Hayato the Hero
I’ve traveled the world to carry out the young Goddess Parion’s holy mission. The demon lord we finally found has escaped us several times, but now we finally have it cornered. All that’s left is to put our strength together and take it down. (Hero Hayato Masaki)
“Your hero has arrived!”
With a ripple in the air, the dimensional submarine Jules Verne returned to this world.
There.
In the gloom of the cavern, I saw the demon lord glowing with purple light.
It’s not that I didn’t believe the reports from Satou and Seina; still, it’s only now that I saw it with my own eyes that I finally felt like we had the demon lord cornered.
I spotted Seina and Satou out of the corner of my eye.
“Looks like I’m just in time!”
Sandstorm Soldiers and creepy cultists with curved swords were closing in on the pair.
“Main battery, fire!”
I shouted into the speaking tube–like communication device, and the already-prepared main guns of the Jules Verne mowed down the Sandstorm Soldier swarm with laser beams.
Satou and Seina took this opportunity to quickly retreat farther back.
Nice, you guys catch on quick.
“Rin, now!”
““Hell Thunder!””
On my signal, Mari and Rin unleashed the joint magic they’d been keeping at the ready.
Thin bolts of lightning formed between the ceiling and floor of the giant cavern, entwining around the Sandstorm Soldiers and the demon lord. After this unassuming opening, loud rumbling and bright flashes filled the room, followed by a massive cloud of dust and a strong smell of ozone.
No matter how many times I see it, the power of this spell always blows my mind.
The torrent of dust sent Seina and Satou flying, and even pushed back the floating Jules Verne.
I tried not to worry—knowing Satou and Seina, they’d pull through just fine.
“There’s about seven big ones left.”
“Maybe they’re possessed by demons? Those ones are always stubborn.”
I counted the shadows I saw through the dust.
For some reason, I couldn’t seem to find those two particularly strong ones. I thought they were around level 60-something Sandstorm Soldiers like the demon lord imitators, but if they were weaker than they looked and went down easily, I certainly wasn’t complaining.
“Classic Master moment… Mia!”
“Leviathan Breath!”
Honey’s voice was drowned out by the little elf girl unleashing a spell.
A huge amount of mana converted into magic, and a whirling torrent of water with laser-like concentration blew off a large Sandstorm Soldier’s head and careened right into the demon lord.
It was too strong to be even an advanced spell—that must have been a secret forbidden spell of the elves.
It was certainly worthy of the “forbidden” class, yet it barely did any damage to the demon lord, who used layers of Reflective Scales to knock the torrent off course.
The spell crashed into the ceiling instead, knocking down rocks and stalactites along with the dust.
“White Inferno!”
Without missing a beat, my honey launched a forbidden spell of her own.
A raging pillar of fire, like the advanced flame attack spell Inferno, except with searing white flames, engulfed the Sandstorm Soldiers and the demon lord.
While it lacked the concentrated density of the elf girl’s spell, its area of effect and permeability were probably higher.
The white-hot flames licked around the Reflective Scales and burned the demon lord’s body, and a torrent of hot steam shot right toward us at explosive speed.
I prepared my Holy Shield, but the force field around the Jules Verne protected us.
The water from the elf girl’s forbidden spell must have gotten evaporated by the flames and caused a steam eruption.
“Looks like it’s just the demon lord and one big one now.”
Both had taken some serious damage and didn’t look like they’d be moving anytime soon.
“Those kids have some serious firepower.”
“No kidding. I’m scared to see how strong they’ll grow up to be.”
While they couldn’t compete with a simultaneously cast forbidden spell from Mari and the other two using their talismans, I bet their spells combined packed a similar punch.
Honey and the elf were down for the count due to lack of MP.
Mari and the others would be focusing on recovering their MP with potions and skills for a little while, too.
That meant it was our turn.
“Sir Hero, the enemy is at our mercy!”
The moment the Jules Verne arrived, Ryukken the black knight went rushing into battle.
“I am the Temple Knight Sir Mezzalt, chosen by the Holy Sword Blutgang as the greatest wielder in Parion Province!”
Mezzalt ran in after him, his Holy Sword glittering with blue light.
In their eagerness to earn glory, they were ignoring the plan and charging in blindly.
“Those idiots…!”
The sage muttered in annoyance.
Seina and Satou wriggled out from under the sand and ran over to us.
