Part 7
The East route with Maria and Lucia, and the West route with Yuki and
Kurumi.
As they were battling with the spirit on each route respectively,
Basara and Zest at the central route were in a difficult battle.
The reason for that, was that while the situation at the other routes were two
people working together to fight the spirit, Basara and Zest had to separate to
fight against the spirit as well as the high-class demon controlling the spirit.
--though the situation was difficult, thinking about it wouldn't change
anything.
According to Lucia who was paired with Maria, this place was too far away
Wildart City from her master for him to rush here quickly; Yuki was unable
to obtain protection from [Sakuya], and while Kurumi had received the black
elementals from Lucia, she was still unaccustomed to using the spirits of the
Demon Realm, so they shouldn't even be allowed to deal with a strong
opponent like this now. Additionally, the spirits possess surprising
regenerative power. So it still wouldn't take them long to heal completely
even if they received an injury; taking into account the spirit's gigantic size
and the inability to truss them up, him hoping for assistance from them would
be for nothing.
And thus – with the situation not allowing for Mio to be on the battlefield,
Basara has become the most suitable person to deal with this strong enemy.
After moving the place of their battle field a building like a theatre with
complex internal terrain—
"Ooooooooooooooo!"
On the stone-paved floor, Basara began running towards the high-class
demon.
「——————」
The high-class then had countless magic circles shoot out fireballs, to greet
Basara's attack. As all of them are extremely hot and can combust, the
distance he had to take when dodging had to be larger, which forced Basara
to do larger side-steps to dodge the countless oncoming fireballs.
As for those that can't be dodged, those will be just simply cut apart with
Brynhildr. However—
"Ku…!"
Clang! The sound along with the feedback transmitted through the hilt,
caused Basara to frown. Heavy – those aren't just simply fireballs, it probably
had some rocks or debris within them; with the option of cutting through it no
longer available, being able to deflect them would already be a very good
thing. If one were to use a sword to deflect something like this for too much,
it would just exhaust their hand quickly. Apart from when using [Banishing
Shift], Basara would normally hold Brynhildr in a single-hand grip, but he
had now been forced to grip Brynhildr with two hands for practically the
whole battle, faced with this high-class demon. For large swords like
Brynhildr, once the way of wielding them is changed, the wielder's
movements will too also change. In regards to Basara finely adjusting his
actions at his current speed, it's practically like suicide.
…Tch, it'll be great if I could use [Banishing Shift].
Even if it'll be unable to banish it whole, it'll at least be able to eliminate the
blaze of the fireballs, or maybe even the rocks within it. But right now,
despite Basara knowing that the situation is currently disadvantageous to him,
he still does not use [Banishing Shift]. Of course, there was a reason behind
it.
After defeating Zolgear, Takigawa had given Basara a piece of advice.
And that advice was that in the battles that would happen with the Current
Demon Lord Faction hereafter, there is a need to avoid using that move.
[Banishing Shift] is a move where once the target space is slashed, it can
eliminate and banish everything beyond the zeroth dimension, and is very
unique even amongst the multifarious magics and special abilities in
existence. From another angle, its potential as a threat is much higher even
when compared to Wilbert's power inherited by Mio. Just like in the past,
Zolgear's target wasn't just Mio alone, he had also taken interest in
[Banishing Shift] and had plotted to take it for himself.
Hence, if Basara were to just show that move carelessly, it might add to
Mio's dangers. But in the first place, it was Basara who had voluntarily went
and attracted the attention of the enemy. However, as long as it was to protect
Mio and everyone else, Toujou Basara will definitely unhesitatingly use that
power, even if it meant that he would have to foul his hands, use
underhanded tactics, and doing dishonourable actions, basically if it meant
even he had to become scum.
…But the problem right now is that—
Just like Zolgear had made use of Maria with a hostage when fixated on Mio
– once the enemy knows that Basara has got such a unique ability, they might
make a move to those around him.
That is something that Basara would not want to see. If he were to let Mio
and the others be in dangerous situations just for him, even to the point of
becoming a hostage – the moment he had thought about, Toujou Basara felt
chills right from the bottom of his heart. Thus, no matter what, he had to not
use [Banishing Shift].
Carefully passing through the troublesome fireballs released by the enemy,
and making the enemy enter his range—
"---Haaa!"
Basara immediately slashed out with Brynhildr. The two-handed attack, with
its power naturally much higher than usual – however became useless. The
enemy had not dodged, as the slash had hit its target.
It's just, the attack had not caused any injuries – the flesh of the high-class
demon was too tough.
…Damn it!
No matter how many times Brynhildr hit him, there was only the sharp
sounds from the impact. Forget about cutting into his flesh, it couldn't even
make a scratch on his skin.
--The opponent's attack all consisted of fireball magic, so probably, he is a
magic type.
The magic type basically specializes in using magical attacks, so they usually
don't have a very tough body. But this person has got such a tough body.
Probably just like Zolgear who was good in not only swordplay but also
magic, this high-class demon does not just fights with purely magic, but also
with his physical body too.
In the past –in the fight with Zolgear, Basara had been overwhelmed while
fighting. Not only just Basara, Mio and Yuki too seemed to never have been
a match for him. Thus after the battle, Basara and the others had set aside a
large percentage of their after classes time and school break time to train,
since after all, Zolgear isn't the only high-class demon within the Current
Deom Lord Faction – of course, they had not forgotten about utilizing the
Master-Servant Contract to raise their power by deepening their relationship,
but just that alone was definitely not enough; for the future, raising their
battle prowess is a must. In this period of time, when Sakazaki had taken
action during the Sports Festival, despite how Kurumi had become his
hostage, Basara had inadvertently received a heavy injury; but right before
that, in the skirmish with Tachibana that roused from a misunderstanding,
Basara had quite effectively managed to suppress Tachibana who had
Vampire blood.
That undoubtedly was a result thanks to the training. And after the Sports
Festival – Basara had continued to train to this day and had undoubtedly
raised his levels, but yet his sword now is almost useless. It's not that he was
weak, but that his opponent is overwhelmingly strong, additionally—
…he is definitely above Zolgear…!
