Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 11 - Chapter 1.2

The countless flashes of light shot through Schwertleite…silencing the Deus Machina.

“…What?!”

Leonis’s eyes went wide with surprise at this unexpected development. This was within his Realm of Shadows, and moreover, within the Goddess Boundary Field Schwertleite deployed. The only ones who could stop a duel between Dark Lords were…

The goddess, or another Dark Lord…

Leonis looked up to the gray sky, and saw a figure floating up in the shattered firmament. The figure of…

“I’m…possible…”

What Leonis saw rendered him speechless. What stood there was a grotesque monster.

Yes, grotesque. A dead corpse of a monster, clad in a mantle of darkness. And Leonis knew this monster—he knew it more intimately than anyone else.

One of the eight Dark Lords who sowed terror and destruction in the world. The ruler of the undead that embodied death and despair.

The Undead King—Leonis Death Magnus.

…What is this?! What’s going on here?!

Gripping his staff tightly, Leonis glared up at the figure floating overhead. There was no mistaking it: This was the visage of the Undead King from a thousand years ago. The form Leonis was originally meant to assume…

Is this some sort of doppelganger taking on my form?

This was the general conclusion for Leonis to make—the real Undead King was right here, after all.

There are plenty of ways to imitate another’s form. But…

This phantom was able to cross the Goddess Boundary Field and destroy the Realm of Shadows’ barrier. Would someone merely assuming a Dark Lord’s name be capable of that…?

And this aura…

This malformed corpse was surrounded by an air of absolute power, and it was able to beat the Deus Machina into submission, although it was a surprise attack.

“Leo, what is that…?” He heard Riselia gulp.

She, too, could instinctively sense the suffocating aura of death this Undead King was emanating. And it wasn’t just her—the undead armies swarming on the surface became completely still, like they’d returned to being lifeless bones.

“…I don’t know.” Leonis shook his head.

He couldn’t tell her this was him.

“I know that thing…,” Riselia muttered.

“Huh?” Leonis turned to face her despite the situation.

But then—

Ooh… Ooooh…

A heavy voice, sounding like it rose up from the belly of the earth, filled the wasteland.

“…?!”

The corpse with the form of the Undead King produced a crimson ball of flame over its bony finger.

Is that…?!

The fireball grew in size in a matter of seconds before it was flung down at Leonis.

“Al Gu Belzelga!” Leonis reflexively chanted an eighth-order spell, shortening its incantation.

Boooooooom!

The two fireballs clashed in midair, forming an intense blast of flames that instantly evaporated the undead. The shock waves of the blast sent Leonis flying. His body slammed against the ground, and he rolled a few times.

“Leo!”

Riselia hurried over and stood right in front of him to serve as a shield.

…It overpowered my spell!

The monster chanted the same eighth-order spell he did: the Grand Annihilation Fireball, Al Gu Belzelga. But despite him lacking the Staff of Sealed Sins’ boost, the power of that monster’s spell was clearly higher.

“…”

The Undead King slowly descended, landing on the Realm of Shadows’ soil. Leonis got to his feet and glared at the dead monster.

“…Who are you?”

Even he had to marvel at how silly this question felt when directed at someone looking just like him. But the monster said nothing, death miasma billowing out of its dark mantle.

“Answer me! Mel Ziora!”

He fired a sixth-order spell from his staff’s tip, its flames hitting and enveloping the dead monster. Of course, Leonis wasn’t expecting this spell to do much.

“Miss Selia, get away!”

But the dead monster dispersed the flames effortlessly with a flap of its dark mantle.

…It didn’t so much as stagger him.

Ooh… Ooooooh…!

The undead monster held up a skeletal arm, summoning a death miasma that hung over the area, making the inert undead littering the soil rise up.

He’s dominating my undead army?!

“Ah… Kuh, ugh…”

“Miss Selia?!” Leonis turned around in alarm.

Riselia was kneeling on the ground, gripping her head with an agonized expression.

“Something’s…in my head…”

He’s trying to usurp control over Riselia?!

She may have been a Vampire Queen, the highest rank of all his minions, but she was undead just the same. If she continued basking in the Undead King’s miasma, she’d lose her sense of reasoning. Was it possible he came here for Riselia instead of Leonis?

I won’t let you have my minion, you fool…!

Leonis concentrated mana into the Seal of Servitude—the contract seal he’d never used ever since he bound Riselia’s soul to him as his minion. The seal etched onto the back of his hand shined with mana.

“…L-Leo…”

“I’m sorry. It might hurt, but bear with it.”

Saying this, Leonis faced the Undead King.

“Skull colossus!” Leonis tapped his staff on the ground, and a skeletal giant rose from the earth. “Crush him!”

Ooooooooh!

The skull colossus swung its fist down on the Undead King, who stood there like he was intent on taking the hit…only for the skull colossus to shatter into pieces in the next moment.

“Perfect physical defense, I see. How will you size up to this, then…?!”

Leonis produced an ominously glowing silver chain from thin air. This was another of the Arc Seven created by the gods. A chain capable of shackling even the Dragon Lord—The Vile Dragon Fetter, Ragva Zol.

The chain shot forth, binding the Undead King’s body. The Arc Seven were seven weapons forged by the gods to destroy the Dark Lords. If he really was a Dark Lord, it should have been effective against him. Leonis instantly followed it up by firing a spell amplified by the Staff of Sealed Sins.

“Tenth-order spell—Meld Gaiez!”

Boooom!

A pillar of fire rose up. In that state, the monster shouldn’t have been able to chant any defensive magic. However—

Whoosh!