“Luckily, there’s only the demon lord and one large Sandstorm Soldier. I’d like your team to take the latter, Satou. Rudoruu and Kwandoh will support Satou, just as we planned. Sir Sage, I need you to back them up, too.”
As soon as I saw everyone nod, I took off with my Flying Shoes.
In back of me, I heard Rusus and Fifi leap forward with a shout. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that Wee and Seina were close behind.
All the way to the rear, I saw the Jules Verne sink back into another dimension.
Satou and the others drew off the large Sandstorm Soldier with help from the samurai and the sage, leading it some distance away so that we could fight the demon lord unhindered.
No doubt Satou and his crew would pull it off, especially with the sage’s help.
GZYGABBBBBO.
The demon lord howled, easily fending off the premature charge from Ryukken and Mezzalt.
Despite how out of their league the pair seemed, I knew for a fact that they were no weaklings. Ryukken was an elite knight among even the powerful warriors of the Saga Empire, enough so that he was chosen for the prototype of the black knight’s armor; Mezzalt was the best Temple Knight in Parion Province, which is why he received the Holy Sword from the pontiff.
Yet even those two were being flicked away like flies.
That’s a demon lord for you. I couldn’t ask for a worthier opponent.
“Strength, come to me. <Sing,> Arondight! <Dance,> Tunas!”
I used my muscle-enhancing “Strength” skill and invoked the scriptures of my Holy Sword and armor.
Pure blue mana overflowed from the chest of my armor, coursing through me and into my Holy Sword.
Steadying my mind so that I wouldn’t give in to the intoxicating sense of power, I used the Unique Skills Parion gave me.
“Grant my sword an Unstoppable Strike and make my shield an Immovable Shield!”
Phosphorescent blue light flowed through me a second time.
The demon lord was right before my eyes. I used “Warp” to leap into its range, ready to strike at the opening that Ryukken and the others created.
“‘Shining Helix Slash’!”
I unleashed the attack straight toward the demon lord’s chest.
Blue sparks scattered as my sword pierced through the layers of protection, and the tip of my blade closed in on the demon lord’s heart.
GZYGABBBBBO.
Metallic purple light gathered in front of my blade’s edge.
The demon lord had created more Reflective Scales.
I mustered all of the strength in my body and took a strong step forward, trying to pierce through the new protection.
It was deep and dense. While the Unstoppable Strike Unique Skill allowed my sword to pierce through all of it, there was a great deal of resistance at every layer.
And the demon lord created countless more layers right in front of my sword.
Eventually, I ran out of momentum.
GZYGABBBBBBO.
The demon lord thrashed around, along with the Reflective Scales that my Holy Sword had pierced, throwing me off-balance.
His segmented tail closed in on my other side, where I was holding my shield.
The demon lord’s evil countenance contorted with triumph. He probably thought he had won—yeah, right.
I’ll show you who you’re really dealing with here.
I kicked off into the air with my Flying Shoes, doing a flip in midair to block the tail with my shield without letting go of my Holy Sword.
Blue light clashed against dark purple, but the attack couldn’t possibly pierce my Holy Shield when it was imbued with Immovable Shield.
Thanks to the force behind the tail attack, I was able to free my sword from the layers of Reflective Scales.
The demon lord quickly followed up with a slash of its poisonous claws.
Are you sure you should be focusing all your attention on me, pal?
“Raaaah! ‘Twinblade Dance’!”
“Time to die! ‘Bradley Buster’!”
Closing in from the demon lord’s blind spots, Rusus unleashed a magnificent whirl of her dual broadswords to destroy the demon lord’s barrier, while Fifi swung her enormous long-handled ax to crush his miasma armor with one massive blow.
GZYGABBBBBBO.
By the time the alarmed demon lord brandished his Reflective Scales in the direction of the unexpected attacks, Rusus and Fifi had already jumped back to safety.
“Hi-yaaaa!”
“‘Divine Punishment’!”
Ryukken’s Magic Sword carved a red line in the air, while Mezzalt’s Holy Sword Blutgang scattered dazzling blue light as they charged at the demon lord.
GZYGABBBBBBO.
Not good.
The demon lord had read their attacks.
“Look out!”
Before my warning could fully reach them, Reflective Scales were already closing in.
“Nnnngh!”
“Gaaaaah!”
