LS – Chapter 356: Thus, prayer

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The demons entered complete awakening in their respective locations, and I could feel it in my skin that the last battle had begun.

Wolfe and Rakura’s return was a development that was possible enough with the personality of Green.

But we can’t be optimistic since the power of Zahava and Lazarikata’s complete awakening are a complete mystery.

“How much do you comprehend them?”

Two men were watching this inside the mind of someone else.

Nariya was watching by my side. It would be better to assume that the space-time magic has already progressed to its last stage.

“How much…huh. Zahava is simple and easy to understand. She is dedicated to the Black Demon Lord that guided her. She is maintaining her sense of self with her warped love that only thinks about dying for her sake. As for Lazarikata…she didn’t have the qualities to endure the long passing of time. It is because of Melvis, who reminded her of her way of being the whole time, that she managed to overcome this.”

“You can see through her relationship with Melvis too, huh. It is as if you were watching by their side.” (Yugura)

“What bothered me is that she picked a fight against the Black Demon Lord despite you being by her side. It is only after realizing that she was acting like a third-rate villain that I could trace the reason for this. Also, well, her reaction whenever the names and state of the fallen people were mentioned.”

When the Black Demon Lord mentioned Idolak and Ukawaki, Lazarikata showed a faint reaction. Also, I remember that the brows of Lazarikata moved slightly when Zahava mentioned that all the other demons had died.

When the Black Demon Lord mentioned the name of the influential demons, she imagined someone that was not there, and she showed denial when it was mentioned that everyone died.

If it was simply that Lazarikata was dependent on this man called Melvis, she wouldn’t have been able to reach complete awakening.

You need to not lose sight of yourself in order to reach complete awakening. It needs to not be only for the sake of someone else, but for your own sake as well.

Zahava was for the sake of offering her own death, Lazarikata was for the sake of maintaining the self that Melvis desired. She managed to show abnormal degrees of attachment towards herself.

“As for Ofaro…there’s no need to even mention it. You need to continue observing your self if you don’t want to lose your sense of self. The biggest factor is egoism. The more self-centered you are, the higher your affinity to being a demon. You are the only one who can be cognizant of yourself after all.” (Yugura)

“Even if it is for the sake of others, as long as it is in essence for yourself, you can still fulfill the conditions, right?”

“Meaning that the ones that had pure loyalty or desire for revenge didn’t have enough selfishness. They could have survived if they loved themself more.” (Yugura)

“It wouldn’t have been enough with just self love though. Zahava and Lazarikata managed to be conscious of their own way of being by getting involved with a third party.”

“People consider that dependency and try to get away from it after all. But it is because they were like that that they managed to sublimate their own dimension. They are the same as the Demon Lords in that they will stand in the way of your comrades as residents of this world’s next era. The people of the old mankind being weeded out is natural in a world where the weak feed the strong.” (Yugura)

“Falling against the new mankind created artificially by a single genius would be too much of a B rate movie.”

“No doubt about it. Even if it were to get popular by some miracle, it sounds like it would flop in its sequel.” (Yugura)

Nariya seemed a bit scornful in his laugh instead of it being in amusement.

Nariya is someone who changed this world. He must understand that it is reaching this conclusion because of his own fault.

“The reason we are having such a cheap talk is because you are killing time by provoking me?”

“Yeah. It may be a problem to my liking, but you made a different choice from me. I would like to throw a snide remark once or twice.” (Yugura)

Nariya redoing this world with space-time magic is in a sense kindness towards the people living in this world.

The Black Demon Lord will resurrect eventually if left be. She might call a second or third me to make them her new pawns. Or she may think of an even bigger method than that.

The casualties at the end would be lower if everything is redone compared to having a risk for eternity that could destroy the world.

Even if he has lost his interest and kindness, there’s still the bare minimum sign of atonement for dragging them into this.

My actions are the opposite of Nariya: I began the last battle that dragged everyone into it.

A world that will be reset no matter if they win or lose.

No matter if they win or lose, the world will be reset. Nariya is finding fault in my actions here, saying: ‘is there a meaning to having them experience such pain?’.

“It is still the same doctrine of avoiding trouble and getting things done peacefully.”

“It is a tragedy all around though. You wish to live safely, and yet, your blood is too heated. They may be grateful towards you, but your heart would hurt.” (Yugura)

“Both of us are too devoted on those fronts.”

“…Right.” (Yugura)

Nariya is also regretful.

About the fact that he created the Black Demon Lord, and about how he gave her power and techniques. He knew how cruel this path would be for the Black Demon Lord, and yet, the result of wishing for her to walk her own path is this.

“I have no intention of persuading you. I can imagine your pain even if not all of it. I at least comprehend that my words won’t reach you.”

