1
Discant's self-suggestion.
It was no mere psychological effect -- it was a power that manifested invincible protection in the real world.
Under the protection that "no enemy can defeat the Spirit Beast Discant," all interference -- whether spells or martial arts -- was nullified.
But Discant had been struggling with an unconscious conflict.
Why does he keep standing back up?
The human swordsman's slashes had been nullified. Not just once or twice, but three times -- and he was certain he could nullify them an infinite number of times.
But the same was true for Discant.
No matter how much he attacked, he couldn't bring this human down.
Far from fearing the Spirit Beast, this swordsman refused to accept defeat, rising to his feet again and again. Faced with that sight, the realization had crept in.
Was it possible that a Spirit Beast who could only manage a draw against a human who should have been far beneath him... was actually weaker than he believed himself to be?
That was the moment a crack appeared in Discant's self-suggestion.
Namely: while on the surface the protection that "no enemy can defeat the Spirit Beast Discant" seemed like guaranteed victory, the paradox that "the Spirit Beast Discant also cannot defeat his enemy" held equally true. And he had realized it.
Just as it had been when he faced the man once called the Sword Emperor.
...He couldn't bring down a single human.
...A Spirit Beast who could only manage a draw against a being that should have been far beneath him.
The moment he recognized his own weakness --
The very root of his strength -- his "pride" -- had been stripped from the great Spirit Beast.
You dare call me arrogant? But know this: if you have convinced yourself of victory merely because you scratched my Suggestion, then that is the true arrogance.
"Not a chance. We're finally on even ground. Finally."
This thing had survived the End War and operated in the shadows as part of the Silent Agency. Stripping away the armor of invincibility didn't mean the beast underneath was weak.
...The real fight starts here. Nothing's changed -- I still can't use the Spirit Sword of Flame.
...Whether I can beat this thing as a single swordsman.
He gripped the spirit sword in both hands.
"Let's go."
The boy charged, and the beast surged forward to meet him.
Both closed the distance at once.
As Discant reared up with his massive forelegs, Ren pressed his body flat against the stone floor and slid underneath -- a slide through the gaps between Discant's six legs.
He plunged into the beast's underbelly. The belly, wrapped in scales yet still unguarded -- Ren swung Spirit Sword Vierge upward with everything he had.
-- A hard impact.
The unexpected shock ran through both hands gripping the sword's hilt.
"It's hard!?"
He had destroyed the "armor" that Spirit Beast Discant wore -- the Invincible Suggestion was gone.
This wasn't like before, when his attacks had been nullified. His strikes were definitely reaching the beast now.
But even setting that aside, the Spirit Beast's hide was impossibly tough.
So you understand now.
Spirit Beast Discant looked down at him.
You, a child of man, cannot wound me.
At Galia Flame Mountain, Ren had used this very Spirit Sword Vierge to defeat the Demon General of Blaze, Achendia.
But no matter how powerful the force dwelling within it, without the spirit's power actually working, even a spirit sword was nothing more than an unusually sturdy blade.
Even if you exploit the fraying of my Suggestion, know that the "caliber" of our existences is fundamentally different.
Light kindled on the Spirit Beast's wings.
A faint glow like phosphorescence, shimmering like a heat haze.
"That light from before!?"
The instant that light touched him, his body's freedom was forcibly stripped away. Last time, Demon King Versalem's quick thinking had freed him from the restraints, but this opponent wouldn't allow the same trick twice.
The light swelled to a blinding intensity.
In that same instant, Ren leapt.
He caught his toe on a seam between the flagstones, used it as a pivot to twist his body into a spin. He slipped beneath the spirit light in a stance so low his shoulder grazed the ground.
You still resist?
The Spirit Beast lowered itself into a crouch.
"This isn't resistance. It's me winning."
Barely ten meters separated them. Already inside Discant's range, in a do-or-die moment, Ren's mind flashed back to his battle with the strongest swordsman he'd faced in The Hegemon City Elmekia.
...Zelbright swung that kind of destructive power... with just a steel sword.
