Chapter 397: The Reunion with Don

Chapter 397: The Reunion with Don

“Pochi... Hey, Pochi!”

“Yes, sir!?”

“Thank God you’re awake now. Sorry, but can you cast some healing spells for Bruce and Haruhana?”

“Ah– huh? Ah. Yes, sir!”

After Lucifer left, Asley woke Pochi up by repeatedly slapping her cheeks.

Then he had her tend to their two unconscious comrades, then went to pick up his Drynium Rod.

“Master, they’re not waking up...”

Pochi placed Haruhana on her back and picked Bruce up with her mouth.

“They were directly exposed to Lucifer’s arcane energy. That’s bound to mess with their systems at least a bit.”

“...So Gaspard really is Lucifer, sir?”

“Yeah, without a doubt. The way he speaks, his eyes, and the fact that... somehow, he is now the Devil King.”

“W-wait, how is that supposed to work!?”

“He probably went and killed the Devil King... Which would explain why the Devil King’s arcane energy suddenly disappeared. I mean, Gaspard and-or Lucifer must be strong enough to beat a newly-resurrected Devil King.”

“And he must have gotten stronger since the last time we faced him at the Regalia Castle, yes?”

“I guess? I couldn’t sense his power level because... you know. But he did hit harder compared to last time.”

“Can you even beat him...?”

“Right now? Definitely not. I gotta get my arcane energy back first, for one. I won’t even be able to stand in front of him if I don’t have anything to counteract his arcane energy pressure. And by counteract, I mean I have to release my own arcane energy... on a level close to Ultimate Limit.”

“...In other words, the only ones who can stand in front of him are you and Master Tūs, yes?”

Asley realized that only after Pochi pointed it out.

“Oh yeah, that’s right!”

“W-why are you so casual about this, sir!? You were supposed to be humanity’s strongest — then you just got beaten up like nothing! And I saw every single moment of it, you know!”

“What the hell!? If only I had my arcane energy, I would’ve been able to fight back! Probably!”

“Nope, that looked like an overwhelming defeat to me! Even if you had arcane energy, I bet there would still be a forty percent chance of you winning — actually, no, make that thirty percent!”

With Pochi saying that, Asley could only widen his eyes in surprise.

“......What is it, sir?”

“Well, you know, that’s a... surprisingly generous prediction.”

“...! Thirty percent is pretty low, you know! M-maybe it’s actually twenty! Maybe just ten, even!”

“Now you’re just reducing it for no reason! Stop it! You’re embarrassing me!”

“Why!? I’m just CALMLY analyzing your capabilities, Master!”

“Well, I’mma analyze your capabilities, too!”

“What do you mean!?”

“For one, you’re the only one who can beat the Hell Emperor right now!”

“Huh!? A-a-a-are you sure!? I’m sure you can do it too — as well as Master Tūs and Lylia! We also have Weldhun, Bull, Shi’shichou, and also the other Heavenly Beasts!”

“I’ve gotta deal with Lucifer, and Tūs might not even help out at all, that’s why! The rest of us also gotta fight so many others — Leon, Idïa, Billy, Cleath, the controlled warriors and mages, and the Alphas and Betas! The Hell Emperor is Lucifer’s Familiar now — you know it’s only going to get stronger and stronger from now on. Ideally, we’d kill it before it can grow bigger... but we didn’t prepare enough this time. So you’ll have to do that later!”

“Why... Why am I always manipulated into doing what you want...?”

Pochi whimpered as she sat down, prompting Asley to deny her statement,

“Look, if anyone’s being manipulated around here, it’s me! ME!”

“Now then, we must first return to T’oued and report to everyone, sir!”

“How the hell are you even able to change the topic so easily!?”

“Oh, wait...? Is it just me, or does Bruce actually taste pretty good?”

Pochi proceeded to completely ignore everything Asley said — aside from the part about returning to T’oued. First, they walked back to the basement room in Kugg Village.

There, a large group of warriors and mages had gathered, and was in the middle of carrying away the treasure.

Irene, also waiting in the basement room, noticed Asley and Pochi’s return.

“Is Beilanea doing all right now?”

“More or less... Sir Tangalán and Sir Dragan are doing all they can to help. But even that wouldn’t have been possible without your efforts.”

“Oh, no, I’m just doing all I can as well.”

“How did you travel here, by the way?”

“We received help from that little lady over there.”

Don turned in another direction, and Asley did so as well.

Then he saw Tifa... with the Chihuahua Tarawo sitting on her head.

“Tifa! Didn’t you go back to school already?”

After the fight between Asley and Tūs, Tifa had headed back to Beilanea.

Asley was surprised to see her back in T’oued so soon.

“The Magic University has... closed down for now.”

Hearing Tifa’s explanation, Asley nodded in agreement.

“Ah, that’s fair enough. It’d be hard for the Universities to stay running with the Devil King being back and all. Also, maybe it’s better for you to stop pursuing the positive titles that you would have gotten from the University...”

“Yes. Now I can stay here, too!”

Tifa seemed strangely excited and happy, which came off as quite a surprise to Tarawo.

“Inconceivable! Why do you sound so happy, Tifa!? This is the resurrected Devil King we are dealing with! Still, I suppose this is a challenge I must face! The time to decide which one of us is superior — the King Wolf or the Devil King! Fwahahaha! Very well! I shall slice the Devil King into pieces with my magical claws! Isn’t that right, Tifa!?”

“Shut up.”

“Huh?”

“Shut. Up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Asley could not help but chuckle at the exchange between them.

A few moments later, Blazer, Betty, Lala, and Tzar — coiling around Lala as usual — came over, having been called by Trace’s Telepathic Calls.

“What’s wrong, Asley?”

“Sounded like it’s something urgent.”

Betty and Blazer immediately asked what they were needed for.

“Ah. Sorry to call you over so suddenly, but... Wait, what are you doing here, Lala?”

“I dunno!”

Lala said, tilting her head.

Then Tzar spoke up, explaining in her stead,

“”Because you said you needed the caster of the Teleportation Spell Circle to Radeata...””

“Yes, I did. So Lala is the one who’s maintaining it, then?”

“”That is so. Now, Lala, connect this place to the Spell Circle.””

“”Yes, Sir Instructor!””

While Lala drew the Teleportation Spell Circle, Asley went over to Blazer, Betty, and Don Kisaragi, and showed them the letter from Garm.

Then Blazer and Betty smirked and said,

“Now I see why you’d want us here.”

“And my brother’s not good to go since he’s still out cold... Well, that’s fine by me!”

“Let’s call the others, too. Natsu should be especially helpful.”

“Okay, leave it to me!”

Betty proceeded to use Telepathic Calls to notify the rest of Team Silver.

And then Don, after getting to read Garm’s letter, muttered to himself,

“Now THIS is interesting...!”

An individual human’s power did not amount to much, like little twigs — but if enough twigs were bundled together, they could become unbreakable.

Even when faced with the reality of Lucifer’s resurrection, Asley’s eyes were burning... with a silent passion.