Tilea’s Worries

I replaced ‘royal guard’ with ‘household guard’. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it last time, but it’s finally come to me.

Oh yeah, and “No retreat! No bowing down! No looking back!” is a quote from Sauzaa of Hokuto no Ken fame, and happens to be my favourite HnK quote. He screams it upon defeat at the hands of Kenshirou, and jumps off the pyramid to fight him.

When I was immersed in the joy of receiving the order to destroy the capital, that human had suddenly appeared and continued her misdirected words.

That human still thinks that I’m her younger sister? There should be limits to misunderstandings. Even though I spared her life out of mercy, she really is too foolish!

This is why those diminutive humans are beyond saving. But though they were only a temporary family, I did live with them for over ten years. I’ll take her head painlessly. I filled my hand with mana, feeling an emotion similar to compa.s.sion.

“Human, even if only temporarily, you were my elder sister. I will at least give you a painless death.”

I flashed a knife hand strike towards the human’s neck.

The sound of an impact resounded through the room――――

I’ve cut it.

But for some reason the response against my hand felt strange. It was like hitting a dense wall of magic power.

I-, It can’t be, how…

Of all things, there was not a single injury on that human.

Impossible!?

If I put magic power into my strike, even a dragon, famed to be the toughest in the world, could be cut through like b.u.t.ter.

“Surely you did not show mercy to them?”

The Viceroy must have thought that I had eased my hand as well, for he questioned me as such.

“Viceroy, that is an insult to me. I put in enough power to even bisect a dragon!”

I understand the Viceroy’s doubts. But I did not ease my hand. Being groundlessly suspected like this is insulting. After that, those in the surroundings began flinging insults upon me.

The only thing you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds don’t run out of is things to say. There is something wrong with this. Is this one truly a human?

While I was feeling surprised, the Viceroy took everyone outside. In other words, the rest was up to me.

Kuh-, fretting about it will get me nowhere. I probably unconsciously relaxed earlier because they were only a human. This time I’ll do it seriously. As I was firing up my spirit,

“Camilla-sama, please leave this to me.”

My household guard Nielsen said this, and stepped out before me.

Nielsen is always like this. Perhaps he’s a worrywart, but he always takes the initiative to test out irregular dangers like this.

But it would shame me to step down after being looked down on like this!

“Nielsen, there’s no need for you to step forward. I have received my orders.”

“No, you have only just awakened, Camilla-sama. I do not believe you are at your full strength yet. This is a job for I, the captain of the household guard.”

He stubbornly refused to yield to me. He has always been stubborn at times like these. It’s true that I have only just awakened, and it is also a fact that I’m not in my normal condition. Finally deciding to leave it to a member of the household guard, I stepped backwards with the meaning of leaving it to him.

Seeing me step back, Nielsen clenched his fists and let out his killing intent. Filled with fighting spirit, his touki quickly swelled up.

Hu hu, at this point, even I would have a hard time against Nielsen.

Now then, human, what will you do?

“――――I’m going to ask just in case but, could it be that you’re serious?”

Paying no heed to Nielsen’s pressure, she provoked Nielsen, implying that he should “Get serious”.

How interesting. Then shall we have a look at your true power!?

And so, the battle between Nielsen and the human began. Nielsen responded to the provocation, and went all out from the start. He played his hidden card.

Bomber Fire[Super Demonic Flame Burst Fist]…

If I took that head on, even being one of the Six Demon Generals, I wouldn’t escape unharmed. Many strong warriors were buried in the last war by this mighty technique. Letting off incredible touki, Nielsen leapt forward.

Mmn. I can feel magic power even greater than the time of the last war. Something like a human will probably be turned to mincemeat in an instant. The victor has been decided, hasn’t it.

But a situation beyond my expectations occurred…

What on earth is she?

She took Nielsen’s fist head on. But despite that, she didn’t seem to care, as though she was handling a child.

Should I join the fray as well?

It pains me to disgrace Nielsen’s way of the knight, but I cannot allow my most trusted subordinate to be done in.

I quietly let out my magic power, and searched for an opening to counterattack. But far from finding one, the moment I showed signs of going on the attack, she glanced towards me.

C-, Could she have sensed my killing intent or something?

While receiving Nielsen’s blows, she hasn’t let her guard towards me down in the slightest.

What an incredible expert…

At this rate, Nielsen will be killed!

But there are no openings. I could do nothing but watch the battle in a daze.

And then, in the end…

She shouted something, and with three hits, only three hits, she buried the subordinate I trusted the most amongst all my kin.

