Author's Note
It's a little long.
Could you give us a hint about the names of the three people who bullied Sakura?
In the initial plan, the combination of the first and last names of the trio was different from what it is now. I changed it because I thought there was no way that the parents would actually give them names like that. There is a crazy one.
Royal Capital Zelgadia. It was the royal capital of the Eldia Kingdom and the first city we visited in this world. Well, when I say visited, I only saw it while being pulled by a soldier along the road from the royal castle to the eastern gate.
That royal capital, Zelgadia, was a dilapidated and worn-out mess this time. Residents were dead here and there, and buildings, including the royal castle, had been destroyed to the point where few were still intact. Naturally, there must have been quite a few Heroes who had remained in the royal capital, but their bodies were lying around as if to be expected. There were about 80 of them. This was probably almost the entire group that had participated in the war. ...Tch. He's not dead... No, I wasn't expecting it to happen.
If I was being honest about my current situation, I felt like it had been snatched away from me. It didn't matter if the royal capital was in ruins. It didn't matter if the people of the kingdom and the heroes were all killed. But it's regretful that it wasn't me who caused it.
Who accomplished this? This time, the royal capital of Zelgadia was being attacked by a horde of demons, roughly 1000 in number.
Each individual demon had greater power than a human. If a horde of 1000 of them were to attack, normal towns and villages would be powerless. However, this was the royal capital, Zelgadia. The country that had summoned heroes. The country had its own elite troops, and above all, the heroes. This was the royal capital.
Why has this situation occurred? It went without saying. It was because they were invading the neighboring country, Kastal Queendom.
Was there any decent defensive force left in the royal capital of a country that had dispatched elite troops including Hero and was declaring war? Did a country that had been abandoned by many of its Heroes, with more than half of its remaining Heroes being used for "offense", still had the defensive strength to repel hordes of demons? No way. That answer was probably the current situation.
After learning on the map that the royal capital had been destroyed, we told the Wyvern forces to go first and headed towards the royal capital at maximum speed. Correction, I headed towards the royal capital at the speed of the slowest Dragonnewt chef. It was not good to leave people behind.
(Well then, let's divide the work and defeat the demons.) (Jin)
(Jin-sama, are you going to help Eldia Kingdom?) (Maria)
Maria asked, not understanding.
(Hmm? Why? I don't have any intention of helping Eldia. I just want to crush the demons in front of me. I don't mind if I don't rescue the surviving residents.) (Jin)
Although the heroes and the soldiers had been almost completely wiped out, the population of the residents had not decreased significantly. To be precise, not many people had died yet. In other words, they were being tortured by the demons. There were a lot of residents being tortured. The demons' methods were still disgusting, but given who they were, I had no desire to help them.
(As expected, Master is merciless...) (Mio)
(Understood. I'll prioritize the annihilation of the demons. However, I'd like to divide the work and avoid acting separately from Jin-sama...) (Maria)
(So then, Dora-chan and I will team up, and Master and Maria-chan will team up and share the work between the two groups?) (Mio)
(Together with Mio? Let's do our best!) (Dora)
In truth, we would like the four of us to go our separate ways, but that's what Maria did all the time, so I wouldn't ask for anything unreasonable.
(I get it. For now, our goal is to keep the demons from leaving the Royal Capital. Elle, you come out and keep watch outside the Royal Capital. Don't let anyone escape, kill anyone who comes in or out.) (Jin)
(I get it -noja. We just need to prevent the demons from entering or leaving, right -noja? Leave it to me -noja.) (Elle)
I also assigned work to the Ancestor Divine Dragon (Elle) who suddenly appeared. Should I call in a few more of my subordinates and begin an annihilation battle? ...No, they're not that strong of an opponent.
(After we enter the city, I want the Dragonnewts beast mounts to keep watch over the outskirts of the city just like Elle.) (Jin)
(Okay. I'm not very good at rough work, but I'll try my best.) (Blue)
At the same time that Blue replied, the other Dragonnewts also nodded.
(Don't push yourself. If you feel it's dangerous, back off or call us.) (Jin)
(Yes!) (x4)
At the very least, the Dragonnewt chefs were low level so I couldn't push them too hard.
In fact, Blue and Mikazuki, and Leaf and the three others who went with Sakura, had lost some of their experience points because they had accompanied us on the dragon hunt. Since they weren't in a party, the gains weren't equal, but they still gained a certain percentage of experience points, which resulted in a tremendous amount of power leveling. It's at a level where it's no problem to leave the demons in their care to a certain extent. Did I go too far?
