“That guy they call Rubbers, huh? Akuto’s not so stupid as to allow anybody to cultivate his cells now, but maybe he was before. So you’re telling me there’s a chance they might use those cells to turn a normal person into a demon king?”
Lily stood up.
“We know the coordinates, so let’s teleport there. If we do it from inside the school, we can use the school’s budget to fund it.”
Fujiko shrugged.
“I guess we don’t have a choice.”
○
“Come back, you say? They already know we’re following them?” Hiroshi said into his communicator, astonished. He’d already spent a decent amount of time tracking his foe. By the time he’d gotten the message, he’d left the city’s downtown and entered a section that was full of buildings still under construction. He was starting to wonder what he was doing there. He looked again at the skinhead he’d been chasing. The man turned around. The skinhead’s skin began to turn black, as it took on the consistency of rubber. By the time he was looking at Hiroshi’s face, his own was completely flat and featureless. It was Rubbers. The man he’d seen before.
“So I was tricked,” Hiroshi whispered, but surprisingly, Rubbers answered.
“That’s right.” The fat man spoke, and then his right arm shot out. Hiroshi realized he couldn’t dodge, so he simply whispered “Brave.”
The field that appeared when the suit teleported in blocked the arm.
Maybe he didn’t feel any pain, because despite the loud noise as the arm was smacked away, Rubbers just grinned.
“It feels a little different when a man does it, compared to a woman. Of course, a woman is better.” Hiroshi narrowed his eyebrows. His voice was different from usual. It sounded perverted.
“You say some weird stuff. I don’t have time to deal with you. Go play with yourself if you want to have fun.”
They were in a construction site, and work had finished for the day. There was nobody there to see them. Hiroshi tried to use the power of his suit to fly upwards.
“Hey! The one thing they told me was that I had to buy time!”
Rubbers reached out another hand to grab Hiroshi’s leg.
“Tch!”
Hiroshi gave up on climbing, and gripped the high-frequency blade in his right arm, instead. Rubbers let go and pulled his hand back.
“’Cause you know you can’t beat me in a straight up fight?” Hiroshi said, mockingly. But Rubbers seemed unbothered.
“I know that. Nobody’s dumb enough to go head-on against a guy holding a mana canceler.”
Hiroshi glared as he quickly began to advance on Rubbers.
“Then I guess I’ll have to make the first move, won’t I?”
But Rubbers was unafraid of Brave’s charge.
“That’s fine. I’ll just run.” Rubbers quickly hid himself inside a nearby half-finished building. “I’m faster than you...”
Hiroshi accelerated, but he stopped when he saw that the space Rubbers had entered was too small for a normal human to enter. Rubbers had slid himself between the floor and ceiling of the partially constructed building, where the air conditioning would eventually go.
“Damn rubberman!”
“I know what that suit’s flaws are. And what your usual combat patterns are, too.” Rubbers’ voice echoed throughout the half-finished building.
“So what? You don’t seem to have the field that can shut out the suit’s energy, or shut down the suit itself.”
The former empress, Kazuko, had used a special field to neutralize the overwhelming anti-magic combat power of Brave’s suit. By surrounding the area with a VPS field, she could shut off the transfer of energy to it. But only mages of Kazuko or Akuto’s level were capable of such a feat.
Brave’s suit, however, was a gift from Boichiro Yamato. Which meant that anyone who knew the code could shut it down from the outside. Right now, USD was the only one known to have that code. And he wasn’t here. Which meant there was no way he was going to lose to Rubbers.
“I told you, my goal is to buy time. You can’t destroy the building. You’re a hero, after all. So all I have to do is keep you busy.”
“...Why is USD having you attack me while letting me keep the suit?” Hiroshi said, confused by the apparent contradiction.
“Who the hell knows what USD is thinking. This thing has nothing to do with USD, anyway.” Rubbers’ answer only confused him further.
“What did you say?”
