<h4>Volume 19, Chapter 10 - The Demon King Is Summoned</h4>
Part 1
Around the spiral angel were glowing runes that resembled High Ancient.
This wasnguage for altering physicalws in this world, rewriting them—
ording to Est, the enemy was an Ophanim, an astral reconnaissance type.
Unlike the Dunamis angel where he had fought in a deadly battle, this was yet another type of angel.
"ire, don''t lower your guard just because it looks like that. This is a genuine monster."
"Yes. After all, Scarlet is shaking this much."
metongue held in ire''s hand was producing low rumbling that resembled ultrasound.
A spirit weapon like Est, Orlinde was reacting to the enemy''s power.
"I am trembling in excitement, master."
"I know."
Hearing the proud contracted spirit exin, ire smiled wryly.
"Est, how long will it take to decipher those runes?"
''—Yes, within sixty-four seconds.''
"Roughly a minute, huh?"
This was quite a tough duration. However, unless those runes capable of manipting naturalws were deciphered, the attacks from elemental waffen would all end up nullified.
"Got it. A minute. I will buy as much time as possible."
''I will protect you, Kamito. Miss Sword Spirit can focus on analysis.''
As jet-ck magic lightning erupted, Est responded to Restia.
''—Thank you, darkness spirit.''
Est brightened the silver-white de and answered.
''Fufu, with the legendary sacred sword rely on me, I really cannot betray those expectations.''
"Yeah, that''s right—"
Saying that, Kamito poured divine power into the Vorpal Sword.
In that instant, he felt a sting in his left eye, but...
(...Shut up, Ren Ashdoll!)
Unfazed, Kamito continued to release divine power.
This was not an opponent that could be defeated by conserving strength.
"ire, I''ll be the vanguard. Cover me."
"Yes, then allow Scarlet and I to make this thing run in circles."
With a swing of metongue from ire, crimson mes instantly crossed the ground.
They were teammates for the longest time, working together ever since they started participating in the Academy''s ranking tournament.
There was no need to discuss how to coordinate before a battle.
"Let''s go—"
Allowing the divine power gathered in his feet to explode, Kamito kicked the ground hard.
Part 2
Listening to the sounds ofbat behind them, Rubia and the rest of the group ran along the streets that had turned into a wastnd.
Unlike Ellis and Rinslet, who had gone through de dance training at the Academy, and Rubia whose body was enhanced using cursed armament seals, Fianna and the four Queens werecking in physical stamina.
Added to the fact that the ground had been dug up, they almost tripped and fell many times.
"We have to leave this ce as quickly as possible, or else we will get caught up!"
Staying in the rear to protect the Queens, Ellis shouted.
Although she had not witnessed an angel''s power first hand—
If what Kamito had said was true, then their surrounding could turn into scorched earth any moment.
Just then...
"...! Kyah!"
A Queen up ahead screamed.
"...What!?"
Ellis widened her eyes.
A zing wall of fire was blocking their path.
"...! What on earth is going on? Blizzard Breath!"
Rinslet chanted ice spirit magic—
However, the fire grew even stronger, instantly devouring the blizzard.
"Impossible...!?"
Seeing that, Rinslet was shocked.
Next—
"Fufu... Running is futile, little rats on the ground."
"Curse you—!"
Ellis looked up in the sky and shouted.
Only to see in the sky over the fire wall blocking them—
A cute girl dressed in pure white vestments, standing there.
"...! Why is there another Millennia Sanctus!?"
Stopping, Fianna bit her lip.
"How many of them are there?"
"Dear me, do know that I have always been one. All of me are me—"
Millennia Sanctus was holding a crimson greatsword enveloped in mes.
This was presumably the sword that had generated the wall of fire—
Just then—
"...! That sword, could it be—"
Rubia''s voice was hoarse.
Her ruby-like eyes seemed to be burning. Her hair was lit with the color of me.
The spirit seal on her right hand glowed intensely.
