The first thought Tanya had was that he was going to kill Kazuma. Then, milliseconds after thinking that and remembering the many reasons he couldn't do that, his next thought was that he would, somehow, make him wish he was.
He'd revealed both his modification of his Voice Amplification spell and a modification of his Illusion spell to deafen and blind Wolbach, and she was gone.
As he approached, he quickly cast Heal on Darkness – the Fireball Wolbach had thrown at her had actually managed to burn the Crusader's skin – and then rounded on the other three.
They were shakily rising to their feet, and Tanya could only feel annoyed as Aqua quickly Healed them and the rest of the crowd in an instant. Why the hell were they here? He'd given them orders to stay put!
"You pieces of shit! You motherfuckers! You aren't worthy of the air you dare to breathe! I'll have you shipped-"
He shook his head – he wasn't in the Empire, they weren't soldiers who had to follow his orders, and he couldn't ship them anywhere – and then took a measured breath.
"Why," he ground out, "are you here."
He ignored the crowd, which was retreating to their houses, and the police and adventurers, who were either helping people regain their bearings or heading to the guild, and glared at the four of them. Darkness wilted happily under his glare, Megumin and Aqua seemed vaguely guilty, while Kazuma-
Well, he cringed away from his glare, but his determined expression didn't waver. "We-"
"We thought you might have lied to us about your plan, so we came here. Kazuma used his Lip-Reading skill to eavesdrop on your conversation," Megumin supplied, gaining confidence as she petted her cat. Tanya looked between the two of them-
Kazuma smirked, and Tanya didn't betray any of the mild panic he set off besides narrowing his eyes. It seemed his lying to so many people was catching up with him, if people were beginning to doubt his truthfulness even in the face of an oncoming battle of life and death.
"Smart of you to figure out what you did," Kazuma said, and Tanya nodded slowly. How much had he revealed? Not too much, if Darkness and Megumin weren't freaking out-
Megumin nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it was truly shameful of me to think that my rival, regardless of their proclivities, would sell out my familiar!" Megumin declared.
With one last angry look at Kazuma, Tanya sighed again and wondered what he would want later for his covering for him. "Of course."
"She'll have to kill Chomusuke in order to gain her full power back. We're playing for keeps," Tanya said. Megumin's expression hardened, and he walked forward, towards the gate facing Wolbach's camp.
KABOOOOOM!
His expression twisted and his gaze flicked down to his ring. They needed to hurry… though at least Wolbach would be low on mana after two Teleports and an Explosion?
-OxOxO-
The gate was not the only thing that had been destroyed.
The Explosion spell had torn through a huge section of the wall, leaving it wide open for the advance of Wolbach's army – which was trampling through the remains of 'Axisel,' which had been evacuated in preparation for the fight.
Thankfully, the buildings near the gate were not too far away, which meant the hole wasn't as large as it could have been. The spell also hadn't completely obliterated everything it had touched – though the gate and surrounding walls were gone without a trace, the crumbling remains of the wall remained in some capacity farther from the gate.
Those remains were the only reason the defense was holding.
Though the first and second defensive lines had been completely destroyed – thankfully, with how incredibly telegraphed Explosion was, no one had died – the third was holding. Fighters and Crusaders of all stripes held off the oncoming horde as best as they could. Rangers, Mages, and Priests stood behind another makeshift defense, flinging their spells and arrows beyond the mass trying to push in or at the monsters scaling the crumbling defenses.
Fortunately, they had arrived.
"Sacred Exorcism!" Aqua wasted no time, banishing dozens of Demons. Tanya grinned.
"GRENADE!" he shouted. As instructed by Lorelei and Viktoriya, the frontline defenders all jumped back from the front, and-
BOOM!
Viktoriya and Tanya's simultaneous spells ripped through the non-demonic enemies. Lorelei and Darkness rushed forward, and those who had thrown themselves away from the breach rose and followed them – she recognized Mitsurugi in his new white armor and a few others.
Megumin and Kazuma stood next to them as they fired shots sporadically. It was possible the other entrances were being attacked, but breaking through the gate without some kind of strong spell would be expensive, and even if they did, they knew what to do in the event the defense broke.
It turned out that the existence of Thieves and Mages – relatively small units with an outsized ability for stealth and destruction – meant that guerilla tactics were not exactly foreign to the people of Belzerg.
"Eh, Tanya? There's… I think Vanir is coming! I sense an immense Demonic Presence approaching!" Aqua said. Tanya nodded. "Get ready to-"
Tanya aborted his order for Aqua to prepare an ambush for the General – she was already doing so. Tanya nodded approvingly and continued sending the odd potshot into the melee, tense and waiting for-
"Sacred High Exorcism!" Aqua shouted once more. A circle lit up not in the crowd, but on one of the crumbling walls. Something flew through the air faster than Tanya could track-
A plain looking monochrome mask landed between their frontline and backline. From between the stones paving the road, dirt pushed up, pressing itself to the mask, darkening and lightening and shifting shape and color until a tall, spindly man formed, laughing maniacally and pointing a gloved hand at Aqua.
"Hahaha!"
The battle began to stop. Wolbach's army stopped pressing into the gap, while the defenders of Axel slowly stopped pushing against them, their gazes torn between the threat in front of them and the greater threat behind them.
"Greetings, cursed priestess that shares the same name as that notorious Goddess of water! I'm Vanir! Duke of Hell, one of the generals of the Demon King's army, the Arch Devil Vanir!"
