Chapter 365
In the heart of the Demon King’s castle, shrouded in thick darkness, lay the chamber of the throne.
Hero Eric and Dragon Priestess Alice carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
‘In this room, the Demon King…!’
In reality, Alice didn’t know the exact location of the Demon King.
Before entering the castle, she had used various spells to grasp the structure of the castle and the magical powers of the beings roaming within… but she couldn’t distinguish whether they were the Demon King or not.
The spells Alice used were clairvoyance magic, magical detection spells, and terrain projection spells.
By reproducing the internal terrain through terrain projection magic, she created a map of the castle and transferred the locations of magical powers detected within to that map, completing the internal map after confirming the presence of a being with magical powers through clairvoyance.
While she could identify the position of what she suspected to be the Demon King, the clairvoyant magic couldn’t fully reveal the Demon King’s form, either due to his influence or other reasons.
All Alice could ascertain was that the structure resembled the emperor’s audience chamber, with a large throne sitting atop the highest dais.
Thus, the room had been dubbed the throne room.
‘It’s a pity that my journey with Eric is coming to an end…! But we must soon move on to the next stage!’
「Next stage?」
‘Yes, there is such a thing!’
Hmm… to be contemplating future plans in front of the Demon King. Truly an extraordinary girl.
In any case, Hero Eric and Dragon Priestess Alice entered the room where they believed the Demon King awaited.
A desolate chamber devoid of the essence of life. A room that was full of darkness, with not a glimmer of light.
In that room, which contained nothing but the Demon King’s magical power, the hero and the priestess took their steps.
A dark room where not even a step ahead could be seen. Inside, Alice conjured a barrier to completely seal off the room, creating a light of magical power to illuminate it.
Despite the dangerous act of producing light in the heart of enemy territory, Alice hesitated not at all.
[You have come….]
From the moment they stepped into that room, there would have been no way to avoid detection by the Demon King.
As the sensation of the space itself shook, a voice echoed.
The voice sounded both male and female, simultaneously childlike and elderly.
The identity of this unknown voice echoed again.
[I have been waiting. Hero and Dragon Priestess.]
The voice of the being presumed to be the Demon King rang out. However, the figure of the Demon King was nowhere to be seen.
In the room illuminated by the light, there was nothing but an empty crystal throne.
“Where’s the Demon King…? Is he hiding his form?”
At the hero Eric’s words, Alice shook her head slightly.
“No. We are already facing the Demon King.”
“The Demon King…?”
Alice looked at the throne with cold eyes.
No, she gazed at the overwhelming magical power emanating from that throne.
“Could it be that the identity of the Demon King is an unmoving throne?”
“The throne…?”
Holding her staff, Sephirot, Alice pointed it toward the throne.
KWAAM!!!
Without a moment’s hesitation, she unleashed a beam of pure magical energy.
At the speed of light, the strike landed almost simultaneously with its firing—an instantaneous assault that an opponent of the Demon King’s generals wouldn’t be able to react to.
KUUUUNG!!
However, the beam of magical power shot by Alice was blocked by a wall of darkness and shattered into pieces.
[You are quite hasty.]
“Tch. So it won’t end easily, huh?”
“A barrier…? I see no signs of the magical power moving.”
“The overwhelming density of the magical power naturally blocks external magical powers. Calling it a barrier might even be ambiguous.”
Alice began to analyze the Demon King coldly.
“If we’re just talking about the volume of magical power, then I’m equal. No, the Demon King perhaps has even more. Did he deceive my detection?”
[Deceive? You blame others for your shortcomings? How amusing. And you call yourself a representative of the Goddess.]
At the Demon King’s voice, Alice clicked her tongue.
To be fair, her magical detection spell might have been a little lacking—but she simply couldn’t detect more power than her own capacity.
What Alice overlooked was the possibility that the Demon King’s magical power might actually be greater than hers.
Well, she had never encountered a being with magical power even close to hers. So she would have thought the Demon King wouldn’t either.
[Though I wish to commend you for making it this far…. Unfortunately, the moment I have long yearned for is upon us.]
A faint hint of joy seeped into the Demon King’s voice.
[At last, the time has come to reclaim what was mine. How could I not be joyful?]
“The Demon King’s what…? That chair that can’t even budge!”
After spitting out those crude words, Alice summoned her power.
“Eric. What should we do?”
“We can’t back down now that we’ve come this far. We have no choice but to fight.”
“Just as I thought?”
