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Chapter 295 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (17) / Demon King

295 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (17) / Demon King

The “Demon King” Lucifer.

The lord of the Impregnable Demon King Castle two generations ago.

Until now, the Demon King Castle has continued to maintain the record of zero parties reaching its deepest parts for three generations in a row, that is, the current generation, the last generation, and the generation before that one.

Of the three “Demon Kings” I know, the ones who are known to the world as rulers of the Impregnable Demon King Castle are Master and our Demon King Lucifa.

Our Demon King appeared on the front stage after summoning me during the raid battle.

If she hadn’t done that, the world would’ve had no way to know about the “Demon King” who dwells in the deepest parts of the castle.

For that reason, Fellow has never become known.

However, Master is widely known not only among monsters but also in the Adventurer industry.

He didn’t have to do anything like summoning anyone. He did, however, appear during the raid of his own accord, and annihilated all of the challengers at the time.

A young “Storm Hero” Aerial also participated in that battle.

That’s why Aerial was able to feel a hint of the power of Master’s horn sleeping in me on one occasion.

No one else noticed it, so maybe it’s because he’s also one of the Four Great Spirits Contractors.

「You finally got up, old man.」, said our Demon King in a displeased tone.

Master looked around at us.

「Each and every one of you, what are you standing there for? Have you come all this way just to stare at this old body of mine? Sounds like a lot of trouble.」

That sounded like Master alright. In short, he’s saying “Come at me”.

Master has not unleashed the power of his horn yet. It’s not that he hasn’t produced his “Horn Armor”…

He hasn’t even started to release the Magical Energy of his horn.

All he’s doing is activating the Magical Energy organ inside his body.

And the enormous amount of Magical Energy it produces alone makes the air around us roar and the earth under our feet tremble.

「Lord Lemegeton! This is my cue!」, the “Vampire Queen” Carmilla exclaimed before making her move.

She must have taken out all of her remaining blood creating what looked like a dragon that seemed to be about to pierce the heavens.

Although I call it a dragon, its shape is more similar to the multi-headed dragon that she had created before — it looks like a hydra with just one head.

Rather than a Western type of dragon, doesn’t it look closer to a Chinese dragon?

Like a snake swimming in the heavens, this giant dragon approaches Master.

In order to assist her attack, I unleashed my Black Magic on Master.

The reason I was able to get through the former Demon King’s army was not just because I was able to attack them while their guard was low.

The sheer amount and purity of my Magical Energy at this moment are unparalleled in the world, with the exception of one person.

In other words, right here, right now…

There is no creature that can defend against my truest Black Magic.

If only it wasn’t for the exception of one person…

But yes.

That exception is here.

An exceptional creature stands before us as our final enemy.

As Master waved his hand as if shooing a fly away, all of the invisible Black Magic I cast gets instantly repelled.

It’s neither a “Resist”, which emits Magical Energy from the whole body, nor a “Full Resist” that circulates unfinished magic around it.

By putting the right amount of Magical Energy in the right place at the right moment, he brushed off my Black Magic without any waste.

It’s like he can see everything.

Perhaps his ability to detect magic is as accurate as seeing magic with the naked eye.

Something like that wouldn’t even surprise me.

After all, this man is the strongest being in this world.

And not only that, he’s a Majin who raised a talentless Black Sorcerer child into someone capable of using “Black Sorcery” and inheriting the horn of a Demon King.

Until now, no matter how strong anyone is, I have been able to prepare measures that surpassed their expectations.

Even if there was a difference in ability, I’ve been able to make an effort to make up for it.

But this person is the only one who is not surprised by what I do.

That’s because it’s precisely due to this person’s teachings that I’ve formed the Black Sorcerer that I am today.

And even Carmilla’s great blood dragon can’t hurt him.

「The liquid that circulates in the body of a living creature… Even if you collect an ocean’s worth of it, you can’t kill a Demon King with it.」

As he finishes saying that, the great blood dragon disappears as if it had evaporated.

Having seemingly anticipated that such a thing would happen, Carmilla jumped out of the huge amount of magic particles that her dragon had vanished into.

「I see… you haven’t noticed.」

A few steps later, Carmilla’s body suddenly burst open.

「Even though your life force was crushed along that dragon of yours…」

Did the dragon and Carmilla’s blood boil and evaporate in an instant with the heat of a Fire spell?

Carmilla’s regenerative ability, which had once endured Fenix’s blazing heat – albeit for a short period of time – has been overwhelmed to such a degree that it didn’t even have a chance to show itself.