Axel's defenders began to mutter to each other, their morale plummeting.
His pointed finger wagged at Aqua. "Not bad, greeting me with exorcism magic without hesitation! Hahahaha, that's the reason why the infamous Axis devotees are shunned by all! Does thou not know basic-"
"Enchant bullet: Artillery Shot."
Tanya and Viktoriya's simultaneous attack obliterated Vanir. All eyes watched them as they lowered their guns… and took out the magazine to reload with a full one.
Tanya sensed Kazuma was about to ask a question. "Aggrandizing morons, for all their idiocy, never go down that easy," he explained vaguely. That bitch certainly never had, so why assume different?
And the rule proved true with Vanir as dirt began to reform his body much faster and less dramatically this time. "Moi is, however, surprised some mortals would dare to attack moi. Art thou followers of that infamous water Goddess…?"
His voice trailed off as he faced the two of them, his line of sight – because if he had eyes, they were blocked by his mask – flickering between their weapons and their faces. Slowly, adventurers facing Wolbach's army began to peel off, surrounding Vanir and pointing their weapons at him.
They seemed grimly determined. It probably helped that they knew he wouldn't kill them.
Vanir wasn't looking at them, though. His invisible gaze was stuck on Tanya. "Moi cannot peer into thou's past."
He glared at the demon and then fired another shot into Wolbach's army. The fighting resumed, and Tanya…
Tanya involuntarily gulped at the sight of Vanir's fight. It seemed more like a play…
…Or a comedy routine.
"Thou desires to be stepped on by thy compatriots and beg for more!"
A Fighter had their sword deflected into a spear coming for Vanir's back. A Crusader charging at him was dodged and tripped with an outstretched leg.
"Thou art a disappointing daughter whose parents were right to ignore thee!"
A pair of knives were jumped away from as one Thief was shoved into another. A crater was stomped into the ground to destabilize the footing of another Fighter.
"Thou's waitress spoke of your reply to her perfunctory 'enjoy your meal' of 'you too' with her coworkers and mocks you ceaselessly!"
A shield was spun in its owner's grip, yanked away, and thrown into the stomach of a balding man wearing the robes of an ascetic. The robes were gripped and used to swing the man around in a circle to bowl over a Mage.
They tried to pin him down, and he flowed like the wind around their every move. His poise and elegance was undeniable, despite the crass, rude, and embarrassing secrets he spilled with every movement.
Aqua sent Exorcism after Exorcism at Vanir, but he dodged those too, working through the adventurers methodically, out positioning them and Aqua at a lightning pace.
And, despite how much he was moving and dodging and disarming and defeating his foes, every few seconds, his mask would flick back to Tanya, curiosity marking the lower half of his face.
Mitsurugi, Lorelei, and Darkness were holding back the army as best they could with the remaining defenders, but all three were tiring, and a few people were already falling back to the fourth line of defense to receive healing for their wounds. Tanya kept firing, but the horde didn't stop…
"Tanya…"
He ignored Viktoriya's voice, but he knew what it meant. How many dozens of times had he heard that warning, flying over the Russy Federation, from any one of his men?
His mana was running low, and even with his increased mana from the Circlet, every time he lined up a shot with some Demon's head, they jerked out of the way and didn't die. His fucking Luck-
"HAHA!"
With a single backhand, Vanir threw the three remaining adventurers between him and Aqua to the ground. "Oh foolish Goddess, thou art a divine idiot!"
"Not so fast!"
The front line broke as Mitsurugi, Darkness, and Lorelei stepped in to defend Aqua. Thieves, waiting in the shadows, did their best to delay the oncoming horde with traps and hidden blades, but they soon swarmed in, ignoring the fight in the middle as they battered the fourth line of defenses.
Tanya snarled and enhanced himself. "Kazuma, tell the police to pull the defenders at the other gates off and then give everything you've got left to Viktoriya," he ordered as he rushed forward, ducking between the fighters defending the line to stab opportunistically at the attackers, enchanting his blade with Lightning as he lamented what she would have to do.
Vanir was too strong. There were too many enemies.
It seemed he had no choice, then.
-OxOxO-
Vanir stalked forward. His plan to get himself killed in a believable manner was going brilliantly, even if he'd had to hurt the humans opposing him just a tad more than he usually preferred.
He glanced at the trio. It took him just a fraction of a second to read the names and portions of the lives of the two he was unfamiliar with…
Only to nearly stumble as he looked into the life of the yellow Crusader. He chuckled to himself as she grew red-faced. "Thou, who worries whether she is true to her Goddess, to have such a perverse desire…"
Lalatina Ford Dustiness – Darkness, she usually called herself – nearly stumbled and began to blush and stammer. As she did, he glided forward and dodged the attack of the beastman. "Thine existence is an affront to thou's Goddess and thy family," he said, making sure to deliver his words in just the right tone – he was not telling a lie or guessing or even confirming a deep-held fear, but simply stating an unavoidable and, ultimately, sad fact.
She was incensed, of course, and she struck again. He dodged just as easily as he had the last, swatting her hand and sending her blade flying. He pushed her aside as he advanced on the Goddess-
And he dodged back as she tried to exorcize him. He frowned – he wanted this to be convincing to the Demon King, and this was the best she could do?
The Crusader charged at him again while the beastman recovered her weapon. He didn't even bother to dodge as her swing went wide. It was child's play to swipe her blade from her and shatter the blade – he cared not for the practicality of shattering a metal, it was far more demoralizing than bending or snapping it in twain and almost as easy for him.
