Chapter 168
Chapter 168. The Aftermath of the Festival
―― The Ice Hell Men’s Naked Festival has come to a smooth conclusion.
Amid the cheerful shouts of the Demon Lord and the clan representatives exchanging punches in the main event while brawling with nearby folks, the atmosphere was rather festive.
Well, it wasn’t all that serious; it felt more like a grappling match than a fistfight, resembling a strength contest but with a “There’s some blood, too!” vibe.
Among the standout moments was the one-on-one match between the Demon Lord and Aiogias, as well as Diagias, which was quite entertaining.
“Now, Father, I’ll borrow your chest.”
“Hahaha! Bring it on!”
Contrary to his cold beauty, Aiogias was a muscular powerhouse. The punch exchanges with the equally strong Demon Lord brought the crowd to a frenzy, leading to a grappling struggle that further heightened the excitement in the venue.
In the end, the Demon Lord threw Aiogias spectacularly, concluding the match, but despite being battered and with a cut at the corner of his mouth, Aiogias looked surprisingly pleased. So, he’s a savage after all…
“Father, I’d like to join the battlefield soon.”
“Again… Well, depending on your performance, perhaps I’ll consider it.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
On the other hand, Diagias was of the swift type, embodying the phrase ‘dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee.’ He skillfully dodged the Demon Lord’s fists while landing precise hits.
However, compared to his older brother, Diagias had a slender build, and his strikes lacked weight. He seemed unable to showcase his true potential in a pure fistfight without magic. The Demon Lord, maintaining a cool demeanor, absorbed the blows and ultimately grasped Diagias’s arm, tossing him aside with ease.
…By the way, the green guy, Emelgias, also gave it a go but ended up spectacularly launched after a few exchanges.
……What about me?
Of course, I jumped in for a fight. If the green one went in, there was no way I would sit back and watch…
“Father—! Are you ready?”
“Of course! Now bring it on!!”
“Wooorrrraaaah!!”
I launched a full-power punch, but it was easily absorbed by his abs, followed by a gut punch in return that sent me flying.
――However, I managed to perfectly land on both feet after spinning around in mid-air, which further energized the crowd. I was relieved I didn’t end up barfing after all that; it wouldn’t have looked cool at all.
While the other princes were covered in scrapes and bruises, I somehow escaped nearly unscathed, thanks to the restraint shown, which seemed to raise my reputation unnecessarily.
Amidst the chaos, I attempted to use the Teleportation Spell to send the pain back, but, naturally, there was resistance.
It felt like trying to scratch a heavy iron lump, only for it to leave marks. What incredible magic resistance! I could feel the overwhelming gap in magical power.
I’ve been steadily getting stronger, but the Demon Lord is still far away. I felt a renewed sense of determination.
As for the others―― I tried to approach a group of peers of similar age and build, only to have them retreat as if the tide were pulling back.
Well, they were pretty weak in terms of magic. It’s only natural they’d be scared of someone of my status and rank.
However, one guy stood shaking but eventually remained where he was, becoming the first to step forward.
“I-I’m Mikros! A squire of the Anoitus tribe!”
He shouted, quivering yet summoning his courage.
“Zilbagias Reiju! I accept your challenge!”
“Sure!”
He seemed to be related to that Megalos guy who I broke the horn of. After that incident, the Anoitus tribe became notorious as the “Weak Horn Clan,” so this was probably a revenge visit or an attempt to clear their name.
Apparently, it’s an unspoken rule that the challenged has to take at least one hit from the challenger, so out of respect for his audacity in challenging me, I decided to take one hit.
“Uoooh, take this!”
But this dude went for a low blow.
I reflexively grabbed his leg to stop him, landing a punch to his jaw that knocked him out. It ended up looking like I took him down before he could hit me… but hey, that’s not my fault.
Other than that, nobody else tried to engage me, and amidst the chill of the day, I merely sat back to enjoy the sight of the other demons brawling.
Since just standing still outside in the snow was freezing, I gathered with others for some brawling to warm up; that was the prime fun of the festival… but I had no good opponents, so I just strolled around.
Using the Restriction Magic, I prohibited Extreme Cold from the air around me, making the chill somewhat more bearable.
“Hey, you keep stealing my glory!”
“What the heck! You took my first love away!”
“Give back the money, you punk!”
“The deadline’s not even up yet, quit whining, idiot!”
Such was the banter of the fighting men.
While watching, I noticed that it was rare for anyone to challenge actual rival factions; rather, the atmosphere felt like a festival where one could say outlandish things to their close peers.
“Give more opportunities for the nameless youngsters to show their fighting prowess!”
“Broaden the ranks of healers, please!”
“I want to eat grilled meat! Let’s have a barbecue festival in Reiju Territory!”
However, I couldn’t help but laugh at the three idiots taking on Zikvart. As expected, they got thrashed but seemed satisfied that each landed at least one hit.
In summary, it was a surprisingly peaceful festival.
“Peaceful…???”
Antendeixis raised a skeptical voice.
“By the end, the snow in the training ground was stained a dark red with blood…?”
Yeah… but it’s not like anyone’s innards were splattered around or limbs flew off…
“You’re also getting stained pretty good, huh.”
No way. Besides, not a single soul lost their life; it’s all peaceful fun.
†††
After the festival concluded, calm days continued.
At our weekly dinner gatherings, I mingled with the Demon Lord and the Demon Princes while they poked and prodded at my noticeable growth in magic power.