A chain came flying out of the hellfire.

“…What?!”

The Ragva Zol instantly coiled around Leonis’s Staff of Sealed Sins.

Oh no…!

The chain tugged violently, slamming Leonis’s body against the ground. With another tug of the chain, the Staff of Sealed Sins went flying, only for the Undead King to catch it.

“G-give it back…!” Leonis got to his feet and prepared to chant a spell.

But the Undead King tapped the staff against the ground.

Brrrrrrrrrr…!

The jewel inlaid into the staff shined, and it unleashed waves of intense mana in a spherical shape.

Crack, crack, crack…!

Cracks formed in the firmament above the Realm of Shadows.

Is he trying to destroy this realm altogether?!

If he caused this much destruction, even this monster wouldn’t get away unscathed, but if this truly was the Undead King, this wouldn’t be enough to destroy him. Leonis, by comparison, had the body of a ten-year-old. He could defend himself with sorcery, but he wasn’t certain he’d withstand this damage even with that.

Clicking his tongue, Leonis shielded Riselia, who was still kneeling on the ground.

“Twelfth-order… Apocalypse spell…” The undead monster finally uttered words.

But then—

Vroom…!

A blade of light gouged through the Undead King’s chest.

“…?!”

The shining light blade instantly scattered the dead miasma.

“Schwertleite…!” Leonis’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The Deus Machina was damaged all over, sparks spluttering from her entire body—but she was on her feet.

“Target designated…as enemy of…the master…!”

But if this really was the Undead King, even getting stabbed through his heart wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

The Undead King let out a howl, unleashing a shock wave of mana that flung Schwertleite away from him. The Deus Machina’s arm bent over in unnatural directions and eventually flew off her body. The Undead King fired the Ragva Zol he stole from Leonis at her—this was a Dark Lord–slaying weapon, and its effect applied to the Deus Machina just the same, even if she was a weapon.

As the chain wrapped around her, the Undead King unleashed black lightning that traveled through the weapon.

However, a hiss filled the air—Schwertleite jettisoned all her weapons. As her weapons came loose, so did the chains, and Schwertleite followed up by unleashing jets of mana from her wings. She charged at the Undead King, who responded by firing a shadow blade that severed Schwertleite’s leg.

But she didn’t stop. The Deus Machina’s entire body lit up with a mana glow.

“Don’t tell me you’re…!” Leonis gulped.

That glow was the light of a mana furnace reaching critical levels.

“—The master’s enemy will be…eliminated…!”

And the following moment, an intense flash filled the Realm of Shadows.

“So this is the Almagest, the device that records the movements of the stars.”

“That’s right. An ancient artifact we dragons defended for eons…” Veira nodded, looking up at the ruins of the Azure Fort that had crashed to the ground.

The part of the ruin she destroyed and detached was thrust into the soil of the battleground where the Lord of Beasts’ remains were said to slumber like a gigantic grave marker.

“The fact Azra-Ael got away is a bit frustrating, though…” Veira kicked a piece of rubble, crushing it to bits.

“If we investigate this, we may learn what his objectives are,” said the sea sprite standing next to her, Rivaiz Deep Sea, with a shrug.

“I hope so…”

The Dragon Lord and the Lord of the Seas. These two Dark Lords who once brought terror to the world were now working together with their goals aligned. Both were pursuing Azra-Ael: Veira to reclaim her stolen stronghold, the Azure Fort, and Rivaiz joined her to regain her other side, the Leviathan.

The Devil of the Underworld was a slippery figure, but Leonis suggested that if he sought to place the other Dark Lords under his thrall, lying in ambush in a place where a Dark Lord was buried would be a good way of catching him. And indeed, Azra-Ael appeared here, along with the Azure Fort.

After a spectacular battle between Dark Lords, he once again vanished beyond the dimensions, and though Veira was only able to destroy part of the fort’s tail section, she was able to get the Almagest, as she planned.

“I can’t see an entrance to it. Is it buried in the ground?”

“An entrance is wherever we want it to be. Aaah!”

Bang!

Veira punched into a part of the wreckage, digging a hole in one of the walls.

“How barbaric. I thought the device within was a treasure to you dragons?”

“This much isn’t enough to damage it.”

“…Hmm. Is that the issue here?” Rivaiz frowned.

Veira slipped through the hole in the wall and entered the ruins. After walking for a short time down a tilted corridor, she found herself in an open space with an altar in it.

“There it is.”

At the center of the room was a large pillar that connected the ceiling and the ground. It was a large device with mana crystals embedded in it.

“This is the divine tool that records the movements of the stars and reads into the future—the Almagest.”

Veira approached the pillar and ran a hand over it longingly.

“Can you activate it, Dragon Lord?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”

“…Don’t tell me you don’t know how to activate this thing.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t know. Managing the Almagest was the Elder Dragon’s role.” Veira shrugged. “But still, ancient devices like this typically…” She emanated mana through her fingertips touching the Almagest. “…tend to start working when you give them a lot of mana.”

“A rough method. I marvel that it does, in fact, work.” Rivaiz said, her voice somewhere between disbelief and wonder.

Whoosh…

A celestial globe reflecting the night sky was projected onto the entirety of the room.

“The positioning of the stars really has changed,” Veira whispered as she looked up at the projection of the starry sky.

The Almagest recorded all the movements of the stars, and if they traced the records back, they’d be able to investigate what happened to the world after the war between the Dark Lords and mankind came to a close.

About the Voids, the unknown life-forms that didn’t exist a thousand years ago, and the strange star mankind called the Star of Calamity.