A red akin to boiling blood—
"Rubia-sama..."
Noticing something unusual about her demeanor, Fianna murmured in surprise.
As though resonating against the light from her spirit seal—
The deep red magic sword in Millennia''s hand spewed crimson mes.
"Yes, this sword is the ultimate me sword that brings about the world''s end—Ragnarok."
Millennia Sanctus smiled and raised the magic sword.
"The elemental waffe of Fire Elemental Lord Volcanicus."
"Damn you—"
ring angrily at Millennia Sanctus, Rubia slowly spoke up.
She exuding murderous intent from all over her body.
"How dare you take that out in front of me—!"
Fire Elemental Lord Volcanicus.
She was the culprit behind why Rubia had be the Cmity Queen.
The grudge from turning Elstein territory into a sea of fire—
"Aha, what a touching scene, Cmity Queen. Be grateful to me. I shall use this me, which had destroyed your homnd, to burn all of you lot into nothingness!"
The me sword Ragnarok in Millennia''s hand became bright red as though heated red-hot.
In that instant...
"Fahrengart style of the spear, secret technique—Storm Strike!"
Ellisunched Ray Hawk at the wall of fire towering before them.
BOOM!
Enveloped in a storm, the magic spear created an opening in the wall of fire.
"What!?"
The unexpected situation caused Millennia to frown.
"Rinslet, take the Queens and go!"
"Understood! Fenrir!"
Mutual understanding in Team Scarlet allowed Rinslet to react immediately.
She did not say anything extra. The fire wall''spse was only temporary. Any hesitation would have wasted the rare opportunity to escape created by Ellis.
Right now, protecting the four Queens was the most important.
Woof!
Enveloped in a blizzard, the white wolf was summoned out of thin air.
Fenrir took the four Queens with his mouth, waited for Rinslet to mount his back, then leaped across the narrowing gap in one go.
"Little rats with petty tricks, do you expect to escape just like that?"
Sneering, Millennia swung Ragnarok lightly.
A scattering of sparks turned into countless fire hounds, chasing after Fenrir.
"...! This is bad!"
Ellis eximed—
"Oh dear me, is this the time to be worrying about yourpanions, little miss?"
Millennia Sanctus jeered and slowlynded on the ground.
Stabbed into the ground, Ragnarok turned the stone tiles into scorchingva.
"Rubia-sama, please step back—"
Wielding her elemental waffe rapier shining with silver-white light, Fianna spoke.
Their formation was to have Ellis as the vanguard and Fianna covering from behind.
Although with only two of them, this was not reassuring, yet this was currently the best tactical formation avable to them.
However—
"You two, stand down."
Ignoring Fianna''s voice, Rubia walked up to the front.
"...Rubia-sama!?"
"The Fire Elemental Lord shall be mine to handle."
She red at the sneering Millennia Sanctus.
No, it was the Ragnarok held in her hand.
Scorching mes surged out of the Cmity Queen''s hands.
Part 3
Kiiiiiiiiiiiin—
With an ear-splitting noise—
The glowing spiral angel began to spin at high speed.
The glowing runes deployed around it gave off intense light.
"—It''sing, ire!"
Issuing a warning, Kamito released divine power and closed in all at once.
The spiral angel stopped spinning.
From instinct, Kamito judged it to be an attacking motion.
Instantly, the deployed glowing runes gathered into a point and released a sh of light.
(...It''sing!?)
Kamito lowered his posture as though lunging at the ground.
This reaction could only have been performed by predicting an attack.
The lightning beam rushed past the top of Kamito''s head from the focus point.
The air was torn apart. The heat wave from the beam scorched his skin.
Fired in a straight line, the lightning beam''s trail disappeared in the sky far off in the distance behind him.
Had it touched any part of him, his entire body probably would have been turned into ash.
Crushing stone tiles underfoot, Kamito rushed forward resolutely.
"O magic lightning of darkness, crush mine enemies—Vorpal st!"
