TWEM Vol. 7 Chapter 9 Part 2
After two days, a front line was established just outside Delzas.
Since the number of enemies had decreased considerably, we decided that fighting outside the city would cause less damage to the people.
The soldiers seemed nervous to be fighting their own kind, but fortunately, the majority of the soldiers at the royal castle were on the Demon King’s side, and most of them had serious looks on their faces.
The next day, dust clouds could be seen in the distance.
The source of the dust clouds – Gyuray and Lauren could be seen at the front of the Four Heavenly Kings’ army.
“They’re here.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
“Me too.”
Fran, who was also at the front of the army, headed toward Gyuray and Lauren. Naturally, Tendo and I followed.
Gyuray and the others stopped advancing and came out like Fran, so we ended up facing each other in the middle of the two armies.
“We’ve advised you to surrender. Are you prepared?”
Fran asked, and Gyuray and Lauren showed their anger.
“Surrender? Stop kidding me! We are simply trying to bring forth the world that Alogis-sama, the first Demon King, desired, a world for demons!”
“A world for demons?”
“That’s right. A world without humans, ruled by demons. That is the world Alogis-sama desired!”
“You’re a Demon King, but you don’t understand that?”
Fran looked annoyed on hearing what Gyuray and Lauren said.
“And will that make the demons happy?”
“Of course! The demons will be at the top of everything!”
Fran tried to argue again, but I stopped her with my hand.
Fran looked at me as if to say, “Why are you stopping me?”
But there was no point in saying anything more.
These guys weren’t going to stop.
As I took a step forward, Gyuray and Lauren glared at me with such intensity like they wanted to kill me with their gaze.
“Even after all that, you still haven’t learned your lesson?”
“You!”
“How dare you do this to our brethren!”
“Your brethren… Ah, I thought the monsters died in the last attack. You guys are just like monsters, aren’t you?”
Gyuray and Lauren were obviously angry at my provocation.
“Don’t get angry. Or what? Did you come here to die? You know my power, right?”
As I said that, Gyuray and Lauren calmed down.
It seemed like they were just trying to stay calm, rather than calming down.
Gyuray opened his mouth to me.
“Did you say Haru? Who are you?”
“Me?”
I looked at Fran.
Fran didn’t say anything. I guess she was just telling me to do as I pleased.
“I’m just an attendant to the Demon King. So is this guy.”
I said that and patted Tendo on the shoulder.
“So, you’re going to continue?”
“Of course.”
“Our loyalty is not to that demon king. It’s to Alogis-sama and our god.”
“I see.”
I moved back to stand diagonally behind Fran.
“Then, Demon King, let’s have you die.”
“That’s our line.”
As Gyuray and Fran said that, we turned our backs on each other and walked back.
Honestly, if we attacked here, we could defeat both Gyuray and Lauren in an instant… but well, let’s follow Fran’s method.
“There’s no need to be intimidated just because we’re of the same race. Our enemies are demons, not devils. Let’s show those fools our strength!”
As Fran raised her voice, Gyuray’s voice was also heard from the other side.
“I will teach this girl who calls herself the Demon King what true power is, and what demons are! The true Demon King is Arogis-sama! Offer your soul to our god!”
With those words as the signal, the enemy army began to move.
Seeing this, I suddenly thrust my palm out towards the enemy army.
Fran looked confused, as she had no idea what I was going to do, but Tendo must have sensed it, because he raised his voice in a panic.
“Ha-Haruto. You can’t be!”
“Don’t tell me?!”
Fran asked after that exchange.
“Haru, what are you planning to do?”
“Just watch. It’s troublesome to have so many enemies, so we need to thin them out a bit —Niflheim!”
The magic I unleashed instantly froze the approaching enemy army.
“Come on, one more. I’ll incinerate the enemy —Hell Flame!”
I unleashed a combined Fire Magic and Darkness Magic, turning those I couldn’t kill with the previous spell to ashes.
Yes, I’ve reduced them quite a bit.
But there were still a lot of enemies left.
“Hmm. Should I try again…?”
As I muttered this while worrying, Fran, who was watching next to me, grabbed me by the shoulder.
“W-Wait! You can still use magic after using all those big spells!?”
“I haven’t even used up a tenth of my magical power yet, so it’s fine. I can still cast more. I could even do it all by myself.”
“…”
Fran’s mouth was half open, and she looked at me as if she was looking at an insane being.
