Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

Thus came the seventh day of the World Meeting. Since this was the final day of the meeting, the discussions were limited to the morning, with a final ceremony in the afternoon. And as the person who put the whole meeting together, Kyle remembered today’s agenda. To him, this was practically the real deal. The people who had gathered in the meeting hall were pretty much the same as the previous days. The only difference was that even the elves participated. The regular participants were told that the elves might show up for today, but their actual appearance still left them in a bit of disarray.

Rifuaro remained calm despite all the attention gathering on him, but his facial color made it seem like it was getting to him. And then, Kyle appeared. But, not like the others had seen him before. He wore a completely new armor. This was armor made from dragon skin, and all the kings knowledgeable in the manufacturing of armor could barely hold in their excitement.

“K-Kyle-dono, what is that armor…?”

Naturally, the collector Garadoff stood frozen stiff, as he asked with a quivering voice.

“This is armor made from Dragon King Zeurus’ skin.”

Zeurus was known to be living in the World Tree, a dragon who had been alive since the ancient days. He’s basically like a god in human eyes.

“Is…Is that true…”

“Yes. Dragon King Zeurus gave it to me.”

In reality, it was made of scales that Zeurus shed naturally, but there was no need to tell them. What mattered was that he met the legendary Dragon King and received that armor. If anybody but him had said that, they would have been regarded as insane…but it was none other than Kyle who brought the dragons with him in the first place.

“To think the legendary Dragon King…truly existed.”

“If that story is true, then this armor is probably the greatest piece of equipment ever seen in the history of humanfolk…or the whole world, even.”

Seeing all the kings growing flustered over the armor, Kyle was reminded of his allies’ first reaction.

“Yes, I can definitely pick up his presence from it. Well, to be expected,” Shildonia said with an impressed tone.

“I can’t really tell the difference compared to before. I guess it looks a bit more ominous?”

“That’s true…”

Lieze and Urza didn’t quite grasp the greatness of the armor.

“Now that it’s come to this, they’re gonna try and aim for your head. But maybe with a poisonous blade, it could work?” Minagi was considering the best way to finish off Kyle.

“Who cares about armor?”

Seran was rather attentive to his weapons, but he didn’t really care about defensive gear.

“Made from Zeurus-sama’s shed skin…What divine air…”

“Kah! It’s just his leftovers. Wearing that is gross.”

As the armor was made by demons, it definitely carried an ominous air to it, but whereas Irumera saw it as a divine gift, Zeurus’ grandchild Ghrud couldn’t hide his discontent.

Yeah, these are the reactions I expected. Those guys are just plain weird.

After all, this was an armor of legends that he managed to obtain. Comparing the reactions from the lords to his own friends, Kyle didn’t know how to feel. Either way, the grande reveal may have been a success, but he didn’t intend to just surprise them.

“Of course, there’s a reason I stand here to present my armor to you, but I would first like to begin the meeting. What I wish to discuss today are new measures against the demons.”

Not understanding Kyle’s statement, most of the participants were bewildered. Everybody knew of the looming threat of the demons, so they didn’t know what exactly Kyle intended to bring to the table this late into the game.

“Of course, the fact that we will remain a single force to stand against the demons will not change,” the oldest king present stated as the representative, but Kyle shook his head.

“I didn’t mean it in quite such an abstract way. I want to bring us to detailed and concrete actions. And more than anything, I’d like to solidify your understanding of the demons.”

“What does that mean?”

Not grasping Kyle’s intention behind his words, the participants showed their confusion.

“If you could forgive my rudeness, but the conception of the threat the demons pose has weakened within all of humanfolk. But, it is understandable, as the last war with the demons goes back three hundred years. However, I fought with them and learned anew that they are an incredibly dangerous force.”

He began telling them about his fight to the death with Ganias back at the mining city of Callan.

“So the rumors were true…”

Kyle made sure to spread various rumors to grow his fame, and his battle with the demons was one of those rumors. So far, he had been mostly open about it except one part, but it was now time to reveal the full truth.

