Chapter 5: An Angel fall for this Princess!
Part 1
With the Elroad army pursuing the Potassian army, we were able to make them and General Harold surrender.
They couldn't withstand the barrage of magic arrows and Crimson Demon advanced level magic without Perfect Spud around.
"Heh…You guys should have stuck to farming potatoes."
Revi said, with a grin.
"That's incredibly offensive!"
General Harold said, while Revi laughed at him.
I rolled my eyes at Revi's grandstanding and said to General Harold.
"Alright, the negotiator for Belzerg is here. She'll go with Elroad's liaison to fix the details of your country's surrender with King Potassia."
I stepped aside and let Sylphina show herself.
The soldiers watching stared at her as she smiled and bowed to General Harold.
"Greetings! I'm the ambassador for Belzerg and I'll be acting as their liaison!"
General Harold tried not to stare at her exposed cleavage and said,
"Erm… Is there a reason why King Elroad and Queen Belzerg herself aren't attending the meeting?"
"...We've obviously got way more important business than to deal with your backwater country."
"H-How dare you…?!"
I raised my hand and stopped Shubaru and the other Crimson Demon girls from releasing their magic.
General Harold saw them and quietly withdrew.
"...Good. We understand each other."
We let Sylphina and Elroad's liaison march back with the defeated army.
As we watched them go, Komekko-chan said,
"So, can we have a big victory feast now?! We won a war and all!"
She couldn't keep her mind away from food for one second.
"...We have a war with the Demon King army to commence, remember? This whole potato nonsense was just a side quest!"
"But I enjoyed fighting that guy, and the potato country was pretty interesting, too."
"Just because you find them interesting, it doesn't mean it's as important as the main quest! Focus!"
After telling Komekko-chan to focus on our true objective, the Crimson Demons teleported us back to the palace, while the rest of the army marched back.
"Ahem…"
When we arrived, Regina-sama cleared her throat and looked at us expectantly.
"...What is it?"
"Huh? Did you already forget that I was the MVP of that battle? If it wasn't for me, you guys would be covered in severe burns from that hot mashed potato attack by now!"
"...Regina-sama, we're already moving onto the war with the Demon King. Please focus on that."
She gasped and said,
"Oh, no, you don't! I know how this goes! You're treating my victory like it's some minor event, huh?! If this were a story, you'd all be calling it filler! It was important! That whole battle and my contributions were important! Don't just brush it off so easily?!"
Just as Regina-sama was ranting, Zoe ran up to us and said,
"Revi-sama! Iris-sama! It's Rorisa-sama! Something is happening to her!"
"...! Where is she?!"
Revi ran off to follow Zoe. I followed behind, as were all worried about Rori-san.
Meanwhile, Regina-sama who was trying to keep up with us, said,
"Y-You guys are already moving onto the next event, huh?! You're really trying to brush off my shining moment?!"
"Enough about that, Regina-sama! We can pretend like your moment in the sun was really important in the grand scheme of things all you want later, but aren't you worried about Rori-san?! You consider her as one of your precious underlings, right?!"
"Of course I do…"
"Then let's hurry!"
We all ran to Rori-san's room. We saw several maids around her bed, watching over her.
Rori-san was laying on her bed. She was sweating a lot and she was having trouble breathing. It looked like the symptoms of a fever.
"W-What's wrong with her?!"
Revi said, going up to touch her forehead, only to draw his hand back.
"Ow! Her body is so hot?! How is she still alive?!"
I looked at his hand. It looked like he touched a hot stovetop, not a person's skin.
"...We don't know what's happening to her! Since she's not a regular human, we have no idea what to do!"
The Maid Association girls who excelled in medicine said.
"...I see."
Regina-sama said, walking up to look at Rori-san.
"...Do you know what this is about, Regina-sama?"
She nodded her head and said,
"Indeed. As the MVP of the 'Battle of Potassia', I have extensive knowledge about Devil physiology…"
"...You're still on about that MVP stuff, huh?"
She just couldn't let it go.
Revi nodded at Regina-sama's words and said,
"Ah! Since Regina-sama fooled around with a bunch of Devils in the past, you know all about their bodies, huh?"
"I-Idiot! That's not what I meant, boya! In any case, everyone just give this child some room."
We all did as she said and backed away from the bed.
"...Is this really gonna be alright?"
Komekko-chan said, watching Rori-san with a worried look.
"Just trust me. Be patient and watch."
We all trusted Regina-sama's words and watched Rori-san.
Shortly after, Rori-san's body began to glow white.
"E-Eh? What's that?!"
"The metamorphosis is complete…"
"Metamorphosis… Why does that sound so ominous?"
The white light began to pulse, the pulsing getting faster.
After a few seconds, the light cleared and we all looked to see what happened to Rori-san.
It didn't seem like anything changed with her. She opened her eyes, sat up and looked around.
"Oh? I feel better now?"
She looked down at her hands.
Regina-sama smiled and said,
"Congratulations, child! You are now a Greater Succubus!"
"Ehh?!"
We exclaimed in surprise at Regina-sama's declaration.
Part 2
While Rori-san was getting looked at just in case something went wrong, we convened at a lounge area to talk about what happened.
"A Greater Succubus… That's what Shani oba-san called herself, right?"
Revi said, thanking a maid who poured him tea.
Komekko-chan was guzzling down a plate of cookies, while I carefully sipped on the hot tea. Regina-sama was looking through her books on the occult that Serena-san gave her.
I nodded and said,
"Yeah… If I remember correctly, she said that she attained that form after absorbing the lust and life energy of the first king of Elroad… Ah, so that's what happened!"
