Chapter 6: Return of The Queen
Part 1
The Demon King army approached the now evacuated Belzerg
We gathered the remaining combined forces of Elroad and Belzerg's army outside Belzerg's walls, in order to prevent the angel from trapping us in.
We scattered the forces in a wide formation, since we knew the size and area limits of his barrier.
If he wanted to trap one portion of the army, then they'd have to deal with the rest.
I realized that this wasn't the best method to deal with them, since spreading out our forces too thin would leave us vulnerable to the main forces of the Demon King army.
However, it was the best strategy we could pull off at the moment.
The Demon King army blew their horn. Revi nodded to me and we stepped forward, answering the calls for a meeting with the leaders.
For the first time, we saw Maouko, the daughter of the Demon King army, face to face.
I only saw her once, when Serena-senpai, Rori-san and I were imprisoned in the Demon King jail.
The angel was with her, standing behind Maouko. His wings were still injured and he had a hateful glare in his eyes when we came closer.
Maouko had red hair that was cut just above her shoulders, black horns, miniature bat wings and a tail. She wore a scarlet dress that hugged her body. I noticed with some jealousy that her breast size was just a bit bigger than mine.
…Why is she showing off her figure on the battlefield, anyway?!
Her blue eyes were wide and expressive and they flitted quickly between Revi and I. Her eyes were light blue, paler than ours.
After looking us over, she smiled and said,
"So, you two are the ones who have been giving me trouble, huh? Why don't you give up already?"
She had a melodious voice, but the tone she was taking with us was condescending and arrogant.
I knew that she was just trying to get a rise out of us, but it still pissed me off.
"...Who in their right mind would give up just like that?"
I said, raising a brow and crossing my arms together.
She blinked and said,
"Oh? But there's no shame in giving up when you know you've lost, right? When a leader knows that their country will endure more preventable losses, they should know that it's time to give up."
Since Potassia recently surrendered to us, I couldn't argue with her point.
Seeing that I couldn't respond, Revi replied for me,
"That only counts when dealing with an ordinary military force. As you know, the Demon King army is special. Any place the Demon King annexes is afflicted by the curse that follows the demon race."
Maouko chuckled morosely at the mention of the curse.
"I suppose you know about what I plan to do once I conquer Belzerg, then?"
Revi nodded, since he already figured it out based on what Sonia told him, and said,
"You plan to sacrifice Belzerg as a hub of operations and force the neighboring countries to pay tribute to the Demon King army. That way, you can receive food and resources from other countries without having to annex them and afflict them with the curse."
"Exactly! I'm surprised you figured it out. Did that traitor Sonia tell you?"
So she knew that Sonia betrayed her, huh?
Revi went on to say,
"And for that reason, we can't just give up. It's one thing if this curse didn't exist, but if we let you rule Belzerg, the people here will fall into ruin, anyway."
Maouko chuckled and said,
"So you plan to go down fighting, huh? I hope you do realize that your chances of victory are almost non-existent."
I knew full well. Vanir already told us that we were in the worst timeline possible.
"Well, if we do win, that's just gonna make our victory even sweeter."
Revi grinned, then turned around and gestured for me to follow.
Since there was no room for negotiation, we ended the meeting between leaders early.
Maouko laughed and turned around as well, returning to her side.
The angel, who didn't say anything, but let his hate towards us show with his eyes, turned around and followed her.
When we came back to our side, Komekko-chan was readying herself for combat.
"...You're really not gonna wear any armor?"
I said, looking at her wearing a freaking red dress for combat.
"My Devil aura protects me anyway. Armor will just get in the way. And don't you know that the less clothing you wear, the higher your defense will be?"
Is that something onii-sama told her?
He told me the same thing.
I went over to Rori-san as well, who was wearing a cloak.
Since she operated better while hiding in the shadows and contributing with diversion tactics, she didn't go for a flashy appearance like Komekko-chan.
"...We'll be relying on you to support the army Rori-san."
I said, earning a smile from her.
"I'll do my best! I'm not completely used to my new powers yet, but I'm sure I can help!"
We knew that the angel would target us right away.
Based on that glare he was giving us, he obviously wanted to get back at us for humiliating him.
With the angel targeting us, it would be better to isolate him away from the rest of the army, to prevent the soldiers and adventurers from getting caught up in the angel's wrath.
Since we couldn't support the army with the angel targeting us, we had to rely on Rori-san and the others.
"Alright, well, let's…"
Just as I was about to ask Revi to start the speech to hype up the troops…
"Alright, everyone~! Are you ready to fight for your cutie idol, Maouko-chan~!"