“As much as it pains me, I have to admit that they were incredibly strong. After all, one single demon managed to defeat an entire flying dragon squad from the Empire.” Korodes joined in to support Kyle’s statement.

It raised the trust for the Empire and greatened the danger that the demons portrayed.

“And from the way he spoke, it sounded like the demons had already nested deep within our human society.”

Realizing this, especially the countries close to the demon territory like Zilgus or Gilbohl were shaken.

“The history of our humanfolk is also a history of battles between the demons. Even if the previous war may have happened 300 years ago, we cannot ever forget their threat.”

“S-Still, we haven’t seen any casualties caused by the demons, right?”

One king from a country to the south tried to escape the reality that was looming over them.

“It is true that the current Demon Lord seems rather passive…Or more accurately, the current force of demons is led by a peace faction. However, it would be foolish to assume that all of them feel the same way.”

“So we’re dealing with a pro-war faction within their ranks?”

“Yes, most likely. The demon I encountered clearly didn’t share the same vision as their Demon Lord. And these demons have made their way into our lands, it seems.”

Hearing a new truth about the demons, the room grew noisy. They learned that the demons weren’t all that different from humans when it came to characteristics.

“Of course, this is simply my own experience and hypothesis, but we cannot rest easy just for that. We have to be prepared in case the worst-case scenario arrives.”

With Kyle’s sincere and determined voice, the mumbling in the meeting room stopped. However, because it has been so long since the last war, and since most participants never even encountered an actual demon in their lifetime, they still lacked the understanding. Because no matter how much you hear about them, the horror can only set in after having made direct contact.

“It’s true that, during the battle 300 years ago, we suffered many casualties, but managed to overcome the all-out attack…” There, Rifuaro spoke up.

He and the other elves were the only ones who were alive during the last war.

“I’m going to be honest with you all. If the demons attacked us now with all of their forces, humanfolk would lose and fall to ruin.”

As he spoke, his face turned pale, showing the emotional dread he felt from having experienced a demon attack himself. Because of that, all other participants felt cold shivers running down their spines. Rifuaro may have helped out Kyle there, but he gave him a ‘don’t misunderstand’ look right after. Like he was only willing to help if the demons were involved.

“When I went to the World Tree, I discussed this matter with the leader of the dragons, Dragon King Zeurus.”

As the room was noisy from all the muttering, Kyle changed the topic a bit.

“This is also the reason that we had dragons joining us for the meeting. He informed me that a group of demons had been trying to get in contact with them.”

He changed up the story just a bit, but it was enough to send another shock through the rows of participants.

“Zeurus emphasized that the dragons would remain neutral and not offer their assistance to the demons. At the same time, he held the same stance toward us humanfolk, which is where the contract we formed comes from. However…” Kyle looked down at his armor, as his expression grew serious. “The fact that he has granted me such a legendary armor can only mean one thing…The fact that humanfolk is in grave danger!”

These words held great strength to shake the hearts of those who were listening.

Well, that doesn’t qualify as a lie, so it’s fine…Right? Yup.

Kyle tried to convince himself, as he continued to talk about the danger the demons possessed.

“However…even if we are cautious of the threat they pose, what are we to do?” Prince Sharidan brought up a valid point.

Even he, who was on good terms with Kyle, didn’t know how to exactly act in this situation. And since they hadn’t suffered any harm from the demons, there was nothing to be done. He didn’t want to poke the wrong hornet’s nest by getting involved. However, the fact that he genuinely thought about the situation was all that Kyle needed. If they understood the gravity of the threat, it was just one more push. So, right as they made the decision to keep things as they were, namely to be in contact if something were to happen—disaster struck. The cups and mugs standing on the table began shaking, as they heard a faint rumbling.

“A-An earthquake…?”

“No. Something heavy is…”

As the participants were discussing amongst themselves, the door of the hall opened and a soldier came storming in.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting! We’re under attack!”