WM – Chapter 264: Demon Lord Battle 4

“Heroes of the Goddesses…huh.” 

The Demon Lord, who has a handsome appearance as if sculpted, speaks. 

Brown skin and white long hair. 

His slightly opened red eyes shone, and the smell of death has been suffocating for a while now. 

Johnny-san was the first, then Volkh-san, Julietta-san, and Anna-san took out their weapons. 

Bifrons isn’t moving. 

We submerged the city around the castle, and destroyed the Demon Lord Castle. 

And yet, the Demon Lord doesn’t seem to be that bothered at all. 

Seeing this, I remember the conversation I had with Ira-sama. 

◇◇

Before we departed from Laberintos, Esther-sama gathered everyone.

Of course, the one speaking was Ira-sama. 

“Now then, we will be subjugating the Demon Lord from here on, but how much do you know about Bifrons?” (Ira)

Ira-sama asks us while standing on the platform with a hand on her waist. 

“He is the king of the vampires!” (Julietta)

Julietta-san raised her hand.

“Right, that’s what’s spread around the public —but that’s wrong. To put it more accurately, the Demon Lord Bifrons is the originator of vampires…the first vampire. That’s why all the undead in this world have been turned undead by Bifrons. That’s why he is called the king of the undead.” (Ira)

Hoh, so that’s how it was. 

The history books of the future were not that detailed about it. 

“Then, he must be really old.” 

Someone muttered this. 

True. If he is the first undead, then he must have lived(?) for quite a long time. 

“1,000,000 years.” (Ira)

“““Eh?”””

Everyone raised their voices at what Ira-sama said.

“It has been 1,000,000 years since the Immortal King Bifrons became a Demon Lord. Within the 9 Demon Lords ruling the Mortal Realm, he is the oldest one. Even the Ancient Dragon Astaroth hasn’t lived 100,000 years.” (Ira)

“I-It is not like being a Demon Lord for long equals being stronger…” 

“The Demon Lord Bifrons is the one who specializes in magic the most among the 9 Demon Lords. The reason is because…the power of magic is proportional to your Proficiency. If you are a mage, you should understand, right? Just how overwhelming magic can become if you study it for 1,000,000 years.” (Ira)

“““……”””

All mages including me gulped.

Looks like he is on a whole other dimension from the enemies until now.

But with the explanation of Ira-sama, the only thing we can tell is the fearsomeness of our opponent. 

“There’s no bright side?” (Makoto)

Everyone’s mood had sunken, so I changed the topic. 

Ira-sama made an ‘Oh?’ face.

So you didn’t notice?! 

“*Cough*. Of course, I also have good information. The weak point of undeads is the sunlight. That goes the same even for the Demon Lord. That’s why, if you are going to pick a fight, you will have an advantage in daytime. And, we have the Light Hero with us!” (Ira)

Everyone’s gazes gather at the Light Hero Anna-san when Ira-sama said this. 

…She has been in her female form the whole time recently. 

I haven’t seen her male form Abel in a while. 

“Bifrons is a powerful Demon Lord. It is questionable whether you can defeat him even if the Earth Hero or the Wood Hero were to hit him with your full power, but if the Light Hero were to hit him with his full power, you can defeat him in one hit!” (Ira)

“““Ooooh!!”””

The excitement around rose in an instant. 

That does sound like we have a winning chance. 

“However, the Light Hero’s power needs to be under the sunlight or it won’t be able to show its full power. Drag Bifrons to the light outside at any cost.” (Ira)

Ira-sama glanced at me.

Does she mean ‘destroy the Demon Lord Castle’?

“Also, one more piece of information. I don’t know if this can be considered a good piece of information, but there’s a point in Bifrons that’s heavily different from the other Demon Lords.” (Ira)

“What is it?” (Makoto)

When I ask, Ira-sama paused dramatically before saying it. 

“His gentle nature. Among the 9 Demon Lords, Bifrons is the gentlest Demon Lord.” (Ira)

◇◇

“My name is Bifrons Goetia. The king that has been left with the management of this land by that personage…you could say? Now then, I would like you to at least introduce yourselves.” (Bifrons)

His tone was gentle. 

It is as Ira-sama said. 

(Takatsuki Makoto…you understand, right? Even if he acts like a gentleman, don’t go lowering your guard.) (Ira)

The thought transmission of Ira-sama reached me. 

Of course, I won’t.

That was the same for the other Heroes. Their expressions were stern as they had their weapons ready. 

