The battle between Leon and Kazaream continued for a full day and night.
He was not simply calling himself Great Demon Lord for nothing, as Kazaream possessed an overwhelming amount of energy incomparable to what he had before.
Even after fighting a lengthy battle, he showed no sign of exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Leon and Mizari were also the same, but even though they were fighting together, they were still toyed with by Kazaream.
The only reason why Leon was able to continue fighting was because Kazaream was going easy on him; Leon noticed this and ground his teeth.
“Will I meet my doom here?” Leon asked himself.
If that were inevitable, then so be it. Until Now, he had lived by crushing the weak.
Of course, when he thought about it as his own turn finally coming up, he could accept it obediently.
…No. Would that really be fine for him?
He spared no sacrifice when it came to his search for Chloe.
He even learned summoning magic himself, and had summoned several people in his selfishness.
One of them was Claude, and another was the burned girl.
Claude vowed his vengeance against Leon, challenging him countless times, yet before they knew it, his attempts at revenge had ceased, and the two came to recognize each other.
Leon believed himself to be selfish and cared not for others’ expectations. That was natural.
He might not have been able to survive in this harsh world otherwise, finding and protecting that girl could be said to be his only reason for living, yet that seemed a dream within a dream.
Therefore, he thought, it can’t be helped that he would be resented, and so he continued to cruelly cut down the weak.
That was Leon’s way of life, the true reason why he couldn’t be a Hero even though he had awakened as a Hero.
A human is a creature who has a hard time understanding another person’s mind. They live without showing anyone their own mind. Therefore, there was no one with the desire to understand Leon’s feelings, even if he wished for it.
A person like Claude is an exception among the exceptions.
Ergo, he thought that for people whom he summoned selfishly had every right to enact revenge against him.
He saw the Silver Knight Alrose fall down from the corner of his eye.
Moderate Clown Troupe is a gathering of hedonists. They fight against anyone by request without any principle.
Kazaream gathered such people, possibly in part due him been warped by defeat in his fight against Leon.
It reached the point where he showed an obstinate obsession for Leon and lined up his subordinates for varied harassment.
The reason why Clayman acted hostile toward Leon could be traced back to Kazaream’s obsession.
Regardless of their appearance, these were once Kazaream’s companions. They wouldn’t be weak.
No one would think that the devil called Footman with a body that fat could be toying around with Alrose and his quick movement.
Alrose’s swordsmanship was top class, but because he’s a master of proper swordsmanship, he’s weak against irregular attacks.
His weakness was seen through in no time and he received a blow.
If he hadn’t gained the power of the Demon Duke class, he would be dead because of the blow just now.
Thanks to the fact that he became a half spiritual lifeform, even if he received injuries to the extent of having a part of his body blown off, it would recover in an instant. But, he might not able to continue this for a long time.
It’s clear that Footman surpassed him in ability.
The combination of Yellow Knight Kizna and White Knight Maetel fought well against the girl-like devil called Tear.
So, it may be said that they’re putting up a good fight. Because they are still alive.
In ability, Tear surpasses the two overwhelmingly. If Tear fought them individually, she could have reaped their lives immediately.
The pair was somehow still alive thanks to the demon’s power they gained and their combination.
Maetel can’t master the demon’s power In the first place.
As she was a user of Holy Magic, her affinity with the demonic attribute was terrible.
Various applications were possible depending on the usage method, but unfortunately she didn’t have enough experience.
Thanks to the defensive power of Kizna, they feel like they can get over Tear’s attack somehow by being devoted to a defensive fight.
It seemed that it was a matter of time before it be broken.
And the biggest problem was Laplace.
He’s strong, too strong.
He’s undoubtedly the strongest class.
Although he doesn’t seem to possess any Ultimate Skill, it won’t be weird if he will master the ability once he acquired it.
He’s still having some leeway even when the strongest knight among Leon’s subordinate, the Black Knight Claude and the Red Knight be his opponent at the same time.
