kscans

Chapter 394 - The Battle at the Demon Lord's Castle

A victory celebration was underway at Hayato's base, just as it always was.

The battles between the old and new Demon Lord armies had taken place on isolated battlefields, with the old Demon Lord’s army emerging victorious in most of them. The only losses had occurred in the fight between the Rauxal-led Imperial and the Ox-led Rampage.

Also, though he had won his match, Ivan was excitedly talking about Lutz.

"That guy is going to get stronger! I can’t lose to him!" he declared, praising Lutz for growing stronger with every fight.

Similar rivalries had played out all over, but after some time had passed, the invisible walls sectioning off the battlefields were removed, allowing for invasions on each other's Area Stones.

At that point, Lunaria and her forces, who had been victorious in their battle against the Demonfolk, surged forward and secured the overall victory.

With all the territories besides the Demon Lord's Castle reclaimed, tomorrow would be the direct confrontation between Lunaria and Amanda. For that reason, the plan had been to wrap things up early today, but as usual, the revelry continued late into the night.

In particular, the members of "Blackjack" were all together for the first time in a long while, and with their memories restored, they were being quite boisterous.

Hugo, Balan, and Sky all thanked Hayato, but when the three learned of his delicate relationship with Esha in the real world, their faces turned pitying, and they patted his shoulder.

Whether they were sympathizing with him or commiserating with his future hardships was unclear, but just as they started saying things like "That Esha," "Esha, huh," and "Unbelievable," Esha pulled out her Beelzebub, creating a dangerous situation.

However, it seemed to be a nostalgic exchange for them all, as everyone was smiling.

Amid the generally bright atmosphere, Benitsuru and Simon looked somewhat downcast.

When Hayato asked them about it, they said that Nanagi had told them he would be leaving on a journey after this battle. Benitsuru had won the fight, but he had spoken as if they would never meet again, and remembering it made her a little sad.

"I had hoped, just a little, that he might have a change of heart someday."

Simon said this after downing the sake in her cup in one gulp.

"I can’t sympathize with their ideology at all, but we were together for a long time, and for a while, we were comrades with the same goal. We parted ways, but it’s not as if I never thought that maybe someday we could be together again. I don’t know where he intends to go, but we will likely never walk the same path again…"

Hayato knew a fair amount of the situation.

After the event battle, a grim-faced Diite had informed him that Nanagi and the members of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had entered long-term cryosleep. They would not awaken for a hundred years, and the same settings had been applied to them as Amanda.

If Amanda lost to Lunaria, she too would automatically enter a state of cryosleep and not awaken for nearly a century. At present, external intervention was not possible, and it would be carried out for certain.

He had also been told there was a high probability that even if Diite regained all her authority, she would be unable to change the settings.

After telling Benitsuru and Simon, "I’m sure you’ll see him again somewhere," Hayato went off by himself to think.

(Amanda-san I can understand, but is there any need for Nanagi to do something like that?)

Amanda's case was still understandable. She hadn’t expected to lose this battle in the first place, and had said that if she did lose, there would be nothing left for her to do, which was why she had chosen those settings.

But there was no reason for Nanagi to go along with it. Similarly, the members of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had no reason to join him.

(Could it be… part of some plan? Is this another act to cause an ‘irregularity’? Or is it a sense of camaraderie?)

As Randa had said before, if Amanda's loss was certain, she would be forced into cryosleep. If she was going to wake up a hundred years later, no one she knew would still be alive.

Pitying her, Nanagi had gone along with it. It wasn't an entirely unthinkable possibility.

(No, but would Nanagi do something like that? I lived with him for about a week, but he doesn't seem like the type… though I guess only he would know the reason.)

He had thought it might be some kind of plan, but there was no way a plan would involve sleeping for nearly a hundred years.

(I think Nanagi said something about his body preventing him from living like this in the real world. Maybe he decided to bet on a free world a hundred years from now, rather than spend his time in a virtual reality prison.)

Hayato came to that conclusion.

He didn't understand Nanagi's character all that well anyway, so thinking about it any further wouldn't yield an answer. Hayato switched his train of thought.

If Lunaria didn't win tomorrow's battle, the event would continue, but according to Randa, there was no way Lunaria wouldn't win. Even so, he couldn't just do nothing. Randa's words were just speculation, not based on any solid evidence.

There was only one problem Hayato could think about. That was Amanda's sword, "Durandal," which had infinite durability. Its only special ability was that it "cannot be broken," and it was otherwise unremarkable.

Arondight and Excalibur were strong, but if the battle with Amanda became a prolonged one, they would eventually break. Hayato had prepared some items in case that happened.