Something suddenly occurred to me, so I checked with Alta.
(By the way, what happened to the garbage of the Blessings? If this many Hero have died, the amount of garbage left by Blessing should be quite large...) (Jin)
[The highest leveled demons attacking this country possess special magic items, which are used to collect the remains left behind from the Blessings.] (Alta)
What does that mean? Since I didn't understand the situation, I checked the demon bosses and magic items that Alta mentioned.
Carellius (Lv46)
Gender: Female
Age: 28
Race: Demon
Skills: [Whip Mastery Lv6] [Dark Magic Lv6] [Physical Strengthening Lv4] [Flying Lv4]
Curse: [Falling Down Lv-]
[Falling Down Lv-]
Charms the surroundings and turns them into puppets that only listen to your commands. The success rate varies depending on the status of the other person. Once charmed, the effect will last until the person or the caster dies.
Oh, she has a brainwashing curse. ...According to the naming rules for curses, it sounds like one of the Four Heavenly Kings. However, her level and skills were lower than those of the Four Heavenly Kings (Romarie), who were non-combatants. Was she the commanding type? If so, it made sense that she was the leader in the attack on the royal capital.
Now, next up is the magic item in question.
[Blessing Garbage Collector]
Note: A device for collecting and storing the remains of Blessings. It also has the function of reducing the effect of surrounding Blessing.
...What is this pinpoint meta item? That would be a sure way to kill the heroes. If they had been facing a brainwashing curse-bearer with an item like this, the forces remaining in the royal capital (including the heroes) would not have been able to do anything. There might have been a chance that the heroes, strengthened by the remains of Blessings, could have done something, but they were completely unable to move. Or rather, the fact that they had such a magic item meant that the demons knew about the remains of the Hero's Blessings. ...Could it be that there is finally no hope for Hero to defeat the demons?
[Master, there is one other demon who is thought to be one of the Four Heavenly Kings.] (Alta)
What? ...Ah, it's true. I didn't know because I was searching at the maximum level, but when I searched for someone with a curse mark, I found another one who looked like one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Crownliese (Lv44)
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Race: Demon
Skills: [Dark Sword Lv5] [Dark Magic Lv3] [Physical Strengthening Lv6] [Flying Lv4]
Curse: [Existence Addition Lv-]
[Existence Addition]
By consuming MP, you can add or change the effects of skills. The number of slots that can be added is 13. The number of slots used will change depending on the effect you add.
I see, it's the skill of choosing and customizing the effects yourself. This is a pretty interesting skill, isn't it? It seems to have a pretty versatile effect, changing the effect according to the enemy or the ally. I'll save the specific customization for later. If it sounds awesome, Alta, let me know.
[Understood. The current customization is not particularly threatening.] (Alta)
It's not a threat...
Yep, if you look closely, isn't this [Dark Sword] a unique skill?
[Dark Sword]
A blood-stained power that can be acquired when evil is bathed in the blood of a True Dragon. Sword Mastery that can counter divine powers. Sometimes tingles your right hand.
What is this?
[It's a skill similar to [Sacred Holy Sword]. Although it has the exact opposite effect.] (Alta)
…Ah, that reminds me, there was a skill called [Sacred Holy Sword]. Indeed, it seems like a fairly similar explanation.
[Sacred Holy Sword]
Swordsmanship that is particularly effective against evil beings such as demons. It is also a blood-stained power that can only be acquired by those bathed in the blood of a True Dragon. Sometimes tingles your left hand.
Oh, the tingling hand is the opposite. ...Yeah, whatever.
Still, does this mean that the Four Heavenly Kings are now complete? Since three out of four members were women, the male member Zelvain ended up standing out. Not the only red, but the only black. That's not like one of the Four Heavenly Kings at all.
Above all, this would make Zelvain the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings. Of course, level and combat ability didn't necessarily match, but it was hard to deny that it felt unnatural. Well, you'll understand if you meet the Four Heavenly Kings. The two of them are acting together anyway...
Well then, it's almost time to arrive at the royal capital.