Despite their speedy reactions, the rain of scales still dealt them considerable damage.
Ryukken’s blacksteel armor was tough enough that even the Reflective Scales couldn’t cut through it completely in one attack, but Mezzalt’s mithril alloy armor was evidently more fragile—he looked to have lost his shield and one arm in the attack.
“Loleiya, Wee, hurry!”
Wee retrieved Mezzalt’s arm, and Loleiya’s Holy Magic managed to reattach it.
Ryukken seemed to have gotten off with only some bruises.
“Damn scales!”
“What a pain…!”
Rusus and Fifi were frantically dodging Reflective Scales.
These scales really were dangerous. Between their serious defensive abilities and offense that was strong enough to slice through armor, they were a poor matchup for Rusus and Fifi, who wore light armor and specialized in close combat.
“Ngaaah!”
Ryukken was actually helping more than I thought.
In spite of his injuries, he stayed on the battlefield as a sub-tank, giving me a little more breathing room to whittle away at the demon lord’s HP.
Once Mezzalt returned to the front lines, he held back on big flashy moves, instead building up damage over time with simple swordsmanship.
If we could just hold on until Mari and Rin recovered their magic, we should have a good shot at victory.
“Rusuuuuus!”
Rusus failed to evade an attack and was sent tumbling across the ground, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.
“Aaaagh!”
Moments later, Ryukken’s parry fell short, and he was knocked away, shield and all.
I guess the level difference is too much to overcome…
Attacks that I could handle easily enough might very well be fatal to the likes of Rusus or Ryukken.
The demon lord was level 72. While I was level 69, most of my group were in the mid-50s, with Rin leading the pack at level 58. Ryukken and Mezzalt were both level 51.
…Still, level is just a suggestion.
The yellow greater demon that trounced us so easily was level 71, yet he was far more dangerous than this demon lord. His obvious battle experience and ability to attack our weak points with a wide array of magic made him much more difficult to deal with than raw power alone.
Even so, that didn’t mean this demon lord was weak.
I checked the demon lord’s stats in hopes of finding any kind of weakness that might give my allies an advantage.
Interestingly, the demon lord’s status said “Corrupted.” That was the same status condition I had when I was under the Evil God’s curse.
Had the demon lord somehow gotten himself cursed, too?
Or did his transformation into a demon lord just progress too far…?
“Gaaaah!”
The sage was knocked in our direction from that of the demon-possessed Sandstorm Soldier and crashed right into the demon lord’s head.
“What in the world is he doing?”
“Oh, hey, this could be good.”
The sage used Shadow Magic to cover the demon lord’s eyes.
…An Item Box?
I saw the sage produce something from an Item Box as he hung on to the demon lord’s head.
Then, just as he jumped away, there was a massive explosion where he had been.
GZYGABBBBBBO.
The demon lord howled in apparent agony.
“An explosion?”
“Did he put a bomb there or something?”
While it didn’t seem all that powerful, it created a serious gap in the demon lord’s defenses.
Ryukken and Mezzalt struck at the gap right away.
“Yaaaaargh! ‘Black Rose Hurricane’!”
Ryukken pummeled the demon lord with a rapid-fire barrage of attacks, his Magic Sword scattering light that looked like black rose petals. It was fairly impressive.
“With <Honor>—‘Arc Blazer’!”
Mezzalt strengthened his Holy Sword Blutgang with a scripture invocation, then slashed the demon lord’s torso with an arc of glaringly bright blue light.
A moment after the strike flashed across the surface, sand-colored blood gushed out from the wound.
“Nice one!—‘Twinblade Dance’!”
“Take this, too, bastard! ‘Bradley Buster’!”
Rusus and Fifi followed with their own special attacks, knocking the demon lord’s chin up and throwing it off-balance.
“Shiga Kingdom sword style—secret technique ‘Cherry Blossom Flash’!”
Rin popped up from behind with “Warp” and sprinted through the sky with “Skywalking,” leaving a visual effect like cherry blossom petals in her wake, and struck the demon lord’s defenseless throat with her special move.
“Too shallow…!” Rin muttered, frustrated.
Her cut had only made it about a third of the way into the demon lord’s neck.
“‘Assassin Backstab’!”
Creeping up from behind, Seina’s attack pierced the demon lord’s spinal cord.
