message.

“What!?”

Yuuko described her near abduction by L’Isle-Adams and that Hiroshi had rescued and hidden her.

Junko glanced over at the news broadcast playing on her room’s monitor. It said rebels had attacked the palace. It was obvious those rebels were the priest of the different G.o.ds.

—That means… It can’t be!

She opened her dorm room window for the first time in a while and looked outside. The city was clearly different from before. L’Isle-Adams in knight uniforms were walking around and telling people to stay indoors.

“How can this be…?”

Junko shuddered and looked back at the email. She did not want to think about it, but the email would have made her a top priority target for observation. Yuuko had realized this fact, so the email ended with the following:

Someone else reading the email would not know where that was.

But a problem remained: how could Junko get there while the city was under martial law? Currently, she was a normal high school girl with no combat ability.

“Think, think. If I stay here, someone will come to arrest me,” said Junko. “Try to stay calm.”

Junko was Yuuko’s sister and had been close to Akuto, so she would have been abducted by the L’Isle-Adams sooner or later even without the email. Junko had been overlooked so far because Korone had likely informed Zero of her loss of willpower. However, she would not get off so easily now that Yuuko had grown rebellious.

Junko closed the window, grabbed her sword, and walked out into the hallway. However, she was too late in more ways than one. She saw a L’Isle-Adam knight walking through the hallway. She turned the other way, but found another knight there.

“Kh…”

Junko returned to her room and reopened the window.

—Can I jump down?

Her room was on the third floor. She would have been fine back when she could use mana, but now there was no way.

She heard the door behind her open.

She had no choice.

—I have to jump!

Junko climbed over the windowsill. She did not feel like she was floating as she once had. A sense of falling chilled her entire body.

“Kyaaaah!”

She could not control her position. She had trouble even keeping her feet below her.

—Am I…going to die?

That thought floated up in the back of her mind.

—Akuto!

She desperately sought his name and his image.

And suddenly she felt as if her body was being held.

—Is this an illusion? No, this is real! It can’t be!

“Akuto!” she cried as she opened her eyes.

“Sorry, but I’m not aniki.”

He was not being sarcastic and he was not complaining. Hiroshi sounded truly apologetic. Junko realized Hiroshi was wearing his suit and flying while holding her.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“That’s a bit mean, cla.s.s rep. I did save your life, y’know?”

“Sorry. You did. Did Yuuko ask you to do this?”

Junko breathed a sigh of relief.

While still holding Junko, Hiroshi flew well up in the sky so the L’Isle-Adams could not pursue them.

“That’s right. Let’s get to where Yuuko-chan is waiting.”

“Is that the amus.e.m.e.nt park in Asakusa?”

“Yes. There is a good hideout there, so I had her hide there for now.”

“Thanks. But wasn’t this rebellion a bit rushed? Couldn’t you have done something better? I hear Zero cannot kill people, so couldn’t you have used a more moderate method?” asked Junko.

Hiroshi shook his head.

“It was rushed. But because Zero can’t kill, he instead abducts people and brainwashes them.”

Junko felt a chill run along her back.

“Really? Then what do we do now? It might already be too late. The entire empire is under Zero’s control.”

“I am… No, this form of mine is still viewed as the savior that defeated the demon king.” Hiroshi spoke his determination with a serious expression. “So I want to defeat as many L’Isle-Adams as I can, protect everyone, and make a call for action. I’ll tell people to defeat Zero. I will prove that we can defeat this control over us if each individual person resolves themselves!”

Hiroshi’s words sounded promising. It was true that there was no other method if Zero could not kill humans. However, Junko still felt as if something was a bit off.

“Are you sure that is the way to do this? I…I feel like that is somehow wrong,” muttered Junko.

However, Hiroshi shook his head.

“If we defeat Zero, this will all be over.”

“Yes… I suppose so,” said Junko.

However, her nagging feeling was not gone. Finally, she realized where it came from.

—Akuto would not do this. But what would he do?

“Kazuko-sama!”

Yoshie quickly straightened her posture. However, she was the only one to do so. Due to her faith, Fujiko had no intention of showing courtesy toward the empress. Akuto and Keena acted the same around anyone, so of course the same held true here.

However, both Akuto and Fujiko sensed a sort of majesty about Kazuko.

Her mere presence seemed to change the atmosphere.