(Mio, Dora, sorry but we're going to have to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings.) (Jin)
(Okay) (Dora)
(Hmm, a battle with the four heavenly kings sounds interesting, but I knew you'd say that if you were Master, so all I can say is, go ahead. Tell me the details later, okay?) (Mio)
As expected, I couldn't give up the opportunity to face one of the Four Heavenly Kings, so I declared, and Dora answered immediately, and Mio, although reluctant, agreed.
(Yes, of course. I think it's time to disperse, but everyone, don't let your guard down.) (Jin)
(Yes!) (x2)
(Yes!) (Dora)
We split into two groups, Maria and I, and Dora and Mio, and each headed for the castle gate. We entered through the north gate and Mio's group entered through the south gate, and we continued defeating demons as we went.
There was a reason why we went to the north gate. After all, it was the gate we went through at least once. It was the gate we used when I was driven out. If I ever came here again, I was planning to enter through the north gate. Regardless of what position I would be in at that time. Just to clarify, Eldia was located to the west of Kastal, so if the group split into east and west, it would take a long time for the western group to arrive.
"Yo!" (Jin)
Arriving at the north gate, I jumped off Blue, which was hovering in the air. Maria had arrived before me to act as an escort.
"Then, Blue, I'll ask you to keep an eye on the surrounding area." (Jin)
"Leave it to me. I'll do my best to live up to the expectations of Master." (Blue)
"Yeah, leave it to me." (A dragonnewt)
Just like that, Blue and a Dragonnewt flew away.
"Well then, Jin-sama, let's get started." (Maria)
"Yeah" (Jin)
As Maria and I entered the town through the castle gate, three demons noticed us and came towards us.
"What an unlucky person to enter the royal capital at a time like this!"
"Kihihi! I wonder what kind of torture I'll try next!"
"You killed the last traveler, so now it's my turn!"
This is it, this is the kind of thug-like enemy I've been wanting to fight! I felt like my time had finally come. I had never really been able to deal with this kind of template before.
"Kuph?!"
"Gihi?!"
"Gughh?!"
However, before I could enjoy fighting the thugs, Maria cut off all three of their heads at the same time with a flash of her sword. ...It's alright. There are still mountains of demons out there. There are plenty of chances...
"Maria, let me take on the next demon." (Jin)
"I'm sorry. The other person was so rude that I just.... As Jin-sama wishes." (Maria)
When I said that, Maria looked taken aback, then hurriedly got down on her knees and apologized. I patted her head and stroke her. Cat ears felt good.
Now, let's take another look at the city.
Just as I knew from the map, the place was in ruins in many places. People were lying everywhere, many of them dead. Even if they weren't dead, many of them were currently being tortured, bleeding and convulsing, making it difficult to find anyone alive.
As for the buildings, they had also been hit by magic, with many having collapsed or been completely burned down. It's not that I had much confidence in my memory, but since it was the first town I saw after coming to this other world, there were some buildings that remain in my memory. However, most of them had now completely changed. ...What should I do? I don't feel much emotion because of who they are.
I didn't know the details because the only demons I'd encountered so far were Romarie and Zelvain, but it seemed there were two types of demons.
Those with purple skin, similar to Romarie and Zelvain. This made up the majority of the group. It's probably a basic appearance among the demons. Many of their hair was gold or silver, and even those who didn't have it had a metallic sheen to them.
And there were a few who had skin that was almost indistinguishable from that of humans. Their hair color was similar to that of those with purple skin, but their skin color didn't give away that they were demons. That's because their status said they were half demon.
Was love established between a human and a demon? Or was the child forcibly born to a kidnapped human? I didn't know the details, but it seemed that there were such things. Furthermore, there were those who were described as half-demon but had purple skin, so it seemed that it hadn't been decided which one it would be.
The demons at the gate seemed to be acting a gatekeeper. It was as if they were saying that they would not allow anyone inside to escape and would punish anyone unlucky enough to come in from the outside. Unfortunately, their body was in a condition where they could no longer work...
Several demons who saw us killed the gatekeeper came towards us. This time, I silently readied my weapon, made no unnecessary movements, and came to kill without hesitation. ...Hey, give off more of a thug vibe. What kind of commanding soldier vibe are you giving off?
"Guh?!"
"Gecho?!"
"B-bo-?!"
If there's no question about it, there's no reason to let them live. I used [Flying Slash] to send out a slash and killed them instantly.