...If I could do something to match that one strike.
"Gnome. Salamander."
Far behind him.
The two spirits watching with anxious eyes -- Ren gave them a small nod.
"I understand you have your reasons for not being able to move. I won't push it. I won't ask you to fight alongside me either. But instead -- just watch over me."
...!
Got it!
The two spirits' faces brightened at once.
Bolstered by those words, he plunged into the beast's range.
Have you still not grasped it? What can a single sword accomplish?
"You've got no Invincible Suggestion left. So --"
A sage who had lived since the age of creation, a beast who had faced the Brave Hero in the End War.
Even under the glare of those four eyes --
"It shouldn't be impossible to beat you!"
He gripped the shining sword in both hands.
You--!?
The Spirit Beast's eyes went wide. It had realized. Ren's aim. Even for a powerless human, one possibility remained to defeat this great Spirit Beast.
"You're the one who said it first -- Eleline left a wound on you."
The beast's wound.
The proof of its defeat at Eleline's hands, when the Brave Hero had broken its Invincible Suggestion -- it was right there.
-- The scar on its forehead.
Amid the pure-white radiance of its body, a single slash mark carved in jet black.
No matter how impenetrable the hide protecting it, a scar was different. That spot alone should still be fragile. A sword swung with mere human strength might just be enough.
"Reach--!"
Before the Spirit Beast could react.
He threw his own weight behind his arm strength and brought the sword crashing down on the beast's skull. And then.
......!
A heavy impact.
Before Ren's eyes, the great beast that called itself invincible staggered for the first time.
"It reached!?"
"Not enough -- that's too weak!"
Demon King Versalem's roar echoed across the arena.
Whether it was a Demon King's stubborn pride, or fury at the humiliation of having his right arm and left leg obliterated -- battered and broken, propping himself up with his shattered staff, the lord of the Underworld had risen to his feet.
"Orbs of Eternal Darkness."
Seven spheres of darkness manifested, encircling Spirit Beast Discant.
"Detonate!"
At Versalem's command, the dark spheres ruptured.
The massive orbs shattered into countless blades that stabbed into the Spirit Beast's entire body, piercing the hide and penetrating deep within, where they erupted into hellfire that seared the beast from the inside out.
...Did that do it?
His sword -- which until now had been useless -- and the Demon King's spells had finally landed a direct hit.
He looked up at the Spirit Beast writhing and belching black soot from its body --
Insolent wretches!
That was when the wounded beast let loose a roar of rage.
A being of pure spiritual existence -- the roar it produced was not sound, but a destructive shockwave laced with an invisible wave.
There is no future in which the likes of you surpass me!
The flagstones that formed the floor of the Subjugation Duel Stage.
Crystallized spell-stones that had withstood even the Demon King Coronation Ceremony -- they crumbled to sand and scattered into nothing the instant the Spirit Beast's wave struck them.
Begone!
"Kh... hah...!"
There was no time to block. The invisible wave slammed into their bodies, and both Ren and the Demon King were hurled against the stone walls of the arena.
"--"
The impact and searing pain in his back cut his consciousness for an instant.
Through the dust-choked air, what Ren saw was the Spirit Beast -- its entire body still ablaze with hellfire -- lunging at the fallen Demon King.
You should recognize this. The Morrigan's ghost-fire. You're the one who used it against me. If it carries the beast attribute, then even a demon beast's power--
Phantom flames appeared above the Spirit Beast's head. They became countless beams of light that rained down on the Demon King's body.
Replication is trivial.
Superheated white blades. Hundreds of flashes rained down, piercing the Demon King's body from head to toe.
"Versalem!?"
There was no answer to Ren's scream.
The Demon King lay pinned to the floor as though nailed in place. One hand and one leg gone, his entire body seared by the cascading flashes -- it was impossible to tell whether he was even conscious anymore.
"...Damn it!"
He berated his agonized body and hauled himself up using his sword as a crutch.
But he wouldn't make it in time.
Before Ren could break into a run, Spirit Beast Discant had already begun channeling its power again.
This ends now.
