Volume 7 Chapter 16 (1/2)

The [Black] Demon Lord, caged by Ruru's water prison, looked at us with eyes full of hatred.

”It seems you've splendidly turned the tables on me.”

The [Black] Demon Lord had blown up the entire building ”I” was in. This resulted to multiple collateral damage including the members of the royal family I was meeting with at the moment.

The attack used was a ceremonial magic prepared way beforehand.

By gathering as many of his followers in the three churches he had in the Axela capital, making them and his angel-type monsters pray a certain prayer, and gathering the required magic power from the many believers, they were able to ready and fire such a magic attack.

Even when on guard, we shouldn't have seen it coming. And yet we had.

There were actually many things that tipped us off.

Aura—who had been to the capital before—had known of the existence of the ceremonial magic, for one. Couple that with the unusually high number of humans gathering in the churches of the Rigdolg Faith that day, it was almost certain.

The question then was where and when that magic would be activated. If I was in his shoes, I would aim for when the target would least expect it. Like that, we had expected the unexpected.

”You're a far better actor than I thought. You fooled even a great Demon Lord such as myself.”

”It's not that they acted like they knew nothing, it's that they actually didn't know anything.”

We knew his source of information was the humans, but we didn't know how information was leaking to them. Given that, we moved forward assuming we were always being watched. For that reason and to be more convincing, the bait we used was a version of myself and Kuina that didn't know anything.

”You see, the one you targeted weren't the real us. They were illusions of us.”

To be more precise, they were copies made by Stolas's [Omnipresence].

Quite a bit earlier, these copies changed places with Kuina, me, and the royal family. The copies themselves were left unaware of this switch, so they really thought that they were the real ones.

By the way, since they were copies made by [Omnipresence], their capabilities were all lowered. So, because her golden red flames became imperfect and her [All Magic Nullification] became weaker, the copy Kuina wasn't able to defend against the ceremonial magic. Had it been the real her though, she would have withstood even that attack.

”So, it seems you've outsmarted me. One question then: why am I still alive? If it was me, I would have ordered that elf to blow the enemy's head off. It's rare for me myself to go to the battlefield, you know? And outsmarting me like this is rarer still. You won't get another chance like this.”

Just as he said, a chance like this didn't come often. The only reason he showed up today was to ensure that I would turn. Unless he himself was nearby, he couldn't dye his target's heart black and control them.

Of course, there was the option to capture me first and then turn me later, but that carried the risk of me being rescued on the way.

”I can kill you at any time. But first, some people that want to talk to you.”

”Hmp, what a trivial reason. First of all, don't think you've won already… remember, this is my backyard.”

Right when he finished saying so, countless humans appeared in our surroundings.

Each one was most probably on par with an A rank monster. Most likely, they were artificially made heroes.

”Oh, is that so? Well, sorry to break it to you, but this place is also my backyard.”

When I snapped my fingers, ten gigantic silhouettes rained down from the sky and caused a thunderous sound when they landed.

When the dust settled, it became clear that the silhouettes were Avalon's prized, tide-turning weapon-the Avalon-Ritters.

Equipped with an improved [Burst Drive] System, they could match an S rank monster even though it was only for a short moment.

They were a war potential that could take on not only the artificial heroes, but also the [Black] Demon Lord's monsters that were lurking nearby.

”Oh no, Procell's elite golems. Whatever shall I do?”

He sarcastically said so and then laughed.

”Balam, let's be at each other's throats later; I have a little show prepared for you.”

Hearing me say his cue, the king of the Axela Kingdom walked closer to the [Black] Demon Lord and spoke.

”Balam-dono, we thought we were getting along well, being helpful to each other… but why did you deliberately get us caught in the cross-fire? If it were not for Procell-dono's plan, we all would have been killed.”

Right in front of the king, the [Black] Demon Lord sneered.

”It was time to discard cards, so I discarded what I should, what I didn't need. Just what else do you think you are other than a mere pawn? Do you dare think you, a human, and me, a Demon Lord, are equals? King or no, a human is nothing more than livestock to me!”

Perhaps due to desperation, the [Black] Demon Lord was speaking frankly.

Or could this be arrogance brought by having a means to escape?

”I get what you're saying, [Black] Demon Lord. So much so, I think everyone should know your thoughts as well. And so, let the show begin.”

The preparations were done; all that's left was to begin.

And so, I retrieved and operated a small camera with an audio capturing mechanism. I had made such devices before, but they served little to no purpose within a dungeon, given that dungeon rooms and floors were each on a separate dimension and that only devices with certain magic could function between dungeon rooms as well as floors.

In this instance though, by transmitting whatever it had captured to the proper audience, it was doing wonders.

”Wha—what is this!? Is this your doing, Procell!?”

”But of course. I thought it would be best to reveal the true face of their exalted god”

”You bastard!”

Being displayed in the sky was the recording of the [Black] Demon Lord showing his ugly side: comparing humans to livestock and dismissing even the royal family as mere pawns. He had also repeatedly referred to himself as a Demon Lord.

To be more precise, we were using the [Divine Revelation]. I had sent the recorded video to the Dwarf Smiths that were on standby in another location. They then edited those recordings into the more streamlined version being displayed.

At any rate, this was sure to lower the faith of his believers.

His fanatics might not fall for it, but it should be enough for the regular believers.

This worked in favor of making the citizens of this city hate and hopefully abandon him and his Rigdolg Faith. Which would then eventually lead to the spread of my Holy Grail Faith.

”Master, I've been observing the city with my wind. Everyone seems to be in a daze. Except for some believers of the Rigdolg Faith, that is. They seem to going half mad.”

As expected, the impact of the transmission was great. Having information distribution abilities and persuasiveness unlike anything else in this world, this thing that Rorono made was truly amazing.

In just one moment, everyone in the capital knew of the [Black] Demon Lord's cruelty and true nature.

Alright, time for the final blow.

”And now, his majesty would like to make a speech.”