The Crusader was not dejected, and grabbed the hand grabbing her wrist with her other hand. "I can't let you enact your depredations upon this town! If- if you retreat now, I'll go along quietly and allow you to use your immense strength against me in any way, but-"
He tuned out her droning words and dissolved his hands and spun away from the cold fury of the beastman. He moved to attack her-
"Precision Strike!"
He dodged before the attack had even begun, but the speed meant he'd almost allowed his mask to be scratched.
He smiled. Finally.
He dodged around the next strike of the brat, smacking the armor he recognized hard enough to send him barreling into the Demons and Undead and other monsters that were watching him fight instead of doing their job.
He ducked under the next swing of the beastman, and with a triumphant laugh, threw her beyond the defenders. The Crusader-
He stared at her flatly. She was panting even harder.
With a roll of his eyes, he caught her attempted tackle and – with considerable effort – tossed her after her rabbit friend. Smiling, he turned on Aqua.
He hid his frown as she trembled. She had access to a theoretically limitless amount of mana, and this was the best effort she could put up? No one would believe he'd died authentically in a fight like this, especially without using his-
Then his body was torn apart by an explosion, sending his mask flying. It quickly reformed, and his mask found-
If Vanir had had eyes, they would have widened in disbelief.
The confounding girl who he couldn't get a read on was flying.
Wearing relics with the holiness to rival a Goddess and yet holding not an iota of holiness herself, wielding a weapon from the future of many societies that underwent a technological industrialization, and the ability to fly?
Vanir grinned and gripped the edge of his mask. With how terrified Verdia had been of this girl – or the technology she brought with her – this would convince the Demon King.
-OxOxO-
The Type 95 hung heavily on his neck, metaphorically begging him to use it. Not literally, not anymore.
Megumin, on the other hand, had literally been begging him to let her fire off an Explosion already, but Tanya wasn't about to waste one of their strongest resources without being sure it wasn't necessary later, and considering Wolbach could also use the spell, he wasn't willing to do it yet.
He and Viktoriya had already been seen flying during their first confrontation with Wolbach, but any and all chances of having the truth smothered, as it had been during his fight with the Amalgamation, were gone now.
Pushing and pulling more and more mana from the Circlet and raining explosions down on the thousands of enemies trying to push into Axel meant it was probably worth it.
Vanir seemed to realize he was being backed into a corner. He and Aqua were still surrounded by Wolbach's troops, but most of their reinforcements had been heavily damaged by him and Viktoriya. He looked up at him and gripped his mask.
He took aim with his rifle and steadied his aim on the mask. "It's time for moi to use my skill for this type of situation! I have a hidden skill, that won't-"
He didn't let him monologue and fired.
He threw the mask, and his body was blown apart in an instant. He fired again and gawked as the mask flew upwards, dodging his bullets as if guided by one of his formulas. He fired again and again, it dodged. He juked down, panic flooding his veins as it followed easily and his world went dark.
For only a moment.
He- he could still see? But there weren't any-
"Mwahahahaha! Moi has taken over the body of thine commander! Priest who shares the (no he hasn't.)"
Speaking twice was decidedly odd. He could feel Vanir contorting her muscles somehow – whether it was a 'biological' process involving the hijacking of his nerves or some bullshit magic – and lowering the register of his voice to mimic Vanir's own seamlessly was also odd.
However.
Tanya's arms rose up, and Tanya could feel… something trying to move them, like the involuntary movement caused by getting shocked by static electricity, but he could also resist the feeling easily enough. He moved his arms to the edges of the mask and pulled, to no effect. "Eh?! How in the world… moi shall find out, girl yet resists my control!"
"(Viktoriya, keep on firing at them until they're all) Oh."
That last part was also Vanir. Tanya held up the hand with his ring on it – not that it was visible through his gloves. "Moi… did not believe there was an item potent enough to resist moi's possession so thoroughly. Or someone so versed in resisting such control."
"Keep her distracted, Vanir, while I finish up down here."
Tanya's gaze snapped down to the voice to find Wolbach-
His eyes widened. It was Yunyun!
"M- Megumin!"
"Yunyun?!"
"What's a Yunyun?"
Tanya almost rolled his eyes at Kazuma's comedy, until he found his head spun violently around by the mask. He swore and fought to keep his flight stabilized while it jerked him around.
"I just assumed you knew each other because you were both Crimson Demons, but to find out you're actually friends-"
"Ah, no, we… we're not friends, we're rivals!," Yunyun helpfully informed Wolbach.
"Eh, no. More like acquaintances. Tanya's my rival."
Yunyun let out a shriek of horror and immediately collapsed… though her ability to do so was impaired by the monster holding a grip around Yunyun's neck. It poked a sword at Yunyun, who quickly regained her composure.
Tanya continued to struggle with Vanir. He wasn't tapping into her spells or skills, but applying force to his mask. He couldn't anticipate his next application of force, and every time he tried, Vanir probably read his mind to counter it. How the hell-
"Whatever," Wolbach ground out. "If she tries to Teleport away, her neck gets crushed. If any of you try anything, her neck gets crushed. Do you value my other half or your fellow Crimson Demon?" Her words hung in the air for a moment, her eyes locked onto Megumin.
Yunyun whimpered, and Megumin stepped past Kazuma, the small cat poking its head out of her shirt.
Tanya rolled his eyes. It didn't matter. Aqua would just-
"Ho ho! Wolbach! Ensure the body is destroyed so their damnable Archpriest can't resurrect her!"
