The Demon King Reveals Himself

The Demon King Reveals Himself

General Rashatt was the first to move. It looked like he didn’t intend to shift to an Astral Plane battlefield again—he charged straight at Xelloss with his sword in hand, simultaneously releasing a walnut-sized energy ball from his free palm.

Xelloss smiled and swung his arms.

CLANG!

Rashatt’s sword met Xelloss’ clerical staff. At the same moment, the mantle Xelloss had swung to catch the energy ball flapped back down to his feet, the ball successfully snuffed.

Whoa. It was pretty impressive.

Rashatt and Xelloss started going at it after that, sending sparks flying from their collisions and blowing holes in the ground with their missed spells. Despite the chunks of earth and rock they kept sending into the air, their fight was pretty conservative; they were consciously reducing the aftereffects of their powers. If they’d really wanted to let loose, they probably could’ve leveled the entire area.

It made sense, though. They were avoiding risks and wastes of energy, plus Xelloss didn’t want to accidentally vaporize us and Rashatt didn’t want to hurt and thus piss off the dragons. The two of them mostly stuck to blocking hits and neutralizing magic.

It also looked like they were using the Astral Side a little. I could only see it in bits and pieces, but… for a second, a black haze appeared and then disappeared over Raltaak’s head. His sword shook slightly and he let out a groan. I could guess how the fight was going, but I had no idea of the specifics.

Sure, Lina. Very cool—now could you go fight your own demons, please?!

The smart part of my brain reminded me that Raltaak’s demon balls were coming straight for me. They were slow, and looked pretty silly (especially the cherry tomato one), but I knew better than to underestimate demons. And Raltaak was probably the kind of Mazoku who used power from the Astral Plane left and right.

I glanced over at Amelia and Zelgadiss. They hadn’t been with Gourry and me when we’d fought against that sort of thing in Saillune, so they looked pretty freaked.

“Careful!” I called to them. “No matter how stupid those things look, they’re probably pretty tough!”

Amelia frowned nervously. “I know, but…”

“I already hate them,” Zelgadiss said flatly.

The two of them began chanting spells. I started my own chanting as Gourry drew the Sword of Light.

Amelia threw open her palms. “Elmekia Lance!” she cried.

The second Amelia shot off her spell, the gray ball suddenly moved itself in front.

SHWOOP!

The damn thing absorbed the lance of light. And the same moment it did that, the red ball shot several of its own lances of light at Zelgadiss.

Zelgadiss was ready. “Astral Vine!” he shouted.

As the spell he’d chanted infused his sword with magic energy, he leapt over a few of the spears and parried the rest with his blade.

My turn. “Dark Claw!”

I sent a formless mass of black magic energy—like a swarm of insects—straight for the red ball. The gray one flew at a surprisingly fast speed to get in front.

SHWOOP!

The gray ball sucked up the spell as the red one released a black mist.

Uh-oh.

“Duck!” I shouted as I dove behind a rock outcropping. Gourry, Amelia, and Zel landed behind me a second later.

I could hear the sound of liquefying earth as the spell hit the rock. When the four of us poked our heads over to look, I noticed a ton of small, shallow holes scattered across the stone.

My eyes widened. Was that… the Dark Claw spell?!

So that’s it! I thought. The gray ball was taking the hits, and the red ball was amplifying and returning them. Those sneaky little bastards.

“Everybody aim for the red one!” I shouted.

“Got it.” Gourry leapt out from behind the outcropping and charged the red ball with his Sword of Light. Before he could get to it, though, the red ball shot arrows of light at him while the gray ball moved in to block.

Gourry easily knocked the arrows away and slid past the gray ball. The red ball flew back in a hurry, getting out of sword range before it slowed to a halt.

Sword range doesn’t matter to Gourry. In a very slick move, he shot the blade of the Sword of Light at the red ball.

That was when the red ball faded into a gray color and the gray ball turned red. The balls actually switched. SHWOOP!

The gray-sized ball took the hit as the red-sized one shot multiple light blades. Since the gray ball Gourry had dodged was the one that was now red, that put those shooting blades headed directly for his back.

Gourry whipped around, but it was already too late to dodge.

“Gaav Flare!”

Amelia’s hellish flames tore through the air, absorbing the light blades. They always say—a good offence can make the best defense.

Gourry quickly put some distance between himself and the now-red ball. “Thanks, Amelia!” he called.

Meanwhile, I was starting to formulate a hypothesis on the balls. The fact that they could switch colors and properties made me wonder if they were two parts of the same demon instead of two separate demons. Their connection seemed a little too deep for different creatures.

And maybe his real body’s on the Astral Plane, I thought. He could be materializing offensive-only and defensive-only parts here.

