Chapter 1296: Diabolos the Demon King Blade
Chapter 1296: Diabolos the Demon King Blade
As we approached the former site of the royal castle, I saw Chariot breaking loose of the Blade Tail’s hold. It had summoned some sort of flying Magic Hand-like entity to assist it.
Despite its heavy damage, the red mech immediately flew towards the closest fragment along with a high-pitched engine sound.
Chariot’s right hand instantly transformed into a giant gauntlet, which looked exactly like Roza’s Blood Maiden. That must be the prototype of her relic.
It slammed said gauntlet into the Tear Gland using the full momentum of its dash.
We heard a heavy crash as the Tear Gland repelled the hit with its hard surface, but the King of Knights pressed forward undeterred. The thrusters on its back emitted a high-pitched intake sound as they reached maximum output.
Chariot ended up dragging the Tear Gland across the earth for about 200 meters, leaving a deep trench in its wake.
Though Chariot eventually came to a stop, the Tear Gland kept flying with continued momentum.
Meanwhile, the Chariot’s gauntlet was still embedded in the Tear Gland, spewing out mana to propel itself like a rocket.
The rocket gauntlet traveled an additional 100 meters before detonating in a massive explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, we saw that the Tear Gland had lost about 30% of its body.
What’s more, it wasn’t regenerating at all. The Blood Maiden’s red mist must have invaded the fragment’s body and prevented it from healing.
As I watched this scene with astonishment, the Northern Knights began marching in pursuit of the Tear Gland. Kareid’s goal was to separate it from the other fragments and have the Northern Knights keep it busy.
The knights promptly began their assault on the Tear Gland. Still, they couldn’t do much real damage even with their anti-evil enchanted weapons. Like I suspected, anything less than a divine sword can’t inflict a fatal blow…
Or so I thought, but then the Tear Gland was slammed with such force that it fell over sideways.
A lone human had literally punched a fragment of the Evil God with his bare fists. The one responsible appeared to be a thin old man, yet he radiated an aura comparable to a divine sword.
「Dimitris!」
『You’re right!』
He was the Rank S adventurer Dimitris, one of the strongest men in the world.
I witnessed another figure flying around and slicing at the Tear Gland: the mantis man, Neidhart.
He only managed to deliver shallow cuts to the Tear Gland’s surface, but the fact that he inflicted any damage at all was incredible.
「Fuhahahaha! To think I would fight an Evil God Fragment! A worthy opponent for once!」
「After all the assistance they gave in rescuing my companions, I cannot allow you to ravage this country any further! Time to get serious! Behold the dragon ki arts that Dimitris-dono taught me!」
The Tear Gland had already suffered major damage, and it was up against the Northern Knights alongside Dimitris and Neidhart. Maybe the odds weren’t so bad?
Fran and the others continued running towards the battlefield to support our allies, but we were forced to pause and scan the skies. There was an ominous amount of divine energy swirling above our heads.
A man was floating there at the center of it all. I’d say he looked about 30 years old.
His appearance was peculiar, to say the least.
The upper half of his body was completely normal. He had a handsome face and blond hair, with his torso clad in golden metal armor. But what in the world happened to his legs…? They seemed swollen and misshapen. No, perhaps that’s some sort of spherical magic tool?
Rather than legs, he had a 2-meter wide, round, black object attached to his waist. Unlike the well-known Fri*za-sama, this spherical attachment was no mere vehicle.
The man and sphere were clearly fused together, with thick vein-like structures connecting the two together. There was even a metal frame attached to the sides and bottom of the sphere, perhaps to assist his balance when landing on the ground.
From this distance, his silhouette reminded me of a guy in a sports wheelchair, except there was a giant balance ball inserted in for no reason.
His aura gave me an unsettling feeling not unlike the Evil God Fragments. Could he be the divine sword wielder from Phyllius? If so, I can’t say I’m confident enough to call him an ally.
Fran and the others watched the swirling divine energy with caution, until we noticed something approaching us at high speeds. We quickly braced ourselves, though Fran lowered her guard just as fast.
We had recognized them: Ronowe, a demon with the power of manipulating deadly poisons, and Bune, a dragonic-looking demon. They were respectively transporting a girl and a boy in their arms.
「Fran-san!」
「Fran!」
「Satia! Flut!」
We had left Satia in the Kingdom of Kranzel, while Flut was on the brink of death the last time we saw him.
After jumping down from Ronowe’s arms, Satia embraced Fran in an emotional reunion.
「Why are you here?」
「Don’t worry, I received permission from Kranzel. We came to inform you about Brother… or rather, our country’s divine sword. There’s no need to fear it.」
「So that’s Diabolos?」
「Yes. What you see is the fusion of our brother Lucif with the divine sword Diabolos.」
I have to say that’s completely different from what I imagined. Their divine sword wasn’t a tool or weapon to be used, but something that fuses with its wielder.
