This was within his barrier. Barbatos’ power was lifted to its utmost limits, and conversely, Zagan’s power was remarkably decayed.
Nevertheless, not a single one of Barbatos’ attacks hit their mark. Instead, they simply vanished right before Zagan. He’d copied the magic circle of every single sorcery Barbatos invoked, making ‘resonance’ occur.
He carried this out in an instant, even against thing he was only witnessing for the very first time.
If there was anything to describe as Zagan’s talent, then this would be it.
Nephy then muttered in astonishment.
“But... why is nothing happening? If the same sorcery is piled atop each other, then wouldn’t the sorcery itself still activate...?”
“Good point, Nephy.” Zagan honestly praised his disciple, who spotted the crux of the situation.
“I only explained the basics to you. Even an amateur can do it with the right timing. Still, sorcery is something one develops, no?”
The very first thing Zagan learned was the reflection of sorcery through resonance. And so, his life as a sorcerer began as he attempted to figure out if he could use resonance to do more than reflect.
Before long, he succeeded in reducing the sorcery he used resonance on into his own mana.
After allowing Barbatos to go wild for a while, Zagan flung back his robe and spread out his arms. And there were several visible magic circles on his right arm.
The magic circles were all in an activated state, and mana was continuously circulating through them.
“Can you see it? These are magic circles that have converted the sorcery Barbatos has been throwing out.” In other words, they had absorbed his sorcery.
The use of sorcery itself fueled Zagan’s power. Even if an Archdemon were to attack, Zagan couldn’t be killed with sorcery. And that exact power allowed him to succeed Marchosias.
“Having said that, I still can’t convert it into anything but sorcery I specialize in. There’s a need for me to develop it to a point where I can apply it to any sorcery.” His power was still far too unrefined. That was why the Archdemons called Zagan a pygmy.
After hearing all that, Barbatos’ face twisted in fear.
“Are you saying... you devoured my sorcery?” Being able to come up with such an expression at a glance showed that he was also a first-rate sorcerer.
The sorcery that Zagan specialized most in... was physical enhancement. He would cause resonance in the sorcery that other sorcerers fired out, then convert it to enhance his own body. It would only be appropriate to call that devouring sorcery.
Suddenly, Zagan spoke as if he suddenly recalled something.
“Oh, right, Barbatos. I’ve finally been given a second name.” He clenched his right hand into a fist, and the magic circle coiling around his arm rotated as it shined.
“‘Sorcerer Slayer’... Yeah, that seems to be my second name.” And then, he threw out his fist.
Barbatos likely had some sort of defense in place. However, all of his sorcery had been absorbed by Zagan. Even if he enhanced his body, there was no sorcerer out there who excelled at physical enhancement more than his opponent.
In short, if Zagan swung his fist, no sorcerer could stop it. Even if, for example, he faced an Archdemon.
“Urk...” Zagan’s fist drilled into Barbatos’ abdomen. His internal organs ruptured, and even the feeling of his spine being crushed was passed along to Zagan.
As Barbatos was blown away, he tumbled across the enormous magic circle that was spread out throughout the hall. Eventually, he came to a halt, but could only bleed as he began convulsing.
Taking that opportunity, Zagan gave chase at a relaxed pace.
“W-Wait a minute. It’s... my loss. I can’t... fight any more. I won’t... show my face... in front of you... ever again... I swear. I’ll also... transfer all my knowledge... to you.”
Zagan clenched his fist as Barbatos started begging for his life. The number of magic circles coiling around his arm had decreased in number, but there were still plenty left.
Barbatos’ face turned pale as he saw that.
“Zagan... we’re friends... right?”
That unsightly comment made Zagan tilt his head to the side in confusion.
“Does the concept of friends... even exist to a sorcerer?” And then, he swung his fist downward.