Unfortunately, the balls didn’t want to give me time to think things out. Their next move was ignoring Gourry and coming straight for me.

Which means I’m their real target, I added to my stockpile of observations.

“I think we have to hit them both at the same time!” Amelia called to me.

Zel moved out from beside Amelia and me and looped around the side. “I’ll take the flank,” he offered.

That was when the balls, already flying toward me, picked up speed and shot simultaneous lightning bolts.

“H-hey!” Amelia and I barely dodged. The balls didn’t pause for a second—they just continued to barrel down on us.

I finished chanting my spell. I quickly glanced at Zel, and he threw me a nod.

Here goes.

“Elmekia Lance!” we shouted together.

Our lances of light screamed through the air, each aimed for a different ball. But before they could impale the balls, something invisible deflected them.

I cursed. The balls didn’t just reflect attacks— apparently, they could block if they had to.

The two balls picked up speed in their charge, looking ready to run me over. I started chanting my next spell as fast as I could in a desperate attempt to beat them to the finish.

I didn’t have to. “Visfrank!” Amelia boomed.

BOOF!

Amelia socked the red ball with her magically reinforced fist. Since it obviously hadn’t expected to get punched, the ball went careening in another direction.

It was classic Amelia. Of all the people in the world, I was pretty sure she and her father were the only humans capable of laying a physical smack down on a Mazoku. Well… them, and one other girl I knew.

Knock him dead, Amelia!

Amelia didn’t let up; as the red ball was blown back, she chased after it to keep wailing on it. The two balls made a noise that sounded like gold coins jingling.

That cinched it—the demons were a single being. As Amelia pressed in on the red ball, the gray one charged for her back.

SHINK.

A single blow from Zel’s magically infused broad­sword split the gray ball in two.

That was when the balls exploded.

* * *

“Nngh…” I moaned, my eyelids slowly cracking open.

The first thing I noticed was a small rock digging into the back of my head. I grunted and rolled over, trying to remember where I was.

The last things I’d seen had been the two demon balls exploding. My hearing was still a little dulled from the noise, and my body hurt in a few spots, but nothing seemed serious. I was pretty sure I’d only been under momentarily.

Amelia. Zel.

My eyes snapped open fully. Unlike me, they’d been at point-blank range during the explosions—which meant they’d taken even harder hits than I had. I jerked my head up in the same instant that I scrambled to my knees.

I could see them. They were at base of a battered wall of rock nearby, sprawled out on the littered ground.

Dammit!

“Amelia!” I shouted as I stumbled over. “Zel! Are you guys okay?!”

I saw Zelgadiss slowly move so he could clutch at his temple with a moan. But Amelia, for her part, wasn’t even twitching.

Dammit! I dropped to my knees the instant I reached her. “Amelia!” I screamed at her as I grabbed her wrist for a pulse.

She was alive. Up close, I could see that she was breathing.

I let out the breath I’d unintentionally been holding. She was alive, which was good, but her injuries looked serious. She needed a Recovery spell.

But will it work? I wondered. In exchange for healing injuries, that spell sapped a patient’s endurance; it was hard to tell whether or not Amelia’s body would give out before she could get better. A Resurrection spell would have been a better idea, since it drew small portions of the vitality of things in the vicinity.

Whatever I did, I had to do it fast—she wouldn’t last long the way she was. It was too late for regrets.

I quickly licked my lips and started chanting a spell.

“That will likely be too late.”

I stopped and looked up. Milgazia, still in human form, kneeled down next to me.

“Mister Milgazia?” I breathed.

He placed his hands over Amelia’s body. An inhuman sound hit the wind, an apparent piece of some spell.

Amelia’s wounds literally started closing before my eyes. I had to blink once to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Oh, man. Whatever he was using, it was more powerful than Resurrection.

“Y-you’re helping us?” I asked, not really sure what else to say.

Milgazia gazed down at Amelia. She was still pale, but she was definitely better.

“So long as you are not my enemies,” Milgazia murmured, “I have no reason to abandon those in need.”

I swallowed hard. “Um… thanks.”

I turned to check on Zel. It looked like the rocky hide he hated so much had, once again, saved his hide. His injuries hadn’t been that serious, and he’d apparently already used Recovery on himself.

Noticing my glance, he sent me a small nod. It was Zelgadiss code for I’ll be fine.

Gourry—who hadn’t been hit by the explosion, by the way—ran up at that point, panting. “Are you guys okay?” he asked quickly. “You got hit pretty bad. How’s Amelia?”

I gestured to her and the dragon. “Mister Milgazia’s taking care of her.”

Gourry sighed in relief. “That’s good,” he said, looking over Amelia’s prone form.