The jet-ck lightning erupting from the demon sword''s de rained down on the spiral angel.
But—
K... iiii... iiiiiiiiiiiiii—!
The angel deployed glowing runes around it again, producing a weird noise akin to metallic friction.
The magic lightning of darkness, capable of destroying everything, was easily deflected by the angel''s barrier.
This was absolute defense for nullifying the power of spirits, interfering with naturalws of the world.
(...! Sure enough, it doesn''t work, huh?)
Kamito had expected the angel''s defense to rx after a powerful attack.
The spiral angel floated up lightly.
Then six points of light began to contract at the same time.
(...! Carpet bombing next!?)
Discerning the lightning beams'' trajectories, Kamito realized dodging was impossible.
In that case—
(—Est, can you hold up!?)
While jumping to the side, Kamito shouted in his heart.
...But all he got was silence.
(Huh, E-Est...?)
''It''s useless, Kamito. Miss Sword Spirit is currently focused on analyzing the barrier.''
"...No way!"
Hearing Restia''s voice, Kamito groaned in despair.
''Didn''t we agree to buy a minute of time? Very well, let''s go—''
"W-Wait...!"
Just then—
"Dance, a rondo of mes, O flourishing blossoms of scorching mes—re Rose Garden!"
ire''s stern voice was heard.
The spirit magic poured into metongue was released—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Detonation. Centered on the angel, the entire area exploded.
By striking the focus points of the lightning beams, metongue had detonated them.
"ire, you saved me!"
"Scarlet and I will take out the attack''s origin points."
Jumping onto a copsed building, ire brought back metongue with a swish.
"Kamito, keep moving to act as a diversion."
"...Got it. I''ll try to draw its attention as much as possible."
"B-But, don''t overdo it!"
Saying that, ire hastily added.
"Yeah, I''ll be fine."
Chuckling wryly, Kamito readied the Vorpal Sword.
(Time until Estpletes analysis, thirty-four seconds to go. Thirty-three, thirty-two...)
While focusing on the battle at hand, Kamito also kept an urate countdown in his mind.
...As long as he persisted, a chance woulde.
...i, iii, iiiiiiiiiiiii—!
The strange noise was heard again. Burning mes were instantly erased.
This time, runes with a red glow were deployed around the spiral angel.
(—The pattern is different from just now!?)
Of course, Kamito could not understand what the runes meant.
But at least he knew that the iing attack would be different from before.
The glowing runes reached the ground and deployed in a circle.
"It''sing, ire. Be careful—"
"What''sing?"
"Who knows—"
"W-What... Eh, kyah!"
"ire, hold on to me!"
Kamito hurried to ire''s side and pulled her by the arm.
Picking up her kitten-like body in his arms, he jumped on top of rubble.
"Hwa... K-Kamito!?"
ire instantly blushed to her ears. Her eyes became moist.
Just then, the ground under Kamito''s feet turned into mud. His body instantly sank down.
"...!?"
Kamito released concentrated divine power in one go, jumped again, leaping on top of a building.
Centered around the spiral angel, the surrounding buildings slowly sank into the ground.
"W-What is going on...!?"
"This area''s properties has been rewritten—"
Putting ire down on a roof, Kamito looked down.
The road paved with stone tiles had turned into pitch-ck mud, devouring everything.
"T-This is so crazy..."
Stunned, ire grumbled softly.
"This is nothing..."
Still gripping his swords tight, Kamito wiped sweat off his brow.
Soon, the glowing runes vanished and the bottomless swamp turned back into the original ground.
Glowing with rainbow colors, the spiral angel began to slowly spin in one ce.
(But it seems a bit odd...)
Suddenly it urred to Kamito.
Compared to the Dunamis angel he had fought at the Academy, this angel seemed more defensive in action.
Of course, its power was still nothing tough at, but—
(It''s almost like it''s waiting for something to arrive...)
Thinking that, Kamito then noticed.
Apart from the barrier deployed around the angel—
Runes had been spinning inside the spiral this whole time.