「Milla!」

The “Demon of Love” Sitri, who had copied the characteristics of a Wizard, attacks from a distance, but none of her attacks reach Master.

I think she understands that too.

But changing into something else wouldn’t be of any use either.

「You’re right about that. Since there is nothing in this world that can kill me, nothing you can transform into will help you in any way」

Did Sitri herself arrive at the conclusion that, despite her huge repertoire of transformations, none of them would be useful at all?

That’s why Sitri could not change into something different anymore.

Granted another moment, she would have moved on to her next available option. Even if it had not been the right answer, she would have at least been able to do something to help her allies.

But that moment never came.

Because a black flame burned Sitri down.

It was the flame of the Demon World, which burns life away and doesn’t go out until its target perishes — “Ebony Flames”.

「”Forest of Spears”.」

A skill that expands the idea of an “extensible spear” and makes its tip branch like a big tree.

This technique, which was shown during the raid and played an important role in the Original Dungeon, was further honed in subsequent training.

It’s a blow from “Reaper Knight” Furcus.

「Hold him tight, Fuu!」

Are they planning to attack Master after restraining his movements with “Forest of Spears”?

The one who jumped high into the sky was the brave dragonkin, “Dragon King” Valac.

She lifts her leg as high as she can, and turns her head upwards.

And then, a mighty flame erupts from her mouth.

This grants her a huge amount of propulsion, which she uses to approach Master’s head so that she can drop her kick there.

This is a skill that has been able to knock a giant over in the past — “Reverse Eruption”.

First of all, Furcus’ spear withered.

Black Magic cannot be cast on inorganic matter.

But Black Magic has the power to deny life.

If the source of that Magic Tool was some kind of tree, would it be possible to kill the weapon by denying its vitality?

So in the end, Furcus wasn’t able to restrain Master with her “Forest of Spears”.

However, the rapidly falling “Reverse Eruption” cannot be stopped.

Master caught her heel drop by grabbing her ankle and lightly threw her back into the sky.

Valac’s body never fell back to the ground.

This field is a space of Magical Energy formed within the Impregnable Demon King Castle.

The wide blue sky we see above us is fake, but the area was still wide and tall enough for participants such as the giants Ipos and Balam to be able to move around.

According to Fellow’s commentary, Valac crashed into this space’s ceiling, and her Avatar couldn’t resist the resulting impact, taking her out instantly.

The impact of the “Reverse Eruption” is evident from the slight sinking of the ground under Master’s feet.

Even though Valac’s skill had such destructive power that it would cause his body to sink into the ground…

There was not a single scratch on Master himself.

Had Master’s light shove caused such an impact that it forced even the stubborn Valac to exit the stage?

Master then pulls the withered “Forest of Spears” towards him.

After letting go of the spear for a moment, Furcus’ body floated in the air and started to move as if being drawn towards Master.

Master’s hand pierces through her black armor, destroying it completely.

But just before that, Furcus herself managed to escape from the armor.

Spinning her body in midair, she tries to deliver a kick onto Master, but…

「You and I are in complete opposite poles of martial arts.」

Master parries her kick with the back of his hand before spinning his body himself.

Then, he throws a roundhouse kick in return.

We hear a sound similar to that of an explosion, and Furcus’ body disappears.

She hadn’t been blown away anywhere.

Her Avatar turned into magic particles the moment Master’s kick connected with it.

Even though Furcus has such exceptional vitality that she was able to continue moving for a while even after having her heart was pierced during the tag tournament…

Master’s destructive power surpassed even that, killing her with a single blow.

“Time Demon” Agares appears behind Master right after this.

Possessing the peculiar magic of “Spatial Transference”, he instantly teleported from our Demon King’s side to the place right behind Master.

However, by the time he had finished appearing at his destination, Agares’ body had been split in half horizontally by Master’s sword.

「…」

「You didn’t think I’d be faster than your teleportation, did you?」

Agares’ choosing a transfer destination, appearing there, and starting to move right after that…

Master, who read exactly where he would teleport and attacked that spot ahead of time, was faster than all that.

「Everyone… Move away!」, cried the “Crimson Wizard” Michel.

Her Magical Energy must already be quite exhausted, but considering we are in this position in the battle, she once again exceeds her limits.

She activates her Heavenly-Base Magic.

And the sun falls to earth once more.

A dazzling light and a scorching wind that burns the land rage over the battlefield.

This time, Aerial used his Wind Spirit Arts to protect us from it. Without him, each of us would’ve had to do our best to evade it on our own.