「Diabolos’s true form is an artificial uterus for birthing demons. That’s why it can’t be wielded by women, because the one they already have interferes.」
Much to our surprise, Lucif looked like that despite having yet to activate the divine sword. In other words, the inheritors of Diabolos live their entire lives in that form. No wonder they’ve never gone out in public.
As Satia continued her explanation, Lucif’s divine aura continued to build in intensity. His voice resounded clearly as we watched in amazement.
「I call upon the demon king who devoured our saintess! Foolish and greedy we may be, lend us your power in accordance with the covenant! Divine Sword Release! Come forth! Asmodeus, the ruler of hell!」
「!」
『Whoa…』
Despite his already bizarre appearance, his transformation still surprised us. The sphere attached to Lucif’s abdomen suddenly swelled to about twice its size. And it didn’t stop there.
I had originally thought the sphere looked metallic, but it was nothing of the sort. It began foaming and bulging as if it had a life of its own.
「UGRAAAAAAAH!」
Lucif’s roar was unmistakably a scream. He must be suffering a pain so severe that it cannot be described in words.
The sphere was originally about 2 meters in size, but it continued to expand as Lucif’s screams grew louder, before reaching a final size of 10 meters.
Like a stretched balloon, the surface of the expanded sphere had turned faintly translucent. We could see a single humanoid figure with its limbs bent inward in the fetal position.
Considering how Diabolos was described as an artificial womb, perhaps this was seriously the fetus of a demon. The figure inside the sphere began growing rapidly, until it eventually gained the proportions of an adult.
After about half a minute, a crack went straight down the center of the sphere, and it split open horizontally.
An immense torrent of mana flowed out instead of amniotic fluid. We had just witnessed the manifestation of a huge demon.
The Demon King was androgynous in appearance with nothing to indicate its sex. Honestly, I couldn’t say for sure if he was truly male or female.
That said, he had a well-proportioned body with smooth, black skin. It was like a work of art had come to life.
His long silver hair was offset by a tinge of red, and his eyes burned crimson. There were slender horns on the sides of his head, curving slightly upwards towards the sky.
「How long has it been since I last visited the mortal realm.」
Even his voice was extremely refined and seductive.
Despite being a demon, everything about him was beautiful. He possessed a bewitching charm that could captivate the hearts of anyone, even in the middle of a war zone.
「Hah… Hah… Asmodeus. I will have you cooperate with us. Annihilate the fragments and nothing else!」
「Excellent phrasing in your order, contractor. It shall be done.」
Asmodeus put on a delighted smile after throwing the out-of-breath Lucif a sarcastic glance. Even that simple gesture exuded elegance.
「Hmm. Two other divine swords, I see… Then I need only take one fragment.」
Asmodeus caught a strike from the Blade Tail with his bare hands, then flew upwards while still latched onto it.
He carried the Blade Tail while flying without the support of any wings, breaking through the cloud layer in mere seconds. Then, he promptly threw the fragment back down to the earth.
The Blade Tail came crashing down over a kilometer to the west, sending up a massive cloud of dust. While I have no doubt it’s still alive, separating it from the other fragments was a major play.
「You can deal with the remaining two on your own.」
Asmodeus’s words were evidently directed at Kareid and Maleficent.
The demon turned his back on us, flying away towards the Blade Tail, and most of the other demons followed suit. No doubt they only cared about Asmodeus and his contractor.
「We should go join up with them.」
「Yeah. Brother has exhausted himself greatly, which means I have to take command of our forces.」
「Be careful, Satia, Flut.」
「You too.」
「Nn.」
Fran waved goodbye to Satia and Flut. Meanwhile, I noticed Amanda talking to someone.
This was the spirit Rhyn. She must have flown over from the Belioth side. I saw her taking something out and passing it to Amanda.
「What’s this…?」
「The Heavenly Dragon Spirit Whip, a gift from Fran-san. Weena put in some of her power too.」
「Huh?」
Oh right, we never explained to Amanda how Weena Rhyn had split into Weena and Rhyn. She apparently never liked Weena Rhyn in the first place, so bumping into a spirit that looked just like her might be pretty confusing.
Still, all it took was placing her hand on the whip. Amanda suddenly widened her eyes in surprise.
「I’ve never seen such an amazing whip before. Fran-chan, you really made this for me?」
「No, I just asked Weena for Heavenly Dragon materials.」
「Well, I guess you could say that. But you already told us what you wanted to make, so we just went ahead and made it for you.」
Whoa, so Weena must have used her various connections to make us the ultimate whip.
「…I don’t think I’m getting the whole picture, but I’ll gladly accept any gift from Fran-chan!」
It seems Amanda decided to set aside the matter of Rhyn for now.
「Ahahaha! The mana conductivity is simply amazing! It can even withstand the full power of my new title!」
「We’ll continue backing you up with magic. Be careful out there.」
「Nn. Thanks, Rhyn.」
Now then, it’s our turn to join the battle.