Maouko's voice came through the voice amplifying magic item she used in the battle earlier.
The Demon King army responded with cheers and cries of admiration for their leader.
Ah… That's right. Since Maouko had the class of 'Bard', she could rally the troops and give them a huge increase in combat stats.
Maouko started singing for her army, her bard skills coming into effect through her performance.
"S-Somehow… I feel really discouraged all of a sudden."
'Y-Yeah… Can we actually win this?"
"I'm scared!"
Maouko's singing was also affecting our troops. Since she was a high level Bard, she could decrease the morale of the enemy while increasing the morale of her allies.
Revi took a magic voice amplifying item and tried to improve the decreasing morale.
"Fear not, armies of Elroad and Belzerg! If we band together, we can…"
"Shut up! Why does the Demon King army get a performance from such a cutie, while we have to listen to a dude like you?!"
"Aren't you that guy who immediately started a harem once he became king? Screw off!"
"Move out of the way! I'm trying to see Maouko's performance!"
…The bard skills were really affecting their minds.
Or was that just how they felt about Revi?
Just when the morale was about to come crashing down…
"Ah… I-I'm sorry we're late, everyone!"
"Hey! All you handsome soldiers… The cute Erika has arrived!"
"We're sorry we're late but… Let's get this party started!"
Out of nowhere, a stage appeared and three cute girls were on it, ready to start their own performance.
I was confused, but I turned around and saw Rori-san with her hand out. She winked at me when she saw me looking at her.
Ah… So it was her illusion.
After turning into a Greater Succubus, she could convince even an army that there was an idol concert going on.
"I-Is that Axel Hearts?! The KazuCorps sponsored idol group that's been really popular these days?!"
The morale increased once more with Rori-san's illusions at work.
Revi hung his head and said,
"...Those illusions do a better job at inspiring the troops than me, huh?"
I patted his shoulder, comforting him since I felt bad.
Part 2
With all the distractions out of the way, it was time for war.
The Demon King army blew their horn, and we responded to their call.
"Belzerg, Elroad! Defend our countries!"
The army roared and charged forward to meet the Demon King forces.
"Out of my way!"
The angel pushed the soldiers in his way, deploying a spherical barrier around him and running towards us while making the barrier roll forward.
…If it wasn't such an effective attack, I'd laugh at how ridiculous it looked.
Revi, Komekko-chan and I ran inside the abandoned city walls of the Belzerg capital.
As expected, the angel followed us instead of trying to trap us in the city.
He knew that we had a means to escape, anyway, even if he didn't know the full extent of the hidden tunnel system. He didn't bother trapping us in and worked to eliminate us.
He crashed through several buildings as we navigated our way through the streets of Belzerg. I felt awful, seeing people's homes and businesses come crashing down, but for the sake of a peaceful tomorrow, I was willing to make these sacrifices.
"Gah! Doesn't he seem stronger than before?!"
Revi said, as we saw the angel destroy and topple buildings and structures as if they were made out of paper.
"He doesn't have to divert use of his barrier anywhere else. We should consider this to be his full powered state."
I said, looking at how dense his new barrier was, and how it completely enveloped his body in a sphere.
Komekko-chan put two fingers over her eyes and said,
"[Vanir-style Death Beam]!"
She fired the red devil energy, laced with a streak of blue mana, at the angel that was pursuing us.
The beam completely vanished when it came into contact with the barrier.
The angel laughed and said,
"Do you think that attack's gonna work anymore?! Come here and let me kill you already!"
He made a punching motion. The barrier around him shifted, until a portion of it extended out into a large pillar that flew towards us.
"Whoa!"
We dodged away, only to see the transparent pillar of pure force rip through the ground and the buildings beyond us.
This level of destruction… This angel was on a completely different tier of power.
"I'm not done yet!"
He released a series of fast punches, the barrier following the movements of his hands. The barrier released several projectiles of transparent force that scattered throughout the city.
"Watch out!"
There was too much debris falling around us. Komekko-chan manifested her devil energy wings and two Hoost arms, grabbed us and flew away from the destruction.
"This guy is too much! How do we stop him?!"
Revi said, watching with horror as we saw how much of the city he was able to destroy in a matter of minutes.
This wasn't anything that a mortal could do.
This was a fallen angel, one that uses the power of heaven for malicious purposes.
"F-For now take us to the castle, Komekko-chan."
Komekko-chan nodded at my instruction and took us to the castle.
As we watched the angel wreck the city, we tried to come up with a plan to stop him.