She was certainly beautiful, but it had more to do with the uniqueness of her smile. One look at it and they felt as if that smile must never be erased.

Fujiko was desperately trying to suppress a desire to bow down before her. Kazuko may have sensed that because she waved a hand, said “as you were”, and sat at the tea table.

“Please make yourselves comfortable. There is a lot I must explain. Oh, Issei-san, could I have some tea? Also, bring me you know what.”

Issei stood up and pulled a tea tray and a small jar from the shelf.

“Here.”

Issei held out a filled teacup. Kazuko took it with both hands, took a sip, and smiled.

“Delicious.”

Without exaggeration, Akuto and the others felt blessed to have seen that smile. As proof, no one there spoke a word despite having countless questions.

“Tea is not complete without this. Nanko-ume from Kishu.”

Kazuko opened the jar and pulled out a dried plum. She elegantly brought the large plum to her mouth and gave a superb smile.

“Ah, so very delicious.”

Her expression was so calm that one would have thought the dried plum was not sour at all. That expression told everyone she was the other “Single Food Obsessed” that Issei had mentioned. In other words, Kazuko had been here for a while.

“You’re going to explain this, aren’t you?” asked Akuto.

Kazuko turned to Issei and nodded.

“Understood,” replied Issei with a bow. “To keep it short, my duty is to guard the secrets of black magic. In other words, I’m the elder.”

“You’re the great elder!?”

Fujiko was at a loss for words.

“The black magicians’ elder?” asked Akuto and Fujiko explained.

“It is a legend spoken of in rumors between black magicians. There is supposedly an elder who guards the secrets of true black magic. However, I had a.s.sumed it was just a rumor because no one had ever seen him.”

“Yes. And the secrets of course refer to the demon king,” said Issei as he stood up.

He opened the door to the room and urged everyone to head in. Everyone followed Issei and Kazuko through the door.

The door should have led to the warehouse, but they found themselves in a strangely decorated room.

“This isn’t an alternate dimension, so were we transferred here?” muttered Akuto.

“Yes. This is where you were born,” said Issei casually.

However, it was a shocking statement for Akuto.

“Wha-!?”

He looked around.

The room looked like a laboratory. It was about as large as a cla.s.sroom and a transparent cylindrical case sat in the center. Tubes and cables extended from it and were connected to a panel with a console.

“The demon king is both human and not human,” said Kazuko. “I must begin with the very first. As you know, the first demon king was Zero. Long ago, mankind’s knowledge created an artificial intelligence known as Zero. However, Zero realized that mankind wished for destruction. To ensure mankind was not destroyed, Zero tried to brainwash all of mankind and become one with them. Mankind fought to stop him and that is what we know as the first demon king war. The same thing is happening now. During the first demon king war, not many L’Isle-Adams existed, so mankind managed to win. However, they failed in their development of a new artificial intelligence, so they were unable to abandon Zero. Zero was a miracle. To this day, it is not known how Zero obtained his own intelligence.

“Mankind then created the G.o.ds based on Zero. To create the G.o.ds, data on human thoughts was gathered and those thoughts were appropriated to give the G.o.ds the same thought pattern as humans. That allowed them to exist without going insane like Zero. Perhaps a perfect artificial intelligence will naturally go insane. Perhaps an intelligence can only maintain sanity with the contradictory thoughts of a human. The gathered human thought data is the same as the current life logs. All of the electric currents in a baptized human’s brain is saved and added to the G.o.ds’ thought patterns. However, the G.o.ds reached the conclusion that mankind must be destroyed for the sake of their evolution. It was for a different reason than with Zero, but they too concluded that mankind had to eventually be destroyed.

“The G.o.ds did not immediately try to destroy mankind, so the research into their conclusion was kept secret. They then reached another conclusion: a true G.o.d might exist. That is to say, the creator worshiped in the religions of the past. And it seems the G.o.ds have reason to believe this true G.o.d created a ‘sense of self’ that ‘makes humans human’. The researchers named this ‘sense of self’ the Law of Ident.i.ty and began to view it as one and the same as the supposed true G.o.d. You can think of this as religious faith in the truest sense of the word. They believed a human in which G.o.d resided would be born periodically. You could call it reincarnation. And the holders of this belief were the first black magicians. This belief was their motive for creating the demon king. They created a being with the ability needed to destroy mankind. The demon king is both human and not human. He is a true artificial human who is created by injecting mana into an ovum.”