Since Rori-san must have been fooling around with Revi after he became king, she underwent the evolution that succubi went through whenever they managed to absorb a king's energies…
Just like how the Horned Rabbit could evolve, some Devil lifeforms also had a next stage to their evolution.
Komekko-chan stopped eating her cookies and said,
"...An evolution, huh? Do you think that Crimson Demons have some kind of evolved form?!"
Her eyes shone bright red as she got excited by the thought.
Revi shook his head and said,
"...I doubt it. Crimson Demons are just enhanced humans. If humans don't have some kind of next-stage evolution, I don't think Crimson Demons would have one."
"B-But even that talking potato had an evolution?! Are you telling me that the Devil doesn't have one?!"
"...You're not actually a Devil, you know… Ah, but I have Devil blood. Maybe I have an evolution stage?!"
Revi said, getting excited by the prospect.
Komekko-chan looked horrified by what Revi said,
"N-No way… Everyone is getting evolved forms but me?! Why don't humans have cool transformations and evolutions, huh?! Are you telling me that a bunch of other life forms are gonna have powerful evolutions except us?! I already had a hard time fighting that talking potato who had a transformation, are you telling me my role is gonna be like this from now on?! I'm going to be used as a way to show how powerful the new enemy is?!"
Regina-sama smirked and took a biscuit, taking a bite out of it.
"...As the MVP of the 'Battle of Potassia', I have no need to worry about such trivial matters."
"Your whole role in that fight was a trivial matter."
"What'd you say?!"
Before Regina-sama could leap at Komekko-chan and start clawing her, Revi coughed and said,
"...Ahem. Enough of that. We do have an important war ahead of us."
"You mean, a war of equal importance as the 'Battle of Potassia'..."
"I said enough of that, didn't I?!"
We had Regina-sama go away before she could distract us again.
Revi went over the plan again.
We'd bait the Demon King army into attacking Belzerg, who they think is running out of food and supplies.
In reality, we had been sending them plenty of food and supplies through the supply tunnel.
Once the Demon King army goes all in for an assault, Belzerg will surprise them with the Moguninin armor and magic crossbows we sent them.
They will drive the Demon King army into the place where we'll be waiting.
Our party will deal with the angel, while everyone else fights the Demon King army.
Revi had a bunch of other contingencies and stuff, but I didn't really understand them.
For one thing, I never really understood why he kept saying Uroburos, Regina-sama's country, was the final ace up our sleeves.
If Regina-sama heard that, she would receive another boost to her ego and start talking about being the MVP again.
"...Anyone have any disagreements about the plan?"
Revi-said, giving a confident smile after he was finished explaining.
I sighed and said,
"I told you before that it looks good on paper, but there's a lot of unexpected things that could happen. Take this war with Potassia, for instance. None of us saw it coming."
"There's no point in dwelling about things that could go wrong! We should focus on the things that could go right if we win!"
Komekko-chan nodded and said,
"Well said, Revi! That's how a Crimson Demon lives their life! The Devil fully endorses this plan!"
Revi got a bit nervous and said,
"Um… Please don't say you fully endorse it, Komekko-chan. I might think that it's a stupid plan."
Komekko-chan tilted her head, confused by what Revi said.
He looked at me, waiting for my final say-so.
"Sigh… You already prepared everything. I'm not gonna tell you to pull out at the last second."
"Of course! You always prefer if I come ins…"
I punched him before he could finish that sentence.
After our brief meeting, Revi announced that we would begin our plan as soon as the soldiers who received injuries got healing from the Priests.
None of the soldiers died during the fight against Potassia, and only a few received minor injuries.
As for the adventurers who came along…
When I checked up on them, I saw them all complaining to Lina.
"This sucks! We never got any kills because they gave up way too easily!"
"Since we're working on commission, we never got paid!"
Lina raised her hand and said,
"Please calm down, everyone!"
I decided to help her and stepped forward. The adventurers quieted down when they saw me.
"Adventurers! The fight with Potassia was just an unforeseen distraction! It is not what we should be focusing on!"
I said, projecting my voice out for them to hear.
"...But there was a purple haired girl earlier who kept telling everyone how the 'Battle of Potassia' is the most important event in this continent's history!"
That Regina-sama is really being quite a pain in the ass…!
"...T-That girl is mistaken! The upcoming war against the Demon King army is the true momentous event! You can all earn your glory and riches there!"
They cheered after I reassured them.
Lina sighed in relief and said to me,
"Thank you, your majesty… You really helped me out there."
I nodded to her and said,
"Since I'll be relying on your to be liaison between the kingdom and the adventurers, I'll be relying on your efforts."
I remembered something and said,
"Ah… Since the Belzerg ambassador will be coming with us to the war as a non-combatant, I hope you two will get along."
She averted her eyes and said,
"Erm… Yes, I know her. Sylpina, right?"
"Do you know her?"
Since Lina grew up in Belzerg as well, it didn't surprise me that she know Sylphina, who belonged to the famous House Dustiness.
"...Well, as someone who worked hard to get to the position I'm in right now, I can't really approve of Sylphina-san's 'methods'."
She didn't see eye-to-eye with the girl who slept her way to the top, huh?
"S-Still, I hope you two can get along…"
"I can certainly try."
After helping Lina with the adventurers, I helped with preparations everywhere else. Since we had already been preparing for several days now, there were only some last minute adjustments to take care of.
The brief skirmish with Potassia might have been a blessing in disguise. Morale was way up due to the victory we had over Potassia. Everyone was also now all warmed up, with the pre-battle nerves dispelled out of their system.
