Chapter 145: The decisive battle in the Demonic Forest (6)
“Bye bye, human!” (Setekh)
The one who suddenly appeared was the Demon Lord confidant, Setekh.
His whole body having small cracks on his whole body is the same as before, but what’s different are those bright red eyes that are shining fierily in the place that were hollow in the past.
So those are the legendary Petrification Eyes!
“…”
“…”
And then, we looked at each other for a while.
Setekh was looking at me with a puzzled expression.
(Eh? What’s with this silence?) (Makoto)
“…”
“…”
Setekh-san was tilting his head and didn’t do anything.
Should I try attacking?
“Water Spirit Clad: [Water Blade].” (Makoto)
I used Spirit Magic and tried shooting sword magic.
A giant blade of magic attacks Setekh.
“Uoooh!” (Setekh)
Setekh makes a bridge, overreacting to the water blade as he avoids it.
Matrix?
Or more like, that looked really easy for him.
Even though it was kind of a surprise attack.
“T-This is strange… Why are you not petrifying…? Then, directly!” (Setekh)
Fast!
Speed on the level of Sa-san or Geralt, or even faster than that!
The gigantified pitch black claw of Setekh rushes my way aiming to reap off my life.
E-[Evade]!
Damn it, I won’t be able to avoid it!
*Shuan!*
A dull sound was made as the claw of Setekh was repelled.
““Eh?””
Setekh and I let out voices of surprise at the same time.
“O-One more time!” (Setekh)
The giant claw was repelled once again.
*Shuaaan*
A few centimeters before the claw could hit me, it gets stopped by some sort of invisible cushion.
This is Noah-sama’s God Armor, huh.
As expected of a spell that I had to give lifespan for, it has astounding effectiveness.
The sound effect is pretty pathetic though.
(By the way, if you have God Armor on, you can stay unscathed even when charging into the stratosphere.) (Noah)
I can imagine Noah-sama pushing her chest out proudly at that.
Seriously?
“I-Impossible… The Petrification Eyes don’t work, and my attacks are not even reaching…” (Setekh)
Setekh-san falls with both hands on the ground.
Yeah, I am also surprised.
(What should I do… Setekh is also an important enemy, but…) (Makoto)
I glance at the petrified Wind Tree Hero.
Maximilian-san…
I will have Furiae-san undo the petrification curse!
Please wait a bit there.
And so, I glared at the Immortal King Bifrons’s reincarnating body that’s pushing out an overwhelming presence even now at my back.
This guy is my highest priority.
I approach this monster that’s like a giant building with my dagger in hand.
“W-Wait, please! Could you possibly be the Apostle of the Evil God, Noah-sama?! Why are you opposing us?! Didn’t you fight together with us 1,000 years ago against the Heroes of the Holy Gods?!” (Setekh)
Setekh calls me.
Geh, he noticed, huh.
Setekh didn’t have eyes before, so this should be his first time seeing me though.
“I am sorry, but I can’t be the ally of the Great Demon Lord this time around.” (Makoto)
It is not like I am the ally of the Holy Gods either though.
There’s no assurance that I will be taking over the objective of my predecessor.
I am the ally of Noah-sama, and the enemy of the world.
“No way! Why?!” (Setekh)
Why?
Uhm, if I remember correctly, Noah-sama said it a long time ago…
“1,000 years ago, I heard that your God betrayed Noah-sama.” (Makoto)
Right, Noah-sama?
(Yeah! I was deceived by Typhon! I won’t believe him anymore!) (Noah)
Right right, Noah-sama was lied to 1,000 years ago.
Noah-sama seems easy to deceive after all.
(Eh?!) (Noah)
(Pfft, Noah, Mako-kun is telling you off~.) (Eir)
(Shut up, Eir. Take this!) (Noah)
(Haha! You’re too slow!) (Eir)
My head is noisy.
There’s no tension at all.
