3
Getting to the innermost part of the dungeon was almost too easy. Before long, we had almost reached our objective.
If memory served, the Lich’s room should be right at the end of this hallway.
“…What’s this? Whatever that is, it’s got to be the leader of those monsters.”
In front of Darkness and me, a shadow sat cross-legged outside the Lich’s room, kneading dirt into dolls.
It wore a black tuxedo—a strange sight in a dungeon—and shaped the dolls without removing its white gloves. It had a mask with exactly the same design as the dolls it created.
The mask, which didn’t cover its mouth, gave off a sinister impression.
The creature couldn’t possibly have missed us standing there with our lantern, but it paid us no attention at all, perhaps too caught up in creating.
The mask hid its face, but its body suggested it was a man.
Just as I was trying to decide what to do, Darkness strode boldly up to the figure.
“…Hey, you. What are you doing there? I see you making that doll. That means you’re the one behind this monster scare, right?”
Then Darkness raised her great sword and took up a fighting stance, facing the masked man.
He raised his head as if he had only just now realized someone was there.
Upon closer inspection, I realized how tall he was.
He didn’t seem to have any weapons, but he was no small fry, either.
The eyes on his mask glowed red, and his mouth twisted into a sneer.
“…Oh-ho. How good of you to make it this far. Welcome to my dungeon, adventurers! Indeed, I am he who lies at the root of all evil! A general of the Demon King, the Duke of Hell who commands Devils! I am the Great Devil, the one who sees all in this world—Vanir!”
I wasn’t expecting a boss this big!
In the darkness of the dungeon, I started to back away. Darkness kept her sword at the ready, but even she was intimidated by the thought of challenging a general of the Demon King.
This was bad. I had absolutely not counted on Darkness and me facing one of the generals alone.
On reflection, maybe we’d had a few hints.
Like the frogs that came out from underground as if they were fleeing from something—maybe it wasn’t Explosion that had scared them.
When Beldia had been around, the weaker monsters had all made themselves scarce then, too.
“Darkness. H-hey, Darkness! This is too much for the two of us. We’ve got to get out of here!”
“What are you saying?! How can a servant of the goddess Eris flee before a Devil and general of the Demon King? I will end him here and now, even if it costs my own life!”
Why does she have to be so stubborn?!
Vanir answered Darkness’s declaration with amusement. “Oh-ho. End me, you say? Me, sometimes rumored to be more powerful than even the Demon King? But… You, girl, the one who was worried that boy over there might notice her too-well-sculpted abdominal muscles when he saw her naked in the bath that one time… I don’t know what you are chattering about, but I have heard that chewing on a little bone helps when you are angry. Part of my mask is made of the bones of a magical dragon. Would you like me to break off a piece for you?”
“T-t-too-well-sculpted—! D-don’t insult me, you dirty puppet of the Demon King! Kazuma! Everything he says is a lie! My abs aren’t even that built, and I definitely didn’t worry about your seeing them!”
“C-calm down, Darkness—get your head on straight, and we’ll go from there.”
I held Darkness back—she had started to swing her sword around wildly in an attempt at an attack.
Vanir paid no mind to the enraged Crusader but just sat there on the ground.
“Oh, calm yourself. I did not come here to fight with you two. I’ve come to investigate something, as requested by our dear King. And I have business with someone in Axel Town—a certain shopkeeper. One who supposedly has the exceptional ability to get poorer every time she does anything.”
At that, Darkness and I exchanged a glance.
4
Beside me, Darkness stood with her sword at the ready, prepared to attack at any time. I, however, sat down on the dungeon floor to hear what Vanir had to say.
“First of all, though I call myself a general of the Demon King, I am a rather lackadaisical one. At His Majesty’s request, I merely help maintain the magical barrier around his castle. I am what might be more widely known as a Devil. Among Devils, the most prized delicacy is the negative emotions you humans give off, which you find so unpleasant. You are the source of what we most love to eat, so it would be sheer folly for us to destroy or harm you. Indeed, we dance for joy each time a human is born.”
