Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

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Luiza sat deeply in her chair, watching the commotion inside with a sigh. Granted, it might seem like it had a negative connotation, but a part of her actually enjoyed the chaos going on.

“As long as you’re safe, the rest can be handled later, Luiza-sama.” Yuriga stood next to her, arguing with a calm tone.

“Safe…is one way to call it,” Luiza countered while rubbing her right leg.

“P-Please excuse me! You might not be completely safe, but…I just wanted to save you, so forgive me!” Yuriga panicked, thinking this was her responsibility.

“Don’t worry about it. In fact, I’m thankful for what you’ve done. You have my gratitude, Yuriga.”

“N-Not at all! My sole reason for existing is to assist you! Please use me as you see fit!”

Yuriga may be an extremely reliable subordinate, but Luiza wished she’d soften up a little bit. Using a metal pipe as a staff to support her, she hopped over toward the window.

“And it’s not just you. To think so many people came to my rescue…I couldn’t be more thankful.”

Looking down, the scenery had greatly changed from a long time ago, overflowing with people and life.

A month had passed since the successful rescue of Luiza. Kyle and his group managed to barely make it out of the collapsing castle and succeeded in grouping up again. Granted, things were a bit messy when Kyle and Flame-Eye reunited, but with all the chaos around, they just focused on escaping to the town that was still directly under Luiza’s control. Meanwhile, even Creet’s squad that walked right into a trap somehow made it out alive with no casualties, albeit many wounded.

The situation revolving around the demons has greatly changed, too. Luiza declared that the battle she had lost was void and that she still remained the one true Demon Lord. This, in return, was a declaration of war against the black-winged one. Since the previous battle wasn’t lawfully done, and the black-winged one sided with the Ancient Dragon, she would use all the help she could get, too. And for that, she will take the help of Kyle and the others.

But of course, things aren’t as simple as that. The black-winged one had disappeared without a trace, leaving everybody confused as to where they disappeared. Kyle and the others assumed they might have run off to heal, but nothing was made public. Sometimes, Targ would appear as the representative, so it wasn’t like a crazy revolution occurred, but many demons were confused as to what was going on. Then again, this situation worked in the favor of Kyle and the others. After all, Luiza can’t fight properly anymore. The wound she suffered because of the black sword would never fully heal, leaving her unable to walk like she did before, lowering her ability to fight. She still maintained her immortality, but fighting the black-winged one directly was nothing short of suicide.

So, not having any need to fight now came in convenient for them. And with the symbol of the demon race, the Demon Lord’s castle gone, it left a huge impact on the culture. With two Demon Lords present amongst the demonfolk, their forces were split in two. However, the fact that Luiza had technically lost once, paired with her desire to make peace with humanfolk, left her with a significantly lower force. Granted, she had people like Flame-Eye and Poison-Needle under her belt, but the overall force she had was only one-fifth at most, the majority of them being younger demons. Still, staying with the side that technically lost once has never happened in the history of the demonfolk, so Luiza’s strategy over the past 300 years has definitely bore fruit.

“I was unsure if I should even go so far as to call myself the Demon Lord still after my loss, but as long as I have people following me, I might as well…Hee hee, I continued to sit atop the throne out of listlessness and because nobody else came to contest it, trying to achieve peace with humanfolk…and yet, now I wish to continue my position. I guess I’ve changed plenty myself.”

Reminiscing about her life leading to this point, getting even emotional along the lines, when someone knocked on the door.

“Excuse me, Luiza-sama, I’ve come to report our progress.”

Together with the knock, the door was opened by a middle-aged man called Klaus. He is the leader of the Marco Business Association, humanfolk’s greatest business group to date, and he also acts as an intermediary for Luiza within the humanfolk territory.

“Klaus, I see. How are we doing regarding the development?”

A while ago, she simply addressed him as the “Human Businessman”, but as of late, she switched to using his name. She probably didn’t even realize this herself, but there was certain change happening within her.

“Quite well, I must say. We should be able to complete it within the next three months. After all, we’ve gained more manpower than we initially assumed we’d have available, so we might have to expand it even. A fortunate misfortune, I say,” argued Klaus.

This was speaking for the development of the town creating noise outside. They opened up paths, creating new buildings, and fortifying the outer walls. This city gathered many of Luiza’s supporters, but definitely not all of them because it didn’t offer enough space. Hence, with the support of the Marco Business Association, they worked to expand the town.

“That sounds good, but…are there any quarrels happening?” Luiza asked as her face stiffened.

She was referring to humans and demons living together. The ones working on improving the town were mostly half-demons, but you could see humans or dwarves in the mix, too. These were workers that Klaus had brought with him, and just like the humans doing the trade within the demon territory, they were known to be reliable workers in their own right. However, it was still a rarity for humans and demons to see each other up this close, so Luiza feared there might be issues in the brewing.

“Yes, I was quite worried about this myself, but everything seems to be moving on smoothly.”

Most of the demons here were already following Luiza’s ideals, so they didn’t feel any hatred or aggression against humanfolk.

