The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 7 - Chapter 86

CHAPTER 86

The Ex–Demon Lord and the Reunion in the Labyrinth

The Armor of the Demon Lord. The common name of the 666 pieces of powerful magic equipment that I had forged back when I was Varvatos.

According to modern legend, I had created them prior to my reincarnation, worried about the fate of the world, and left them behind with future generations in mind.

They were half right.

It was true that I had prepared the Armor in the event of a worst-case scenario—if the Evil Gods were revived while I was gone. And I really did scatter the pieces to every corner of the globe. This, however, was just my way of finishing the job I’d started.

To set the record straight, I made the Armor of the Demon Lord to kill a single Evil God—to eternally eliminate this world of my bitter enemy, Mephisto Yuu Phegor, after Lydia’s death.

…But I’d failed to kill Mephisto—instead, sealing him forever…which meant the Armor of the Demon Lord had accomplished its intended purpose.

“I see! If we can get our hands on that, it might give us a fighting chance!” Verda exclaimed.

We were in Verda’s research lab in a corner of the old capital of Kingsglaive. Her voice bounced across the walls.

“…I think I remember there being a labyrinth not too far from here that should have three pieces of Armor. If we can use those…,” she mused.

It might get us out of this situation, but—

“Hmm. That sounds way too easy.” Sylphy didn’t look convinced.

Olivia nodded. “Yeah. Too simple… I bet Mephisto has something to do with this. Like he’s trying to lure us there.”

Everyone must have had the same thought on their mind: We were dancing in the palm of Mephisto’s hand and moving according to his will. For now.

I made eye contact with Olivia, then Sylphy and Verda. “Even if we’re following his script, we won’t give him his desired ending. Right?”

All three nodded vigorously. I knew I could count on them… I looked over at Ginny, who lay motionless on the ground.

“We’ll save Ginny and defeat Mephisto Yuu Phegor. And to accomplish that…we’ll dance to his tune.”

And then, once this was over, I’d slice off his hands and rip out his windpipe.

Verda nodded when she saw I’d made up my mind. “I have to stay here and watch over Ginny, so the three of you should go to the labyrinth without me… Will you be okay?” she asked us with a serious look, which was rare for her. We silently assented.

It would be Olivia, Sylphy, and me. No one said a word. Only silent determination burned within our hearts—

Leaving Verda and Ginny behind at the lab, we departed Kingsglaive.

The labyrinth in question was nestled within the mountains, and even at a brisk pace, it would take us a full day to get there.

Sylphy voiced her skepticism. “Wouldn’t things have been easier if we tried to locate the Armor of the Demon Lord from the get-go? Then we’d have our magic back, plus some killer firepower—hit two birds with one stone. Much better than Verda’s gizmos.”

She had a point. After losing our magic, we had teamed up to complete Verda’s bracelets. After all, recovering our magic and fixing the situation were the only two things on our minds.

This new objective, however, made more sense to Sylphy. Nonetheless…

“No. I discounted the idea of collecting the Armor of the Demon Lord once I thought about it. It’s a foolish thing to attempt, to be frank.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Sylphy asked, confused.

I let out a heavy sigh before answering. “The reason is simple. We can’t use the Armor of the Demon Lord.”

“What?!” Sylphy blustered.

Olivia, on the other hand, hardly reacted at all. She must have concluded the same thing as I did earlier.

“Wh-what do you mean that we can’t use it?!”

“…I discovered something when I used the Armor of the Demon Lord in my battle against Elzard…” I paused. “It’s optimized for use by ancient peoples. Modern man—myself included—is not equipped to handle it.”

I didn’t intend to make them this way. In fact, I’d made it so that anyone could use the Armor as long as they fulfilled a specific condition…but magic had regressed more than I had expected, as the concentration of atmospheric mana decreased over the years. Ancient and modern people weren’t even on the same playing field anymore. As a result, no one in the present day could use the Armor of the Demon Lord.

“So, for modern humans to use it, we would need to rewrite and recalibrate its technical attributes… But now that we’ve lost our magic, that, too, is impossible.”

“W-well, I’m from the past, so… Oh, wait. I’ve lost my magic, too, huh…”

This was exactly why I dismissed the possibility of hunting for the Armor.

“That means there’s no point in finding it! Even an omnipotent weapon is a piece of junk if we can’t use it! Why are we risking our lives for this endeavor? I don’t get it!”

Well, I could see why she might arrive at this conclusion. Why stick your neck out for something useless? Even Olivia didn’t seem to have an answer to this question. Like Sylphy, she looked at me, eyes doubtful.

“…I do have an idea that may allow us to activate them. Just a theory—so I’m not sure if we’ll be successful. But…the probability isn’t zero.”

A nonzero chance was our only glimmer of hope.

…I could only pray the thing Mephisto had up his sleeve wasn’t something that would dash this dream.

“At any rate, all we can do is depend on the indeterminate factors of the Armor of the Demon Lord.”