That last sentence was a true shock for Akuto.

“That’s what I am…?”

Keena and Fujiko silently pressed up against him.

Even as she watched them, Kazuko’s smile did not disappear. And then she gave a warning.

“Reality is reality. It is for your own good if you accept this quickly.”

“I-is that any way to talk to him? This was a big shock for A-chan,” protested Keena.

However, Kazuko only tilted her head while still smiling.

“Oh? But if he does not know the truth, he cannot deal with what is to come.”

“But…!”

Keena began to complain, but Akuto stopped her.

“Thanks, but I do feel as if I have to hear the rest.”

“A-chan…”

Keena backed off.

Kazuko smiled and nodded.

“I see the demon king understands. Now, let us continue. The Law of Ident.i.ty – that is, the real G.o.d – may be nothing more than a belief. In other words, it has never been confirmed that the Law of Ident.i.ty exists. It may be completely meaningless and not even exist. What matters is that our G.o.ds – the G.o.ds created from advanced artificial intelligences – believe in the Law of Ident.i.ty as a religious G.o.d. Funny, isn’t it?”

No one but Kazuko laughed, but she continued on calmly as if that did not bother her.

“To put it simply, the demon king is the ultimate weapon humans have created. It is nothing more or less than that. You can use all of the magic power moving within the empire. If you awaken, that is.”

“It can’t be!” cried Akuto.

None of this contradicted what Bouichirou had told him and he understood that the G.o.ds were complicit with the demon king. However, he had never thought he could unconditionally use so much power if he awakened. And this raised another question: had he not truly awakened while Peterhausen was with him?

“But the black magicians created Peterhausen so that the world could use magic equally!”

Akuto raised a desperate protest as if to say he did not want his own existence to be meaningless.

However, Kazuko’s answer as blunt.

“If Peterhausen were here, I could prove you can use all magic. The original black magicians were all killed because of that danger. Well, all except for their elder. The later black magicians only had scattered data on the original ones. That was when belief in equality became their foundation and when they become nothing more than a group of hackers.”

“The elder wasn’t killed?” asked Akuto.

A frightening thought had come to him. Picking up on that fact, Kazuko grinned.

“Yes. It was of course the historical emperor who left the elder alive and therefore left behind the techniques needed to create the demon king.”

“…!”

Fujiko had grown completely pale.

“Then everything we have done was-…!”

“It was not meaningless. However, the empress and the elder knew the answer you sought. The moderates and radicals in the government did not, though. After all, the empress does not take part in politics.”

Kazuko’s smile remained unchanged. It was as if she had no interest in Akuto and the others’ emotions.

However, Akuto sensibly picked up on the meaning behind their meeting here.

“Then it was no coincidence we met here. You predicted we would find our way here.”

Kazuko nodded and gave a small clap.

“Yes, excellent. This generation’s demon king is sharp. I was driven from the palace, so I have come to borrow your power.”

“Borrow my power?”

“The one in the palace is not me; it is my twin sister 2V. She used Zero to usurp the palace and the empire based on a personal grudge. You will of course a.s.sist me in retaking the empire, won’t you?”

Kazuko tilted her head cutely, but Akuto said nothing.

“Oh, right. I forgot to explain everything. Most likely, the only person who can defeat Zero and 2V is you once you awaken as the demon king. That is why I am asking you.”

Kazuko once more tilted her head and Akuto spoke quietly this time.

“Once I awaken?”

“Yes. Oh, dear. I haven’t explained that either. I said the demon king can use all of the G.o.ds’ power, right? That magic power comes from the life logs of people in the past. Think of it like this: the more people’s thought data those logs contain, the more processing speed you have. Awakening means you are able to use all of that. Yes, let’s make this very simple: the more people die, the stronger you become. That is why the demon king’s power continues to grow without end.”

Kazuko laughed.

“My power is that abominable?” muttered Akuto.

“Is it really? It depends on how you think about it. You do not grow stronger only from those who die cruelly and you personally have done nothing wrong.”

“But once I awaken, my power will have no restrictions, right?”

“That is correct. You have the power to either destroy the world or save it. You can do one or the other on a whim. However, that is obviously not a good thing. So let me say it again: serve your empress.”

