Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist, Editor: Krizzeir
Chapter 4: Let’s Raise the New Demon Lord, Part 9
「Such a weak stone wall is not going to be enough to stop my flames.」
Hearing Sakuya’s words, Aur realized that his defenses have already been seen through. Her flames were undoubtedly stronger then Tena’s. Even if he’d be able to block them, it would only be a matter of time before their sheer temperature would end up baking him to a crisp.
If only there was just one flame for him to deal with. But there were countless others, and they were all flying around at unpredictable speed and trajectories.
「My Lord!」
「Get down!」
Aur used the cube to push back Hoseli, who rushed forward to shield him from the flames.
At that moment, he was enveloped by a fiery snake.
「My lord!」
「It’s fine.」
Yunis held the girl firmly in place, and said in a calm voice.
「You see this wall of his? It’s made of bricks.」
As she followed Yunis’s finger and looked at the walls made by Aur’s cube, they have indeed turned from stony to bricked ones.
「… So that means!」
「This place is already under my control.」
Aur’s confident voice could be heard from within the snake.
Responding to his voice, the flame snake rose, and swallowed all of Sakuya’s flames.
「Wha…?!」
「I forgot to mention this earlier…」
The snake was actually a cluster of lava shaped to look like one.
「…but my daughter here already controls about ninety percent of this place.」
Aur embraced Sofia who now looked like she was about eight years old.
「The child of the Demon Lord?」
Sakuya was amazed at the sight of Sofia.
He didn’t knew why she was so surprised when she saw her, but Aur decided to put the questioning for later. Right now he had more pressing concerns to address.
「Eat this!」
According to Aur’s command, the serpent opened its mouth wide and attacked Sakuya.
「Aren’t you getting too confident?」
However, when Sakuya swung her fan, the snake got torn into two halves and disappeared. End even though magma washed over her in large quantities, she emerged from that practically unscratched. She was the mistress of this volcano after all. She must be resistant towards fire and heat.
「How about this then?!」
But it would seem that she did not take any countermeasures against water which followed after the snake’s eruption. As a result, she was trapped in a prison of molten rock in a blink of an eye. Aur erected additional walls around it, confining her even further.
「You did it papa!」
「Yes, that was some great… work?」
「No.」
Aur’s expression darkened soon.
The whole room glowed with an intense red light, and the rocky prison that contained Sakuya melted in an instant.
「What was I supposed to eat again?」
As she got out of her prison that was nothing more than a smoldering pool of lava now, Sakuya looked down at Aur.
「Allow me to enlighten you, as you seem to be gravely mistaken about one thing. It’s not the mountain that channels its power to me.」
The pool of lava at her feet began to move. Some of it crawled up her feet and formed a glowing, pulsating dress that acted as an armor, and some of it gathered in her hand, forming a swirling orb.
「I am the source of this mountain’s power!」
The orb of lava formed itself into an arrow and flew right at Aur.
「Sofia!」
Sofia shoots water at the arrow, and Mari slashes at it with her Cold Sword. Next, Yunis smashes it to pieces with her blow, and Spina uses her threads to get rid of the scattered debris.
「Nice thinking Mari!」
「That was a clever move.」
Happy for being praised, Mari looked around to see the result of her action. The deadly lava arrow was nothing more than a few pieces of frozen rock now, and everyone was unscratched by it.
「Her Cold Sword is a technique that freezes the air around the blade solid.」
Aur explained as he kept an eye on Sakuya.
「It’s a much more efficient usage of magical power than just turning the blade itself into water or ice.」
That’s exactly why he had Mari’s swords infused with natures, and not elements. Mastering them may be harder, but it surely was more efficient.
「Lord Aur, what do you think would happen if I were to stab her with my Cold Sword?」
Staring at her sword in wonder, Mari suddenly asked.
「Why don’t you give it a try and see for yourself?」
Answering, Aur gave Mari a pat on the back.
「Leave the supporting to me!」
「It can’t be helped now, is it?」
Yunis was eagerly spinning her sword in her hand, and Spina just played with her hair as if she was bored.
「I will help too!」
「Do your best, and don’t slip up!」
Yutsu and Tena were also eager to help test Mari’s idea.
「You sure about this?」
「Even I don’t know what will happen now. I guess the future is going to change when we will actually do it.」
「Not like I had any faith in those abilities of yours to begin with.」
「You still don’t believe me? Well I can say the same about you!」
Tena shouts at Aur who disses her.
「Are you done bickering with one another?」
「Yeah, sorry I made you wait.」
Aur answered Sakuya’s question and bowed his head.
「I do not mind it.」
She smiled and put her fan towards the sky.
「Because I was waiting myself.」
When she finished speaking, she was enveloped by vermillion light. It was a barrage of burning rocks, flames that bloomed like flowers and a torrent of magma. It was too much even for Mari’s cold sword to handle.
「After seeing this, do you still wish not to retreat and save your life?」
「Of course.」
Sakuya looked at Aur with eyes filled with compassion and shook her fan.
「Then I must wish you good night.」
A scarlet whirlpool rushed towards Aur like a torrent of angry waves.
