CH 179

This was heaven.

Just a short while ago the conclusion of a grand Hero VS Demon Lord battle in a certain world had been reached.

“Oh, how did it go?” the God of Warriors walked over to check the display board.

“I’m feeling confident this time,” the God of Mages approached the display board full of self-assurance.

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

The two gods doubted their eyes when they saw the results posted in front of them. It was showing an outcome that they’d never seen before.

The words shown across their display panel were as follows:

Because both participants have abandoned the match, both participants will be branded as losers. Match Result: “Double Loss”

“Oi, what is this!?”

“Hold on a minute, this isn’t right!”

The God of Warriors and God of Mages both got a bad taste in their mouths.

There were only supposed to be three possible endings in this game of gods. “The Hero wins,” “The Demon Lord wins,” and “A draw from mutual death.”

In the case where “the Hero wins,” an angel is meant to bless the Hero, honor his achievements, and urge the populace to come forward and further their development under God’s grace.

Should “the Demon Lord wins” come about, then an angel would descend and vanquish the Demon Lord on the Hero’s behalf. The angel would then preach to the people about “God’s greatness” which would further enhance their religion.

In the case of a “draw”, the angel will step forward to the people on the behalf of the deceased Hero and lead them to a more peaceful future under God’s name.

However never before in the realm of heaven had they ever heard of a “double loss” ending where both the Hero and the Demon Lord remained in the world with their superior abilities in tact.

The God of Warriors and the God of Mages were getting more and more flustered. Neither of them knew how this world would develop in the future.

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Well, we’ll be fine so long as we keep quiet about it.”

The Gods of Warriors and Mages went to work right away.

That was when the God of Thieves came in to check the display board.

“Oh, God of Warriors, God of Mages, what are you doing?”

But then he saw what was in the God of Warriors’s hand, the color of his eyes changed suddenly.

“Oi, you two, what do you think you’re doing!?”

“We have no other choice.”

“Be quiet for a bit.”

The God of Warriors carried in his hand the “Horn of the End.” Also known as the “Reset Switch.”

This was the plains east of Warren, a place that was a battlefield until just a short time ago. Just beyond was the lake.

“That was slightly surprising.”

What appeared was a fearless-looking man with raven black hair and porcelain white skin. He was dressed in pure white armor with a long spear in his right hand and a kite shield in his left.

Additionally, ten wings sprouted from his back pointing skywards.

“You surprised me, but what’s with that form? Berudeus?”

“Ah, Demon Lord, it has been a long time. For the record, my true name is Beruiel. Please don’t make the mistake again.”

“It doesn’t really matter anyway, but before that, is this form some kind of joke?”

“Ah, this? It’s the formal dress for every Doomsday Angel. Were you unaware?”

“I was. So, why are you dressed like that now?”

“It’s because of that loud noise a short bit ago.”

“And what’s that?”

“That’s the sound from the ‘Horn of the End’. It’s a signal to destroy the world. At it’s call, every angel is forced into battle formations.”

While answering the Demon Lord’s questions, Beruiel kept his ever uninterested tone while pointing to the sky above with the end of his spear.

In the short time nobody had been watching, the area above Warren had been filled completely by ‘angels’ who carried a similar look to Beruiel.

The people down below lost themselves within the sublime atmosphere that came from angels filling the sky. All except for the Demon Lord and the Dragon Maidens.

“Ra-chin, what is that?”

“Earlier that Beruiel said they were here because of the ‘Horn of the End.’ This is really bad.”

“Why’s that?”

“It means those angels are here to destroy the world.”

As if answering Ra-chin’s words, a voice resounded down towards the people on the ground.

Defeated Hero, Defeated Demon Lord, and all those who support them, perish according to God’s will.

A countless number of glowing spears began to rain down towards the city.

The people below fell into a panic. Naturally. All of the sudden a bunch of angels magically appeared in the sky telling everyone they were all going to ‘perish’.

“Hey, what is this!?”

Gray quickly readied his defenses and protected the nearby soldiers from the falling spears of light. In response the angels flew down to the ground, physically attacking Gray with their spears one after another. Gray warded off each of their strikes with his sword, continuously asking, “Why!?” over and over again. But the angels ignored his voice. They were like dolls emotionlessly moving with a single directive.

“Kyaa!”

The Hero turned around when he heard Marionetta’s scream and beheaded the angel that was trying to attack her without hesitation. The body of the headless angel disappeared into a plume of smoke.

“I’ll kill you……….”

Gray broke.

“Hey, Beruiel, are these guys my enemies?”

“Yes, my Demon Lord.”

“They look like they’d be your friends though.”

“And yet they’re not with me. I have no connection with some dolls who have no minds of their own.”

“So it’s death then.”

The Demon Lord stretched out his barrier blocking every spear of light no matter how many the angels threw down. From there he began casting his spells.

“This is really serious. Like this we’ll have no choice but to prepare ourselves.”

Returned to his original form, Ra-chin used his back to keep bouncing away the spears of light as Ellis took cover under his belly.

“Those guys, they’re really important-looking. But this is our world. Reeve, let’s rampage together.”

