How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 7

by Yukiya Murasaki

  “...Eh... Wh...at...?” It was all so sudden, Rafflesia could only blink in puzzlement.

  “I told you not to die on me, did I not, Rafflesia?” Diablo spoke confidently, but was relieved he’d made it in time.

  “Wha!? You revived her!?” Drango, who had given up hope, stared at them in amazement.

  Even the elixir, the strongest healing potion Diablo had, wasn’t capable of resurrecting the dead. He’d managed to treat her in the nick of time, and that was all there was to it.

  “Yaaay!” Shera hugged Rafflesia close.

  “Phew...” Rem sighed in relief. “As amazing as ever, Diablo. I’ve lost count of how many people you’ve saved by now.”

  “Hmph... The thought of Kardia getting its way irked me, so I merely undid its efforts.”

  “I’m...not dead...?” Rafflesia stared at her own hand in amazement.

  “You’ve caused us a great deal of trouble. Once you calm down, tell me everything that happened. Though I already have a pretty good idea.”

  Rafflesia stood up, albeit somewhat unsteadily, then fell to her knees, lowering her head.

  “Sir Diablo, I nearly robbed many innocents of their lives. Not only did you stop the Demon Lord Kardia’s revival, you even saved me... Please, let me thank you somehow. I offer my life to you.”

  “I merely thwarted the plots of the fool that dared call itself a Demon Lord in my presence. Saving you was a bonus.”

  “And yet I will never forget this debt for as long as I live!”

  “Do as you wish.”

  Just when everything seemed to have finally settled down, Rose, who had stood in the back the entire time, called out.

  “Master, Rose detects a high-density magical energy approaching!”

  †

  Diablo turned around to find two figures descending from the sky.

  One was a slender, well-proportioned girl. She wore what looked like a cheongsam, with a diamond shaped opening around the chest. Her black hair was tied into a side tail on the right, and a Chinese broadsword dangled from her waist.

  She was a gorgeous young girl—but she wasn’t of the races. A scaly, dragon-like tail extended from the slit of her China dress, and there was a pair of wings on her back.

  —A Fallen!?

  The other one was a huge Fallen, presumably a man, twice the average size of the races. He wore a suit of armor, and there was a single eye on his face.

  This was a 《Cyclops》-type of Fallen.

  He held a Bishop’s staff in one hand that was slightly taller than him, making it roughly five meters in length.

  The cyclops opened his fanged mouth to speak, and his words came out surprisingly fluently.

  “I thought I’d sensed Kardia’s magical energy in this direction...”

  Despite being Fallen, Diablo got the feeling they weren’t Kardia’s underlings.

  “Well, he ain’t here.” The cheongsam girl pouted with displeasure.

  “My apologies. But is that not the 《Sealing Crystal》 we’ve been ordered to find?”

  The orb Diablo had kicked away just a moment ago—or rather, the Divinity Crystal Kardia was sealed in—rolled on the ground next to their feet.

  “No!” Drango shouted. “We can’t let the Fallen get their hands on that!”

  “One mess after another, when will this end!?”

  Diablo brandished his weapon, only to be met with Rose stepping forward.

  “Rose will keep them in check!”

  Rose’s judgment was sound. If Diablo would have to use magic powerful enough to stop the Fallen, he ran the risk of damaging the orb as well. Holding them at bay through melee combat would be the optimal solution.

  Rose kicked off the ground, charging at the Fallen as a massive mechanical hand materialized behind her.

  The Magimatic Sol.

  “《Crius》!”

  She unleashed her strongest attacks right off the bat, the mechanical arm swinging its blade horizontally in a mowing slash.

  But the Cyclops blocked the blow with his staff. Judging from what Diablo had seen of Rose so far, he assumed she would have cut the Fallen in half right about now, but...

  A deafening metallic sound rang out as the weapons clashed, and the next moment the Cyclops immediately changed his stance to a thrust. He moved so swiftly, it almost looked like he’d skipped through most of the motions required to make such a movement.

  “Gaaah!?” Rose was blown back at a speed surpassing even that of the thrust that had just hit her. She then crashed against the ground, a cloud of dust blowing around her.