The demons were shocked as they watched their comrades being killed without being able to do anything. Their eyes immediately changed to those of the enemy. It was no longer the sadistic expression they had shown while tormenting the townsfolk, but now they were filled with the will to kill enemies, and yet they exuded a calm intelligence. —Apparently, the demon soldiers have a combat mode switch.
Once that happens the rest is easy. Even if you don't move much, they will come to you.
The demons attacked one after the other, in groups, individually, from close range, from long distance, from behind, with magic, weapons, and poison. They abandoned the townspeople they had been tormenting and put all their strength into killing me. I see, so the reason why the heroes and the soldiers died first was because of this battle mode. Since the general battles that required combat mode were over, all that was left for me to do was to torture them.
With that thought in mind, I cut the attacking demon in half with a single slash.
"Hey, you bastards!"
In the midst of all this, one demon called out to us. This was the first time he had called out to us since the first gatekeeper demon we fought. Well, opinions were divided as to whether Maria's instantaneous killing could be called a battle...
Even so, the demon soldiers were all way too dedicated to their work...
"Can't you see this? If you want to save this girl, then quietly put your weapons down!" (A demon)
"Ugh..." (A girl)
The demon grabbed the town girl by her hair and pointed his sword at her throat.
"?" (Jin)
I tilted my head, not understanding what the demon was saying. …Could it be that he was trying to use her as a hostage? Or was it a trap to draw my attention?
"What are you doing? Put your weapon down!" (A demon)
"Eh, why?" (Jin)
I couldn't help but ask again. Well, if this was a trap to attract attention, I had fallen for it.
"Wh-why?! Didn't you all come to save this town?! Look, just look! A town girl is about to be killed! Are you going to just abandon her like this? You'll end up killing her yourself!" (A demon)
"H-Help me!" (A girl)
The town girl pleaded, but as expected, I didn't seem to feel any emotion towards a resident of this town.
"Well, it's you guys who are going to have to kill them, right? Why would I have to kill them? Besides, if we dropped our weapons, we'd be the ones to be killed. There's no way we could do something like that for a stranger. To put it more fundamentally, we didn't come here to save this city, we came here to destroy it. There just happened to be demons there, so we just prioritized destroying them." (Jin)
Then a demon attacked me from behind, so I cut him in half without turning around.
"It won't cause any damage to this city or its residents. Well, it will be unpleasant, like, 'Stolen property?', but since killing demons is a given, it won't have any particular impact. So, if you want to kill them, go ahead. Do as you like?" (Jin)
The demons became a little shaken as they had taken hostages but it had no effect. Or rather, taking a hostage might be an effective measure, but preparing it for someone who was ineffective was...
"Guff!?"
They just restricted their movement and visibility, with no real benefit. Look, the demon who was holding the hostage was easily cut down without even noticing Maria approaching from behind.
"Thank you for helping me out...!" (A girl)
The town girl who had been captured by the demons escaped from her restraints after the demons were killed and tried to cling to me.
"Hindrance" (Jin)
"Gyaah?!" (A girl)
I kicked the city girl in the jaw as she was in a low position trying to cling to my leg. Who would willingly commit the foolish act of having their feet tied up? If you think you've been saved, I'd like to tell you to stay in the corner and hide away. Ignoring the fact that the town girl was unconscious, I continued fighting the demons.
After a while, most of the surrounding demons had been cleared out. There were no more replacements for the demons, and there were hardly any left around this part of the map. The remaining demons were mostly scouting troops, so I'd be sure to eliminate them. Unlike attacking, they're hiding, so it'd take some time.
"Jin-sama, we have finished eliminating the surrounding demons." (Maria)
"Thank you for your hard work. Now, let's go a little further east and towards the center." (Jin)
"Yes, sir" (Maria)
After finishing the battle at the north gate, we headed slightly east of the center. In a prior meeting with Mio's group, we had decided that I would enter through the north gate and be in charge of the north and east sides, while Mio's group would enter through the south gate and be in charge of the south and west sides.
Even if we head east, what we did wouldn't change.
Once we had cut down a few demons at first, we would get refills one after another, just like eating soba noodles. If we defeated them appropriately, they would eventually stop appearing, and when that happens, all we had to do was find the scouts and eliminate them. It's a very simple matter.
Now that we had wiped out most of the demons in the east, that meant we'd almost completely defeated all the demons in the city.