(...What''s going on? What is it doing?)
''—Kamito, angel analysisplete.''
Just then, Est''s voice interjected into Kamito''s mind.
Words of High Ancient flowed rapidly around the Demon yer''s de.
"Good job, Est!"
''Yes, Kamito. I shaved off approximately seven seconds.''
With an unemotional voice, Est dered a little proudly.
"Now we can finally counterattack."
"Yes, it''s not my style to keep taking attacks."
''Sharing data with hell cat spirit.''
Resonating, the Demon yer and ire''s metongue began to glow.
"I don''t know why, but this angel doesn''t seem that strong in offense. It''s much easier to handle than the Dunamis angel I met in the Academy."
Just as Kamito was about to counterattack...
''—Wait a moment, Kamito.''
"Whati is it?"
''The existence density inside the angel is rapidly rising.''
The silver-white de shed intensely.
"...Sorry, can you exin more clearly?"
''The angel seems to be summoning something inside it.''
"...What did you say!?"
The spiral angel that continued to spin gave off blinding light.
The spiral unraveled then vanished into thin air—
Something enveloped in light appeared at the same spot.
"...What!?"
Kamito could not help but gasp.
It was a human figure.
A tall human figure, dressed in a jet-ck cape whose shape kept shifting like a shadow.
His entire body was shrouded in dark miasma. Behind that mask, shaped like a skull, was a pair of blood-colored eyes glowing ominously.
That image was almost like—
"...What the hell!?"
The strongest and most vicious being in the history of the continent—Demon King Solomon had appeared.
Part 4
"Aha, what a sense of humor, Cmity Queen!"
With her back to the zing wall of mes, Millennia Sanctusughed, the corners of her lips curling.
"Having lost your power, what could you do now?"
"Lost my power, is that what you think?"
Rubia extended her right arm, enveloped in mes.
"What?"
"—O ancient and unruly mes, take residence in my hand and turn into a sharp de!"
Instantly, a scorching weapon with graceful curves appeared in her hand.
Its shape was very simr to the weapon known as the katana that had existed throughout the ages in a far eastern country.
"Is that an elemental waffe!?"
Fianna widened her eyes, eximing in surprise.
The elemental waffe Laevateinn should have been destroyed during the final round of the de Dance.
Also, Rubia was supposed to have lost the power of the spirit contract.
"Eh, how interesting. Why do you have an elemental waffe?"
"It is not an elemental waffe."
"What did you say?"
Rubia readied the de she had summoned out of thin air.
The de left an after-image of blue mes wherever it swept past.
"Militarized spirit Kagutsuchi, an experimental model I had Vivian Melosa create."
"M-Militarized spirit...?"
Hearing that, Fianna was stunned.
Militarized spirits were meant to be spirit that could be employed without establishing a spirit contract. Normally speaking, they were impossible to turn into elemental waffen.
Even for the Ordesia military, relevant technologies should still be at the research stage.
To think that Rubia had actually implemented it?
"Similiar to my esteemed sister''s Elemental Panzer, huh...?"
"Yes, the theory is quite simr."
Rubia replied.
"Although swordy is not my specialty, at least I am better than you, cardinal."
She red sharply at Millenia Sanctus before her.
The cursed armament seals branded all over Rubia''s body gave off ominous light from under her military uniform.
The blue mes on the de began to burn intensely.
"Rubia-sama, no—!"
Fianna could not help but cry out in rm.
Using so many cursed armament seals at the same time was tantamount to suicide.
"I care not. I am but a moving corpse."
"Ho... Aha, ahahaha, to think I thought it would be something else, unbelievable, a militarized spirit!?"
Millennia Sanctus mocked coldly.
"You intend to cross des with this Ragnarok with something like that?"
The ultimate elemental waffe in Millennia''s hand spewed crimson mes.
The sword was swung.
A giant mansion was sliced diagonally. The top portion slowly slid down.
CRAAAAAAASH!
