Chapter 54 - Are You Stronger Than the Demon King? (2)
"Pfft!"
The horn-demon burst into laughter.
"Khahahahaha!"
He had been intimidated.
He felt an immense pressure when the human appeared before his eyes.
But that was only for a moment.
"It was real."
The horn-demon said.
"It was really the Hero."
The being who even the previous Demon King could not defeat.
He had seen him once by chance a long time ago and remembered his face.
Though his expression was different then, he could still somehow recognize him.
'But this, it's completely changed?'
The atmosphere, as if steeped in fatigue, was distinctly different from how he looked back then, when he dominated the battlefield with overwhelming holy power.
'He must not be able to use holy power properly anymore.'
The horn-demon could not suppress the laughter that kept trying to escape. He didn't know what had happened or how he had survived, but the Hero was completely ruined.
The horn-demon could tell.
This Hero, now, definitely could not exert the same power as before.
"Ah, you're called the Demon King now, right?"
The horn-demon said mockingly.
"But what to do? I can't acknowledge that."
At the same time, numerous demons around him rose.
"Yeah, I don't acknowledge it either!"
"The guy who was a Hero is the Demon King?"
"Didn't he die? Isn't this just a corpse?"
The horn-demon's lips curled up at the mockery filling the interior.
'This is an opportunity.'
He seemed to have tried to seize the initiative early on, but such a trick wouldn't work.
The horn-demon stood up and looked down at Clay.
'Did the previous Demon King really cower before a guy like this?'
It was unbelievable.
Of course, when he witnessed the Hero before, he certainly felt immense power.
But not now.
This guy was broken.
Corpse or whatever, he was definitely not the former Hero.
If so…
"We shouldn't let a disgusting corpse who's already dead keep babbling, should we?"
The horn-demon immediately raised his fist and brought it down to the floor.
CRASH!
A deafening roar.
The horn-demon's fist punched through the floor.
"!"
However, the target that should have been hit by the fist was not there.
The horn-demon immediately raised his eyebrows and lifted his head.
THWACK!
No, he couldn't lift it.
"This…!"
Because Clay was pressing down on his head with one arm.
"I knew you'd mindlessly throw punches first, but to actually do it is just so obvious."
"You bastard!"
WHOOSH!
The horn-demon shook his head and flailed both arms.
He was well within striking distance, yet Clay avoided the attacks by merely stepping back a few paces.
"Don't you even understand the concept of unpredictability?"
"What?"
"Like this—"
Clay instantly moved inside his arm and raised his elbow.
CRASH!
A direct hit to the jaw.
The horn-demon staggered, barely managing to keep his eyes from rolling back.
"Your attacks are too linear, a slight variation in response is enough."
"Uwaaaaah!"
The horn-demon firmly planted both feet on the ground, then lunged at Clay.
"Diiiiieee!"
THUD!
This time, there was no variation.
Clay simply grabbed the charging horn-demon's arm with his hand.
"G-guh?!"
As if nailed down, the horn-demon's arm stopped mid-arc, fixed in place.
"What are you doing, hurry up and hit him!"
"Attack him!"
Those around him urged the horn-demon, but he couldn't do as they said.
'Damn it, what's going on?!'
Despite looking as if all his strength had drained out, Clay stood unmoving like a monument.
'How can he have such strength…!'
As he was held, the horn-demon finally realized.
He hadn't noticed because the room was filled with demons.
Because it was already a space overflowing with magi.
"You, magi?!"
Clay was gathering and using magi.
But the total amount wasn't enormous.
If he could contain a large quantity in his body, his aura would have been different, and they would have noticed by now.
Then there was only one answer.
He was compressing and circulating magi to an almost impossible degree.
"It's impossible…!"
He had manifested that magi as solidification, hardening it.
The horn-demon quickly swung his free arm.
If it required such concentration, then he just needed to interrupt him.
CRACK!
But he failed.
His other hand, which struck Clay's head, simply bounced off.
"Kyaah!"
"It's too early to scream."
Clay raised his foot and kicked the horn-demon's knee.
The compressed magi transformed into an explosively powerful force, directly shattering the horn-demon's kneecap.
"Guk?!"
Clay kicked the horn-demon's head as he lost his balance.
The horn-demon flew back and crashed into the wall.
With a loud bang, the entire inner space shook.
When the smoke cleared, the horn-demon was impaled in the wall, his screaming expression still frozen on his face.
Soon, cracks appeared in the wall, and the horn-demon fell from it with a tearing sound, collapsing onto the floor as if thrown.
"..."
Silence fell among the demons.
Step, step.
Clay walked slowly.
And stood in the center of the space.
"I came to talk."
Seeing Clay speak, the demons who had been standing blankly for a moment suddenly snapped to attention and shouted.
"Y-yes, yes!"
"Bring a chair! Quickly!"
Only now was the conversation about to begin.
The northern part of the demon realm was practically disintegrated.