(Mio, Dora, we're going to invade the castle and defeat the Four Heavenly Kings, so you can eliminate the remnants in the city.) (Jin)
(Okay!) (Mio)
(Kay!) (Dora)
After hearing their replies, we also headed towards the royal castle.
That's right, two of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army were currently residing in the Summoning Hall in Eldia Royal Castle. The Summoning Hall was the name I arbitrarily gave to the great hall we were in when I was summoned.
Most of the royal family had already been killed, with only about 10 remaining. Naturally, the king was killed, and most of the adult members of the royal family were also killed. All that remained were minors, who had been captured by the demons and were being tortured. Apparently, demons found it more fun to torture children than adults. Or was it because there was a chance of a counterattack from an adult, but not from a child? Either way, it’s a good hobby.
Oh, and by the way, the princess was also still alive. She was the only remaining adult member of the royal family.
"Who the hell are you?!"
I killed the demons holding the castle gate and entered the castle. The interior looked familiar, but it didn't really evoke any particular emotion.
The town was pretty bad as well, but inside the castle the air didn't easily circulate, so the smell of blood seemed even more intense. Inside the castle, just like outside, you could see demons tormenting humans. For now, I would cut down any demons that caught my eye on the spot. After that, since it would be difficult for just the two of us to go around the entire castle, I summoned several Tamo-sans. I then instructed them to divide up the demons other than the Four Heavenly Kings and defeat them.
Although they killed the demons, they did not use [Recovery Magic] on the humans who had been tortured. I didn't have any interest in finishing off dying people, but I didn't feel any obligation to help them either.
Ah, no. I had cast [Recovery Magic] on some of the people. I think you can tell without me having to say it, but they were people who possessed unique or rare skills. However, normally after copying a skill, I would increase the skill points and return them, but this time I didn't do that. I took all of the skill points. There's a clear debt to me, and I had no intention of going to any trouble for Eldia's sake.
"So, Jin-sama, how do you plan to proceed with the upcoming battle against the Four Heavenly Kings?" (Maria)
As we approached the Summoning Hall, Maria asked a question.
"Yeah, that's right... I want to fight Crownliese first. Her curse has a pretty interesting effect. I want to experience it for myself." (Jin)
"I understand. What will we do about Carellius in the meantime?" (Maria)
"That's right. Can Maria fight Carellius and buy some time? I want to be the one dealing with the demons." (Jin)
"Well, I'll fight mainly defensively so as not to take too much damage. ...It'll be easier if I switch to equipping a shield, right?" (Maria)
"Please do." (Jin)
With that, Maria put away her dagger and equipped herself with a shield, something she rarely used. It was technically an artifact level, which is below legendary level, but since the base equipment was God-level, it seemed to be of a much lower rank. These were gifts from Queen Sakuya of Kastal. I had quite a lot of things piling up.
Of course, a skilled warrior like Maria could block most attacks with just a dagger. However, since she was only buying time, she couldn't just guard with the dagger and deal damage to her opponent, so she deliberately equipped herself with a shield that had no offensive power. This way, unless she used a shield bash, there's no way it would be an attack. It would be safe.
After walking for a while, the Summoning Hall came into view. The Summoning Hall was a separate building, and you had to go through a courtyard. There were human corpses lying around in the courtyard, but for some reason, most of the demons had disappeared. Is it because they feel intimidated by the Four Heavenly Kings who are at the top? Or is it simply because they dislike the Four Heavenly Kings?
[During the summoning, the power of the goddess is at work from the time of the heroes' summoning, and demons cannot approach. It has weakened over time, but low-level demons still cannot get close.] (Alta)
I see, so that means that among the demons that attacked the city, they were the Four Heavenly Kings, the highest ranking, and that's why they were able to enter the summoning chamber. It's nice that there are no unnecessary interruptions.
Standing in front of the Summoning Hall, I forcefully opened the door.
"Who are you?" (Crownliese)
"Oh my, what a stranger to come to a place like this." (Carellius)
There, just as I expected, were two female demons and the battered princess.
Carellius was wearing something that looked like a swimsuit. How should I put it, it was a rather risqué swimsuit. A dangerous swimsuit. A swimsuit with strings. Her breasts were Sera class and were only held down by string, so they looked like they might fall out at any moment. I see, it's a visual suitable for a charm-type curse mark. She had a calm, beautiful face and wavy blonde hair that reached down to her waist.