  “Rose!?” Diablo shouted despite himself.

  “Aaah... Ugh...” Propping herself with her left hand, Rose lifted her body up.

  —Good, she’s still alive...

  But her right hand, which should have held up her weapon, was gone. From the shoulder down, Rose’s right arm was missing from its socket. It was lying on the ground a distance away, still gripping its weapon.

  The Magimatic Sol disappeared, as if tracing the fate of her real arm. Diablo wasn’t sure if it vanished because Rose did so of her own will, or if it was because she took too much damage...

  “Oh, so you can still move, doll,” the Cyclops said, seemingly impressed.

  “I’ll be taking this back.” The dragon-tailed, China-dress Fallen picked up Kardia’s orb. “You stay back here and sweep these specks of dust up, all right?”

  “Roger.”

  “W-Wait!” Drango stepped forward. “Where are you taking that!? Do you intend to awaken Kardia!?”

  Awakening the Demon Lords should be the Fallen’s objective, but all they would have to do to achieve that was destroy the orb. What was the point of them taking it away?

  “Heheheh... You’ve got it wrong, porky,” the girl sneered. “We’re not gonna awaken Kardia. Our great master, the Demon Overlord Modinaram, will absorb this crystal!”

  “Demon Overlord!? Are they the one who awakened in the Demon Lord’s Domain to the west!?”

  “I don’t know or care about what the races call him.”

  “And you’re saying he’s going to...absorb Kardia?”

  “Master Modinaram says that if he were to fight the races while incomplete, he may eventually get pushed back. The races may be puny and weak at times of peace, but the longer the war lasts the stronger they become. So that’s why he wishes to become a complete being A-S-A-P.”

  “We weren’t supposed to talk about that,” the Cyclops whispered.

  “Mmm? Ah... Well, whatevs. Just slaughter ’em all. Me saying anything won’t matter so long as they’re all dead.”

  “Roger.”

  “Heheheheheheh... I’m sure the Overlord will praise me for bringing him this prize. Maybe he’ll even make me stronger for this!”

  “Wait!” Drango tried stopping her. “We can’t let her go!”

  “Concentrate on the foe in front of you, fool!” Diablo shouted.

  The Fallen girl held Kardia’s orb close, like it was terribly precious to her. If Diablo were to fire a powerful spell, he’d only end up destroying it, and letting a Demon Lord awaken in this situation was the worst thing that could happen right now.

  —At worst, we’ll have to handle two Fallen on top of a Demon Lord! Any one of them is a complicated enemy to beat...

  Rose’s Magimatic Sol was able to fell a Large Black Dragon with one hit, and cut smaller Fallen into pieces with no effort at all. But this Cyclops had downed her with one blow. He was a challenging foe, no doubt about it.

  Judging from the dragon girl’s attitude, she must have been even stronger than him.

  —These guys definitely aren’t mooks...

  They were on the same level as Varakness, the Demon Lord’s army general who attacked Zircon Tower, if not stronger.

  The Fallen girl spread out her draconic wings, orb in hand, and began ascending into the air .

  “Smell ya later then. Take care of things here.”

  “Roger.” />
  The girl flew away, but Diablo kept his gaze fixed on the Cyclops.

  “Rem, Shera, keep Rafflesia safe!”

  “...Y-Yes! Leave her to us.”

  “Yeah! Watch yourself, Diablo!”

  Having the two of them by Diablo’s side while he fought a powerful foe was dangerous. He’d just be worrying about them keeping a safe distance from his attacks.

  “Hmph...” Diablo aimed his staff at the Cyclops. “I see your strength in melee combat is impressive. But let’s see how good you are when it comes to a battle of magic.”

  “Ridiculous.”

  “What?”

  “When one stomps out an ant, they do not concern themselves with what skills or talents it may have had. The races are all powerless and weak.”

  “Heheheh... So you dare treat me as an insect, do you? Let’s see if you have the skills to stand up to your bravado then!”

  Diablo poured magic into the Tonnerre Empereur: Libre just as the Cyclops stepped forward. Despite his massive frame, his speed was inconceivable, and he closed the distance between him and Diablo rapidly.