Most of my dizziness from being thrown had subsided, so I started to mentally work through our situation. Up until then, no Mazoku we’d ever fought had exploded at time of death. That was probably a Raltaak feature, considering how much the guy got off on contingency plans.

Raltaak had miscalculated—the explosion hadn’t been powerful enough to do us in. Of course, that didn’t make me feel much better about Amelia and Zel taking the hit for me.

Raltaak was gonna pay for that one.

“Gourry,” I said as I stood. “Lend me the Sword of Light.”

“Right.” He tossed the Sword of Light to me with the blade extinguished. I caught it, poised it with my right hand, and shifted my eyes to Xelloss and Raltaak’s ongoing battle.

That bastard was mine. Yeah, I was a little mad that I was neatly falling into Xelloss’ plan, but I was willing to do that to take down that old son of a bitch.

It was time for the Dragon Slave Blade.

“Thou who art darker than night,

Thou who art redder than the flowing blood,

Thou through whom time flows, I call upon thy exalted name..”.

Halfway through chanting my spell, I saw that Raltaak, on Xelloss’ right side, had noticed what I was doing.

The Dragon Slave. Invoked by a human, it was an offensive spell that called upon the power of the Demon King Ruby Eye Shabranigudu. It was possibly capable of affecting a demon of Raltaak’s rank, but it definitely wouldn’t be enough.

That was where the Sword of Light came in. I’d only done it once before, but casting Dragon Slave on the sword made a blade of crimson light that was very destructive. That was what I wanted to sink into Raltaak.

He probably hadn’t guessed my intentions that far, but he still tossed a small ball of magic energy in my direction… as a precaution, knowing him.

Dammit!

I knew I could probably strike it down, but at the same time I had no idea how powerful it was—for all I knew, hitting the stone-sized object could trigger another explosion. But at the same time, if I dodged, the ball would shoot past me and put everyone behind me in danger again.

I decided on Option A. Before I could go through with it, though, the energy ball vanished into thin air.

Xelloss again, probably. Raltaak looked miffed.

I completed my spell. “Dragon Slave!” I cried.

Reacting to the Power Words, a blade of scarlet light sprung from the Sword of Light. I gripped it tightly in my right hand and charged Raltaak at full speed.

Raltaak, still looking pissed, suddenly expanded his will. The gust of intense power made me screech to a stop.

His will took on a tangible energy, like miasma. Although it wasn’t so intense that I couldn’t grit my teeth and push through, his constantly pouring it out could make me collapse in exhaustion before I got to him.

I wielded the sword in both hands, straight against the pressure. “Go!” I shouted.

The crimson blade obeyed my voice and mind and shot out toward Raltaak.

Get him! my brain screamed.

Raltaak cursed. He was just about to dodge when something huge and black impaled his stomach.

A dark corkscrew.

“GAAAAAAH!” Raltaak screeched, no longer moving out of the way.

In a ray of burning red light, my blade slammed into his chest. As Raltaak reeled, gurgling, another corkscrew suddenly appeared and smashed his head into little bits.

That, obviously, was the last of Priest Raltaak.

Raltaak’s form scattered in all directions, sounding like an apple being crushed by a hammer. All that remained where he’d been standing was a puddle of blackish-blue liquid that was quickly absorbed by the earth and dissolved by the wind.

I swallowed. Xelloss, his unchanging smile on his face, and a stunned General Rashatt were the only ones left standing on the battlefield.

“S-sir Raltaak!” Rashatt gasped. He slowly turned his wide eyes to Xelloss.

Xelloss tapped the bottom of his staff on the ground. “Now, then,” he said cheerfully

That was as far as he got. Rashatt vanished that instant, leaving only his pathetic scream behind.

I lowered my arms and sighed. Xelloss, scratching his nose, stood there in silence a second.

“He got away pretty easily,” he finally commented absentmindedly.

I snorted. “Well, duh!” I snapped across the field. “And good job trying to stop him there, genius!”

Xelloss brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. “Er… at any rate, things seem to be in order. Thank you very much for your assistance, Miss Lina.” He glanced at me. “Your distracting of Mister Raltaak was particularly helpful. It was getting dangerous there, I must admit.

“So…” He raised his eyebrows. “Is everyone all right?”

That snapped me back to reality. Why was I arguing with Xelloss when I had party members recovering?! I spun around and ran back to the others.

Gourry was crouched next to Zelgadiss. I quickly gave Gourry back his sword and looked down at Zel.

“You okay?” I asked him. “By the way—thanks, Gourry.”

Zelgadiss shook his head. “It’s not serious,” he murmured, his voice tired but regaining its usual edge. “For me, anyway. How’s Amelia?”

