1 - Chaos from the Start

Three thousand and seven hundred soldiers surrounded the Demon Castle that was previously Constant Magical Academy. The aerial carrier “Genkaku” was there as well. No matter how many demon beasts were forming the walls of the castle, the situation would rapidly be under control. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the Demon King, Akuto Sai.

The school building and its yard could be seen from the camp where Eiko Teruya had taken command. Junko Hattori’s 600 Iga ninjas were in the yard, and a 1200-strong regiment of imperial infantry were there as well, making a total of 1800 soldiers. The plan was for them to cut a path through the demon beasts surrounding the school, and open a way for the rest of the force to get in.

But Eiko’s plan had already fallen apart. A screw-like stake had burst out of the ground, and Akuto and the black dragon Peterhausen had appeared. Now the troops were on the verge of a riot.

“Mistress, your orders!” the leader of the regiment said to Eiko over the comm system.

“Don’t call me ‘mistress!’ I’m the head of the family now! Orders? The only possible order would be to take down the Demon King!” she shouted back.

But in that minute, she felt someone behind her and turned around. She’d been standing alone in her tent, but now there was a man in a suit with her.

Eiko sighed. It was the agent from the Cabinet’s Magical Information Department that had been lurking around since before this mission, codenamed “Operation Castlebreaker,” had started. He was one of C-MID8, the personal staff of the Information Department’s leader, Boichiro Yamato.

The man spoke into the comms system, though of course he hadn’t been given permission.

“The Demon King isn’t as frightening as he appears. He won’t attack anyone who flees, and he has the naive idea that it’s better not to kill if you can avoid it. Keep your distance and try to provoke him.”

“...What?!”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She ended the call and turned around, glaring at him with the imposing manner unique to the Teruya clan, but he seemed completely unperturbed.

He looked to be in his 30s. There was nothing particularly unique about him, besides his casual manner. It was possible to believe that he was just a normal businessman. There was no hiding his well-built frame, but it was impossible to guess how much muscle might be under that suit. She’d heard that all of C-MID8 were experts in magical combat, but it didn’t seem that way to her.

“You said you were going to just act on your own!” Eiko yelled. The man just smiled.

“My apologies. I just gathered some information, and I believe we can cooperate. One of the things I learned of was the Demon King’s personality. So, I simply suggested that you take advantage of that.”

Eiko didn’t know what to say. She took a glance over at the flow of battle. The Demon King and his dragon seemed to be dealing poorly with the infantry’s passivity. They’d blown away several of the troops on the surface, but now they seemed to be simply flying in circles.

“...I’ll keep that in mind. What’s your name?”

The man answered by making V signs with both hands. He looked so ridiculous that Eiko couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Are you making fun of me...?”

“2V. That’s my codename. Nice to meet you, pretty lady.”

2V ignored her obvious anger and began to move the different pieces on the map that signified the battle units.

“Your goal was to destroy the demon beasts and capture or kill their king, right? But the situation has changed.”

“I-I was planning on having the infantry delay him until the carrier could attack,” Eiko said, but 2V ignored her.

“A carrier attack would cause severe damage to the school. This whole battle is being broadcasted nationally, and we can’t damage the school’s reputation. It would be better for the infantry to take out the Demon King on their own. Am I wrong?”

“I-I know that!”

“No, I’m sorry, but this deployment shows several bad habits of new commanders. You forgot that magical battles take place in three dimensional space, right? The dragon is flying. The soldiers provoking him are on foot. The only ones you have who can fight him are your air units on standby in that carrier. You were planning on sending them into the school at a critical moment, right? But that’s not how you fight magical battles. You use your air forces against theirs.”

All Eiko could do was listen. 2V waved a hand to motion for her to calm down.

“Don’t worry. You’ll remain in command. I’m just offering you information. My information says that there’s a device in the school that’s controlling the demon beasts. If you change your goal to getting at that, you’ll find it easier to win. As soon as it’s down, the demon beasts will lose control when the Demon King is farther away,” 2V said confidently.

Eiko wasn’t sure what to think. Army intelligence hadn’t said anything about a demon beast control device. But 2V seemed to sense what she was thinking, and cut her off.

“This is information we found on our own. Finding information is our job, after all. I’m sorry to say this, but we’re superior to your own intelligence officers.”

“Can I trust you?” Eiko asked, and he grinned.

“Of course.”

“You say there’s a device that controls the demon beasts?”

“That’s right. Now, why don’t we change the goal of the operation to be destroying that?”

2V reached out a hand towards the map, but Eiko grabbed it.

“I’m the one in command, here. You just give me the information. And what’s more, you’re planning on going off on your own, right? So do it.”

“Of course.” He pulled away, pretending to be far more intimidated than he obviously was.