Ghost-fire radiated from the Spirit Beast.
It became countless flashes bearing down on the Demon King, and --
-- Dark star of the underworld, fall from the heavens --
The cascading flashes were crushed from above by a dark star plummeting from even higher.
...The sky fell.
If he had to put it into words, that was the most fitting description.
The gray clouds blanketing the sky above, the atmosphere, the aurora -- all of it solidified in an instant, transforming into a dark star of immense weight that crashed down onto the arena.
--!
The plummeting dark star crushed the Spirit Beast's wings and buckled its entire body.
"A noisy lot. So the beast from the End War has come calling."
Click...
A sharp footstep echoed through the Demon King's coronation arena.
"I am generous."
Cold, chaotic pitch-black Demonic Aura.
It swirled around Demon King Versalem like a vortex, converging and condensing at breathtaking speed.
"I'll overlook you trampling into my estate uninvited. And I'll even let it slide that you've wrecked my precious Subjugation Duel Stage. However --"
A tall girl cloaked in black Demonic Aura.
"The audacity of attacking my foolish little brother and my party members -- that is the one exception."
There, cradling the wounded Demon King, stood a bewitching demon of devastating beauty.
Brown skin, long hair that shifted between black and chestnut depending on the light. Her eyes, blazing with fierce resolve, shone red-brown as she held the Demon King and fixed her gaze squarely on Ren.
...That face?
...Do I... know her?
She looked like a completely different person. Her tied-up hair had come loose, and her clothing had transformed into something ominous under the influence of the black Demonic Aura -- but the girl standing before him was --
Demon Imperial Princess Eliselis?
"Hmph. So you do remember my face, beast -- I can see it in your expression."
The demon girl brushed off the Spirit Beast's roar with a faint smile.
And then.
"Ren, run! You can stare at my gorgeous face later!"
"...Elise!?"
"Just kidding. Surprised?"
She gave a playful, mischievous wink.
The sheepish, slightly embarrassed half-smile told him more clearly than anything that his hunch was right.
-- Elise.
This bewitching demon was her true form.
And precisely because he trusted his companion, Ren broke into a sprint toward the Spirit Beast.
"Even if your spirit sword can't touch this opponent, challenging a Spirit Beast as a lone swordsman -- that resolve is admirable. But you don't have to carry this alone. You have a companion -- me."
Pitiful. What can you hope to do in that state, Eliselis?
The elder sister cradling her dying brother. The beast glared down at the sight.
The great Spirit Beast had instantly grasped the truth: even in her former Demon Imperial Princess form, this was merely a temporary state sustained by the Forbidden Spell.
Beads of sweat were already standing out on Elise's forehead.
Her body had been drained from the battle against the Eidos. She had barely recovered enough to move, and forcing consecutive activations of the Forbidden Spell was pushing her far beyond her limits.
And yet --
You, lord of demons who cannot comprehend our voices -- your form will reach its limit soon enough.
"Hm? Did you just bark at me?"
The Demon Imperial Princess didn't flinch in the slightest.
"Unfortunately, your voice doesn't reach me. Whatever you're howling sounds no different from a common beast's baying."
Bluffing... You lost your power and your body three hundred years ago. The reincarnated you is nothing more than a nameless, common demon!
"Those bared fangs -- that bluster. Tell me, arrogant beast, is it born from overconfidence in your own power?"
The former Demon King looked down at the beast, its movements sealed by the dark star.
And then.
"No... it wasn't just you. Perhaps the truly arrogant ones were us, all along. Myself, Fear, and Kyelse -- we all held absolute confidence in our own strength. And just as much, we placed absolute trust in Eleline's strength. That's exactly why --"
Cradling her younger brother with her left arm.
Elise -- her black hair streaming -- extended her remaining right hand toward Ren.
"Back then, I never would have imagined something like this."
Black Demonic Aura danced on the wind.
Ren raced across the Subjugation Duel Stage. At its center, the Demonic Aura pouring from Elise converged and wove itself into a solid form.
What materialized was a single massive black lance.