“It’s time for us to join in on the battle Frau. Let’s use our ultimate release!”

“Let’s invite these angels for a walk by the lake and freeze them all together, right, Katie!”

“Aah! Bring out my ultimate release Clarie!”

“Ellis, it’s about time to turn the tables on them.”

“I suppose Ra-chin. I’m afraid I don’t quite care to see an ‘apocalypse’.”

Ellis smiled from underneath the Land Dragon’s stomach while changing from her favorite blouse and jumper skirt to her Abyssal equipment.

One by one the soldiers rose to their feet, perplexed by the sudden battle that had broken out between the former Hero and Demon Lord with the suddenly materialized angels.

“We’re going to be killed if things are left like this.”

With those words etched into their souls, the human armies began fighting against the angels as well. And at the head of those armies, Warren’s Powder Keg stood tall to greet the angel swarm.

“You’re being too unreasonable telling us to die so suddenly.”

“Someone who attacks without question shall be cut down without question in turn.”

“But this long sword seriously cuts really well. As expected of a weapon adorned with both Flying Phoenix and Exorcism.”

“I’ve been waiting for this. My great ax has been thirsting for blood all day!”

“Ahh, this is really bothersome. Can’t I just go home?”

The composure of Maria, Izerina, Theseus, Flint, and Baltis allowed each of the soldiers to calm themselves.

It took several soldiers to defeat a single angel, but thanks to the methods they had developed to combat demons several times more powerful than them, they were able coordinate their efforts and crush their enemies.

The Dragon Maidens weren’t about to be outdone.

“We’re meant to be the heralds.”

“Of course Reeve.”

Reeve was the first to make her move, riding on Su-chan’s back she laughed as they maneuvered through the crowded airspace and shot off their ultimate release into a large mass of angels.

“{Summon Hurricane}!”

A summoned tornado raged through sky, swallowing up angels, tearing them apart, and tossing them to the ground below.

Meanwhile Katie and Ah-nyan stood below next to the nearby lake as if waiting for this very moment.

“Let’s go Katie”

“Then in one shot nya.”

“{Summon Absolute Zero}!”

Concurrently with Katie’s spell, the lake was frozen over, turning into a pure white landscape openly welcoming the countless falling angels. But the second they touched the lake, each angel froze immediately and quickly shattered under their own weight.

“Ellis, we’re going too.”

“Then let’s knock them down!”

Answering Ra-chin’s shout, Ellis locked on to her targets over head.

“{Summon Volcano}!”

The ground swelled before her one moment, and in the next numerous volcanic bombs were launched into the sky. The explosions from the bombs knocked the angels out of the sky as the splattering molten rock burned them to a crisp.

“We’re going to help the other soldiers.”

“I understand Frau!”

Frau and Fe-rin aimed for the angels hanging just overhead who were already in a fierce battle with the soldiers.

“{Summon Fire Bird}!”

With Frau on his back, the Phoenix Dragon was wrapped up in a row of crimson flames. Then just as they were, the two plunged themselves into the heat of battle. As the crimson flames licked past, the soldiers found their wounds being healed as the angels had their flesh seared and charred.

“Claire, over there would be good!”

Pi-tan picked out a good location for his attack and sent a telepathic message up to Claire.

“{Share Sight}!”

“{Fixed Point}! Here it is, our attack’s grand debut!”

“{Summon Black Hole}!”

With Claire’s shout, a tiny black spot appeared in the middle of a throng of angels. Although it may be small, the truth was it had the mass to create a super heavy gravitational pull. The surrounding angels were sucked in as if their entire bodies were being forced through a tiny hole.

“Heroic Giga Slash!”

With a single blow from Gray’s sword he was able to instantly wipe out a countless number of angels as they tried landing on the ground.

“It’s really nice having the time to cast my spells.”

Meanwhile the Demon Lord was smiling as he began to cast his most heinous spell.

I spit on Heaven, I spit on the world, I spit on life, I spit on death! Doubt the world! Doubt yourself! Doubt everything that ever was!

“{Dimensional Turbulence}!”

With the end of the Demon Lord’s spell, the colors of the angels dotting the sky  suddenly reversed like a shadow image. In the next moment, the entire sky was dyed white before suddenly going black, and finally returning to normal. The only noticeable difference was that there were no angels left up there.

The Demon Lord’s worst spell, {Dimensional Turbulence}. It interferes with multiple spaces, sucking away the targets and erasing their very existence in this dimension.

Thus, the angels were completely wiped away from Warren’s sky.

“What, they weren’t that big a deal.”

The Demon Lord started boasting to Beruiel.

“Is it really done?”

After not facing the level of fight he was expecting, Gray turned back towards Marionetta.

“They were all bark and no bite.”

Ellis cracked a joke on behalf of all the Dragon Maidens.

After a few minutes of peace passed, relieved smiles spread to all the soldiers on the battlefield.

But then once again an ear-shattering roar echoed through the sky.

At the same time, two beams of light fell through the clouds.

“Uwa!”

“Ugh!”

The beams engulfed the Hero and the Demon Lord, emitting a dazzling sparkle before disappearing as suddenly as they had appeared.

Only the collapsed figures of the two men were left behind.