○

“A control device?” Student Council President Lily Shiraishi, in her trademark hat, asked. In front of her were Keena Soga and Fujiko Eto, mounted on a giant three-headed Cerberus.

“That’s right,” Fujiko replied. “I call it the ‘altar.’”

Fujiko’s long hair waved as she moved her head. She was wearing an extremely skimpy leather outfit instead of her usual uniform. It was her own idea, evidently, of what a servant of the Demon King should look like. The “evil queen” look suited her beautiful body well.

“That outfit is against the school rules. And now you’re making a device to control demon beasts and putting it here? Are you trying to pick a fight?”

There was a big difference between violating the school rules on uniforms and illegally controlling demon beasts, but since the tiny Lily lacked Fujiko’s figure, they seemed to be equal in her eyes. Lily looked about ready for a fight, but Fujiko only laughed in response.

“Hahaha! Of course not! The altar is for Akuto. It’s not the school, but Akuto, who is righteous and strong. It wouldn’t even be a fight.”

There was murder in Lily’s eyes.

“If you don’t cut it out, I’ll take down both you and him,” she said.

“Don’t fight, guys. The principal’s doing his best for us, right?” Keena tried to calm them both down.

“I didn’t expect to hear that from you,” Fujiko said, but it was enough to get her to relax. Lily seemed to feel the same way.

“...Let’s worry about the details later. Just where is this altar, anyway?”

Fujiko answered Lily’s question by pointing straight ahead.

They were at the bottom of the space below the Academy, where the Demon King’s palace was. They were heading to the lowest point, where the demon beasts were sealed away.

“The demon beasts are controlled by Akuto’s unique mana waves, but when Akuto moves away or his mind isn’t stable, they go out of control. So I created a device that sends out stable mana waves.”

The door at the end of the corridor opened and a small room appeared. Fujiko got down from her Cerberus and pointed to the center of the room. There was a black magic altar there, decorated with dragons and skulls. It was just big enough for a single person to stand in front of it and perform rituals. It was colored a poisonous-looking red and black.

“You’ve got some taste in decorating,” Lily said with a frown, but Fujiko ignored her.

“Thank you. The device itself was simple, so I focused on how it looked.”

“Simple, huh? I can see that the waves are coming from that pot-shaped thing in the center, but... Wait, I thought it was impossible to replicate a person’s unique mana frequency,” Lily said. Fujiko suddenly got stars in her eyes.

“It was difficult, taking a part of Akuto’s body and growing it until it could generate mana waves.”

“Huh? There wasn’t that much time between you deciding to make this thing and now, was there?” Lily asked, but Fujiko just put her hand up to her cheek in embarrassment, and didn’t answer.

“A-Anyway, if you can’t protect this, we lose.” Lily coughed as she spoke.

“That’s right. We need to defend this to the death.” Fujiko spread out her hands to display a mana screen showing a map of the school.

“Just defend it to the death? That won’t help anything,” Lily said. Fujiko put her hand on her hip and smiled.

“Akuto said he would kill the gods. It’s my duty to obey him. And we won’t just be defending. Fortunately, the whole country is watching this. If they all see the demon beasts destroying the army, it will give courage to black mages all over the country!”

“You’re sure taking this easy. Well, if that’s your plan, we’re enemies.”

“Enemies? Isn’t your job to protect the school?”

“Are you an idiot? I’m not fighting on the side of the Demon King. I just followed you to see what you’re up to,” Lily said angrily.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get in your way. And we both have the same enemy right now, right?”

“Eiko Teruya? I know what she did. The security cameras came online just in time. I have the proof, but she’s planning on getting rid of it, and me.”

“And I’m thinking about how to fight back, you see. If you’re planning on going out there and fighting that whole army yourself, though, go ahead.”

“You have a plan?” Lily asked.

“Of course I do. The demon beasts are obeying my orders, they’ll all work in perfect unison. And I know exactly what a sneaky cheat like Eiko Teruya is going to do.”

“Is that because you’re a sneaky cheat, too?” Lily meant it as an insult, but Fujiko nodded back with a bright smile.

“‘Sneaky cheat’ is the perfect complement for a black mage! Eiko Teruya is going to deploy her forces gradually for fear that we’ll self-destruct.”

Lily sighed. But since Fujiko had mentioned her plan, she decided to ask more about it.

“Self-destruct?”

“There’s only a few students in here with the demon beasts. If they all swarm the school, we could blow it up and take out her whole army. That’s what she’ll be afraid of.”

“I see.”

“So she’ll deploy gradually. And that means she’ll be vulnerable.”

Fujiko looked like she was about to start cackling, but Lily interrupted her before she could.

“But that’s only if Eiko Teruya is in command, right?”

