Volume 2, Chapter 6: Irritum’s Vanagloria, Part 4: This is why Demons are…
Demons and Angels were contrary entities. But it’s not like their existences were counterbalanced by one another.
Against the light released by Angels, the darkness a Demon could amass was easily cleared away.
No matter how powerful a Demon’s Skills may be, the disadvantages they were born with weren’t something so easily overturned.
My memory let oud a grating sound, and ached.
Even if I was up against a Demon of Pride powerful enough to repel my 『Judgement Rain』, in the end, there shouldn’t be any reason why I lost to one who hadn’t even reached Lord Leve.
… But, for some reason, the conclusion of our bout had been cleanly wiped from my recollection.
“Vanity-san? Are you finally losing your nerve at this point in time?”
“… How foolish.”
Faithfully following close to my rear, Hiero breathed out a whispering voice.
I accepted those words with a smile, and cast them away.
Losing my nerve?
I, the one who was once the closest in the heavens to God, am losing my nerve to nothing but a single Demon Lord, you say?
Useless provocations.
Anyone who embraces such an emotion has not the qualifications to become a Lord.
But at the same time, I was vigilant. I have no reason why I faced defeat the last time.
I’m sure Judgement Rain was blocked. Repelled, dissipated.
But still, I really can’t thing that something of that extent could triumph over the abilities I had at the time. Much less for one who wasn’t a Lord.
… And in actuality, I’m still right here without having lost any power.
Using the eyes of my subordinates, I observed the scene below. Their eyes had already reached the battlefield. Without wasting time, they raced straight through it.
Heard Lauder and Zebul Glaucus were approximately equal.
Heard with his godspeed mobility, and Zebul with her abnormal regeneration, and high offensive power. It looks like the Devourer’s more competent than I gave her credit for. Between them, there wasn’t as much difference as indicated by their Rank.
Right now, Hears Lauder is likely regretting his decision of trying to take care of Zebul before moving on to other matters. Even if he could only take them on one at a time, he should have chosen to deal with my Angels in the sky.
The current difference in ability. Heard had the advantage, but if he showed the smallest of openings, then the Devourer, with her Gula’s large area of effect would immediately send high level Skills at him. If he took a single one of those attacks, then the damage he’d suffer would be severe.
“So I’ll have to make a move… no.”
As long as I’ve yet to determine what sorts of trumpcards he has, negligence is forbidden.
And anyways, I have no reason to assist Zebul. Having them take each other out is the outcome most convenient to me, but I don’t think that’s possible… still, if they’re going at it this hard, then even the winner should have a considerable deficiency in power. I just have to wait patiently.
“… A~hn, I can’t see what’s going on at all~…! Vanity-san, Vanity-san, let’s ambush them…! It’s alright, while he’s fighting with Zebul, if you secretly send an attack from behind, then even that Heard-san will…”
“…”
Just what is this one saying?
I’ve decided to ignore this girl completely.
Of all things, Hiero seems to be trying to tease me. Just what was Leigie thinking when he took her on as his subordinate… no, perhaps she arbitrarily became one…
If he could be done in by a surprise attack, he’d be long dead by now!
In the first place, there’s no guarantee that Zebul’s my ally.
If I show the slightest negligence, then I don’t think that woman would have any qualms with swallowing me up from behind.
I give my subordinates some more power. I raise the flight speed some more.
I know. Among Superbia Skills, a long range attack… does not exist.
Heard Lauder has no means to stop a flock of Angels, and if he lets them by once, the until they reach the Castle of Shadows… until they reach his former master’s stronghold, there’s nothing to stop them.
Can your Pride permit such a thing? No, it can’t. That’s the sort of Demon he is.
“… In the end, that’s all there is to the man…”
“Vanity-san, just one hit! How about you just put in one nice hard blow! Just a single clean shot as you pass by!”
“… Do you happen to have some grudge against the man or something?”
“… No, not particularly. See, I’m your loyal, loyal subordinate, so I thought…”
Her nonchalant tone and figure as she averted her eyes was, no matter how you look at it, completely lacking in something called sincerity.
Heard… looks like you’ve had your share of troubles too.
I gave an order to the selfish Demon blessed with a twisted form of will-power. I just kinda want to get rid of her already.
“If you’re going to say that much, then why don’t you go forth, Hiero.”
