Volume 9 Chapter 15 (2/2)

Kuina then stood up and raised her right hand. Her left hand dangled there, unmoving, leading me to think that it was broken.

And then, her right hand was ablaze with golden red flames.

She knew half-assed flames wouldn't work on the [Pig] Demon Lord as he was now, so ever since she threw away her shotgun, Kuina had been continuously amassing power all while buying for some time by enduring and avoiding attacks.

”[Golden Crimson Jewel]!”

She shouted so and fired off a flame from her right hand.

Despite pouring as much power as she could into that attack, it was only the size of fist. It even looked ordinary. However, it was greatly dense. Moreover, the flame she used was the primordial flame which burned everything it touched. It was the concept of burning itself. No matter how tough an object was, this flame would burn it.

And thanks to [Precognition], it was a guaranteed hit.

The compressed flame travelled at the speed of light and hit the [Pig] Demon Lord's right arm which was covered with his dark power. As to be expected of the primordial flame, it burned all of the right arm. The black aura, the outer shell, the muscles, the bones, all of it was burned. However…

”It's not enough!?”

It wasn't that her flame was ineffective. It still burned everything up to his shoulder, after all. It was just that there was simply too much of the [Pig] Demon Lord to burn.

Even though her flame could burn anything, it consumed a lot of energy in exchange. So, even though Kuina gave her all to it, it was only able to burn an arm.

”AgaGAgagaGA!!”

When the [Pig] Demon Lord roared like that, the right arm that was burned away grew back.

Only this time, the new arm's muscles and outer shell were bigger and thicker than before.

He grew stronger!?

And then, as though an idea popped into his head, he punched at Kuina even though she was several meters away.

After having a look of surprise in her face, she was sent flying until she hit a wall. The wind pressure of the punch alone was enough to send Kuina flying!

He then punched the air several more times. Kuina was hit and hit and hit and hit, each one making her sink deeper and deeper into the wall.

Several hits later, the [Pig] Demon Lord finally stopped and the tattered Kuina fell forward.

”Agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Killllllllllllllll! Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllll!”

The [Pig] Demon Lord screamed once more.

Any trace of reason was gone from his eyes. It seemed like the stronger his Awakening made him, the less of what little intelligence he had remained.

The price of power and some such.

…truth be told, I became a little afraid.

Up until this moment, I had always made light of the Demon Lords in the so-called anti-Procell alliance, regarding them as nothing more than second-rate Demon Lords that couldn't win against me by themselves.

In actuality though, even a single Demon Lord, albeit one that threw away everything he held dear in exchange for immeasurable power, was showing power that rivaled and perhaps even exceeded even Kuina, my trump card.

Perhaps the [Pig] Demon Lord is just special, an exception, I wanted to believe. But such optimistic hopes were irresponsible. There might come a time we would have to deal with several of such fiends at the same time.

At any rate, the [Pig] Demon Lord seemed to have lost interest in Kuina and was now looking at me.

…is this how far their fight goes? Should I end it?

There was already a Transfer array under my feet, and the moment he comes at me, an Abyss Howl would pick up Kuina and use Transfer to help us escape. Meanwhile, the Abyss Howl stationed in the crystal room would be given the order to break the crystal.

We would win that way, but that would also deny Kuina the chance to keep her promise of prevailing against the [Pig] Demon Lord. Even at this point, I wanted to believe she was going to keep her word.

”Kuina, are you giving up? If you don't get up, I'm going to end this [War].”

Prepared to draw even more of the [Pig] Demon Lord's attention, I shouted so.

Rorono and Tiro then moved in front of me, ready to protect me. Even if they too couldn't defeat the [Pig] Demon Lord, their efforts could stall him for several seconds at the very least.

”Proceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll! Kiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllllllllll”

Even in this state of madness he can remember my name? Well, consider me flattered.

The [Pig] Demon Lord rushed toward me.

Rorono wore her [Mechanized Warmaiden] while Tiro gathered magic power. The many Abyss Howls nearby also used [Dark Roar] and put a very slight but still valuable weakening effect on the [Pig] Demon Lord.

I ordered my monsters to prioritize buying for time. If they focused on defense, they should be able hold on for quite a while.

”It's not over yet. Kuina hasn't lost.”

Kuina, with great effort, stood up and said so.

At that, I smiled a little.

”Then, fight. The next time you fall down, it's over.”

Her courage aside, the fact that she was wounded all over remained.

To be honest, I wanted to end the fight right away and not risk losing her.

But Kuina decided to continue. Given that, and the small part of me that wanted to see her grow despite the risks, I decided to give her one last chance.

”'Kay, Kuina won't fall again”

She seemed like she was going to try something, but given her state, she might not have enough power.

…then, should I help out a little?

A Demon Lord and his [Monsters of the Covenant] were connected.

The stronger the [Monsters of the Covenant], the stronger the Demon Lord was.

The reverse was also true. So, the stronger I was, the stronger Kuina was too.

At the moment, there was only one way for me to get stronger: [Awakening].

I activated that and the dark power that I hid within me began to overflow.

My desires engulfed me. The filthy me that I kept in check has now come to the surface.

”AhahahAHHAHAHAhahahaa… I almost got too excited again”

If it was the previous me, I would have been consumed by this dark power.

Thankfully, Marcho had taught me how to control it. The first steps were to recognize that this filthy me— even those desires—was a part of me and learn to manage it.

And so, I took a deep breath.

I was the usual me. The one loved by my girls.

I was the Demon Lord who, instead of feeding off of humans' despairs and griefs, decided to make a city so that I could live happily with the humans and with my monsters.

Through my connection with Kuina, the overflowing power poured into her.

When she noticed this, she smiled and then wrapped her body with her golden flames.

”Oto-san, thank you. I can definitely win now.”

Kuina said so and smiled again.

I had no idea what she was planning to do, but I fully believed she would overcome her limit once again.

TL note: Her golden flames are different from her golden red flames. This is more of a reminder for myself because I somehow have this idea that ”it's a flame, saying it has red is redundant”. I don't think I've made the error of omitting it, but just in case lol.

And while I was checking on previous chapters, I'm kind of amused that in the she used her golden flames. Retcon or advance planning, I don't mind which, I'm amused.