Crownliese, on the other hand, had unusually little exposed skin. She was wearing light clothing, shorts and a tank top, but most of the parts of her body that were likely to be exposed were wrapped in bandages. Her left arm and right leg were not bandaged, but instead she was wearing gloves that reached up to her elbows and long boots that reached up to her upper thighs. Her right leg was wearing a fairly normal shoe. And apart from the bandages, her entire outfit was completely black. To be honest, I couldn't really make out her facial features. Her shoulder-length silver hair was messy and unkempt, and it seemed she had not cared for it. And she had an eyepatch over her left eye. That made it hard to get a good overall impression. …Ah no, my impression is already clear. It's definitely "Chuunibyou".
"They're an amazing duo in many ways..." (Jin)
My true feelings came out of my mouth without me even thinking. The Four Heavenly Kings were more impressive than I had expected.
"I'm asking who you are!" (Crownliese)
"You'd better answer quickly. We're not very patient, so we want to kill people right away." (Carellius)
Since they had already asked me to introduce myself, I should probably just do so obediently.
"I am a Jean from the Kastal Queendom Knights. You are one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demons. I will defeat you." (Jin)
"Likewise, Marie." (Maria)
Oh, Marie is a pseudonym for Maria —It was not something I came up with. Maria decided it herself.
"Why are the knights of a neighboring country here? And a country we're at war with...?" (Crownliese)
"My my, this is becoming very unnatural, isn't this?" (Carellius)
I had a feeling that this was the case, but it seemed the demons attacked after learning that Eldia was at war.
"We are at war, so isn't it natural that knights from neighboring countries would attack the royal capital?" (Jin)
"That's ridiculous... How long do you think it would take to get here from Kastal? Besides, we're in the middle of war, so there's no way they could get here that quickly." (Crownliese)
She's surprisingly calm in her thinking, despite her chuunibyou style.
"H-help!" (Christia)
At this point, the princess, who had been quiet up until then, suddenly asked for help. The Princess of the Eldia Kingdom, Christia, had now been reduced to a pitiful state. Her arms were in shackles, her dress and underwear had been torn off, and only the remained were barely clinging to her skin. Naturally, she had been assaulted, and her body was covered in bruises and wounds. Her once-good-looking face was now a mere shadow of its former self.
"Hey, who said you could talk as you please!" (Crownliese)
"Eeek!" (Christia)
When Crownliese threatened her, the princess's face twisted in anger and she crouched down, trembling violently.
"Hmmph!" (Crownliese)
"Urrgh!" (Christia)
Seeing this, Crownliese gave a bored look and kicked the princess in the stomach. The princess was blown away and fainted, and was now convulsing repeatedly. Well, there's no problem leaving her alone.
"Hey, how did you get to this country?" (Crownliese)
"Huh? Well, I've got to have crossed the Gallant Mountain, right? There's no other way to get to Eldia so quickly." (Jin)
"...I see, so you two are capable enough to cross the monster-infested mountain ranges with just two people from a neighboring country and enter the royal capital and castle of a country you are at war with." (Crownliese)
"Oh my, how amazing. I want all of you." (Carellius)
At that moment, Carellius must have used the curse mark, [Falling Down]. I felt something a little strange in the atmosphere. However, naturally, it was repelled by the [Avatar] mental defenses.
"Oh, oh...?" (Carellius)
Carrierius let out a pathetic cry and collapsed to the ground. What on earth could have happened?
[The curse mark was a bit annoying, so I hit it hard. It seems that the backlash caused mental damage. I'm sorry.] (Alta)
Apparently, Alta went too far. Well, it wouldn't be a problem if she couldn't move, so there was no need to worry about it. What bothered me more was that the strings came undone by the impact of the collapse, causing the whole thing to fall off.
By the way, Carellius was not completely unconscious, she was just sitting there with a vacant look in her eyes. This made the situation even more erotic.
"Carellius?! Hey, Carellius! What's wrong?!" (Crownliese)
Crownliese was shaken by Carellius's collapse. No matter how much Crownliese shook her, Carellius never regained her senses.
"You bastards! What have you done to Carellius?" (Crownliese)
"Whatever you say, I was afraid I'd be brainwashed, so I just played it a little harder." (Jin)
It wasn't me, it was Alta, though...