I deflected the question to Milgazia. The Gold Dragon elder nodded.

“The healing is complete,” he said calmly. “She should be fine now.”

Sure enough, when I checked on Amelia I could see her breathing normally. She was still unconscious, but her wounds were completely closed.

Relief flooded through me. That’s one cool spell, I thought. I nodded at Milgazia in appreciation.

“Thanks a lot, Mister Milgazia.”

He abruptly averted his eyes. “There’s no need to thank me,” he declared curtly.

I stopped for a second. If I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn the guy was embarrassed.

“By the way,” he muttered, cutting off’ my thoughts. “It seems the door has vanished.”

“Door?” I followed his eyes. To the right of the rocky, imposing path that led up to the peak, a large portion of the cliff had been gouged out of the mountain.

Crap!

“Not the door to the Claire Bible?!” I exclaimed, hoping beyond hope that I was wrong.

“Precisely.”

“You’re kidding me!” I ran up and tried putting my hand through the gouged-out cliff where the Bible door would have been. My body had gone straight through before, but this time I just skinned my knuckles and looked like a moron.

It was one of the worst disappointments ever.

It had probably happened because Raltaak had caused an explosion inside that space. Stupid, stupid Raltaak!

I whimpered. “Does this mean… the Claire Bible’s gone, too?”

“This door was not the only one leading to the distortion at the center,” Milgazia said in reply. “Surely that energy was insufficient to cause the distortion that is the Claire Bible to vanish. However, not even I know if the vanishing of the door might have some effect upon the Bible.”

I dropped my hand and sighed. So much for asking about the Sword of Light or Zel’s chimera problem. I could go searching for another door, maybe, but I had no idea where to even start.

But that did make me think of something. If Xelloss knew that there were other doors to the Claire Bible, maybe he knew where to find another one.

I turned to him. “Xelloss?” I asked. “Do you know any other places to get to the Bible?”

He made a face. “Er… I know of a few, I suppose, but they’re in difficult places and, um, I can’t tell you where they are.”

Jerk.

“Why not?!” I asked angrily. I could guess the reason, but I still figured I’d ask.

“Why… ?” Xelloss raised his eyebrows again. “My duty was to bring you to this Claire Bible, after all. And now that this door is gone, others will be upset with me if I just bring you along to another one.”

I scoffed. “You just don’t like having to use your delicate hands for real work.”

“I’m following orders, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned. We demons have absolute obedience to those above us; in this case, Mister Raltaak and Mister Rashatt became our enemies because Chaos Dragon Gaav ordered them to act as such.”

I thought on that one for a minute.

“But if demons have absolute obedience to their superiors,” I asked, “why did Gaav turn against Ruby Eye? Ruby Eye created him.”

Xelloss started walking down the slope at a casual pace. “Ah,” he replied. “There are some special circumstances with that one. First of all, the Demon War of over a millennium ago was the cause of many unusual events. At the time, both Ruby Eye and Chaos Dragon confronted the Water Dragon King—but when the Water Dragon King was destroyed, Chaos Dragon was felled, seemingly by a mutual strike.

“Well,” Xelloss added to clarify, “by felled I don’t mean destroyed. His power was temporarily sealed along with any and all means by which he could interact with the world. Normally, left to his own devices, he would have revived on his own.”

Wow. “Your kind revives like that?” I asked.

“It depends on the individual’s power and the circumstances of defeat. The term destroyed means that all abilities, willpower, memories, and soul have been torn into small pieces so that even if the power were to shift elsewhere—and there may indeed be cases like that—the being will nonetheless never regain original form.

“Normally, being defeated means being unable to materialize power in this world. But, either through the passage of time or the recovery of one’s power through some means, the being will once again be able to materialize in the world at some point.”

Zelgadiss was finally on his feet by the time Xelloss arrived. Xelloss stopped in the area next to Zel before continuing with his piece.

“For some reason,” Xelloss went on, “there seem to be many instances of low-ranking demons, like lesser demons and brass demons, reviving in some incomplete form that cannot be called demonic. But power such as that possessed by Chaos Dragon should eventually revive in full.

“So. Where was I?” Xelloss cleared his throat. “The Water Dragon King placed an unusual seal on Chaos Dragon. Just before being destroyed, he used a fragment of his own mind as a key and reincarnated Chaos Dragon within a human body; it was a sort of spell that worked on other dragons, most likely.

“However, the spell was apparently not complete. As his spirit was reincarnated again and again, Chaos Dragon regained his memory and abilities. It would have been fine if it had ended there, but…”

Fine? By whose standards? I wanted to ask. From the standpoint of a human being, that situation was definitely not fine.