The next day, Revi would address the army and we would begin our march to Belzerg.
Part 3
We had the Crimson Demons go on ahead to scout while they were invisible.
After confirming that it was safe to go ahead, we marched onto the battlefield that Revi designated.
He planned to trap the Demon King army in a flatlands in between two hills. Strategically, it would put Belzerg and Elroad's armies at the best vantage point, while the Demon King army would have no tactical advantage.
Revi, who was riding a magnificent white horse,
"Hehe… I'll show that green horn Maouko how a war is fought…"
I stared at him and said,
"You're new to this, too."
"I-I have the 'Battle of Potassia' under my belt now…"
He was beginning to over glorify that event in order to prop his self-esteem like Regina-sama, huh?
"Revi-sama! We received a message from Belzerg!"
Shubaru said, appearing in front of us with her teleportation magic.
Revi nodded and accepted the scroll the message was written on.
"...Huh?!"
He gasped at the contents. I leaned over his shoulder to read it.
…Apparently, the Demon King army didn't attack and kept their barrier on Belzerg.
And they were now heading over to our direction.
"B-But why?! In their perspective, Belzerg should be on their last legs now?!"
Revi said, crumpling up the scroll out of frustration.
"...Somehow, they must have received intel that we had been sending supplies to Belzerg."
"Do we have another traitor?! How did they find out?!"
I shrugged and said,
"...Just like how we assume the enemy doesn't know our hand, we don't know theirs, either. That's why I told you that you can't just make plans while assuming the enemy will just do everything you expect them to."
This plan of his assumed that Maouko would order the angel to drop the barrier.
Everything about the plan relied on that assumption.
"...Not only do they know about the supply line, they know about our plan to ambush them here, too?!"
Just as he said that, Rueka teleported in front of us.
"...Revi-sama! I have news from the Crimson Demon scouting team! The Demon King army isn't heading our way! They're taking the fastest route to Elroad!"
"Huh?! Damnit! That means we have to give up our position here?!"
It seemed that Maouko didn't know about where we might be trying to ambush her.
She only knew about the supply line and deduced that we might try to ambush her.
She was drawing us out from our position by beelining to Elroad.
"...What do we do now, Revi?"
I said, turning to him for his orders.
"We have no choice but to try and intercept them! Elroad is defenseless!"
I nodded, knowing that was our only option.
…And if the enemy only gives you one option, that usually leads to a checkmate.
I tried to keep this pessimistic thought to myself, while trying not to let my anxiety show.
In all the futures Vanir was able to see, aside from that blocked off, unknown future route, he said that all of our efforts to fight Maouko led to our failure.
I should have known that this timeline wasn't anything special.
In all the other timelines, Revi probably got ahead of himself and got caught up in Maouko's plans.
The possibility of running away remained in my head.
I didn't need to fight as Queen Belzerg.
I could run away and start a new life as Alice the adventurer, in some foreign country.
Along with Revi and the others…
While I had these thoughts, I followed Revi and the army as we quickly tried to intercept Maouko's army.
Receiving constant updates from the Crimson Demon girls, Revi adjusted our course to intercept the Demon King army.
After half an hour, we finally saw them.
"Over there!"
Revi said, announcing that he spotted the enemy with his [Farsight].
Komekko-chan grinned and said,
"Yosh! Time to show everyone what the Devil can really do! The fight against that potato thing totally doesn't count!"
She drew Devil Sword Dande and started to run towards the enemy army.
"Hold it right there!"
Revi pulled the back of her collar before she could run off.
"Did you forget our plan already?! We draw out the angel and let the rest of the army fight their army!"
"Oh, right. So, where's the angel, huh?! The Devil will beat it up so bad that heaven will strike me down for blasphemy!"
We looked around and saw a figure flying in the sky, watching over all of us.
"...I'm thinking that the vaguely smug presence I see up there is the angel."
I said, while squinting my eyes at the flying figure.
"How do we get him to come down?"
"...Why don't you two send him a greeting?"
Revi said, smiling at Komekko-chan and I.
Komekko-chan smirked and prepared her sword.
I drew my breath and looked up at the figure in the sky.
…That was the bastard who killed my parents.
I took out the temporary transformation potion and drank it.
I felt my power returning to me, as my hair turned from blue to blonde.
I took out Calibur and held it out in front of me.
Our swords, Dande and Calibur were held up to the sky.
We powered up, engulfing our swords in our energies.
Calibur was cloaked in golden, Heroic energy.
Dande was cloaked in crimson, Devil energy.
We raised the swords and swung them down, releasing crescent waves of pure condensed power.
"Exterion!"
"Super Evolved Crimson Devil Slash of Power! Temporary Name!"
…My mood was instantly ruined by the stupid name of Komekko-chan's attack.
Regardless, we saw the attacks hit the flying figure dead on.
After a large explosion as the energies combined, we saw that the flying figure wasn't there anymore.
…That felt a bit anticlimactic.
"...I'm glad he's dead, but knowing that you killed the one who murdered my family with that stupid attack name… It really pissed me off!"
I said, turning to glare at Komekko-chan.
"...I know it's stupid! That's why I said 'temporary name' at the end, didn't I? I stayed up all night thinking of cool names, but I couldn't pick one, so I mashed them all together! Like mashed potatoes!"
"You're still upset about us not letting you eat that potato, huh?! That's why you're ruining my big moment like this?!"
While we were arguing, we heard the sound of flapping wings approaching us.