Although he had once been overwhelmed by Zolgear, as long as his fear was
targeted, he could be damaged, and that thus was the way to defeat him; but
the opponent before him right now isn't afraid of his attacks at all, so that
was practically nothing Basara could do. Just then—
"…You really don't know when to retreat, do you?" "————!"
In the moment the high-class demon released a sigh, Basara reflexively
jumped away towards the right, and a fireball then barely scrapped past his
body, slightly burning his clothes. Probably because his compatibility with
this opponent was bad, that he had given him the chance for a surprise attack.
He had managed to get by this time with his luck, but continuing to be this
close was extremely dangerous.
"—do you really think I will fall back so easily?!"
However, Basara continued to boldly remain in front of his opponent. If he
were to draw distance from the enemy without doing damage to him, he will
soon be driven into a corner and then eventually die. Hence, Basara cannot
fall back, but instead he had to change his thinking on how to damage his
opponent, and only a single answer came to mind.
That answer was to continue attacking, until he managed to do some damage
– just like how Yuki managed to cut through Takigawa's barrier in the past.
Basara lowered his body, and then launched another attack at a rapid speed.
"Haaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Brynhildr drew out countless curves lines of lights, continuously slashing at
the body of the high-class demon. What sounded out, was the sounds of the
strikes, but Basara continued to keep up the speed. The high-class demon that
was receiving those attacks, then suddenly activated the magic, but—
「————!」
Basara jumped a short distance sideways, and while sliding slightly on the
rood, he then once again launched attacks at the high-class demon. What
Basara had just done, was to avoid the enemy's attack and counterattack. The
result of careful and intricate footwork, which allowed him to avoid the
enemy's attacks and quickly launch an attack.
Since the enemy could attack him with their all.
He would be fine as long as the attacks do not hit him.
And at that moment, as if the high-class demon realised Basara's intentions—
"—what a boring battle tactic."
Saying that with disdain, he brought out a new attack. No longer firing
fireballs – but directly raising columns of fire by his legs.
As if like a wall of fire, surrounding the high-class demon.
"...!"
Basara hurriedly jumped backwards, keeping his guard raised while waiting
for the volume of flames to decrease.
By using a magic like this, it appears the purpose of it was to force a distance
between them.
Its aim wasn't to attack, but to defend – so once the flames weakened, he will
immediately launch attacks. While Basara was waiting for a chance with such
intentions—
"That is--…"
He quickly realised that he was going down in the wrong direction. The
blazing columns were not getting weaker, but instead they repeatedly
expanded in volume. Very quickly – the flames rising up into the sky, turned
into the shape of 'a certain being'. That being was—
"A flame dragon…!"
As the flame dragon rapidly took shape before his eyes, shocking amounts of
heat was still radiated to Basara who had taken quite some distance, even
charring his fringe. Once the reins of such a monster that was made up of
flames was let go, Wildart City would definitely be flattened.
「Damn it – do I really have no choice but to use that!? 」
As Basara readied Brynhildr to use Banishing Shift, in that moment—
『——————』
The flame dragon flew upwards with a screech, and then rapidly descended.
"Eh...…?"
And swallowed up the high-class demon before his eyes, causing an
extremely thick pillar of fire.
Suicide? –Basara began to have doubts in that moment, but the weird thing
was that the theatre building had not caught fire as a result at all.
"—I do not wish to waste any more time playing around with you little kids."
A low voice came from above the swirling pillar – and after that, the body of
the high-class demon appeared from within the flames. On his body, there
was now a pair of wings and a tail, with two horns protruding on his head and
his arms becoming very thick – his appearance as a whole was very red, and
he looked like a fire demon god.
[87]
That appearance...
Toujou Basara realised why the high-class demon looked had turned into that
appearance. It wasn't that the flame dragon had swallowed him – but instead
he had absorbed the flame dragon. The body high-class demon that had
absorbed the flame dragon that could destroy the whole of Wildart City into
his body before his eyes, radiated a scary amount of heat and feeling of
oppression, and at the same time—
"I'm coming—"
Saying that short line – that huge body suddenly appeared before Basara's
eyes just as his mind registered that message.
"Wha————?
What shocking speed. Despite his large body, his speed was much faster than
the speed-type Basara. Facing such an opponent with such strength, even any
minor doubts in the sub-consciousness would result in a fatal injury. This is
bad – as Basara repented on his reaction, the high-class demon swung his
right arm that seemed to almost combust the surrounding air at him, and he
wasn't able to avoid completely it at all.
In the next moment, a large boom accompanied the impact of the attack.
--however, what the right fist of the high-class demon impacted wasn't
Basara.
In the nick of time, at Basara's feet – from the stone making up the roof, a
pillars suddenly rose up, pushing him upwards. Seeing the stone pillar being
broken in his place below his feet—
"—Zest?"
Toujou Basara immediately realised who was the one that had just saved him,
and called her name. Turning around to look, Zest was still in battle with the
giant spirit not too far away, but—
『——————』
Their eyes met for a short moment. Zest was also currently in a difficult
battle, but yet she still assisted him in the nick of time with magic. Thanking
Zest in his heart. Just as Basara was about to jump away from the shattered
pillar--
Basara suddenly gasped in shock. From the high-class demon's body part that
had shattered the pillar, a flaming tentacle extended from it as its root, and it
came flying towards Basara as if wanting to swallow him whole.
Basara hurriedly escaped backwards, and the stone pillar too was swallowed
whole by the flames at the same time. After that, Toujou Basara who had just
barely managed to escape into the air heard—
"—it's over."
The voice that came from directly behind him, told Basara that his
movements had been seen through by the enemy, that he had been read it
right from the start – and without even the time to turn back to look, an
unbelievable attack landed on Basara's back.
What Basara had felt, was not a heavy blow. Just like how the pillar that the
high-class demon shattered burned, Basara who received a punch with
extremely high temperatures, his whole body became bathed in flames--
"Ggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh——————!?"
Just like a meteorite, his body descended towards the ground while burning
and screaming.
Hitting the roof within the blink of an eye, Basara impacted onto the ground
of the theatre with a large boom. The impact destroyed a large number of the
seats in the theatre, sending broken fragments flying everywhere.