…Shit.
Wolbach swore. "Meet us away from your friends if you don't want her killed!" Wolbach shouted as she retreated. The remaining enemies inside, their weapons or bladed limbs or teeth or fists pointed at the defenders, backed out, jeering at the adventurers.
Megumin was having a meltdown.
"What do we do? I… I won't let Chomusuke die, but Yunyun-"
"Who is that? That Wolbach lady said she was your friend?"
Megumin was frantically debating how to get her friend back, while the other adventurers – or those not watching Megumin, at least – were fortifying the defenses or lining up in front of Aqua.
And all the while, Tanya jerked through the air, trying to keep Vanir from spilling his secrets and simultaneously remain airborne. A few people were keeping their eyes on him – Viktoriya especially – but they didn't seem especially hurried to help him out.
"Moi feels thou should be concerned thine companions care not for thine plight," Vanir said aloud. Tanya just rolled his eyes and shook his head as Vanir's mask pushed into his face, sending him tumbling backwards. "They've got more important things to deal with, and as long as you're attached to my face, then it hardly matters." He screwed his eyes shut, righting himself.
"Then Moi shall simply abscond from thy face… what art thou doing with your card?"
"What?"
Tanya opened his eyes and watched as his arms pulled his Adventurer Card out from one of his pockets. "(Viktoriya! He's doing something with) moi has no desire to read thine card, atheistic fool who does his best to misconstrue all that is said around thee!"
His finger poke at his card, and Tanya found he couldn't stop it. Spells. Reinforcement Formulas. Agility, Pain-reduction, Strength, the spells he already had. Magical Strength, Intelligence, Luck… Religiosity?!
The finger pressed down, and dread welled up in his stomach. How?! Were Vanir and Johanna both too much for-
"Reinforcement Spell: Piety of Ibrahim."
-OxOxO-
She smirked, whistling the notes to a hymn she couldn't remember the name of as she drained the last of his skill points into these… upgrades.
"I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the messenger of the lord, when I enact his vengeance upon these nonbelievers, heretics, and demons."
Her smile grew as the lord's conduit filled with energy and light, and the voice of her other half became silent.
She spun around in the air, relishing the feeling – finally back in her element. The… thing between her legs was an affront to god, but she could take care of it later. For now…
"Strength of Samson. Wisdom of Solomon. Swiftness of Joshua. Power of Moses. Grace of David."
She took a deep breath. Her connection to god was going strong, as was the feedback between her unfortunately diminished mana reserves and the Circlet of Greatness. She'd never felt more in control, despite the ring on her finger.
"Moi thanks thee, parasite upon this mortal's body, for silencing that self-important enemy of thine god and clearing the way for moi's takeover!"
She nodded thoughtfully as she felt her control start to slip. She glanced downwards as a headache began to bloom in the back of her head – it seemed those below her had noticed something was wrong, including her most faithful.
She grinned at the thought of her and took off, speeding upwards before she could be stopped. The Demon clinging to her face had gone silent, waiting for some kind of response to either his words or his skilled attempts at taking over.
Perhaps, if she were more like Kazuma, she'd give him the satisfaction. Some witty banter.
Instead, she took solace in the words of her faith. "He is with you wherever you are," she said, feeling around the edges of the mask. Yes, it seemed glued to her face. It wouldn't budge in the slightest.
"Thou's prayers can't hurt moi! Moi am safe and sound from the exorcism of thee or that goddess when in the body of a mortal!"
She continued her prayers.
"The greatest reward comes with the greatest trial. When God loves someone, He tests them."
She took hold of the edges of the mask, making sure she had a very firm grip.
"What art thou doing?!"
She did not respond to the Demon. Why give it the satisfaction?
"With hardship, comes ease."
And she pulled.
With the sound of tearing, wet flesh, the squelching, soggy tearing of meat and bone and skin, she felt the mask starting to come off. The Demon was shouting about something or other in a dark corner of her mind, but she paid it no mind and continued shouting out prayers and pulling and pulling and pulling until finally-
It was off.
Slowing her ascent, she took in a deep breath of the thin air, and then… she laughed. Uproariously belting out laughter as if it were her last action on – or above, in this case – god's green Earth.
It hurt, even with her spells. How could tearing off half of your face not?
But it was okay. The pain just meant god loved her.
She stared at the inside of the mask – the underside of her own face, weeping blood and flesh and shards of bone – fascinated. Such bloody viscera…
She sighed forlornly as the bloody mess sloughed off from the mask, flying off into the wind. The mask jerked around, trying desperately to free itself, and she smirked at it as it squirmed in her grip.
"Tanya, what-"
She ignored the sounds of her most faithful gagging in horror at her face – it was only to be expected, but she'd seen worse and would recover quickly – and smiled widely as she reached a hand towards her neck.
"Ah, my most faithful. Come, help me destroy this-"
BANG!
Johanna blinked in fascination at the glowing bit of her Active Barrier, right next to where her hand had been reaching for her neck.
"V- Visha?"
She glared. "Can it. You're not taking off the necklace."
She glared back at her most faithful and gestured towards her with the mask. "Come now. How are we to spread the light of god if you keep sealing me away? Rid yourself of your attachment to that godless entity and-"
Viktoriya raised her rifle again, and Johanna sighed. "Fine. I'd rather not die from blood loss. I shall destroy this demon and then… if you insist…"
She chuckled darkly. "We will dance!"