I felt the wind on my cheek. It was cold and dreadful.
I turned around and saw the flying figure approaching us.
He smiled and said,
"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt, but… Were you the ones who sent me that rude attack? I was just minding my business up there, you know?"
The fallen angel…
The one who murdered my family…
Was in front of us.
Part 4
The fallen angel could be considered handsome, however there was an air of wrongness about him.
For one thing, he had a pair of white wings and black wings that looked tainted and marred.
Aside from white robes, he didn't carry any kind of armor or weapon. I imagined that an angel would be fully adorned in adamantine armor and carry some kind of flaming sword… But he was completely unarmed.
The rest of the army were on guard when he approached and prepared themselves to attack him.
Revi held up his hand and said,
"Stop! Leave him to us! He's just here as bait! Stop the Demon King army from advancing to Elroad!"
"Yes, your majesty!"
The Elroad army, led by the Crimson Demons, charged at the Demon King army.
The fallen angel only looked at them with mild interest, before turning his attention back to us.
"...Only three of you? Are you sure you guys can stand up to me?"
Revi shrugged and said,
"There's supposed to be four of us, but she just got over a bad fever."
"Oh, what a shame. Well, then, I'm curious. Why is that blue haired one giving me so much killing intent, way more than the rest of you?"
He said, settling his eyes on me.
"...You killed my brother and father, Prince and King Belzerg."
"Eh? Wait, so you're Princess Iris? Hmm… I mean, you're cute, but I expected a princess to have bigger tits, you know?"
If I didn't want to kill him before, I really want to kill him now!
"You bastard! [Exterion]!"
I released another golden slash of energy his way.
This time, we got a closer look at how he survived our attacks from earlier.
He deployed a miniature barrier in front of him, completely nullifying the attack.
However, the barrier didn't completely cover his entire body. It was about as big as a tower shield, forming a wall in front of him.
I smirked and said,
"I see… Since you normally have to maintain a barrier, you can't access all of your powers right now. The barrier around the capital must be draining you a lot, huh? I'm surprised you can even maintain it from afar."
He pouted and said,
"Yeah… I'm so overworked! That Maouko-sama really works me to death! It's not fair! And I can't even release my stress properly… It's taking all of my focus just to multi-task the barriers I'm keeping up…!"
He flicked his hand over his shoulder. A portion of the barrier flew off and blocked an attack from behind.
Komekko-chan was behind him, wings of devil energy behind her.
"...Well, I have enough concentration left to sense such a cheap sneak attack!"
Even though it was just a small portion of the barrier, it managed to stop Komekko-chan's attack.
Komekko-chan unleashed a series of attacks, but the tiny portion of the barrier followed each slash and thrust, following the movements of the fallen angel's finger.
He completely turned around and covered his fist with the barrier. He punched Komekko-chan, who came crashing down from the attack.
The fallen angel laughed, flying above us once more.
"[Sacred Lightning Blare]!"
I released a series of lightning bolts at him, but he simply blocked it with the barrier.
The angel hovered before us with an arrogant look on his face. That arrogant, sadistic look wasn't fitting for his beautiful features, but he was a fallen angel, after all.
His white and black wings were flapping gently as he spread his arms wide.
"Oh? I thought you were getting revenge, little girl? Is that all you can do?"
He was taunting me, not at all worried by our attacks.
"Grr! This arrogant angel is making the Devil mad!"
Komekko-chan was unable to control her temper. She leapt at the angel for an attack.
Like before, the angel deployed a barrier to repel the attack, even when she was using her new devil sword.
"Are you gonna try that again? This is getting boring…"
I pointed my sword at him and said,
"Tell me your name. I want to know the name of the one who killed my parents."
"Nice try, girlie. Once you know my name, you might know about any kind of legend associated with me. An angel's name, even a fallen one, holds a lot of power. I won't tell you anything!"
He created a barrier, but this time, he launched the wall of transparent force at us, pushing us back.
Komekko-chan and I tried to hold our positions, but we couldn't do anything about his powerful barrier.
I finally have a chance to take revenge…
But is there even anything we can do against this monster?
"Henshin!"
Revi said, pulling out a magic core and attaching it to his belt.
"Get set! Devil Core… Install! March Down The Crimson Path…!"
The belt seemed to have some additional voice features.
…Was that really necessary?
Don't tell me he stayed up all night adding that in?
After posing a bunch of times, he finally took out his magic crossbow.
"[Revi-style Death Beam]!"
He launched a bolt filled with Komekko-chan's devil energy.
The red streak of energy shot out of his crossbow, but the angel just redirected his barrier to block it.
"No matter how many attacks you have, my barrier will just block it…"
The angel said, sighing after none of our attacks landed.
Komekko-chan ran up to him again, letting down a powerful slash infused with red energy.
When the angel blocked the attack, I charged forward and let loose my own energy filled slash at his flank, trying to use the opening Komekko-chan gave me.
However, he only flicked his other hand and sent a portion of the barrier to block my attack.
"Revi! Do it now!"
I turned to Revi, who already had another bolt loaded.
He launched the same attack, releasing a blast of pure devil energy, aiming it at his exposed body.
The angel smirked and kicked his foot out.
A portion of the barrier followed the motion of his foot and created a ramp in mid air that directed Revi's blast towards the sky, in a harmless trajectory.
"S-Seriously?!"
The angel smirked and said,
"Hoh. You figured out that I'm using my hands to direct the barrier, huh? It was a nice plan, but….
He raised his right wing and flapped it.
The ramp barrier dispersed into multiple shards and shot towards Revi.
