第６１６堀：ハイデン建国記簡易版 魔王の章 (Part2)
"Well, for the time being, I'll be helping Fable with the reconstruction of Rosanta. You guys helped us out with so much, after all. As the oldest of the group, I feel like I should look after things on that front."
"Oh, right. You know, for someone with such a youthful face, you really are the oldest of the four of us," Enol said, bursting into laughter.
That’s right. Among the four of us—Fable, Hylen, Enol, and myself—I was the eldest. The others were just entering their late teens, while I was already in my twenties. It was true what they said about Japanese people having youthful faces.
After sharing that laugh and teasing Fable for his return, we finally managed to get some sleep, and the day we had been waiting for arrived.
"This is the final battle! Everyone!! Survive and claim victory!! Advance to the Demon King's castle!!"
" " "Ooooohhh!!!" " "
At Princess Rosanta's command, we headed toward the Demon King's castle. The monsters were no longer capable of organized action, having been scattered by the Liberation Army, and our allies were already swarming the castle gates.
"…There’s less resistance than I expected."
I felt a sense of unease at the lack of opposition.
"Did they run away?" Fable asked.
"If they were going to run, there are too many remnants left behind. Besides, if they were going to flee, they would have done it ages ago. This is the last place they have left, isn't it?"
Normally, one would retreat to their homeland long before being cornered this far. Or perhaps… it was intentional.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, the castle gate was finally breached.
"The gate is op—"
"I don't think it opened, I think it was *forced* open," I noted.
"Actually, it looks more like it was blown out from the inside," Hylen added.
As Hylen said, the gate hadn't just opened; it had been blasted apart from within, sending the troops who were clinging to it flying. Standing there was a person with blue skin, flames erupting from their outstretched hands. They had likely used magic to shatter the gate entirely. The power was immense.
"Blue skin. Is that the rumored Demon King?"
"Either way, we won't be able to live in peace unless we take them down."
"Alright, let's go!!"
"Hey, wait, Hylen!! Damn it, we're going after her!"
That was the beginning of the life-or-death struggle. I don't know what the Demon King was trying to achieve, but they faced the four of us without a single change in expression, moving as coldly and mechanically as a doll. Most of our attacks were parried, and even when one landed, it was only a scratch that healed instantly. We were fighting recklessly—taking a single hit meant being blown away, only to be healed by Hylen just to get back into the fray. There was no sign of a path to victory.
But that fight came to an end due to an unexpected turn of events. The Demon King, who had shown no sign of emotion until now, suddenly froze in surprise when a cheer erupted from the city of Rosanta and the flag of the Liberation Army was hoisted high. We seized that moment to launch a simultaneous assault and managed to take them down.
We didn't have the luxury of listening to excuses or reasons. If we had tried, it was clear we would have lost our lives. And so, we reclaimed the final castle, and the war with the Demon King came to an end.
***
**Side: Taiki**
I mean, it really is a story straight out of a light novel. But in that case…
"So, in the end, you never found out what the Demon King actually was?"
"Yes. We never found out at the time. We didn't have the leeway for it. But the real problem started after that."
"After that? After you defeated the Demon King?"
"Yes. We had reclaimed the last castle, declared the end of the war, and were just starting to work on the reconstruction of Rosanta with Fable and the others, when another country was suddenly attacked by a swarm of monsters."
"Another country? Did a 'Demon King Part 2' come from the east again?"
"No. It was a country in the west, and the monsters just suddenly gushed out of nowhere."
"The west? Wait, wasn't that side facing the ocean? They didn't come by ship, did they?"
"No. They truly just gushed out of nowhere."
The way he emphasized "gushed" made it click for me. It’s easy to say such a thing is impossible, but I happen to know a method that could make it happen. Yuki-san seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"Did a dungeon appear?"
"Exactly. Or rather, it seems the whole 'Demon King' affair was actually the result of using dungeon abilities. The truth of that battle was that the king of the Allied Nations, who had seized the castle while we were busy fighting the fake Demon King, had succeeded in recovering a Dungeon Core."
"Recovering it? So that king was pulling the strings from the start?"
"No, it doesn't seem so. That king said this:"
*I am the one who broke the power of the Goddess, so I have the right to rule this world.*
"He said something like that. He claimed he was a god himself. Well, it was a typical case of someone being intoxicated by power."
…Hearing that, I remembered a certain idiot I’d seen recently in Ranks—the one who caused a ruckus alongside the "Bitch Princess" due to a misunderstanding. He’s quiet now, though. Yuki-san and Luna-san both looked like they were thinking, *'Oh boy.'*
Now, when should I bring this up? "Breaking the power of the Goddess" likely refers to defeating the Dungeon Master appointed by Luna-san, right? …The cause really is those idiot gods, isn't it?
As I was thinking this, Sota-san spoke again.
"I believe this is where it connects to the story Yuki-kun and Amaterasu-Omikami-sama mentioned about monsters no longer being born."
Right. The story is still continuing, so I'll leave the exposure to Yuki-san and Luna-san. I know nothing.
If you're perceptive, you might be starting to understand why the war 500 years ago happened. And from here on, we move into the story of how the Hylen-ism religion was established.
What is the secret hidden in this land!?
Why don't the powers of the useless goddess work!!
Look forward to it.