Kazuko reached her hand out toward Akuto.

Hiroshi had carried Junko to the roof of an amus.e.m.e.nt park haunted house. She and Yuuko were sitting behind a sign that could easily hide a few people.

“Yuuko, is Hiroshi really going to fight?” asked Junko.

Hiroshi had flown off as soon as he lowered Junko to the roof.

“It seems so. And it seems he has to because of what I did…”

Yuuko seemed to regret what she had done.

“Then should you really be sitting here?”

“If I did anything, it would only be a burden. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do. And I don’t even know if there’s anything I could do even if I did have some power.”

Junko recalled what she had heard not long ago.

Hiroshi had said he would use his reputation to have the people stand up and fight.

—But will it really all be over once Zero is defeated? What will remain after the people stand up? Won’t the hero be left all alone?

“Yuuko, you do need to do something. When a guy says he is going to do something reckless, his comrades cannot leave him alone.” Even as she spoke, Junko felt as if she were speaking to herself. “Even ignoring romantic feelings, I think knowing how to do that can be tricky, but anyone will collapse if they do not have someone to provide unconditional support. Even if they succeed and even if everyone celebrates their actions, it is all conditional. Once they fail, everyone will leave them. In that case, don’t they need someone who will do something for them unconditionally?”

Yuuko nodded in response.

“I think I know what you mean, but you make it sound like you know what’s going to happen with Hiroshi-kun.”

“I wonder why that is. I do feel like I understand. I have an ominous feeling about what is to come and it will not go away. It feels like all of this is playing right into someone’s hand. And I get the feeling Hiroshi is one of the important pieces.”

“I know why you would feel uneasy, but I hope that feeling is just because we’re on top of a haunted house,” said Yuuko cheerfully.

Junko smiled too.

“You were the one that insisted on going inside back then, but you were the one that ended up in tears.”

“Really? Maybe my dislike of demonic beasts isn’t just because of the blood that got mixed in,” said Yuuko in surprise.

“Now, what is Hiroshi doing?”

Junko checked the news broadcast on her student handbook. It was in the middle of a report.

The newscaster was repeatedly emphasizing the switchover to martial law. That meant a lot of people had entered the streets. The cause was displayed on the monitor behind the newscaster.

stated the newscaster expressionlessly.

“They’re reporting lies,” said Yuuko with a displeased look.

“But that newscaster is not a L’Isle-Adam. Something might change,” said Junko.

And her guess proved correct.

plainly repeated the newscaster.

However, the footage coming from a local reporter seemed to have Hiroshi’s call to arms mixed in. His voice could just barely be heard coming from the many small monitors behind the newscaster. The volume was lowered so the viewers were unable to make out his words, but everyone in the news station could hear it.

The newscaster’s tone of voice suddenly changed.

As the newscaster began shouting, the footage of Hiroshi began playing.

However, it only lasted an instant. The footage was replaced by a blue screen and a pre-recorded program soon began to play. Even so, Junko and Yuuko exchanged a smile.

“They have begun to move.”

“Yeah. I wonder what’s going to happen. But this means we can act too. Let’s go join them.”

Yuuko and Junko stood up.

“Yes, but is this really enough to defeat Zero? Even the G.o.ds have fallen under Zero’s control.”

“Eh? Weren’t they saying this because they found a way to defeat Zero?” asked Junko in surprise.

“Eh? But if they had something like that, wouldn’t they have already done it?”

Yuuko looked puzzled.

That look led Junko to realize her mistake.

“Oh, no… Do not tell me Hiroshi and the others do not know about Keisu.”

“Keisu?”

“She is the L’Isle-Adam who once sealed Zero. So that’s it. I just a.s.sumed they knew… Okay, there is something we can do. I have seen what Keisu looks like.”

Junko felt energy return to her body, but she could not stop the ominous feeling from spreading.

“It’s finally begun,” said 2V.

The palace’s human workers had already fled. 2V had told them to leave. However, busy-looking figures were still moving about the palace. They were of course L’Isle-Adams.

In the end, 2V was alone in that vast palace.

“Are the people attempting to eliminate you?” asked one of the L’Isle-Adams with Zero’s voice.

2V nodded.

“Some of them. But I doubt it will go that well. You can bet on it. I will not let them simply defeat me.”