"Gack!"
The barrier projectiles struck Revi and hit his red Moguninin armor. He fell backwards but soon stood up again.
The angel whistled and said,
"Wow! What kinda armor is that, kid? It seems even more durable than adamantine armor!"
Revi didn't answer, drawing his crossbow again for another attack.
We released more coordinated attacks, trying to catch the angel off guard.
However, using his limbs and wings, he expertly moved his barrier to deflect and even counterattack by turning his barrier into sharp projectiles.
We drew back, catching our breath, as we watched the angel who didn't even seem affected by our attacks.
While Komekko-chan had our wings, I had to keep jumping up to reach the angel.
Even though in this form, I possess superhuman physical abilities, I still couldn't keep jumping around like that without exhausting myself.
Plus, my temporary transformation wouldn't last forever.
More and more, I was beginning to think that we had no way of winning.
Part 5
An enemy who could fly and had an impenetrable barrier…
We were in over our heads when we thought we could take this guy on.
"Some interesting tactics, but sadly it's not good enough…"
The angel said, smiling as he stopped another coordinated attack.
I only had a few more seconds left of my transformation.
"[Exterion]!"
I let out a final, desperate attack before the transformation wore off.
Since I didn't have a chance to coordinate, my attack coincided with Komekko-chan's attack and it clashed together.
"Oi! You interfered with my attack!"
I said, watching my hair return to blue. The sword that I had been able to wield easily became heavy in my hands. I was forced to sheath it as my transformation wore off.
"...It's not the Devil's fault! You just suddenly attacked without any warning!"
While we were arguing, Revi said,
"Wait, look at that!"
We looked up and saw, once the smoke cleared, that the angel had some cuts on his body.
The smile was gone from his face.
…The attack got through? But we weren't even aiming for a vulnerable spot. The attacks hit the barrier at the same time.
Unless, that's actually our winning condition?!
Revi picked up on the same thing. He said,
"I think that he can't block two types of energy at once! Your heroic energy and Komekko-chan's devil energy… One of them got through the barrier and hurt him!"
Since the angel wasn't taunting us for once, I took that as confirmation that our theory was right.
"Revi, switch to your Sword Form!"
"Got it! Henshin!"
He took out the blue magic core with my heroic energy in it and transformed.
"Get set! Calibur Core… Install! Knight of the Six Flowers!"
Revi posed while taking his magic scimitar out.
He took out the blue magic core and attached it to the scimitar.
I noticed that he made some new additions to Musou. It now had a device that he could attach magic cores to.
He twisted the blue magic core on the sword twice.
"Get set! Exterion Drive… Install!"
He slashed out with his scimitar and released golden energy projectiles from it.
Although it was weaker than my [Exterion], it was still heroic energy…
Which meant that when Komekko-chan released her own devil energy slashes, when they hit the angel…
"Damn it!"
He emerged from the explosion with more singes and cuts along his body.
"We figured him out! Keep going!"
"[Revi-style Exterion]!"
"[Crimson Devil Slash]!"
They released golden and red energy waves that hit the angel.
…It seemed that Komekko-chan only came up with a proper attack when she was paired up with Revi.
I guess she wanted to do it properly with him but not me, huh?!
We watched the attacks head towards the angel.
However, he put his hands together in front of him.
With a cry of effort, we saw him manipulate the barrier, shrinking it and folding it several times, creating several layers in front of him.
He managed to mitigate some of the damage, but he still cried out in pain, unable to stop the two energies from hitting him.
"H-He can do that?!"
Revi said, lowering his scimitar in shock.
The angel landed, clearly exhausted. His wings had several cuts and burns. He probably couldn't fly around freely as he wanted to.
"...It seems I can't play around with you fools. I'll have to end this quickly."
With the barrier in front of him, he charged at us, using his feet for once.
Komekko-chan couldn't react in time as she was hit by the charging barrier and skidded back.
I took my sword out and joined Revi in trying to pincer him from both sides. He separated the barrier with his hands and used it to push us back as well.
With us down, he went to Revi, who was down on his back.
"...The other one ran out of that golden energy. I'll have to take you out first."
The angel held out his hand and condensed the barrier once more.
This time, he manipulated it in the form of a transparent sword of pure force.
He stabbed down at Revi, piercing through his armor.
"Gack!"
Revi cried out in pain. Komekko-chan and I both cried out as we helplessly watched.
The angel withdrew the barrier sword, the transparent blade covered in blood. Revi's blood seemed to float in the air as the angel lifted the immaterial sword.
Revi's armor transformation came undone, showing that the wound wasn't too deep. It wasn't a lethal wound, but he wouldn't be able to fight anymore.
"Stay down Revi!"
I said, ordering him not to move when I saw him try to stand up.
"You bastard! The Devil will never forgive you!"
Komekko-chan released a surge of power from her rage and rushed at the angel. She released a series of fast attacks at him, but since she was only using her devil energy, the angel only had to block her attacks with one layer of the barrier.
She was going berserk, attacking mindlessly.
We needed to calm down. I held out my hand towards Revi and said,
"[Equalize]!"
I activated a skill that I hadn't used in a while. I equally distributed the life force of all the beings in the area, making sure that Revi didn't bleed out.
I grunted as I took some damage, but I was satisfied when I saw the angel losing a bit of blood as a result, as well.
After making sure Revi's condition was stable, I yelled out to Komekko-chan.
"Oi! You stupid girl! Calm down and use your brain for once! This isn't an enemy you can just overpower!"
Since Komekko-chan was used to one-shotting everything, there were moments when she didn't know how to deal with an enemy that was superior to her.