“As you guessed, the plan is underway. The plan itself is something USD started. But we’ve moved it up a bit. And that’s got nothing to do with USD.”
“What are you planning on doing?”
“Of course I’m not going to tell you! Don’t you understand? As long as you’re wearing that suit, you’re nothing but a pawn on USD’s chessboard. You’re a part of his game. That’s the only reason I’m bothering to say anything in the first place!”
He was trying to confuse Hiroshi, or maybe just enjoyed tormenting others. Either way, it was clear that there was no point in talking to him. But it was also clear that Rubbers was telling the truth.
“There’s no need for you to tell me that. I know it already.” Hiroshi said, and tried to end the conversation, but Rubbers was persistent.
“No way. I don’t understand why Boichiro Yamato chose a guy like you. No, I don’t even know what he was trying to get you to do. You’ve got no grand dreams. No philosophy. No noble lineage. No special powers. Your one attractive trait is that you’re easily moved by what others say. In other words, you’re easily manipulated by a certain type of person.”
“...Shut up!”
Hiroshi swung the high-frequency blade to chop off Rubbers arm as it attacked, but at the same time, he forgot to activate the mana canceler. The blade couldn’t pierce the rubber arm, and instead just dug into it and made it twist.
“Let me give you a tip from a veteran fighter. Don’t rush things.” Rubbers laughed at Hiroshi’s mistake.
“Tch...”
Hiroshi began to think of a way of to get out of here, but when he moved to retreat, an arm came from the direction he was fleeing in.
“...Damn it!”
Now he was mad. But not only could he not easily escape, everything Rubbers was saying was right on the mark.
○
“You guys meet up with Hiroshi,” Lily said to the trio. The five of them (including Keisu and Yoshie) were surprised, but they gave an affirmative.
“So it’s just us two?” Fujiko asked Lily. The two of them were in the area below the school that served as the Demon King’s castle. Akuto had stopped coming down here ever since Peterhausen was gone. Part of the reason was that Fujiko had remodeled the place into some kind of horror show.
“Do you not like that?’
“Of course not. We’re going somewhere dangerous. It feels like you’re trying to keep the trio out of danger.”
“That’s right. Well, Hiroshi is probably in danger too, so it’s not that bad of an idea. But I’ll be the one doing most of the work, so it’s fine, right? You’re pretty good at running, so if it gets dangerous you can just scram. But you’re the one who knows more about the Demon King.”
“...Fine, let’s go then.” Fujiko went inside the teleportation circle, and after waiting for Lily to follow, put in the coordinates. The circle began to glow as the scenery around them changed. Fujiko had seen it before, but Lily hadn’t. She gasped in surprise.
“It’s huge... So this whole space is underground?”
The ceiling was incredibly high for an underground space. Pillars the size of buildings were standing some distance apart from each other, visible in the faint light. It was impossible to tell how far the pillars stretched. It was easily larger than a soccer field.
“It’s big, but since we know the coordinates, our goal is right in front of us,” Fujiko said.
“Yeah, so it seems.”
Lily was looking right in front of them. A huge tube was str
etching down from above. It was attached to the coffin that Akuto had once used. Before, there had simply been a coffin in the empty space, but it seemed to have been modified in a short time. Different types of new machines were attached to it. The tube, for instance, hadn’t been there before. It was probably an extension of an elevator. In front of the coffin was a long-haired dog, sitting as if to guard it.
“A dog?” Fujiko said, confused.
The trio had said that there was a dog. But they didn’t expect to find it in front of the coffin.
“You should be careful. There’s something strange about his eyes.”
“His eyes? I can’t see them. He’s too hairy.” Fujiko said, and Lily gritted her teeth.
“That’s not what I meant. Some things you can see if you just change the way you look, a little.”
She immediately stretched out a fist to punch the dog. But only Fujiko was surprised by this.
“What...?!”
“Hah. I’m telling you, it’s no ordinary dog.”