“While reincarnating many times over—possibly with the Water Dragon King’s mind fragment as a catalyst—part of the revived Chaos Dragon’s soul became humanized. Although a Mazoku’s characteristics are fundamentally stronger, because of the human sensibilities mixed in, he quickly rebelled from Lord Ruby Eye. He even took the subordinates he created long ago and began to take an antagonistic posture.”

Xelloss sighed. “I must say,” he said sadly. “The youths of today can be such a hassle.”

“Um…” I made a face. “Chaos Dragon is young?” Xelloss waved a hand dismissively and smiled. “I meant it as a figure of speech. In any case, in order to survive in spite of his betrayal, he’s rallied part of the demon population to his side against Lord Ruby Eye—as futile a cause as that may seem.

“The Demon Lord of North Kataart is the only piece of Lord Ruby Eye that has currently materialized in this world. If something were to happen to him, the demons would lose their focal point and could do as they pleased. That, you see, would improve Chaos Dragon’s chance at survival.”

Xelloss tapped a lip with his finger. “It seems that he intended to gather dragons and elves, invade the Kataart Mountains, and, in the midst of the chaos, defeat Lord Ruby Eye. Lord Ruby Eye is still partially sealed by the Water Dragon King and is unable to wield his full power.” “A plan you easily foiled,” commented a voice from behind me.

I spun around. Rashatt, wielding his drawn sword, glared at Xelloss and me.

I carefully spread my feet. Look who came crawling back.

“Mister Rashatt!” Xelloss called in a conversational tone. “I see you’ve come back to join us.”

Rashatt set his jaw. “Now that Sir Raltaak has been defeated,” he murmured, “I cannot win against you alone. But I can dispose of the girl, at the very least.”

Easier said than done, pal!

Xelloss shrugged. “I understand how you feel, of course, but I’m afraid—”

His words were suddenly interrupted by Gourry shouting his name.

Some kind of presence flooded in. Xelloss, his eyelids flying up in uncharacteristic shock, spun around on his heel.

A red flash originated out of thin air and split the sky. Almost as if the world had been set to slow motion, I watched as that flash sliced off Xelloss’ right arm at the shoulder.

I froze. Before I could even register the insanity I’d just witnessed, a second, horizontal strike split open Xelloss’ belly. The lopped-off arm turned into black mist and vanished before it could hit the ground.

What the HELL?!

Xelloss choked back a noise and made a long backward leap. The wounds didn’t seem to be fatal, but his knees still buckled the moment he landed.

“Xelloss!” I screamed. I ran over to him before I realized what I was doing.

That attack, I thought in a daze. It came out of nowhere, like Xelloss’ corkscrews!

“I thought attacks from the Astral Plane were your specialty, Priest of the Beast God.”

The voice was deep and male. I turned my head to see a man in the direction opposite to Rashatt, seemingly blocking the path that continued up to the peak.

The guy didn’t look older than twenty. He had a solid build, long red hair blown back by the wind, and an ivory white coat wrapped around his big frame. He tapped his own shoulder with the flat of a crimson-bladed long sword he gripped with his right hand.

He was handsome, in a rugged way, but the broad smile on his face was wicked.

“It’s… been some time,” Xelloss gasped from his crouched position on the ground. “We meet again, Chaos Dragon Gaav.”

Chaos Dragon.

Chaos Dragon.

I stared in morbid fascination. No wonder Rashatt had come back—the big baby had brought his boss with him.

“It has,” Gaav agreed casually. “Since before the Demon War, was it?” He passed Gourry, who was in a fighting stance, and me, before stopping in front of Xelloss.

Since Xelloss was a demon, he wasn’t losing blood or anything—there was just a smooth, white surface where his arm used to be attached his shoulder. But blood or no, he’d taken some serious damage.

“You’ve certainly changed in the millennium since I last saw you, Demon Dragon King.”

Gaav raised an eyebrow. “Really.” he said. “Was I more polite in the old days?”

“The opposite, actually. Your temper was a little shorter.”

Gaav smiled at that. “You’re still alive after taking two hits from me. You live up to my expectations, Priest Xelloss. To be blunt, the same attack would have destroyed Rashatt or Raltaak.”

Rashatt, obviously, didn’t look happy to hear that. But I guess he knew well enough to keep his mouth shut.

“You won’t get over those wounds for a while,” Gaav went on. “You’ll recover your strength given time, though.”

“Mm,” Xelloss agreed. “And I’ve lost so much strength that even Mister Rashatt may be able to defeat me in a fight.”

“I resent that!” Rashatt retorted from the back. Nobody seemed to care.

