Chapter 107: The Demon Queen's War (04)

I felt bad for her, but she had lost as soon as the battle started. While my citizens are strong, my allies are something else entirely.

Is it cowardly to call upon an ally after ganging up on a single opponent? Absolutely.

Do I care? Not so much.

I would've loved to see this through its end by myself but given how ridiculously strong the Demon Queen proved to be, this was impossible from the beginning.

Still, I've been calling for a while, and with no response or signal, I was starting to get worried.

For a second there I thought I was purposefully being toyed with, but...

Merchant: "Haha! Sorry, I was a bit occupied... I also tried to reach this place without using my Gift, but without a thread to follow it was no use... Still, I'm here now, so you can relax. Just point me the one you want dead and-"

Demon Queen: "M-merchant?"

Merchant: "Eek! There's a torso talking to... No way... Elizabeth...?"

... Hm?

You can't be serious right?

These two have the same enemy, so I guess their knowing about each other makes sense, but...

Merchant: "...I'm assuming this is your doing, Miwen? I swear, you brats can't behave for a single second..."

The Traveling Merchant leaves, the place where he once stood now was empty, and I see the Demon Queen's face being filled with confusion.

It was the same for me as well, but in the next moment, everyone that had been scattered around the kingdom appeared behind me, the Merchant touched my shoulder and I could feel most of my injuries being healed, as well as a sense of calmness that started to permeate me.

Merchant: "...I'll bring someone who is better with healing magic later. The witch girl's situation is a bit more complex and it might be risky since it requires a great level of precision and I'm not really famous for that."

Well, that's because you're only famous for being an idiot.

Still, I'm glad that the girls are out of danger now.

I hate to admit it, but having the Merchant took away all the stress and worry I had. I almost don't even care about the Demon Queen's presence anymore.

Demon Queen: "So that's how it'll be? I should've never trusted a coward like you."

Merchant: "I don't want to fight you Liz, but I can't have you hurting them either..."

I would really like for him to fight her though.

But it seems like the circumstances between them aren't as straightforward as being on the same side, it's clear from their words that these two have some history together.

Now, she did call him a coward to his face, and while I'm all for dunking on this guy, we should at least keep it to reasonable insults, and the Merchant certainly doesn't seem like a coward to me.

I mean, he fights Gods on a daily basis, not to mention, who would he even be afraid of? He's among the strongest beings in creation.

The fact that the Merchant is not denying her words is a bit worrisome though. Not to mention, he seems incredibly nervous right now.

Demon Queen: "Once a traitor, always a traitor. Now that I think about it, I should've killed you much sooner. With your Divinity and Demonic Power paired with my Gift, I could even-"

Merchant: "You would lose all the same. And you would also doom creation. You should know better, Liz."

Demon Queen: "Should I put that to the test?"

Merchant: "Haah... So you're just frustrated huh... Look, these guys miraculously took away all of your Demonic Power and Divinity and for some reason, your level is incredibly low... Isn't it time to move on Liz? You were never meant to... No that's not right...

We never... wished for you to..."

Stumbling on his words, until the very end the Merchant tries his best to talk to her.

I wasn't wrong when I thought he seemed nervous, he's... sad and anxious, it looks to me like he's on the verge of a breakdown without even a fight.

I don't want to think that the Merchant is actually incredibly weak but... he actually never seemed too fond of fighting, and treated it more like child's play whenever facing us.

But even then... there's no way he would lose...

Unless his feelings get that much in his way.

Just in case, I ask Licia to give me the dagger.

If it seems like he's not gonna be able to do it, I'll finish this.

Apart from the Merchant, the Queen's mind also doesn't seem to be in the best spot it's ever been.

She seems mentally tired, as if she just wants to end it all.

But something in the words of the Merchant seems to have triggered her. Which is a shame given how hard he was trying to find the right words to express himself.

Still, her entire body starts sparking electricity once again. It's a sight I've become quite familiar with, and from my experience, this means something big is coming.

The same lightning bolt that took down Licia in one hit was launched towards us. This time though, there were dozens of them, going in every direction.

This wasn't an attack... it was like the very electricity that leaves her body, except that each spark had become lightning capable of melting walls.

This girl... If she had done that in our battle... we would've all died in the first contact.

The very ground burned even though these things didn't touch it directly, but whenever one of them was actually about to hit us, it would simply be met with a barrier and disappear.

At the very least, it seems there's some valor in being under the Merchant's protection, and while it's hard to see now given the amount of smoke...

Demon Queen: "Don't you dare talk about him! Don't you dare talk about me! I don't want to hear you. I hate you. Hate you! Loser...

Coward! Traitor!"

The Merchant stood there, completely fine, not even dirt had touched his clothes.