-- The Infernal Lance Mariablaze.
The supreme treasure that had even shattered the Rejection-Eidos, which reflected all spells.
Because it was a crystal forged directly from Elise's own spell-power, the lance bore the name of the Demon Imperial Princess herself: Eliselis Di Mariablaze.
"Here, Ren -- a special present from me."
Elise smiled.
"Take it."
Impossible--!?
The Spirit Beast's first and last moment of fear.
But it had realized too late.
Precisely because it had faced Eleline's Sword Emperor party three hundred years ago -- precisely because it knew their strength -- this haughty beast had failed to see it.
That Party "Knight of Reincarnation" was --
Not an imitation of Eleline's Sword Emperor party, but its rebirth.
...Right, Ren?
...We, too, have changed since three hundred years ago. Show me the proof.
A Demon King entrusting a weapon to a human.
-- In all of history from creation to the present day, it was without precedent.
The boy who had made that miracle real threw himself into the vortex of waves.
"Spirit Beast Discant -- you were trapped in the past, when you were still invincible."
Running at full speed.
He wrenched the Infernal Lance Mariablaze from the ground and raised it to the sky.
A crystal of spell-power that felt weightless, just like the spirit sword. At its tip, black Demonic Aura spiraled and converged.
And then.
"That's why --"
You--
"Our victory belongs to us -- the ones who chose to move forward."
A clear, resonant sound.
The black lance that Ren swung pierced through Spirit Beast Discant's forehead at last.
2
A courtyard blooming with plants of dazzling color.
Endangered species from the Underworld. It would be no exaggeration to call this a paradise for the rare plants sheltered within the Demon King's Palace.
In that vast garden, rivaling a sea of trees --
"A telepathic message from Lady Elise. The beast that invaded the Subjugation Duel Stage has retreated."
"...So I heard."
At the report from Luluphonica, the Demon General of Ice, Kyelse's lips curled upward. The challenging tone and fearless smile were directed at neither Fear, who stood beside her with fists raised, nor Achendia, the Demon General of Blaze, whose flames burned white-hot.
"Though I expect you already sensed as much."
...
Facing them stood a translucent figure of pure spiritual waves -- a Spirit Wave Body.
Its features resembled a blond human, but its semi-transparent form, its shining vestments, and the overwhelming pressure it emanated -- all of it belonged to a higher existence beyond any human comparison.
"All that's left is to take back the Demon Seal you stole."
...
"Quiet, are you? Or if you are saying something, it's probably nothing worth hearing anyway."
Three hundred years, and nothing had changed.
This entity, so similar to a spirit, never spoke a single word. Even if it had been speaking, Kyelse and the others, unable to hear the voice of spirits, would never know what it meant.
...Maybe Ren could.
...Could he understand what this thing is saying?
The one thing she did understand was that this shining being harbored clear hostility and attacked them. Past and present, unchanged.
"Achendia, how's your arm?"
"Fine. It'll be back to normal soon enough."
Achendia, whose left arm was gone from the elbow down.
The damage had been inflicted by the Silent Agency member Isis's Purifying Fire -- Demonic Aura, spells, and flesh all annihilated simultaneously. But the demon who had taken that light showed no distress, and the Luluphonica who asked the question was equally matter-of-fact about it.
Everyone understood.
This was the kind of enemy they were dealing with.
As a Spirit Wave Body of the same essential nature as spirits, this enemy outranked dragons, angels, and demons alike in terms of existential "caliber."
And its temperament was incomparably more aggressive than any spirit's. One wrong move in combat, and even this group risked total annihilation.
"Be careful. That light -- it's the same kind that dealt Lady Elise a fatal wound. You'll need a reincarnation yourself if you take a hit."
"Not a problem. If anything, it's getting my blood pumping."
The scarlet demon raised her crimson arm.
The very reason she was called the incarnation of flame -- as Achendia's fury swelled, her fire and spells grew stronger without limit.
The more you cornered her, the more dangerous she became. That was the Demon General of Blaze.