“It’s been busy around here.” Gaav tapped his shoulder with his sword again. “On top of your ridiculous scheme, you defeated Raltaak—and after we went through all the trouble to stay secret and not harm humans. Losing out on the power of Galia does hurt, I must admit.”

I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. That arrogant prick was one arrogant prick too many.

“What the hell are you talking about?!” I shouted. I got to my feet and pointed at Rashatt. “He’s the one who burned the place to the ground while trying to get rid of me!”

The Demon Dragon King raised an eyebrow and slowly turned to me. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Rashatt scowled. “I see you haven’t realized,” he told me flatly “The one who burned Galia was none other than Xelloss.”

Huh?

All the thoughts went flying out of my head. I looked dumbly down at Xelloss, but he just smiled his usual, cryptic smile.

I tried to find something to say. “But…” was all I managed.

“I’ll explain it to you, young lady.” Rashatt kept his eyes locked on me. “My duty was to gain the assistance of elves and dragons for Dilse. Eliminating you was the duty of Sir Raltaak. When I learned that you had come to the city, at the risk of sounding rude, I intended to seize the opportunity to try and kill you.

“But it wasn’t immediate, this plan. As I told you at the palace, I wanted you to teach the soldiers how to use spells against low-ranking demons. I didn’t intend to dispose of you until after you’d finished your work.”

What a sweetheart! He didn’t want to kill me until after wringing out a few weeks of free labor.

I was really, really getting sick of those Mazoku.

“But before that could happen, Xelloss altered his form and voice and pretended to target your life. He destroyed the palace and the city in his pursuit of you. What motive would I have to do that, I ask? We wanted to destroy you, but not at the cost of our bigger plan; as we’ve mentioned, knowing you’re a part of Hellmaster’s scheme means we want to kill you as a precaution, not as a priority.”

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. I stared at Xelloss and swallowed hard.

“Xelloss?” I asked, my voice breaking a little.

He stayed completely silent. That was all the proof I needed.

I couldn’t believe it. Everything had been a part of his plan—he’d manipulated me into destroying Chaos Dragon’s military resources and then had gotten me to hate Rashatt and Raltaak for it. I’d meant to dance along to his little tune for a while, but he’d had me flailing stupidly on puppet strings.

“And there you have it,” Xelloss said calmly.

ARGH! And the guy didn’t even have the decency to have a tone other than tranquil!

Xelloss slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I take back… what I said,” he told Gaav. “Your short temper hasn’t changed at all.”

Gaav smiled evilly. “Really.”

Without batting an eye, Gaav shoved the tip of his sword into Xelloss’ abdomen.

“It’s time to confess,” he drawled. “What scheme is that bastard Hellmaster up to?”

Xelloss didn’t change his story. “Regrettably… Lord Hellmaster didn’t tell me… the objective of his plan.”

“Then I’ll rephrase the question.” Gaav tried. “Did you hear the details of the plan from someone other than Hellmaster? For example, Greater Beast?”

I croaked out my surprise in a weird gurgle. No way. NO WAY.

Xelloss had never actually said “I don’t know.”

Xelloss gave Gaav a pained smile. “You get to… the point,” he huffed around the sword digging into his body. “As you surmised, yes… Lord Greater Beast, Zelas Metallium, did tell me the fine details of this plan. And the plan s objective is…”

Gaav leaned in. “Is?” he pushed.

Xelloss smiled and touched his lip. “… is… a… secret.”

The instant he said the words, Xelloss vanished without a trace.

Rashatt growled from behind me. “Is he trying to run?”

“After him, Rashatt.” Gaav didn’t seem bothered. “I’ll go later. And I’m sure you can defeat him, considering his condition.”

“Yes, sir!” Rashatt vanished in an instant.

Gaav slowly turned in our direction. “Now,” he muttered. “As for you, young lady.”

I gritted my teeth. He didn’t have to say it—I knew he wanted to kill me.

“I still don’t know Hellmaster’s plan,” he admitted, “but I’m killing you anyway. I still want to ruin what Hellmaster’s planning and pay you back for the trouble you’ve caused.”

“Over my dead body.”

I froze. Gourry, the Sword of Light in his hand, slowly walked to stand between Gaav and me.

Gourry?

Gaav eyed the sword. “The Goln Nova,” he said with interest. “That’s quite the toy you have there.”

I couldn’t believe anyone could call the Sword of Light a toy. But that name he’d used, Goln Nova… those were the same words the Claire Bible had recited.

Gaav shrugged. “No matter how much you wave that, no human can use it to defeat me. Do you honestly want to bet your life on a battle you can’t win?”

Gourry smiled. “I’m her guardian,” he answered. After a second, he added, “Self-appointed, I guess, but a guardian’s still a guardian. I can’t let you kill her.”