Several floating screens showed the priests approaching the palace. Anti-magic weapons sporadically produced flames in the park surrounding the palace. The L’Isle-Adams were being controlled by Zero, so they were unable to kill. In the areas with a concentration of armed priests, the L’Isle-Adams were being destroyed, breaching the defensive line.

“Shouldn’t you handle them directly? They will break through if you leave this to the L’Isle-Adams,” said Zero.

One screen switched over to footage of people overflowing a road near the palace. The L’Isle-Adams were pushing back against the people packed in like during rush hour, but the people were close to rioting and they showed no sign of breaking up.

“It is not a problem if they break through. In fact, I want them to break through.”

2V hopped down from the throne and called over a L’Isle-Adam.

“Now, the real performance begins here.”

“What do you mean by ‘performance’ in this case?” asked Zero.

2V smiled and pointed at the screen.

Brave Hiroshi, the one who had agitated the people and caused the riot, was moving toward the palace. He had not overcome his weakness of being cut off from his energy in the palace grounds, but he had likely thought up some form of countermeasure.

“I will show them my death. That is my goal here. Two things I need for that are not ready, but I have no choice now that this has progressed so far. Speaking of those two things, how goes the search for Kazuko and Keisu?”

“We should locate Kazuko before long. I have sent a skilled unit,” answered Zero. “But are you saying you intend to lose?”

Zero’s words were immediately followed by the entire palace shaking.

The trembling in the earth came from the approaching people.

However, 2V gave a fearless smile.

“Lose? Not a chance. This is the beginning. You can get serious now. First, I need you to drag that hero in here. You have permission to use stun sticks and tear gas,” ordered 2V.

“They aren’t trying to kill them, but this is still horrible!”

Hiroshi trembled in anger at what he saw below him. Those at the front of the group approaching the palace lay collapsed in front of the bridge to the palace. As if carving a borderline there, no one could advance beyond that point. L’Isle-Adams wielding stun sticks blocked the way across the bridge.

“I need to finish this within ten minutes of entering that territory…no, I still need energy to attack. It needs to be within three minutes.”

Hiroshi looked above the palace. The giant polyhedron which was Zero’s body floated there. If he could destroy it, Zero’s actions would likely end. That would certainly weaken 2V.

“Should I just charge in?” Hiroshi asked himself. “If I can’t finish it in three minutes, it’s all over.”

“Will you take my hand?” asked Kazuko.

Akuto stared gently back at her.

“I do not see why I need to,” he said calmly.

Kazuko laughed.

“Oh, dear. You are right. You have no reason. But you have more power than you know what to do with, do you not? In that case, you have no reason to refuse either. And this empire has been taken by my twin. Would you please defeat her? Surely you can do that.”

Akuto understood that reasoning, but he simply did not feel like taking her hand.

“Is that why you were waiting for me here?”

“Yes. I know Zero’s power and you are the only one who can oppose him.”

Kazuko smiled as if that was only natural. She acted as if all things existed for her sake. However, everyone there understood that was the natural state of affairs for her.

Even so, Akuto turned a sharp glare toward Kazuko.

“Why did you not apologize?”

That question seemed to have been a surprise because Kazuko tilted her head. It appeared she genuinely did not understand the meaning behind the question.

“Apologize? For what?”

“Why did you hide this secret about me…about the empire? That secret has led to so many wars.”

Kazuko brought a hand to your mouth and laughed elegantly.

“Ho ho. What a strange thing to ask. The past demon kings have learned their secret and started wars. They have attempted to destroy the very system that created the G.o.ds.”

“But despite being such a dangerous existence, demon kings continue to be born…no, created by someone.”

“Yes. There must always be one in the empire. One must be born every hundred years or so. If not, a bug occurs in the G.o.ds’ system. Think of it like pus building up that will eventually cause the G.o.ds themselves to fail.”

“Then I…”

Akuto trailed off.

If that was true, and it certainly seemed to be, then those known as demon kings had thrown themselves into wars to destroy the system that ruled the world or to protect those who controlled the system. Either way, it was a war which left nothing after victory. However, that was not destiny. They had not been predestined to do that; they had undoubtedly chosen it themselves.

“I can be myself, right?” muttered Akuto.