“Right… Well, even if we are able to use the Armor, it’s hard to say whether it will give us any sort of advantage… I hate to say it, but I have my doubts.”

“Th-there’s no way! I mean, we have Ard on our side…a-and I’m here, too! Getting our hands on that Armor basically guarantees our victory!”

Sylphy puffed out her chest, beaming at us…but I could tell it was a bluff. Nevertheless, I’d pick her bravado over pure pessimism.

“…You were in Lydia’s Champion Army for about six years, right?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah. What about it?” Sylphy replied.

“…Then you don’t know his true terror. It all happened after you disappeared, but…”

I imagined Olivia was mentally replaying the same footage as I was—the hell that devil put us through. Everyone had despised him, vowed their revenge, and felt pure terror and despair as he twisted their plans right out of their hands.

I was no exception.

“According to the great Demon Lord’s autobiography…the battle to defeat this Evil God was fought on a scale never before seen.”

“…Yeah. Like the record says, it was war—all or nothing. Heavenly Kings obviously fought as soldiers, but even the civil officials—those who normally stayed off the battlefield—supported us in the rear guard. We gave everything we could.”

“To break down our forces, we had…a hundred thousand fighters from Sir Alvarto’s Mad Blood-Oath Unit, a hundred fifty thousand from Sir Lizer’s Blue-Eyed Martyrs, seventy thousand from Lady Verda’s Special Magic Research Squadron, and ninety thousand from Lady Olivia’s Demon Slayers—foot soldiers. Adding in the surviving members of Lydia’s Champion Army, civil officials, etcetera…the grand total is approximately five hundred and forty thousand. This extraordinary military assembly was mobilized to defeat Mephisto Yuu Phegor alone.”

Memories flooded me. My skin was sticky with sweat.

That wasn’t a battle—but a massacre!

“…We were unified—a group of misfits working as a whole. It was the first and last time that we banded together… But still…,” Olivia trailed off.

We couldn’t win. We couldn’t destroy him. Even at the very end, Mephisto Yuu Phegor never lost his smile.

The devil with an angel’s grin. He broke straight through the greatest army that the world had ever seen and drove it into the ground.

“…The Demon Lord had sacrificed everything. This included the subordinates who had admired him and his comrades who trusted him, even an enemy who he had pretended to fight in a battle to the death… He used his own life as a pawn. He did all he could… But in the end, his reward was different from what he’d hoped,” I explained.

During that devastating battle, I’d realized something: We can’t kill this monster.

That was why I’d chosen to take the escape route—seal him away—instead of attempting to get rid of him altogether… But was that really a victory?

No. It was closer to failure. Things hadn’t gone exactly my way.

If that was true, Mephisto Yuu Phegor was basically invincible.

I continued. “We might be able to achieve a superficial victory against him, but we’ll never actually win. In any situation, Mephisto Yuu Phegor will always be the one coming up on top in the end.”

They couldn’t make him taste the bitterness of regret. They couldn’t make him experience the terror of destruction. That was why we would never beat this nightmare.

However—

“We must win, even if it’s only superficial.”

“…Right. But what are our actual chances?” Olivia asked.

I nodded. “I’m wondering if there’s some hope of victory in this situation. This is all a game to Mephisto Yuu Phegor. And he’s self-imposed a power ceiling on himself to get the most out of it.”

“Wait, hold on. Are we taking his word on that? If he drives us into a corner—”

“He won’t. The man never breaks his own rules, no matter the circumstance. He’ll refuse to go back on his word, even if it means death…as long as we’re playing by the same rules.”

Mephisto was different from us—he had no interest in winning by getting one step ahead of his opponents. In fact, he didn’t care to win or lose; he was only after an outcome that was personally amusing to him…even if it meant his own destruction.

He was a madman—to the point of catastrophe.

“…At any rate, gathering the Armor of the Demon Lord should be our main priority. It’s very obviously not going to be easy,” I mused.

The Armor in question was in a hidden room within the labyrinth. We would have to find a special, well-concealed passageway to get there. Basically, once we found this secret route, we’d be in the clear. After all, there was nothing particularly dangerous about the corridor itself.

…However—once we reached the labyrinth and took a step inside the hidden passage…

“Ah, as I suspected,” I murmured, staring into the dim space.

The air in the corridor was bizarre. The area was supposed to be threat-free, just a straight line to lead you to the Armor…but that was all in the past now.

This had Mephisto’s fingerprints all over it. There was no question that the labyrinth had been tampered with—booby-trapped.

“Stay on your guard. This place is a minefield. Consider this no different than charging into the heat of battle.”

Olivia and Sylphy nodded, which was unsurprising since these two had plenty of experience under their belts. They sensed a distinct miasma in the labyrinth. At this rate, we’d be fine…

…or so I thought.

“Aaargh?!” Sylphy let out a yelp as water suddenly poured down on her from the ceiling.

…How many traps was that just now? The seventh?

Mephisto’s tricks were ingeniously hidden, and finding them all was near impossible.

Despite multiple setbacks, however, we survived each one. Obviously. After all, they were only childish pranks.