It was a strategy that depended on luck, but it was the result he had come up with as a last resort.

Hayato approached Lunaria, who was eating dessert with Rosalie and the others.

"Lunaria-san, do you have a moment?"

"Hmph, I'm already full. I can't eat any more."

"I didn't bring any new dessert. I just wanted to give you this."

Hayato said, showing Lunaria a ring and a bracelet.

"This is…"

"I’m sorry."

"Eh? For what?"

"If I accept that, Esha-chan might Destroy me. So, I’m sorry. Please hide it quickly before she sees."

Lunaria said this while glancing around, but Hayato had no idea what she was talking about. He couldn't see any causal relationship between this and being Destroyed by Esha.

"Proposing to Lunaria-sama? You're more of a Hero than the Hero himself, aren't you? Are you prepared to die, huh?"

"……………Yes?"

After Rosalie said that, Hayato, who had no idea what was going on, took a very long time before he could finally speak. And then, he finally realized what he was trying to give her.

He felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat, even in virtual reality.

"No, that’s not it! This is a ring and bracelet that raises a skill! I thought you could use them in a pinch!"

"To begin with, what skill would Lunaria-sama, who has the Demon Lord Skill, need to raise… Oh? Why this skill?"

Rosalie raised a questioning voice. Curious, Lunaria and the members of the Black Rose also stared at the ring and bracelet in Hayato’s hand.

"I’m about to explain how to use it. So please don’t misunderstand."

Hayato, feeling the suspicious and expectant gazes from all around, raised his voice to explain how to use the items to Lunaria.

In contrast to the eventful night before, everyone had been restless since morning.

Today was the day of the direct confrontation between Lunaria and Amanda at the Demon Lord's Castle.

The last time, Amanda hadn't fought in order to obstruct Hayato's rescue from the Demon Lord's Castle. This could be called their first direct confrontation.

Lunaria was her usual self, but she seemed a little nervous, as she was swinging Arondight and Excalibur to check her movements.

Rosalie and the others were also tense, speaking little. However, they did not seem to doubt Lunaria's victory.

(Lunaria-san has changed a lot. She used to be much more timid… though she still is sometimes, but when it comes to battle, she seems to have absolute confidence.)

"Hayato-san."

"Eh? Ah, what is it?"

Lunaria called out to Hayato as she swung her sword.

Hayato, who had been lost in thought while watching her movements, was a little late to respond, but Lunaria became serious without meeting his gaze, continuing to swing her sword.

"We’ve come this far thanks to everyone, but I think your contribution has been the greatest, Hayato-san. Thank you."

"You're welcome. But you don't need to thank me. I can't just leave you alone, Lunaria-san. I think everyone else is helping because they want to."

Lunaria’s movements came to a sudden halt.

"Hmph, you’re making me blush. But I am aiming to be a Demon Lord loved by all, so perhaps that is only natural."

(That was your goal… ?)

"This isn’t in place of thanks, but I’m going to defeat Amanda. Watch closely and see just how strong the Demon Lord everyone loves is."

As Lunaria smiled and said that, a world announcement reached Hayato’s ears.

"In ten minutes, the battle for the throne of the Demon Lord will begin at the Demon Lord's Castle. Please check the monitor in the center of town for details regarding the battle. I repeat…"

The moment the announcement ended, Lunaria vanished. It was the first time Hayato had seen it, but it seemed the situation had been the same during the previous battle with Amanda, as no one was panicked.

Hayato and the others immediately left the base and headed for the central plaza of the Royal Capital.

Rosalie, Gil, and Benitsuru rushed ahead, while Hayato followed with Esha and the others.

The plaza was already crowded with many spectators, most of whom were making noise and gazing up at the sky while making a commotion. There were players and NPCs, and some were even selling food.

The focus of everyone's gaze was the sky above the central plaza. A giant, square object floated there, its sides displaying images like a monitor. The throne room of the Demon Lord's Castle was displayed, with the throne itself in the center.

Soon, Lunaria and Amanda appeared with the throne as their backdrop. Without saying a word, they both drew their swords.

(Hm?)

A great cheer erupted from the crowd, but Hayato felt a sense of unease from the displayed image.

Something felt off, but the battle began.

The two clashed swords at high speed, their flashy fight exciting the audience.

The battle was even, with no clean hits on either side.

This situation continued for several minutes, but then the stalemate broke.

Lunaria's Black Swan activated, and she began to overwhelm Amanda.

"What is this farce?"

Rosalie, who was standing near Hayato, spoke as she glared at the monitor.

The other Black Rose members and Gil's group seemed to feel the same, watching the monitor with bitter expressions.

"Why isn’t Lunaria-sama using Excalibur? Also, doesn't that Amanda person use knives as well?"