The bedrock collapsed, and the magic circle drawn across the large hall crumbled without leaving a trace. The destruction didn’t stop with only the floor, however, and even stretched out to the walls and ceiling. Those cracks encroached as far as the wall that Chastille was bound to and undid her chains.
As for Barbatos, who took that attack full force, there wasn’t even a lump of meat left... or that was how it should have been.
“H-Huh...?” Barbatos’ eyes peeled back. Zagan’s fist had landed directly to the side of his head. And in response to his undesirable friend’s pathetic look, Zagan laughed.
“Hahaha, I’m kidding. Don’t piss yourself, man.”
“Y-You...? The hell are you planning?”
Zagan shrugged his shoulders at those words.
“Well, it’s fine to kill you and all, but then I won’t be able to drink good liquor anymore. I know nothing about how to judge quality, after all.”
“Are you pitying me...?”
“Call it having the leisure to do so.”
Barbatos scowled at Zagan before responding.
“Don’t fuck with me... If you let me live, I’ll definitely kill you. Like hell I’ll ever give up!”
“I don’t care. Whenever you lose, I’ll just have you hand over some good liquor.” Barbatos then opened his eyes wide, finally realizing what Zagan was saying.
“You... What the hell? Are you saying there’s some benefit to letting an enemy live?”
“Yeah, about that...” Zagan suddenly clapped his hand together as if he’d forgotten something.
“Barbatos, I succeeded Archdemon Marchosias.”
Barbatos tightly clenched his teeth as if it were frustrating. And, while watching him do so, Zagan continued speaking.
“Don’t you find an Archdemon who doesn’t give a crap about the rules and laws way cooler?” The twelve Archdemons were overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying.
And after meeting them, after achieving the dream of every single sorcerer, he had fully realized something. That he felt fear.
Don’t screw with me. How had he misunderstood everything so badly? Didn’t he become stronger because he wanted to live? Didn’t he aim for strength because he hated being victimized? If he were to yield to the strength of another, then that was the same as betraying himself.
Because I was so pathetic, I even ended up hurting Nephy. Zagan wasn’t the type to remain a sore loser. That was why he boldly declared his intent...
“I’ll conduct myself however I want. If I want to let Nephy live under the light of day, then I simply have to dominate all under that light itself.” And once more, he looked down on Barbatos.
“That’s why I won’t kill you. Because I decided not to. If you don’t like it, then force me to obey you with your own strength.”
Exhausted, Barbatos stretched out his limbs. He admitted that he had lost not only in terms of power, but also in terms of spirit. In the truest sense, it was his loss.
“What an arrogant ass.”
“Damn straight. Without arrogance, how will I ever survive as an Archdemon?” And just as Zagan replied... the magic circle that was spread across the hall, which should have crumbled to pieces, began glowing faintly.
“...Hey, you still wanna go, Barbatos?” As expected, Zagan was making an exasperated face, but Barbatos shook his head.
“N-No, that isn’t on me.”
Zagan looked down at where he planted his fist. It was the center of the magic circle. Zagan’s sorcery was one which resonated with other sorcery, so he may have unconsciously interfered with the magic circle.
What’s this
? A bizarre amount of mana is gathering? It was a power that even Zagan couldn’t absorb. It wasn’t off by much, but it surpassed the maximum permissible limit of a human.
“...The hell were you planning on doing here?”
Barbatos’ face spasmed with a twitch.
“It should have... summoned a real demon.” The crests used by sorcerers, and perhaps even the ones used by the church, were said to be letters left behind by gods and demons from ancient times.
Can a real demon... actually be summoned?
That was the abyss of sorcery, which the young Zagan knew nothing of. And so, Zagan let out a scream, clearly panicking.
“Nephy, run! Manuela, and the rest of you too!” However, even Zagan knew that was an unreasonable request. After all, the cave was shaking to the point where it could cave in any moment.
It was already covered in fissures from Zagan’s strike, and now there was the power of this magic circle on top of that. The ceiling began to collapse, so even the act of standing up had become difficult.