While I was feeling shocked at Nielsen’s defeat,

“Timu, do you have anything to say?”

she dared to draw near me, and provoked me as such.

Hmph, are you telling me to praise you? My irritation grew at those haughty words of hers, but her strength was the real thing. I hadn’t encountered such a powerful expert even in the previous war.

“Human-, no, with that power you cannot be. What on earth are you?”

She should not be a simple human. If you consider only close combat, then Nielsen’s strength is a match for the Six Demon Generals. And she easily crushed that. It can’t be helped that I wonder about her true form. But she did not answer my question, and continued to draw near.

“So you plan on finishing me off next!? But I am the one known as Camilla of the Flash; I cannot hesitate.”

Indeed. I am one of the Six Demon Generals, Camilla of the Flash, and cannot back down in the face of a strong warrior. I’ll go all out and defeat you.

Now then, what should I do?

I seems that they have the advantage in close combat.

But then how will they fair against magic? It is often the case that those that have enhanced resistance against physical attacks are weak against magic.

I decided to fire off the most powerful magic I had.

“Hmph, this is my most powerful secret technique. O magic bullet, become countless stars! Star Freya![Super Demonic Star Magic Bullets!]”

Star Freya[Super Demonic Star Magic Bullets]…

It’s my most powerful secret technique, and is an emission type magic. Homing magic bullets that number even in the thousands rain down upon the target. It’s impossible to escape. And moreover, even a single bullet has the power to completely annihilate a low ranked demon.

“Feel free to become chunks of flesh!”

I won’t miss. Feel free to become garbage in an instant.

Thousands of magic bullets. .h.i.t her dead on. Even amongst the strong foes of the past, not one had survived after being hit with this many magic bullets. There is no way to defeat this secret technique of mine except to defend before it’s invoked.

But, once again, my expectations were overturned――

I-, Is such a thing possible?

Indeed, they had hit her dead on. All of the bullets were hitting her, but there was no effect. On occasion, she would look like it hurt, but that was all.

What on earth is her body made of?

I had stiffened from the shock, when suddenly, she dashed forward and got behind me.

C-, c.r.a.p!

I had my arms pinned behind me, and was lifted off the ground.

“Wha-!? What do you intend to do to me? U-, Unhand me! I-, I can’t move!?”

W-, Why can’t I shake free?

Despite mustering up all of my strength, I couldn’t escape from her bindings. My power can even tear open a box welded shut, so why?

While shocked and writhing about, she showed her intention of hitting me with her open palm.

“Hmph, physical attacks will not affect me so easily, you know. This body of mine has a magical barr――Guhah-!”

W-, What just happened?

The moment I heard a slapping sound, my body was a.s.saulted by a pain like everything inside my was burning to pieces. My body always has a magical barrier protecting it.

Even though half-baked attack shouldn’t even bend it…

“Timu, please reflect on what you’ve done!”

Her palm a.s.saulted my b.u.t.tocks. She struck me as though my barrier were useless. Moreover, she clad her palm in a ma.s.sive amount of magic power, so being struck is unbearable.

“Hahh, hahh, i-, impossible! To so easily break through my magic shield――――A-, and moreover, to put in such an enormous amount of mana.”

So easily overcoming my magic barrier, and that gargantuan magic power; what on earth are you!?

Even after that, she let out more words of unknown meaning, and relentlessly struck my b.u.t.tocks.

Hahh, hahh, each time I receive her strike, the mana in my body runs backwards. Terrifying magic power is rampaging inside my body.

Kuh-, what’s happening? But, I won’t lose! I’m one of the Demon Generals, Camilla of the Flash!

I shouted with all my strength that I would not lose, but each time I was struck, it felt like my spirit was being saved away.

“Hahh, hahh, if you’re going to kill me then kill me!”

…But she would not kill me, and single-mindedly continued to strike me.

Does she intend to continue tormenting me for fun like this?

Hahh, hahh, it’s certainly possible. The people of this world hold tremendous hatred for we of the Demon King Army.

――――Is that what it is!?

The strikes were completely unceasing, and moreover, the power of the strikes were meticulously adjusted so that I wouldn’t lose consciousness. Because of that it was just unbearable.

How long is this torture going to continue for…?

It’s terrifying. Could she be intending on continuing until my spirit breaks?

The moment I arrived at that thought, some taut thread in my heart snapped.

“Uu-, uuuuu――――I-, I was wrong. Please stop it alreadyy!”