「——————」
As Toujou Basara laid supine
[88] on the ground of the theatre, he saw the
high-class demon descending through the hole in the roof towards him.
And on his thick right arm – coiled the flame dragon he had seen just now.
Part 8
"…--Basara-sama!?"
Zest who had heard Basara's screams, subconsciously turned to look towards
the theatre.
And what she then saw, was her Master receiving the high-class demon's
attack head-on, and his flaming body descending towards the ground.
「————!」
Zest reflexively immediately activated earth magic. As she knew that it was
too late to do something like creating a stone pillar to disrupt the enemy's
attack, something she had done not too long ago, she moved her
consciousness into the theatre – changing the characteristics of the ground,
and thus attempting to reduce Basara's impact on the ground as much as
possible.
She had hoped that her hastily casted magic would make it in time – but as
fate willed, Basara who received the attack was descending far too fast, and
at that moment, the sound of Basara impacting the theatre's ground reached
Zest who a distance away earlier than she would've liked.
"Ah…aa….! Basara-sama————!"
Zest shouted, as if wailing, while flying towards Basara.
But she couldn't reach him. The giant spirit circled to in front of her, as if
blocking her way on purpose.
--in the battle with the spirit up to now, she had never gotten the upper hand
She had to fight against an opponent who Yuki and Kurumi, as well as Maria
and Lucia had managed to defeat with difficulty with two persons by herself
so of course it would be much harder by herself, the really knotty opponent is
Basara's current opponent – Gardo. The one controlling the spirit, Gardo, as
well as this spirit before her whose orders had been revised from [Eliminate
any enemies, attack Wildart City] to be different from the other two, had been
pestering Zest, keeping her busy here. But no matter how much difficult an
opponent this spirit is -- her past struggles, are no longer there in her mind,
and they are no longer important.
Because in her eyes now, Gardo had landed in the theatre after Basara/
Her most important Master – Basara, had befallen immediate danger.
"...Stop meddling…be gone…!"
With her head lowered, Zest said with a shaking voice.
[——————]
And the reaction of the spirit, was to silently swing its giant fist.
Next moment – the air shook as the gigantic mass of the spirit's fist impacted
the earth, but—
[.........]
The spirit slightly raised its head, as it realized that not only had its fist not
broken the surface of the earth, Zest was not smashed into pieces too. The
spirit's fist did not even touch Zest, and was stopped by a magic circle Zest
had expanded.
And after that – Zest finally raised her head, her usually calm face filled with
a certain passionate emotion.
And she roared.
"I said... be gone————————!!" At the same time – the rubble
around them instantaneously gathered together into a giant golem even larger
than the spirit as if responding to her voice, its eyes emitting a certain light
—— "——————"
And brought its hands linked together as if praying, downwards. This move,
brought the spirit's head into its arms – and then smashed the spirit onto the
ground. After paralyzing the spirit, Zest had the golem continuing pinning
down the spirit on the ground—
"Basara-sama…!!"
And she then ran to Basara's side, not able to wait any longer, this time with
no more obstacles in her way – she had originally planned to create a hole in
the theatre's wall, but however—
"--I'll be troubled, if too many obstacles appear."
A sound suddenly came from her side, and at the same time—
"!——Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Zest who immediately took defensive actions, suddenly took a surprise attack
from behind.
The surprise attack which ruthlessly swallowed Zest whole, swept the whole
street clean.
Part 9
「.........」
Gardo silently descended into the theatre.
He had only a single aim – to clean up the enemy before his eyes.
--the demonic sword wasn't seen in Basara's hands while he laid on his back,
most probably because he sustained an injury which did not allow him to
preserve his weapon. Even then, Gardo will still not show mercy to his
opponent.
However, this means that he would be destroying the future of a young
person—
"…Please don't blame me."
After Gardo announced in a low voice to the person lying on the ground
unable to get up – in order to reduce Basara's suffering, as well as to show
respect to his opponent who dared to engage a life-or-death battle against
him, Gardo raised his right hand with the flame dragon entwining around it.
--The strongest attack of Gardo, the one known as the leading candidate for
the seat of the Demon lord.
Not only could it turn Basara into mincemeat, it carried enough power to
burn away this theatre building as well as everything around it with ease.
…With this.
It should probably be enough to take care of Zest who was fighting nearby.
With this, it'll probably be enough to make up for the spirit fighting with
Zest, as well as the other two spirits who were paralyzed by the enemy;
although it'll be disrespectful to Luca who worked very hard and with
difficulty, lifted the spirit's seals and forged the new Master-Servant Contract
with the spirits, this would show that these spirits were only just at that level.
There were even stronger spirits that were excavated from the ruins that were
currently being studied, but they couldn't be sent into this battle due to time
constraints; thus to not waste any more time with attempting to keep the
spirits safe, why not just let Gardo himself completely wipe out all of the
remaining enemies with more efficiency. Hence—
"—pass in peace, Son of God of War!"
With these words to send Basara off on the road of death, Gardo raised his
right arm—
「——————」
And at that moment, Basara's right hand suddenly moved a little – by the
time Gardo noticed it, Basara was already holding up his arm covered with
armour, as well as that demonic sword which had newly appeared in that
hand. Just what had happened – at the phenomenon that had happened right
before his eyes but yet couldn't be registered by his mind, Gardo harboured a
short-lived doubt as his right fist was on its path of being swung down.
--And in that moment, something belated
[89] happened.
It was a harsh metallic sound. At the same time Gardo heard that sharp
penetrating sound—
A white line cut through his right shoulder – severing the arm from its root.
…My hand…was severed?
There was no pain, and no sensation of being cut by a blade. Thus Gardo
ignored his right arm that was flying through the air and began to analyse
what had just happened to him.
Taking a closer look, Basara's demonic sword – the air around its blade
seemed to be fluctuating.
No, it's not air. What was fluctuating, was the space around the demonic
sword.
And as for that sharp harsh sound – after putting the two pieces together,
what was the answer?
…Iai?
But lai is usually used when a sword is being drawn out of a sheath, which
Basara's demonic sword didn't have; additionally – the usual lai will
definitely not be able to sever his hand.
—then, just what was it that just happened?