“Is… Is that right…? But doesn’t a little crisis help fuel that animosity? I mean, if we’re living in peace, we don’t produce that much ill will, do we?”
Vanir didn’t seem hostile at the moment, but if he was a general of the Demon King, he would be too much for the two of us to handle alone. Right now, it would be better to talk than to fight.
He claimed to be just helping maintain the spirit barrier around the Demon King’s castle, though. Wasn’t that what Wiz was supposedly doing?
Still sitting cross-legged on the ground, Vanir nimbly fashioned a mask for a doll as he spoke.
“Well, what we consider negative emotions encompasses a wide range. And every Devil has personal tastes. Some enjoy humans’ terror and despair. Others like to disguise themselves as impossibly beautiful women and make men fall in love with them—then savor the bitter tears when they reveal themselves.”
“I’m starting to think it would make good sense to get rid of you.” I regarded the obnoxious masked monster with some suspicion.
Apparently the Demon King had tasked him with investigating the humans who had defeated Beldia.
“I had been passing my time taunting His Majesty’s minions and feasting on the resulting ill will. But His Majesty came to me wanting to know if I might make myself useful, instead of simply bullying his subordinates all the time. I accepted his request to investigate around here, thinking it would give me a chance to visit an old friend in town. But as I was passing through, I noticed this dungeon had no master and simply decided to set up shop here.”
I wanted to ask him what happened to investigating, or meeting his friend. I wanted to tell him that there were limits even to being easily distracted. But if that actually put him back on task, well, it would be the worse for us.
After all, we were the ones who had defeated Beldia.
I wanted to just leave this guy where he was and go home, but there was one thing I couldn’t overlook.
“You said it wouldn’t make sense for you to hurt humans, but what’s with these dolls, then? They come marching out of this dungeon and cause all sorts of trouble for the townspeople.”
“…Hmm? I have been using these toys to clear out the monsters. If they are beginning to wander outside the dungeon’s confines, it must mean there are no more monsters within. In that case, I will cease production of my Vanir dolls and move on to my next plan.”
“…Your next plan? What exactly is it you’re playing at?”
Vanir took the doll he had just made and turned it back to earth.
“Playing at is a strong phrase, young man who paced his room like a bear in a cave, sick with worry just because your armored friend didn’t come back for a few days. As a Devil, I have a grand dream. And I have come to this land to bring it to fruition.”
“Hey, quit it. I know you said you’re all-seeing, but why do you talk about that stuff like you were right there? …A-and you, stop squirming.”
Next to me, Darkness seemed downcast, her cheeks flushing just a bit as she shot glances at me.
Sure, I’d been worried about her, but I hadn’t paced around my room…much.
“I assume Devils don’t yearn for anything we would consider good. Perhaps you could tell us what thi
s ‘dream’ is?”
Darkness leveled a dangerous glare at Vanir, who made an Mm deep in his throat.
“Understand that I have existed for countless eons. For some time now, I have been conceiving a most extraordinary way to meet my end. I shall feast on the greatest acrimony of all and then go gloriously into the night… I have nursed this aspiration for so long that I can no longer remember when I first imagined it. But how could I obtain the tremendous rancor I seek? I had an idea…”
I swallowed hard at the smirk that came over his face.
“First, I needed a dungeon. Then, I would station my Devil minions in every room of it and fill it with the most terrible traps! The most renowned adventurers would come to challenge it! Again and again they would try themselves in my dungeon, until at last one of them reached the innermost sanctum!”
He had begun to gesticulate wildly and speak with real passion, perhaps inspired by his own excitement.