Given his demeanor, it's easy to forget it, but that despairing figure, an untouchable man, a force that cannot be opposed... that's what the Merchant will always be, no matter how he acts.

Still, just like a kid throwing a tantrum... the words coming from the Demon Queen couldn't be trusted... tears were flowing from her eyes, and I doubt she could even see what was in front of her anymore.

She flew high into the air. A meaningless action against the Merchant but... it became hard to see her face, which might've just been her objective.

A proud woman to be sure.

Merchant: "Miwen... I'll give you a taste of a battle between the strongest... well, in her case, former strongest. In exchange though... I want an honest explanation of what happened here."

Miwen: "Sure... Just so long as you win."

Merchant: "Pfft... That's not even a question."

No, that wasn't me trying to crack a joke.

The Merchant had lifted his arm and pointed his finger at the tiger coming at him.

Then... tremendous wind dissipated everything in its way.

That was all I could tell.

His hair, what was left of the walls, the fucking river, all the trees in the forest, chunks and chunks of the ground, alongside every single house and rubble in the kingdom.

Everything was sent flying up at what must've been hypersonic speeds.

Nothing remained, the whole kingdom was a mess... and neither the houses nor the trees or the wall came back to the ground.

Plants and grass were nowhere to be seen.

If this kept going... the kingdom wouldn't last.

The distance to the core is not that great.

With these guys destroying the ground like this I thought we would end up reaching it in two or three more attacks.

And to my surprise... this wasn't their strongest.

The tiger.

The fucking giant black thunder tiger.

That was the distraction.

She needed time to chant.

That's all that was.

Merchant: "You know... with a proper sky, she can do thousands of those at a time."

Miwen: "Neat. If I had any points left I would double the amount of plots just to see more of that."

Merchant: "Well... even if this place was 10x bigger... you would still see just one... She's making it very small in order to be able to use it."

Small...

It was a dragon... made of black lightning... on bright blue fire... Its body kept circling through the kingdom multiple times, to the point that even though the end of its tail was incredibly high up, its head was just slightly above the ground.

That thing came at the Merchant like a train, and though unstoppable as it seemed, the Merchant didn't flinch for a second.

Once again, the sound outside was completely cut, so I knew he was going to do something but...

For the first time, I saw the Merchant throw a punch.

I couldn't see if he had enhanced his fist with magic or not.

All I could tell was that it was over.

He didn't even hit the thing.

The air pressure enough was alone.

And while it had a giant body that continued to come toward the Merchant, it still wasn't enough to fight the very air in front of it.

I was sure he hadn't used fire magic, at least that much I would be able to see, and yet, the ground still melted around him. Perhaps due to the energy that had been used close to it.

His punch didn't have any form to it, but at the very least, he seemed serious when doing it.

Was that because for the first time, he exercised strength, or was it because he didn't know how to throw a punch and had to give it his all not to look goofy? I might never be able to tell.

Merchant: "...Blood. She'll get serious now. Sorry Miwen, she'll start hurting herself with blood magic and arcanum, so I'll have to end this before she does something stupid."

Miwen: "...I've seen enough for a lifetime, feel free to do your thing."

Not like I can oppose this monster either way.

Hell, I don't even want to think about what I saw here today.

I thought I was seeing the world ending multiple times.

It is a bit dreadful to see these guys fight on this level.

Perhaps I oughta trust the Merchant's words a little bit more when he refuses to tell me things saying they would only bring me despair.

Merchant: "...You should've also had enough by now..."

Lightning that looked like the bars of a cage surrounded the Queen and danced around her. Perhaps this was her strongest form of barrier but...

With a single touch, the Merchant broke through it, his hand approached her.

She seemed scared as she looked up to face him.

While she wasn't crying anymore, her eyes were still teary.

The Merchant lifted his fist upward. And like a hammer falling down, he hit her head.

That was enough.

Her chanting was cut right in the middle, not a word left her mouth anymore, nor could she muster the strength to remain standing.

All the magic she had been casting stopped and the girl who managed to recover from having her head cut from her body was truly defeated.

Miwen: "I don't get it... how come you defeated her without even drawing blood when she managed to recover when we literally cut off her head?"

Merchant: "This girl is a bonafide prodigy. You need to make her unconscious or else she'll just recover. For that, a direct impact to the head works better since if you cut it off, she'll have a moment to will her body back into shape, which will be enough to get her back on her feet."

...That's absolutely ridiculous.

She's almost invincible.

As long as she gets a single moment to think, she'll be able to recover infinitely thanks to her mana pool...

Merchant: "Now... I think there's a lot for us to discuss. But first, I'll bring someone to look after them. Don't try anything funny, especially with what you have on your hands."

...

I really wanted her dead for what she's done but...

It is more obvious than ever that I can't risk making the Merchant angry.

It's a shame, but I'll have to let her go.