「Hah. Give up, that feint is obvious.」
「Whoops, danger danger. That juist now almost hit me. But, bad luck!」
「Oh, oh my? Maybe, it already ended?」
He cracks jokes with such feeling, doing an easy attack while provoking Claude and Fran repeatedly.
As one would expect, the two people didn’t get provoked.
But, as Laplace’s aim was to make fun of the two, there’s no sign that he would stop his provocation.
Even if it didn’t disturb the two’s feelings nor hindering the two’s thoughts, Laplace’s disturbing words seem to show an effect.
In addition to it, Laplace’s attack is not out of the ordinary, but the damage seems to be gradually accumulated, it could be perceived from the movement of Claude and Fran which gradually became duller.
With an opponent as troublesome as the devil Laplace, Leon should be the one to fight such a powerful enemy.
It might be said that the situation was very bad.
Putting such a situation in his view, Leon continues asking himself.
Claude came to follow Leon, the number of his companions also begun to increase, and before he noticed, Leon became a Demon Lord.
He united the oppressed demi-humans, small and weak demon race[1] and created a place for them to live in peace inside the Great Jura Forest.
This was because taking control of a domain by force was easy to establish a new country,
His purpose was to gather information.
He only wanted people who could investigate information to become his hands and feet.
He protects them with his strength and they work for Leon to realize his wish.
On such give and take relationship, a subordinate-superior relationship was run.
He built a castle on the territory of the Demon Lords and based in there. And then he sent his subordinates to various places and collected information about Chloe.
It was at that time that he repulsed Kazaream. If he thinks about it, that was the start of their connection.
The situation won’t be like this if he dealt the decisive blow properly at that time.
It was the same when he fought Yuuki, Leon ridiculed his naïveness.
He discovered a new continent afterwards and spent his time to build the current El Dorado. When he found Chloe, he wanted to prepare a country where she’ll be able to live in peace.
Therefore, it was necessary to protect the people who lived in the country.
Leon gradually came to think about the people who follow him and the people under his protection, not just about himself.
He can’t jeopardize the country which he created with so much effort.
For such reason, he decided to appropriate Kazaream’s castle inside the Great Jura Forest as his cover.
He can’t help but to use it as his first castle was destroyed in his battle with Kazaream, but unexpectedly it wasn’t bad.
It was really suitable as a test site where he test out various magic, Leon performed various experiments in this castle.
Because the Great Jura Forest became a sanctuary where people who feared Veldora won’t dare to enter, it was helpful to avert the other demon lord’s eyes from him.
And, it was in this castle where he did his last summon.
The girl who summoned to answer Leon’s request was suffering major burns and dying.
He was able to save her life with recovery magic. However, she will only die because she was too young to have safely crossed the word boundary and her magic essence went amok.
Then it would be better for him to let her die this way, but it might be better to make her suffering prolonged. Thinking so, Leon takes an interest in the girl.
But,
「elp, please help……」
The girl said so, Leon saw the strong Will to not give up in her eyes and extended his hand to the girl.
And then he noticed her high compatibility to flame and recalled the existence of the high-ranking spirit that’s Ifrit.
There’s perhaps a possibility of compatibility, but if it fails Ifrit will disappear too.
But――
Because he only took it from Ramiris in a fit of anger before, it won’t be painful to lose it.
The girl survived splendidly.
Then, against himself, who summoned her into this world without permission, the girl has the right for revenge.
If the girl named Shizue Izawa was going to kill him, he would accept it directly from the front.
At the time the strongest and the famous Hero attacked, it was for such reason that he left without hesitating.
As he might be defeated by the Hero.
But, the Hero will surely save the girl who is a former human. He had such prediction.
After all, unlike the failure the likes of him, who was only strong, she was called as the “True Hero”, the strongest title in the history.
If he thought about it, if he had met the Hero there, he might have been able to realize that she was Chloe.
But, it didn’t happen.
Ironically, one came from the other side, while the other one missed the other by running away.
(What am I really trying to do…..)
Leon blows out a sigh.