“That’s sad… To think there’s not even a response.” (Bifrons)

The Demon Lord laughed lightly. 

“It has been a while since I have eaten a Hero of the Goddesses. I thought about hearing your names as your condolences at the very least, but…well, fine.” (Bifrons)

*…Zuzuzu*

A red magic circle appeared around Bifrons. 

I choked a little bit from the dense miasma. 

(The gentlemanliness of Bifrons is the kindness towards livestock. He doesn’t kill the living beings that he won’t eat… If he is hungry he eats. That’s all there is to it.) (Ira)

I could understand what Ira-sama was saying after seeing the Demon Lord in front of me. 

“[Wind Arrow].” (Johnny)

The several hundreds of magic arrows were shot at the Demon Lord. 

Bifrons didn’t even avoid it. 

A black wall suddenly appeared in front of the Demon Lord. 

(That’s…a darkness barrier spell?) (Makoto)

The hundreds of magic arrows were blocked by the barrier.

“[Mole Slice]!” (Volkh)

“[Gale Sword]!” (Julietta)

The sword waves of the Earth Hero-san and the Wood Hero-san were shot in a way that it would go around the barrier. 

The barrier didn’t activate in time for these ones. 

A big explosion happened, and the ground shook.

The cloud of dust slowly cleared up. 

The Demon Lord’s throne had been destroyed, and what showed there was the Demon Lord who had an arm on the verge of falling with a big wound on his chest. 

“Yay!” (Julietta)

The Wood Hero-san raised her voice in happiness. 

“Fumu.” (Bifrons)

The Demon Lord mutters this lowly, and the wounds of the Demon Lord healed in less than a second.

Not only that, even his attire returned to how it was. 

The Demon Lord was acting as if nothing had happened. 

“““……”””

The 3 who had their attacks end pointlessly fell silent. 

(The spell the Demon Lord is the best at is Regeneration. He is an undead, so he doesn’t feel pain either.) (Ira)

The voice of Ira-sama resonated. 

I heard this beforehand, but to think it would be to this degree…

Looks like it will be impossible to deal damage to him in a normal manner. 

“E-Eh…?” (Anna)

I felt something was off thanks to the voice of Anna-san.

Even the throne the Demon Lord was sitting on had returned to normal. 

Even though it should have been destroyed from the attack of just now. 

The Demon Lord sat back down.

That question was soon answered.

“This castle has my blood in it too. No matter how much you destroy it, it will simply go back to how it was. The destruction that was caused by the Spirit Magic of before has been repaired already. “ (Bifrons)

He said this as if nothing.

…It has already gone back to how it was before? 

The destruction caused by the Comet Fall that I used most of my lifespan on? 

We are inside the castle so we can’t confirm this, but I don’t think the words of the Demon Lord were a lie. 

Looks like the reason why the corridor of before was so clean was because the Demon Lord had Regenerated it. 

“At any rate, I heard that a fearsome Hero that even that personage has to be careful about would be coming, but…are they not here…?” (Bifrons)

We didn’t direct our gazes at the Light Hero Anna-san even when the Demon Lord said that.

We don’t want his attention to be directed at Anna-san as much as possible. 

(That’s right. The last hit has to be dealt by the Light Hero Anna-chan. Prepare the stage for that moment.) (Ira)

I know, Ira-sama.

…Even so…

“Why are you not standing and fighting, Demon Lord Bifrons?” (Makoto)

I ask. 

No matter how gentle he is, does he not get pissed at us for rushing into his house and causing a riot? 

“So you can talk, huh. But how about taking off that mask if you are going to be asking things?” (Bifrons)

“I am a shy one, so I can’t talk without a mask.” (Makoto)

“You are speaking quite fluently despite that.” (Bifrons)

“If you are interested in what’s below my mask, go ahead and pry it away by force like the Demon Lord you are.” (Makoto)

“I see. Then I shall do just that.” (Bifrons)

The voice of the Demon Lord even sounded as if he were having fun.

Does he like talking? 

“Now then, you were asking why I don’t fight…right? That’s because thousands of Heroes have challenged me already. Unfortunately, not a single one managed to defeat me. In other words, I got bored. You bunch are right in the middle of the pack. I was thinking about leaving the dealing of you bunch to my subordinates. I am thinking about taking my leisure time in waiting until my subordinates come back.” (Bifrons)

He was talking with a tone as if he were about to have a coffee. 