“Yes, of course. Does she look like the type who’d turn control over to someone else?”

“I was looking into C-MID8, and I found a guy with the codename 2V.”

“2V?” Fujiko asked, confused by the tone of Lily’s voice.

“A magical specialist who uses autonomous dolls. He’s supposed to be a master of tactics.”

“And how is that relevant?”

“If you’re that confident, then never mind. But I can’t imagine he’ll be thinking the same thing as Eiko Teruya. If he has some other goal, things won’t go the way you expect.” Lily’s tone was strong, but Fujiko didn’t seem that concerned.

“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Is that all? Fine, have fun then.” Lily went to leave the altar room.

Keena saw that she was leaving, and spoke up.

“You’re leaving?”

“The principal bought us time. I’m going to make good use of it,” Lily said without turning back.

○

The principal had already gone several rounds with Boichiro. Boichiro was carrying the huge sword that had blasted even Akuto away. He hadn’t attacked with it again, because the principal hadn’t shown any openings.

The principal had taken his shirt off, and his muscles were heaving. He was constantly and silently swinging his arms in front of him.

Anyone who knew him normally wouldn’t believe what they were seeing now. An old man who’d looked like a twig was now covered in an incredible amount of muscle, and stripped to the waist. It was the ultimate form of self-transformation magic.

“Why are you standing in my way?” Boichiro asked in a stern voice.

The path to the basement was a single corridor, and the only way through was past the principal.

“Because this isn’t like it was 100 years ago,” the principal said in a strangely youthful-sounding voice.

“Once, I fought by your side,” Boichiro said, “in the battle to defeat the Demon King.”

“The last Demon King, you mean.”

“Then why? Why do you block my path when you know what I’m trying to do?”

“I haven’t forgotten what you’re after. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve changed my mind. Back then, I thought it was right to defeat the Demon King.”

“And it’s not right now? Even though nothing’s changed?”

“It’s true that nothing’s changed. But that’s not because we failed. The last Demon King was defeated, and you’re here now, anyway. In other words, the future didn’t change, right?”

Boichiro grimaced, like he’d touched a sore spot.

“But back then I didn’t know what the Law of Identity was!” Boichiro yelled.

In the next instant, he was gone. He had advanced forward at an incredible speed. Instantly he was in front of the principal, where he stopped. But the momentum drove the sword in his hands towards the principal. The blade went past the speed of sound, and a sonic boom tore through the corridor.

The principal wasn’t able to dodge. If he did, Boichiro would be able to pass him. But if he took the hit, he would be blown back. The same attack had even taken down Akuto.

But the principal just exhaled sharply for a moment, and then began to spin his arms in front of himself even faster.

Suddenly they began to cling to the sides of the blade as they moved. Then, the rotation of his arms knocked the huge blade away.

“Gah!”

Boichiro couldn’t stop the blade before it slammed into a wall. It stopped, after taking out a chunk of the wall, but Boichiro was forced to retreat before the principal could follow up with an attack of his own on his now-defenseless body.

The two of them were soon back to their original positions.

The walls surrounding them were missing several large pieces. The reason the two of them were still fighting was that the same thing had repeated itself several times.

The headmaster never followed up with any attacks, and so time just kept passing.

“Are you just trying to buy time?”

“Imagine what you like. This style of deflecting your attacks suits my old body, that’s all.”

“Either way, the two of us are stuck here,” Boichiro said.

“And things are just getting worse for me. I didn’t want to kill you, since you are a former comrade. I wanted to talk to you. But at this point, I have no choice. Don’t hate me if I have to take your life.”

Boichiro readied his blade.

“I’ll slice the dimensions apart, and you with them. Hodgson Type Complete Severing!” Boichiro shouted as he swung his sword, and the space around the blade began to separate like jelly.

The rift passed towards the principal at an impossible speed. This attack tore through the air itself, and anything else with it. It had been enough to cut off Akuto’s arm, and the principal’s rotating arms wouldn’t be enough to block it.

The severed space touched the principal’s body, but nothing happened at all. It went clean through it, and the principal was unharmed.

“What...?” Boichiro raised an eyebrow.

He fired another Hodgson Type Complete Severing. But once again, it passed through the principal’s body.

“How did you do it? Is that a hologram?”

He fired another one, and then charged. He brought his sword down just behind the severed space.

The principal didn’t dodge, and the blade was knocked away by the rotation of his arms.

“What’s going on?” Boichiro fell back once more.

“It’s a secret how I do it. But you need tricks like this if you want to live a long life. Oh, I guess you’ve lived a long time too... Now, since we’re old friends, why don’t we have a chat? At my age, there aren’t many people I can talk to about the past.” The principal smiled.

