Chapter 12: The Road to the Inner Sanctum
Act 5: Vanquish the Demon Lord
Chapter 12: The Road to the Inner Sanctum
THE fighting forces of Elle Village set out the next morning. I don’t have to worry about the others because I left the village in the very capable hands of Jasper the Trembler and Laurent, two of our appointed Four Grand Magi.
Julius taught Laurent how to create protection and invisibility barriers, so I’ve given him the new title of Iron Wall Laurent—no, Absolute Protector of Elle Village Laurent.
I also asked Jasper in private to lead the villagers as the mayor of our glorious Elle Village in the event something happens to me. I can trust him. He is Jasper the Trembler for a reason.
With the village taken care of, everyone on Team Vanquish the Demon Lord teleported into Analia’s royal capital through the magic circle.
We’re currently floating just outside the entrance to the Demon Lord’s castle on my magic carpet.
Everything from teleporting seven people and arriving in style on the flying carpet went off without a hitch thanks to Julius.
As for him, he has his poker face on even though we had that awkward moment last night. Kind of makes me hate him!
And speaking of last night, wasn’t that conversation a clear death flag? It’s bad luck!
I mean, I was too flustered to say anything at the time, but does he have to wait for the magic circle to be destroyed to tell me what he wants to say?! Shouldn’t he have said it before we stare down death?! What’s wrong with that? I want to know now!
Uh-oh. I’ve gotta stop working myself up before a mission. The final battle is about to begin. Today we vanquish the Demon Lord. I have to stay focused.
In the short time I take to put myself in the right mindset, Julius demolishes the castle defenses as soon as they come into sight.
Yep, that’s the same barrier it took me days to disrupt when I snuck into the Demon Lord’s castle. Julius brought it down with a snap of his fingers.
I’m starting to feel like Julius is the only person I needed to bring. But eradicating the magic circle would be too much of a burden on him alone. If you don’t let the magic power accumulated in the magic circle out in spurts before you destroy it, it will explode in your face. One person needs to be in charge of releasing the magic and another has to defend against attack, or it’s game over.
And to Julius it’s just as concerning for Aela and me, the two key players in reviving the Demon Lord, to be out of his sight. He’s quite the worrier.
Just like that, we arrive above the Demon Lord’s castle in no time and can comfortably check out what’s happening below without threat of the defenses tearing us out of the skies.
“It’s crawling with people,” I observe, peeking over the side of the carpet.
Palace sentinels serving under Regulus normally guard the area around the castle, but there’s an unusually large number marching the perimeter today. There are so many soldiers it makes me wonder if the entire squad is on duty today.
“Hrm. It seems that the elite guard I trained has assembled at the castle. Likely to stop our invasion. They’re smart men. They knew we were coming,” Regulus says with a hint of pride for the guards and their coordinated march around the castle.
“We won’t get anywhere if we don’t do something about those kids first…,” Sereniel says in a restrained voice. “How do you want to handle them? With our strength, we could rout them with ease, but…”
We have Julius on our side, and with the awesome me and my mastery of wide-area spells, we can drive out the enemy like sheep. But they are innocent Analians…
“Don’t fret,” Regulus says when I’m too torn to decide. With absolute confidence, he asserts, “They were originally my troops. They will listen to this old man.”
Right. Regulus used to command the elite guard until just recently! Routing the enemy is a piece of cake, but that doesn’t mean I want to hurt people who don’t know any better.
I smile encouragingly at Regulus. “Okay, I’ll leave persuading them up to you, Regulus!”
He gives me two thumbs-up, flashes a grin to say he’s got it, then leaps off the edge of the magic flying carpet. He drops down, not caring that we are hovering over the clouds, and lands with an earthshaking thud.
Guards rush to the loud noise.
Regulus swings his arms around, trying to explain the situation to them, and they flock to him in noisy droves as if welcoming him back and restrain his arms and legs in the process.
…Wait what?