The mask jerked in her hand, trying to avoid its fate, and Johanna giggled. "Not so powerful without access to a body, are you?"
It kept fighting, trying to force its way out of her hand. Johanna felt the bones in her hands creaking, but she paid them no mind. She held it out and gestured for Viktorya to get on with it.
A shot rang out, and Johanna tilted her head as the bullet glanced off. There was definitely damage, but her eyes narrowed as the damaged groove quickly filled back in.
"Well," Johanna began, "if you want to escape so much, why not?"
She threw the mask up and away from the town far below them, like a frisbee, and took out her rifle. She heaped half of her remaining mana into the Circlet and felt a smile split her face at the power she held.
It hurt to smile, of course. It hurt to keep going.
But she didn't care.
"But the lord knoweth all things from the beginning," she began, her anticipation building as she lined up her shot with the mask. For however many times they had been forced to work together to fight that bitch, there had been one particular feat of her's Johanna had always wanted to try. The fact that Tanya would be angry she were revealing yet more unique magic was just icing on the proverbial cake.
The Type 95 and her Circlet began glowing brighter and brighter as a dozen spells sprang to life with ease, guiding the aim of her next spell on the descending affront to god. She repositioned herself in the air, making sure the spell would finish when the mask lined up with the enemy encampment.
"Wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men," she continued, barely holding back laughter from the sheer euphoria she was feeling. A blindingly bright light formed at the tip of her gun, still trained on the falling mask.
Was it rushing towards the ground? Juking through the air? Desperately trying to avoid its fate?
She prayed that it was and spun up a spell to record her feat. For posterity.
"For behold!" she shouted, "He hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen!"
It was no simple spell. No single bullet. It was not a stream, a beam, nor even a torrent.
It was a deluge. A flood. The fountain of light, equal and superior to anything that bitch had ever thrown at her, was a pillar. A shining spear of light, unconquerable and all-powerful.
Despite it, despite her, despite her lord's power, the mask managed to persist for a whole second before it crumbled to nothing but dust, scattered into oblivion.
Her spell continued forward and tore into the enemy camp, vaporizing all it touched and setting fire nearby.
After ten seconds, she let the spell fade. She breathed in slowly, trying to get her Relics under control. That…
She smiled again. That had been exhilarating!
"Your things are mine," reached Johanna's ears, and she fired off a Lightning at her most faithful without hesitation. If only she were more devoted to god instead of the godless weakling!
She dodged around and continued. "My things are yours."
Two copies of Johanna appeared, and all three took off towards the nearest cloud, racing away as fast as the Type 95 would allow. Racing away from being stuck, again. She was free, finally, but as long as she kept feeding mana into her relics and kept her Reinforcement spells going and-
She heard her most faithful finish the activation phrase somewhere behind them.
She blinked, waiting… and nothing happened.
Johanna laughed as her most faithful swore. "Well, it seems like this thing has limits! Wonderful to know!"
She burst out of the bottom of the cloud and sent three doubles out of the top. Despite everything, she was running rather low on mana, but-
A warning blared in her ear and she dodged away from the brown-haired woman's tackle. "So quickly! I knew you'd see through-"
And that was where her mana bottomed out, and Johanna fought with her flagging strength, trying to angle away from her adjunct despite how cold and dark and… far away… everything was becoming…
And they knew no more.
-OxOxO-
Kazuma watched as Viktoriya took off into the sky… and then shook his head. They had to focus on Wolbach.
Megumin was panicking over her – supposed? – friend, Aqua was recovering from being cornered, and most everyone was staring between Megumin, the place where Wolbach had been, and the specks flying in the sky.
He did his best to rally his party. "Well, we can't just leave your friend with that woman, right?"
"She's not my-" Megumin snapped automatically. She shook her head. "I… she won't actually kill Yunyun, right? If- if she did that, then she'd lose her bargaining power, right?"
Darkness, wobbling slightly on her feet, nodded. "Y- Yes! And, if we left, she'd be able to destroy us with an Explosion without fear of destroying the town! She doesn't have any-"
"Well…" Kazuma cut her off, "during her talk with Tanya, she said that if she didn't kill Chomusuke, her existence would be swallowed by the cat."
His words hung in the air for a moment. Then, Megumin, stuttering, said-
"S- So if we don't… she'll kill…"
She shot up and dashed for the hole in the wall. Everyone stared at her, gawking, and then-
"You idiot!" Kazuma bolted after her. Why was she running in without a plan?! She could only cast Explosion, how the hell did she expect to save her friend?
More importantly, why the hell was he doing this? Why was he chasing after some idiotic Archmage who could only cast one spell? It was obvious she couldn't beat a Goddess, and they didn't have some power of friendship bullshit-
So why was he chasing after her?
Despite his huffing and puffing, he was soon outstripped by Darkness, Lorelei, and Aqua. Others – anyone who could still fight, were following them.
Kazuma shook his head. He was terrified. They were going to die! There wasn't any way they were-
VOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Kazuma's head jerked towards the near-deafening blast, and then he gaped at the absolutely massive golden beam that arced down from the sky and into the camp that Wolbach had been retreating to.
KABOOM! BOBOBOBOOOM!
Great plumes of fire and smoke bulged out of the distant city of tents and temporary shelters. Hours and hours of hard work, gone in an instant as the giant beam of energy tore through everything.
