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Chapter 298 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (20) / Covenant

298 – All-Heaven Festival Contest Final Stage “Demon King Castle Bloody Field” (20) / Covenant

One of the Demon Kings has six horns.

Long, wavy purple hair and a mask covering the top half of her face. Her tongue, as long as a snake, is happily licking her glossy lips. Her usual tight-fitting outfit emphasizes the shape of her beautiful body enough to attract people’s attention.

However, the outfit she’s wearing today is somewhat different from her usual.

The ruler of the “Northern Demon King Castle”–also known as the “Ultra-High Level・Far North Dungeon”.

The “Six-Horned Demon King” Asmodeus.

I’ve fought against her twice so far.

The first time was during my time as part of the Fenix Party.

The second time was in this very Festival Contest, as a member of the Wraith Party.

Both times she was a formidable foe, and both times I’ve somehow managed to defeat her, but neither time has she unleashed all the Magical Energy of her horns.

Unleashing the horn itself consumes its stored Magical Energy, so naturally it isn’t something that can be used willy-nilly.

Using your horns is like digging into your savings.

If you lay down everything you have without thinking, you’ll regret it when you really need it.

I remember what she said when I met her the second time.

–『I don’t know if I will fight with you or if we will fight together to defeat that person. Either way, I’m looking forward to it.』

If we crossed one another in the middle of the Festival Contest, we would fight against each other.

If, however, we could reach the final battle together, we would fight side by side.

Usually, only one of those outcomes would be possible.

But with this ring, both are possible.

Even those who went against one another as enemies earlier in this Festival Contest can be later turned into allies.

Since Asmodeus has experienced the ability of “Black Sorcerer” Lem first-hand, she was aware of the true identity of the “One-Horned Dark Sorcerer” Lemegeton.

And she herself has expressed an interest in fighting Master.

So all we had to do was negotiate.

「I’m sorry, did I make you wait?」

Asmodeus spoke lightly, as if she had been late for a meeting.

Her six horns are all her own. The amount of Magical Energy stored in them surpasses under normal circumstances.

The outfit she’s wearing today is a black armor that covers her whole body.

Although it technically is a suit of armor, it’s styled as a dress, and it gives off a bright and beautiful feeling.

The sharp talons that cover her right arm, which she showed during our fight in the Festival Contest, are not only still intact, but now she has them on her left arm as well. She also has wings made of bones just like mine, and they were full of feathers.

She looks completely like some kind of demon princess.

Dantalion had called this form the “Perfect Horn Armor”.

And she had said that, up until now, there were only two people in the world who could use it.

But with our Demon King and I, now there’s four of us.

This is the other person Dantalion was talking about.

The second one to achieve the “Perfect Horn Armor” after Master.

「Are you trying to get a compliment out of this guy? Aren’t you too old to be flirting with a guy like him?」

The other one is so beautiful that one might briefly mistake him for a woman, but he is definitely a man.

Slender and tall, sharp eyes, and a certain air about him that keeps others away.

However, his awe-inspiring natural handsomeness isn’t his only special trait.

The ruler of the “Southern Demon King Castle”, also known as the “Ultra-High Level・Unique Dungeon”.

The “All-Seeing Demon King“ Paimon.

His strength, as his title suggests, is his “eyes”.

His eyes are special, and the way he perceives magic differs from that of ordinary people.

Let’s assume a scenario where he and some ordinary person used the same amount of Magical Energy to shoot a “Fireball”.

Ordinary people would generate literal fireballs just like the spell’s name indicates.

But when he uses the spell, he can unleash enough power to carbonize a house in an instant.

What you can see from that is the efficiency of his Magical Energy.

From his point of view, all of us are wasting our Magical Energy.

Even if you cook with “100 grams”’ of Magical Energy, only “50 grams” of its ingredients are actually used to activate a spell, and the rest are thrown away.

However, Paimon can use his full “100 grams” to activate a single spell.

He’s a creature at the level of a “Demon King” who can use magic with 100% efficiency.

His Magical Energy is extraordinary, and that is his strength.

He and I have never fought, but after the battle with the Asmodeus Party, he approached us to have a word with the Wraith Party.

–『If you ever need me, please get in touch.』

He said that before taking his leave.

He, too, has realized that Lem and Lemegeton were one and the same.

And just as I thought, this is exactly what he meant when he said that.