This time, Esha spoke up.

At that, Hayato finally understood what was wrong. Lunaria was fighting with only Arondight. The fact that Excalibur wasn't at her hip meant she wasn't even equipped with it. And Amanda wasn't using the knives she normally used either.

"That is not Lunaria-sama."

The monitor was large but somewhat distant. Despite this, Rosalie stated it with certainty.

Hayato couldn't see the difference, but when it came to Lunaria, Rosalie’s words were almost certainly correct.

(That's a fake… or rather, the video itself is fake? I feel like Amanda-san wouldn't make such a desperate face either.)

As he was thinking this, the Lunaria in the video found a momentary opening in Amanda’s defense and struck with Arondight. With Amanda’s posture broken, Lunaria unleashed a flurry of attacks.

The black slashes of Black Swan enveloped Amanda, draining her HP.

Amanda resisted until the very end, but eventually, she fell.

The victorious Lunaria raised Arondight with one hand.

"Demon Lord Lunaria is the victor. The old Demon Lord’s army has won the event ‘Conflict.’ I repeat…"

A great cheer erupted from the crowd.

The players who had sided with the new Demon Lord’s army had likely not expected to win given the recent situation, so there were many voices of disappointment, but the players who had sided with the old Demon Lord's army were overjoyed.

In this situation, however, Hayato and his group could not be happy. The announcement declared them the winners, but they understood that the video itself was a fake.

"Let's go to the Demon Lord's Castle and check the situation…"

Just as Hayato proposed this, Esha shouted, "Master!"

"Eh?"

A black shadow spread from beneath Hayato's feet, and from it, multiple chains shot out and restrained him. The next moment he thought he was caught, he was sucked into the shadow and vanished.

It all happened in an instant. Hayato experienced a brief sensation of floating, then quickly felt gravity again.

He checked his surroundings.

(Is this the Demon Lord's Castle…? I think this is the room I was held in before.)

He thought he had been taken hostage again, but the room’s door opened, and so did the window. He could jump out and return to the base via death, his Ring of Teleportation was not disabled, and he could even log out.

As he wondered who had done this and why, he noticed a piece of paper on the desk.

"I set this up for Amanda. Go watch the fight with Lunaria in the throne room. Hypnos."

"Hypnos…"

As Hayato muttered this, a voice chat from Esha came in. "Are you all right!?"

"I’m fine. It seems I’ve been teleported to the Demon Lord's Castle. But it’s more like I was just moved, not captured. It seems Hypnos did it, and there was a note saying he set this up."

When Hayato explained the situation, Esha said, "We're on our way," and ended the voice chat.

He had the option of waiting there, but Hayato decided to leave the room and head for the throne room.

There were no monsters in the residential area of the Demon Lord's Castle. Hayato ran through the silent corridors toward the throne room.

He could hear the high-pitched clash of weapons. It was coming from the throne room ahead.

Arriving before the door, Hayato pushed open the massive doors without hesitation and entered.

"Hayato!?"

"Hayato-san!?"

Amanda and Lunaria, who were in the middle of battle, turned to Hayato almost simultaneously and spoke.

In an instant, they both leaped backward, away from each other.

Hayato was now certain that the video had been a fake. Lunaria was in a dual-wielding stance with Arondight and Excalibur, and Amanda held Durandal and a throwing knife.

"Why is Hayato here…"

It seemed to be Amanda who was flustered by Hayato's appearance. Lunaria was just looking at him curiously, not unsettled.

"It seems Hypnos set this up for me."

He said, showing her the piece of paper.

Amanda’s eyes widened when she saw it, but she soon let out a deep sigh.

"He does the most unnecessary things… or is he trying to remind me not to betray him?"

"Not to betray him…?"

"That’s my business. Oh well, I’ll give you a ringside seat to my battle with Lunaria. But it’s dangerous if you move from there."

Immediately after Amanda spoke, she used the force of wind magic to close in on Lunaria. She approached in an instant, like Shukuchi, and swung her sword, but Lunaria dodged it without flinching.

If she blocked with her weapons, their durability would decrease. Wary of this, Lunaria was fundamentally dodging Amanda’s attacks. Evading attacks by a hair's breadth was mentally draining, but Lunaria seemed to be doing it without any trouble.

She only blocked the attacks she couldn't possibly dodge with her swords. The same went for attacks that would cause her to lose her balance significantly if she dodged. Though she seemed to be moving to avoid such situations, Amanda was attacking while moving at high speed in mid-air using wind magic, so Lunaria was being pushed back.