“Ugh, what’s going on?” Even so, Chastille crawled all the way to Nephy, and hung over her as if to protect her. In the end, she was an Angelic Knight. Even with her wings, there was no way Manuela could fly in such a confined place, so she was unable to move.
No choice but to face it head on, huh? He didn’t know what would show up, but his only choice was to strike them down.
Moments later, it appeared from the center of the magic circle, and Zagan immediately realized his own hubris.
Perhaps because the magic circle was incomplete, or perhaps because it was activated by coincidence, it was just a ‘shadow’ that possessed no distinct form. However, he still felt fear upon seeing the shadow.
It’s useless. A human can’t do anything to something like this. The mere sight of it made him choke on his breath.
In his eyes, even meeting the twelve Archdemons wasn’t as intimidating.
Nephy turned pale and was trembling. Chastille was unable to bear it and lost consciousness. And Manuela was covering her face as she cowered.
This is... a demon...! He was given the second name ‘Sorcerer Slayer,’ but did the monster before him even wield sorcery? And even if it were sorcery, would Zagan’s output be able to counterbalance it?
It was likely impossible. After all, no matter how much power one obtained, man could not become god.
And so, just as he readied himself to die... The monster... suddenly fell to its knee, almost as if... it was bowing to Zagan. Then, it uttered some rather shocking words.
“Oh, my king. Order me as you will.” The monster who surpassed human intellect... was for some reason obeying Zagan.
As he tried to straighten out his thoughts, he noticed that a glyph had appeared on his own fist. It was the Sigil of the Archdemon that he inherited... and the monster was bowing before it.
What the hell... did I just obtain? The seat of Archdemon held far too much power to be considered a mere title.
Epilogue
The morning sun stretched out after the long break of dawn.
The monster went home at Zagan’s command. He didn’t know where it was summoned from, but it was definitely an area that was wholly unknown to him.
Immediately after that, the cave began to collapse, and Zagan was forced to escape while carrying Nephy, Chastille, Manuela, and even Barbatos.
Well, he really did think it was surprising that he made it in time like that.
Honestly, there was no way he should have made it, but just when he thought it was all over, those three Angelic Knights came jumping in to the rescue. And because they carried Chastille and Manuela, they all managed to make it.
He thought they were totally useless, but at the very end, they truly were helpful.
...Well, until the end, they were clamoring on in an annoying manner going, ‘We were only prioritizing the safety of Lady Chastille and the civilian, so it’s not like we were cooperating with an evil sorcerer or overlooking them,’ though.
And just like that, they carried Chastille off and left. They also recovered the Sacred Sword that Barbatos had confiscated from her. In the end, he had no chance to exchange words with her since she was unconscious.
After they took Chastille away, Manuela also returned home.
“All that’s left now is for the two of you to discuss things, okay?” She left those meddlesome words behind as they parted.
And then, the only ones left gazing at the collapsed cave were Zagan, Nephy, and Barbatos. While staring at the wreckage of rocks, Zagan asked Barbatos a question.
“So, what’ll you do? You going to continue?”
“...Haaa, what do you expect me to do after seeing that monster?” Though imperfect, Zagan showed that he could enslave the monster — even now he didn’t know whether it should be called a ‘demon.’
At that, it seemed that all of Barbatos’ hostility had broken.
“So, what was it? If I just bring over some good booze then it’ll work as an apology, was it?”
“Yeah, I’ll be expecting something first class, though.”
“Yeah yeah.” After Barbatos managed to recuperate to the point of being able to stand up, he disappeared.
That man was surely still scheming to catch Zagan off guard with a trap. However, Zagan didn’t really have a problem with that.
He was just that kind of man, so in Zagan’s eyes, he didn’t really need to be killed. He couldn’t bring himself to hate his unwanted friend, so he left him alive.
After that, Zagan and Nephy were finally alone.