After dinner, Aiogias and Rubyphia urged me to clarify my alliances.
“How’s it going afterward?”
“Just fine, I guess.”
Occasionally, I’d engage in dirty talk with Diagias.
“I heard your dragon daughter is wearing an awesome outfit.”
“Ah… well, that’s, umm…”
“Who made it? I want to give something nice to the ladies.”
Yet, I couldn’t hide the information about Kusemon.
“I’m not saying you should tell me for free, but how about I introduce you to a good enchantress from my clan?”
In exchange, I was introduced to a skilled member of the Gigamunt tribe, known for their lightning magic, so I had no choice but to accept. It’d look suspicious if I desperately tried to conceal Kusemon…
Fortunately, it seemed Diagias was mainly interested in Kusemon’s design sense, so perhaps this would be an opportunity for her to rise as a fashion designer after all.
After all, there’d likely be only me and Diagias as clients…
“Don’t slack off this winter or you’ll be left dull as spring approaches! Let’s run!”
“Geez~~~”
I continued to train collaboratively with the three idiots and Kuvirtar.
With Gorirashia gone, Kuvirtar became the instructor, and he didn’t hold back. The three idiots seemed to be struggling every day from the tough training.
Though they started as punks of dubious skill, it seems they’ve gradually become decent fighters likely because they’ve been continually drilled by the higher-ups. Kuvirtar squinted as he reported their progress. He acts tough, but he’s actually quite caring in his own way and very dedicated to his duties…
“Oh, by the way, Your Highness! We received a letter from Reiju Territory!”
In the midst of training, Albar Aoril showed me the letter with a flourish.
Not so much a letter as a collection of notes. “Brother, do your best!” “Are you eating properly?” “Have you found a cute girl~?” and more…
“This one seems to be a message addressed to you, Your Highness.”
On another sheet, various handwriting said, “I pray my son is of assistance,” “In the future, please let me serve as your deputy,” “You and your brother are so cool!” and on the edge, one particularly messy note read, “Please take care of my brother.”
“Ah… sorry, that’s from my sis. She’s just terrible at writing…”
Albar Aoril chuckled a bit awkwardly.
“Ever since you told me that day, I’ve been mulling over things,” he suddenly began.
“At the Tarfos training camp, you remember how I took out a few slaves? I never really paid attention to it before, but it didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth, you know? Now that I’ll be going into real combat… I started wondering if they have families too— it feels like it never ends…”
He sighed softly, wiping the sweat from his brow, looking up at the sky.
“It’s tough, but… I guess I’m really not a demon, huh?”
That night, under a rare clear sky, Albar’s murmurs echoed with remarkable clarity.
“So, it’s becoming something I must accept. Once I get bigger and stronger, that’ll be a different story, but for now, I can’t do anything… if I keep harboring such weak hesitations, I’ll end up dragging Your Highness down.”
Suddenly, he bowed respectfully.
“So, I’ll throw away those doubts and work hard for Your Highness. Right now, I don’t even have the right to hesitate. That’s my conclusion.”
He stared at me with earnest eyes――
“I see… You are right. At least, that’s what I believe.”
That was about the best response I could muster.
It’s a fact. As a warrior of the demon race and a servant of the Demon Lord’s son―― is there any better answer?
Setting aside personal feelings and principles to devote oneself to their lord isn’t such a bad thing.
…It’s honestly pretty hard to pull off.
†††
―― In the basement of Auroora Fortress, also known as the Necromancy Research Institute.
On days when there’s no blizzard, I often come here with Liliana and Leila whenever I have free time.
I’ve started bringing in materials for necromancy research — striving to create undead and whatnot.
But this place is also great as a secret training ground. The basement is completely sealed off, so there’s no worry of being discovered no matter what I do.
“――【Adamas】”
That’s why I’m allowed to do things like this.
“Awaken!”
The Holy Sword releases its power.
With a crackling sound like lightning rushing through the air, the ancient sword glows with intensity.
A holy light that scorches dark beings and repels evil.
The blade, which appeared dull and ineffective, gradually regained its sharpness to an impressive degree.
This light, which normally would scorch even the flesh of demons, is neutralized by the soldiers’ bones, causing no harm to me――
Additionally, my entire body is enveloped in a thick layer of dark magical power.
A spell that protects the soul.
“―Oh divine lights, bear witness!”
And pouring into that――
“Come to me, oh holy light!”
The dark shell surrounding me begins to be tinted silver.
“……!”
I concentrate all my senses. It required extremely delicate control. Liliana and Leila watched breathlessly.
If I failed, I’d be burnt to a crisp by the holy attributes.
“――Alright!”
Though silver light embraced me, I remained unharmed.
Gradually, my training was bearing fruit. I’d practiced many times while getting burnt by holy attributes, and now, I was finally succeeding.
By generating a layer of dark magic with the shell spell, I managed to receive the benefits of holy attributes while negating harm to myself.
I swung the spear, rather the Holy Sword Adamas.
The basement’s shadows were illuminated and sliced apart by the silver light.
The dark magic surrounding me, glowing silver in hue――
Ironically resembled flickering flames.
“――Phew.”
After solidly going through the sword forms, I exhaled as I positioned Adamas in a ready stance.
Recently, the winter’s chill has been easing up.
If the snow begins to melt like this――
At last, my first battle.
The assault on the Defteros Kingdom and its capital, Evaroti, is about to begin.
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