Aur created a thin wall in front of himself, and Sofia added an additional wall of water over it. It got evaporated in an instant, and the wall was also burned in a flash. But Yunis used that instant to charge ahead between the gap in the flames.
「Go!」
Two girls were also running beside her. They both looked exactly like Mari.
「Such an insolent move!」
Sakuya took a moment to observe which one was going to attack her first, as they were both running at different trajectories.
Until she realized that one of them did not have a sword in her hand. In that case, she should be aiming for the one with the sword.
She swiped her fan and shot a fiery arrow at the Mari with a sword. The arrow hit her, and then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
「I’ve got you tricked!」
「Then it’s this one!」
Sakuya pointed her other hand towards the second Mari. She controlled the fire herself. There was no need for her to use a fan.
The flame she released wrapped itself around Mari’s body.
「Sorry, but I’m right here!」
But this one burst into a tempest of leaves and fell apart.
「Ngh… where?!」
The flames were rampaging throughout Sakuya’s whole field of vision, regardless of her intentions. It danced across the whole room as it was searching for the target to burn.
「Eeeei!」
Then the girl came swinging at her like a flash of lightning, seemingly out of nowhere. Sakuya blocked the incoming strike with her fan, sending a cascade of sparks into the air. Her fan was not reinforced in any way, it was just a simple wood and paper, but even so, Mari’s sword had difficulties slashing through it.
「Now I’ve got you.」
Sakuya smiled thinly as her flames all converged on Mari’s location. The walls rose to protect her, but she knew that this is not going to be enough to stop them. They hit the walls and burned them to the ground.
「What trickery is this?!」
Or at least that’s how it was supposed to be.
「Why are they not melting?!」
The walls were definitely on fire, but they were not melting.
It is impossible. To do that, they must’ve been just like Sakuya, resistant to fire and all sources of heat.
「I don’t understand it at all, but…!」
As Sakuya was puzzled, a voice that sounded like the screeching of metal sounded from behind Mari’s back.
「… All I see is a millennial old bag trying to hurt my beloved angel! I sure hope that you’re prepared to face the consequences of your blasphemy against little girls, you tw*t!」
「Logan!」
Mari cried cheerfully at the four-armed demon who emerged from the magic circle drawn on one of the walls.
「M-Millennial old bag?! Such impudence!」
Sakuya frowned, to the point where wrinkles began to show between her brows. It was obvious that the demons insult was directed at her.
「Hoo boy, who would’ve thought that I’m actually going to meet someone who is even older than me? That just goes to show, life’s a crazy bag of marbles.」
As he waved one of his arms, the flames around Mari gradually decreased.
「My flame!」
「You call that a flame? Sorry to disappoint ya granny, but that “flame” of yours ain’t even half as hot as the fire of passion towards little girls burning in my chest!」
Despite his gloating, Logan was only able to dwindle the flames for a short time.
「Mari, my angel, it would be awesome if you could settle this now!」
「Umu!」
Responding to Logan, Mari rushed forward and pierced Sakuya with her Cold Sword.
「This… degree is… nothing…!」
Sakuya’ body began to emit high volumes of smoke and steam, but Mari’s power was not enough to completely extinguish her flames.
「Elder Sister!」
When she screamed, Spina came out of her clothes and took her usual shape.
「Requesting my help for something like this, you still got ways to go when it comes to handling magic.」
「I know, I know, all right? Could you just hurry it up and help me?!」
The flames that began to leak out of Sakuya’s body grew in intensity and threaten to engulf Mari and the others. Logan was doing his best to suppress them, but he was slowly being pushed back.
「Not to mention you’re being weaker than me when…」
「Oh for f*cks sake!」
Mari commanded two of her remaining swords to come forth and stab Sakuya while going through Spina’s neck. As she turned her face towards her, Mari also hit her on the lips. With her own lips.
Surprisingly, they were much softer than she thought.
Thinking such lewd things, Mari began to drain spina off her magic power and channeled it into her Cold Sword. Amplified by it, the sword dug itself deeper into Sakuya’s chest, up to the very handle.
「You think you can defeat me… in my domain?!」
Coughing up blood, Sakuya waved her fan once more.
But instead of summoning the great flames, she used a smaller one that cancelled Mari’s cold air.
「No way! This is…!」
「You’re quite skilled, I have to give you that.」
Aur praised their opponent.
Essentially, what both Sofia and Sakuya manipulated was not magical power, but at the same time it wasn’t something totally unrelated to it.
If you are manipulating the four elements themselves, it was possible to cancel them with the stronger power of the opposing element. For Sakuya, who represented fire, Mari’s Cold Sword was especially deadly. But Mari was couldn’t hold out for much longer. Even with Spina’s magic power, her own magical power was being consumed at an alarming rate.
「Guh…!」
She had almost no strength left in her arms to try and pull the sword out of her opponent. But she did more than enough.
「Now then.」
Aur directed a question at Sakuya, who was locked with Mari in a deadly war of attrition.
「I have judged you worthy enough. Would you like to receive a reward from a Hero? I offer you to make a contract with me. Accept it and save your life, or refuse and die a miserable death by the hand of my companion. Which would it be? What will be your choice?」