He continued to gape at the wreckage. He saw Megumin actually drop her staff in shock at the sight of the whole center of her camp going up in great gouts of gold-tinged smoke and fire. Aqua… Aqua was standing unnaturally still, just looking at the destruction and not moving an inch.
Darkness's moan of pleasure was familiar, at least.
What the fuck? What the actual fuck?
Instead of voicing those questions or contemplating how close he'd come to dying considering how many times he'd annoyed someone with that kind of power, Kazuma shook his head. "C- Come on! The farther we are from Wolbach, the easier it'll be for her to cast Explosion!"
With that reminder, everyone started sprinting forward again, though the trepidation over whatever the Hell had just happened, as well as some small amount of relief that that power was probably caused by Tanya and Viktoriya and, subsequently, not going to be pointed at them, was palpable.
Wolbach was surrounded by an entourage of monsters of all kinds, and Megumin's friend was still being held up by her neck. Kazuma wasn't sure what emotions she was feeling, but shock had to be one of them, and her monsters didn't seem nearly as confident as they had earlier.
Soon, there was a standoff. With Lorelei, Darkness, Aqua, and that Metruhado guy, they could all probably take on Wolbach's forces. He didn't imagine they were very confident after whatever Degurechaff had just pulled.
Kazuma took a moment to study Megumin's friend more closely. The tear tracks and the tight grip on her neck only enhanced how terrified she seemed…
Of course, Kazuma couldn't control where else his gaze was drawn, and he couldn't help but glance between her and Megumin.
"Are you the number one flatest Crimson Demon as well?" he muttered to Megumin. She sputtered, for a second.
"K- Kazuma, please, if you must satiate your lecherous desires even in the heat of battle, I will sa- sacrifice my-"
"My name is Wolbach."
Her pronouncement cut through their conversation, and though there was a hint of dread at whatever the hell Degrechaff had pulled out of thin air, her tone and presence were still commanding despite it.
"I am the patron Goddess of Sloth and Violence. I am a General of the Demon King's Army."
The blank expression on her face twisted into a hateful glare. "If you do not give me my other half, I will kill this girl."
Kazuma glanced at Megumin. Her face was hidden by her hat, which was tilted down-
"Hey, even though you said such deep words and built a mysterious atmosphere, I still have to cut you off there," Aqua waspishly interjected. "I can sense some godly aura from you, but the patron Goddess of sloth and violence? If you're not honest, I will sue you for bending the truth. Just say that you are an evil god," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
The General of the Demon King army stared at her in bafflement. "W- What? I might govern sloth and violence, but just because most people don't have a good impression of those things, I'm still a proper goddess. I'm not exaggerating," she said.
Aqua opened up her mouth to retort again, but Wolbach cut whatever she was about to say off. "No, shut UP! I am going to kill this girl and turn her corpse into ash if I do not get my other half, NOW! Are you stupid?"
Kazuma jumped forward before Aqua could say anything else and prove the woman more correct. "H- Hey, can't we solve this amicably? It's pretty clear you're gonna get beaten, so why not just surrender? You saw… that. Does the Demon King have anything that can beat that?"
Her glare turned to him, but her mouth snapped shut before she could say anything. "I could never surrender to those that have labeled me a Dark Goddess. And retreat? If I show up to the Demon King with nothing but a decimated army and a dead Duke of Hell to show for it, I'll be ridiculed. My religion might even die from such embarrassment!"
She shook her head and returned her gaze to Megumin, who had taken a few steps forward and was next to him now. Chomusuke was grasped tightly in one arm, while she held her staff in the other. Now that he was closer, he could see… a surprising amount of indecision on her face.
"Do… do you remember me? My name is Megumin."
Kazuma blinked, surprised, and stared at Megumin. Where was her introduction? Plus, she had to start chanting before Wolbach decided to destroy them all-
She snarled, and Kazuma found himself further surprised. Was she…?
"Are… are you just stalling for time for your friends to come help? It's no use! I'll just blow you all away!" she shouted as she began to chant. Kazuma felt a wave of killing intent pour off of her and cause his knees to begin quaking…
But he was familiar with Explosion spells, and if she cast it now that they were so close, there was no way she wouldn't get blown away. Plus-
"Ah! I'll take it head on! After getting exploded by Tanya, perhaps I too shall become an Explosion connoisseur?"
"I, Aqua, will prove my superiority to this hack! Blessing! Protection! Blessing! Protection! Come one, come all, to receive my support!"
Wolbach continued her chant, and Megumin stepped forward again, her voice even smaller than before. "When you and Chomusuke were unsealed, did you see a little girl? A crimson-eyed girl around 5 to 6 years old…"
Wolbach snarled. "I said I don't! I don't remember anyone like that! Do you doubt my resolve to kill your friend? I'll survive this explosion and wipe you all away!"
Kazuma froze. Could she?
Plans ran through his mind. Steal wouldn't do anything, he couldn't get off a Snipe fast enough to kill her, if he used Lurk, maybe he could sneak off, but he didn't want his friends to die but he didn't want to die he wanted to live-
"MRRROOWW!"
"Ch- Chomusuke!"
Then the cat made the decision for all of them and bit Megumin.
Leaping away from a shocked Megumin, it began to stumble towards Wolbach, and Kazuma felt the killing intent and the weight from her Explosion spell faded slightly as she stumbled forward, towards the small, odd looking cat, her hands outstretched.
Kazuma took a quick glance around. Megumin's shock was fading into tearful sorrow, no one else seemed to know what to do besides stare as the two of them united. He glanced across the invisible divide between them, at the demons and monsters who were also distracted, and then at Megumin's friend.