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“But, we can’t escape the smaller complications, of course. We can only slowly grow used to it.”

You can’t build a relationship of trust overnight. Even if it brings its fair share of challenges, you have to give it time. And even a small issue could grow into a massive problem.

“Even so, I think we are doing fine. We do have people speaking against this, of course,” Klaus said with a smirk.

Someone else entered the room. Contrary to Klaus, he showed no emotion or care whatsoever.

“I’m done over here. No issues, either,” said Seran, with Lieze and Urza following with a nod.

Yuriga had a thing to say about Seran’s attitude, but she had known him for quite some time, so she figured it would be a waste of time. More than anything, her master greeted him with a smile, so she was forced to keep quiet.

“Good work. Thank you for taking up guard duty.”

“This much is no big deal,” Lieze put her fist on her chest as she answered Yuriga’s gratitude.

Receiving this request from Yuriga, Seran didn’t see any issue with taking up guard duty since he was rather familiar with demons, keeping any brewing problems immediately under control. Since many demons knew Seran as the one who defeated Three-Arms, they were already careful with him.

“There was some fighting here and there, but it’ll probably all go away once these folks understand each other some more. In fact, I feel like fighting between humanfolk races is gonna be more of an issue…” said Urza with a sigh, knowing full well that elves and dwarves were a long way from truly getting along.

“…I can’t begin to thank you for everything.”

Since Luiza’s leg wasn’t functioning properly anymore, she had to use an iron pipe to walk. These words were directed at everyone, but her gaze was mostly fixated on Seran, as she approached him close enough for their hands to touch.

“I mean, we’ve got our own goals to work toward, so…”

“Even so…It made me incredibly happy when you came to my rescue.”

While Luiza showed genuine gratitude, Seran just averted his gaze, his chest hurting from the guilt.

“So, I’ve been curious about something…When you said that you needed me, what exactly did that mean?” Luiza asked with a reddened face.

“No, I mean…Did I say that? Maybe you misheard?”

“Actually, I heard that too. I think you whispered that right before we went to save her, too.”

Seran tried to play dumb, but Yuriga jumped in to help her master. Seran immediately glared at her, urging her to shut up. Simultaneously, he started sweating profusely. Of course, he needed Luiza. She’s useful for their cause, after all. Not just during this war between humanfolk and demons, but also what comes after. They probably can’t avoid this impending war, but that was out of their control this late into the game. Still, even if they managed to win, one side would be annihilated. Continuing a dirty war on and on was one thing, so it would be to finish off their leader as quickly as possible. For that, Luiza was necessary. That’s why Seran said she was needed.

“…And so, what did you mean by that?”

“I mean, what would I mean? It’s not my personal needs I’m talking about…”

That said, Seran couldn’t also tell her the whole truth, and he was forced to face the full approach of the Demon Lord without being able to fight his way out of it. Seeing this and deciding to be a good (?) person, Lieze grabbed Urza and Yuriga’s hand, leaving Seran and Luiza alone. Klaus had already disappeared minutes ago, too, or maybe he had known things would get complicated. Even as Seran looked over to Lieze to ask for help, she just left him behind with a smile.

Not realizing all that chaos, Kyle stood on the rooftop of the building, looking down at the town. He thought about what had happened, and what would happen. He couldn’t let any harm come to Luiza now that they had just saved her, so he assisted in growing the defenses of this town. Still, no matter how much they would grow their defenses, a full-out assault from the other demons wouldn’t leave this town standing.

“Rest assured, they won’t try to attack this place anytime soon.”

Irumera must have guessed Kyle’s worries, as she commented with such words. Besides her, Ghrud and other dragons were stationed here in this town.

“We finished building the shrine for Juvars-sama, which will bring many of our comrades to our side.”

In this shrine was the jewel that Juvars had left behind right before his death. The dragons were here to grieve his death. If the black-winged one were to attack this town now, he would be met with the wrath of all the dragons, turning their force against them. Granted, Kyle was the one who suggested building a shrine, but this wasn’t anything that could be made public, so Zeurus was given credit for this. And sure, Juvars wasn’t exactly innocent in every sense of the matter, but Zeurus would not forgive anybody who deceived his trusted friend, so even if he wouldn’t directly interfere in the war between humanfolk and demonfolk, he would still support Kyle within a certain range. Of course, the side of the black-winged one must have known of this, which is why they seemed to be practically ignoring this town.

“To think you’d use us as a defense mechanism…What a scheming bastard you are,” Irumera used a reproachful tone, but those who knew what the black-winged one did to Juvars wouldn’t be able to forgive the demons.

So in fact, Irumera was almost thankful to Kyle for being able to use Juvars’ legacy for something good. Of course, to Kyle, this was a beneficial situation, but the one who worried the most right now was Shildonia.

“What’s that grave look for?”

“I heard something that’s been on my mind. You know, the black-winged one survived Flame-Eye’s strongest ability and still survived.”

“Yeah, he survived her immense flames, yeah? Did he use flame-protection magic or something?”