“… Fweh!? Eeeeeh, no no no, look, I… don’t have any power, and…. I-i-i-it’s impossible. Heard-san is Rank one, you know? Demon Lord Rank One. I’ll be killed in a single breath. That person doesn’t know the meaning of holding back!”
“… Ku… ku ku… Power… power, is it? You say you don’t have power. Then very well… I’ll grant it to you!! With this power in hand, strike down Heard Lauder!! 『Outer Decorate』!”
If you want it, then take it! Now go, go, go already!
I put in much more power than when I first used on her. I still had a little left over. I’ll give her so much that she won’t be able to offer a single excuse anymore. I’ll stuff you so full, it would be a waste for such a small fry like you!
I’ll give you power to your hearts content. I’ll bet General Class is insufficient. I’ll keep pouring it in until you’re a splendid Demon Lord!
In the end, I had powered her to at least the level of a Lower Ranking Demon Lord. Among those in service to that Kanon Iralaude, she’d likely get within the top ten if ranked.
Perhaps she’s around the same level as those that are getting killed off by that Valkyrie, but there’s no doubt she’s a Demon Lord. If you were to compare it with her previous level, it’s likely over a hundred fold.
Noticing the power that had piled up in her own body, Hiero shuddered.
“Now, I gave it to you, Hiero. With this, there shouldn’t be a problem. Now go!”
“Ah… eh… for real… Wait… n-no, please wait a minute!! T-the truth is, I’m not actually a soldier!”
“Dammit… even after all that, you still plan on giving excuses!?”
“I-I mean, I don’t know how… to use my Skills at all, and… Ah, V-Vanity-san! Look, this presence is…!”
Honestly, I was quite irritated. For someone to piss me off more tha Heard, I don’t have any recollection of anything like that for the past few millennia.
If it’s like this, then even if she doesn’t put Heard off his guard, then taking away her personality, and giving her a new Persona may be my best bet.
However, it looks like I’m not going to have the time to do that.
“… What is the meaning of this? Why is she at a place like this…”
One of my subordinate Angels in my range of perception vanished.
Absolute flames. By that fire heralded as the strongest force in the Demon World, a number of those Angels’ bodies disappeared in an instant.
Flames of destruction. To reset everything, the flames of Ira.
The fact that she hadn’t entered my Zone was linked to why my recognition of her came late.
No, it’s because I never believed she’d be at a place like this. I mean, that one’s…
“Why is the Great Demon King on these lands!?”
“I-I don’t know, sir. Maybe she’s out on a walk?”
Oh, but of course!!
This is completely unexpected.
But having come this close, I felt it. Without a chance of misreading, this is the Great Demon King’s Mana.
The current generation’s Great Demon King… despite the Wrath that little girl Kanon governed, she had quite the calm, intellectual composure going on.
She didn’t do anything too illogical, and these days, she rarely ever goes out like Heard to solve the problems extending beyond her territory. Therefore, she’s easy to read. She’s certainly powerful, but that mind not to openly wander into danger was one I was sure wouldn’t get in my way.
And in that previous meeting, she didn’t even show any intent to go to the front lines.
The angels I created go down one after the other. Kanon was launching attacks on them.
Personally… she personally came to these lands just to wipe out an Angel Army of this level!?
No, even if that’s the case… I can’t let my concealment of Irritum break.
My plans are falling apart. It’s impossible. Against one possessing top class destructive power like her, this army of Angels is close to nothing.
I disperse my forces. In order to reduce the chances of being shot down as low as possible. But one by one, she began deleting those divided Angels moving at a considerable speed.
“This can’t be… this is bad…”
“For so many high ranking Demon Lords to gather in one place, how rare…”
Rare? It’s completely unheard of.
Perhaps regaining their momentum because of Kanon’s arrival, or because they lost the need to pay mind to the Angels above, the magnitude of the tremors below increased in scale.
And in the next instant, Kanon’s Mana swelled up.
It was a flash.
A wave of fire instantly spread over the sky, and died it a crimson that foretold the end of the world.
The heat wave swept over to burn up all creation. Its force worthy the name of Ruin.
That little girl… she used a high ranking Skill against opponents of far lower class…
There should be a limit to overkill.
The reactions I felt from the Angels went out all at once.
Against the fire coming at me from top to bottom, left to right, I used my own 『Overrule』.
It was an enormous amount of pure energy, fitting for her title.