“The same goes for me.” Zelgadiss stood painfully on unsteady legs, but he still managed to give Gaav a dark, intense smile.

“I’m not her guardian,” he murmured, “but I’m still her companion. I won’t watch you kill her, even if I can only manage a few attack spells.”

“That’s right!” That was Amelia, shockingly energetic and opposite Zel. “Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way. And we have the will!”

“Amelia!” I shouted. She was already up and making speeches?!

She seemed completely fine, her chest puffed up and her finger pointed accusingly at Gaav. It was a real sight for sore eyes, let me tell you.

“I don’t know how strong you are,” she announced, “but if we fight you with everything we have, Justice will prevail!”

“Amelia!” I called. “When did you wake up?! Are you okay?”

Amelia scoffed. “Hmph! A blast like that is nothing to a heart fueled by Justice!”

Maybe she’d forgotten that whole “almost dying” part.

“But more importantly, Lina!” Amelia pointed again at Gaav. “Who is that guy?!”

If people could spontaneously explode, all of us would have right then.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. “Amelia!” I growled. “This isn’t the time to pull a Gourry. What part did you wake up at?”

“Um… something about not knowing Hellmaster’s scheme, but killing you anyway. I figured he was bad, so my Righteous Anger raged!”

I forced myself to swallow all the insults that bubbled up in me; it just wasn’t the time. “He’s Chaos Dragon!” I exclaimed. “Gaav! Okay? He knocked around Xelloss until Xelloss ran off!”

“Chaos Dragon?” Amelia repeated, her eyebrows raising. “Hm… I guess I always thought he’d look scarier than that.”

“I hate bluffing,” Gaav said dryly. “I could change into a monster, but that wouldn’t make me stronger or more frightening. I prefer this form.”

Amelia pressed her lips into a tight line. “Regardless! You’re the one who plunged the royals of Saillune and Dilse into chaos and is trying to kill Lina! You’re a villain, through and through!”

Gaav laughed without humor. “Please,” he mocked. “This isn’t about good and evil. I’m simply doing what I need to do in order to survive.”

“If selfishly dragging everyone into your problems and spreading chaos isn’t evil, then what is? HM?!”

Gaav sneered. “All right, then listen. Hellmaster’s plan is probably the source of this chaos. If Lina’s willing to play along, and you’re supporting her, doesn’t that make you villains?”

Amelia, in a very, very rare moment, was struck absolutely speechless.

“What’s evil about fighting for survival?” Gaav asked. “Or is it better to be like the demons in Kataart and live solely to destroy everything and everyone?”

Amelia’s eyebrows furrowed. “Everything and everyone?” she repeated.

“You heard me. They want to destroy the world, and themselves, and return everything to Chaos. That’s what demons want—it’s why they were created.”

I clenched my hands into fists. So it’s true, I thought. A demon himself was saying it.

Gaav looked away irritably. “Until a millennium ago,” he muttered, “I took that for granted, as well. But while dying and being reborn inside of humans, I’ve since changed my opinion. I won’t go along with the demons of Kataart. And I’d be fine with running if I didn’t worry about another fragment of Ruby Eye getting resurrected and bringing about the destruction of the world.

“There’s only one way to avoid that: find the fragments of Ruby Eye and destroy them one by one. I intend to start with the Demon King of the North at Kataart.”

Gaav turned to me again. “To live,” he said lowly, “I’ll destroy Ruby Eye. I’ll smash the plans of that bastard Hellmaster. And I’ll kill you, Lina Inverse.”

So that was it. All of it—or most of it, at least—and straight from the dragon’s mouth. My head was spinning with all the information that had been thrown at me that day.

“I know you’re fighting to stay alive,” Gaav added. “You and I are alike, in that way. I don’t expect you or ask you to roll over and die. Fight me and we’ll settle this.” He gestured to the others. “And bring your friends, while you’re at it.”

That said, he hefted his sword in one hand and pointed it at me.

“Then let’s do this!” Amelia shouted before immediately chanting a spell.

I could hear it. She was going to cast Ra Tilt, the strongest of the Shamanic Magic spells. It could annihilate a typical demon, but what would it do to Chaos Dragon Gaav?

I guess we’re about to find out, I thought.

But as Amelia finished chanting, Gaav voiced a sound that was a lot like a whistle.

“Ra Tilt!” Amelia cried.

Amelia released her spell. A pillar of blue flames enveloped Gaav’s body, burning until…

With a sharp, metallic sound, the pillar of flames broke apart.

Amelia’s jaw dropped. “What?!”

I wished I could’ve said I was surprised. But there’s no fun in “I told you so” when you being right means you’re also dead meat.