  “Zaaargh!”

  He stabbed the bishop’s staff forward, but Diablo unleashed his spell even faster than that.

  “《Darkness Cannon》!”

  It was a high level darkness element spell that fired a pitch black cannon ball at the opponent. Thanks to his weapon’s effect, it became a bombardment of seven shots.

  “Gaaaaaah!?” The Fallen’s silver armor crumbled away as he dramatically leaned back.

  However, Diablo’s eyesight was dyed in red as well.

  “...Guh!?”

  Even though he picked a powerful spell that was quick to take effect, all he managed to do was hit his opponent just as his opponent struck him. And even though the attack didn’t seem particularly powerful, Diablo still took considerable damage.

  “A weakling of the races has damaged me...!?” The Cyclops seemed surprised at them mutually hitting each other. He raised his voice in surprise, but Diablo smirked confidently.

  “Good... I felt that one. You’re more formidable than Kardia was. Even though you’re nothing but a stupid underling!”

  “I’ll crush you!”

  Using his superior height, the Cyclops brought down the staff down on Diablo. The moment Diablo perceived it, it had already smashed against the earth. It really was much too fast.

  “But your movements are nothing short of predictable!”

  And if Diablo could predict how he’d attack, Diablo could also evade his attacks easily enough.

  This ability to foresee the flow of battle along with his reaction speed were what enabled Diablo to prosper in close quarters combat, despite being a Sorcerer.

  He brandished Tonnerre Empereur: Libre, which was in the shape of a broadsword now.

  A Sorcerer’s low Strength stat meant that even with a powerful weapon, he couldn’t expect to deal much physical damage. That was why Diablo depended on spells that required being in close proximity with the target.

  “Be reduced to dust—《Matoi Izuna》!”

  A sphere of electricity jumped out of the tip of his blade, sinking into the Cyclops’s massive frame.

  “Gahahagah!?” the Cyclops screamed, his body twitching as sparks of electricity ran out of it. His massive eyeball seemed to be seething in its socket.

  Matoi Izuna was a spell that mixed the wind and light elements, which then continually depleted the enemy’s HP over a fixed period of time while also stunning them in place, resulting in massive overall damage.

  An explosion enveloped the Cyclops and a pillar of light burst out, extending to the heavens.

  When the Fallen are defeated, they turn into particles of light. However, the Cyclops still stood before Diablo, even with his flesh charred and burned.

  “Kill!”

  “Sturdy bugger, aren’t you...”

  “Ooooooh!”

  As he screamed, the Fallen swung his staff around blindly. He began fighting haphazardly, in a way Diablo wouldn’t be able to predict. Even when driven to this situation, the Cyclops’s judgment remained sound.

  With his choices whittling down, Diablo had to retreat, but the Cyclops was faster when it came to closing the distance.

  “Die!” The Cyclops brandished his staff.

  “Your attacks are precise, I’ll give you that. But you’re not looking around you.”

  “Ah...!?” The Cyclops’s head went flying.

  Standing behind him was Rose, with the Magimatic Sol manifested. She was missing her right arm, but her left was swung horizontally, and the massive hand extending out of thin air slashed in a clear line, tracing the movements of her real hand with the gigantic two-bladed sword in its grip.

  “Haa, haa... Do not lay...a hand...on Master!”

  “Well done, Rose. Leave the rest to me.”

  “...Y-Yes.” Her lips shivered.

  Rose was a Magimatic Maid; a machine. Her expressions and gestures were all handled by an AI. But still, her emotions were painfully obvious to Diablo. She had her pride, and she couldn’t take this defeat lying down.

  Diablo had enticed the Fallen to come after him in a straight line, so Rose would be able to attack him. But even with a severed head, the Cyclops didn’t disappear. Devoid of eyesight or thought, the Cyclops’s fighting spirit hadn’t diminished in the slightest, and the body continued swinging the staff. The Cyclops’s flurry of attacks remained as fervent as ever.

  Diablo brandished his longsword. “Persistent fool. It looks like once wasn’t enough to teach you the lesson! Matoi Izuna!”