She stopped swinging and wasting her energy, heeding my words.
"...Fine, the Devil will come up with a plan!"
While she was thinking of a plan, I took out my bag and released some Regina dolls.
"[Shadow Puppetry]!"
I had the dolls attack the angel, using them to buy time for us to think.
"...He can concentrate his barrier to increase his defenses, huh?"
Even without his full abilities, this guy was difficult to fight!
"I got it! This will work!"
Just as I was stressing out while thinking of a solution, Komekko-chan announced that she figured something out.
"...What is it, Komekko-chan?"
"I'm gonna try something out!"
She held two fingers in front of her eye and charged up red energy.
"[Vanir-style Death Beam]!"
She released a ray of red energy, blasting it out from her eye to the angel.
He merely used his default barrier to block it.
"Hah? That's your big plan. Eh…?"
He touched his cheek and saw blood coming out of it.
There was a cut on his cheek.
"It worked!"
Komekko-chan cheered and kept launching more red beams from her eye.
The angel deployed his layered barrier again, but he kept receiving cuts from his body.
"Uwoooohh!"
Komekko-chan let out a battle cry as she kept releasing red energy beams out of her eye.
Just as I was wondering what she was up to, I saw that within the red devil energy beams, there was a streak of blue mixed in.
I see! She was mixing in her normal mana together with her devil energy!
As expected of Komekko-chan… She was a genius, but only when it came to fighting.
Onii-sama had a term for people like her… He'd call her a min-max abuser.
The angel started to catch on that Komekko-chan was mixing in her regular mana to pierce through his barriers.
"You nuisances!"
He ran towards Komekko-chan again, aiming to ram her with his folded barrer.
This time, Komekko-chan saw the attack coming and dodged to the side.
The angel anticipated this. He held his hand out towards Komekko-chan and grabbed her face.
Just when I was wondering what he was up to, he formed the barrier around her head into a bubble.
Komekko-chan squirmed in his grasp and tried to cut him with her sword, but he disarmed her by hitting her wrist just as she moved it.
…Even though we spent all that time training, Komekko-chan was still easily disarmed.
This time, though, she was in a disadvantageous position. I couldn't really blame her as I watched the sword fall down.
More than the disarmed sword, I was more worried about the barrier around her head.
Komekko-chan was clearly screaming, but I couldn't hear a word of it. He was aiming to suffocate her.
"Hold on now, if you take a step forward, I'll crush your friend's head with this barrier."
The angel said, continuing to shrink the barrier around Komekko-chan's head.
I stopped moving and raised my hand, showing him that I wasn't intending to attack.
He smirked and said,
"Good… Now, I'll have you surrender your forces to Maouko-sama…"
"About that… [Shadow Thread]!"
I shot out a shadow thread and had it connect to his chest. I pulled and he resisted, but that only let me bring myself directly in front of him.
I used [Power-Up] to buff my physical strength and released a powerful right hook on his undefended face.
"Urk!"
He released Komekko-chan from his hold as he was sent stumbling back from my punch.
I released another punch at his face, but he deployed a barrier this time, freeing Komekko-chan from the suffocating bubble around her head.
My fist connected with the barrier. I let out a cry of pain as I felt as if I punched a wall with all my strength.
I smiled and said,
"[Akashic Discharge]!"
I released the damage to my hand at him, sending him flying back again as I released a purple energy that reflected the damage to him.
"Gah!"
Since [Akashic Discharge] could get through his barrier, just like [Equalize] did, he felt the full brunt of the transferred damage.
I cast [Heal] on my own hand as Komekko-chan picked up her own sword and walked over to me.
"...How's the battle going on at the other side?"
I asked Komekko-chan, while healing my injured hand.
She looked over and said,
"...Not good. Since we were hoping that Belzerg would join us by now, the Demon King's army is overpowering ours through sheer numbers."
Revi's plan was already falling apart.
"The best thing we can do is push this angel to the limit and have him drop the barrier to protect himself. Ask the others to come."
"Got it!"
She pulled out a horn from her belt and blew on it.
It was a risky gamble, but we were all gonna get wiped out at this rate.
The Crimson Demons who were fighting in the frontlines retreated over to us.
I watched as our army was being pushed back after the Crimson Demons left them. I tried to ignore their cries for help.
"Crimson Demons! Use everything against this angel!"
Arue led the Crimson Demon troops as they started chanting.
"[Light of Saber]!"
They all released blades of light that extended out from their hands. The angel's eyes widened as he held his hands out in front of him.
The barrier he summoned was larger than before. He was probably drawing from the barrier surrounding the capital. The plan was working.
"Heh… You seriously think this is a good idea? The more resources you expend on me, the more Maouko-sama has room to deal with your army!"
I frowned, knowing that he wasn't just bluffing. I saw Elroad's army beginning to retreat, as they were being overwhelmed by the demons.
Just because he wasn't bluffing, it doesn't mean that I couldn't bluff.
"Oh, yeah? But if you're using all that power on us, that means that Belzerg is free to group up with us. They'll be here in no time."
He smirked and said,
"Logistically, that will never work. They won't come here in time unless…"
"Unless they have a shortcut? You guys must already know that we have a way to smuggle supplies to them, right? Now that the barrier is down, they can access the secret tunnels we dug that connect to this place!"
His eyes widened. All they knew was that we had a means of smuggling supplies to Belzerg. They didn't know that the tunnel was actually limited to the city itself.
Without knowing, it was understandable why he'd panic now.
"Crimson Demons! Keep pressuring him!"
