Chapter 827

While Jayne was busy laughing about how much she loved Fran, we were questioning the Tort the skull.

「So we can't sense you because you're using the same skill as Jean?」

「Yes and no. Putting it simply, Jayne's skill mimicked a portion of Jean's power, then we used a particular method to expand that copied power over our whole army. You can think of it like that, I suppose?」

「?」

「Uhh, Jayne borrowed Jean's skill and gave it to everyone. How about that?」

「I see.」

Fran seemed glad to have her doubts answered, but isn't that pretty ridiculous? That would give Jayne the ability to temporarily copy the skills of others and extend their effects over an entire army.

Is it even fair to call that a copy? She's basically exceeded the original at that point. However, Fran showed interest in a different subject.

「Is Jean a prince?」

「Indeed he is, since I went through all the pains to give birth to the boy! Well, I suppose that's not quite true since I have Pain Nullification! But yes, I popped him out!」

「And for the record, please do not put all the demonkin in the same basket as those two. Jayne and Jean are very unique individuals.」

「Oh.」

Fran! Why are looking so disappointed to hear that? I'm rather relieved!

「Jayne is still young for a queen, meaning Jean will not be king for another hundred years at the minimum.」

「Jayne, how old are you?」

「That's a maiden's secret!」

「She's 205 years old.」

「Hey, Tort!」

「I am quite certain everyone back home knows all about your age because of the big celebration for your 200th birthday.」

「True, but come on…」

You're telling me she's over 200 years old looking like that! Meanwhile, 200 is still considered young. Should have expected as much from the demonkin.

「Jean is the eighth son, but he might become king?」

「Order of birth has no importance in who becomes the next Demon Lord.」

「Whoever is worthy will be king! It's that simple! Even I was the sixth daughter of the previous king after all!」

I wondered if Jean would actually manage as a king, but I guess he'd be fine if Jayne could pull it off. Hmm, I wonder what the actual criteria is for selection of the Demon Lord though.

「The most important thing for the Demon Lord is to be compatible with this magic dagger!」

Jayne picked up the dagger attached to her necklace. After she unsheathed it, I could tell it was a very powerful magic dagger.

The single-edged dagger was shaped like a snake's fang, with a reddish purple blade. It had a chain attached to the black hilt, allowing Jayne to wear it as a necklace.

The scabbard was made of unknown metal, and decorated with elaborate carvings of natural objects.

「This blade is one of the proofs of the Demon Lord's identity. None can take the throne unless they are recognized by it.」

I guess the dagger had some ability to select its wielder. No, it was clearly more than just that.

Jayne held the dagger in front of herself while casting a spell. It acted as a magical support, similar to a wand.

「Obey my will and storm forth, ghosts of wisdom lost! Hell Boost!」

「「「Uuooorghhh!」」」

Jayne performed an underworld spell that strengthened the undead under her control for a certain period of time. Apparently, all of these undead protecting the demonkin were under Jayne's control.

The undead suddenly gave off an intense aura, and began rampaging with as much momentum as the dwarves. They had become ridiculously strong too.

A bit too strong, if you ask me. Even the weakest ones in the undead army rose to approximately Threat Level D. With more than two hundred undead at that level, they were a force to be reckoned with.

「Like you saw just now, this dagger has the effect of strengthening underworld magic. The Demon Lord gains unrivaled power when fully utilizing it.」

「There are several qualifications to be a Demon Lord, but the most important are your skill in the underworld magic, relation to the bloodline of the first Demon Lord, and the approval of this magic dagger.」

I thought that enhancement was unusually powerful, but it makes sense if that's the magic dagger's special effect. No wonder it's been passed down their royal family from generation to generation.

「By the way, are you Fran the Black Lightning Princess?」

「Nn.」

「My son has told me all about you! I hear you're a promising adventurer!」

I thought she was being strangely friendly, but I can understand why if Jean had spoken to her about Fran.

"A promising adventurer" huh? Looks like Jean had better eyes than I gave him credit for.

「He went on and on about how wonderful you would be as undead material! I agree completely!」

So that's what you meant by "promising"!

Despite all her quirks, the conversation with Jayne certainly helped to take some of the edge off of Fran's mood. A smile had come back to her face. Since Jayne did save us from a pinch, we should be grateful to her.

Besides, despite their idle chatter, both Jayne and Fran were still moving ahead.

The combined army of dwarves and demonkin continued their advance, crushing antidemons under them as they moved forward.

Our formation had the dwarves as the vanguard, Fran's group behind them, and the demonkin guarding the perimeter.

This was more than enough to allow Fran's army to concentrate on their recovery.

「I'm sorry to interrupt, but may I have a word with you?」

「Of course. Whoa, you look pretty strong too! You'd make an amazing undead!」

「T-Thank you? M-My name is Hiltoria, and I'm an adventurer.」

Even Hilt was taken off guard there. Not bad, Jayne-sama!

「Don't mention it, I'm just here because I was invited by Orfalve-dono. Besides, I've always wanted to meet the Black Lightning Princess in person!」

「Still, that doesn't change the fact that you saved us.」

「You're so disciplined! I like you!」

They seemed to get along pretty well. Jayne already liked Hilt, while Hilt also found it easy to talk to Jayne since she was not very detail-oriented.

Their conversation went to several different subjects.

「Whoa? You're the heir to that old man Dimitris! I can't believe such a nice and honest girl like you is related to him! And you look so strong too!」

「I still have a ways to go.」

「I'm simply amazed with that strength at such a young age! Very promising!」

Yeah, "promising" as an undead! But the idle chatter ended quickly, and the two begin to talk about serious matters, like what our next step was going to be.

Hilt was not one to just sit and watch others fight, so she asked if there was anything she could do. It wasn't just Hilt either, many others in our army had similar feelings.

But the combined forces of dwarves and demonkin boasted tremendous power, so much that they no longer had a need for assistance. In fact, we might just end up holding them back.

「Just rest up for now. We will ask you for help when antidemons increase their pressure on us.」

「……I understand.」