“…Is that so. Our God scrapped their promise towards the Evil God…” (Setekh)
Setekh droops his shoulders in sadness.
“I wanted to fight side by side with the Apostle-dono of Noah-sama again.” (Setekh)
There was grief in the voice of Setekh.
Making that face makes me feel a bit bad for him.
But I won’t be going to their side.
I don’t say anything and face Bifrons.
“…The current Apostle-dono of Noah-sama, did you know this? 1,000 years ago, the Immortal King Bifrons was called the most beautiful noble within all the demons.” (Setekh)
“…Is that so.” (Makoto)
I didn’t know that.
Right now he is a tentacle monster though.
It currently ain’t beautiful.
Anyways, how should I defeat a monster this big?
“But it has now turned into this pitiful figure. I was told I reincarnated in the same appearance as I was before, but…Archbishop Isaac-dono, this is way different from what you told me…” (Setekh)
I see. So the figure of this Demon Lord was unexpected for Setekh too.
He thought he would be able to meet his superior again, but he has now become a weird monster. It must have been shocking.
Even so, we are currently enemies of opposite ends, so I don’t know if we should be having this leisure talk.
“Aren’t you going to stop me from defeating the Demon Lord?” (Makoto)
I ended up asking, feeling strange at the fact that Setekh has lost his hostility.
“The one here isn’t the Bifrons-sama I know… Also, I can’t even touch you. I have never felt as powerless as today. In that case, it is my duty to watch until the very end.” (Setekh)
“…How admirable.” (Makoto)
Oh well, it would trouble me if he were persistently getting in the way.
If he says he is going to silently watch, I am not gonna complain.
But I can’t think of a way to defeat him.
(Makoto, at the very center of the giant monster, there’s the Reincarnation Spell’s core of Bifrons. Eir will lend you her power with the dagger, so rush in and defeat the body of Bifrons.) (Noah)
Eeh, are you serious, Noah-sama?
Against that giant monster that has a whole lot of wiggly tentacles?
Even if I were to cut that giant body with this dagger, I don’t think it will be able to reach.
If I want to deal damage to it, it would have to be from the inside.
(There’s no other options, and no time…) (Makoto)
I sigh and move forward.
Several hundreds of tentacles wrap around my body trying to capture me, and those tentacles get repelled by the God Armor of Noah-sama, so they couldn’t reach my body.
But the tentacles try to wrap around the God Armor.
Is this really going to be okay…?
“A-Are you going to plunge in just like that?! I think even I would die if I were to be captured by the current Bifrons-sama though… So this is the Divine Protection of an Evil God-sama… Haha, no wonder I couldn’t match you.” (Setekh)
Setekh raised his voice in shock, and let out a dry laugh.
Noah-sama, you are being praised.
(Fufu, go ahead and praise me more—wait, there’s no time for that! Hurry, Makoto!) (Noah)
Oh, right.
The time limit is closing in.
But you yourself were also playing.
“Alright, let’s go.” (Makoto)
Onwards to defeat the Demon Lord!
I face the Demon Lord and held my dagger.
“Apostle-dono of Noah-sama, Bifrons-sama probably doesn’t have any of his will left, but…please give him my regards.” (Setekh)
I lightly nod at the voice of Setekh, and proceed in the direction where several hundreds of tentacles are trying to pull me over.
The giant monster opens its big mouth.
The inside of the mouth was dark and had a creepy color, it was like the entrance to hell.
Woah, scary!
Clear Mind: 99%!
(Don’t hesitate. Charge onward!) (Makoto)
I hopped right into the mouth of the monster.
And then, I was swallowed by the darkness just like that.
(I can’t see anything.) (Makoto)
So this is the insides of a monster, huh…
This is obvious, but this is my first time being eaten by a monster.
I thought it would be more suffocating, but -I don’t know if it is because of the God Armor- I don’t really feel anything weird.
The footing is soft and flabby, making it hard to walk.