“Hey, did Regulus just get apprehended?” I say, giving my honest appraisal of the scene unfolding below.
Aela peers over the side. “It looks that way,” she says, worried.
I watch for a while until Regulus looks up and sends his thoughts into my mind. (Sorry, I failed ☆ Tehe!) He laughs like a shy little girl and sticks out his tongue.
That old fart!
“Won’t it be faster if I just lob this down there?” Julius asks. I look over at his right hand just as he makes a glowing sun orb appear. He plans to drop a sun on them?
C’mon, Julius! Stop taking the most violent option first! I’m totally on board with you, I am, but we can’t do that!
“Goodness gracious, he can’t do anything without me,” Sereniel says in exasperation and shrugs. “He’s useless on his own, so I’ll hold back the guards here for you. Julius, would you be a dear and make the carpet descend?”
Julius nods.
“Do you have a plan, Sereniel? Just to be clear, I am against any genius plan involving wiping out the area with magic like Julius wants to do,” I tell her.
“Who in the world do you think I am? Please don’t insult me by lumping me in with that barbarian. For I was formerly Analia’s second-ranked Grand Magi, Sereniel the Temptress.” No sooner does she speak than a sweet fragrance wafts from her. The tantalizing scent spreads around the castle perimeter.
This is one of the telepathic mind-manipulation skills she’s so good at!
I look to where Regulus is captured and see the guards who are restraining him standing in place with glazed eyes. Their hands slide from his arms and legs. Regulus is freed from their grasp and waves at us.
We land and I run over to his side and…kick him in the shins.
“Ow! What was that for, Elle?!”
“That’s my question! Oh my gosh, do you know how disappointed I felt when you jumped off like some cool hero and ended up caught a few seconds later?!”
Also, don’t go sticking out your tongue at your age!
“Now, now, Lady Elle. Let him off the hook. Our path into the castle is secured now,” Guido cajoles with a smile bright as dawn on a dazzling summer’s day.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Aela says with an equally heartwarming smile.
They don’t get it! If the former third-ranked Grand Magi sucks this bad, what does that say about me as the rank beneath him?!
“Hurry on inside,” Sereniel urges. “I will keep the guards in check, but my spell won’t last forever. You’ve got about two hours tops.”
Now that she mentions it, spells cast over an entire castle won’t last long before they drain the user dry of magic.
Suddenly, I see someone move in behind Sereniel while we’re talking…!
“Sereniel! Behind you!” I shout.
The assassin swings their dagger down on Sereniel’s back. It’s too late! I think just as a loud bam reaches my ears.
“Disrespectful youngling, attacking a lady from behind,” Regulus scolds.
He stood to protect Sereniel from danger. About ten feet away from him is the hooded figure he bunted away, a poisoned dagger clutched in their hand.
It looks like Regulus saved Sereniel. So he can be useful when the time comes! If he can pull that much off, maybe I can appoint him as one of the Eight Divine Generals of Elle Village.
“One of the DemiOracles,” Julius murmurs after walking up to the defeated assassin and checking its face.
One of the DemiOracles? They can leave the castle? I didn’t know that.
“You said they’re the Demon Lord’s homunculi, right? My magic doesn’t seem to work on them,” Sereniel says, disgusted.
That means her magic won’t work on Clark’s homunculi, either.
Regulus looks back at me. “In any case, this changes nothing—we still need to hurry into the castle and bring a swift end to this battle. Go take care of it while the guards are bound by Sereniel’s spell. I will protect her here. The guards will come after you if anything happens to her,” he says, coming across a tad cooler than usual.
Relief washes over Sereniel’s face knowing that Regulus will stay with her.
“Okay. You better protect Sereniel to the end! If you do that, I’ll officially appoint you as Old Gray of the Eight Divine Generals of Elle Village!”
“Hah…Old Gray…?” Regulus mumbles under his breath, as if he doesn’t like my choice of names.