It took a second, but the girl did meet his eyes. He didn't dare make any movement besides to stare intently into her eyes. After a moment, she gulped.
The divided pair drew closer.
Kazuma took a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Breathing in deeply through his nose and out through his mouth, he gripped his sword.
Please, Eris. Please.
Fast, faster than he'd run from that Slime or even those Orcs, faster than he'd ever done anything, he threw his sword, praying, over and over, that even though he didn't have any skills that would help with this thing, that his plan would work-
He stretched his other hand towards Wolbach, shouting, "FREEZE!"
The sword arced through the air towards the Demon holding the girl, and a gust of freezing air sped towards Wolbach.
Wolbach's face grew infuriated as she aimed her Explosion spell towards them, ignoring the ice quickly building up on her body.
The sword hit the demon and the girl raced away, her own arm raised towards Wolbach. "Lightning!"
And Chomusuke's expression of stupor faded instantly as it jumped, yowling, and scratched Wolbach's face.
Time seemed to speed up. The girl ran towards them, almost tripping. A dozen spells followed his own, followed by arrows and knives and more, kicking up a cloud of dust. Megumin ran forward and almost tackled the girl and dragged her back, while the Demons and monsters tried to rush forward to protect their General. Aqua exorcized well over a dozen in a second, Kazuma tried to get out his bow but found he'd really put everything into that Freeze and he was unsteady on his feet-
"STOP!"
The Demons stopped immediately, but Kazuma felt dread pool in his stomach as the weight of an Explosion spell bore down on them all.
"NO!" Megumin screamed. The dust cleared, revealing Wolbach… or what was left of her.
She had three arrows stuck in her, she was covered in shallow cuts and burns, and the arm holding her staff was covered in frost, but most of all, she was… translucent. Kazuma could literally see her troops behind her, who were slowly coming to the conclusion that they had won.
The small, shaking cat, clutched by the neck in one of her hands, told him they were probably right.
"We… we're done. If you try to hit me again, I'll make sure it dies. Just… go."
Kazuma looked back. They knew well how destructive Explosion magic was, and though they wore pained expressions, and looked sorrowfully at Megumin…
Their morale broke. Most of the people behind them turned around and left. It was over.
Soon, it was Kazuma and his party, Lorelei, the girl, and that Mario Hiedel guy and his party. Megumin was on the verge of tears, shaking slightly, and Kazuma had no clue what to do. Never before had he wished more that Steal could affect living things.
The pressure of the Explosion spell, barely contained by Wolbach's failure to utter the name of the spell, pressed down on them. "Why are you still here? Do you really care about this rotten Kingdom enough to toss your lives away to stop me?"
Darkness bristled, but the girl, of all people, stepped forward. "My… my name is Yunyun, daughter of the leader of the Crimson Demon Village. You once asked me if I would travel with you, and while I may have thought about it and agonized over not asking your name and regretted that decision a number of times," she began.
Kazuma looked between the girl – Yunyun – and Megumin. He guessed it made sense she had a screw loose if she was Megumin's friend-
And then he blinked when Yunyun sent a look at him, and he cut off his train of thought.
"I… I swear, from this day forward, the Crimson Demon Village will hunt you to the ends of the Earth for this crime!" she declared. They all tensed up, but her posture collapsed, slightly. "But we- we can't win. I will Teleport us back to the- the town."
Wolbach blinked and then grinned, but she remained silent, intent on studying the animal in her grasp. Megumin started to run off-
"I refuse!"
Kazuma turned his gaze to Aqua, who had leveled her staff at Wolbach. She raised an eyebrow at her. "You look like the Archpriest type. What can you do to me?"
Aqua scoffed. "Unlike you," she sneered, "I am an actual Goddess."
Wolbach raised an eyebrow at that, and Kazuma would have to, because he knew her stupid God Blow didn't do shit and she didn't have any other-
Before anyone could retort, Aqua grinned. "Sacred Create Water!"
Oh, right.
Wolbach's sneer vanished in a wave of panic as she aimed her staff upwards. "EXPLOSION!"
Megumin began chanting a spell of her own, fury permeating her every word as Aqua's flood impacted Wolbach's spell-
FSSSSHHHH!
The sudden downpour of rain smelled nice, at least. Wolbach started to chant again… but she recognized the power building in Megumin's spell.
She threw her staff to the side and started to choke Chomusuke with both hands. "Buy me time-"
She didn't finish the words as they all charged at her. Her monsters and Demons tried to block them, only for a Sacred Exorcism to blow away half of them. Kazuma drew his bow and let an arrow fly. "Snipe!"
It landed directly in the woman's chest. She fell to one knee and continued to choke the cat, uncaring.
Megumin's chanting finished, as had Yunyun's.
"LET CHOMUSUKE GO OR YOU DIE!" Megumin shouted. The brutal melee stopped.
Wolbach looked up for a second. "Kill us all or let me kill the cat. I don't care."
A beat of silence. Megumin was probably weighing whether killing a Goddess in her own Explosion would be 'cool' enough to justify her death, but the look she sent over her shoulder at Kazuma-
"I… I do remember you," Wolbach admitted, softly. Megumin's gaze snapped back to Wolbach-
"TELEPORT!"
Everyone looked at Yunyun, whose silhouette was glowing blue. And before anyone could react-
Wolbach disappeared without a sound.
There was, again, a beat of silence.
"Er, I don't suppose you'd let us go?"