“I thought it was a hologram, but I guess I was wrong. You’re a sly old man. But I’m not so young as to get mad when someone tricks me. If you’ve got something to say, then say it. But don’t let your guard down...”

Boichiro charged again, but not as fast. He kept his attacks short and sharp, jabbing several times in a row. Now, he could maintain his balance if his blade was knocked away.

“The last Demon King was defeated, yes. But that didn’t fix things. So now I can’t believe what you say.” The principal rotated his arms quickly, knocking away all the strikes.

“I’m not lying about humanity being destroyed!”

“That, I believe. I simply suspect that your method of saving us is wrong.”

“That’s why humanity has to control the gods! Humanity has to make its own choices. We abandoned that, and that’s why we were destroyed!” Boichiro yelled, but the principal shook his head.

“No. That’s not what you’re after. You’re obsessed with the girl you spoke of.”

Boichiro stopped.

The two of them glared at each other from up close.

“A century ago, I opened my heart up to you and told you the truth. I never thought I’d regret it,” Boichiro sighed softly.

“My heart is still open to you,” the principal said softly. “But I realized something when we defeated the last Demon King. You just want to take his place.”

Boichiro choked on his words.

“The Law of Identity, was it? The girl you call that seems somewhat similar. Did you see something of her in Keena Soga?” the principal asked, and Boichiro suddenly raised his sword.

“Are you accusing me of being that small?”

The sword began to rumble loudly. The principal blocked it again as he answered.

“No. Your good heart is a rarity among mankind. And the greatness of your resolve means you walk a lonely path. And that’s why I say this.”

“I’m going to control the gods, and in doing so avoid the destruction of mankind. What’s wrong with that? What’s the point of destroying the gods? It’s not right! It’s just giving in to the impulse to destroy!”

“There’s no point in debating it with me. But it feels to me like you’re wrong.”

“So you’re saying the Demon King is right?”

“No, he’s wrong too.”

“So whose side are you on? I hate old men who complain from the sidelines and don’t have to make a choice!”

“I was young a century ago.” The principal took a step back as he blocked the attacks. He was out of breath.

“So you’re not young anymore, huh?” Boichiro, however, wasn’t out of breath at all.

“I’m not in that big of a hurry. We can talk a little more, I think.”

Boichiro readied his sword and began to slowly advance again.

○

“I’m not changing the plan. Our fliers can deal with their flyer. It’s as simple as that,” Eiko growled at 2V before shouting her orders at her confused commanders via the comms.

“Platoons 1 and 2, advance toward the front entrance. 3 to the side entrance, 4 to the connecting corridor. Keep your distance from the Demon Beasts and prepare for the assault.”

She’d divided up her troops and ordered them all to stand by.

“That makes it easier for your opponents to defend. Why divide your forces?” 2V protested. Eiko glared at him.

“Because they might blow up the whole building. And the enemy’s entirely dependent on the Demon King. It’s much more important to delay him, right?”

“If you have a way to delay him, that is.”

“Hmph. Of course I do. All that ‘three-dimensional warfare’ stuff you talked about basically means that we just need somebody who can fly, right?” Eiko picked up her communicator again.

“All Hattori units, give your full attention to the Demon King,” she said, and waited for an answer. The leader of the Hattori was Junko right now. She didn’t hear Junko’s voice responding.

“Well, Junko? What’s your answer?” she asked with a cruel smile.

“Roger!”

She heard Junko yell back at her. She grimaced for a moment before shutting off the comms and laughing.

“Hahaha! This’ll do, right? They have lots of people who can fly, and if things turn bad, they’ve got that ‘Brave’ guy, too! Now let’s see what you’ve got to show us, Junko!”

Eiko turned to watch the fight, but 2V frowned when her back was turned.

“She’s even worse of a commander than I expected... I knew this wasn’t good, but I don’t want things turning too far from our favor,” he whispered to himself, before making a quick motion with his right hand as if beckoning to one of his men.

One of the messengers came into the tent.

None of the people around him noticed, but this was strange; the members of C-MID8 didn’t have the authority to command soldiers.

But the reason quickly revealed itself. The messenger who leaned in towards 2V had the blank expression unique to Liradans.

“I guess I’d better take command,” he said softly, exchanging glances with the Liradan messenger. His eyes glowed with the special light given off by mana. When the Liradan nodded back, this time there was sentience in its eyes.

This was 2V’s favorite spell. He could possess a Liradan and control it like it was his own body. And the Liradans, who were responsible for running errands for the military, had been modified to receive his mind.

“Now, what’s your next move?” he asked Eiko.

Eiko began to share her plans, such as they were, but 2V was barely listening. He’d sent the Liradan messenger running to mix in with the soldiers.

“I wonder if Boichiro is up for the job,” the messenger said to itself, in 2V’s voice.