Sereniel bursts out laughing. “Pft! Come on! Why Old Gray? You have horrible naming sense, Elle. And for your information, Regulus used to have hair as red as you. He was called the Crimson Demon in his heyday, so think up a better name for him.”
What’s wrong with my naming sense?! Old Gray sounds like a superhero name to me!
I gape at Sereniel, waiting for a better reason why that’s a bad name, but she waves me away.
“Think about it. Anyway, leave before you take up too much time here… Julius, take good care of Elle for me,” she insists for good measure.
“You don’t have to ask,” Julius responds forcefully.
“Your worry is wasted on me! After all, I am the glorious Elle Village’s grand sorceress mayor! I’ll roast, toast, ghost, then post Clark in a jiffy, then scare, tear, and flare that stupid magic circle!” I declare in a voice that could reach the mountains.
A gentle smile softens Sereniel’s face, transforming her from a coy woman into something more motherly. “…Say, Elle, I want to speak with you about something if we succeed in stopping the Demon Lord’s revival. So make sure you come back alive and well.”
She wants to talk about something? What is it? What’s with both her and Julius holding back what they want to say until everything is over?
Oh well. I can wait.
“Of course I will come back alive and well. After all, I am Elle Village’s grand sorceress mayor!” I exclaim and sweep into the castle in a swish of skirts, leaving the exterior perimeter in Sereniel’s and Regulus’s capable hands.
Invading the castle with me are Julius, Aela, Prince Guido, and Golem. We’re down to five. Our dream team is slowly being chiseled off. But to be honest, anything can be overcome as long as I have Julius on my side, so we’re still good.
“This is the Demon Lord’s Castle…,” Golem mutters, curiously taking in his surroundings.
Magic balls of light float in the air, creating a mystical backdrop. It probably drives home that we are no longer in Gaea.
Guards litter the inside of the castle, too, but we walk right past them because they are stupefied by Sereniel’s spell.
After advancing deeper into the castle, I suddenly hear a girlish giggle.
“Kyahaha!”
I stop. This voice…
“L-Lylish…?” Aela stammers, her voice trembling.
Lylish is laughing. And it’s not just one set of laughter but all sorts going “Kyahaha” “Ufufu” “Hehehe” from every direction. Dozens of wings are flapping around us.
I search the area and see nothing.
She’s using manga Lylish’s specialty: Invisibility!
I immediately cast Dispel Magic, and like a curtain dropping, what we hadn’t seen before becomes visible. Dozens of fairies have encircled us without our knowledge—we’re surrounded by Lylishs.
They face us with plastered-on smiles that don’t reach their dead, green eyes.
“It’s me, Lylish! Your name is Aela? What a great name!”
“Aela! This way! Come here!”
“Hey, Aela? Why don’t we save this kingdom together?”
“Come with me!”
“Aela, I love you!”
“Be confident in yourself! God chose you as his saint, after all!”
“Cheer up, Aela. You can do it!”
“I’ll protect you, Aela!”
They are all saying encouraging words in cheerful voices, but their eyes are devoid of emotion.
And I hate to say it, but repeating the same lines with the same face is horror-movie territory.
While we’re standing still trying to grapple with the scene straight out of a horror flim involving multiple Lylishes, a single Lylish charges straight at Prince Guido.
Crap! Now’s not the time to be freaked out by terrifying fairies!
No sooner do I think that than Golem deftly draws his sword and cuts down an incoming killer fairy.
Sliced cleanly in two, the pieces just so happen to plop on the ground in front of Aela. The sight is too intense for the girl who spent years calling the fairy friend, and she shrieks in horror. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!”
Aela sways on her feet and tumbles forward. Guido rushes over and catches her before she hits the floor.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness! I acted without thinking about how she would feel…! How is Lady Aela?” Golem asks as he fends off several Lylishes’ ramming attacks with his sword and shield.
“Don’t worry. She just lost consciousness,” Prince Guido answers, brushing the hair off her face to make sure she is okay. I catch a glimpse of how stark white her skin is.