“I wasn’t seeking comprehension though. Well, it is better than hurling complaints by my side.” (Yugura)

“Even so, I have no regrets in the present. I can still believe in them after all.”

“…I am jealous.” (Yugura)

Nariya didn’t look over here and took out a hamburger from the bag he had.

Wait, a hamburger… This guy recreated the junk food from the modern world in my memories.

“Man, the junk food of the future is nice. You can eat it while doing something and it tastes good.” (Yugura)

“…Can I get one?”

“You are currently just your mind, right? How are you going to eat?” (Yugura)

“Damn it…”

He probably wanted to just tease me like this and end it at first.

Nariya may not have any intention of worrying about me, but his habits in how he has lived until now are making him do that.

He threw away the wrapping paper of the hamburger.

I could see a bit of the path the lonely hero, Yugura Nariya, walked on and what kind of thoughts he had on it.

But let’s tell him to pick that up. The Black Demon Lord would definitely get angry about that after all.

◇◇

The physical strength of the complete awakening of Zahava was more than I imagined.

Wolfe-chan is somehow managing to react despite that.

Niruryates-dono can’t avoid it completely, but it seems like she is properly managing to avoid a direct hit to her core.

She would regenerate in the brief time my gaze was away, and would attack Zahava.

But the sight of her scattering pieces of flesh everywhere every time is bad for my heart.

I was thinking this and the lower half of Niruryates-dono flew this way and regenerated.

“Kuha! She is smacking me over and over with those spider legs! Can’t she do something more sensational like biting or sucking?! This is just not flashy!” (Niru)

“It is true that considering the tendencies of spiders, targets that move should be targets for consumption. She doesn’t need to eat, so she has probably switched that instinct for killing intent.” (Mix)

There are a number of things I noticed after watching from a distance.

First, it seems like Zahava already has no human consciousness.

The basic strategy is to aim for the weak ones first, but there has been no attack towards me until now.

It is true that those eyes are seeing me, but it is most likely acting plainly by measuring the threat level and the hostility directed at her.

She will probably retaliate if I were to throw knives towards her, but it doesn’t seem like she will direct any attacks at me when I am using booby traps.

“We can still deal with just the movements alone, but that body is troublesome. The full power attack of Wolfe-chan is not working. It is a technique similar to that of when My King stopped the punch of Wolfe-chan before with his bare hand. It is the technique of taking it on with mana and constantly changing it inside yourself to kill the impact. My King transformed his arm to make his body be able to do that, but it feels like Zahava’s body has changed into a body that can do that from the get-go, I guess.” (Niru)

You can control the mana flowing in you to a certain degree even if you can’t move the meat inside your body.

If you can repel the impact with mana, you can absorb the attack of your enemy while still remaining immobile.

The knights of Taizu have a similar technique to that.

That one is more of technique used on the moment with mana strengthening and their muscles though… Fumu.

“In that case, what we can do is…” (Mix)

“Please think of a plan or two. I feel strangely heavy when I get close to that spider. Wolfe-chan is avoiding with incredible concentration, but she will be caught in an instant the moment her stamina runs out.” (Niru)

“I have thought of a plan-desu zo. I will make preparations, so please coordinate with Wolfe-chan.” (Mix)

“…Being able to think of something that fast…really comes with the blood.” (Niru)

I gave Niruryates some simple instructions and began preparations.

Wolfe-chan is in a dangerous situation where one hit would be fatal, contrary to Niruryates-dono who can allow herself to be hit.

Let’s have Niruryates-dono match her here.

Her movement speed has become so fast it can’t be compared, but it is clear to the eye that it is straightforward.

In that case, she should be able to read the movements of the enemy by seeing Wolfe-chan’s movements.

One move, two moves, the accuracy of the predictions and the number of moves increased.

I confirm the differences in the results and my predictions, and adjust the feeling.

Third move, fourth… This will be my last strategizing, so just squeeze out my brain and go beyond my limits…!

Fifth move, sixth move… My mouth felt lukewarm and the taste of iron crawled on my tongue. I wipe my nosebleed with my arm and continue straining my eyes.

And then, at the seventh move, my predictions stabilized.

I fix up the location of the traps, and match the timing with Niruryates-dono using hand signals.

I am done with the preparations.

The movements of Zahava, the movements of Wolfe-chan; I measure the timing for the moves they would ultimately take and…

“Wolfe-chan, jump straight towards the right wall!” (Mix)

Wolfe-chan immediately reacted to my signal and moved.

Zahava dealt with that move immediately and closed the distance towards Wolfe-chan.

The attack from Zahava using her leg had its aim adjusted with precision only after it had moved in front of the enemy. In other words, she will definitely stop her legs near her prey.

What I set there was a traditional pitfall. No mana at all set there. It is the thing that I told Niruryates-dono I would prepare.