What should I do...? What should I say...? Even though he’d reached the point where he could talk to her properly over the last half a month, he’d lost all nerve once more.
At any rate, it had only been a single day since Zagan hurt Nephy and drove her out.
As sweat formed on his brow, the first one to open their mouth was Nephy.
“Master, I want... to be by your side.”
“...Is that fine? I’ve treated you terribly, so you don’t have to force yourself.”
“Master, with you... it’s fine.” And Zagan may have been charmed by her with that.
What’s that? You’ve gotten stronger, haven’t you?
Compared to Zagan, who was completely lost in trying to convey a single word, she was far stronger. And so, Zagan replied with a troubled face.
“However, it can’t be like it was before.”
“It... can’t?”
“Yeah, it can’t.” As Zagan kneeled before Nephy, he stared right into her azure eyes.
He had words that he had to convey to her. He needed to say he wouldn’t leave her alone anymore. He needed her to know that he would protect her, even if he had to employ all the authority of an Archdemon.
That was how far he was willing to go to keep her by his side forever. And above all else... I’m... fond of Nephy. I’m in love with her.
She still wished to return to him after he’d hurt her so. If such feelings weren’t conveyed to him, then he wouldn’t have been brave enough to speak his mind.
After quietly steadying his breathing, Zagan opened his mouth to speak.
“I don’t want you to call me Master... Use my name instead.”
Nephy stared at him in wonder after he said that.
“Is ‘Master’ no good?”
“Yeah, it’s no good. If you call me that, you would be a slave no matter how much time passes, and I would be nothing more than your owner, right?” Zagan grasped the bewildered Nephy’s shoulders.
“Not a slave, not a servant, not even a disciple... I don’t want our relationship to be any of those.”
“M-Meaning...?” Her pointed ears began shaking as if they were convulsing.
And Zagan was also trembling as he spoke.
“Meaning, I lo...ve...”
I love you That simple phrase wouldn’t come out, as if it was caught deep in his throat.
His throat was parched and dry, so his w
ords died down. He’d defeated Barbatos in an instant, and even turned away a demon, but now his knee was trembling pathetically.
And as that discord within him came to an end, some rather odd words rushed out of Zagan’s mouth.
“You belong to me. Forever, until one of us dies, no, even after death!” After saying that, he sank to the floor, clearly crestfallen.
Why can’t I convey that one simple word, ‘love’! He had his heart stolen away the moment he saw her. Wanting to be loved by her, he moved about every which way over the past half a month. Still, because he was a timid coward, he’d only ended up hurting her. And even though it was the perfect time to open his heart and convey his feelings, Zagan was unable to do so.
As tears began to well up in his eyes due to his own incompetence, Nephy replied happily.
“Yes!” She nodded like always, smiling like a blooming flower.
Nephy... smiled...
That was the very first time Zagan saw such an expression. And, as he was unintentionally fascinated by that, Nephy took out the fragments of her collar. Until a few hours ago, it was wrapped around her neck. However, because it was removed with the key, it wasn’t broken.
“Could you... please put this on me again?”
“No, that’s no good, right? This is a slave’s...” As Zagan began to speak, Nephy placed her index finger against his lips.
“This is fine. For Master and I...” As she started to say something, Nephy mumbled as if she was troubled by how to continue.
“Is this not the first thing that connected Master Zagan and I?”
At those words, Zagan took the collar that he once released her from into his hand. He was unable to convey his feelings. And yet, Nephy was saying to put the collar on her. As if... it was a ring of vows.
It was far too boorish to call it an engagement ring, but to the two of them, it was unmistakably ‘proof,’ so to speak.
“Yeah, I got it.” And so, Zagan tightened the collar around Nephy’s neck.
It sealed Nephy’s mana, chained her, and was a generally unpleasant lump of iron to look at, yet it was a symbol of happiness to the two of them.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride - Volume 01 Page 19