"We finish this next strike. Lady Kyelse, Lady Fear, please prepare yourselves."
The Demon General of Ice, Luluphonica, stepped forward.
The instant she moved to snap her fingers --
...
The shining being vanished in a flash.
"...It's gone?"
"Seizing the Seal was its top priority, it seems. Having taken one of the three Seals, it determined we could no longer reach the Isle of the End."
Fear opened her clenched fists and sighed.
"There are two possible aims for those beings. One is to land on the Isle of the End and destroy the Encore. The other is to revive 'that thing' that he -- Eleline -- fought during the End War. Though whether the latter is even possible remains unconfirmed. After all, back then..."
"Don't. I know."
Kyelse shook her head weakly at the urgency in Fear's gaze.
"There's no proof. We'll have to see for ourselves, won't we?"
"Yes. And to do that, reaching the Isle of the End is an absolute requirement. We must arrive before those beings and protect the Encore at all costs. Otherwise --"
"...An encore of calamity is unavoidable."
She closed her eyes.
Kyelse stood motionless in the courtyard where the shining one had vanished, lingering in silence.
3
"Mmgh... I nearly needed a reincarnation ceremony."
Demon King Versalem sighed with relief on his throne.
Despite losing nearly half his body in the battle against Spirit Beast Discant, the figure seated in his chair maintained a Demon King's dignity.
"Now then, everyone. You have my commendation for defending the courtyard gate. I've received reports that damage to the estate was minimal. The issue now is the stolen Demon Seal -- ow!?"
"Commendation my foot, you idiot brother!"
Elise launched herself from behind the throne.
Gone was the bewitching Demon Imperial Princess Ren had seen -- she was back in her familiar child form.
"You're the one who got the Demon Seal stolen in the first place!"
"...I have no excuse."
Elise stared at the Demon King for a while as he hung his head feebly.
Then she quietly turned away and muttered.
"...You had me worried... Get stronger already, will you..."
"Hm? Did you say something just now, Sis?"
"Shut up!"
The brown-skinned little girl kicked her brother again.
Looking up at the spectacle, Fear stepped forward with a composed expression.
"Ren, how are your wounds?"
"...Me? Oh, I'm mostly fine now. Thanks to you, Fear-senpai -- the bleeding's stopped and the wounds have closed up, at least."
Fear's healing spells had stopped the bleeding.
But the truth was... while the wounds from the Spirit Beast had sealed over, a dull ache refused to subside, still throbbing deep in his body.
"Your color still isn't good. Why not rest for today?"
"Yeah. But there's something bothering me."
Ren met the gaze of the Archangel watching him with gentle concern, and nodded with all the composure he could muster.
"We drove off the Spirit Beast, but we still need to get the Demon Seal back from that Isis. I've been wondering how."
"...That's a difficult question. I can't think of a solution off the top of my head."
Fear answered with a sigh.
"Let's organize the situation. To cross the barrier sealing the Isle of the End, we need three Seals. Ren holds the Goddess's Seal, Kyelse holds the Dragon Seal. And the Demon Seal has been stolen by the Silent Agency member calling himself Isis."
If their goal was simply to block the party's path, stealing one Seal would have been enough.
But Isis and Spirit Beast Discant had attacked with the intent to seize all the Seals. Which meant --
"Fear-senpai. If the Silent Agency is after all three Seals, that means their goal is landing on the Isle of the End too, right?"
"That's my assessment as well. Which means we must prepare ourselves for a battle over the Seals. The Silent Agency will certainly strike again. And the side with the advantage in that tug-of-war is --"
"Them."
Ren finished the thought before Fear could.
"If they can attack us even inside the Demon King's Palace in the Underworld, they can probably track us down and attack no matter where we hide. But we can't do the reverse -- we can't take the fight to them, so..."
"Exactly. We have no idea where in the world those beings are hiding."
They were the ones who would keep getting ambushed.
The remnants of the End War's calamity could strike anywhere, anytime. How impossibly difficult would it be to fend them off and reclaim the Demon Seal?
...Then is there no other way?