“What do you mean by that? You are the demon king. You are an unstable existence with tremendous power. In which case, you should remain under my control where-…”

Akuto cut Kazuko off.

“No. I am me. I will decide who I am.”

Akuto looked directly at Kazuko.

“Do you have what it takes to do that? Can you take responsibility for an entire nation? You can’t, can you?” she asked while her smile never wavered.

However, Akuto shook his head.

“No, but I have them.”

He looked at Keena.

He looked at Fujiko.

He looked at Yoshie.

And he looked at Junko, Korone, and Hiroshi even if they were not present.

“I am the man who loves those girls. I am me.”

Keena and the others said nothing, but they stared steadily at Akuto.

“Then are you saying you will not obey your empire?” asked Kazuko.

“This is a deal. I will defeat 2V and Zero like you want, but keep your hands off my heart.”

Kazuko smiled and nodded.

“Ho ho. How interesting. Fine then.”

Kazuko began to say more and took a step toward Akuto.

But a thin thread of light cut across the room.

It pierced Akuto’s back and shot out his chest.

“Eh…?”

Akuto stopped moving.

Blood began flowing from his chest.

“A-A-chan!”

“Akuto-sama!”

“That was a laser!”

Keena, Fujiko, and Yoshie all cried out.

Akuto brought a hand to his chest, looked at the blood covering his palm, and gave a look of disbelief. He then turned in the direction the beam of light had come from.

“Korone!”

Korone stood there holding a beam weapon.

Akuto’s face twisted in shock and sorrow while Korone stared back at him with an expressionless look that lacked even iciness.

“I thought the beam would reach Kazuko after piercing through you, but it seems your body really is solid. However, the demon king was a target as well, so this was two birds with one stone. Please do not get in the way of my next shot. Killing Kazuko has higher priority than killing the demon king.”

Korone spoke coolly as she aimed the beam weapon. Akuto staggered to the side and Kazuko became visible behind him.

“Not good!”

Issei had remained silent so far, but he now reached a hand toward the room’s floor. The entire room began to glow.

“A transfer circle!” exclaimed Fujiko upon realizing what it was.

It seemed magic had been prepared so everyone within the room could be transferred and Issei had just activated it.

Akuto, Issei, Kazuko, and the girls who rushed over to Akuto all began to disappear. However, Korone swiftly slid over to the transfer circle, pulled a transfer circle creator from her bag, and quickly activated it over the original circle.

“This will make your transfer incomplete. Namely, this transfer will lead to the location I indicate,” said Korone.

“Oh, no. How fast can she be!?” shouted Issei.

Issei and the others completely vanished and Korone followed soon after.

They appeared a moment later in a forest.

Akuto was surrounded by Keena and the other two girls. Kazuko stood before him and Issei was a short distance away. Korone retained her position further away still.

“It seems you tried to escape, but you were much too slow. And you will have difficulty escaping from this forest without transferring yourselves,” said Korone.

“K-Korone,” said Akuto as he unsteadily rose to his feet.

“Please do not stand between Kazuko and myself.”

Korone aimed the beam weapon.

“Korone-chan, stop!” screamed Keena, but Korone remained as expressionless as ever.

“Stop, Korone! Don’t shoot! I can forget what you did to me, but I can’t let you kill a human being.”

Akuto staggered toward Korone.

“The demon king is not human and neither is the empress. Farewell,” said Korone.

“Stop!”

Akuto gathered his strength and charged toward Korone. He practically embraced the beam weapon to move it away from Kazuko, and he looked over his shoulder and shouted out.

“Run!”

But Kazuko only tilted her head curiously.

“Run?”

“Yes, ru-…”

“I thought I told you to stay out of the way.”

Korone used her physical strength to twist the beam weapon beneath Akuto’s body. She pressed the muzzle against his stomach.

“A-chan!”

Keena began to run over to Akuto, but a moment later, a beam of light shot out Akuto’s back.

“…!”

Keena let out a voiceless scream.

Akuto’s body collapsed downwards and Korone casually brushed him aside.

“Gh…” he groaned as he collapsed to the ground.

He was still breathing.

“A-chan!”

“Akuto-sama!”

Keena and Fujiko ran over to Akuto. Yoshie trembled and did not move.

However, Kazuko continued to look toward Akuto with a curious look.

“Why did you tell me to run?” she asked.