"...Mixing devil energy and mana was a good idea, but it seems like we need something that will pierce through his barrier at full power."
Revi said, observing the attack Komekko-chan used.
Like he said, it worked last time, but it wasn't even slowing the angel down with his full barrier in front of him.
"Ah! The Devil got an idea!"
She gathered devil energy again, the power billowing out from her. This time, she took the devil sword and drew in a breath, completely focused on her task.
"Hahhh!"
She slashed the sword, releasing the devil energy wave.
But when the wave shot out…
It took the form of a sword.
"What?!"
The energy sword projectile flew straight towards the angel. It pierced through the barrier around him.
Even with that, the barrier stopped the devil energy from breaking through, but…
The blue energy of Komekko-chan's mana went through the barrier and hit the angel square on the chest, drawing a deep cut.
The angel glared at Komekko-chan and yelled,
"What did you do?!"
"Oh? It actually worked?"
Komekko-chan said, looking surprised.
"...What was that, Komekko-chan?"
"Well… I tried using [Light of Saber] along with [Crimson Devil Slash]. I didn't expect it to work, but it actually did?"
"Do it again if it's working!"
"Hold on, the Devil wants to try something!"
She smirked and held up her sword again.
She created red energy copies of her sword, four of them hovering above her. Slashing her sword down, she unleashed the flying red swords, all of them shooting towards the angel.
"[Devil Light of Saber]!"
The red devil swords flew at high speeds, making the angel panic and bring both hands up, using his wings to cover himself.
Even with his full barrier, he still received cuts on his arm, as Komekko-chan managed to break through his defenses.
"It's working! It's working!"
Komekko-chan cheered, as she created more energy sword copies and attacked the angel with them.
…Combining both sides of her powers… Komekko-chan did it so easily.
I remembered what Revi said, about me accepting both sides of myself.
What would that entail, though? The potion could only bring back one side. How else could I awaken both sides at the same time and mix them all together?
While I was thinking about this, the angel let out a cry of rage and said,
"How dare you! Wounding me while I'm at full power! I'm going to make your life a living hell after this, girl!"
The angel ran towards us, fully intent on taking down the castle.
"Crap! He's gonna bring the whole place down!"
Before we could get away from the castle, the angel raised his hands.
"[Full Barrier Assault]!"
He condensed the entire barrier into a giant pillar of force and threw it at us as if it were a javelin.
"Seriously?!"
The last thing I heard was Revi's cries of disbelief, before the castle came crashing down on us.
Part 3
When I opened my eyes again, I looked around and saw that we fell through to the castle's treasure room.
There were all sorts of artifacts around, armor and weapons from my descendants.
"Are you guys alright?"
I asked Komekko-chan and Revi, who were dusting themselves off.
"I'm fine but… I don't think your castle is fine."
Revi said, looking at the hole in the ceiling. There was rubble all around us.
"Nevermind that… How do we beat that monster?"
I asked, while looking around for my sword, which fell out of my grasp.
While I was looking around, I saw a painting that fell on the ground.
Since I hadn't been in the treasure room for a while, not since I inherited Calibur and the royal armor, I almost forgot about this weird painting.
It depicted one of my descendants stabbing himself with Calibur.
I remembered the legend about this painting, about how some members of the royal family, who didn't inherit heroic powers, stabbed themselves with Calibur to awaken their bloodline.
That reminded me of the time I fought Sonia.
She stabbed me using Calibur and left the sword stuck in my body.
…Perhaps I subconsciously remembered this legend, since I pulled the sword out.
Come to think of it, that time was the only time when I transformed into my original Iris form without the help of Regina-sama's potions.
I thought that it was just a coincidence, but now that I remembered this legend…
Perhaps there was some truth to that weird legend?
"What are you doing staring at paintings? We need to get out of here before…"
Just as Revi was talking, we felt the ground rumble.
"Eh? An earthquake…?!"
Komekko-chan cried out, as the ground shook.
The wall in front of us burst open, bits of rock and debris hitting us. I covered my face from the flying debris.
"Thought you got away, huh?!"
From behind the stirred up dust, we saw the angel's sadistic face. He drilled through to the treasury by forming his barrier into cone shape and rapidly spinning it. I think onii-sama said that there was a device like that back in his homeland called a drill…
That barrier of his was too versatile. I couldn't find any weaknesses in it, since he could shape it however he wanted.
"Tsk! You're so persistent! The Devil hates annoying guys like you!"
Komekko-chan charged forward, slashing the barrier, but her sword was easily deflected by the drilling motion.
"[Devil Light of Saber]!"
