How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 4

by Yukiya Murasaki

  Weak at the knees and unable to stand from the shock, Lumachina was holding onto Shera’s shoulders for support.

  “Th-This is...so amazing...”

  “You okay there, Lumachina?”

  “L-Lord Diablo...really is God after all...”

  “Like, seriously, are you okay!?”

  —Looks like Shera became more big sister-like after spending all that time looking after Klem. Now that I think about it, we also set Shiliu (still petrified) on a corner of the altar... Wonder what’s gonna happen with her?

  This was his second time using Flight magic, and it was definitely more stable than his first venture.

  Looking over everything from above, he could see the enormous cave-in below them.

  “Guess I’ll put us down a bit farther away from here.”

  He still wasn’t very good at moving side-to-side, but landing near the sinkhole seemed dangerous. Not to mention that it was hard to do with all the townspeople staring at him. Although they were already standing out like a sore thumb now...

  Having all those eyes on him was getting him more antsy.

  He gradually moved the altar to the outskirts of the town. Rem was staring off in the distance.

  “...It’s beautiful.”

  “Hm? Oh, yeah...”

  The morning sun had just climbed over the horizon. The clouds turned a deep red as they were set aflame by it rising into the sky.

  Rem’s eyes glistened as she looked at him, a slight blush in her cheeks. He always thought she was pretty cute...but right now, he wanted to just pick her up and take her back home with him.

  —Well, I guess we’re already both going back to the same place, aren’t we.

  It all made him think again how glad he was able to save her.

  Her hands were still covering Horn’s mouth, who looked like he was about to die from the lack of oxygen.

  “Mmph... Mmmmmmph...!!”

  “D-Diablo!” Shera suddenly shouted, an expression of alarm on her face.

  Whirling around to check, Diablo found Lumachina with a pained expression on her face, her breathing wild and erratic.

  “Hah...hah...”

  “What!? What happened!?”

  “This!”

  Shera rolled up a piece of Lumachina’s clothes; there was a blackish-purple mark on her thigh in the shape of an “X.”

  “...But why!?” Rem exclaimed.

  Diablo felt the goosebumps crawling over his skin.

  “The Death Knell disease...”

  Though the words had left Diablo’s mouth, they sounded so far away it was like someone else entirely had said them.

  Miracles had no effect on Lumachina. She said it herself: No matter who she had pray for her, it wouldn’t even heal a scratch. Even if they had a priest pray for her, this wouldn’t be healed.

  Diablo clenched his fists.

  —So this is what Batutta was talking about!

  —“...You will all fall into the depths of despair.”—

  He must have done something to her while she was captured. That place was being used to perform curses, after all.

  Shera was shaking. “No... L-Lumachina is going to...die...? Diablo, save her...!” Tears spilled from her eyes.

  Though she was in anguish, Lumachina managed a smile.

  “Please don’t cry, Shera. It... It is all right... If I am to die, it just means it is part of God’s will...”

  “Exactly. That is why you will not die yet.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re going to reform the corruption in the Church, aren’t you? That’s the entire reason you came here, to ask that Paladin captain for his help. Am I wrong?”

  “No... That is exactly right.”

  “Was the point of this journey to hide from the Cardinal Authority? Or to oppose them?”

  “T-To oppose them...”

  “Then stand tall! Don’t be daunted by a mere curse. And if you deem it necessary...then I shall lend you my power!”

  The life returned to Lumachina’s eyes, and her ragged breathing became somewhat steadied. Though she was still being supported by Shera, she propped herself up and joined her hands together.

  “Yes... I will not lose to a mere curse.”

  “Good! All you need now is have faith in me, for I will rid the curse that plagues you.”

  “Of course I believe in you,” Lumachina answered with a nod.

  “What are we going to do, Diablo!?” Shera asked.

  Rem and Horn were both staring at him as well.

  Diablo’s lips curled, forming a twisted smile.

  “We’re going to a certain dungeon, a place we’re sure to find what you need!”

  The “Death Knell Disease Charm” he acquired from the limited time event should be locked up in the treasure room of his personal area.

  Horn pumped his fists in the air.

  “Awww YEAH!!”

  Afterword

  Thanks a lot for reading the fourth volume of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord!

  I’m the author, Yukiya Murasaki.

  A brand new volume, and the start of a brand new arc! I was planning on having our new heroine Lumachina be one of those really smart characters, but she ended up being a bit of an, um, “interesting” girl instead, huh. I’m happy if you like her, though I guess she is on the verge of death all of a sudden...

  I stuck a lot of battles into this volume, to the point where I was thinking it was almost too much. I’m relieved I was able to squeeze it all into a single volume.

  In the last volume, we had the Demon Lord Krebskulm, who was a character with super high stats but fought like a child; so for this volume, I had an enemy with inferior skills, but was a cunning tactician. Here’s hoping you enjoyed it.

  We’ll finally be getting to Diablo’s personal area in the next volume! Now he’ll have to conquer a dungeon that he built himself!

  Special thanks—

  Tsurusaki Takahiro, thank you for the wonderful illustrations. It always feels like we’re pushing the limits with this series, but this time especially!

  Thank you as always to Ooishi, the designer from Afterglow. The design was perfect this time as well.

  To the editor, Shouji, my apologies for always causing you trouble. Thanks to you, this book was created.

  Thanks to all the staff at the Kodansha Light Novel Editing Department, and to the family and friends who supported me.

  And for all of you who have read this, I can only offer you my utmost gratitude. Thank you very much!

  Yukiya Murasaki

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustrations

  The Story So Far

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Pest Control

  Interlude 1

  Chapter 2: Flying Sky High

  Chapter 3: Heading to a New Town

  Interlude 2

  Chapter 4: In Hot Pursuit

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Bonus Textless Illustrations

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

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  Copyright

  How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 4

  by Yukiya Murasaki

  Translated by Garrison Denim

  Edited by Kris Swanson

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 Yukiya Murasaki

  Illustrations by Takahiro Tsurusaki

  All rights reserved.

  First published in Japan in 2016 by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.

  Publication rights for
this English edition arranged through Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Ebook edition 1.0: July 2018

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