Chapter 13: The Final Battle
The hero’s party advanced through the Demon Lord’s territory with ease.
Since the Beast King’s army had already marched through, there were no organized groups of monsters to hinder their progress.
Even though powerful monsters typical of the Demon Lord’s domain did appear, they were easily defeated thanks to the experience gained from battles in the Fairy Forest and the legendary equipment the party possessed.
“This isn’t quite how I imagined a Demon Lord subjugation would be. We have so many people with us,”
Lilith whispered to Dominique.
“You’re right. I thought we’d face intense battles along the way, I was expecting a fierce battle like the one with the Golden Fangs, but it seems the Beast King’s army has done all the work for us. I guess this was all part of Senpai Trao’s calculations,”
Dominique marveled at Trao’s foresight. She never imagined that a failed potion could lead to such a favorable situation.
As the Demon Lord’s castle came into view, the hero’s party finally encountered a large group of monsters.
These were the monsters who had been summoned to suppress Raiga’s rebellion but arrived late due to their distant location.
“Why are there humans here?”
The demon leading the monsters was surprised to see the hero’s party boldly advancing through the Demon Lord’s territory.
They had been heading to the castle to defeat the Beast King’s army and hadn’t expected to encounter humans.
“Well, shall we have a warm-up before facing the Demon Lord?”
Trao, who had anticipated this encounter, quickly shifted into attack formation upon spotting the monsters.
“First, attack with magic!”
Dominique led the mages in a simultaneous magical assault.
They used lightning spells for the initial attack and to slow down the enemy.
Dominique’s spells, empowered by divine blessing, were particularly potent and dealt significant damage to the entire enemy force.
“Next, support magic!”
While Dominique’s group cast offensive spells, Lilith led the clerics in casting support magic on the warriors.
Thanks to the fairy’s blessing, Lilith could now cast advanced support spells, greatly enhancing the warriors’ abilities.
“Now, let’s charge!”
The fully prepared warriors dove into the confused mass of monsters struck by lightning magic.
Rio led the vanguard.
Initially underestimated by other warriors due to her youth and gender, Rio had proven her worth in battles at the Fairy Forest and against Gordon. She was now the de facto leader of the warrior group.
Rio engaged the brown-skinned demon leading the monsters. The demon was much larger than a human man, nearly twice Rio’s size.
“Mere human!”
The demon counterattacked with a trident-tipped spear.
This demon was by no means weak, likely among the stronger of the remaining demons.
However, he was overwhelmed by Rio’s swift movements.
Rio had always excelled in speed, but after leveling up and receiving Kusanagi God’s blessing, her movements had become too fast for normal eyes to follow.
Moreover, her legendary equipment compensated for her previous weaknesses in attack and defense power, making her one of the world’s top-tier warriors.
The demon was quickly cornered and, while trying to block an attack with his spear, was cut down along with his weapon.
“What… is that sword?”
The demon died with a look of astonishment on his face.
Kusanagi God’s sword possessed the power to vanquish evil, making it particularly effective against demons.
Meanwhile, the other monsters were utterly defeated by the hero party’s warriors, leaving none alive.
“Good, everything’s going according to our training. The real battle is next, so stay alert,”
Trao said, and the members of the hero’s party nodded in agreement.
After defeating the group of monsters, Trao and his party reached the Demon Lord’s castle without further significant resistance.
In the aftermath of the fierce battle between the Beast King’s army and the Demon Lord’s forces, fallen beast-men and demons lay scattered everywhere, with few survivors.
The hero’s party mercilessly cut down these few remaining survivors.
“We can’t leave any loose ends,”
Trao said as he struck down one of the beast-men he had incited. This revealed a glimpse of Trao’s cold-hearted side.
After methodically eliminating the remaining beast-men and demons in the area, they arrived at the doors to the throne room where the Demon Lord was believed to be.
“Only the Demon Lord remains…”
one of the hero party members said with a sense of anticipation.
No one except Trao had imagined they would actually annihilate all the monsters in the castle and face the Demon Lord in optimal condition.
“It’s only natural to clear out any interference before challenging the Demon Lord,”
Trao said matter-of-factly.
He then pushed open the doors.
“Who are you people?”
The Demon Lord they encountered was larger and more ominous than any god they had seen before.
He had six eyes and six arms, each holding a different weapon.
An unprecedented fear gripped the Demon Lord.
(Why are there so many people here to defeat me? And all of them equipped with legendary weapons and armor? What’s going on? This is absurd!)
Many tales had been passed down of human heroes defeating Demon Lords. All of these stories involved a party of about four heroes challenging the Demon Lord. That was the stuff of legends and tales.
Bastouza had assumed that if someone were to defeat him, it would happen in a similar fashion. Of course, he had no intention of losing.
Yet before him stood a force more than twenty times larger than expected, all perfectly equipped. Moreover, none of his subordinates remained.
A fleeting regret passed through his mind – perhaps he should have confronted them earlier. But this throne room was where Bastouza could exert his full power, the ideal place to face his enemies.