In other words, he doesn’t even see us as a threat. 

“What…did you say?” (Volkh) 

“You bastard!” (Johnny)

The Earth Hero-san and Johnny-san’s expressions turn dangerous.

Of course they would feel like that if they were told they aren’t even worth fighting. 

“Great Water Spirit, Dia.” (Makoto)

I called my partner.

I have told her to appear as flashily as possible. 

It is so his attention is pulled as much to us as possible instead of Anna-san. 

The Great Water Spirit Dia appeared by my side while making the air tremble with her mana. 

The eyes of the Demon Lord opened a bit wide from the surprise. 

“Hoooh… A Spirit User that can control an Undine is still alive?” (Bifrons)

“Even with this, you still have no intention of fighting?” (Makoto)

“Fumu… My bad for saying you were in the middle of the pack compared to the Heroes of the past. Your Hero party is mid-top. It has been several tens of thousands of years since I have faced a Great Spirit. The Great Fire Spirit User of that time was strong.” (Bifrons)

The Demon Lord directed eyes at me as if he were feeling nostalgic. 

…Looks like he has been winning against Great Spirits too. 

“Our King…I don’t know if my power will work against that man…” (Dia)

It is rare to see Dia so fainthearted. 

It must mean that’s how big it is. 

Contrasting that, there’s the Demon Lord Bifrons who seems to be greatly interested in me. 

“Undead can’t use Spirit Magic that controls nature. We are a race that’s incompatible with the laws of nature after all. Spirits are difficult to control, and I thought that when it came to Great Spirits, humans with their short lifespans wouldn’t be able to control them… I thought you were a masked young man, but could it be that you are actually a masked old man?” (Bifrons)

“Sorry to break your bubble, but I am still in my teens.” (Makoto)

“Hooh.” (Bifrons)

“““Eh?”””

For some reason, my comrades Johnny-san and the other Heroes were more surprised than the Demon Lord.

Did I not tell them my age? 

How old did they think I was? 

“What splendid talent! To think you reached the point of controlling a Great Spirit in less than 20 years!” (Bifrons)

“Is that so…” (Makoto)

The Demon Lord was excited. 

So he was like this.

“How about it, young man. Would you like to become the 10th Demon Lord? I will recommend you to that personage! We have a magic swordsman that uses Spirit Magic. I think you will be able to get along nicely with them. You know him, right? The man calling himself Cain—” (Bifrons)

“Don’t joke around!!” (Anna)

Anna-san, who had been listening silently until now, raised her voice to a surprising extent. 

“Makoto-san wouldn’t ally with you people! Of all people, getting along with Demon Lord Cain?! Don’t speak nonsense!” (Anna)

Anan-san shouts with an angered voice like a raging fire.

Anna-san answered in my stead.

(…Well, I didn’t intend to betray them, so that’s fine though.) (Makoto)

“I see… If I were to turn you into an undead, you won’t be able to use Spirit Magic after all. I wanted to bring you in as an ally though. That’s a shame.” (Bifrons)

The Demon Lord was making a truly regretful expression. 

Anyways, the hatred of Anna-san towards Cain is rooted deeply down to her marrow. 

I can’t really tell her that we were having pretty fun talks while trying to clear the Deep Sea Temple. 

I have to make sure not to meet him in front of her. 

While I was thinking that, Bifrons was looking at Anna-san with eyes of suspicion. 

“I didn’t notice because of how little presence she had, but…that heaven winged folk Hero there is clad in a mysterious aura.” (Bifrons)

Those words gave us a jolt. 

“…”

Anna-san made a face as if saying this is bad.

This person is incapable of making a poker face…

“I see. According to that personage, the Light Hero is a man, but…it was you, huh. The trump card of the Holy Gods that will one day be called the Savior…” (Bifrons)

A whole lot of red magic circles begin appearing one after the other around the Demon Lord.

It is a magic formula that I have never seen before, and I couldn’t tell what kind of spell it is. 

I don’t think there would be the need for such an exaggerated amount of magic circles for that barrier spell of before. 

“Eyes peeled.” (Makoto)

When I said that, the other people nodded lightly.

“Let me correct myself.” (Bifrons)

The Demon Lord Bifrons stood up.

“According to that personage that can see the future, you people are apparently my worst enemies. Then it is only polite that I answer with my full power.” (Bifrons)

By the time I noticed, a giant black scythe was in the hands of Demon Lord Bifrons. 

That figure of his was like a Death Reaper. 

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