The Crimson Demons released even more spells on the angel. The barrier started growing, developing more barriers to withstand the attack.
Komekko-chan joined in on the attack, releasing her devil energy sword slashes.
"...Enough of this!"
The angel threw his hands out. The barrier expanded at a fast rate and broke apart into many segments, which flew towards us. We were pushed back by the barrier fragments that flew towards us. The angel used that distraction to run towards Maouko and her army.
"Should we pursue?!"
Arue said, getting the Crimson Demons ready to attack.
"No! We'll take this opportunity to retreat!"
I took out my own horn and signaled the Elroad army to withdraw.
However, just as we withdrew…
I heard an amplified voice, likely the result of a voice amplifying magic item.
"Don't fall for their bluff! Demon King army, advance…!"
A female voice commanded the Demon King army to pursue.
That voice probably belonged to Maouko.
She didn't fall for the bluff…
Just as I took hold of Revi and prepared to face the army coming towards us, I heard a familiar giggle behind me.
"I told you guys you needed my help!"
I saw Rori-san behind me.
"Rori-san! You're not supposed to be here!"
"Silly… Did you think I'd just stay in bed while you guys are fighting? Besides, you need me right now, don't you?"
She gestured to the battlefield around us.
"...I don't know how Rori-san can help in this situation…"
"Heh… Did you already forget? I'm a Greater Succubus now!"
I looked at her… Just like before, there weren't really any noticeable changes.
"Mou! You think that I didn't actually evolve, huh?! Well, I'll show you!"
She turned towards the Demon King army and raised her hand to the sky.
The ground rumbled, as if there was a vast army of thousands coming towards us. I looked behind and saw Belzerg's army, led by Claire, approaching the battlefield.
"E-Eh?! How did they get here already?!"
I said, confused by what I was seeing.
The Demon King army was confused as well.
"R-Retreat!"
Maouko saw the approaching army and commanded her forces to retreat. They ran away from the Belzergian army approaching us.
I went up to greet and thank Claire for coming to our rescue, but Rori-san placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't bother. It's just an illusion I created!"
She snapped her fingers and the Belzergian army disappeared.
"E-Eh? That was an illusion?! But it was so realistic! And there's no illusion magic that can create something of that scale!"
"I told you I've evolved now, remember?! Why won't anyone believe me…"
Rori-san pouted again when I couldn't believe that what I saw was her illusion.
Part 6
Thanks to Rori-san, we were able to successfully retreat to Belzerg.
The plan was a total failure, but at least we lived to fight another day.
Revi was quiet when I healed him and during our trip to Belzerg.
He was confident about his plan, only to see it all crashing down.
"...You were right, Iris. Why aren't you gloating?"
She said, as we entered Belzerg's gates. We were riding in the floating carriage. He had a towel over his face, as he hid himself from us.
"What's the point of gloating now? It's not like I foresaw Maouko finding out about our hidden supply line."
"...It's my fault. I underestimated the enemy. Damn it! H-How many people died back there?"
I sighed, refusing to answer him.
He was beginning to see the realities of war. Even though he agreed with Claire that running away from the war was the best idea, he got overconfident due to his devil blood affecting him.
I should have advised him more. I couldn't blame him, since I wasn't assertive enough in resisting his plans.
The carriage stopped and we were led to the castle.
Since I was used to Revi's palace, it was a bit strange to walk inside the castle I grew up in, but familiarity soon took over.
We were led into the council room, where Claire and the other advisors were gathered.
I noticed that the advisors had their heads down, while Claire was glaring at everyone.
…I heard that everyone in the council had agreed with Revi's plan, but Claire was the only one who resisted. She couldn't do anything with everyone outnumbering her in votes.
"...Revi-sama, I thought you agreed that running away with Iris-sama to protect the bloodline was the best course of action?"
She said, her voice cold and flat. The other council members didn't speak up. How could they, when the results of the battle turned out to be a disaster.
"I… I thought that we had a chance to surprise them…"
"And look how that turned out!"
A council member raised his hand and said,
"C-Claire-dono, please don't blame Revi-sama too much. He provided us with powerful weapons that are beyond our current technology…"
"...You do realize that those weapons will just fall into the Demon King's army's hands, right? They will probably loot and scavenge the weapons that Elroad left behind once they've realized it's safe to come back."
I felt bad for Revi. I raised my hand and said,
"...What would you rather have us do? Since Elroad developed those weapons, we rightfully thought that we could turn the tides of the battle to our advantage. It was the logical conclusion."
Claire smacked her hands on the table.
"Then you could have given those weapons to us and let us buy as much time as possible for you to run away!"
The mood in the council room was strained and awkward. Everyone knew that we were running out of time. Maouko had proven herself to be a capable and intelligent leader. She'd catch onto Rori-san's bluff eventually.
Komekko-chan, who came along to the meeting, said,
"I don't get it. Who cares if the plan failed? We just gotta keep fighting, right?"
She said, while standing behind Revi's chair. She didn't bother to sit, since she was too hyperactive to sit down for long periods of time.
"...The reason we sent you to Elroad was so Iris-sama and Revi-sama could protect their precious bloodlines!"
"Eh? We didn't go to Elroad because the buffets and food there are more delicious?!"
Komekko-chan was utterly shocked by this revelation.
Claire just stared at her.
Then she left the room.
It was as if her last brain cell died while dealing with Komekko-chan.
A council member coughed into his hand after Claire left the room.
"...Ahem. So… What should we do moving forward?"
