Naturally, he would recover given the time, and given Decarabia’s specialty in regeneration this would surely take but a few seconds.
However, a few seconds completely defenseless in front of your enemy is more than enough to get killed.
Zagan picked up a pointed rock with his mangled hand.
“Now then, is the source of your mana that artificial eye? It looks like even a child could gouge it out given something as simple as a pointed rock, huh?”
Decarabia was completely taken aback like he couldn’t grasp the current situation. Zagan then swung the rock down aimed right at Decarabia’s eye.
“GYAAA—”
He let out a short scream. And then a dull sensation spread throughout his body. Zagan’s rock came to a stop right in front of Decarabia’s eye.
“Well, I don’t mind killing you, but I have a few things to ask before that. You’ll give me answers, you hear?”
With that, Zagan lightly cranked his wrist, and the wounds created by touching Decarabia’s mana vanished in an instant, and even his tattered clothes were returned to normal.
It’s something Lilith and them went out of their way to prepare for me after all.
Zagan still had enough sense to feel awkward about breaking something that was lent to him. And just then, footsteps began to draw nearer to them.
“Hm? Did you settle things already?”
It was Nephteros. Next to her was Kuroka, with her short swords at the ready, and made to wear a yukata too. Behind them was Gremory, who was carrying Foll on her back. And Michael was with them as well. Just a step behind, Barbatos and Chastille also showed up. Selphy and Lilith weren’t present. They were non-combatants to begin with, so they were likely watching over the food.
Zagan returned a light wave to them, then looked down at Decarabia. He should have already recovered from the concussion by now, but it seemed that it was quite humiliating and shocking for him to lose without any sorcery being used on him at all. He showed no signs of trying to get back up.
“Now then, I have tons I want to ask you, but... let’s see... How are you still alive?”
“What... are you talking about...?”
“I killed you. I blew away your entire upper body. It wasn’t something that you should have been able to regenerate from you know...?” Zagan replied in a puzzled tone.
Zagan’s powers were still rough around the edges at the time, but he had already far surpassed the abilities of an average sorcerer when it came to reinforcing his body. It was impossible for him to lose against any other sorcerers in a bout of pure strength, and if he was serious, he could change the very terrain of the earth with his punch.
The pitiful bandit who was punched with such power didn’t only lose his face, his entire upper body was reduced into bloody chunks and scattered into the air. It was to the point where Zagan himself felt like he had gone too far. That may have been one of the reasons the girl he saved at the time was so shaken up too.
Decarabia looked completely bewildered as he raised his voice.
“The hell are you talkin’ about? You gouged out my right eye...”
“Rather than gouging, it’d be more correct to say that nothing was left aside from that artificial eye though?”
“You gouged out my heart...”
“I don’t know anything about gouging here, but it’s true that your heart went flying along with everything else.”
“You killed me!”
“Mm. So why are you alive?”
Decarabia began scratching wildly at his right eye.
“Huh? Then, who... who am I? Who? Who who whowhowhowhoooooooo!?”
Decarabia began rambling incomprehensibly, leaving even Zagan wincing and shrinking back.
Can this guy even keep up a conversation anymore?
Zagan was expecting more of him after getting that clue from Alshiera.
“Wait, Zagan.” Foll jumped down from Gremory’s back and called out to him. And after tottering over, “Zagan, this is cursed.”
“Well, yeah.”
“He’s been eaten by the curse, there’s almost nothing left.”
It meant that it had encroached on his ego to a fatal point.
“...So he’s really useless after all.”
Zagan let out a disappointed sigh, but Foll shook her head.
“But, I can do something about it, maybe.”
“What? Really?”
“Maybe. It might be too late though.”
Decarabia looked up a Foll, and suddenly froze up.
“You... You? I... protect... sister... dead? Killed? Who am I am yooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu?”
His cries were already beyond the realm of language and into the realm of incoherent rambling as he rose to his feet.
“Tch, what a troublesome guy.”
Seeing that mana was once more gathering in his gauntlets from his artificial eye, Zagan clenched his fist. However, Foll cut in between them. And after rubbing her sleepy eyes, she stuck out her hand. Only a few people present could understand what happened in the next instant.
Black mana poured out of Foll’s hand. It instantly manifested with mass and transformed into enormous jaws several times Foll’s own height. It was the head of a massive dragon.
“Black Dragon Marbas.”
That was the name Foll spoke. Her original form was that of a dragon with beautiful green fur. And what manifested here was a sinister looking pitch black dragon, the Black Dragon Marbas, the evil dragon who was passed down in Liucaon legend. The calamity that previously manifested when the curse of a dragon and an Archdemon were mixed together. These were its dregs.
“Ah...”
Decarabia couldn’t even let out a scream and was swallowed by the dragon’s jaws. The sorcerer known as Decarabia was truly consigned to oblivion in a single bite, just as Foll had said.
◇
The girl had a single older brother. He was awkward, a little crafty, but nevertheless, he was an older brother who was only ever kind to the girl.