“Are you all right?!” I ask and try to get closer, but another set of Lylish horrors singing “Aela! Aela, Aela, AELA! Hey, Aela!” zoom in to block my path.
Smiling with eyes as blank as glass beads seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies. I’ve never been able to handle scary stories involving dolls!
Before I can react, the Lylishes turn into popsicles and drop to the floor with a thunk.
“Elle, don’t leave my side,” Julius says, coming over to protect me.
His magic iced our fairy menace, but I’m still worried about Aela…! I look over to Guido and see Aela awake in his arms. She’s reaching for the Lylish Golem cut in half.
“My magic didn’t work on her. She told me it was because she’s a fairy, and I believed her. But that wasn’t true, was it? She was a homunculus. A doll created by a man called Clark… That’s why my powers couldn’t save her… Prince Guido, please, oh please, put our dear friend to rest,” I hear Aela say clearly over the ensuing battle between Golem, Julius, and the swarm of Lylishes.
“…I will,” Guido vows, rising and drawing his magic sword. He holds it in front of him with both hands. “Spirits of Light, give me power…,” he chants and stands in a meditative stance for a few long moments before his eyes snap open. “Shining Flash!”
Th-This is Prince Guido’s ultimate move that he acquires in the last half of the manga!
Blinding light shines from Guido, forcing my eyes shut.
It’s so bright! Actually, now that I see it in real life, couldn’t the author have come up with a cooler ultimate skill name? Isn’t this too simple and literal?!
Guido awakens Shining Flash right before a boss battle toward the end of the series. I open my eyes when I stop sensing the flash’s shining effect.
All the Lylishes zooming through the air are gone.
Shining Flash was described in the manga as a spell to eradicate evil.
In the latter half of the story, it’s very effective against the homunculus that Clark controls, but isn’t the concept of “eradicates evil” too vague?
Well, I’m on the side of justice, so I can’t be eradicated— Ah, what about Julius?!
I spin around searching for Julius and am filled with relief to find him standing there unerased.
Phew! The spell didn’t count Julius as evil.
“Was that Dispel? And a very powerful form of it at that,” Julius observes with great interest as Prince Guido sheathes his sword.
Shining Flash falls under the Dispel skill tree? Huh. Looks like it has nothing to do with eradicating evil. The author lied!
“Hearing that from you gives me a confidence boost.” Guido smiles and lends Aela a hand as he helps her stand. “Aela, I put Lylish to rest.”
“…Thank you…very much. Prince Guido. Forgive me…for requesting such a cruel task of you,” Aela says, crying. Guido hugs her.
“The weakling that I am, I could not bear to see Lylish like that a moment longer…,” Aela continues through her tears. “She was just a puppet and may have thought nothing of us, but I…enjoyed being with her. Maybe her smile was fake, but still…it cheered me up.”
“Yeah. She meant something to us,” Prince Guido says comfortingly, rubbing her back.
“I will surely remember Lylish every time I see a beautiful sky, feel a pleasant breeze, and gaze up at the twinkling stars. I will remember her cheerful voice, adorable smile, and this sinful day I had her erased. And each time I remember, I will pray that her soul rests in peace… Prince Guido, please forgive me for praying for a soul that served the Demon Lord.”
“It’s all right, Aela. I’ll pray, too. I will pray at your side, right next to you, sharing the same sentiment. Let me do that.”
Aela and Guido mourn Lylish’s loss in each other’s arms.
Since I read the manga, I can’t help shedding a tear when I see the bond between them. A silent tear streams down Golem’s cheek, too, as even he is affected.
The emotional moment is shattered by Julius’s cold voice. “We don’t have time for that. Keep moving.”
Julius rushes down the hall ahead of us, declaring an abrupt end to the emotional mood.
Well, he isn’t wrong about the need to keep moving, but does taking a few moments to grieve really set us back that far?!
I’m not willing to leave yet, but the two most affected people set aside their feelings, say “Okay!” and chase after Julius without a fight.