As Eric readied for battle at Alice’s words, he gripped the sword that had saved his life countless times.
The massive greatsword responded to Eric’s will and transformed into a sleek sword clad in white armor.
Hero Eric, donned in silver armor, stood in front of Alice, raising his sword protectively.
“Just like always?”
“Just like always.”
Simultaneously, Alice’s magical power nestled within Eric’s body, unleashing its effects.
Increasing strength, physical resilience, and regenerative capabilities. From heightened reflexes to increased cognitive speed, all enhancement spells were cast upon Eric by Alice.
With all those enhancement magics enveloping him, Eric had obtained the strength to take down a wyvern single-handedly.
“All set. Ready to go.”
“Thank you, Alice.”
Strengthened by Alice’s magic, Hero Eric pinned down the enemies at the front, while Alice unleashed various types of magic to wreak havoc from the back—a straightforward strategy.
That was their basic strategy.
[Hmm… just two of you. Then it’s only polite I even up the numbers on my side.]
As the Demon King’s words faded, the shadow of the throne began to expand and rise, forming a shape.
A knight clad in black armor, wielding a shapeless sword.
The dark knight.
“Ugh… why that guy of all people?”
“Well, it was to be expected.”
Alice said that while glaring at the dark knight and channeling her power.
“You know, I can’t beat that guy alone.”
“I’m well aware. So….”
Alice smiled slightly.
So far, it was all within her expectations.
“Just hold him for five seconds.”
“Five seconds?! That’s way too long!”
“I know five seconds is long. But if you hold him for that long, we can seal him for sure!”
Hero Eric bit his lip for a moment and then nodded slightly.
It might be reckless, but it was something that had to be done.
He could do anything for her.
“Okay. Five seconds. I’ll do my best to hold him.”
“Thank you, Eric.”
[Hmm… you think I’ll just stand by and watch?]
As the Demon King spoke, a thick darkness stretched out from the throne, enveloping the two.
“Hmph! I’m quite used to dealing with shadows and darkness!!”
Alice, witnessing the approaching shadows ready to envelop her and Eric, stabbed the end of her staff into the ground, causing brilliant light to spread from that point.
Light that illuminated the darkness. Darkness that swallowed the light. The two forces were closely matched, each neutralizing the other as they both pushed and pulled evenly.
“Your magical power may exceed mine…. But your utilization of it is severely lacking! You lack practical experience!!”
“Practical experience, huh…. It’s coming! Alice!”
At that moment, the dark knight moved.
The massive knight, larger than an ordinary adult male, lunged in an instant toward Alice and swung its formless sword.
“Haah!”
CLANK!!
As metal clashed against metal, a shockwave burst out, scattering throughout the room.
A shockwave strong enough to feel the air of the room shake. Yet, there was no one in that room who would be swayed by such a shockwave.
Eric and the dark knight swung their swords at each other as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The formless sword scraped repeatedly against the hero’s armor, but the hero calmly weathered the attacks.
Each strike was threatening, yet the defensive power of the silver armor was sufficient to endure.
As long as he was careful of the unprotected areas, the attacks from the dark knight could be endured.
However.
“Ugh! Did it change again?!”
The sword wielded by the dark knight wasn’t an ordinary weapon, so there were attacks he could not block.
“It’s not enough that the blade is invisible; it also changes shape! There’s got to be a limit to cheating!”
The sword held by the dark knight wasn’t merely a sword without a blade.
It was a shapeshifting, formless blade that could transform freely. That was the weapon of the dark knight.
“Phew. That was close.”
Eric roughly brushed the side of his face where the invisible blade had grazed, blood dripping from the wound that quickly healed.
Automatic regeneration due to enhancement magic. A powerful recovery spell that could make even the most minor wounds vanish in an instant.
It was the magic of Alice, who had repeatedly saved Hero Eric from life-threatening situations.
“Well, I can be quite underhanded myself! After all, I’m a Dragon Priestess who can resurrect the dead!”
Eric grinned roughly as he tightened his grip on his sword and charged at the dark knight.
At the same time, Alice unleashed her light arrows, and orbs of darkness sent by the Demon King rushed toward each other, canceling each other out in a spectacular display.
The power contained in each attack magic was astonishing, but they were merely spells meant for suppression.
As light and darkness intertwined, consuming one another, the battle intensified.
Neither side could guarantee victory. In such a standoff, it was Alice who took the first decisive step.
“Alright! I’m all set!”