“And in this deepest place, I myself would of course be waiting. Then I would say to them, How good of you to make it this far. Now, strike me down, and claim for yourself vast riches…! And then the final battle would begin! After a mighty struggle, the adventurers would best me at last. As I crumpled to the earth, a tightly sealed treasure chest would appear behind me. And as my consciousness slipped away, the adventurers would work it open…!”
Darkness and I both found ourselves swallowing now, but we kept silent.
“……Within would be a scrap of paper with a note that says, Sorry, please play again. Seeing the empty look on their faces as they read it—that is how I wish to meet my end.”
“Aww, spare ’em that. It’s just too heartbreaking.”
“Listen, Kazuma. I think we’d better get rid of this guy now.”
Vanir chuckled at the two of us and said, “My friend runs a shop in this area. It was my intention to work there to earn money, and then with those resources and my friend’s power build the great labyrinth I dreamed of. But then I passed by this place and noticed it had no master. I thought perhaps it would do for my needs, and I settled here.”
“That’s a pretty dumb reason for sitting in a dungeon. But what do I care? I know what you’re doing here now. And it sounds like you’ll stop making those dolls, so I don’t really have any beef with you. My friend and I just have some business with the magic circle in the room behind you. In fact, we came here to get rid of it.”
“Wha…?! Kazuma, this Devil is more important than any magic circle! Are you going to just walk right by a general of the Demon King?! An enemy of all mankind is sitting right in front of you!”
She wasn’t necessarily wrong, but what did she think the two of us alone could do to him?
I stood up, intending to dispel the magic circle and get out of there.
“…A magic circle? Oh-ho. You are going to dispel this magic circle, which even I struggled with? How kind of you. I don’t know what troublesome meddler set it up, but I’ve been totally unable to go in that room thanks to that despicable design, and it’s been quite frustrating. If you can indeed remove it, I shall present you with a special handmade Vanir doll that cackles in the middle of the night.”
“Th-thanks but no thanks. Actually, that circle’s a problem for us, too. Once we get rid of it, we’ll be heading home. You can do whatever you want then.”
I nonchalantly explained that we would be getting rid of the circle and heading back, but Vanir asked:
“In what way is that circle disadvantageous to you? Just a moment, let me take a look at your past…”
He sounded very interested, and also treated looking at my past like it was no big deal for him.
…Hey, wait a…!
“………Bwa-ha-ha!”
Vanir seemed to have found something before I could stop him. He cackled in a dry voice.
Darkness moved in front of me as if to cover me from this strange new turn.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! If irony were as delicious as animosity, I would be feasting! It was your Priest friend who created that troublesome circle! To set up magic even I cannot penetrate—this Priest must be immensely…”
This was bad. I didn’t quite get what was going on, but apparently he was really into it now!
Vanir stood lazily, his eyes glowing red through his mask. It wasn’t the red of the Crimson Magic Clan. The color was definitely devilish—a hue that played upon an ancient human fear. The color of blood.
“Oh-ho… I see, I can see it! Up above! I can see that Priest indolently drinking tea at the entrance to this very dungeon!”
Was that true? If that was true, I wanted to head back up there and ask Aqua just whose fault it was that we were going through all this. And maybe give her a smack for good measure.
Vanir glared through his mask.
“Now, young woman who lost a bet with that man and has been most fretful wondering what awful thing he will do to her, waiting anxiously for it, hoping for it—and young man, who is nervous with having to decide what he will do to this young woman after all this is over. I ask you to step aside! Don’t look so worried; you know I shall never kill a human. And I shan’t. I shall not kill any…humans. But I shall exact my revenge for this bothersome magic circle!”
“I’m not fretting—and I’m not anxious—and I’m not hoping! Stop making stuff up! J-j-just stop saying anything at all!”
“Y-yeah, she’s right! I’m not nervous, either! T-totally not!”
We somehow managed to endure the mind games of someone who could see right through us. Vanir made to take a step forward.
A Devil who sees all had just made a point of saying he wouldn’t kill any humans.
Did that mean he’d already realized Aqua’s true identity…?!
