Chapter 223

○ Demon King Tralzard

The invasion from the Celestial World.
Seitry had predicted this from very early on, but I did not take it too seriously.

It would require a great host to take down a Demon King’s country.
In that case, they would try and target me directly, but it was still nearly impossible.

After all, I had many subordinates around me.
Haphazardly sending their fighting force at us would result in nothing but an embarrassing defeat for them.

“But they are more serious than I thought.”

They were already all around the town, causing chaos.
I left the small ones to my men so that I could target the ones that would come later.

The enemy was after me.
Now that I thought about it…when was it?

“Your Majesty, I do not know why Demon King Bardodo was defeated.”
“Why? Surely someone has survived that battle?”
Such went the conversation with Seitry.

Demon King Bardodo was somewhere in the middle among the nine Great Demon Kings.
And so he should not have found himself on the losing side unless something very extreme had happened.

However, right after I heard news of the invasion, I learned of his death.
That meant he had died quite early in this battle with the Celestial World.

Usually, as soon as an invasion was confirmed, you would send out as many men as you could and focus on acquiring information.

But by the time I had sent out my own men, everything had been resolved.
And so I had no way of finding out what had happened in that country.

“After the Demon King died, the country was split up. And since no one knows who is an enemy or an ally, they are all consumed by suspicion so that they jump at shadows.”
“I see. …It cannot be helped then. I will withdraw.”

If I used overly forceful methods, they might eventually unite and become hostile towards me.
It was better to watch and not intervene.

“…That was what I thought, but now the enemy has come to me.”
Nothing could be more annoying.

The sky opened, and the newcomers arrived.
I just continued to unleash Roar.

It was nice getting to unleash it into the sky like this, as I didn’t have to worry about how strong it was.

On the other hand, if I transformed, the whole town would be destroyed by the shock waves alone.
And so if it was possible, I wanted to fight in my current form.

As I levitated into the sky, the enemy split up and landed in three separate spots.
“…Hmm.”

What should I do?
I could chase after them, but my subordinates on the ground could also deal with them.

“I’m sure that they would prefer to do it themselves.”
After all, they were all like me, and enjoyed a good fight.

…But as I was thinking this, they put up a barrier.
“Hmm…so that’s what they were trying to do. How very bold of them.”

To create a barrier of holy power like this in the Demon World. How much power did it cost them?
But it was true that their strength would be greatly reduced if they did not have it.

In any case, it was still just a barrier.
If I went all out, I could destroy it.

In other words, they would be losing all that holy power for nothing.
“Have they gone mad?”

While it would cause great damage to the town, I started to consider transforming so that I could break it. That’s when it happened.

—The heavens cracked open.

“Oh… Has their boss finally arrived? I’ve grown tired of waiting.”
If they had to wait for a barrier before they could appear, then they were insignificant to me.

I would crush them into the dirt after transforming.

“…Huh!?”
But something unexpected happened.

“I…can’t transform!?”

I was unable to return to my original form… Or more specifically, I was unable to take the mana from the air and bring it into my body.

We Dragons not only had incredibly large bodies, but we had great effect over others, and so we lived in small bodies like these.
Transforming required that we use mana from outside.

“It must be because of the barrier.”

If I was not in my Dragon form, then my power would be restricted.
Not only that, but the barrier was causing a second layer of power reduction as well.

“What a troublesome barrier.”
Really. How much holy power had they used?

Holy power was not something that appeared out of nothing.
Many lives had to be sacrificed in order to accomplish this.

“Well, they did come here for me, after all.”
This might be a little worse than I thought.

With enough time, I could probably defeat all of them.
But it would not do if the entire town was destroyed in the process.

For instance, Seitry was in the castle.
And there was also a barrier.

But if Seitry were killed, I would no longer have a tactician.
That was no good.

The reason that I was able to fight like this without worrying, was because Seitry had thought of everything and given me directions.
In the Demon World, it was not difficult to find people to charge into battle, but finding a tactician was a difficult task.

And there were others in the castle who supported me in ways outside of combat.
Without them, this country would not be able to operate.

“Tsk!”
Even as I thought about this, the enemy launched an attack against the castle.

In spite of being of the high-ranking races, Seitry had no combat ability at all.
It would just take a moderate attack in order to vaporize the tactician.

And so I moved in between the castle and the enemy, and blocked the attack.
“…Phew. I made it in time.”
While I took some damage, it was better than losing a tactician.
“Now, it’s my turn.”

After that, we fired at each other from a distance, but while the enemy was able to dodge the attacks, I could not.
“…This is bad.”

I wanted to fight at close range, but at this point, it was obvious to the enemy that I was trying to guard the castle.
And so I did not want to charge forward and give them an opportunity to target it again.

“So, what should I do?”
These holy power attacks moved like waves.
If I continued to be hit by them, I would be injured badly.

“I see… So Demon King Bardodo was killed because he was trapped inside of a barrier and forced to fight alone.”

The enemy had really thought this through.
Things would only get worse for me. However, moving too boldy now would also be bad.
As I thought about this, the barrier suddenly disappeared.

“What!?”
I was shocked, but so was the enemy.
Apparently, they had not thought that this was possible.

When I followed their gaze…I saw that the person who had created the barrier was lying on the ground, half dead.

And nearby…was Golan.
Did he do something?

Golan’s eyes met mine for a second, and then he stabbed the celestial being with his sword.
“!?”
Again and again.

There was so much hatred in his attacks.
It was as if he didn’t want to leave a single piece of his enemy left. He kept stabbing and stabbing.

“What is he doing?”
Even I felt a little digusted.

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Makai Hongi