Komekko-chan formed the swords in front of her as she ran forward. She had the swords form into a cone as well in front of her, as they spun around in a drill.
As expected of the genius but only in combat, she was quick to learn and adapt when she was fighting.
The swords spun around and met the barrier drill, the two powerful abilities meeting in a clash of misplaced energy. The transparent force of the barrier created a shimmering wave that flew back and made the angel's hair flow behind him, while devil energy and mana streaked out of Komekko-chan's energy swords, creating errant blue and red sparks.
"Hah… I wonder how long you can keep up that new technique of yours. I had thousands of years to hone mine… You just made yours up today!"
"Heh… My nii-chan told me that those who have thousands of years of combat experience always end up losing to upstarts who get random power ups!"
"That doesn't make any sense and you know it!"
The angel moved his hands around, directing his energy. The barrier formed inward, letting Komekko-chan and the swords fall forward.
"Eh…?!"
Komekko-chan's voice trailed away as her momentum made her fall into the barrier that was forming into a sphere prison.
We couldn't hear her anymore as she trashed inside the prison, slashing the walls out with her sword.
"Heh! That one isn't that bright, is she? She just randomly attacks. I told you, I have thousands of years of battle experience compared to you!"
The angel started gloating once he captured Komekko-chan.
Just when I was thinking of what to do, I heard Revi's voice behind me.
"Henshin!"
"Get Set! Devil Core… Install! March Through The Crimson Path…!"
He transformed into the Komekko-chan powered red Moguninin armor.
"...Oi, what are you gonna do with a lesser version of Komekko-chan's powers? Her attacks barely got through the barrier."
Even through the helmet covering his face, I could tell he was smirking smugly at me.
"He's not using the barrier around himself now, is he? Now just watch the genius at work!"
He pulled out his crossbow and attached the magic core on it, twisting it to power up the magic absorbing crossbow.
"[Revi-style Death Beam]!"
He unleashed a bolt filled with red devil energy. The bolt released a trail of red power behind it as it shot towards the angel.
"Heh… Did you already forget that I can split up my barrier?"
He moved his other hand, taking away a portion of the barrier that held Komekko-chan to stop Revi's attack.
"Did you think I'd forget? Here's another one!"
Revi fired another bolt, but this time it landed in front of the angel's feet.
"...Huh? You missed… Are you really this incompetent… Bwah!"
While the angel was talking, a red fist made out of devil energy suddenly appeared from the bolt that landed in front of the angel's feet.
It was Hoost's arm, manifesting out of Revi's arrow.
Since he absorbed Komekko-chan's energy into the core, it allowed him to partially manifest Hoost, huh?
With the angel distracted by the punch, Komekko-chan manifested her own hoost arms from behind her and took advantage of the hole in the barrier.
With Hoost's voice layered over hers, they let out a battle cry as they pried the prison barrier apart through brute strength.
Komekko-chan stepped out of the hole and leapt towards the angel.
"Damnit!"
The angel held his hands commanding the barrier to protect him.
"Not fast enough! Take this!"
Komekko-chan unleashed a series of slashes with her sword, along with punches from the Hoost arms.
I thought that we got the angel finally, but before the majority of the attacks could hit him…
"Komekko-chan, watch out!"
Revi cried out, but it was too late.
The barrier that was coming towards the devil hit Komekko-chan's back, sending her tumbling down.
The angel laughed and said,
"Do you think I'm some coward who thinks about defense all the time? I wasn't trying to protect myself with the barrier. I was attacking your exposed back!"
Komekko-chan tried to stand back up, but the barrier kept pressing her down.
"[Revi-style Death Beam]!"
Revi fired another bolt covered in devil energy, but the angel merely removed a piece of the barrier pinning Komekko-chan down to stop the attack.
Since she was pinned down, Komekko-chan couldn't take advantage of the opening to escape.
…He really was more experienced in battle than us. We couldn't use the same tactic twice against him.
"Now… I'll finally get rid of this one! I thought about keeping her as a plaything later… But she's clearly too dangerous."
The angel said, making the barrier close down on Komekko-chan.
"Arrghhh!"
Komekko-chan let out screams of pain as the barrier crushed her.
"Wait! Please, don't do anything to her!"
I said, crying out in a pleading tone.
The angel stopped crushing Komekko-chan and said,
"Alright, but what's stopping me from doing that? She's clearly your army's strongest asset. If I kill her now, we will win this whole war."
I drew out my sword and said,
"My life in exchange for hers. Surely, you'd rather have the life of Belzerg's queen, right? My army will lose their will to fight."
"...! Iris, what the hell are you saying?!"
