Volume 7 Chapter 16 (2/2)

I said so and then pointed the camera and mic to the king.

Right away, the video in the sky shifted from the [Black] Demon Lord to the king. At that, many of the capital's citizens were surprised.

”My beloved countrymen, I imagine you all surprised at what you are seeing in the sky. This is the work done by the Holy Grail Faith. Through a mysterious method, I am able to send my form and voice to all of you at once. As for why I am commissioning their help, it's because I have something that I would like to tell you all.”

Right after saying those words, the king took a pause. As expected of a king, he had a way with words.

”For so long, we have followed the Rigdolg Faith as our state religion. For so long, we have revered its god, Balam-sam—no, just Balam is more than enough. When in fact, he sees each and every one of us as livestock and usable pawns. He will kill us all—even nobles and royalty—if it fits his liking. I think such a being does not deserve to be called a god, but rather a demon! And I cannot let such a demon control our lives any further. So, from this day forth, I, as the king of the Axela Kingdom, hereby declare our separation from the Rigdolg Faith!”

I didn't expect the king to go so far in his speech. I thought he was just going to assert his rule while still utilizing the Rigdolg Faith's ability to unite his people.

Instead, he separated from them, even at the risk of making enemies out of them. But then again, if one ever wanted to break ties with royalty, attempting to murder them should be on the top of the list.

After the king's speech, the [Divine Revelation] ended, and the [Black] Demon Lord, who had remained silent all that while, spoke.

”So, the reason you didn't kill me right away was so that you can draw such ill remarks from me. You've done it now, you little shit.”

”Well, I'm not done yet, actually. Did you really think it will end after just one city?”

We had gathered enough materials.

After some refinement, we could produce an even more shocking video that would be enough to bring his influence to the gutter. In an information war, this video was going to be far more persuasive than any rumor I could spread. After all, his own face and voice was going to be in it. At the very least, it was going to sow doubt into the hearts of the humans.

”I won't let it end like this. Procell, I am going to make you pay for your crimes.”

Those words of his served as the cue for the artificial heroes to take action, launching their attacks all at once.

”Kuina, protect me. Aura, take the royal family and withdraw from here.”

Hearing my command, Kuina readied her shotgun.

Meanwhile, Aura took the royal family into a carriage, told the driver to go, and served as its escort.

And then, I issued out one more command.

”Ruru, kill that scum.”

”Leave it to me, patron.”

Ruru extended a hand forward and then closed it tight into a fist.

Right when she did, the water cage holding the [Black] Demon Lord collapsed inward, compressing itself and all within it. The water cage became the size of a sugar cube. A bloody sugar cube.

”Sorry, patron, he escaped. His flesh has been crushed, but somehow, his soul was pulled elsewhere.”

”I was told his abilities were very versatile, but I didn't think he could do even this.”

Inferring from what Ruru said, it seemed like that by dying, the [Black] Demon Lord's ability activated and his soul was transferred into another body. In my opinion, there was no way the [Black] Demon Lord would be in perfect condition after that. And since it was such a risky move, the place he transferred to shouldn't be too far.

As if to prove my guess, even though there was such a vast difference between our forces, the angel-type monsters were swooping down from the sky to aid the artificial heroes instead of withdrawing. The fact that they weren't pulling back suggested they were doing their best to grab our attention so that the [Black] Demon Lord could fully escape.

When I was thinking of such things, I felt something from my shadow.

”You have a lot of nerve to do this, Procell. No other idiot has ever sullied my reputation like this.”

He's sending his voice through my shadow? Talk about versatility.

”Well, I did say before that I hated you, didn't I? In the first place, wasn't it you that started this all by harassing me?”

He was the first one to escalate things by sending his believers to Avalon. Someone like that shouldn't issue any complaints.

”…don't you have any respect for your seniors?”

”I do. You're just not worth it.”

Who would respect such scum?

For a moment there, his voice stopped. Most likely, he had distanced himself far away enough that his voice didn't reach me through my shadow.

”No more half measures. We've come this far, let's see this to the end… until either one of us falls, Procell.”

”Fine by me.”

It was practically a declaration of war. He was going to start attacking seriously from now on. If so, I had a proposal in mind.

”[Black] Demon Lord Balam, we could both do without the escalation of harassments. So, why don't we settle this like the Demon Lords that we are: through [War]. Or are you scared? Are you only good at scheming things and not in head-on battles?”

”What a poor provocation, but I'll play along. However, I would be the one to decide when it will be held. And I say we do it nine days later. The winner will be the one to destroy the other's crystal… wait. You're a new Demon Lord and would have your crystal replaced if it's broken within the year. That doesn't sound fair, does it? So, as an additional condition, if I win, you shall serve me for the rest of your life.”

”That seems disadvantageous to me. In that case, I'll add a condition of my own. How about this?”

And so, I laid a trap. The best part was I knew he would accept.

”Very well. In 9 days, we would have our [War].”

Once a [War] had begun, there was no going back. After all, we couldn't exit the white space our dungeons were going to be transported to.

After we both agreed to the terms, I heard a voice in my head. It belonged to the Creator.

>

When I looked at my surroundings, the angel-type monsters and artificial heroes that didn't leave were hunted down. In the end, the only ones left standing were Kuina and the Avalon-Ritters.

”Oto-san, Kuina contributed a lot!”

”Great job.”

I praised her so and brushed her head. While I did that, I also wondered how stronger I could get within nine days.

The [War] being nine days away was most likely not a random choice. After all, it was just enough to deny me of making a new [Creation] medal. It seemed like he actually knew that detail.

”Normally speaking, it won't be in time. Normally, that is… but if he does know things about me, he would know that my weakness is the other dimension and exploit it.”

For things on the other dimension, I primarily relied on just Ruru. And though she was strong, she was more geared toward intelligence gathering than battle. Moreover, she couldn't use her trump card anymore. Since if ever she did, her body, along with her mind, would transform into something else—something grotesque—and never revert back. I just couldn't let that happen to her.

He's surely going for that. And because of that, I could catch him off guard using the reward from my previous [War]. At any rate, I should return to Avalon and prepare as soon as possible. The [Black] Demon Lord is a formidable enemy. I have to do my best to prepare in the short span of nine days in order to win.