Kazaream’s attack is harsh without cutting any corners. It would be naïve for him to think that he can deal with it while he’s in deep thoughts.
However, even so……
「Leon-oniichan, you had searched for me this whole time right.
Ehehe. You see, I’ve always want to meet you too.]
He was finally able to meet her the other day.
With Chloe, whom he searched all this time.
She seemed to be fine. But, because of the curse, she doesn’t seem to be able to act freely currently.
Still,
「You see, Rimuru-Sensei had promised me that he would surely save me.
I believe in Sensei.
The Sensei who received Shizu-Sensei, Shizu-San’s feelings and saved us!」
Chloe said so with straight eyes.
The girl whom Leon saved whimsically seemed to follow a strange fate and ended up as Chloe’s teacher.
On the contrary, she met Demon Lord Rimuru and led him to Chloe.
It will be an unbelievable story to say that all of it is by coincidence.
If he didn’t save Shizue Izawa, perhaps Chloe would be dead due to the magic essence rampage.
If you think about it so, then all the things that he has done all this time wasn’t for vain or so he thinks.
No, he might only want to think so.
However, even so――
He was able to meet with Chloe again in this way. Then it was enough.
(Therefore, have I been satisfied with it? To the extent I accepted my death?)
Chloe has someone named Rimuru who she can rely on.
Even if he’s gone, he can entrust her at ease.
But, is he fine with that?
He’s conscious that he never did anything in his life that he can be proud of, but Leon thought that he can’t afford to left everything to Chloe and ended up doing nothing.
Besides, he can’t give up if the Demon Lord Rimuru that Chloe believed in was killed.
(I don’t think that guy will be killed so easily though……)
He cannot help but to say that he’s still naïve by having such thoughts.
In the first place, he couldn’t leave his important Chloe to such worthless guy.
(Ffu. I still have a long way to go. It’s not in my character to easily give up.)
Leon, who was blown off and thrown to the ground, calmly stood up.
His eyes are calm, as his hesitation is cleared up, his body overflowed with energy.
Leon remembered the meaning to fight and regained his unbroken will.
Looking at Leon, who stood up, Kazaream knit her eyebrows.
He snickered as he would torment him after he completely broke Leon’s pride.
Apparently, Leon’s mind didn’t seem to be broken yet
「Hey hey, did you get scared of dying suddenly?
You who can’t match me, you won’t able to do anything even if you stood up!」
Kazaream speaks in sickening woman’s tone in spite of her body which already turned into a stubborn man.
However, it didn’t like his sex has changed; it can be said that the only change is that his body had been optimized.
After all, his voice still remains that of a female elf.
Leon stares at Kazaream while thinking that his voice is unpleasant.
His Ultimate Skill『Purity Lord Metatron』is the ultimate power of holy attribute.
But, Kazaream’s Ultimate Skill『Dominion Lord Melchizedek』is a ultimate power with both attributes of holy and demonic.
Therefore, all Leon’s attacks are counterbalanced and he’ll only suffer damage from the power which exceed his.
It’s not about affinity or anything, only that his ability is completely inferior to Kazaream’s ability.
For example, he might be able to seal him if he used Triangle Pyramid.
But, even if he honestly tries to seal her, it was bound to be avoided.
Moreover, there’s a possibility that even his strongest sealing technique may be broken in the worst case. After all, it’s an absolute sealing barrier against demonic attribute, but Kazaream also have the holy attribute.
This side might receive a fatal attack in the gap when he tries it carelessly.
(She’s a troublesome opponent.)
Leon was thinking about the means to fight Kazaream while handling her attacks calmly.
「Leon-sama, do you have a good plan?」
Mizari asked.
「I have none. You’re the same too, aren’t you? All demonic attributed attacks would be nullified won’t they?」
Mizari was in the same situation as Leon, all her attacks were counterbalanced and she received damage from the excess energy.
She seemed to begin to do some makeshift attacks, but everything was pinned down by Kazaream’s power.
Naturally, all magic was nullified. That’s natural, since magic doesn’t work against Ultimate Skill.
