Volume 3 - CH 1.4

Part 4

Within the gently streaming river, a lance was thrust in and Edelgart was standing there.

The depth was enough to submerge her in water up to her waist.

Diablo was away from the sandbar and in the river to where it reached up to right below his knees.

Immediately beside him was Rem and Shera who were still naked. The two of them had drops of water spilling from their hair, and water was going down on top of their skin.

Rem quietly talked.

「……Within me, the Demon King Krebskrem’s soul is sealed.」

Shera raised a loud voice.

「Ehhh!? The Demon King!? You mean the Demon King!?」

「……If I were to die, Krebskrem would be revived, that’s what I was told by my mother.」

「No way! Then, why are you doing something like being an Adventurer!? It’s dangerous, you know!?」

「I was entrusted with the seal by my mother. And then, if I were to give birth to a child, I’m sure that child would inherit the seal……Until the one day that Krebskrem is revived, this will continue on unbroken. That’s why……I, decided to defeat him with these hands. In order to obtain that strength, I became an Adventurer.」

「Ah, could it be, that “certain problem” that you mentioned at the inn before was this?」

「You remembered that well, considering that it’s you. That’s right. As long as I haven’t defeated Krebskrem, I won’t have the luxury of care freely working a cafe.」

On a night from a little while ago──Shera, who had just cast away her hometown, talked about her dream of “wanting run a cafe together with Diablo and Rem”.

At that time, Rem replied with “right now, I carry a problem and can’t respond to that”.

Shera inflated her cheeks.

「It’s an important matter concerning you, Rem, so of course I’ll remember it! But, I didn’t imagine that it would be because of something like the Demon King’s soul.」

「……I’d be troubled if you were able to notice it so easily. The only ones that know about this are Celes and Diablo after all.」

It seems that only Celestine Bordorel, the head of the Magician’s Guild, knew of this secret before Diablo came along.

On the night of the day that he met Rem, Diablo tortured her and made her confess.

At that time, he also made a promise.

Edelgart tilted her head with an absent-minded face.

「……Is this atmosphere, where Edelgart can ask question? If seems like take long time, come back later. Don’t, want to be discovered by Races.」

Diablo nodded his head.

「I shall allow it, you can ask.」

He had no intention of ending this with only a confidential talk.

「You～, want to defeat Demon King-sama? That, serious?」

Rem nodded.

「……I’m serious. I also, have something that I wish to ask you. I thought that I would be killed immediately if the whereabouts of the Demon King’s soul were known by the Demonic Beings but……would the revival not happen with my death?」

「Would. No mistake～, if you die, Demon King-sama would revive. How, ever～……Bit wrong. Demon King-sama is, delicate? If vessel were only to break～, various things lacking.」

「……I see, I had heard that there was ritual needed for the Demon King’s revival. The Demonic Being’s ritual.」

「Right. Edelgart～, desires Demon King-sama’s complete revival. That why～, won’t aim for your life? Won’t let you die!」

She declared that with a clear voice.

Diablo asked a question.

「You, do you know the method of having that Demon King make a complete revival?」

──Would I, be able to win, against Krebskrem?

Diablo looked at his left hand. There, the 《Demon King’s Ring》 was on it. It was a super rare item that would reflect all magic.

In addition, there was his black clothes called 《The Hollow of Jet Black》, and his black mantle called 《The Curtain of Dark Clouds》.

There was equipment called 《The Distorted Crown》 attached to his head. The reason why it looked like he was growing horns was because of this.

His weapon was 《The Staff of Tenma》 that he possessed.

Each and every one of them were one of the strongest equipment in MMORPG Cross Reverie, and had sustained Diablo’s victory.

He had also experienced combat in this world time and time again.

──There’s no reason to hesitate at this point.

「We will revive Demon King Krebskrem, and I will defeat it!」

Diablo declared.

Rem nodded. It was because he said that he himself would defeat it on that night she became frank about her secret to him.

「……I believe in you……Diablo.」

Those were words that were something like a prayer.

Shera raised an astonished voice.

「Ehh!? You’re going to defeat the Demon King!? Can you even do that!?」

Edelgart curved the corners of her lips and smiled.

「Hmph……Demon King-sama, is～, strong, enough that 100 gathered Demonic Beings can’t win.」

That’s only natural. If it weren’t strong, then there wouldn’t be any point in going through the trouble of reviving it.

In the game, there wasn’t a power difference of more than 100-fold between the last boss and the mid-boss right before it, but……

Well now, how would it be in this world?

There was no way of ascertaining if it was safe.

However, doing nothing until one was able to confirm the safety of something was nothing but despicable negligence. To begin with, was there any guarantee that doing nothing was safe?

「Edelgart……I shall cooperate with you until Krebskrem’s revival. After that, I will demolish that sham Demon King. The genuine Demon King is this Diablo after all!」

「Nn～? Demon King-sama is～, strong. Because strong, is Demon King-sama……That why, Demon King-sama won’t lose.」

Shera talked sounding uneasy.

「Diablo, you’re strong but……isn’t the Demon King, like, extremely strong? I, don’t want to see you die, Diablo, you know?」

There was no guarantee that I would win.

To begin with, Demon King Krebskrem wasn’t implemented in the game. Its abilities were unknown.

What if there were plans to implement it after several years? At that time, the upper limit of the Player’s levels might have changed. There also might be much more high powered equipment that would be implemented.

There would be no end to it if his uneasiness was raised.