Asmodeus extends both of his hands, which were covered by her “Perfect Horn Armor”, toward Master, and Paimon points his own horns toward Master.

From there, a tremendous torrent of Magical Energy was suddenly unleashed.

Did you set just enough time aside to prepare your spells, planning to push forward with a simple release of Magical Energy?

Certainly, this would allow them to forgo constructing a magic formula, saving time in the process.

It was a choice unique to the Demon Kings, as they are the only ones able to prepare such condensed Magical Energy.

Master lets go of me at the last minute, but he can’t avoid their attacks in time.

He gets swallowed up by the surge of Magical Energy unleashed by two Demon Kings.

The landscape is distorted by the enormous amount of Magical Energy.

Paimon grabs me by the scruff of the neck and jumps back with Asmodeus.

The very next moment, the exact same spot where I lay was hit by a volley of fire that had been fired from one of the stars that Master had deployed, turning it into scorched earth in an instant.

「…I didn’t think we would kill him with just that, but I also wasn’t expecting him to be able to counterattack.」

Paimon lets go of me.

I tried to say “thank you for saving me”, but…

「By the way, Paimon, what was that from earlier?」

「Huh?」

「Girls can be princesses as long as they want, you know? Age doesn’t matter.」

「Are you even a Demon King?」

「That’s my “Job”. I’m talking about how things are in life.」

「And why do I care again?」

「Ugh… Lemegeton, help meee. Paimon is being a bully…」

Asmodeus is the same as usual.

「…Thank you for heeding my call.」

I’m sorry, but I won’t play along, so I’m changing the topic right now.

「Whaaat? …Don’t mention it. Isn’t that just how our relationship is?」

…As was the case before, Asmodeus tends to make remarks that are… unnecessarily misleading.

「…Or so I’d like to say, but for the time being, I am also a “Demon King”. Since you brought up the subject, I’ll have to explain.」

The smile disappears from Asmodeus’ lips, and her voice turns serious.

「A “Demon King” cannot be under anyone. That’s just how it is, even if you call yourself a king. Even so, the reason I made a contract with him was not because I decided to become his subordinate, but because our interests are aligned」

Paimon opened his mouth as if following her speech where she left off.

「Right. Unfortunately, we were defeated in this tournament. Normally, we would have no right to stand in this stage anymore. However, if we were to be summoned by him, we would be able to fight the strongest Demon King. That’s enough reason for me to form a contract.」

No one knows when and where Master will disappear next time.

No one knows if they’ll have another chance to fight him ever again.

「That’s right. This is a covenant. It’s like an alliance that we formed because our purpose of wanting to defeat the world’s strongest Demon King coincides with each other’s. So–」

「Don’t get me wrong, Lucifa. Just because I made a contract with your subordinate doesn’t mean I’m under you, either.」

Our Demon King made a bored-looking face after being told that.

「Hmph. Since my Chief of Staff had to spend so much of his Magical Energy to bring both of you here, why don’t you try to be as useful as possible?」

Sure enough, summoning two Demon Kings requires a considerable amount of Magical Energy.

But at the same time, my plan was to confirm something as well.

「So you have been able to summon even a Demon King? And two, at that. Even among those who once held that ring, there is no owner who has ever achieved such a thing.」

Master slowly walks towards me.

Pattering, black fragments fall from the surface of his armor and scatter into magic particles.

But that’s all.

「…Even though I definitely hit him with all my strength, did it only manage to scratch the surface of his armor?」

「Moreover, his horn has already made up for any damage. Hmmm… I wonder if even an output a hundred times stronger than that would be able to pierce through that armor.」

「An attack hundred times as explosive as the one we just did? An attack of such scale is something only a kid would fantasize about doing in a battle.」

Certainly, when imagining a strong attack when I was a child, I would inflate its numbers very easily..

“This next attack will be 100 times stronger… no, 100 million times stronger!” and so on.

I didn’t know there was an enemy in this world who would actually call for such absurd numbers.

「Kid, is that what you’ve chosen?」

Master is looking at me.

「If you are the strongest in the world alone… We will become the strongest in the world as a team.」

The stars changed their movements.

Several stars come together to form a circle.

Then, from within the circle… a beam of Magical Energy unlike anything that had come out of those stars before was unleashed.

We scatter and avoid the beam, but…

「…Tch.」

Paimon clicks his tongue.