The siblings had no relatives and lived a life where they scrounged for food in the garbage they found in the alleyways of the city. But even so, her brother was educated. He could read. He even taught her how to read just a little and gave her a picture book that he stole from somewhere as a present.
The picture book became her treasure. She would read it aloud proudly to the other homeless children, and the girl immersed herself in the world of the picture book.
And on a certain day, her brother became a sorcerer.
He lost an eye, and had a creepy artificial eye in its place, but her brother was still kind. He got her pretty clothes, fed her delicious meals, and even gave her a house to live in. She was even able to clean herself and was given the happiness of a ‘normal’ person.
However, for some reason she was never allowed into her brother’s room. She was no longer able to go meet with the children she grew up with in the streets, but even so, she was grateful to her brother. Once in a while, the children who were worried about her would come to visit, so she wasn’t lonely. They laughed at her saying that she looked like a completely different person though.
However, after that passed for some time, her brother became strange. He would shut himself into his room, and there were times when he wouldn’t show himself before her even when she called out to him. When they met once in a while, he would start scratching his right eye to the point where he drew blood, and a nasty scent came from his room that stunk of corrupted gold and blood.
Unable to bear it any longer, the girl waited for her brother to go out and entered his room. What she found... was hell.
An entire wall was smeared with rotten blood and meat. There was a massive bed in the middle of the room with indescribable tools scattered all around it.
And on the bed were the bodies of dead children with anguished expressions still on their faces. She could tell that these were the waifs who came to visit her. And just then, her brother came back
. The girl ran away screaming in tears.
However, her brother chased her.
She escaped into the nearby forest, but was caught.
“Even you would betray me?” Her brother screamed.
He tore apart her clothes and assaulted her.
‘Aah, so my life ends here,’ she thought.
And just then, a single young man showed up. He glared at her brother like he was filth, and mercilessly killed him as if swatting away a bug. All that was left of her brother was the lower half of his body leaning over her. Her brother had left this world. And then...
◇
“...Geh, yucky.”
Foll spat a human body out of the black dragon’s mouth, and Zagan gently stroked his beloved daughter’s back.
“Hey, is your stomach alright? Don’t put weird things in your mouth.”
“Zagan, so overprotective.”
Foll then spat something else out from the black dragon’s mouth. What rolled on the ground with a light sound was the artificial silver eye.
“Foll, did you break down just the curse inside the black dragon?”
“Mm. This is a curse to begin with, so I thought it could maybe eat just the curse... But, it’s really yucky.”
“...That’s pretty amazing... but you shouldn’t do it anymore.”
“I also don’t want to.”
Zagan looked down at the human spat out by the black dragon. He had lost his silver eye, his mantle was gone, and the ominous bandages wrapped around him were undone. It even looked like his body was a size smaller than before. But nevertheless, it appeared that he was alive, and broke into an intense coughing fit.
“Ugh... ah... Za... gan...?”
Nevertheless, he called out to Zagan the moment he noticed him. So Zagan gently brushed Foll’s head.
“Well done. You did great, Foll. Seems he regained enough of his mind to have a conversation.”
Having said that, it was suspicious whether he was even aware of what just happened to his body. After being praised, Foll smiled broadly just like a child and gripped Zagan’s hand which was petting her. She then rubbed it against her head even more.
Is this maybe the first time I’ve seen Foll so happy?
After petting his beloved daughter, Zagan finally noticed the irregularity before him.
“Huh? Could this guy be...”
Decarabia’s body shrunk. Zagan thought he was somewhat dissolved within the black dragon, but that wasn’t the case. His naked body was dainty, and his waist was slender. Above all else, he now had breasts that shouldn’t have been present on a man.
Decarabia was actually a girl?
Zagan immediately denied that thought. Even he could tell the difference between sexes at a single glance. Decarabia’s lanky skeletal frame was that of a man, and he had an Adam’s apple in his throat. Sorcery could change one’s muscular structure quite a bit during reinforcement, but it wouldn’t make breasts go away or anything. In other words, the Decarabia that Zagan defeated and the one collapsed here were physically different people.
“What’s going on? Does the curse of that artificial eye even change one’s sex?”
A curse was a calamity that couldn’t be measured on the simple scales of sorcery. It could even change someone from a child to an adult and vice versa, so it wasn’t all that weird to be able to change one’s sex, but at this point the only commonality was the color of their hair. There was far too much change here.
No... maybe the artificial eye itself is what created the sorcerer known as ‘Decarabia’ to begin with?
In that case, it would explain how the bandit that Zagan killed showed up before him once more. But then who was this girl? At the very least, she wasn’t the bandit Decarabia that Zagan killed before. However, when he went to take a look at her face, he couldn’t see it clearly because of the saliva and dirt which stained it.
“Huh...? Hang on...”
But precisely because she was so dirty, Zagan felt like he recognized her. And so, he spoke in a tone like he couldn’t believe it himself.
“It can’t be... are you... Stella?”
It was the name of one of the waifs who hung out with Zagan and Marc. However, that’s what convinced him too.
Both me and Stella learned arts from Marc...