  The Fallen’s massive body crumbled away, finally dissolving into particles of light.

  Rose nodded in satisfaction, while Rem and Shera cheered as Rafflesia sighed in relief.

  Drango stood stupefied, having borne witness to battle of a scale and dimension he never knew possible.

  The Elves ran toward them all from the forest, raising their voices. Diablo put himself on guard, preparing for the worst, but the Elves simply called out to him, their words praising his victory.

  Epilogue

  A large number of Elves returned to the plaza still covered with the scars of battle.

  Drango knelt down before Diablo, his sword at his side.

  “Please forgive me for the many indignities I’ve inflicted upon you, m’lord.” Apparently seeing the vivid gap in their abilities made Drango change his mind.

  They had no more reason to fight, but a Demon Lord couldn’t be kind enough to put grudges behind him so quickly.

  “Hmph... What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to pick up from where we left off?” Diablo said tauntingly.

  “Surely you jest, m’lord. I could never best you. On the contrary, I see now how hard you endeavored to not hurt us needlessly...”

  “No, ah...”

  He tried denying it, but the fact he was holding back against Drango and the Elves was clear as day after they’d seen him fight seriously.

  Shera stood beside Diablo, a grin on her lips. She’d usually be clinging to him, but right now she was hugging Rafflesia’s arm.

  Rafflesia, on the other hand, frowned despondently. Her conscience was probably tormenting her over the destruction she’d caused while Kardia was manipulating her. And sure enough, some of the blame did lay with her, but perhaps because Shera was as friendly to her as she was, no one criticized or blamed her.

  Perhaps her being part of Diablo’s—their savior’s—group was also a factor.

  “...Please don’t collapse here,” Rem said, supporting Rose with her shoulders. “Getting crushed to death by a maid is not how I pictured my final moments.”

  “Rose reports a peculiar phenomenon. For an unexplained reason, Rose feels quite prone to collapsing at the moment.”

  “...Stop that.”

  If only in terms of attitude, Rose seemed to be back to normal, but her right arm was still missing. Potions or healing miracles apparently weren’t capable of trea
ting this. Rose may have been extremely efficient, but was equipped with the flaw that she couldn’t be treated by normal means. They’d have to find another way to deal with this.

  “Isn’t Diablo amazing!?” Shera exclaimed, facing the other Elves with a smug expression.

  Being showered with compliments was an awkward affair, and the fact no one denied it made it even worse.

  Drango nodded. “We are all humbled by your discerning eye, Princess. Were it just us, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat those Fallen.”

  —One got away though...

  Diablo didn’t put that thought to words however. He didn’t want to rain on such a victorious parade. The Elves didn’t skimp out on their praise after all.

  “Hear me, one and all!” Drango rose to the half-destroyed altar. “The races are facing an unprecedented crisis! This matter pertains not just to the Humans or the Elves, but to the races as a whole! For the Fallen have said that the Demon Overlord has been revived!”

  “...Demon Overlord...!?” The Elves all stirred nervously.

  “The Demon Overlord Modinaram is said to be the 《Demon Lord of Madness》. It seems he absorbs the other sealed Demon Lords in an attempt to become a complete Demon Lord. What is the Kingdom of Greenwood to do in the face of this crisis!? Who is to be our king!?”

  Some voices from the crowd seemed to encourage and recommend Drango. It was only natural some would think so, as his leadership skills were true enough.

  But Drango shook his head. “Forgive me, my brethren... I cannot take on the crown. I’m sure you all understand after having seen that battle. I am not fit to rule in such turbulent times.”

  “Who should it be then!?”

  “...Greenwood needs a king right now,” said one young Elf. “And with the hard times looming ahead, it would have to be a strong king. An overwhelmingly powerful king, capable of fighting the Demon Overlord and surviving to tell the tale!”

  The Elves’ gazes all naturally focused on one point, settling on Diablo.

  “I ask of you once again, Lord Diablo.” Drango stepped down from the altar. He knelt once more. “Please, protect the Kingdom of Greenwood and Princess Shera.”

  The other Elves followed in his footsteps, getting on their knees before him. Only one remained standing, frowning in astonishment.