Darkness held her sword out toward Vanir as he began to close the distance between us.
“If you mean Aqua harm, then I will never stand down. As a Crusader in the service of Our Lady Eris, I shall not let you pass!”
“I see your head is even harder than your abdomen, girl. If I wanted to, I could bury you both without a second thought. But I have no desire to kill you humans. Not least because I have no way of knowing which of you might one day help me obtain the greatest bitterness. Scurry home and get on with that ‘awful thing’ you’re both so excited for. I, the all-seeing Devil, promise you: If you leave now, all will go just as you wish. No one shall bother or interrupt you.”
Wh-why, this guy…!
“Don’t listen to him, Darkness! He’s a Devil! He’s trying to mislead us!”
“Wh-who’s being misled?! There’s a time and place for these things, Kazuma!”
Wait, what? I’m this tempted by him and she…isn’t?
Some all-seeing Devil. Here I’d assumed Young woman who has been most fretful with wondering, waiting anxiously, hoping…was all actually true.
But when I stole a glance at Darkness, I saw her cheeks were slightly flushed, and the trembling tip of her sword betrayed a hint of inner conflict.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ahh, sweet cowards. Not uninterested in each other as man and woman but unable to cross that line as members of the same party. Now, out of my way! Once I’ve gone, you shall be quite able to enter your precious magic-circle room. You can spend as much time there as you like—and then go home!”
What a Devil! Had we ever run into an enemy who’d set such a devious trap for us?
“Kazuma, don’t be taken in! How could we go on living under the same roof if we were in such a weird relationship?! Stay focused!”
“Huh? R-right, stay focused, me! This is Darkness we’re talking about! Nice to look at and definitely my type, but you know what she’s like inside! Don’t get confused by some passing lust!”
“H-hey, you’ll pay for that later…!”
Man, this girl is so complicated.
“Ho-ho! Not going to be led astray by my temptations, are we? Well, well, what to do now? Many of my abilities
are so powerful as to be practically cheating. For example, consider my Vanir Death Ray. It is a death ray, so if it hit you humans, you would die. Even if it didn’t hit you, you would die. There’s also my Vanir Eye Beam. That skill, however, has the drawback of burning my own eyes if I use it, so I have yet to try…”
“Th-that’s enough! I feel like I might go crazy talking to you! I won’t let you reach Aqua and the others! If you want her that bad, you’ll have to go through me!”
Darkness seized the initiative and leaped at Vanir.
5
Vanir laughed joyfully as he dodged one of Darkness’s attacks after another.
“Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Your strikes are as inaccurate as they are spirited, girl! …Hmm? Where did your friend go? The one who seems to be all talk and no action?”
His head turned this way and that, trying to see where I had disappeared off to.
…Sorry I couldn’t do something flashier. I’m trying to make do with beginner skills, here!
“What are you looking at?! I’m right in front of you!” Darkness exclaimed.
“Where did that underhanded little boy get to? I have an inkling he is far more dangerous than any muddleheaded Crusader. I still sense him, but where…?”
While Darkness kept Vanir busy, I had set my lantern on the ground and was using Ambush to sneak around behind him.
Underhanded—well, what did he expect? Who would be stupid enough to fight one of the Demon King’s generals head-on?
“Keep your eyes on me when we’re fighting, alreadyyyy!” Darkness took a sweeping sideways swing at Vanir.
Vanir, in turn, took a big leap backward—his rear directly facing me.
I stopped using Ambush and threw all my weight into a kick squarely at Vanir’s spine.
“Gurgh?! You knave! When did you—?! H-hrk…?!”
He stumbled forward, returning into the path of Darkness’s blade.
Darkness may have been clumsy, but she had strength in spades. Her sword cleaved straight through him. His left arm went spinning through the air; his torso sported a gaping, critical wound. He fell to his knees…
You're Being Summoned, Darkness Page 13