「Yes. It’s very troublesome as he has the ability with both attribute of holy and demonic.
Moreover, it’s not just that.
Kazaream’s energy when converted into magic essence, seems to be more than 3 times than mine.」
It was a hopeless number.
Right now, Mizari is equal to Leon, as she has become an awakened Demon Lord class. Her energy also greatly increases.
But, Kazaream has a three times more energy compared to Mizari.
Comparing it with himself, Leon estimated that Kazaream’s energy[2] to be a little less than 3 times of his.
Spiritual power to handle the energy of pure light. That source becomes the aggregate amount of the holy aura which become energy but―― even in that energy, Kazaream is above those people.
As in the performance of the ability and the quantity of energy.
That doesn’t mean that he has 6 times more power than them if holy and magic combined.
He was simply changing the energy with his ability.
That’s why, he’s more troublesome. In a word, it means he completely put the ability under control.
Just like the name, Dominion Lord Melchizedek.
「Hoohohoho. It’s useless, useless. You two can’t beat me.
That’s right, beg for your life. And then lick my shoes.
If you do so, I may spare your life.」
A distorted smile floated as Kazaream suggests, but it’s useless to hear it.
After all, he didn’t intend to really spare their life and only want to satisfy his desire to want to see their ungraceful appearance.
Mostly because of such warped desire, he’s going easy on them.
It was foolish, but Kazaream made that grudge his reason to live.
In Leon’s view, he can see Footman tormenting Alrose.
If things keep going this way, it’d be dangerous.
But, he didn’t have any room to help him.
Although he made his mind to fight until the bitter end, the situation remains at its worst.
At that time――
「Bufuou!!」
Raising a scream, Footman was blown away
“Who is that!?” Without any time to even think so,
「Are we late?」
「No, looks like we barely made it in time.」
Such conversation was heard.
Two people who standing still without letting out any presence could be seen.
“Who are they!?” such is Leon’s question,
「Nice to meet you, I’m Benimaru.
The number one subordinate, the faithful servant of the Great Demon Lord Rimuru-sama.
The one who bear the title of “Flare Lord”.
I wonder who should I kill?」
A red-haired, handsome man declares while sprouting a refreshing smile.
And,
「Faithful? I’m certain that you are the most insincere one though……
You’re overshadowed next by Diablo or Zegion you know?」
A blue-haired, handsome man standing next to Benimaru while letting out such tsukkomi.
Receiving Leon’s gaze,
「I’m not a person worthy to introduce myself.
I will only say that I’m the faithful shadow of the Great Demon Lord Rimuru-sama.
Well, don’t worry about it.
When I kill you all, there won’t be any chance for us to meet anymore.」
He declared so while having a fearless smile.
「Hey, you…… don’t tattle about it okay? Never spread the rumor about it, okay!?」
「Stupid, don’t underestimate Diablo’s intelligence network.
Even if I don’t say it, that demon will somehow hear about it.
Put that aside, don’t get carried away and thinking you can rampage around since it’s been a while.」
Although the two are joking around, they’re not relaxing their guard at all.
Obviously indicating that they’re not an ordinary person.
(Benimaru and also Rimuru’s shadow? To make even such people as his subordinates.)
And from their behavior, Leon realized it immediately without any doubt.
The hearsay that “the Demon Lord Rimuru is dead” is to deceive the enemy.
Similarly, Kazaream seemed to realize it too.
「Don’t be joking? Demon Lord Rimuru is dead.
Such small fry introducing himself as a Great Demon Lord is so presumptuous!!」
He shouted in a loud voice.
But, that shout made the two angry.
Benimaru lose his refreshing smile and his face becomes expressionless.
The other person, Souei who introduced himself as the Great Demon Lord’s shadow is expressionless by nature, but cold light flickered in his eyes.
The two shout at the same time.
「「I will kill you!!」」
So.
And the situation of the war enters a new phase.
[1] It’s not the same demon like Diablo, Diablo is akuma, here the kanji is Mazoku.
[2] It’s written as amount of holy spirit here.