To be precise, because the land was so barren, each faction was surviving on their own.
And that created a barbarism without 'system.'
"I heard there are no strongholds in the North. Is that right?"
"..."
"Answer."
Kardine pressed his foot onto the horn-demon lying prostrate on the floor and said.
"If you disrespect His Majesty the Demon King again, I will not forgive you."
"Y-yes, yes, there aren't any."
The horn-demon replied with his mouth on the floor.
"There are places we gather frequently… g-guh, kyaah! But they're just places where we meet to pass time without any real purpose! It's true!"
As Kardine pressed his head harder, the horn-demon hastily replied. Clay watched, resting his hand on his chin.
'Just as Geshkafo said.'
He said the same thing.
That's why it might take time to bring the North under control all at once.
'But…'
There was good news, after all.
"Kardine overheard you talking about the Snow Witch. Has she been sighted nearby?"
"S-Snow Witch, you mean…"
"I mean the one who is currently turning the entire North into a frozen wasteland."
The horn-demon nodded, rubbing his forehead on the floor.
"Y-yes, she is. Nearby."
"So you tried to gather forces using her as an excuse?"
"That's right."
Clay let out a hollow laugh at the answer.
"You're just a bunch of nobodies, but your ambition was grand."
The Snow Witch was one of the six calamities said to exist in this world.
There were records that even gods were reluctant to face calamities directly.
To try to confront such a Snow Witch was preposterous, yet amusingly, it wasn't a bad plan.
"Then what do you think?"
"Huh? About what…"
"If I defeat her, the one who will soon turn the entire North into a frozen wasteland, do you think I can gain enough prestige to seize control of the North all at once?"
At his words, the horn-demon looked up at Clay with startled eyes.
"Why. You didn't really intend to face her yourself, did you?"
"T-that…"
"If not, prove it."
Clay commanded.
"Lead the way to where she was sighted. You will be the vanguard."
"N-no way!"
"That's ridiculous!"
The surrounding demons cried out in fear.
Being the vanguard before the Snow Witch was tantamount to suicide.
"I didn't ask for your opinions."
"K-kuh!"
"Don't make me laugh!"
The demons began to scatter in all directions.
They judged that he wouldn't be able to hold dozens of them at once.
CRACKLE!
But it was a misjudgment.
As Kardine drew his sword and impaled several demons as if skewering them, everyone froze in place.
"W-what, what the hell!"
Clay opened his mouth again, watching them fumble.
"Be the vanguard. I will not say it a second time."
Only then did the demons realize.
Just how big a mistake they had made.
***
"Selbaro. What happened?"
The Imperial Palace of Hanumeyer.
Beside Selbaro, who lay severely wounded, stood a person who seemed out of place.
"What happened?"
Tia de Mezzeler.
Since Iser had not officially declared hostility against the Holy State Alliance, she was able to arrive here by airship connecting Iser and Hanumeyer.
However, regardless of the method, Tia had no reason to come to the North.
Selbaro, barely clinging to consciousness, turned his head to look at Tia.
"Tia de Mezzeler."
He spoke in a faint voice.
"Selimia has left."
"Selimia?"
Tia, who had a question mark for a moment, then realized who he was talking about and continued.
"Selbaro, that…"
"She is my sister."
Selbaro spoke in a firm voice.
"Even if she's not my original sister, she was created in her likeness."
"Even if she's a calamity?"
"Whether she's a calamity or anything else, if she was born by borrowing my sister's thoughts, there's no reason not to call her my sister."
"I see."
Tia, surprisingly, looked more at ease.
"That's good. I happen to be looking for someone similar myself."
"Someone similar?"
"Clay."
Tia closed and opened her eyes briefly.
"He is someone I lost due to my foolishness. Perhaps… just as Selbaro tried to protect Selimia in whatever form, I should have done the same."
But the time to do so had already passed.
Now, only deep regret remained, having lost everything she tried to protect.
"Still, I am the Empress of Iser."
As one who wore the Emperor's crown, she had to bear that weight and live on.
She had to preserve Iser somehow.
Because that was truly all she could do now.
"I will do anything to save Iser."
"Does that include finding the Hero?"
Tia did not answer Selbaro's question.
Then Selbaro spoke again.
"You can't honestly say whether you need him to protect Iser, or if you just want to get him back, can you?"
"I don't know which comes first myself."
"No, you do know."
Selbaro grimaced in pain and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position.
"But words don't matter. If you help me find my sister, there's no reason for me not to help you."
His eyes gleamed.
"But I have one question. The Hero, wasn't he dead?"
"He was dead. But for some reason, he came back to life."
An unprecedented event.
It was something no one could explain.
"…Is that so."
However, Selbaro already had an inexplicable being as his sister. So he didn't press the matter.
Whether it was real or not didn't matter to him anyway.
"Tell me where the Hero went."
The only important thing was that his sister would be where he was.