But Lily’s fist came to a stop right in front of the dog’s face. A mana shield was formed there.
“I see. So it’s not just an ordinary dog, huh?” Fujiko backed away.
“Hmph. C-MID8’s just full of surprising weirdos, huh? This one’s not even human.”
Lily’s insult was met with a response.
“You’re a nasty little girl. I can tell you grew up somewhere poor.”
The dog spoke. Fujiko couldn’t believe it, but Lily seemed unsurprised by a talking dog. She seemed more angry about being called “little.”
“And who the hell knows what bitch sired you! I’m gonna chop you up and turn you into dog stew, and then throw you out without even eating you!”
Lily charged towards the dog.
“My heritage is a rather complex subject. But my code name is The One. And you’re about to find out how it feels to be killed by a furry animal!”
He said as he blocked Lily’s charge head-on. Lily’s specialty was physical combat, and he’d matched her not with magic, but with his canine body.
“Orryaaah!” Lily howled, and the dog howled back. A moment later, Lily gasped in surprise. Her punches were being matched blow for blow by the dogs front paws.
“What...?”
The dog had stood up on its hind legs, and was swiftly flailing its front legs about like an animal playing with its master. But it was Lily who was being played with.
“You bastard...”
Lily paused her attack and took a step back. The One took a breath and bared his fangs.
“I’m not trying to insult you. This is my body, and this is just how I have to fight.”
“I appreciate your concern.” Lily said, and she glanced towards Fujiko. Fujiko knew what she meant. They hadn’t come here to fight a dog.
“Alright, let’s continue.”
Lily charged the dog again. The One took her head on, just like before. A fierce battle of fists and paws commenced, but it was Fujiko who moved. She didn’t join the strange battle against the dog. Instead, she moved around to the side, a good distance away from The One, and started to run.
“This was our goal the whole time. If I can just have her stop the Demon King Transformation...!”
“I knew you’d do that. And I do wish you’d think about what it means that I was sent to guard it alone, even if this is a secret mission,” The One whispered, and without much concentration created a mana barrier between Fujiko and the coffin.
“We knew you’d do that, too! I can break through it...” Fujiko reached out to deploy her own mana. Normally, the further away mana was from your body, the weaker it got.
Thus, even if he created a field of concentrated mana without much concentration, if a mage touched it directly it would be easy to break. But Fujiko’s hand failed to destroy the shield.
“...Impossible!”
Fujiko was blocked by a translucent blue shield, just a few steps away from the coffin.
“Why can’t you break a simple barrier?” Lily screamed, but Fujiko was wondering that herself.
“I don’t know! It feels like it’s made... differently, somehow! I should be able to at least dissolve a little!”
“I’ve woven the mana in a way difficult for humans to notice. You’ll never dissolve it the normal way.”
“Are you really a dog?” Lily shouted, and tried to break past The One, but he used his dog speed to get in front of her. She had no choice but to continue the battle.
“It doesn’t matter to you who I am. Now, it’s time. If Kei Sakura, the boy inside, isn’t dead.”
Just as his sentence finished, Fujiko began to see a replay of the same thing she’d seen last time. Light and steam poured out from a small gap in the coffin. The only thing different was the person inside.
“Oh...!”
At this point, Fujiko knew it was too late. All they could do was watch the unknown person inside rise. The coffin opened completely, and someone came out. Their movements were elegant and seductive, completely out of place for the room they were in.
“What...?”
Fujiko was, for a moment, entranced, and stopped trying to break through the barrier. The boy’s neck stretched upwards as his long hair spread out like a butterfly’s wings. It was like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. Akuto’s rebirth had been filled with strength and awe-inducing horror, but this seemed like the birth of a beautiful demon.
“I didn’t think a human could survive that... but I guess one did,” The One said, a cruel smile on his doggy face.
“He can’t be...” Lily stopped punching and fell back, worried by what she saw.
“He... awoke?” Fujiko whispered.
