The Unbeatable Demon King Eligos
Eligos rode a black horse and wore armor that exuded a dark aura.
An aura of rage and murderous intent. You could tell at a glance that he was not human.
"Though, he does have the shape of a human."
I muttered.
Jeanne agreed, but we did not share any further opinions.
If Eve were here, she would have likely told me something useful, as she was a walking database. It was quite unfortunate.
And so I had little choice but to tell Jeanne what little I knew instead.
"Eligos is a Demon King who they call the prince of h.e.l.l. As you can see, he is good with close-quarters combat and is stronger than Demon King Sabnac when it comes to duals."
"Tos.h.i.+zou said that he struggled against Sabnac."
"So did I."
"I heard that you were the one to ultimately defeat him."
"Yes, in the end. But will things go so smoothly this time?"
As I wondered this, my brave fighters, a team of skeletons, attacked Eligos.
They all wielded scimitars and aimed for Eligos"s neck. However, Eligos swept his spear to the side, and thirty skeletons shattered.
This was bad. I had to think of something.
"Sending our weakest soldiers out will only chip away at our numbers. Only Jeanne and Tos.h.i.+zou should fight."
Tos.h.i.+zou heard this and let out a whistle.
"Ah, so is this where you wish me to die?"
"Of course not. That would be very inconvenient for me."
"Still, I think taking on a Demon King may be difficult, even for the two of us."
"I know. I just need a little more time. A little more. Distract him. Then we can win."
"…If you can say that, you must know what you are doing. Does it have anything to do with that maid of yours?"
"Yes. I have faith in Eve."
"Very well. I will believe in you and your maid."
Said Tos.h.i.+zou. Then he ran.
His sword slashed through the enemy soldiers in his path.
"Jeanne, you"re lagging behind," he complained.
Jeanne looked annoyed as she turned to me.
"Demon King. We will fight Demon King Eligos. But there are still thousands of undead you will have to face in the meantime."
"Yes, neither road will be easy."
"But, you will win. And I will not lose either. Demon King. Lead us to victory."
"I will. The promised victory will be ours."
After I said this, she lay a kiss on my cheek that was as close to my lips as they could be without actually touching them.
I accepted it silently, but then remembered that we were on a battlefield.
My face became hot.
"…That wasn"t very modest of you."
She gave me a mischievous smile and said,
"I am a woman of France. It is merely a greeting. But if you come back alive, I may give you a proper French kiss."
Then she unsheathed her sword and headed for the frontlines.
She too, cut through the enemy ranks as she charged.
A trail of zombie pieces and skeletons grew behind her.
They would be replaced just as easily…
And it was my job to kill them.
There were also ghosts, wraiths and banshees that could only be killed with magic.
"Well, well. This is going to be backbreaking work."
I had to be both commander and soldier now.
"If only Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi or n.o.bunaga were here. My life would be so much easier…"
However, there was no use whining about it. I would just have to deal with it myself.
And so I unleashed magic while barking out orders. And like that, we systematically began to bury Eligos"s army of undead.
Demon King Eligos watched this and had a look of admiration.
He watched from afar from atop his horse and said the following words:
"So this is the infamous Demon King Ashtaroth. I had heard that he defeated Sabnac, and it seems that it was no accident."
But then he continued,
"Still, Demon King Sabnac was an F-Rank Demon King. He may have been a great warrior in his own right, but nothing compared to me. Ashtaroth is merely the one-eyed king in the land of the blind. Hehehe."
Demon King Eligos chuckled.
"I cannot ignore that. You insulted my lord."
Came a voice.
It was a man. An intense-looking man with a foreign-looking uniform.
Eligos glared at him, but he did not buckle.
And then another voice cried out.
"I shall not forgive anyone who ridicules my Demon King. Your head is mine!"
This voice was clear and cool.
The woman was wielding a sword and looked like a Saint.
It was a strange pair, he thought. And they seemed to be aware of it as well.
"We are not a pair!"
They said together as they slashed at him.
For not being a pair, their movements felt coordinated and in sync.
Tos.h.i.+zou blocked Eligos"s spear as Jeanne"s lithe movements carried her forward with a sword thrust.
Of course, such attacks would not reach him.
Still, they were interesting. He wanted to know their names.
"And what do they call you?"
"My name? I see no need for you to know. But I will play nice this time. I am Hijikata, vice-captain of the s.h.i.+nsengumi. Tos.h.i.+zou Hijikata."
He said.
Jeanne followed.
"I am Jeanne. The Maid of Orleans. Jeanne d"Arc. Servant of G.o.d. G.o.d sent me here in order that I can kill all the evil Demon Kings. And you are one of them."
Then they attacked him again.
The Demon King"s movements were fast but not so fast that they could not see him.
As a master swordsman, Tos.h.i.+zou remained calm as he worked his blade.
And as a servant of G.o.d, Jeanne attacked him mercilessly.
Eligos was wearing thick armor, which prevented them from dealing a lethal blow. And yet, they did start to hit him.
If this continued, there was a possibility that they could get through his armor.
But would it be Tos.h.i.+zou, or Jeanne? I was not sure. But it turned out to be Tos.h.i.+zou.
There were a few reasons for that.
Jeanne"s holy sword, Nouvelle Joyeuse, was a double-edged broadsword. Making it quite heavy.
On the other hand, Tos.h.i.+zou was a master swordsman who had trained in a dojo in the Tama region. He was above her as a warrior.
Whenever Eligos dodged Jeanne"s hefty blade, Tos.h.i.+zou would slip in, seemingly from the shadows, and thrust his sword outwards.
It sunk into Eligos"s stomach. And then something astonis.h.i.+ng happened.
In spite of being stabbed in the stomach, Eligos ignored it and thrust out with his spear.
Tos.h.i.+zou kicked away from him and pulled out his sword from Eligos"s body, and nearly died from the attack.
A cold sweat dripped from his face.
"…Quite a monster. However, surely that did a lot of damage…"
He paused.
Even if it had not been lethal, it should have been quite deep.
He thought this, but only for a moment.
Eligos"s stomach had been cut open. Dark blood was running out of the hole, but it quickly stopped. Then it closed.
His wound had healed itself.
"Such recovery ability… It is ridiculous."
Tos.h.i.+zou sighed. But Jeanne looked even more disappointed.
"…Tos.h.i.+zou. It is very unfortunate that you could not kill him with that hit."
"…Are you saying that we won"t get another chance?"
"Perhaps. But the Demon King"s troops are in a bad state. They are tired. They are about to fall."
He looked behind him. They had retreated quite far back now. The formation would soon crumble and they would be swallowed up by the enemy. It would be over then.
And it seemed all but certain that they had no hope of defeating Eligos now.
He knew how strong he was after just a few traded blows.
And with this healing ability, there was nothing they could do.
(…We"ll probably die.)
He thought, but not in despair.
If anything, he was calm. He was satisfied that he would at least die to a Demon King who was this powerful.
-It was just as he thought this. Ashta"s voice rang from afar.
"Tos.h.i.+zou. You are not going to die here. You are going to die under a hundred thousand arrows. Not a third-rate Demon King."
"A third-rate Demon King!"
Eligos roared.
However, Ashta"s voice came back cooly.
"I told you that I had a plan, did I not? And that I needed time. You gave me that. And my strategist in maid"s clothing has pulled through for me."
As Demon King Ashta said this, a change came over Eligos"s body.
He had lost the ominous aura that had surrounded his body up until now.
It was the beginning of a change that came over the once hopeless battlefield.
Thank you so much Lebzx for donating!