She must have known my strength, but she didn’t think it would be this bad.
Now, I could go on and end them all, but it wouldn’t be very good for me to finish them off, being an outsider by nature.
Looking at the remaining several thousand monsters and demons soldiers approaching, I spoke to Fran.
“Tendo and I will take care of all the monsters. I want to leave the rest of the demons to you, is that okay?”
Fran came to her senses, perhaps in response to my voice.
“Thank you, Haru.”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s go, Tendo.”
I spoke to Tendo, and we ran towards the monster army together.
Looking at the monster army, I spoke to Tendo.
“Hey, Tendo.”
“What?”
“How many can you take on by yourself?”
Tendo seemed to think for a moment before answering.
“Probably about a thousand is the limit. I can’t use large-scale magic like you, Haruto. And I can’t cast them repeatedly anyway.”
“I see. Then I’ll leave my back to you.”
“Were you even listening to what I was saying!?”
“You’re a hero, right?”
“That’s unreasonable! …Haa.”
Tendou sighed in resignation.
And so we readied our weapons and charged towards the approaching monster army.
◇◇◇
While Haruto and Tendo were fighting the monsters, Fran was directing her own troops against the charging enemies.
“Fran. It seems that Gyuray-sama and Lauren-sama have currently split into two factions. Gyuray-sama is on the side of the demons, and Lauren-sama is in charge of the monsters.”
Fran replied sternly to her subordinate’s report.
“They’re already enemies. There’s no need to add respectful honorific ‘-sama’ to their names. And you said that Lauren is in charge of the monsters, right?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, we don’t have to worry about Lauren.”
“Demon King, what does that mean?”
Fran answered the subordinate who asked.
Who’s on their way there?
“Haru and Ten are there. There’s no problem. Besides, Haru’s magic has reduced the number of monsters in the first place.”
“Was it Haru-sama who cast those big spells just now?”
“Yes.”
“…Who on earth is he?”
“He was just a wanderer. He was all by himself and he was trying to pick a fight with me.”
“What…”
Her subordinates’ eyes widened, as it was unthinkable that he would pick a fight with the Demon King, known as the strongest of the demons.
Seeing this, Fran said with a wry smile.
“There shouldn’t be any problem if we leave it to those two.”
“I see… but Fran-sama. Excuse me, but do you not think that those people will betray us like Gyuray and Lauren did?”
Fran smiled at the words of her subordinate.
“They don’t do that. And if Haru becomes an enemy, we’ll give up then. Haru is too strong.”
“You’re joking again, Fran-sama…”
The subordinates thought she was joking, but when they saw that Fran wasn’t smiling, they gasped.
“…You’re joking, right?”
“It’s not a joke at all, just look at that spell. I heard that he barely used any magic power, even though he was casting that magic spell.”
“…Huh? Barely?”
“Yeah, he said he didn’t use even a tenth of it.”
“Haha, that’s scary. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
“That’s true.”
While they were talking, the two armies clashed.
It started with a magic exchange, and as long as they weren’t killed instantly, they would heal their wounds with healing magic and return to the battlefield.
The Four Heavenly Kings had the advantage in terms of strength, so the Demon King’s soldiers fought hard not to lose.
Seeing her subordinates fighting desperately, Fran couldn’t help but mutter.
“I’m sorry, everyone.”
The subordinate smiled at her words.
“What are you talking about, Fran-sama? Everyone’s only following you because you’re the Demon King. You can just stay there and act all high and mighty as usual.”
“Really?”
Fran’s sharp gaze pierced the man.
“I’m sorry. But everyone trusts you as the Demon King.”
“I know that much. I’ve tried my best to live up to your expectations.”
“Yes. So just do what you always do. If the Demon King looks anxious, the morale of the soldiers will drop.”
“That’s right.”
Fran’s usual relaxed expression was on her face as she listened to her subordinate’s words.
Then a report of the battle arrived.
“This is a report! If things continue like this, our forces will be overwhelmed!”
“I see. Then, withdraw your troops and prepare your forces.”
“But!”
“I know. We need to move as quickly as possible with the wounded.”
“…Understood!”
Fran told the anxious-looking soldier.
“It’s no problem. I’m the Demon King. And there’s Haru, who’s even stronger than me.”
With that, Fran turned her gaze to where Haruto and Tendo would be fighting.