Revi said, running over to stop me.
He stopped when the angel made Komekko-chan cry out in pain again.
"Hahaha! This is perfect. That sword… Are you saying you'll take your own life with it?"
I nodded and said,
"It's a fair exchange, right?"
"It's more than fair. Alright, do it. I'm waiting."
I glanced over at the painting.
…Hopefully, this will work out as I want.
If what happened during Sonia's fight was just a fluke, then I'd throw my life away on a stupid gamble.
Here goes…
"Grkkk!"
I let out a grunt of pain as I stabbed the sword through my stomach.
"Gahh!"
I tried not to choke on the blood that spilled out of my mouth.
"Iris?! It can't…"
Revi fell on his knees, watching in horror at what I had done.
Please let it work!
The angel laughed again and lifted his hand. The barrier disappeared.
"Wow… You actually did it. What an idiot. I thought about betraying you and crushing the girl, but… I'll keep my promise. It's too sad otherwise. Wow, you guys are actually idiots."
My vision was getting blurry. I barely saw Revi shakily making his way over to me, his hands on my stomach, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Iris… You're such an idiot! I can't believe you're this dumb!"
He was insulting me even as I was dying.
The whole time I was thinking…
Come on, this worked last time! Where is it?! Where's the cool powerup?!
I collapsed on my knees, feeling weaker by the second. I saw images in my head of my ancestors dying.
I saw them, stabbing themselves with the sword, eager to claim their power.
Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't.
I see… So I really was lucky last time.
"Damn it! Don't you have any health potions?! This one… Is this a health potion?!"
Revi, in his panic, took out the permanent transformation potion that Regina-sama gave me, out of my pouch. He pressed the vial against my mouth, making me drink the contents.
…Nice try, but that didn't work last time.
As the potion slipped into my mouth, I felt my vision getting darker.
What a stupid way to die.
Part 4
I found myself in my father's room.
More specifically, it was the castle's master bedroom.
I looked around and saw myself… Or rather… It was a smaller version of myself.
"Huh? What are you doing here?"
The child me tilted her head and said,
"...I should be saying that to you. Who are you?"
"You don't even recognize your future self? It's me, it's me…"
"Ah… that it's me, it's me scam that onii-sama warned me about… That blue hair… Are you an Axis-cultist? And what do you mean future self. You're the same age as me."
"Huh?"
I stood up and went over to the mirror to look at myself. That girl was right. I had become a child again, one like her. Except that my hair was blue.
I was in my Alice form as a loli.
"...What kind of weird afterlife waiting room is this? Oi, Eris-sama, if you're busy, just make me wait outside your office or something!"
I called out, but there was no response.
The other me, Iris me, stood up and looked at the mirror as well.
"...I wouldn't know about what's going on outside. I only see bits and pieces of it these days."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well… The only time I come out, I'm fighting someone. The last time I was out for a long time was when I was talking to that small purple haired girl who claimed to be a goddess…"
I began to make sense of what she was talking about.
Since this was my original Iris form, she only came out whenever I temporarily transformed into her.
…It was kind of messed up, seeing your original personality reduced to a prisoner of its own mind.
I looked around the master bedroom. I could only deduce that this was my psyche.
"...How do you feel? Being trapped here this whole time?"
I asked, unable to meet her eyes.
"How do I feel…? I don't know. I'm kind of used to it. Being stuck inside… Only coming out when I'm needed to fight…"
Her words stung me, since they were all too familiar.
While I was playing around with a new identity, I was trapping my original self deep within a prison in my psyche.
I probably didn't want to live as Iris anymore. Not really. All that happened to me when I was Iris was heartbreak.
Alice was free from obligation, from familial duty, from the duty of avenging her family's death.
Whenever I didn't want to fight, I always brought Iris out again.
I found myself embracing the other me, the one I had been unkind to all this time.
"I'm sorry. You can go now. It's your turn."
She looked up at me, confused.
"Why can't we both go together?"
"Huh?"
She tilted her head and said,
"There's no reason why we can't just leave through that door together."
"...But… If that's true, then why haven't you come out all this time?"
"Well, it kinda seemed like you didn't want me around."
I glanced away and said,
"...Would you be offended if I said that I kind of really hate you?"
"What a thing to say about your original personality! Besides, it's not really fair. You're literally the ideal version of what we both want to become… But sometimes, that's not enough, right? Sometimes there's no room for fantasy in the real world."
"That's why we should both walk out together, huh?"
"Yup! Embracing reality, while indulging in delusional fantasies sometimes… I think that's how we should live from now on."