As if in answer, the new Demon King spread his hands up towards a sky he couldn’t see.
“This is... amazing. I can see them. I can see everybody’s records.”
Kei wasn’t wearing clothes. That was how Fujiko, who’d assumed he was a woman, knew she was wrong. But still she couldn’t look away. There was indeed a certain beauty in his movements.
“So this is the power of the Demon King? I can use all resources. In a way, I can use the whole world.” Kei raised a hand, and clothes came down and wrapped themselves around him.
“Even I don’t know if I teleported them here or created them.”
And then he turned to look at Fujiko. Fujiko shivered, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Kei smiled softly.
“You’re the one who prepared the Demon King’s cells for me, aren’t you?”
There was nothing she could say.
“W-What... what if I was?”
“Part of the man you love is inside me now, so I wanted to ask if you loved me too.”
Fujiko was shocked by the innocence in his voice.
“I-I don’t know...”
“I see. We’ve just met, after all. But that’s not quite right. I can tell. You won’t fall in love with me. You just thought I was pretty, didn’t you? People who look at me that way never feel like they understand me.”
Kei turned away to gaze at the surroundings, as if her answer didn’t matter to him. His eyes were strangely clear.
“I thought that if I could look at the data for everyone in the empire, I might find somebody like me. And then I might find someone who understood me, at least a little. But this is amazing. There wasn’t anyone. I’m here, all alone. Like I’m alone underneath an endless blue sky. It feels good, but also a little worrying. This is what it’s like to see everything, huh?”
Kei spoke sadly, with a face like a beautiful girl’s. But in the next moment, he waved his hand, and his face changed. A typhoon began to blow.
“Hyaah!”
“Tch!”
Fujiko and Lily tried their best to stay standing, but they were blown backwards in an instant. Fortunately, the space was so huge there were no walls for them to slam into. They were able to land on their feet, without taking much damage. If there were walls, they would’ve been slammed into th
em and badly hurt.
“This isn’t quite right. I was hoping you’d be stronger,” Kei said, disappointed, as he looked from Lily to Fujiko.
“Sorry we’re not,” Lily said, and began to walk towards Kei with long strides. Kei seemed surprised for a moment, before snapping his fingers as if he noticed something.
“Oh, no, that’s not it. I was thinking I’d feel some kind of recoil. Like, I’d fire it off and then feel a little rumble, or something.”
“You mean we’re not even worth your real power?” Lily spat.
But there was nothing else she could do. She couldn’t even walk another step. Kei was looking at her with cold eyes. That was the only reason. And then, for some reason he began to speak to her.
“Murder has a deep meaning. I learned that after I became Demon King. In other words, I just learned it right now. You see, if you kill someone, that means stealing away all the possibilities they had. Kei’s eyes were shining like a child’s at this newly discovered concept.
“So... what? That’s obvious,” Lily said, unsure of what he was getting at, when he nodded.
“That’s right. It’s obvious. But nobody thinks of it the other way around. It means it’s okay to kill somebody who might steal other people’s possibilities, or who has no possibilities at all.” Kei’s expression was bright.
“So you realized that by looking at lots of people’s logs?” Lily asked. “Do you think you’re god?” Her words were bitter. Kei, however, seemed unmoved by her words.
“God? Perhaps the devil would be a better term. But no matter. Anyway, I don’t want to kill you, and that’s why. You’ve got nothing to do with the job I have to do. You could say, in other words, that I’ve discovered who I can kill and who I can’t. Like a real god could, you see,” he said in a leisurely tone.
“And what is your job?
“It’s... See? Look. It’s already begun. I have to protect this place from them.” Kei looked up at the sky. He seemed to have sensed something.
“What’s begun?” Lily asked, but Kei’s reply was short.
“You’ll know soon,” he said, as he grabbed The One. And then he stepped off the ground and flew upwards. Neither Fujiko nor Lily could do anything. When they fought Kazuko, at least she was human. But this time was different.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 11 Page 5