Furthermore, throwing knives periodically assaulted Lunaria. The attacks were meant to reduce the durability of her weapons rather than to deal damage. Because of this, the durability of Lunaria's swords was slowly but surely decreasing.

That was how it looked to Hayato, but Lunaria herself was perfectly calm. She was staring intently at Amanda with a blank, Noh-mask-like expression as she took the attacks. Considering the usually expressive Lunaria, her lack of expression was unbelievable.

Although Amanda clearly had the upper hand, Lunaria’s expression denied it. Whether she had a plan or was just too focused, there was a sense of anticipation that she would do something.

"You’re calm."

Amanda spoke as she fought.

However, Lunaria showed no reaction. She continued to fight while staring intently into Amanda’s eyes.

Perhaps finding it creepy, Amanda distanced herself from Lunaria. Then, she glanced at Hayato and a corner of her mouth lifted.

Amanda threw the knife she held in her left hand at Hayato.

"Eh?"

Hayato had multiple surprises, but he could only voice one of them.

Lunaria had charged toward Amanda without any hesitation.

And the other surprise was that something had intercepted the path between Hayato and the knife.

It was a rather small person. That person kicked the flying knife into the air, protecting Hayato.

Giant gloves and boots that didn’t match their body size, and clothes with a collar so high it hid their mouth.

"Xenobia-san!"

"P, please stay two meters back… I, I might unleash my ultimate attack…"

"Ah, sorry."

Xenobia, who had a fear of men, had infiltrated the Demon Lord's Castle alone to rescue Hayato and was captured in the process. Xenobia, who was supposed to be in the underground dungeon, had just protected Hayato.

"Tch!"

He had been surprised by Xenobia’s appearance, but he heard Amanda’s click of the tongue and turned his gaze that way. Amanda’s HP had decreased, meaning Lunaria’s attack had hit.

Though Amanda had already distanced herself, Lunaria pointed the tip of Arondight at her.

"To think you’d use the same trick. You underestimate the Demon Lord too much. The only thing you should be licking is honey."

"Did you think that was a clever line? Besides, it was thanks to Xenobia, wasn’t it?"

"I knew Xenobia-chan was watching from nearby, so I thought she would save Hayato-san. And even if Xenobia-chan wasn’t there, I could have knocked down the knife and still taken Amanda’s attack. The Demon Lord grows every day. You shouldn’t think I’m the same as before."

Amanda snorted, then turned her gaze to Xenobia while remaining wary of Lunaria.

"By the way, why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be in a cell?"

"I was, but Hypnos didn't lock it… He said he was told to take me to the cell, but not to lock it…"

"That idiot! He never does what he's told!"

"U, umm…"

"What is it!"

"I have a message from Hypnos… He said there’s something he wants me to tell you if the battle with Lunaria-chan started here…"

"A message? For me? From Hypnos…?"

"That it’s okay to betray him."

"...Eh?"

"That it’s okay to betray him and live as you please. I don’t know what it’s about, but he asked me to tell you that."

Amanda became so defenseless that even from Hayato’s perspective, it was clear. On the contrary, it made him wonder if it was a trap.

Lunaria must have thought the same, as she just watched Amanda suspiciously and hesitated to attack.

Immediately after, Amanda burst out laughing.

Again, defenselessly clutching her stomach as she laughed, Amanda paid so little attention to Lunaria that it seemed the match could be decided in an instant.

"That idiot doesn’t understand me at all. It’s not a matter of betrayal, I’ve only ever lived as I pleased."

Amanda glanced at Hayato for a moment.

It was only for a moment, but Hayato thought he saw a slight smile.

(What was that?)

By the time Hayato wondered, Amanda had already moved her gaze from him and was looking at Lunaria.

"Let’s end this little game. I feel like defeating you now, so I won’t hold back anymore. I’m going to win no matter what it takes, so be prepared."

"The same goes for me. I was only holding back because you weren’t serious."

"You talk big. But from now on, it’s all-out. And I’ll use any means necessary, you know?"

Amanda used wind magic to close in on Lunaria. Then she attacked with a series of slashes.

It was no different from the previous battle, Hayato thought, but Amanda unleashed a wide swing from a very awkward posture.

Lunaria crossed her swords to block the attack.

She frowned at Amanda’s uncharacteristically forceful attack.

"Is this your full strength? I think you were weaker than before."

"I’ll remind you of the pain."

"Eh?"

Amanda’s eyes glowed red.

Lunaria, who saw the red light directly, contorted her face in agony and dropped the swords in both hands to the ground. Then she clutched her head with both hands and staggered backward.

"Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Back then, we had training to be able to move even in pain. My scores in that training were good, but I wonder how you did?"

Amanda slowly approached the pain-wracked Lunaria.