The hint to the answer, was the fluctuations of the space around the demonic
sword. The materialization of the weapon, was from something like an
alternate space or a crack in the dimensions.
To put it bluntly – the demonic sword managed to reach supersonic speeds
with lai amplifying the effects from the borders of the dimensions.
What severed Gardo's shoulder, was [Dimensional Slash], the ultimate in lai.
Just then—
「——————」
In the short slight pause while Gardo was speculating on how the situation
came to this.
As if grasping the moment, Basara instantaneously adjusted his body the
demonic sword – and in the next moment, he was already in a stable horse
stance.
This was a very large contrast from when he was lying down not too long
ago, with this time him finishing the preparations for using lai properly.
What Basara was preparing to do this time, was to horizontally sever Gardo's
body in the middle.
With eyes that was completely ice cold, he seemed like a completely different
person right now.
However – Basara's ultimate lai was never put into action this time.
"Wha—…?"
The atmosphere suddenly shook and became volatile, and at the same time a
flash of light surrounded the both of them.
In the next moment – the theatre that the both of them were in completely
exploded.
Part 10
After the impact of bombing the theatre along with Basara and Gardo
dissipated.
The beautiful streets around it too have already become rubble.
"Yare yare, it appears I overdid it a little…"
Someone said while smiling and looking down on this scene.
That person was Nebula, who had accompanied Gardo in the attack on
Wildart City after receiving orders from the Council.
--right now, Nebula's field of vision was very high and wide, but that was not
because he was floating in the air.
He was on the shoulder of a giant spirit much bigger than those Gardo was
controlling.
This was an even more powerful high-class spirit that Luca didn't have
enough time to deal with – but yet whose adjustments and contract were
completed by the Council behind Leohart and the other's backs. Nebula's
mission of supervising this attack on Wildart City was just merely a cover,
and the Council had given him separate orders; amongst those, were to
assassinate Gardo while he led the attack on Wildart City.
--lately, Leohart's influence has been growing explosively.
While Leohart was the puppet the Council had put as the new Demon lord,
him attracting the support of too many civilians and soldiers wasn't a good
thing. Although a puppet would of course attract more attention the more
gorgeous it was, it would be futile if the puppet wouldn't listen in the end.
Hence the Council had organised for this attack, which would then be used to
weaken Leohart's influential power. Deliberately not fighting a war decided
by numbers and thus sending out the excavated spirits, was because the
Council knew that Leohart would definitely send out a subordinate of his to
lead on the frontlines. The number of subordinates Leohart could trust wasn't
that big of a number – so by making him choose a commander in the sudden
small chaos that would ensue, they could effectively reduce Leohart's power.
Hence, when the Council received the news that Gardo would be the frontline
commander of the attack, they became very happy.
One of the reason Leohart was able to maintain as well as raise his positive
influence, was because a powerful Demon Lord candidate had joined his
faction, serving as the role of a prime minister. Thus—
"Once someone like you is gone – his majesty Leohart will probably be more
obedient."
Before the eyes of Nebula who said that, was Gardo who had risen to about
the same height as him.
"…Nebula, you bastard…!"
"Ah… So you really are angry~. Well, I guess it would be weird if you didn't
get angry though…"
At Gardo's glare that was filled with anger, Nebula only said that while
smiling.
The Gardo right now, no longer had the usual aura and pressure of oppression
he had. The reason for that was because he had taken head-on the sneak
attack of the spirit Nebula was controlling, and had become heavily injured –
he had also lost his right arm that was the symbol of his power.
"But then again, the youngsters of these days still reap what they sow. Even
if he is the son of Jin ·Toujou, he is still only a human youth, yet you still
need to end his path… so while a bit uneasy, I had accidentally intervened.
You couldn't have already become soft from being content with doing the
work his majesty Leohart has for you right, Gardo-dono?"
Hearing Nebula's mocking—
"...I believe I've said it before."
Gardo said:
"In the event where you do something unneeded – I will personally turn you
into meat scraps."
After saying that, Gardo's body also disappeared.
"That's right. But I believe I've also said it before—"
Nebula said towards Gardo who re-appeared beside him, as if not giving a
damn at all:
"—unless things become grave."
All of a sudden – Gardo who was about to dish out his attack suddenly
disappeared, but that wasn't what Gardo had planned. A shockwave and
boom followed soon after, as if testifying just how explosive that attack that
just happened was. High-class demon's right fist that had just lashed out, had
directly landed on the side of Gardo's body.
Gardo was blown away explosively, smashing through the remains of a large
number of buildings in Wildart City – before finally coming to a stop after
going through three streets. After the dust cloud caused by the attack settled
—
"…Hmm, it is surprising that that was overkill."
Having dealt with Gardo, Nebula shrugged.
"Now then, let's move on to my next task… -- aya?"
Just then, he noticed the presence of other enemies.
Probably because he had dealt with Gardo, that caused the other spirits to not
operating. Amongst the people dealing with the three spirits, other than Lucia
who was Ramsas's aide and Zest, there were three more people heading
towards this place. After seeing the fire within their eyes—
"…Ah, I almost forgot. I had also destroyed your companion."
Nebula continued while giggling:
"No problem – before I deal with my remaining targets, I shall play around
with you guys first."
Part 11
Zest whose consciousness was floating around in darkness, felt something
brushing past her face.
Originally she had assumed it to be wind, but—
…That's not right.
With her eyes still closed, Zest felt that there seemed to be a certain meaning
behind the sensation of her face being caressed.
The sensation on her cheeks – seemed to be desperately urging her to
awaken. Hence—
"…!...uuh…"
Opening her eyes just a crack caused sharp pain to suddenly course through
her whole body, and moan in pain.
But despite that, she still fully opened both her eyes, and the first thing she
managed to make out in her misty vision was the face of a lovely animal.
Using its small tongue to lick at Zest's face was—
"You… are from that time…?"
Zest quickly realised that it was the unicorn pup she had met not too long ago
in the alleyway behind the café, when Basara and the others visited the
streets. Despite how Gardo had invaded Wildart City with the spirits and
destroying many areas of the city, this pup appears to have been very lucky
and managed to keep its life.
As Zest's consciousness thoughts righted itself—
"...Basara-sama————!"