It was inevitable then that their styles would be similar; Zagan didn’t know of anyone else who learned those arts.
The girl looked up at Zagan with an empty gaze.
“Ste... la...? Ugh...” She pinned down her head and squirmed about. “Stella...? Me...? Then... my brother...? Who... am I...?”
“H-Hey! Stella! Keep it together!”
Zagan was left completely confused.
Brother? Sister...? It couldn’t be... Decarabia and Stella were siblings?
But in that case, who was the Decarabia who was standing before Zagan moments ago? A daughter...?
Stella stretched out her hand as if imploring him for something.
“Zagan... save...”
And just as he was about to grasp her hand...
“My my, as expected of the Archdemon Zagan! Even the one who defeated Archdemon Andrealphus is nothing before you, huh!? Mm! I totally believed that you would win!”
The one giving completely barefaced praise while clapping his hands in an exaggerated manner was none other than Michael. Stella reflexively looked over to him and suddenly cradled her shoulders while trembling.
“Ah... A-A-A-Aaaaaah... No way... Teacher...”
Michael stuck up his index finger while shaking his head.
“Oh? I don’t think I ever had a cute little girly like yourself as a student or an attendant or anything, you know? But whatever, it’s the duty of an Archangel to guide such lost maidens too.”
A sharp metal ringing suddenly reverberated in the air. Michael had drawn his Sacred Sword before anyone noticed, and its blade was now vibrating in the air. Zagan had repelled it with his fist. After throwing down his clothes onto Stella’s shoulders, Zagan was suddenly wearing his usual robes.
It was the same sorcery he had used when he was turned into a child. He then stood before Stella and Foll as if to cover them.
“Foll. I’ll leave her to you. It just may be that she’s someone precious to me right behind you and Nephy.”
“...Mm. I’ll do my best.”
After verifying that his daughter gave him a reassuring nod, Zagan glared at Michael, who simply shrugged his shoulders without showing a hint of timidity.
“Hey now, cut the jokes will you? Didn’t I tell you already I have no intention of tangling with you?”
“Shut it. Just how long do you plan on keeping up that shameless farce, Michael? Or should I call you this instead... Archdemon Andrealphus?”
“Wha...!?”
Several surprised voices rang out at once. The Angelic Knights were all frozen with shock, and Chastille was shaking her head like she couldn’t believe it at all.
“Please wait, Zagan. There’s no mistaking that this man is Archangel Michael. I guarantee it.”
“I bet he is then. However, this guy has another title.”
“And you’re saying my second title is Archdemon?” Michael said with a chuckle, “Don’t be stupid. There’s no way a Sacred Sword would pick an Archdemon, right? Besides, Andrealphus was killed by Decarabia over there, right?”
“Give me that kind of ridiculous excuse only after you’ve put some effort in hiding it.” Zagan thrust out a finger at Michael. “After Marchosias died, you became the head of the twelve Archdemons. Did you think I would forget your face after seeing it when I inherited the Sigil of the Archdemon?”
“Hmm. I see. You’re just as bold as ever. I feel like you’ve gotten even gutsier since becoming an Archdemon.”
Just as Michael replied, suffocating mana flooded the area. And on Andrealphus’ right hand was a Sigil of the Archdemon, just like Zagan’s.
“No way... Impossible...” Chastille groaned despondently.
/> “Claiming something is impossible is simply abandoning any thought. It’s negligent to use such a word as one of the Archangels who form the counterparts of the Archdemons, Chastille.”
“If I loosen my guard, I’ll get killed.” The moment Chastille’s instinct told her that, she held her Sacred Sword at the ready. There was an overwhelming pressure here that felt like it could cover the entire island. Zagan however simply ignored it as something boring and lightly swung his fist as if batting away an insect.
And with a sharp clang, the pressure over the island dispersed. The light had vanished from both Andrealphus’ and Zagan’s sigils.
“I thought I told you to stop your shameless farce, Andrealphus.”
“...Hey now, you just spoiled all my effort in putting on a big dramatic atmosphere here.” The overwhelming pressure vanished completely, and in a complete turn, Andrealphus simply scratched his head as if this was all simply tiresome. “Well, don’t be so angry. Lemme just tell you now that I haven’t lied at all okay? Indeed, I didn’t plan anything, since it was all too troublesome. It’s also true that guy killed the one who was acting as the Archdemon Andrealphus.”
Zagan squinted his eyes.
“A homunculus?”
“Bingo.”
Just as he wondered how one person could hold the title of both and Archangel and Archdemon, it turned out the role of the Archdemon was left to a homunculus he made as a duplicate of himself.
Though it seems the one I met that time was the real deal.
Nephteros bit down on her lips. It wasn’t enough to completely shake her, but it surely wasn’t something she liked listening to.
“There’s about a one in a thousand chance that some mutation will occur when you make a homunculus you see? So there are cases where one is born with an ego. Well, I left the role of the Archdemon up to him, but it seems Decarabia’s discipline was out of his reach... he was actually quite talented too.”
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7 (Premium) Page 16