With noises of destruction one after another, a massive dust cloud floated into the air.
"Thank me for my mercy. I shall grant you swiftness, burning you three nice and clean. So clean, not even ash will be left!"
The remains of the copsed building turned into a rain of fire, falling upon Rubia.
" "Rubia-sama!" "
Fianna and Ellis hastily tried to rush over, but were blocked by the burning debris.
However, Rubia stood calmly amid the pouring rain of fire.
Her crimson hair, ame in appearance, fluttered wildly in the wind.
"Cardinal, you are not worthy to hold that weapon."
Rubia slowly spoke.
"—Someone like you cannot use those mes."
The spirit seal of fire branded on her right hand gave off blinding light.
"...!"
For an instant, Millennia''s body froze as though shocked.
"No need for you two to intervene. I shall handle this."
Turning her head to look back, Rubia said.
"Oh my, your words are killing me withughter. Cmity Queen."
Head lowered, Millennia spoke.
"Very well. As you wish, I will burn you into charcoal!"
With her face filled with anger, Millennia swung Ragnarok.
A snaking dragon of fire swept over the ground, melting stone tiles as it charged forward.
In response, Rubia—
She stabbed her Kagutsuchi into the ground.
"—Not even time can escape a frozen fate, congrating mes of absolute zero—Frost ze!""
The secret passed down the Elstein bloodline.
The otherworldly me capable of freezing even the strongest me in Astral Zero.
"Have you forgotten this me, Volcanicus?"
Amid the freezing blue mes, she said.
"—In that case, I shall make you remember!"
Part 5
—Demon King Solomon.
The most powerful elementalist in history, who had brought terror and chaos to the continent a thousand years ago.
Seeing him appear before their eyes—
"...Say, what the hell happened?"
Kamito asked ire behind him.
"What makes you think I can exin clearly..."
ire''s eyes were equally filled with doubt and confusion.
The appearance disyed before them was just like the Demon King of legend.
(...Say, I''ve seen both that mask and the cape before.)
...Unmistakably, this was the real Demon King.
The being before them was exuding an oppressive aura, enough to convince Kamito beyond doubt.
The Demon Kingnded lightly on the ground. Dense miasma of darkness instantly spewed forth from his entire body.
"Est, what happened? What did the angel do?"
''—A summoning of past temporal coordinates, Kamito.''
"...Huh?"
Kamito''s reply was a question mark.
''A rewriting of the world''sws, invoked by the angel''s authority. Extracting coordinates from the time axis of this world, then materializing it—''
"Uh, in other words, what do you mean?"
"In other words, the Demon King existing from a thousand years ago was summoned here in his entirety?"
Through Ortlinde, ire had heard Est''s voice and responded.
''Affirmative.''
"...So absurd—"
Kamito grumbled.
(...Summoning the Demon King? That''s ridiculous.)
Demon King Solomon was the reincarnation of the Darkness Elemental Lord''s power. If the Demon King before his eyes was the real thing, it meant that the angel had summoned that power along with him.
This ability was practically the same as a miracle. No wonder the Holy Lord wanted it so badly.
The angel''s behavior focused on defense in order to buy time, huh?
—Suddenly, his left eye began to sting.
Perhaps the appearance of a being possessing the same power was causing her to react.
"Summoning the most powerful being recorded in the history of this world."
Holding metongue, ire jumped down to the ground.
Kamito followed, facing off against the Demon King in front of him.
His gaze met with that of the two eyes behind the skull mask, glowing red.
Suddenly, Kamito recalled the young man he had met in the Demon King City.
"...Oh, ohhhh... Oh, ohhhhhhhhhhh...!"
With a weird growling sound, even denser miasma of darkness filled the surroundings.
That voice of hatred seemed to be cursing all of creation.
The Demon King slowly extended his right hand.
"...! Iing!"
"Burn all... souls, ck thunder—Hell st."
—The magic lightning of darkness released from the Demon King came as a raging torrent.