It is a trap that can be prepared quickly exactly because we can change the structure of the room.

Of course, Zahava can recover in the time she falls. Even so, she will be using her instincts in order to understand the situation in the instant she falls for the pitfall.

Her movements would stop completely.

Wolfe-chan saw this, jumped from the wall without hesitation, and swung her fist.

“Niruryates-dono, match!” (Mix)

“Already did!” (Niru)

Niruryates-dono was at the opposite side of Wolfe-chan, holding the spear clad with the mana of the Purple-dono.

The spear was already thrusted and landed on the body of Zahava.

A dangerous body that can absorb the impact of even thrusts. The flow of mana inside of it must be extremely vigorous.

But a flow has to be one way. If opposing flows are created, they would end up clashing intensely.

The body of Zahava that was dealing with the attack of Niruryates can’t enter a state to take the attack of Wolfe-chan.

If two currents come from both sides, the water will splash heavily.

“?!”

The punch of Wolfe-chan destroyed the exoskeleton of Zahava, and the spear of Niruryates-dono stabbed deeply in that body too.

Zahava moved crazily at the pain dealt on her body.

I already began running by the time the two of them began their attack.

The action insects would take when they have suffered an attack is to retaliate on the spot or to escape from there.

She has fallen into a pitfall and has been stabbed by a spear, so escaping would be difficult.

In that case, there’s only one action Zahava would take.

“Aaaaah!”

I jumped towards Wolfe-chan without thinking of anything and tore her away from Zahava.

I felt extreme pain from my back, but I didn’t allow Zahava’s attack to reach Wolfe-chan.

I directed my gaze at Niruryates-dono and her head had been pierced by a spider leg.

She was smiling despite that, and activated the spell that was imbued in the spear.

The mana of Zahava has become even denser now that she is completely awakened, but it created a negative reaction when mixed with the mana of a different Demon Lord. Putting it simply, a big explosion, incomparable to the ones before, happened.

That shockwave of this blew away even us who were in midair.

Wolfe-chan released mana to kill the momentum of the two of us who were spinning, but we were still smashed onto the wall.

“Mix, are you okay?!” (Wolfe)

“I-I am okay-desu zo… I concentrated the mana strengthening on my back, but…aguh!” (Mix)

It hurts to a degree where just breathing is making tears come out.

Looks like a number of ribs on my back have pierced through my flesh.

I hurriedly concentrate my mana to lower the pain.

“Relax your posture!” (Wolfe)

“I have not had the experience of having the bones on my back gouging at my flesh, so I don’t know what posture to take… More importantly, check the state of Zahava—?!” (Mix)

The pieces of flesh that scattered around were gathering and were trying to return to their original shape.

It has already regenerated to a degree where I can tell its shape, and Wolfe-chan wouldn’t make it in time to get in her way even if she were to jump immedia—

“Aah, let me correct myself. I will let you eat as much of my flesh and bones as you want if I can offer victory to My King.” (Niru)

Niruryates-dono jumped on top of the regenerating Zahava while in complete tatters.

The spear was stabbed in her body, and the spell had already been activated.

The body of Niruryates-dono exploded from the mana that was imbued in the spear, and the flesh and bones clad with the mana of a different Demon Lord rained on the wounds of the regenerating Zahava.

The wounds of Zahava began to boil as if pouring wine into a heated iron plate.

They mixed in the middle of their regeneration and were repeatedly creating small explosions.

Zahava was screaming from the sheer pain. A negative reaction purely out of pain as a living being.

It is not only Zahava who is feeling the pain. Niruryates-dono was also feeling pain in her whole body in a state where she can’t maintain the shape of her body.

“Ahahaha, this hurts! It hurts so much! I really feel like I am alive here more than ever before!” (Niru)

“—! Wolfe-cha—” (Mix)

She had already dashed in before I could say it.

I can’t provide appropriate support anymore. Niruryates-dono is close to her limit.

If we let this opportunity escape, we will be losing our chance for victory.

She hasn’t forgotten to seek victory even until the very end.

Wolfe-chan jammed her arm into the burning flesh of Zahava and Niruryates, and searched inside it.

“! This is iiiit!” (Wolfe)

She pulled out her arm with force and her arm had been burned cruelly by the flesh that was showing rejection towards the mana of the Demon Lords.

But her hand was certainly holding the core of Zahava.

“—?! —?!”

Meat was growing from the core of Zahava that was making unintelligible screams at a staggering speed.

It had been freed from the corrosion of Niruryates-dono’s mana and could now freely regenerate.

But Wolfe-chan was already holding that core.

She gathered a massive amount of mana in both of her arms and smashed them together with all the strength she could muster.

——

Author: It reminds me of the handclap she used against the Anbus of Mejis in Taizu.

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