"Alright… You've convinced me."
We held each other's hands and we walked through that door.
Part 5
"Eh… Iris?"
Revi gasped when I opened my eyes and stood up.
I looked down at the sword sticking into my stomach, grasped the handle, and pulled it out.
Just like pulling the sword out of the stone.
"[Heal]..."
I laid a hand on my wound and closed it.
"Did you just heal yourself? But your hair is blonde… Eh? Why is your hair blonde?"
I couldn't blame the confused Revi. Komekko-chan, who was freed by the angel, was also surprised by what she was seeing.
"Iris… Did you… Somehow manage to surpass the Devil again…?!"
Drop the rival act already.
I smiled at Revi and said,
"It was a good call giving me that potion… What we talked about, I figured it out now, a way to combine all aspects of my personality!"
I felt powerful. It was more than just combining my two selves together. The two halves become their own whole, reaching their full potential.
The angel didn't look impressed. He sighed and said,
"Wow… You totally went back on your word even though I came through with my promise…"
"Hmm? All I promised was that I'd stab myself. I didn't say that I'd actually die."
"Wow, good job. You fooled me. Now, can you please R.I.P.?!"
He swung his hand and released a barrier in the form of a razor sharp circle. The circular barrier spun through the air at me, aiming to split my body in half.
Just when I was about to dodge, something peculiar happened.
A piece of armor flew out from the corner of the treasury and blocked the attack. After the armor saved me from harm, it attached itself to me.
"What the… Ow!"
Another piece of armor came flying from behind the angel and hit him on the head, before making its way over to me and equipping itself on my body.
More treasures came alive, making their way over to join me.
I understood what was happening. They were recognizing me as the rightful heir…!
This is Belzerg's Legacy!
The weapons and armors of heroes of the past joined me. And the last addition, buried underneath all the other treasures….
I recognized it as my mother's crown.
Attaching itself to my head, the set was complete.
With the castle destroyed, with the whole country in danger of being overrun by demons…
My ancestors were all helping me.
And it wasn't just them. Multiple shadow threads appeared around me, forming into a material. A cloak appeared around my shoulders, made out of shadows, flowing behind my back. It was a dark, purple cloak, one that had Regina-sama's presence. The armor, the cloak, the sword… It was a representation of who I was, all my allegiances, my duties.
Yet, I still felt free. Honor bound but by no means a slave to duty, the best balance between tradition and individuality.
"What is this…"
The angel backed away from me, apprehension clear in his eyes.
I smirked and walked forward. The angel, in a panic, sent another spinning disk of death.
I let it hit me, even with the new armor, I felt the pain of getting hit by that powerful attack.
"[Akashic Conversion]!"
I transformed the damage into strength. With the power coursing through me, I charged forward, slashing the sword at the angel. He blocked the attack in time, but was pushed back by my boosted strength.
"This power…!"
With only a vague idea of my new abilities, I could only use them on an instinctual level.
"Komekko-chan! Revi! Give me some time to figure all this out!"
"You got it!"
"Forget that! The Devil will win this by herself!"
Not willing to be used as a means to stall, Komekko-chan set out to destroy the angel before I could.
I stepped back and let them occupy the angel's attention, while I took out my adventurer's card.
The first thing that stuck out to me was that my class changed.
I went from [Battle Priest] to [Akashic Knight].
I saw that all the skill points I had leftover from all the power leveling we did early on, hunting Horned Goblins, had been automatically spent on the new skills this class gave me.
Aside from [Akashic Conversion], there were also some other interesting skills.
For example…
I held my hand out towards the angel.
"[Shadow Lightning Blare]!"
…There were skills that combined my heroic powers with my Battle Priest powers.
Combining [Shadow Thread] with [Sacred Lightning Blare]. The effect of the skill was…
"W-What…?!"
Lightning made out of shadows struck the angel, not only doing damage to him, but attaching itself to his body.
The lightning bolts made out of shadows shocked the angel, while pulling at him from all sides, trying to split him apart.
The angel split his barrier into many spinning disks, cutting the lightning shadow threads that pulled and shocked him.
"These unknown skills… Who are you?!"
The angel cried out at me. I smirked and said,
"Well, I go by a lot of names. I guess I am whoever you say I am!"
Whether I'm called Alice or Iris…
I'm still gonna kick your ass!
I moved forward to join Komekko-chan and Revi's assault.
"[Exterion]!"
I unleashed a radiant crescent beam of golden light.
The angel blocked it with his barrier, layering his defenses to block the attack.
Komekko-chan moved behind him.
"[Devil Light of Saber]!"