She finally remembered just what she was going to do, as well as what
happened afterwards, causing her to suddenly get up while calling out her
beloved master's name. At the same time, there was someone else who heard
it.
But the sign of reaction was not speech – but hollering instead.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh—!"
"—Maria?"
Thinking something was wrong, Zest turned to look towards the sound, only
to find the scene of Maria being kicked away by an spirit different from the
previous three.
Her petite body impacted on the ground after being kicked like a rubber ball,
and the shockwave blew away some of the rubble in the vicinity.
「.........」
Seeing this, Zest was shocked. The power and agility of this spirit was
incomparable to the spirits from before, and the one controlling this monster
wasn't Gardo, but instead different high-class demon.
"That is—…"
Near the rubble Maria had landed, Zest found the figures of two more young
girls lying on the ground in different positions – Yuki and Kurumi. They
probably had fought against that spirit while she was still unconscious. The
poor miserable condition of the large amounts of rubble in the vicinity, told
her of just fierce the battle was.
「......!」
Despite how worried she was about their conditions, there is something that
Zest most do first.
And that was to search out her master Basara's whereabouts. As long as
Basara is still alive, the contract won't disappear – thus while praying that
Basara was safe, she closed her eyes and tried to sense his location. After that
—
…There's a reaction… Are you alright, Basara-sama…!
Sensing a reaction from Basara caused her to immediately open her eyes and
barely managed to stop herself from shouting out loud from the happiness.
Basara is nearby, but his body wasn't visible, so he is probably now buried
under the rubble. Although she very much wanted to go and rescue him now
—
…It is best if I move cautiously.
If she were to let that high-class demon notice her, not only she would be in
danger, as Basara too would be dragged into it. And not forgetting that more
importantly, that spirit is not what she alone can win against. Thus Zest held
her breath, and began moving slowly.
However – it appears that the high-class demon's eyes were just too sharp.
"—Oya, the mouse that I thought I've already disposed of is still alive?"
Before Zest could even begin to start moving, he already noticed that Zest
had already regained consciousness.
The spirit then began to slowly turn towards her, slowly closing the distance
between them.
『————』
Perhaps feeling the approach of impending danger, the unicorn pup jumped
onto Zest's right shoulder as if seeking her help. Zest hugged that small body,
at a loss of what to do. Since she has been noticed, it would be best if she
were to leave the place immediately to bring the danger away from Basara
and the others.
…however.
The moment she shows an opening, the opponent will definitely immediately
attack. The problem now is the power and speed of the spirit that had
exceeded expectations. Such strong attacks will definitely flatten the
surrounding area, along with Basara and everyone else; but if she were to
remain here any longer, Basara would still be in danger, so just what should
she do – by wanting to protect her master, she was in a dilemma.
…! If this continues…!
In the end, she chose the way which has got the highest possibility of
protecting her master, and put it into action. It was at that moment—
A dazzling light suddenly appeared.
「————!?」
Zest thought the spirit had started its attack, and thus used earth magic to
erect a barrier – but it appears that that was not the case.
The spirit's head was wrapped up in an explosion – it was the spirit that
received an attack.
However, it seems that there was no damage at all. When the deep red flames
dissipated, the head appeared, completely intact and covered in soot.
Nonetheless, it seems that someone had saved Zest – as well as Basara, it was
an undeniable truth.
…Just who…?
Zest began looking around. It was not Basara, not Maria, and not Yuki or
Kurumi.
Lucia? No, she is Ramsas's aide, so she wouldn't come here.
--Then, just who was it?
The answer was brought into Zest's ears by the wind.
"…—there has got to be a limit to your arrogance."
The voice of the young girl who inherited the blood of the noble Demon
Lord.
--She, landed in the space before Zest's eyes.
Zest too, only continued looking intently – at the girl who descended into the
battlefield.
Naruse Mio.
「.........」
Seeing the back of someone who originally definitely couldn't appear on this
battlefield—
…She probably couldn't bear it anymore.
Zest wasn't particularly surprised, since the person in question was Mio.
That just now, was probably not to save Zest – or maybe while she had that
intention, the reason she had come down to this place was definitely to
protect Basara.
Just like Zest – no, Mio who had done the Master-Servant Contract with
Basara long before Zest, should clearly know that Basara was nearby. She
couldn't accept watching from the sides any longer, while seeing those
precious to her and the town being destroyed just because of her presence.
That was why she had forcefully shaken off Noel, and rushed here. Just then
—
"...Hou?"
The similarly completely uninjured high-class demon, deeply bowed towards
Mio while on the spirit's shoulder.
"My my, if it's not the Moderates Faction's princess… I believe this is our
first meeting. My name is Nebula, and I am a trusted aide of the chairman of
the Council, Belphegor. Please forgive me for my lack of respect for
speaking from such a high up place."
"…If I go with you, will you stop attacking the city?"
Hearing Mio say so calmly, Nebula smiled.
"I believe that we had sent an ultimatum, demanding for them to hand you
over, but I had not expected for you to personally appear yourself. In our
attack this time, we had undeniably stolen the lives of a large amount of the
Moderates Faction's soldiers and wrecked the heritage-rich Wildart City,
causing many civilians to become homeless. All of that, are the price that
they have to pay to protect you."
But however—
"Though I would be ashamed to ask, I really cannot understand why. Could
you please explain to me to let me broaden my understanding – you
impulsively appearing here and putting to waste all of their efforts and
sacrifices, where did that foolishness come from?"
To Nebula's words that was equivalent to provocation—
"...Someone like you would never be able to understand."
Mio replied while tightly clenching her fist. The shaking in her voice – most
likely come from fear, as well as strong anger and remorse. Although Zest
couldn't see her expression from behind her, Mio's heart must be filled with
frustration, while she glared at Nebula fiercely. After that—
"Hmm, I see – so this is the daughter that Wilbert had left behind."
Nebula smiled, but in the next moment – he said with ice-cold eyes:
"…— Kill"
At the same time, the spirit under Nebula's feet began to move. It lunged
forward and appeared almost immediately before them, and sent out a punch
as if boxing.
"Eh...?" "————!"
The unexpected sudden change caused Mio to freeze up, and Zest reflexively
erected a stone wall in front of Mio and herself, but however she became just
as surprised as Mio.