“From what I was told, not even flame-protection magic could protect you from the sheer heat…At least not without the use of magic that existed long in the past.”

Yet he was still alive. That was what confused Shildonia.

“The only possibility that I can think of…is a defensive method that my real body thought about one day. It would need magic energy amounts too great to activate it, which is why I gave up…And when he almost got ripped in half, there’s just something that doesn’t sit right with me. At the very least, he’s not human. But I don’t know if he’s a demon, either…I can’t believe such a demon would exist.”

She probably started having doubts about certain things now that they had met face-to-face. That’s why she kept on thinking while groaning to herself.

“If you can’t tell, then there’s no way I’d be able to know…”

Unlike Shildonia, a remnant of the Magic King, Kyle was just an ordinary human with knowledge of the past.

“And I can tell that you’re worried about me…but I’m not too desperate to find out who they truly are.”

“That’s a bit too nonchalant, don’t you think?”

Shildonia almost couldn’t believe how careless Kyle was in regard to the black-winged one.

“I mean…I can kill them. I know that better than anybody else.”

To Kyle, killing his opponent mattered much more than their background, and he already killed the demon once in his past life.

“If I manage to kill them, everything will be over. Of course, knowing what’s hiding beneath that hood is one thing, but ending their life matters more than anything else.”

Granted, they might have managed to survive Flame-Eye’s attack or Poison-Needle’s poison, but Juvars’ attack harmed them. If so, Kyle’s sword should be able to deliver a final blow, too. So, there’s nothing to really worry about.

What I’m worried about is if you can even kill him or not…Because that unnatural soul was almost like…

Shildonia thought of a possibility but eventually shook her head. It was just a possibility, so she couldn’t bet her money on it and kept it to herself. That said, she couldn’t quite shake the thought.

Shildonia’s worries and thoughts aside, Kyle began thinking about everything that had happened before, confirming that all the necessary preparations had been completed. First, he achieved his hero status, obtaining influence across the entire humanfolk territory. Right now, the organizations of the world won’t be able to ignore him. He managed to raise the attention of a sense of danger toward the demons, while also achieving relative peace across the entire continent. He even secured Luiza, who would be necessary to build up the demonfolk after the defeat of the Demon Lord. With Juvars gone, he also stopped the eventuality that dragons would participate in the battle. Although he didn’t manage to stop the rise of a new Demon Lord, he avoided an all-out assault from the demons. Now he just had to wait for the eventual attack.

“Just come on over here, I’ll be your opponent…”

Kyle glared to the west, the direction the Demon Lord might be hiding right now, flashing a confident smirk.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just stopped coming at us entirely.”

“Don’t say that.”

Of course, Shildonia threw in the expected retort, considering Kyle accomplished so much in such a short time.

“Well, I wouldn’t complain if they kept themselves locked away…But that won’t happen. He’ll definitely come to attack,” Kyle declared with absolute confidence.

***

One year has passed since then. Kyle stood atop the small hill in Rimarze, with the small remains of a ruin at his back. He always enjoyed the view from this location, but not on this day. After all, the all-out attack of the demons, the “Great Invasion” had finally begun. Over to the west, he saw demons no matter how far he looked. Most of them consisted of goblins or kobolds, but you had thousands of pure-breed demons, which would allow you to bring ruin to a whole country or two in maybe one day. Normally, a scenery like that would simply tell of the end of times. Yet in Kyle’s chest, oddly enough, was a dancing joy. It told him that everything he had done up to this point wasn’t for nothing. He looked at this side, and where the village he grew up in should have originally been, he instead saw a fortress and defenses to protect them against the demons. This was prepared beforehand since the chance of Rimarze being the first under attack was high.

Of course, many protested to turn a whole village into a stronghold, but they still forced it through. Losing his hometown would be better than having all the villagers die. And right now, the fortress inhabited countless human soldiers. Warriors from Zilgus, Galgan, Taihon, and even the dwarves from Gilbol, as well as lizardmen who had come down here from the north. There were even dark elves, breaking her seclusion to fight for humanfolk. Races from all of humanfolk across the continent gathered here, amassing at least 50,000 in men, with many countries preparing reinforcement in due time.

It really helped that Luiza informed them of the activity in the demon territory. She even offered rations and other equipment, making this quite possibly the strongest army in human history. With this, they should be able to stand their ground against the demons. It told Kyle that all his efforts up to this point had not been in vain.

“You sure look fulfilled despite the real deal only coming up now,” said Seran with a teasing voice.

Next to him stood Lieze, Urza, Shildonia, Minagi, and all the other allies who had come to his aid.

“Everything up to this point was just preparation, right? Let’s do this, Kyle.”

“Yeah…You’re absolutely right.” Kyle nodded at Lieze who was smiling at him.

Up to this point, he could rely on the knowledge of his past life, but from now on, it was all a fair game.

“Everyone…Lend me your strength one last time.”

And so, Kyle would rely on his allies. Seeing them nod in unison, he smiled. He took a deep breath and then looked over the demons’ forces.

“Let’s go. This is our final battle.”