And there’s something gooey coiling around my body.
Noah-sama’s God Armor is repelling that.
(I should try it out.) (Makoto)
[Sacrificial Technique: Offering].
I ask of Eir-sama and try to cut the surroundings with my dagger.
There’s no response.
Hm?
(Mako-kun~, search for the body of Bifrons. You have to stab that.) (Eir)
It is so dark I can’t see at all though.
(It is okay~, you just have to walk straight forward.) (Eir)
I can’t even get a grasp of the direction here.
(You will be pulled into it on your own, so it is okay.) (Noah)
Is that how it works?
Let’s believe in Noah-sama.
I advanced in the darkness for a while.
I could hear some sort of groans like those of malice in my ear.
Is this the otherworld?
I haven’t fallen into hell, I hope?
I want to return quickly.
Something suddenly appeared in front of me.
(…What’s this?) (Makoto)
Projections were appearing and disappearing around me.
Those projections showed videos of war.
Persecution of devilkins.
Small children being sold as slaves.
And…there’s a massive amount of corpses lying around.
It wasn’t stuff that’s pleasant to watch.
(Is this a mental attack from the Demon Lord…?) (Makoto)
I try not to look too much at it and continue walking.
Suddenly, the heap of corpses disappear.
The scene changed.
There was a small boy in the projection.
He was isolated in his class.
The boy was gaming the whole time.
The boy had no friends.
The boy is…
(This is…me?) (Makoto)
What was showing there was me in my childhood.
W-What’s this?
Is it replaying my past memories?
I was playing video games the whole time in my childhood.
It isn’t fun to watch.
But is there some sort of meaning to it?
(Hey, Noah, is this some sort of spell that makes the target have a mental breakdown from looking at it?) (Makoto)
(Yeah, but it is pointless on you, Makoto.) (Noah)
(Uwaah, mind attacks really don’t work on you at all.) (Eir)
I hear a conversation I couldn’t just ignore.
Eh? This is that dangerous of a spell?
(You don’t need to mind it, Makoto.) (Noah)
(Of course I will mind it!) (Makoto)
Eventually the videos of my past disappear.
It once again goes back to complete darkness.
This is tiring.
Also, the inside of this monster is way too vast.
I am sure that the space here is warped.
After a little while more passes…
A white something appears in the darkness.
A humanoid shaped something.
I hurriedly approach it.
Pure white skin, pure white hair.
With eyes closed, it looked like it was sleeping.
Or maybe dead.
He had the beauty of a woman, but seeing his naked body, I can tell it is a man.
That pretty man was held by many black hands and is hanging in midair.
(That’s the Demon Lord, Bifrons.) (Noah)
(Get him real good☆.) (Eir)
They say it so nonchalantly.
It is as if I am attacking him in his sleep and it just doesn’t feel right.
(If he revives, the Wood Country falls, and it will bring unprecedented damage to the Water Country…) (Makoto)
As a Hero, it is an enemy I have to defeat no matter what.
I am sorry, Setekh.
[Sacrificial Technique: Offering].
I pray to Eir-sama and prepare my dagger.
I was about to stab it into the chest of the man when…
“?!”
Those bright red eyes open.
He grabbed the hand that I was holding the dagger of Noah-sama with.
Crap, he was conscious?
I got close too carelessly?
I pull the dagger back hurriedly and take distance.
But the open eyes of the Demon Lord were blank.
I don’t know what he is looking at, but his eyes were unfocused.
Setekh said that he has lost his sense of self.
At first, he would look around restlessly.
The Demon Lord Bifrons speaks.
“I…how much time has passed…since I was defeated by the aggravating Hero Abel…? …What’s…with this body…?”
He was articulating his words as if his mind just wasn’t in the right place.
It seems his consciousness isn’t remaining properly.
Now then, what to do…
But Bifrons met eyes with me, and his expression changed drastically.
“Why are YOU here?!” (Bifrons)
…Eh?
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