Since Revi was still depressed and staring at his lap, I said,
"For now, evacuate the city. We don't want the angel to trap us in here again. While everyone is escaping, we can have some of the army stay here to stall the Demon King army while the others escape."
That barrier gave them too much tactical advantage. It wasn't ideal, but we'd have to leave our fortified city and take our chances out in the open.
"...Those who will stay behind… It can't be…"
They looked at me as I nodded.
"Of course, my party will stay behind to buy everyone else time. It's our fault that it led to this, anyway."
"Claire-sama won't like that plan at all…"
"I'll talk to her."
I said, not looking forward to that discussion.
Part 7
I sought out Claire, who had retreated to her room.
"...What is it?"
"It's me."
I said, after knocking at her door.
"...Come in, Iris-sama."
I opened the door and saw Claire sitting up on her bed. I noticed the dark circles under her eyes for the first time. She must have been worried sick this whole time.
"...First of all, I'm sorry that we went against your wishes, Claire."
"I should have known that you wouldn't just obey my orders…"
She said, sighing.
I sat beside her and said,
"It's not Revi's fault. He was only trying his best."
"...I realize that, but sometimes that's not enough. You have to make the hard choices if you want to live. We're not special, Iris-sama. Plenty of empires and kingdoms have fallen before. You have to do everything in this world to survive, even if it means giving up on the fight before it can even start."
I nodded, knowing that what she was saying was right.
However… A part of me couldn't agree with her.
"That's your perspective, Claire, and I'm not saying it's wrong, but I can't say that it's the correct answer."
"...Heh. You're siding with your new husband, huh?"
I blushed when she reminded me that I was technically Revi's wife now, since I was queen.
We didn't have a marriage ceremony or anything, but the coronation more than cemented it.
"I'm just saying that there's no such thing as the correct answer in this world. There's a lot of different answers and solutions. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, but you can't say that one answer is wrong just because it doesn't work out."
"...That's a rather wishy-washy way of looking at things. It screams of indecisiveness."
She said, turning to look me in the eyes.
"Iris-sama… Why can't you go back to your cute loli self?!"
"Gack!"
She tackled me down on the bed.
"Y-You've finally lost it?! You're attacking me now after you've lost all your inhibitions?!"
I pushed her head away as she embraced me around the waist.
However, she didn't do anything more than hugging me. She said,
"I think my problem is that I keep wanting to protect you. All my decisions revolve around the desire to protect you. Even if it doesn't benefit the kingdom in any way, I still sent its ruler out just for my selfish desire to see that you're safe."
She looked up with a self-defeating smile and said,
"I have no right to admonish Revi-sama. I'm not fit to be a ruler. I'm just an over-glorified caretaker."
I patted her head and said,
"You tried your best. It wasn't like sending me to Elroad was a bad idea. And I felt like I gained a lot during that time."
I spent some time talking to Claire. After I got her to calm down, I headed out to look for Revi.
I thought that he'd be sulking around, but…
"Oi, what are you doing here?"
I saw him in my old room, sniffing my bed sheets.
"...N-Nothing."
"You're clearly doing something!"
I left one pervert to find another.
"You do know that the maids clean these sheets, right?"
"...They don't clean the mattress, do they?"
This guy's perversion easily surpassed Claire. And that's saying something.
"Whatever… How are you feeling?"
He flipped around and laid on his back. He patted the spot beside him. I sighed and crawled up beside him, laying on my side as I laid on his arm.
"Well… It sucks, but what can you do? I thought that Plan A would work but I guess we have to go with Plan B…"
I blinked, confused by what he was saying.
"Huh? I thought you were depressed that your plan didn't work out in the end?"
"Why would I be depressed about that? I'm just ashamed that we ended up losing lives because Plan A didn't work out. I don't think I'll ever get used to that aspect of being a ruler…"
I remembered what Claire said, about how Revi was a proper ruler.
I see… He wasn't worried about his plan falling apart. He was concerned about the lives that he lost.
He probably thought that he could minimize the losses as much as possible. Just like the war with Potassia, where no one actually died from both sides, he came into the war against the Demon King army with the same goal.
What a perfectionist.
"...You know, it's impossible to save every soldier under your command, right?"
"We did it against Potassia, didn't we?"
"Well, it seems that Maouko is way better than General Harold, at least."
"Heh…Yeah, I guess we'll have to work way harder now. It was a good call to order an evacuation. How long can we get everyone to safety?"
"The Crimson Demons made an opening in the wall to allow more people to leave. We won't need the defenses anyway."
"...Those Crimson Demons sure are unbelievable, huh? They can break down castle walls just like that."
I placed a hand on his chest and made shapes on it. After a moment of silence, I said,
"So, how do we win against the Demon King army now?"
"We have to beat that angel no matter what."
"...But he'll be stronger now that he doesn't need to maintain the barrier."
He turned his head to look at me and said,
"That's why you'll need to figure it out, Iris."
"What do you mean?"
"The two sides of you… It won't be enough to pick just one anymore."
The two sides… He was referring to my Alice form and my Iris form.
"Are you talking about the permanent transformation potion? It won't work."
"I've been thinking it over, Iris. It doesn't work because you're going about it the wrong way. It's not about choosing which identity you want to live as from now on. It's about finding a way to combine the two identities, the two powers, together."
Combining them… Together?
Just when I was about to reply, we heard a knock from the door.
Arue came in and said,
"The Demon King army is approaching us!"
Revi got up, leaving me hanging about what he said.
I got up as well, preparing for battle.
Meanwhile, I thought about what he said.
Combining both sides… Is it actually possible?