It hadn’t just punched a hole in the ground.

There was nothing there anymore.

I don’t know how deep this field was built under the ground, but the beam has pierced through it — all I see now is an empty space of Magical Energy that has nothing in it.

It’s just like the bare space of Magical Energy that happened as a result of Lemegeton and Fenix clashing with one another with all their might.

Right now, it’s just a hole, but if all of the field ends up being like this, it won’t be possible for anyone other than those who can generate their own propulsion to move about.

And the entertainment factor is also a problem.

Because the connection with the audience seats will also be cut off.

「Oh dear… Wasn’t that just now your “eyes”, Paimon?」

Paimon replied to Asmodeus’ question with an annoyed look.

「I know.」

Master hadn’t just increased the output.

After being hit by Paimon’s attack just once, he was able to understand the difference in how he perceives Magical Energy.

He then adapted it to his own senses and implemented it.

Even at this very moment, the strongest in the world continues to grow stronger.

『Look at that… What for this beautiful handsome man was a special power that granted him a title to be known as, to your teacher, it’s just another one of his physical functions. And yet, you don’t seem surprised, partner.』

That’s right.

Because for some reason, that’s what I was thinking too.

But one concern still remains.

It was our Demon King and the three Heroes who would settle it.

「If that mobile artillery is bothering us, there’s no other way but to destroy it.」

Our Demon King Lucifa runs through the sky while avoiding the Magical Energy beams and crushes one of the stars.

And it seems that even a single blow from the Holy Swords, which contain the blessings of fire, water, and wind, was enough to damage those stars as well.

It’s extremely difficult to shatter countless stars while dodging attacks, but the important thing is that it’s not impossible.

「It seems that the colors of the night sky are diminishing… It breaks my heart.」

「Each of those stars may have an amount of Magical Energy comparable to that of “an average Demon King”, but that is different from “the world’s strongest Demon King”.」

「Even if I can’t defeat you right now, I can beat an average Demon King. We are Heroes, after all.」

Master then takes a chip off his own horn and unfolds it into the sky.

This results in a really threatening amount of mobile artillery, enough to launch a full-scale attack on an entire country.

However, the countless pieces of Master’s horn weren’t Master himself.

The power of the “Demon King” class is a terrifying thing for everyone in this world.

But for those of us who stand in this place, it is an enemy that can actually be defeated.

From now on, we will crush all of Master’s stars, and chip away at his power.

We will destroy everything that protects Master, and our fists and swords will find him.

We’ll deal with finding a way to launch that attack a hundred times more explosive than anything we’ve done so far once that’s done.

Our first priority is to destroy all the stars and leave the night sky with nothing but the moon.

「I’ll borrow your “eyes”, Paimon.」

「Huh?」

Just a few moments ago, I managed to weaken the secret art that Master had put on me and canceled it.

As a result, my eyes, as well as my brain – which processes visual information – are becoming that of a Demon King.

And if for Master, Paimon’s “eyes” are something that can be reproduced…

That means that even my body, which has changed so much that it can accept Master’s horn, should be able to reproduce them as well.

Luckily, I had already unleashed the power of my own eyes.

— Now, at this moment, what I have to do is change the way I perceive Magical Energy.

So that I can use all the Magical Energy I have accumulated for this occasion with maximum efficiency.

「…That was quite a shock.」

While listening to Asmodeus’ voice, I pour magic into the ring.

I will do whatever it takes to reach Master.

I will call out as many reliable Contractors I have built relationships with as I need to.

I don’t have the same talent as a “Black Sorcerer” – and I’m sure I’m not as good at using the horn – as Master, and I’m a person who has relied on hard work and resourcefulness to get here.

If there’s something I can be proud of, it’s that.

I’ve been blessed with good fortune.

My parents and best friend, who never gave up on me even after I awakened as a “Black Sorcerer”.

Master, who trained me and passed his horn onto me.

Cashew and Blitz, who gave me the courage to do my best when my knees felt weak.

Milla, our Demon King Lucifa, and everyone in the Demon King Castle who regarded me as a powerful “Black Sorcerer”.

Everyone I met after I started working at Demon King Castle.

Those encounters are the power that supports me.

Therefore, through that power, I shall bring the solitary Demon King to an end.

That is the power of the bonds that tie us.

「Come.」