--Everything the Current Demon Lord Faction had done to Mio, was to gain
Wilbert's power that Mio possessed.
If she was killed, that power will disappear along with Mio's life. Hence Zest
had thought, even if they want to kill Mio, it would be after extracting
Wilbert's power from her.
…Then why?
Despite her thoughts being thrown into confusion, Zest still forcefully
maintained her focus. Although her wall might not be able to block the
spirit's attack, their death would be set in stone if nothing is done. Hence she
put in her all into that wall – and immediately after, a boom filled the air.
From behind Zest and Mio.
"Eh — …?"
Both Zest and Mio turned backwards to look confusedly. They saw the
shockwave caused by the spirit's punch affecting the ground behind them,
filling the air with dust.
However, although they understood what the scene before them was, they
failed to understand what had just happened.
She was unable to accept that this was the truth. Because – Basara should be
in around that area.
While still in a trance, Zest subconsciously used the locating ability of the
Master-Servant Contract. Almost immediately, amidst the sandstorm before
her eyes, she found a reaction belonging to her master.
「——————」
And after that, Zest's body began moving without even thinking. She swiftly
spread her wings – and flew in a straight line towards where the reaction was
from. With the obstruction of the flying dust everywhere, Zest could not see
even Basara's silhouette, thus she used earth magic to – gather all of the
flying dust together, settling all of it on the ground far away.
Finally able to see her own master now, Zest stretched out her hands, and
plunged into his arms—
"...Basara-sama…?"
And said his name with a shaking voice and widened eyes, but she didn't
receive a reply. That's of course, since Basara's injuries received from Gardo
weren't light, and he had also received a surprise attack from the spirit
Nebula was controlling – he was already in a state urgently needing treatment
for that.
And adding on to that, Nebula has had the spirit send out another attack to
exterminate.
Yet Basara was still alive, but he was only just not dead yet.
Basara is still not completely safe yet – he is not moving at all. Just then,
"…Aahh, I'm terribly sorry for the blunder I've made. I accidentally skewed
my aim, and I had no idea that Jin·Toujou's son was there. I'm terribly
sorry."
Nebula apologised sacaristically, and then—
"…Speaking of which, Princess, you still have not answered my previous
question."
And smiled. And as if having seen throught all of it,
"In the end – just who did you hope to protect by shamelessly running out
here and putting to waste the efforts of those around you?"
That was a line that was sufficient enough to annihilate Zest's reasoning
ability many times.
I'll kill you! While hugging the unmoving Basara, Zest's emotions were
about to explode.
--But in the end, she couldn't do it. Because before Zest began to move, or
even open her mouth.
That happened.
"——————————"
A deep red wave of energy burst out with Mio as the epicentre.
Naruse Mio who was causing the space to shake uncontrollably and scream—
"…——How dare you…"
Towards the giant spirit and Nebula before her eyes, she said so shortly.
Within her heart, the surging and welling emotions were almost going to
make her go crazy. The reason that made her surprised that had allowed her
to say such words coldly, was because within her mind, she was extremely
calm.
Not only just that – Mio right now, has not lost control of the energy within
her body. The torrent of autologous erupting energy with her, was completely
under her control.
--However, this was not something accomplished just by chance at this
moment.
Being able to control her father Wilbert's power, as well as her own power –
this was the first task she had set for herself after defeating Zolgear. Because
from right at the beginning to now, Mio had never provided any effective
help in the battles they had.
Not long after knowing Basara, at the battle with Takigawa in the park
[90] at
night – although it was to not become a burden to Basara, in the end the result
of going alone was that she was not even an opponent for him. She had even
lost control of the power she had inherited from her father due to seeing
Basara receive a major injury, and was in the end saved by him.
And in the battle with Yuki, Kurumi and the Heroes, she wasn't able to
handle Takashi who wielded [Byakko], and her battle concluded with a
conclusion where it seemed that she was powerless.
During the battle against Zolgear, she had fallen into the hands of Zolgear,
becoming a burden to Basara. Though she had won the battle and had
subdued Zest, that was only possible because Yuki had helped. Right to
today, Mio had never really given any real contribution to her comardes.
Hence – to not become a burden to the others any more than she already was,
Mio had aimed to be able to completely control her powers, and had
succeeded in attaining that goal. Not only did it include her father Wilber's
power, that strong power which had taken Zolgear's right hand was also now
in her control.
…But.
Even if she succeeded, Mio never wanted to use that power. Other than the
drawbacks of causing much physical strain on her body and sometimes even
causing her to losing consciousness, more importantly, using that power was
sort of like a taboo in her heart.
--Naruse Mio had witnessed the murder of her adoptive parents without any
warning, and had then learned that she was the daughter of the previous
Demon Lord.
On that very day, Naruse Mio's past fifteen years of life was completely
overturned.
Despite vowing to take revenge for her adoptive parents and living while
learning to fight – behind the emotion known as vengeance, there was a fact
that tortured her heart.
And that – was the fact that she was not a human.
The Demon Race. To a normal person, they were an existence that were
called Monsters.
But before that day, Mio was completely living her life as a normal person.
It was just like how someone point at you and say: 'You are not a Human!',
your own existence being nullified just so easily.
Though Basara, Yuki and Kurumi had abilities, they were Heroes, so they
were undoubtedly Human; compared to them, Mio, basically, was completely
different. But despite the differences, Mio who saw Maria as one of the
Demon Race, did she ever see her as a monster and harbour hostility against
her? The answer was never.
Despite that, when she was with Basara and the others, thoughts like she did
not belong together with them would occasionally enter her mind, often
making her feel as if there was a gap between them that would never
disappear, causing her much torment.
Of course, Basara and the others saw her and got along with her as a normal
human, and Basara was the one who had accepted her right from the
beginning. Though she was thrown out once, that was because Mio and
Maria were deceiving Basara and Jin – it was completely unrelated to her
being the previous Demon Lord's daughter.
--Does Basara even understand, just how much his acceptance of Mio gave
her heart salvation?
Therefore, no matter what, Mio does not wish to become a burden to Basara.
It's just – using her father Wilbert's power that she inherited, would make her
feel like she was not a human.