...Some method of reaching the Isle of the End even without the Demon Seal?
"Hey, Elise? Just hypothetically --"
"A way to get to the Isle of the End without the Demon Seal? Hmm. That's tough."
Elise crossed her arms at the foot of the throne, reading his mind.
"Lulu, on that note -- any ideas? You helped out when Eleline asked the Demon King to make the Demon Seal back then, right?"
"Yes. But as for a way to breach that barrier without a Seal..."
The housekeeper answered with a shadowed expression.
"The key to opening the Isle of the End... it was something the Demon King originally created, so given enough time... No, but there's no getting past that 'storm.' And for Ren, being human... then using the Gate's transfer function? No, but even then..."
Lulu pressed her brows together and closed her eyes.
That she -- the Demon King's closest aide and the oldest of the Five Great Disasters -- was stumbling this badly over her words spoke more plainly than anything about the gravity of their situation.
"Uh, um -- just to check. Two Seals really wouldn't cut it? To break through the isle's barrier?"
"I'm afraid not."
Lulu looked up with a wry smile.
"If Ren, holding two Seals, were to touch the isle's barrier without the Demon Seal..."
"...Right. And then what?"
"Your entire body would be broken down into roughly two hundred pieces and swept out to sea."
"That's way more catastrophic than I imagined!?"
No wonder Lulu was smiling wryly.
"The same would happen to me. So the most straightforward approach is still to 'take back what was taken' -- from whoever calls himself Isis."
Silence fell over the Demon King's Palace.
Everyone understood.
The surest path to reach the battlefield of the End War was to reclaim the Seal.
"Can't we all think it over together? Get ideas from the goddess of Heaven, or Calra -- anything. Whether it's a way to take back the Seal or some other plan entirely. We just need a way to get to the Isle of the End...!"
"Please give me one night."
Lulu uncrossed her arms and placed a hand over her chest.
"I'll look into the isle's barrier. Let's leave it here for today... Everyone must be exhausted -- Ren especially."
"Me? Thanks. But like I said, I'm doing a little better."
The pain and tension from the battle still hadn't faded, keeping his mind too sharp for sleep.
He doubted he could sleep even if he returned to his room.
"Elise -- what do you think those guys are after at the Isle of the End?"
"What they want at the isle? Hmm... One thing I'm pretty sure of is they're after the Encore. As for the rest... honestly, that's what I'd like to know myself."
She shrugged.
"My honest take? It's definitely nothing good."
"...Yeah."
Elise -- a demon -- couldn't hear the voices of spirits, so she had no way of knowing.
But Ren alone had heard Isis's proclamation at the scene with absolute clarity.
The proclamation to purge dragons, angels, and demons from this world. But what reason would the Silent Agency have for heading to the battlefield of the End War with that goal in mind?
"Ren, what's up?"
Elise tilted her head, noticing his silence.
"Something on your mind?"
"No, I'm fine. Just organizing my thoughts. A lot happened, you know."
He put on a smile to hide his unease.
The disasters of the End War almost certainly hadn't changed their objective in three hundred years.
And the fact that they had gone so far as to steal the Seals meant there must be something on the Isle of the End that they needed to achieve that objective.
...Could it be.
...That the Encore is what they're after?
Even the remnants of the End War were targeting the Encore.
Whether they wanted to obtain it or destroy it.
He had no way of knowing which, but --
"Fear-senpai."
He turned to her.
"It might be jumping ahead a little, but the Isle of the End... it could end up being our final destination."
"Indeed. If we manage to secure the Seals."
The golden-haired Archangel nodded, her voice soft and measured.
"I believe that would also fulfill our party's objective of finding the Encore. The final battle with the Silent Agency surely awaits us there as well, but there's no doubt it would be the conclusion of our journey thus far."
"The conclusion of our journey, huh..."
He endured the pain of the wounds covering his body.
Resting his hand on the hilt of the spirit sword, freshly rewrapped in bandages, Ren bit his lip.
"We'll get there. The truth of everything, and the Encore -- they're both waiting for us."
Reader notes