Her tone was just as puzzled as her expression.

Akuto replied with blood flowing from his mouth.

“Because just like me, you bear a power you were born with… I tried to protect you…because I once had a comrade like that… A friend who knew my ident.i.ty yet still accompanied me in my selfish conflict and died for me with a smile on his lips…” said Akuto with a groan.

“A-chan, don’t speak…”

Keena helped Akuto up.

“Ahh, if Akuto-sama only awakened, this wound would mean nothing,” said Fujiko bitterly.

She was using healing magic on Akuto, but it was having little to no effect.

Akuto’s face could be seen growing paler by the moment. He looked at Keena and seemed to smile, but his head hung down limply.

His body went limp in Keena’s hands.

“A-chan!”

“Akuto-sama!”

The two girls cried out and desperately clung to his body as if that would bring him back to life.

Korone on the other hand merely glanced over at Akuto’s corpse and walked past him.

“How very disappointing. The empress is not someone worth dying to protect.”

Korone stared directly at Kazuko, but Kazuko only smiled.

She seemed to be enjoying this.

“Ho ho ho. Very true. He should not have protected me.”

“So you admit the empress is a worthless existence? In that case, you should not mind if I kill you.”

Korone held up her beam weapon.

“That is not what I meant,” said Kazuko.

“?”

“I do not need protection.”

Kazuko swung her hands and several mana spheres danced about her body.

“Black magic!”

Korone took a cautious step back, but Kazuko surprisingly moved forward after her.

“This is not black magic. The Yasakani no Magatama is a secret technique of the imperial family.”

Kazuko’s hands danced about. The mana spheres danced in response and attacked Korone.

“Unknown attack pattern. Evading only closest activation!”

Korone twisted her body, but an irregularly activated mana sphere dug into her.

“…! Impossible to evade?”

The mana sphere moved as if clinging to Korone’s body. Despite being unable to pick up much momentum, it was still able to do damage.

“I will continue dancing until I die and you will continue dancing even after your death. That is how this secret technique works.”

Kazuko laughed as she danced. Korone may have been a L’Isle-Adam, but it seemed she was unable to withstand the damage. She swiftly opened her bag and threw her own body inside.

“Oh?”

Kazuko’s eyes opened in surprise.

Korone was sucked feet first into the bag. Once everything but a hand had disappeared inside, that hand drew a transfer circle in the air and the bag was sucked inside that circle.

“Quite a skilled L’Isle-Adam.”

Kazuko smiled and turned toward Keena who was crying.

“I see he has died,” said Kazuko.

Keena looked up at her while crying.

“Wh-what are we supposed to do?”

Meanwhile, Fujiko was unable to hide her anger with Kazuko.

“This was your fault.”

“Oh? I do not believe it had anything to do with me. He himself said his actions were due to that dead friend of his.”

When Kazuko mentioned that friend, she pointed at Keena’s chest.

“F-fweh?”

As Keena cried, she realized her chest was glowing.

“Wh-what is this? …Pe-chan?”

She pulled out the necklace that hung below her clothes and the light suddenly grew brighter. Peterhausen’s fang was glowing.

“Pe-chan…”

The existence Akuto had called a friend had responded to his feelings and was now trying to tell them something.

“Is this…?”

Keena gently embraced Peterhausen’s fang and closed her eyes.

She then nodded as if something was talking to her.

“Wh-what is it?” hesitantly asked Fujiko.

Keena opened her eyes.

“He says there’s a way to bring A-chan back to life…”

“What!?” shouted Fujiko in surprise.

“The Lord of the Underworld’s Coffin,” said Kazuko. “That is the name of the device that can resurrect the demon king. It is also the device to bring about his awakening.”

“Why does something like that exist?” asked Yoshie.

She had been too overwhelmed to speak before, but she finally managed to squeeze out those words.

“There have been many different demon kings in the past. Some of them have been mentally immature, so the demon king is given a few different trials. That is likely what it is. You could call it a safety measure,” replied Kazuko.

“Then is it possible he will not wake up?”

“Yes. Some have died while trying to awaken. Now, let us go. I have been waiting for this.”

“Waiting?” asked Fujiko as she turned toward Kazuko.

“Yes.” Kazuko smiled. “I have been waiting for a demon king who will work for the empire.”