They were not.
The monsters were killed in short order as Megumin stood there, unmoving, her spell nearly complete. "I…"
Yunyun sniffed. "I… I flubbed the spell! I didn't know- If, if we're lucky, she'll lose her grip on Chomusuke while she's being Teleported or when she touches down-"
"Where."
Yunyun gulped. "The capital." She immediately began to chant her Teleport spell again, her words perfect.
Megumin nodded and pointed her staff towards the smoldering remains of Wolbach's camp. Her breathing became erratic, her eyes glowing bright red-
"EXPLOSION!"
What little was left of the camp was swept away by her spell, a conflagration composed of burning, choking smoke and red hot, vitriolic fury. She managed to remain balanced and standing. "Wolbach. I'm following the path of Explosions because of you!" she shouted, anguished.
"I even helped you escape! One day… I'll destroy you with the magic you showed me!" she screamed.
Then she fell over.
"Kazuma, we-"
"Way ahead of you," he promised. "Aqua! I need your mana!"
-OxOxO-
Viktoriya sighed tiredly, her brow furrowed as she sat over Tanya's sleeping form. They were camped out in one of Walter's spare rooms at the moment, and Viktoriya had taken all of Tanya's Divine Relics – besides the body-swapping one – and was… waiting.
It had taken some doing, especially since Aqua had apparently just disappeared, but Tanya had gotten his face Healed. Now, she was waiting for him to recover.
She knew there were other things she could be doing. Those monsters who hadn't charged suicidally towards any adventurers that approached them packed up and retreated via Teleportation, and, considering the battered state of Axel's defenders, they were allowed to. Still, who knew if one of them was waiting around for an opportunity to do as much damage as possible?
She didn't do that and remained seated at Tanya's side.
There was a celebration going on – Viktoriya had confirmed that Vanir was definitely dead and considering no one was expected to stay dead for long thanks to Aqua, spirits were relatively high.
She didn't go enjoy herself and remained seated at Tanya's side.
She knew he wouldn't want her to waste time sitting there when there were things to do, but she just… couldn't. No matter what argument she tried, she found that this was more important to her.
She smiled. People really were illogical beings.
Tanya began to cough, and Viktoriya almost shot up. She did manage to remain sitting, although she had her pistol in one hand. Just in case. "Tanya?"
"V- Viktoriya? What happened?"
Viktoriya didn't respond. "How do I know you're not Johanna?"
"Not Joha… oh, right. I… don't suppose a kiss would prove it?" he asked.
Viktoriya snorted. "No."
Tanya was silent for a moment, and Viktoriya wondered if she should just swap their bodies, just in case. "Uh… Being X is a piece of shit? He's also not god? And… he can go suck a whale penis for all the shit he's put me through."
Viktoriya choked on the air as she processed just what he'd said, and then just sighed tiredly. "I'll use the necklace if I have to later. You… Johanna killed Vanir," she reported.
Tanya nodded slowly as he tried to get up. A wave of lethargy wracked his body, as well as a… concerning feeling. "Why does my face feel so tender?" he asked, knowing it likely had something to do with Vanir's mask but not quite sure-
Viktoriya explained. Tanya winced.
"Alright. And Wolbach?"
She opened her mouth, but the door was banged open. Lorelei gave them a tired smile and sat down on the bed. "Good to see you're relatively fine, Tanya."
"And you as well. We were just going over what happened."
Lorelei winced and then sighed. "You want me to explain?"
Viktoriya nodded and then got up, saying she was going to make some coffee while Lorelei went over what happened.
And then she got to where she'd been for the last few hours.
"We couldn't find her. Yunyun's Teleport spot is outside the capital, and while the guards apparently saw someone Teleport in, they claimed whoever it was just stumbled off into the forest."
She continued to explain, for a bit – Kazuma and his party and Yunyun were all devastated, but they were going to keep trying for a while, and the authorities in the capital were aware of the situation and were trying to help – and then she left Tanya, so they could both continue to rest.
Naturally, Tanya did little resting, instead choosing to plan how things would be going tomorrow. It was Viktoriya's birthday, after all, and while he would have to have at least one meeting – to tell Walter that he would be taking the day off, regardless of the consequences – he would be spending it with Viktoriya, which meant it had to be perfect for what he wanted to do.
Overall, though, he anticipated few problems. No one was going to stay dead, the damage done to the wall would be fixed, there had been relatively little collateral damage, scores of enemies had been slain, and he'd even killed Vanir, which meant few would be able to credibly accuse him of treason.
There was just one problem. Wolbach was probably long gone, and Chomusuke with her. As Tanya laid her head down and felt a wave of drowsiness come over her, she hoped Wolbach's 'slothfulness' was a rival to Aqua's idiocy.
Aqua could reshape the landscape with Sacred Create Water, could banish any Undead or Demonic opponents, could use Resurrection as much as she wanted, and even had maxed out stats and the capability to use buffing spells. If Wolbach had even close to that much power at her full strength…
Tanya was suddenly not entirely sure she'd picked the winning side.
-OxOxO-OxOxO-
A/N 1: I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. If you're looking for recommendations on what to read, "Dark Legend of Potter: Crimson Demons Awaken" is a good pick. I find it very funny, and if you're reading this more for the Konosuba rather than the Youjo Senki, or you just like bizarre humor, then you'll definitely enjoy it.
A/N 2: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.
A/N 3: Thank you to WarmasterOku and Afforess for supporting this story and everything else I write.