"What?! You bastards, do you really think you can avoid [Falling Down]?!" (Crownliese)
"Well, brainwashing techniques don't work on me." (Jin)
"Damn, to think that an opponent with a bad compatibility with Carellius has appeared here... it can't be helped. I, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army, 'Crownliese of Transformation', will be your opponent. Do your best to entertain me." (Crownliese)
Saying this, Crownliese puffed out her rather modest chest, which was appropriate for her age. If you think about it, she's 14, so she's really in her second year of junior high school.
"Let's start with a little trial! Let yourself be consumed by the dark flames! [Black Purgatory]!!!" (Crownliese)
Together with a shout that sounded incredibly chunibyou, a spiral of black flames came flying from Crownliese's left arm. As she said herself, it was just a trial run, and it was not that fast, so even if it hit, it didn't seem like it would do much damage. But there was no reason for it to hit, so I avoided it this time. Naturally, Maria was also avoiding it. And she was sneaking to the side so as not to get in the way of our fight.
By the way, [Existence Addition] is a slot system. How many slots does this technique have?
["Black Purgatory" requires 1 slot.] (Alta)
Can it be slotted at the lowest price? Hmm, it's a bit tricky... It just seems to be all about the visuals...
"Hmph. There's no point competing with an opponent who can't even avoid an attack of this magnitude. Since there's no need to be reserved, I'll use a bit more force next time!" (Crownliese)
With a confident smile, Crownliese unsheathed the great sword hanging from her waist.
"Let's go. Wrap your blade in my chaos, [Dark Sword]!!! And the black light that will pierce the sinners, [Nemesis Crux]!!!" (Crownliese)
In the next moment, Crownliese's greatsword was enveloped in a black light, which formed a giant cross with Crownliese's hand at the center. Of course, the light part would have an attack hit point, so it seemed safe to say that the weapon had simply gotten bigger. If the weight hadn't changed, it shouldn't be that hard to use.
["Nemesis Crux" requires two slots.] (Alta)
Ah, it's a little more than [Black Purgatory].
"Not yet! Let's keep going! Haaaaaaa!!!!!!" (Crownliese)
Crownliese suddenly let out a cry, and wings of black light spread out from her back. That was annoying—It overlapped slightly with my [Nosferatu]...
"Sever the wedge of gravity! [Reverse Nyx]!!!" (Crownliese)
This guy really likes black...
[The number of slots required for "Reverse Nyx" is 2.] (Alta)
Has she already used 5 slots at this point?
[If she didn’t add the black light effect, both "Black Purgatory" and "Reverse Nyx" require only one slot.] (Alta)
...I can understand the sentiment, but it's pretty much a complete waste, huh? Oops, I need to concentrate on the battle...
"Kukukuku. No one can stop me in this state! I have overwhelming aerial mobility and wide-range attack capabilities. There's nothing a human who can do anything but crawl on the ground can do!" (Crownliese)
Saying this, Crownliese floated into the air with her black wings. Like [Nosferatu], there seemed to be no need to flap.
"Take this! [Nyx Cruz]!!!" (Crownliese)
Crownliese readied her sword in mid-air and came flying towards me while shouting the name of what sounded like a special move. At best, I would say it was [Flying] skill level 3. Not very fast. I could dodge it, but then the attack would continue, and I wouldn't see the next slot.
"Ei!"
"Eh!?"
Right before Crownliese swung her sword, I snatched the shining black cross-shaped sword from her hand. I also lightly hit it and blew away the black wings. Having lost her sword and wings, Crownliese fell according to the laws of inertia, bouncing repeatedly like a drop of water.
"Guh! Guh! Guh! Agh!" (Crownliese)
—Bagon!—
Crownliese cried like a squashed mosquito. After bouncing many times, it finally crashed into the wall—It looked like it hurts a lot. —To be more precise, she crashed into the wall and broke through it. Her upper body was outside the wall, and only her lower body was facing in the direction of the wall.
She appeared to have fainted and remained lying on the ground, refusing to get up. What? You're kidding, right? This isn't the end, is it? You haven't even seen half the slots yet, have you? Surely this can't end like this!?
Author's Note
The end The Four Heavenly Kings!
The setting of the Four Heavenly Kings may seem to not fit together (Chapter 35), but there is a good reason for this (Chapter 54).
——??? The perspective——take a look at it!
Translator's Note
I just realized, it already has its manga version, just not too long ago. It's here https://magcomi.com/episode/2550912964551996055. There are 5 chapters already. Just need someone to scanlate them. 😅