Book 8: Chapter 13

The Lulugal forest is the deepest of all forests on the dark continent, and it was also a forest with tremendous regenerative power.

Lumon continued to advance through the trees.

「Everywhere I go, it’s the same…」

He spoke to himself quietly.

Under the cloud-covered sky, normal trees would have a difficult time growing, but the Zadark Kingdom was full of strange plants, such as Ringils, that were very different. But the most unique of all the plants in the Zadark Kingdom was the Lulugal tree, a tree with a high affinity for magic. If there had been any Maju transformation or other changes in this Lulugal forest, there must have been a magic force too strong for the other plants to withstand. However, there’s no way something like this would happen without any sort of indication beforehand.

It had to be [Magic Eyes of Green]. Not only that, but it had to have been at a very high level. There were very few people who had magic eyes in the first place, and there were even fewer people who had it at a high level. Other than Nino, there was only one person that Lumon could think of.

Yes, that person would be—

「Well, well… We’ve gotten a lot of uninvited guests today, haven’t we」

The voice came from a female Majin. She was wearing a pure white robe that glowed with cleanliness. Her rich, dark green hair, which seemed to resemble the Lulugal forest itself, grew long past her shoulders. Her green pupils gave off a gentle shine. She had a beautiful smile that could have brought comfort to anyone.

She looked as though she were a physical manifestation of love itself. However, radiating from this pleasant appearance was nothing but an uncontrollable urge to kill.

Wielding a wooden staff adorned with a green magic stone, the female Majin walked out from the depths of the woods. Her appearance was just as Lumon had expected. He took a deep breath. This was the other high-level [Magic Eyes of Green] user—

「Do you happen to be ‘Lulugal of the Green,’ troublemaker of the old Demon King Army?」

「How rude of you to call me a ‘troublemaker’. I just don’t get myself involved in things that I don’t care about… But putting that aside, who gave you permission to step foot in my forest? Do you want me to kill you?」

Lulugal of the Green. She was often said to be the most powerful force in the old Demon King Army, but at the same time she was known to be a troublemaker. She used her power to create a forest in the East and she made it her home. This was the ‘Lulugal forest’ that they were now in, but there were very few Mazoku who actually knew about it.

This is because Lulugal had personality issues, and because of this, she had trouble forming relationships with other Mazoku. Because she killed off everyone who entered her forest, the Demon King Army at the time ordered to have the area be designated as off limits. With this, everyone began to forget Lulugal’s name, and now it was only known as the name of the forest.

But the master of the Lulugal forest was still the Majin Lulugal.

However… Lulugal was one of the Mazoku that were known to have been slain by the hero Ryuuya.

「I wake up for the first time in a while, just to find my forest filled with degenerates walking around like it’s theirs. I’ll never be able to sleep in peace.」

「You never change, don’t you.」

As Lumon smiled bitterly, Lulugal looked displeased.

「And who are you supposed to be? I don’t know you, so please stop talking to me. It’s unpleasant.」

「…Well, I guess. I’m not the real me, and you aren’t the real you either.」

Lulugal, showing slight interest in what Lumon said, shifted her eyes towards him.

「You say strange things. Is this supposed to be some sort of riddle?」

「I mean exactly what I’m saying. You were killed by the hero. It’s a fact.」

「Killed…!? What are you…」

「Oh, sorry. I guess there’s no way you still remember that. Well, anyway, it happened around 100 years ago, so your head is probably completely empty by now.」

Hearing Lumon mock her, Lulugal blazed with fury. As he felt a colossal amount of pressure that would have sent any normal Mazoku running in fear, Lumon coolly played it off.

Then, just as Lulugal opened her mouth to speak, he started straight towards her and furiously swung his sword. His plan had been to anger her and quickly strike while her guard was down. Utilizing this incredibly simple, basic strategy, Lumon went straight for Lulugal’s neck with his sword.

「…I don’t understand what you’re saying.」

However, Lumon’s sword was repelled as it bounced off of an unnaturally thick branch that sprung out of a nearby tree. Lulugal glared at Lumon coldly from the other side of the branch.

「But, I guess there’s no point in trying to understand it anyway. There’s no value in listening to words spoken by trash.」

「I don’t want to be told that by someone with personality issues.」

「Ha-」

「Hahaha—」

The moment they finished laughing, Lumon swiftly cut apart the branches with his blade. Lulugal’s green eyes sparkled.

「—Then so be it. Please die.」

「I refuse.」

Weaving through the countless tree roots that seemed to endlessly spring out of the ground around him, Lumon began to store magic in his blade.

「Transform, Boomerang Blade.」

Hurling the Boomerang Blade that appeared in his hands, he sliced through the countless trees that headed towards him. However, Lulugal was nowhere to be seen.

「Attack Wind」

As Lumon looked towards the voice that rang out above him, he saw Lulugal plummeting towards him, ready to attack with her staff.

