Volume 1 Chapter 16 (2/2)

“I am a Tartaros. The name bestowed upon me by lord is Kurayami. And Dwarf, should you dare take even a single step, I will slit his throat.” (Note: Kurayami means darkness.)

The third monster to appear was a black werewolf. It wasn’t really large, standing at around under two meters, but its body suggested it was a seasoned warrior.

Instead of freeing Tenko, Elder Dwarf seemed vexed by the fact that I was taken hostage. She grinded her teeth and then spoke.

“I understand. I will not resist. But remember this: once you no longer have a hostage, I will tear you apart limb from limb.”

If Marcho was truly serious, we would have been utterly checkmated.

In meantime, the Lion Gryphon triumphantly talked to Tenko.

“Celestial Fox, do you see now why I called you green and unreliable? You’re your Demon Lord’s closest companions, his strongest hands? This is the result of losing your calm and giving in on your emotions; you easily fell into a trap and are powerless to do anything about it.”

Tenko grinded her teeth and glared at Marcho’s monsters.

“Dwarf-jouchan, you have failed as well. If you were convinced your attack will go through my defenses by rapid-firing your weapon, you should have done so before you made any threats. Like that, you have given your enemies time, lost your attention from your most important Demon Lord, and then allowed him to receive a surprise attack…… There is no place for such foolishness, right?”

Elder Dwarf bowed her head and clenched her fists.

It was vexing but Marcho’s monsters were strong, on top of being sly.

However, it was already enough.

“So, Marcho, for how long must we continue this farce? If in case you were serious about this, we would have no other option but to use our trump card, wouldn’t you agree?”

I smiled at Marcho while the claw was still pressed against my neck.

I knew what her general intentions were.

“I’m surprised you could talk like that in such a situation. But it’s as Procell says, enough.”

Marcho’s monsters returned to her side.

And the threads around Tenko was unfastened.

“Oto-san!”

Tenko came back to me. She then stood in front of me and vigilantly glared at Marcho.

“It’s alright, Tenko. Marcho was just…”

Just as I began to talk, Marcho did too.

“I’ll speak for myself. The performance just now was to make you all aware of just how naïve you guys were. If I truly wanted to, I could have all of you annihilated. You were unprepared. Would you say something like that was cowardly? Other Demon Lords wouldn’t think so. Procell, you say you had a trump card; but even if that was true, it probably wouldn’t go as you planned.”

“Well, who knows?”

I did have a trump card.

It’s a secret I made with the help of Elder Dwarf. It was made in preparation for when Marcho would turn hostile against us.

It depended on the way it was used but it was certainly able to turn the tide.

“I wanted you to know the dread of going against a Demon Lord before you met another. Particularly, old Demon Lords. And you managed to face off against me in a calm manner. You better remember that calmness because if you don’t, they will swallow you whole.”

“I’ll surely take it to heart. It’s too painful to not remember, after all.”

Without the necessary experience, Tenko and Elder Dwarf both couldn’t make full use of their abilities.

And never mind a head-on battle; in a fight like this time, they would be toyed on.

I, as well, am ashamed at my inability to respond to the monster that attacked from my shadow. There were countless points on which we should reflect on.

“Lesson’s over. Ah, just on time. It’s gonna come soon. Alright, time for the [Evening Party].”

At the same time as those words, a voice spoke in my mind.

『Children of the stars. The time is now. Assemble, shine, and flaunt thy existence.』

I think I knew that voice.

Children of the stars, the sound of it was oddly familiar.

My consciousness was drifting away.

Tenko tightly grabbed my hand and when I gripped back, she smiled.

And then, my consciousness was gone.

◇

I woke up.

The sky was blue. But it was not the familiar blue of the sky, it was the deep blue of the sea.

The stars twinkled. But those stars were literally of varying colors.

When I looked at my surroundings, there was a garden but it somehow felt unnatural.

There was no way this place was somewhere in the natural world. It was a world that somebody had created.

I looked ahead and was dumbfounded at the too large, too impressive and too beautiful snow-white palace.

I didn’t know when but Marcho was next to me and spoke.

“Over there is the place where the Creator, the one who created us Demon Lords, is. The Demon Lord Palace. ”

The [Evening Party] where all the Demon Lords gather now begins.