She must be storing up quite a bit of rage over her everyday life.
“Ugwoooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!”
At most, it’s been ten thousand years and a little since her birth. Kanon’s accumulated years didn’t even match up to a tenth of mine.
My Overrule, the superiority I felt as a leader, the sentiment of supremacy I once felt as a Lord of Angels blocked the unavoidable flames, and began to extinguish them.
My power, my Mana is leaving me. The power I had stored up for so long, the power I’ve amassed, in order to avoid my absolute destruction, I have to unleash it.
I know not whether the flames had continued on for a few minutes, or perhaps only a number of seconds.
And in the end, I came out on top.
The sky cleared. Nothing remained within it.
Not even a trace of that heat was left behind. It was as if that phenomenon that had enveloped me had been part of a dream. But my expended Mana, and the continued nonexistence of my Angels indicated the reality of the matter.
Dammit.
With this, Heard has lost his reason for lament. With two High Level Demon Lords here, Zebul’s defeat is inevitable.
“Ku… 『Outer Decorate』!”
Of my army racing across the land… of my stock, I convert three of them into Angels.
Along with a pure white light, the rising false Angels were shot down with arrows of fire from the side, before leaving behind not even an ash as they burned away.
It ain’t gonna cut it, I see.
Our affinity is too bad. If it was Heard alone, that would be one thing, but even without wings, Kanon possessed the capability to destroy whatever troops I deployed to the sky.
I have five hundred units left in stock. But I can’t just convert all of them to Angels. It would look much too unnatural.
“Tsk… damn that little girl. She came to stand in my path at the worst possible time… my power… my power is insufficient.”
“Vanity-san… you know, you could have just dodged…”
Having calculatedly jumped off of her flying dragon to evade the fire in the sky, Hiero shouted to me from the ground. Her own mount had burned to death.
“SHUT THE HELL UUUUUUPPPP!!! DAMMIT, DAMMNN IT AAAAAAAAAALLLLL!”
I’m not enough. I cannot reach.
Three of them. Three Demon Lords of the highest class. No, even if it were just Heard and that little Kanon girl, I can’t think I’d be able to destroy them.
I looked down on Hiero. That one’s no good. That over there is trash. In the first place, a low rank Demon Lord won’t even buy time from those two.
My luck was in that I’d still managed to uphold my disguise. Neither my true face nor stature had been revealed. No, I can change both of them at will with my power.
Then should I run? I of all people would choose retreat? Can I permit such a thing?
No, no, no! You’re saying I, I’m going to flee before Kanon and Heard Lauder?
Permit… there’s no way I could do that.
“Vanity-san, calm… calm down! Please calm down, and give me some more power!”
“… What?”
Of all things, that trash was saying some incomprehensible things with an earnest expression.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Please listen carefully, Vanity-san!”
Her blue eyes were sparkling.
Her arms were forcedly folded, and while she stared at me, I couldn’t feel any sincerety from her. Just what is loyalty supposed to be to that girl?
“The enemies number two, what’s more, against Kanon-san and Heard-san, even you would be in nothing but a tight spot, Vanity-san. Because it would be two on one.”
“As stands to reason. Now try going on.”
“And so, it’s time for your loyal, loyal subordinate Hiero to shine! If I’m by your side, that makes it two versus two, and at the very least, we’ll have a tie in numbers. But with my current powers, be it against Kanon-san or against Heard-san, I won’t last for anything more than an instant.”
“I see… meaning what you’re saying is that if I pack some more power into you, you’ll take on one of the two. That’s what you want to say, correct?”
This bitch, as if someone of your level could take on either of them.
Even if you had an overwhelming difference in power, you’d lose out in battle experience. In the first place, you said it yourself, did you not? That you weren’t even a soldier.
There’s nothing left to hear from you.
Hearing my words, Hiero seemed to have some difficulty speaking on.
“No… I likely won’t be able to stand up to either… but I will cheer you on, I assure you. Aha.”
“THEN YOU DON’T NEED ANY POOWEEER, RIGHT!!!? DAMMMNNN TRAAAAASASSSSHHHH!! Are you perhaps trying to make a fool of me!! What about it?”
Damn. This one just keeps on saying things to egg on my animosity!
I don’t care anymore. I’ve wasted my time. Let’s just… confiscate my power back from her already.