Suddenly, he felt something strange at his feet. Before he knew it, vines had completely bound his legs. Upon realizing this, Lumon smiled. Normally, there was only one way to fight against this. He would have to block the oncoming Attack Wind by summoning a Magic Guard. However, if he were to do this, there’s no doubt that Lulugal would come to strike him with her staff. This couldn’t be blocked with a Magic Guard, but he didn’t have enough time to set up an Attack Guard either.

In this case, he would have to take a more unconventional approach.

「Attack Wind!」

He tried to intercept the attack with his own magic. Normally, he wouldn’t have enough time, but he focused all of his strength in order to activate the spell instantly.

However, having fired the spell at a close range, Lumon was blasted by the recoil, his body tossed around by the wind.

「What an idiot…!」

Lumon seemed as though he were trying to destroy himself. Lulugal, fearing that she would be sucked in if she approached carelessly, jumped to safety using the growing tree branches as stepping stones.

After being hit by the force of two magic spells, there’s no way Lumon could have made it out unscathed. Despite this, Lulugal showed no mercy. Targeting the area, now obscured by clouds of dust, where Lumon had been, she attacked with thick tree roots from all directions. If Lumon had been planning to find an opening to attack from within the dust, this would have stopped him for good. Now all she had to do was hit him with a powerful magic attack, and he would be done for.

Thinking this, Lulugal readied her staff. However, as the dust cleared away, she was astonished at what she saw.

Lumon was still standing, his massive sword held up high above his head. He had used his sword as a shield. Looking at how he held the blade, Lulugal instantly understood.

She had already known that Lumon’s sword could transform its shape. If she had chosen to rush in to attack with her staff, he probably would have used it in its original form to defend himself. If that was the case, it was clear who had the advantage in this battle.

However, this wouldn’t be the case, as Lulugal believed that she had already won. As long as she had [Magic Eye of Green] on her side, in this forest, she had an overwhelmingly large advantage. She would restrain Lumon with ivy and tree roots and then blow him up. That’s all she had to do in order to win. No matter how many tricks he had up his sleeve, he had nowhere to run.

「…Oh wind, oh furious, howling wind. I am the one that knows of your wrath. I am the one that affirms your rapturous delight…」

She chants. There was no way anyone could interrupt her incantation. As long as she had the power of [Magic Eye of Green], she had countless ways to defend herself. Therefore, victory was in her grasp.

「…And there is magic here.」

Lumon quietly begins chanting his own incantation, his legs still bound by the vines. Lulugal was surprised to hear his words, but she suppressed her emotions and continued her chant.

「I am your true supporter. Therefore, I will reproduce the effect of your wrath in this very place. Let us construct an invisible pillar upon this wretched expanse of land that yearns for peace.」

The power of the wind began to gather around the magic stone in Lulugal’s staff. The wild, destructive wind’s power condensed and began to blow, surrounding Lulugal. In this state, it’s impossible for anyone to approach her.

「If that is the power of magic, none of it shall be able to fight against me. All of it exists solely to bring me more power.」

Lulugal began to experience an intense feeling of panic. There was no way this was happening. There was only one person Lulugal knew that could use this chant.

「Therefore, I refuse to acknowledge this magic…」

「No way… Is this really…? No, that can’t be right…」

As Lulugal hesitated to utter the last word of her spell, Lumon finished chanting.

「Dispel.」

The moment he finished speaking, Lulugal’s magic faded away.

As the name suggests, Dispel nullifies magic. By gathering all of the surrounding power under their control, the user could completely nullify the effect of any magic spell, regardless of whether or not it had already been cast. It was almost like cheating. However, Lulugal had heard directly from the creator of the spell that it was ‘pretty much useless,’ due to how much time and magic was needed to cast it. It was a chant that was full of self-love, and even if one was able to use it, they would likely hesitate to do so.

There was only one person other than Lulugal who knew of this spell, a spell that had been recognized as a failure by its own creator.

「Why… Why are you able to use this magic? Where did you…」

「Well, why should you know? You don’t care, right?」

As he said this, Lumon slowly walked towards Lulugal, who had sunk down to the floor.

「No way, are you…」

「I am Lumon. The Majin Lumon. That’s me.」

Lumon raised his sword. Lulugal stared blankly up at the tip of the blade.

「Well, goodbye…Huh!?」

As Lumon started to swing down his sword, Lulugal pounced on him, and they went rolling away. In the place where Lumon had been just a few moments ago, there was a single large tree growing.

「What…!?」

As Lumon gaped surprisedly at the tree, Lulugal stood up, as if she were trying to protect him.

「…It’s true that I fought against the hero Ryuuya, but I was never killed. I had just fallen into a long, long sleep… Well, I was planning to sleep for a few more decades.」

The target of Lulugal’s gaze, standing on the branches of the massive tree was—

「A-another Lulugal…?」

「That is the reason why I woke up… I wonder what joke she’s trying to play on us.」

A twisted smile formed on the other Lulugal’s face.

「I found you… Gheorghia, you dirty traitor.」