She released the crimson swords, the combination of magic and devil arts.
"[Revi-style Death Beam]!"
"Gack!"
The angel couldn't protect himself from all of our attacks, with Revi's supercharged bolt filled with devil energy piercing through the area he couldn't protect.
"Damn it…! All my years of battle experience means nothing to your bullshit powerup?!"
"Hey, I worked really hard to reach this point! Don't just discount all my personal struggles and revelations!"
"You mean to tell me that your one little therapy session can undo thousands of years of battle experience?! I'll kill you!"
He crossed his arms together and swept them to the side while roaring in rage.
He pushed us back with an explosion of pure force.
"You impudent brats! I'll personally destroy each one of you!"
The barrier shrunk down around him, getting smaller and more compressed, as it gathered around the shape of his body.
"What's he doing…?"
Komekko-chan asked, warily, as we watched him.
The angel laughed and said,
"I've compressed the barrier around my body! I'm wearing it like a suit now! This is what battle experience means! Adapting to the circumstances and using creative ways to use your abilities!"
Even though his wings were injured, he still showed superior speed, releasing a blast of force from his feet to propel himself.
He appeared in front of Komekko-chan and released a right straight punch. She moved to block the attack with her sword, but he stopped his punch.
"Gah…!"
The force of the barrier continued forward even when he stopped the momentum of his punch.
Komekko-chan got fooled by the punch. The real attack was the force of the barrier.
She flew backwards, ending up crashing against the wall.
Seeing Komekko-chan receive damage, I used another new skill.
"[Akashic Explode]!"
Combining [Sacred Explode] and [Akashic Transfusion], I transferred the damage that Komekko-chan received over to the angel in a purple explosion of light and power.
However, it did little to affect the angel through his barrier.
"Hah! Your new skills aren't working! What are you gonna do? Come up with some new powerup? Die!"
He pointed his finger at me and fired a projectile of pure force, a fragment from the barrier.
"[Shadowstep]!"
My body shifted into a shadowy form and flitted around to the side at high speeds, dodging the projectiles.
"Hah?! You have mobility, defense and offensive abilities… What is that broken class?!"
Komekko-chan, who had already recovered from the last attack, started complaining about my new class.
"If you think that's impressive, you haven't seen it all yet…! [Soul Split]!"
A blue haired spirit version appeared beside me, a temporary clone made out of shadows, the manifestation of my Alice side.
When I charged forward, the shadow followed me, copying my every movement with a slight delay.
With my shadow, I attacked the angel, showing him a fast combination of slashes and thrusts with my sword.
Even with his compressed, skin-tight barrier, he still struggled to protect himself from the series of attacks.
"Tch…! You're powerful for a human!"
"Don't be too ashamed, fallen angel. I'm no ordinary human! [Exterion]!"
With my sword pressed directly into his barrier, I released a point blank [Exterion].
"Gah…! Idiot, you hurt yourself, too!"
The angel was pushed back by the golden blast. I smirked and replied,
"So what?! [Akashic Discharge]!"
"Argggh!"
He was pushed back even more with the damage I reflected on him.
I moved forward again, getting up close to his barrier.
"[Exterion]!"
"No…! Gurk…!"
I released another point blank [Exterion], never relenting.
"[Akashic Discharge]!"
"Again?! Oi, this is too… Gahh!"
I never gave him a break, charging forward and releasing point blank attacks that hurt the both of us.
When I received too much damage…
"[Heal]!"
I healed myself, before going in to repeat the relentless attack.
Little by little, the barrier was chipping.
Komekko-chan and Revi just looked on, seeing me on a rampage.
"Wah… I knew Belzergians were all full of barbarians but… What a reckless way of fighting."
"The Devil is much more elegant than that when I fight!"
"...Not really."
I chuckled at their interaction, which made the angel snarl.
"You're laughing while fighting me, huh?! You really think that you've won just because of this…?!"
I slashed at the barrier, which was now cracking. The vulnerable spot shattered like a broken glass. The angel panicked and reformed the barrier, thinning out the other areas to protect the broken spot.
"...You have thousands of years of battle experience, but you're panicking in a battle? You shouldn't have done that…!"
With the rest of the skin-tight barrier weakened due to his actions…
"[Shadow Lightning Blare]!"
I released the shadow bolts of lightning, direction them to pull the barrier from all sides.
I focused all my power into ripping apart the barrier. I watched as fragments of the barrier were slowly pulled and ripped apart by my power. The angel was exposed, shimmering fragments of pure force hovering around him, pulling away.