Mio is very afraid of experiencing the feeling of being of a different race
from Basara. Hence with being unwilling to use her power, she and Yuki had
received a sneak attack from an enemy. Naruse Mio wished to stay as a
Human, and thus was not willing to use that strong power within her body –
at least, until now.
--But, this is fine too.
Even if she were to use Wilbert's power many many times, Basara will
definitely never change. Taking her in even after knowing about her true
identity, and saw her and Maria – and even Zest as his precious family, his
actions of putting his life on the line for them to this day had proven that
point. She only just had to trust in her kind master who was willing to accept
her – and be the one who loves him the most.
…And also,
Even if using this strong power will increase the distance between her and
Basara, she can not allow the enemy before her to act as he pleases.
Hence Naruse Mio said:
"...You asked me, why did I come here?"
I'll tell you, then.
"Right now I am Toujou Basara's little sister, as well as his subordinate…
Seeing my precious family and master wounded, is almost making me go
mad."
Do you even understand?
"You have hurt Basara, have hurt my most precious person, and I will now
make you pay the price – I'll kill you a hundred times."
That's right.
"Daughter of the previous Demon Lord of power… it's up to you on how you
decide to see the situation, it's something unrelated to me, and I don't give a
damn. I originally was happy, with deciding to give this power which had
snatched all that I had to you guys, but how regrettable… don't even think
about it now. I have already decided, that I will never forgive you, who had
hurt the one most precious to me, as well as those dogs behind your back."
And thus I advise you.
"—you better not underestimate Naruse Mio."
With that, Mio released the power within her body.
And in the next moment – with a boom, the enemy before her was crushed.
Part 12
Mio released Wilbert's gravity magic power, immediately crushing the spirit
Nebula was controlling into pieces.
And after that—
"————————"
Perhaps this is my retribution. Mio lost consciousness as if being
disconnected suddenly.
However – something caught Mio as she collapsed.
It was Zest's earth magic. The sand in the shape of a chair caught Mio, and
gently lowered her onto the ground.
After that, Zest who landed beside her while holding onto Basara—
"......…"
Silently watched the scene before her eyes. In just a single attack, Mio had
completely minced that Spirit which was so powerful. Although she knew
that Wilbert was hailed as the strongest Demon Lord in history—
…This display is too shocking.
And within Zest's knowledge, Mio had never once voluntarily used Wilbert's
power; so if she trains from now on, forget about the drawback of fainting
after usage, she might be able to use even more power than just now.
If used appropriately, this power would certainly be able to take over the
Demon Realm, so it wasn't hard to understand why the Moderates Faction
and the Current Demon Lord Faction urgently wanted this power. Right now
– though the burst just now was enough to bring down Nebula, the Current
Demon Lord Faction would've already detected it, which means that now
they would not be able to cover up the fact that Mio is within Wildart City.
Soon, the war between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderates
Faction for supremacy in the Demon Realm, will start.
The number of causalities or sacrifices that will have to be made in the future,
could very well be many times that of today. Yet—
"…Thank you."
Zest gave her gratitude to the unconscious Mio. Thanks to her, they had
managed to tide over the danger from the enemy this time. To many people,
making the war even more intense might very well be the worst thing in the
world; but in Zest's heart, her master Basara being safe was the most
important thing, and she will protect him with her life.
Hence, having avoided the worst case scenario, Zest let out a sigh in relief.
But at that moment, there was suddenly a burst of magic power.
" ! — This is…!"
Not knowing what was happening, the disconcerted Zest soon realised where
the magic power was coming from.
The answer was – in front of them.
The already-minced Spirit, was rapid expanding with a shocking magic
power.
Part 13
The Spirit was already destroyed to the point where its self-healing ability
could do nothing.
--But Nebula's body was unharmed.
Before Mio's gravity attack hit, he had already escaped far away backwards,
thus successfully avoiding it.
"Destroying that high-class Spirit in a single attack… indeed, that is a
formidable scary power."
Nebula said while on a building far away.
"So, as per Belphegor-sama's orders, I will dispose of her now."
That's right – Nebula's actions against Mio was not him acting by himself.
Right from the beginning, Nebula had received two orders; first is to
assassinate Gardo in this attack, second is wipe out Wilbert's power along
with Mio.
—Wilbert is the known as the strongest Demon Lord in history, so no matter
whether his power falls into the hands of the Moderates Faction or Leohart,
things would become troublesome. That powerful power, would easily bring
about problems that aren't under the Council's control – thus Belphegor gave
Nebula the order to make sure to certainly end Mio's life.
"The Spirits sleeping in the ruins, were naturally to be ones used to defend a
City, so… of course it would possess something for the worst case while
defending the city -- a self-destruct function to drag down the enemy together
with it."
So—
"Soul of the Demon Lord from the past age – disappear from the world
together with your beloved city."
Saying that, Nebula then began casting the self-destruct magic, and the body
of the Spirit far away let out a blinding light. A protective spherical barrier
appeared, enclosing him so that he would not be dragged into the selfdestruct explosion – an anti-field. Then, after completing the casting with the
special code, Nebula smiled—
"—Goodbye."
And after giving his final farewell – the body of the high-class Spirit
suddenly exploded.
A blinding explosion, that wiped out the whole Wildart City.
--At least, that was what should've happened.
But in the moment the explosion and shockwave began to spread – it
instantly disappeared.
"Wha—Impossible…!"
Witnessing the unbelievable scene, Nebula was heavily shocked.
—did the activation of the code fail? No, it did explode. After the successful
detonation – the heat and shockwave created had suddenly disappeared, and
there isn't a trace of the magic power left.
…W-What in the world just happened...?!
Nebula looked towards the location where the explosion was supposed to
take place. Over there, he saw a young male standing in front of Mio and
Zest, as if protecting them. He held a large demonic sword in his hands, in a
posture where he just swung the sword – the Toujou Basara that should have
stopped moving long ago. Immediately after—
『——————』
Basara's ice-cold eyes caught the figure of Nebula far away, causing him to
involuntarily gasp and step backwards.
"Interesting… I'll have a great story to tell Belphegor-sama later."