“Ugh! What is this?! …ACHOO!” Sylphy kicked the ground, soaked to the bone.

Olivia chimed in irritably. “…He’s so annoying.”

Her beast ears and tail twitched. She was currently covered head to toe in a cloudy white liquid… I didn’t want to get any closer. It reeked.

I imagined it was some kind of dairy product. Either way, they were drenched in it.

“That damn shrimp! I’m gonna beat the shit out of him next time I see him!” Sylphy shouted, her cheeks bright red.

Her attitude showed no signs of nervousness.

…It was further proof of his cunning. Sylphy was playing right into Mephisto’s hands.

“You mustn’t be misled, Sylphy,” I said, picking up a pebble by my feet and standing in front of her. “His childlike behavior may seem innocent, but beneath it lies pure evil—I’ll show you.” I flung the pebble—far and long.

Plink. As soon as it hit the earth…

“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!”

Part of the ground turned to sludge. A giant monster reared its head. The slimy, scaly creature gobbled the pebble and disappeared back into the floor…and spears whizzed in from all four directions. Flames spewed out of the stone walls seconds later.

As we watched the spears melt, I turned back to Sylphy.

“When dealing with Evil Gods, their wickedness and intellect are by far the most horrifying. Mephisto Yuu Phegor is adept at manipulating the human heart. Evil Gods can guide you straight into the palm of their hand, make you dance to their own tune…and do it with a smile. This is why we must watch out for their menace at all times. Otherwise…”

They understood without me spelling it out. If we failed to grasp how Mephisto operated here, he would take hold of our hearts, make us lose our cool and drop our guard…before leading us to cruel deaths. He’d watch and cackle like the devil he was.

“You should keep your guard up whenever this corridor looks as it should. That’s proof that you’re losing focus… Okay, let’s go.”

Sylphy nodded without a word. Worry was back on her face. She was an experienced veteran who had survived battles in the ancient past; one warning was all she needed. In fact, Sylphy never let her guard down again after that. We outwitted several of Mephisto’s dastardly traps, and soon…it became clear we were nearing our destination.

—The sudden echo of his voice was all the proof we needed.

“Hey, guys. How are you liking my homemade attraction?”

We stopped in our tracks and glared into the empty space. He was nowhere to be found. We couldn’t even feel his presence. It was either just a disembodied voice or…

“You two.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Read you loud and clear.”

Each of us prepared for battle—our senses on high alert.

The disquieting voice spoke again. “Haste makes waste, as they say. Poorer quality. Unsatisfying your quota, you know the drill. So this is where the fun zone ends. From here on out—you’ll be entertaining me.”

An instant later, an amorphous mass of darkness squirmed—and eventually took human form. Three people. Dark robes covered their faces and bodies. They drew their swords, and…

“Laughter! Passion! Tears! Theater! Show me the drama.”

As if Mephisto’s voice was their cue, the three assassins charged forward.

“Gh…!”

They were fast. Before we even had a chance to react, the enemies were standing in front of us with their bare swords glittering. I used Verda’s handcrafted blade to deal with the one in front of me.

“Hah…!”

I alternated between dodging, striking, waiting for an opening. Metallic clangs rang out in the dim light, and sparks illuminated our faces.

…It was a woman. Her hood prevented me from making out all the details, but her face was clearly female. And a young one, at that.

Still, that didn’t mean I could go easy on her.

“Pretty impressive…! You have my admiration!”

This assassin is strong.

I couldn’t afford to pay attention to whatever else was going on around me. If I looked away from my opponent for even a second, she would lop off my head. My fight against this foe would be a vicious one, and—

Either by some strange coincidence or fate, I had been separated from my comrades and stepped out into an open space. I was wary of a possible ambush, but none was waiting for me. It was only the assassin and me.

“It’s like we’re in a dueling arena…! Wouldn’t you agree…?!”

I kept talking during our fight in an attempt to throw the opponent off. A battle wasn’t only about swords and magic; words were as sharp as knives.

“You’re skilled with the sword. It’s remarkable. Who taught you?”

It’s hard to predict when you’ll have an opportunity to strike. This time was no different. I hadn’t said anything in particular…but my opponent flinched.

This was my chance.

I aimed a strike at her neck. A movement lightning-quick yet minimal. However—it figured I wouldn’t take her down so easily. My enemy kicked at the ground and jumped back. The tip of my blade grazed along her skin…and made only the thinnest line at her neck.

I almost had her.

Still, I got a glimpse inside my enemy’s heart. She’d land soon, so I—

“…What?”

My thoughts seized up as my words fumbled.

There in front of me. My foe had landed, and something—a gust of wind, perhaps—had knocked her hood off and exposed her face.

“I-it can’t be…!”

Sweat broke out on my forehead, and my heart pounded.

…The assassin in front of me. I knew that face. There was no question.

I was certain of it.

“Help me, Ard…!”

My best friend, Ireena, was fearfully entreating me with tears in her eyes…