The sun goes out…

And in the middle of a mercilessly ruined battlefield… Master stands there, completely unharmed.

「Magic that steps into the realm of Spirits, huh? But you haven’t forgotten, have you?」

「Uh…」

Groaning, Michel collapses and her Avatar turns into magic particles, marking her exit from the stage.

「During the Great War, even the “Heroes” who received the blessings of the Four Great Spirits lost their lives fighting the “Demon King”.」

Just before her body was about to fall apart, it looked like it had turned into a skeleton… Was that the power to deny life?

I wonder if Master’s Black Magic was so fast that not even the Avatar could keep up with it, getting reduced to a skeleton before it could recognize its own death and disintegrate into magic particles.

Back when monsters and humans were still hostile to one another…

When “Heroes” and the “Demon King” were enemies meant to kill one another…

The figure of the “Demon King”, who possesses an overwhelming power, has slaughtered many of the Four Great Spirit Contractors throughout history.

And perhaps… Perhaps Master is much stronger than any of those dreaded “Demon Kings” of the past.

「If you want to hurt me, you don’t have to be on par with the Spirits. You need to go further beyond them.」

There’s a reason why the three Four Great Spirit Contractors haven’t joined our attack yet.

It’s just like how it was during the battle at the 10th Floor with Fenix.

Unleashing all of their power while there are still allies around might hurt their allies as well.

Such behavior is not permitted for a “Hero”, and yet, a restrained power level that puts their allies before victory is no match for Master.

Precisely because they understood that the three waited for their chance.

As for me, ever since Carmilla started her assault, I’ve been using my Black Magic to support our allies.

Of course, Master not only has been making short work of everything I’ve thrown at him, but he also showed me that he could spare a moment every now and then to attack me with his own Black Magic.

So far, I’ve managed to block it, but counteracting each of his attacks takes a lot of Magical Energy from me, so I’m not sure how well I would fare against them under normal circumstances.

「Looks like our numbers have decreased a little, huh?」

Master hasn’t used his horn power yet.

「”Flames of the Gods”」

The Esoteric Spirit Art that can burn anything in this world.

「”Storm Wrap Extreme”」

The Esoteric Spirit Art that combines “Storm Wrap” and “Assimilation”.

This was a new power Aerial prepared for this Festival after having experienced his “Storm Wrap” being thrown into disarray thanks to my Black Magic during the raid.

The first time he used this was during the battle with the “Jet-Black Hero” Ex.

Focusing on the fact that Black Magic cannot affect magic itself, the idea behind this new power is that by transforming themselves into wind, the caster could break through Lemegeton’s Black Magic and strike like a storm.

Certainly, this kind of combination would be something very useful against other users of Black Magic, like Master.

「”Grief’s Hail”」

The blade of Wraith’s short sword-shaped Holy Sword turns slightly bluish, and its surface is swaying like the flow of a river.

It seems to be a new Spirit Art that even I don’t know about.

「Lemegeton, we’ll be joining them.」

Our Demon King understands.

Of course, all of our Demon King’s subordinates, all of my allies, are here to win.

But we’re not stupid enough to boast that any of us can defeat Lucifer, the strongest Demon King, all by themselves.

Either by forcing his hand, restraining his movements, or exhausting his Magical Energy reserves, even if it’s only a little…

Even if it’s only a little, we’ve been doing our best to bring those behind us closer to victory.

Even though I understand that, it’s hard not to think about anything other than the fact that my important comrades have been so easily dismissed.

Our Demon King’s face looks stern, and her eyes are burning with fighting spirit.

I respond with a nod and begin preparing my Magical Energy for our next move.

「Chief of Staff, sir.」

Lemegeton’s subordinate, “Black Explorer” Foras, hadn’t challenged Master yet, perhaps because he was a Black Sorcerer as well.

「I will do my best not to miss my chance to fulfill my role.」

「Yes. I’ll leave this with you, Foras.」

I handed my wand to Foras.

And then, the five of us started moving forward at the same time.

Unleashing Black Magic spells isn’t the only way I can fight.

「Today, in this battle, we will defeat you.」

Did Master just laugh at my words?

I feel that way, but his face is impossible to read as usual.

「Why don’t you try it, kid?」

Two pairs of wings fluttered, and the Magical Energy compressed and purified by the Demon King’s horn rushed out violently.

The resulting sudden burst of speed, which could very well blow the whole stage away, brought me right before Master faster than I could blink.

And then, my fist…