“Taking that squarely would do no more than scratch me,” Gaav said flatly. “But since I don’t like little pains, I decided to block it.”

Amelia could only stare at him dumbly, her mouth hanging open.

Gaav snorted. “In human hands, even Goln Nova would do little to hurt me. If you wanted to defeat me with human bodies, you should’ve brought along some of those famous Ceipheed Knights.”

I made a face at that. Oh, yeah?

“The Ceipheed Knights are probably working as part- time waitresses right now,” I said dryly.

Gaav ignored me. Probably thought I was crazy.

Back to business.

“Gourry!” I yelled. “Let’s go!”

“Right!” Gourry caught on, so he readied his sword. I began to chant my spell.

Gaav commented, raising his eyebrows a little. “You should know that won’t work.”

Of course it wouldn’t—not if I launched it at him directly

He made another whistling sound. Was that how he did defensive spells?

I was done. “Dragon Slave!” I cried as I released.

As my spell activated, Gourry’s blade shone crimson. Gaav murmured mild surprise and entered a fighting stance for the first time that day.

It looked like Rashatt hadn’t gone into detail about Raltaak’s death. That was good news for us.

“So that’s your plan,” Gaav said. “Interesting… I was planning on killing you quickly from the Astral Plane, but drawing this out might be fun.”

Gaav faced Gourry, a wicked smile pulling his lips tight. “Let’s go!” Gaav called before racing across the ground.

He was ridiculously fast. Gourry managed to parry Gaav’s sharp, twisting thrust and still stay on his feet. Gaav pushed in and didn’t give Gourry any leeway.

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Shockwaves and red plasma gushed out of the Sword of Light every time it blocked a hit from Gaav’s own scarlet sword. It looked like the Sword of Light was losing the most power with every blow; nothing was spilling out of the Chaos Dragon s blade. The fact that Gourry was about equal in sword skill wouldn’t mean much if he lost the magic weapon.

I had to work fast. While Gaav was distracted with Gourry, I had time to use a spell… but I could only think of one that would do real damage. I didn’t want to use it, considering its true nature. I really, really didn’t. But then who would save Gourry? Or all of us, for that matter?

Then I had an idea. I had that other spell, the one that had less of a chance of running amok. I could use that.

Do it, Lina!

I put my hands in front of my chest, my palms slightly apart, like I would to cast a fireball. First, I had to chant the amplification spell. In answer to those Chaos Words, the four Demon Blood Talismans on my two wrists, my belt, and my necklace released pale light in four colors.

I began chanting the main spell, raising my right hand to the sky.

“Fragment of the Lord of Nightmares,

Release thy heavenly retribution Blade of cold, black nothingness Become my power, become my body Together, let us walk the path of destruction And smash even the souls of the Gods—”

Chaos Dragon stopped in shock. “What?!” he choked out. Gourry took advantage of the situation and sliced, but he only managed a shallow wound on the retreating Demon Dragon King’s chest.

The spell was a version I’d modified using knowledge from the Claire Bible and my own guesswork. It was probably in its complete form.

“Ragna Blade!” I shouted.

VOOOOOO!

The very fabric of space shook as a blade of nihility appeared in my right hand. But something was different this time around—the power wasn’t the same as before. It was stronger.

“Huh?!”

I could barely do it. Controlling the blade alone was draining both my physical and mental strength. I wouldn’t last long—so I had to make this count.

With a cry, I rushed to the still-trembling Gaav and sliced at him with all I had. He raised his blade to parry, and my eyes went blurry.

It was too exhausting; I could feel all my strength being sucked out of me.

But the second I thought that, the space between the two blades went nuts.

The black sword came down just as it lost its power.

There was no resistance.

Without so much as a sound, the seemingly powerless black blade sliced through Chaos Dragon Gaav’s sword and arm.

“AAAAAH!”

I barely saw Gaav retreat from me in agony. I’d hit my threshold. The black sword returned to the void once more as my knees buckled beneath me.

My palms slapped against the rocky ground. Panting, drenched in sweat, I fought to stay conscious.

“G-Gourry!” I gasped.

I heard him shout an affirmative. He charged Gaav with his sword.

Gaav roared. His will surged outward, turning into a shockwave that blew Gourry and I back.

I cried out as I rolled over and over before sliding to a halt. I tried to struggle to my feet, but my body had no strength left. I collapsed weakly

I looked up through blurred eyes. I saw the outline of Gaav slowly walking in my direction. A black something was devouring him where his right arm had been cut off. “I’ll kill you!” he shrieked as his red hair fanned out. The scream of Chaos Dragon Gaav resounded across Dragon’s Peak.

To be continued…