If I get back whatever I granted to her, it won’t amount to anything great. But it’s infinitely better than leaving it to her.
I dismounted the dragon. Whatever the case, since I’ve become unable to use my Angels, my options have been divided into retreat, or attack.
I glared at Hiero, who was standing upright on the ground. Come to think of it, I get the feeling that fate abandoned me the moment I took you in as a subordinate.
So be it. As the greatest sympathy I can offer, I’ll give you a painless death.
The moment I extended my arm to try to take back my power, Hiero frowned.
“Ah, but… it’s that… they seem to be fighting one another now.”
“… What?”
The Manas of Pride and Gluttony and Wrath mingled to raise a powerful whirlwind.
From the eyes of my army halted a distance away, Hiero was, sure enough, telling the truth.
Heard’s fist was directed at the flames surrounding Kanon, and Zebul’s Wave of Starvation expanded explosively to swallow all of them altogether. This malice, this spirit, this scenery, they truly were going at each other’s throats.
By what logic do the Demon Lords under the same banner start fighting one another? What’s more, one of the three is the Great Demon King, you know.
This dreadful lack of cooperation. In the tens of thousands of years since I fell to Demonhood, I think I’ve come to understand it, but… damn, this is why I hate Demons!
“This is starting to feel stupid, so I’m going home, okay… How about you return as well, Vanity-san? No, it’s not like I’ll stop you if you want to participate in that battle front…”
Hiero arbitrarily mounted herself on the dragon I had gotten off of.
Yes, this truly is starting to feel stupid. It’s stupid, and I can’t understand the reason either, but this woman sure does say some unbelievable things.
Still, that three-way-struggle… no, participating in that battle royal truly will be a pointless waste of power.
There was a clear tendency when there were two of them fighting, but now, it’s just beginning to become complicated. Originally, those of the same camp should have been cooperating, but it does look like Kanon is aiming at Heard of her own volition.
On the other hand, Heard is putting up an equal fight, and I’m not sure where that confidence of his comes from, but it seems his present level os power is still rising. All three of them held the sins with the highest offensive capabilities, and it wouldn’t be strange for one of them to come out on top over a single incident.
While I was stuck hesitating, the flying dragon had taken to the skies, and left. I failed to take back my power.
… But, right. That girl was surely quite clever. For her to be capable of that in this situation… it all just goes to show that I’ve much learn…
I sighed. Seriously, why is Kanon here… on top of that, this fight seems endless.
The minimum goal of me sending Angels out has been accomplished, but it looks like I’ll have to go work over my plan again.
Of all else, I should start searching into Kanon’s intentions, and her personality… My number of troops has also declined considerably. I’ll have to supplement those as well.
Perfectly at that moment, at the very end of the end, I heard Hiero’s voice from up high.
“Ah, Vanity-san. One more thing I might add… You’ve cut off your 『Abyss Zone』 for now, so perhaps you haven’t noticed it, but… it seems like a white presence is headed in our direction, so if you don’t want to take it on, I highly recommend you change your location. Because based on where you’re standing, you’ll be the first one in its path. Kusu kusu kusu, today sure was lively.”
She said whatever she wanted, before the shadow of the flying dragon disappeared into the distant sky. I’m not sure where to, but surely so as not to get herself involved. In the opposite direction from the Castle of Shadows.
Was that report she gave at the end her form of loyalty? … Well, I guess it’s something better than zero.
A white presence… white, is it? All of the Angels I created have been expended. And that means that what’s left is either another one that wandered down from Heaven, or perhaps the true Valkyrie.
Whatever the case, she’s not my enemy, but… if I’m found, it really will be a pain. Even if I can hide my own presence, I can do nothing to the white one coming closer.
But I’m doubtful as to whether those three will notice while they’re so focused on one another…
Now then, what should I do?
As I tilted my head to think, I did indeed pick up that entity in my perception. It was surprisingly close.
Regardless of the fact I had concealed my presence, that entity was coming straight in my direction like an arrow. The distance was something around one kilometer. A considerable speed, and even if I retreated, it’s likely it would catch up to me.
I activated a Skill of Pride. It was a Skill to leave behind the flow of time. It’s been quite a long time since I last used it. My cognizance sharpened, and time around me slowed by several levels.
And I used the smallest possible movements to dodge the woman clad in light coming down at me from up high, smashed her sword of light, and implanted my fist into her head.
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