It hit the demon lord’s neck directly, since the rapid-fire onslaught of our friends’ attacks had broken through the barrier, but a jab from a dagger wasn’t enough to do serious damage to the demon lord.
Seina escaped as the demon lord swiped at her.
“<Sing,> Arondight! <Dance,> Tunas!”
I reactivated my scriptures, which had worn off.
The blue light surrounded my body, and pure mana flowed from the chest of my Holy Armor into my Holy Sword.
“I bind thee—‘Chain Arrow Circle’!”
Just as the demon lord started to move, Wee’s arrow created a barrier that entrapped it.
“Nice one, Wee. You’re the best.”
Now it was my turn.
“…‘Shining Blade’!”
I took a heavy step forward, sending up a cloud of dust, and swung my Holy Sword from behind in a special attack with maximum momentum. The blade carved a blue line through the air, creating a shimmering arc that scattered in a flash of light.
The demon lord’s head was sliced clean off, and his headless body fell to the ground.
“Did we win?!” Ryukken shouted.
“Looks like he’s still alive.”
My “Analyze” skill told me as much.
“‘Shadow Jail’!”
“‘Mana Chain Hold’!”
The sage and Mari held the demon lord in place.
I strode closer, raising my Holy Sword as I looked down at the demon lord’s head.
“This is the e—”
“Hayato!”
Just as Rin cried out to me, I reflexively swung my sword to cut down the thing that came flying at me from my blind spot.
“…A bundle of straw? No, a doll?”
I looked down at the thing I had slashed, puzzled.
GZIMGYBBBBO.
The demon lord’s head howled.
His bloodshot eyes were utterly fixated on the halved doll.
Without a doubt, it was the same doll that the demon lord had charged into the cathedral to take back.
Why was it here? No, where did it come from…?
The culprit was on top of a cliff. It was an imp, a small demon no larger than a puppy. The thing let out a cackle like nails on a chalkboard.
“…Hayato!”
The cry this time was from Rusus, who had the “Intuition” skill.
She was looking at an area near the demon lord, where the sand appeared to be shifting slightly.
“Get away from the demon lord!”
As I shouted, I activated another layer of my Immovable Shield skill.
Only Rusus and Fifi were able to react in time. Before the confused Ryukken and Mezzalt could retreat, a fierce sandstorm full of crackling lightning engulfed us all.
Even with my Holy Shield enhanced with a Unique Skill, the fierce winds and sand felt like they might pulverize me into nothing.
Finally, the seemingly eternal torture came to an end.
As the sandstorm began to slow, I peered out from behind my shield to check on my companions.
Behind me, Loleiya and Mari were safe. They’d protected themselves respectively with an emergency shield and a Holy Magic spell cast in advance.
Rusus and Fifi, who’d dodged in time, were covered in scratches but had managed to evacuate near Loleiya. Wee had used her Divine Talisman to protect herself. I was glad she survived, but clearly it had taken its toll—she was in a state of exhaustion.
As for my honey and her friends…
While their shield user Nana was half-buried in sand, the others were all safe behind her.
No wonder they call the Pendragon crew “Untouchable.”
The demonic Sandstorm Soldier they were fighting had been driven back to the wall but was somehow still alive, probably thanks to its blasted physical resistance.
As for everyone else…
I had to assume the sage was alive, although I didn’t see him anywhere. He probably retreated into a shadow.
Rudoruu and Kwandoh were safe, albeit with a few broken ribs or arms.
Ryukken was just barely alive. I saw Mezzalt on the verge of death near my honey’s group, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle. The two of them might have been in danger of dying if we left them alone, but I couldn’t afford to send Loleiya over when they were so far away.
Luckily, Satou and his party were heading over to help them. I decided to trust that he would take care of it.
More importantly: the demon lord.
The head I’d severed was now reattached to his body, and worse, his HP and MP were completely recovered.
But it wasn’t like we’d gone back to square one. No, it was far worse than that. The demon lord was twice as large as before, with two extra arms and a pair of bat-like wings.
That wasn’t even that bad in itself. I’ve played enough video games to expect a boss to come back in an even nastier form.
The real problem was his level. Where the demon lord had been level 72 before, now he was up to 82. This might be too much even for me, let alone my companions.
GZIMGYBBBBO.
Purple light that was nearly black coursed through the demon lord’s body, producing dozens of Reflective Scales.
It looked like the next round was about to begin.
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