I charged forward again. The angel's eyes widened. He covered himself with his wings, his last act of defending himself.
"...All you've been doing is guarding yourself and hiding behind your barriers! At least my father and brother always fought with honor! You don't deserve to be their killer, and you don't deserve to be killed by me! But for the sake of honor, I will dirty my hands with your unworthy blood! Face the wrath of Belzerg, bitch!"
I stabbed my sword right into his stomach.
"EX… TERRIIIOOOONNN…"
I cried out, the sheer heat and force of the golden blast drying away any tears that might have come out, as if they were never there on my cheeks.
The blast blew through the collapsed rubble. The first thing that disappeared was the fragments of the barrier. The next thing was the angel's body. It was completely eradicated, with nothing to protect it anymore.
Once the attack ended, I saw the clear sky through the hole I created. The room was filled with leftover crackling of black electric charges and motes of golden light that floated in the air.
Part 6
We emerged out of the ruined castle, looking out at the battle going on outside.
Revi looked at my body and said,
"So, Iris… What's going on with you? Are you back to your original form?"
I looked down at myself.
"...It's more accurate to say that my two identities combined together."
"I don't really get it, but you managed to defeat that angel… Wait, did we ever get his name?"
Since he didn't want to reveal his identity, we never got the angel's name.
I bet he was regretting that choice after he died.
"Well, we accomplished our role in the plan, Revi. I guess we're supposed to move onto the next stage now?"
He blinked twice and then grinned.
"Heh… There were a few setbacks, but now we can go on with the rest of the plan!"
Just a few setbacks? We got completely outmaneuvered.
Speaking of which, we never found out how Maouko knew about our secret supply line.
"Do you think we have a traitor in our ranks? I don't know how else Maouko learned about our plan…"
Revi rubbed his chin and thought and said,
"Yeah, we kept the details of our plan to ourselves mostly… But it's possible that she could have sent someone to infiltrate the city and learned about the secret supply line that way."
Since we sent actors out in the street to fool spies, I didn't think that was possible.
"Maybe she managed to gain information from the citizens."
"Don't be ridiculous… They were instructed not to reveal any information to… strangers… Ah…"
He seemed to come to a realization.
"...Revi?"
He blushed and glanced away.
"Revi. What now?"
I glared at him as he fidgeted around.
Komekko-chan looked at him and said,
"The Devil knows that look! Revi makes that look whenever he has something he wants to hide!"
If even Komekko-chan could pick up on it, that only proved how bad Revi was at keeping a secret.
Which meant that…
"Alright, who did you tell, Revi?"
He was the leak.
"...I-It was an honest mistake! So, you know how I sometimes snuck in with the soldiers delivering supplies to make sure that everything was running well? During one of those trips, I took a break at an inn and met this really pretty redhead. She said that she was a tourist who was confused about how the city was still getting supplies even with the barrier up, and I told her why…"
"Huh?! Why would you do that?! Are you stupid?! No, it's clear to me that you're actually really stupid!"
"Oh, come on! She didn't look like a demon or anything! How was I supposed to know?! Wait… She said her name was Mako… And she had red hair… Ah, crap!"
He was just starting to figure it out?
"You actually revealed our plans directly to the enemy leader herself! You're a total dunce!"
Komekko-chan joined me in berating Revi.
"All this time… All this time you were calling the Devil stupid, but Revi is actually the one who is the dumbest out of all of us?! Apologize, now!"
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
He lowered his head, pressing it against the ground.
"...Wait, that's not the whole story, is it? You wouldn't be stupid enough just to blab to a stranger…"
"...I am truly, sincerely, utterly sorry."
"...You slept with her, didn't you?!"
"W-Well, there was a good mood going on and… Ow, ow, ow!"
Komekko-chan and I started stepping on his head.
"You already have a bunch of wives and concubines and you're still hooking up with random girls you meet in the street?!"
"We met in an inn! She's not just some random street urchin!"
"So are you saying you wouldn't hook up with a street urchin if she wasn't beautiful?!"
"...Hold on now, how beautiful are we talking about?"
"You're human garbage!"
Komekko-chan and I walked away from the pile of filth after we got done stomping on him.
He crawled after us as we rejoined the battle.
The combined forces of our army were facing the empowered Demon King army. The powerful Bard who was inspiring her troops, the one who fooled Revi, was strumming a lute and singing, her performance giving her entire army a large boost in fighting strength.
Our forces were being pushed back by these empowered troops, but the heavy hitters were joining the fight.
Maouko, not only was she responsible for killing my family, she even stole my man from me…
Oh, that bitch has it coming…!