It was too late to lament his decisions now. Given the situation, he had no choice but to annihilate the humans before him. However…
“Come at me! I’ll teach you the meaning of despair!”
Despite saying that, the situation with Bastouza was even more hopeless.
Bastouza took a stance with six arms. Two of those arms held different staffs, allowing him to cast two spells simultaneously. The two staffs began to glow with magical power.
“Magic doesn’t work on the Demon Lord. Mages, focus all your efforts on magical defense!”
Following Trao’s earlier instructions, about ten mages led by Dominic deployed magical barriers with all their might.
“Die!”
Bastouza unleashed black flames and black lightning at the same time. The powerful magic partially penetrated the magical barrier but was completely blocked by the shields equipped by the hero’s party.
“This is absurd! This can’t be happening!”
Bastouza shouted. It was strange that there were ten mages dedicated solely to defense.
Moreover, they all had the goddess’s shield equipped. No matter how much magic he fired, it wouldn’t be effective.
This time, about ten human warriors slowly closed in. Cautiously and carefully.
“How annoying!”
Bastouza attacked with four arms, each holding a sword, axe, spear, and scythe.
The warriors immediately retreated out of range. It seemed they had no intention of fighting head-on.
However, taking advantage of that opening, another group of warriors made a move to flank him.
“How clever!”
Bastouza launched an attack at that group too, but they easily escaped his range.
Then yet another group of warriors attempted to approach Bastouza, aiming for his blind spot.
(This is endless)
The warriors seemed to have split into three groups of ten, trying to approach just at the edge of his attack range.
Moreover, there were still many more warriors on the enemy side. They would probably switch out when injured or tired.
Bastouza wasn’t a fool. No, a fool couldn’t be a Demon Lord. He could read the enemy’s intentions. But even understanding their plan, he was backed into a corner with no way out.
The enemy moved cautiously, so he couldn’t inflict damage as he wished. Even when he did, about ten priests would immediately cast recovery spells. If the spells weren’t fast enough, other humans would use recovery items without hesitation.
(What am I even fighting against?)
Bastouza felt as if he was being eaten alive by a swarm of ants. There was no sense of actually fighting. Only he was being slowly worn down.
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Time passed. The hero’s party continued to attack relentlessly by rotating warrior groups.
Although Bastouza had extraordinary stamina, both his physical and mental strength were being eroded, and his movements gradually became sluggish. Small wounds slowly accumulated.
And finally, that moment arrived.
“Yaaaaah!!”
With a battle cry that could split silk, Rio cut off the arm that was holding Bastouza’s axe.
Rio, blessed by Kusanagi, the god of martial arts, had been playing a central role in leading the warriors.
“Ugh!”
(At this rate, the balance will collapse. I must at least take down this red-haired girl!)
Thinking this, Bastouza lit up his six eyes and activated a death curse, aiming for Rio’s life. But its effect was blocked by the protection of the fairy armor.
“Don’t mess with me!”
Enraged by the opponent’s unreasonable defense, Bastouza swung his scythe recklessly. This scythe had the ability to ignore the opponent’s defense and deal direct damage.
Rio tried to block with her shield, but Bastouza activated the ability, turning the scythe into an invisible blade that sliced through Rio’s body.
Bastouza felt a definite response. However,
“God’s healing!”
Lilith, who possessed the strongest power among the priests, immediately activated a recovery spell, undoing the damage in an instant.
“That should have been fatal! Isn’t there a limit to healing magic?!”
Bastouza shouted. It was a cry from his soul.
He glared at Lilith, who was positioned behind the warriors, but she was too far away to reach.
“Watch out for the scythe! It can deal damage ignoring shields!”
Trao gave instructions to everyone.
“This is ridiculous!”
Bastouza aimed at Lilith and activated two spells, but they were completely blocked by the magical barrier deployed midway. The hooded girl’s magical barrier was powerful.
“With such power, why gather this many people!”
Having another arm cut off, Bastouza roared. The difference in fighting strength was too great. With just three girls – a warrior, a priest, and a mage – they could have fought sufficiently. Bastouza would have had a chance to win. What need was there to gather so many people?
“I don’t like gambling.”
A man’s voice was heard from behind.
At the same time, Bastouza felt the sensation of being slashed across his back.
“…Who…are…you…”
Convinced that the owner of this voice was the mastermind behind everything, Bastouza tried to turn around.
But the warriors rushed in, launching merciless attacks.
“A merchant. Just a merchant.”
Whether that voice reached him or not, Bastouza, sliced all over his body, finally breathed his last.
The fallen Demon Lord was meticulously finished off, and the defeat of the Demon Lord was accomplished.
The members of the hero’s party cheered.
However, only Trao had lost his usual friendly expression, tightly clenching his right hand.
“Senpai,”
Rio called out to Trao.
“If it wasn’t us, but the Blue Ring party trying to defeat the Demon Lord, would you have used the same methods?”
“…No,”
Trao averted his eyes from Rio.
“I would have intended to defeat him with just four people.”
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