The Realist Demon King"s Plan
The black magic energy disappeared from Eligos"s body.
Eligos himself was the first to notice the change.
"M-my power. Ho-how is this… What happened to my core!?"
Demon King Ashta reacted immediately.
He used teleportation magic to appear in front of Tos.h.i.+zou and Jeanne.
"It seems that things went according to my plan then. I just received a message from Eve. She has succeeded in destroying the core in your castle."
"That"s impossible! My castle would not fall so easily! Only a giant would be able to penetrate it!"
"I happen to have them. Giants."
"Wh-what!?"
"I employed cyclops for heavy duty construction work. They were hiding in a forest near your castle. They are not the smartest of creatures, but they are very strong. Eve waited for you to leave the castle in order to take my head. And that"s when she attacked."
"No! It can"t be! Even if you did break through my walls, the core was well hidden! It was buried far underground."
"Well, let us look at the situation calmly. Do you need any proof other than your weakening power?"
"…d.a.m.n it."
At this point, he had no choice but to accept reality.
Eligos"s shoudlers dropped as he continued.
"…I am still not defeated. I can fight with or without magic. But there is one question I have. How did you find the core? Even Sharltar did not know its location."
"But Sharltar revealed it after being tortured."
"What!? So he knew? He knew where it was?"
"It would seem so. So where was it? Only the servant I sent knows where it is."
"A hidden door behind the throne. There is a secret room beyond another secret room. But everyone involved with the building of it was killed. I do not understand how it…"
"Yes, yes. Keep your answers short in the future. Your rambling reminds me of Sharltar."
I sighed with annoyance and then sent a telepathic message to Eve.
"…You heard him. Behind the throne."
Eve heard this and said,
"Certainly."
She sounded very pleased.
Eligos suddenly looked at me with suspicion.
"What are you talking about? Were you not talking to a subordinate who knows the location?"
"Not at all. Neither of us had a clue."
"Wh-what!?"
"You"ve been had. That is all. And now your core will be destroyed."
"Bu-but, I am sure that the magic has left my body!"
"A temporary effect. I gave my subordinate, Eve, a crystal ball made from Demon King Sabnac"s ashes. It contained immense magical power. Power to "seal magic." It was used in your castle, temporarily stopping the core from sending energy to you. It would not have lasted very long."
Even while I said this, Eligos"s aura returned.
He had regained his unbeatable body.
And with that realization, came incredible rage.
"You tricked me!!"
"Thank you for believing in me."
And with that, I snapped my fingers loudly.
An image of Eligos"s hidden room appeared in the sky.
And there too, was a maid who wielded a hammer.
"St-stooppp!!! Stop! If you destroy that…"
He sounded quite pitiful now, but Eve could not hear him.
And I was hardly moved by his pleading.
This Demon King had used Sharltar to kill many people.
As long as he lived, as long as he breathed, he would not stop to satiate his desires.
In that case, I would just have to bury him.
I gave Eve the order.
Break it with your hammer!
In the next instant, Eve"s hammer swung downward. Demon King Eligos"s core, the core that every Demon King had, was destroyed.
While his heart may have been foul, the shattered core was beautiful. Like falling snow.
In that moment, I was reminded of the words of the G.o.ddess when I first awoke.
"Destroy all the cores of all the Demon Kings, and you will win…"
And so I won this battle.
Eligos had lost his magic. He was now just a "knight."
At the same time, the army of undead that Sharltar had made also stopped moving.
They returned to ordinary corpses and crumbled.
And like that, I was victorious against an army of ten thousand.
Not all of the enemy were undead, and those were yet alive. However, it was doubtful that many of them would continue to obey a Demon King whose core had been destroyed.
Most of them began to run or throw down their weapons and surrender.
I watched all of this as if with pity. Then I suggested that Eligos follow their example.
"Your undead are gone. What remains of your army have clearly lost the will to fight. You may as well surrender. Unlike you, I do not torment my prisoners."
Upon hearing this, Eligos laughed as if he had gone mad.
"…Ahahaha!"
"Are you amused?"
"No. I had heard tales that this newborn Demon King had the heart of a human and was soft as a baby."
"Humans can be evil as any. And demons are not all bad."
I thought of Eve as I said this.
"That may be. However, I am a Demon King who dreamed of becoming the Great Demon King. But now, I have lost the right to even be a Demon King…"
He laughed self-deprecatingly.
"…Still, I am a demon! And we demons have our pride!!"
He raised his sword.
He wanted to fight a duel, perhaps.
But Jeanne and Tos.h.i.+zou were not keen on this.
"Demon King. There is no need for such a thing now. We have already won."
"The Saint is quite right. You cannot risk the destruction of your army here."
That was true.
If it had been before the tide had turned in our favor, such a thing would have had some meaning. But not now. After all, he could surprise me and I would be defeated.
However, I intended to fight Eligos.
The reason was simple.
Demon King Eligos was evil, but great in his own right.
Even without the power of his core, he stood here as a warrior.
Well, perhaps a bit of the warrior had entered me now.
No, the romanticist.
Something about a worthy foe excited me.
I accepted a long sword from a goblin servant and cast magic over it.
The purple magic enveloped the dark grey metal.
The low buzz of an enchanted weapon echoed in the air.
Jeanne and Tos.h.i.+zou gave up trying to persuade me then.
They took a step back. They would watch things unfold.
And like that, the fight between Demon King Ashta and Demon King Eligos began.
As my subordinates and those that remained of his watched, the exchange of swings began.
Our blades. .h.i.t against one another over thirty times.
And that was when it ended.
And it was me who made history.
It was the thirty-first strike.
Eligos had lost his magic and was not used to fighting like this, and he made a mistake.
I did not let him go unpunished, and my long sword pierced into him.
His armor was specially made, but an enchanted sword made it look like nothing as it tore into his organs.
And that was it. Eligos had lost.
He then said his last words.
"…I am the worst of villains. That was my pride as a Demon King. But I fought fairly in the end. I fought with my own flesh."
"Aye. You had a crystal ball left that you could have used."
"You could have also used your magic. But you only fought with your sword."
"It was a duel. Magic is not used in duels."
Besides, I was fighting against a Demon King who had lost his magic.
"…There was little reason in you accepting the duel in the first place."
His voice was barely audible now.
"I had a reason. I wanted to fight a strong Demon King. That was it."
"Perhaps you are not as callous as you seem then. That is what a king should be. If I happen to be reborn as a Demon King again, I shall try to be more like you."
Blood poured from his mouth as he looked at my men.
"An army of humans and demons. But they seem to love you, and you care for them. I have never seen such a thing before."
Eligos fell to his knees and said,
"Demon King Ashtaroth. It was a good fight. You defeated me. Maybe you should be the one to become the Great Demon King!"
Those were his final words.
Perhaps he had not been evil early in his life.
Maybe this was the result of only having men like Sharltar working under him.
It was possible.
I was blessed, in that department.
"Master Demon King. Well done."
Tos.h.i.+zou had a rare smile on his face.
"That was brilliant, Demon King. You made him change at the very end. It was as if you were an angel."
Saint Jeanne d"Arc said with a beautiful smile.
I had many subordinates, both human and demon. And their goodwill and joy had helped me many times.
I hoped to rely on their abilities in the future as well. And somehow survive in this brutal world.
With people like them supporting me, I can avoid turning into a fool like Demon King Sabnac, or a villain like Demon King Eligos.
I then declared that the battle was over. I offered words of appreciation to my troops. And then announced that we would be returning to Ashtaroth castle.