But he smiled while raising his right hand, and a gigantic black shadow came
over the sky. The opponent seemed to be hiding something, but as he cannot
fail Belphegor's orders, Nebula himself has hidden a trump card up his
sleeve.
Together with the booms that filled Wildart City, were the same type of Spirit
as the one that exploded just earlier, furthermore, there were three of them;
two of them landed behind Nebula, and one just beside Wildart City. To fulfil
his orders at once, Nebula has decided to simultaneously attack them and
Wildart City. Basara might be able to use a strange ability to cancel out the
self-destruct explosions and enter melee combat with the Spirits, and even if
the Spirit beside Wildart City has to self-destruct as the last resort, the higherups of the Moderates Faction along with Ramsas would be also wiped out.
"It's truly a shame – with this, this is the end for all of you."
Just as Nebula was about to order the Spirits to annihilate Wildart City—
Two sounds of impact
[91] came from behind him.
"Wha—…?"
Nebula hurriedly turned around, and saw a scene even more unbelievable
then just now.
Both of the gigantic Spirits behind him, were flying in the air – in a straight
line towards the outside of Wildart City, and then the heavy sound of impact
of them hitting the ground came from far away. Just as Nebula was at a loss
as the shockwave of the impact reached him as he stood on the tower—
"Geez, can you not throw them into a place with many people? What if you
crush someone?"
A shout lacking of any tension came from the ground. Looking downwards,
there was someone of the same race as that young youth, someone whose
name Nebula knew – that was of course, since it is impossible for him to not
know the one called the God of War and strongest Hero feared by the Demon
race.
"Jin·Toujou...!!"
Nebula recited the name of that man, filled with hate. His whereabouts were
unknown ever since he had fought with Leohart, and not even the Council
could track him – although he didn't know if it was by coincidence or
planned out, he had come to this place to help his son out in this crisis.
…Then…!
Nebula disregarded Jin's presence and began casting the magic for the
Spirits' self-destruction; his target was not the two which Jin had sent flying,
but the last one that was beside Wildart City.
Since Jin is now here, his chances of disposing of either Basara or Mio is
now close to zero, so now he should at least attempt to get rid of the higherups in Wildart City like Ramsas. However – as Nebula was almost finished
with the magic, a sound suddenly sounded out, and the remaining Spirit was
crushed by an invisible power.
"—gravity magic!?"
Mio is still unconscious, so just who – his thoughts thrown into disarray,
Nebula then saw a male with the Moderates Faction's proud mother-daughter
succubus pair – Sheera and Lucia, standing on a rooftop. It wouldn't be weird
for him to use the same magic as Wilbert, that male was someone like that –
the current leader of the Moderates Faction, Wilbert's older brother.
"Ramsas…!"
Immediately after spitting out his name with resentment, his lips curved into
a smile.
…Idiot.
Even if the Spirit became minced meat, he could still make it explode by
completing his casting. Thus, Nebula continued to input the code—
"...…?"
But suddenly, he sensed someone behind him, and thus turned around—
「——————」
Only to see a youth standing there. His cold eyes not only stopped Nebula's
mind, it also froze his heart.
It was Toujou Basara.
"Eh——…?"
In the next moment, Nebula let out a funny sound.
His chest – was completely pierced through by Basara's large demonic
sword.
Basara pulled out Brynhildr, and Nebula collapsed on the tower.
Large amounts of fresh blood poured from his chest, and his breathing
became ragged, but despite that—
"I… don't want, to die…"
Nebula desperately squeezed out his voice, begging Basara for mercy.
"If you spit out who was the one that ordered this attack and his aims, I can
ask the Moderates Faction to let you live… The Current Demon Lord Leohart
should be after Mio's power, but yet you attacked that demon called Gardo,
and even tried to kill Mio—"
Speak.
"—who was the one that gave the order for this attack. Is it those guys from
the Council or what?"
" ! …T-That…"
"If you really don't want to die, you better spit it out. From the amount of
blood you're losing, you only have very little time left – everything of you
will be reduced to zero soon."
Basara's words caused Nebula to be silent for a while, and then—
"...…Uu."
Just as he was about to say something – a red marking appeared on his neck.
That pattern that was very much like a circle, was one that Toujou Basara
was very much familiar with.
"That is…"
The curse of the Master-Servant Contract. Nebula planned to beg Basara for
mercy by leaking information about his master, causing strong feelings of
betrayal which activated the curse. According to what Takigawa said, the
Master-servant Contract had the effect of not allowing the leakage of secrets
when a subordinate is captured by the enemy, and the subordinate will die
when the curse activates at its strongest effect.
Basara's circumstances were special – his Contract with Mio and Yuki were
done with using Maria's magic, and Zest's were done with using Sheera's
magic, so the effect of the curse were all aphrodisiac effects.
So, what was the effect of the Master-Servant Contract of Nebula – the
answer was very soon shown before Basara's eyes.
"Uh——…?"
After letting out a short groan, Nebula's body exploded from the inside with
a muffled 'Pop'.
Basara had hurriedly retreated, afraid that he was doing an explosion by selfdestructing. Fragments that used to be Nebula landed by Basara's feet, dying
the rooftop into a pool of red. After that—
"Basara-sama, are you fine?!" "Aah, I'm fine."
Nodding slightly to answer Zest hurriedly flying towards him—
"......…"
Toujou Basara, forthrightly, gazed upon the tragic ending that may come to
someone that have done a Master-Servant Contract. In the worst case
scenario – Mio, Yuki, and Zest might probably lose their lives in a similar
fashion. The new realisations weighed heavily on Basara's heart – the
Master-Servant Contract he had done with them used their lives as a wager. It
was not something to be joked about. Just then—
"Basara-sama…"
Zest softly leaned onto Basara's back, and spoke no more.
Snuggling against Basara's back just like that. That, is Zest's answer to her
master Basara. Thus, Basara turned around and tightly gripped Zest's waist,
and said:
"Let's go… We need to quickly return back to the city and help treat the
wounded."
After that, the two of them left the rooftop.
Behind them, were the remains of Nebula and Wildart City devastated with
debris everywhere -- the peaceful days that was there until yesterday is now
gone.
In that place, only the scars known as the cruel reality of War remained.