Please just kill me already!

I abandoned my pride as a Demon General, my pride as a demon, and entreated her. Don’t degrade the vanquished any further. But, she showed absolutely no sign of killing me.

“Uu-, uuu… K-, Kill me! H-, Having received this kind of humiliation, I can never live it down!”

What on earth does she want to do? I gazed at her resentfully.

“Timu, listen up.”

“W-, What…?”

She looked at me with serious eyes, and talked to me about herself.

Hearing her story, I was shocked…

Shockingly, my elder sister Tilea turned out to be a reincarnater, and was originally the Evil G.o.d Dark Matter!

It seems that before she reincarnated, Evil G.o.d-sama lived in a nation called ‘j.a.pan’. Apparently in ‘j.a.pan’, twenty odd years after you’re born, you leave the shelter of your parents’ home and become independent.

How shocking!

Normally a demon lives under the shelter of their parent’s home for hundreds of years. Children will immediately lose their lives when an enemy attacks after all. In their parents’ homes, demons will save up their mana, and learn how to battle.
So in ‘j.a.pan’ once you turn twenty something and become independent, almost everybody joins the “Companee” and works for provisions, is it? But it seems that because of the terrible harshness of the circ.u.mstances in ‘j.a.pan’, each year tens of thousands of people take their lives.

Unbelievable!?

Even we of the Demon King Army that live the epitome of harshness don’t die in such numbers. Moreover, for the deaths to be not because of war, but because they take their own lives, just how terrifying of an environment is it? But it seems that almost everyone subordinates themselves to the ‘Companee’ and work as they shave off their life.

Isn’t there any dissatisfaction? Don’t uprisings occur?

I was thinking these questions, but it seems that as you’d expect, they do happen. The ones who rise in revolt against this trend are a group called ‘Niits’. They’re a group that flies under the banner of “If you work, you lose.” and endure friction with their parents and surroundings as they battle, and it seems that back before Evil G.o.d-sama was an “Evil G.o.d”, she also battled against her parents each day as a member of this group.

How shocking!

Being the parents of Evil G.o.d-sama, they were probably quite the powerful experts. Given that she battled such people each day, there’s no mistaking that it was an extraordinary battlefield. Evil G.o.d-sama probably cla.s.s up’d during these battles.

Even though I only finally surpa.s.sed my parent’s mana after a thousand years, Evil G.o.d-sama tried to overcome her parents after only a few decades.

And it seems that Evil G.o.d-sama had comrades in arms as well, but with each pa.s.sing year, one by one they would accept defeat, and subordinate themselves to the ‘Companee’.

But with “No retreat! No bowing down! No looking back!” as her motto, Evil G.o.d-sama wouldn’t admit defeat, and continued to battle on it seems.

How dignified!

And on the fateful day, having received her final provision, ‘Wh.e.l.l Fere’, Evil G.o.d-sama gathered her determination for the final showdown, and in the end she was. .h.i.t by a ‘truk’ and met her grand end in battle――――

But still, what on earth is a ‘truk’!? This is Evil G.o.d-sama who shrugged off even my most greatest secret technique. And this attack ended that Evil G.o.d-sama’s life. A Ragnarok cla.s.s forbidden spell. There’s no mistaking that it’s something of unthinkable destructive power.

“F-, For something like that to have been――――W-, What have I done!?”

After hearing her story to the end, I realised that I committed acts of rudeness against an unimaginable personage. To have lumped such an esteemed personage together with humans, even stupidity should have its limits. Regret surged inside me for the rudeness I committed against this great personage. I’ll probably be killed. It can’t be helped. That’s just how greatly I’ve blundered after all. But, Evil G.o.d-sama didn’t hand down punishment, and was kind enough to give words of guidance to this weak me.

Deeply moved, I trembled, when suddenly Evil G.o.d-sama bestowed upon me a gentle embrace, and even granted me warm words.

Thinking back, even though I’m one of the Demon Generals who directly serves the Demon King Zorg-sama, I’ve only ever been seen as nothing more than one of the generals. And there seemed to be an eternally large distance between us. But, a personage as great as, no, even greater than Zorg-sama, is treating me, this frail me, as though I’m their real sister.

To have such honourable and unmerited expectations placed on me, what should I do to repay this favour?――

Indeed, there is no way but to offer my heart and body and loyally serve her. That’s why I did as my heart told me to, and expressed my feelings to Evil G.o.d-sama.

tlnote:

“There should be limits to misunderstandings.”

Oh, the irony…