Vol. 12 - Ch. 763 - Demon's True Objective

After a twist and turn, and the timely appearance of Lupto, the chase between Mara and Merus ended up with the defeat of Mara. In a showdown of their ultimate skills, Meruss won by a nick of breath. 

At long last, they could finally give themselves a break. Just as Merus had thought so, the situation took another turn—Fiend King Kyubel suddenly appeared behind Lupto, and grabbed her by the throat. 

(Kyubel—!!)

Even before Allen could command him, Merus had already sprang into action. 

Would he re-summon the summoned beasts who had already finished their battle? Or would he use his awakening skill and swap Angel B? When they were in an extreme race against time, just how many countermeasures could he take? 

Pressed in a moment where even a moment of thought could act against him, Merus didn't wait for Allen's strategy, and moved himself to save Lupto. He vanished Broadsword from Angel B, resummoning it to reset the cooldown, and lunged at Kyubel with his awakening skill.

«Haaaa! Thor Smasher!!»

«Hmm, didn't you just use it? Sure enough, despite all the preparation, it was still impossible to predict everything. Damn—Haaa!!»

*THUD*

«Gahhh!»

Merus blitzed toward Kyubel, and swung his broadsword, trying to strike from an angle to make sure it wouldn't strike Lupto. Kyubel clenched his left hand and used it as a shield. 

But, instead of the sword meeting flesh, a strong barrier appeared around Kyubel, preventing the sword from even touching his skin. Instead, he swung his clench right hand like a sledgehammer, channeled with mana. 

He had fallen for a feint. In the timeframe Merus was wide open after launching his attack, Kyubel nailed his fist into the defenseless stomach of Merus. 

In the wake of a terrific impact, Merus was blown back like a cannon ball.

(He has teleportation, he has a barrier, and he has the opportunity to attack. Tch, every aspect is covered.  —Wait, If I can defeat Shinonom! We might be able to make a turnaround...)

«B-brother...»

Lupto had been thrashing within the grasp of Kyubel, even attempting to use teleportation skill, but she couldn't escape anyhow. Kyubel had somehow sealed all her exits. 

«Kukuku, I am the lying jester. You should never believe my words. Huh, oh, it's time to teleport already? Alright, coordinates are all set up too."

Alongside Lupto, the space around Kyubel visibly distorted.

Meanwhile, back at the Space-Time God's territory, Allen had shifted his entire focus to stop Shinonom from controlling the Space-Time Administrative System while Scree's offensive lashed against him. 

With everything gradually coming to an end, Mara turned her hazy gaze in Kyubel's direction, and somehow squeezed out her voice from the death’s door. 

«I have no word for failure. However I can still be of use to you...... Kyubel-sama. So please, take me alongside you...»

Mara was lying on the floor, having been cleaved apart into two by Merus, her life force inches away from abandoning her body. She had no strength left, and black fumes had begun to rise from her stomach. There was only a few moments before her body, too, crumbled away.

«Aah, I almost forgot you! But, forgive me for this one, alright? This teleportation had been set to teleport only two people. There's no spot for you.»

«H-How could it be?! I, I... What had I not done for you, Kyubel-sama......»

In her dying moment, Mara finally realised she was nothing more than a disposable tool to their plan, and a look of despair covered her face. But soon, she couldn't even lament as her body was engulfed in black fumes, disappearing. 

Where Mara was, only ashes were left behind.

«Mhm-mm. Despair is such a delicacy, a perfect makeup for fiend and foes alike. Oops, it's already time, huh. See ya~. Also, it was totally fun!»

«Stop!!»

«Brother!»

Lupto screamed once more for help as Merus bore through the pain and tried to stand up. But in the next moment, she vanished alongside Kyubel. Merus' hand only grasped thin air as he belatedly made it to where they’re a moment ago. 

«Lupto-sama!»

«Lupto-sama!»

«Lupto-sama!»

The scream of Lupto's three subordinate angels—after they'd left the ship to the first floor—reverberated as they also tried to reach out for her, but like Merus, they're a step too late.

(So it was Lupto they're after all along! All of this was a faint, even Homaru, too. They took their time to exhaust us, and targeted precisely the nick of time to take her away. Damnit, and here I lost Shinonom!!)

It was apparent. Kyubel was assured Lupto would appear here, and set this place as coordinate for teleportation.

(But why did they take Lupto away? If it's just the First Angel thing, Kelvin could have work, or even Homaru. And the startling thing is they probably even kept Mara into dark, which would explain her lack of reaction against Lupto's appearance.)

Allen murmured in confusion, unable to comprehend why they only went after Lupto. And as he backtrack the events in his mind, he was sure there had been no hint of falsehood in Mara or Gandira's movement. Mara never saw Lupto as anything more than an obstacle that prevented her from grabbing Homaru in Queen's arm. 

As a matter of fact, it felt like none of demons, archdemons, or executives seemed to be aware of it, except few. They're all kept in the dark, and turned into sacrifices for one goal.

«Lupto.......»

Allen tried to raise his voice to Merus, however there was no reply from him. Merus's eyes were still drawn to the place Lupto was until a moment ago,  a frustrating murmur escaping out of his mouth.

(Haa, I guess I should confirm the situation from here too, before taking him down. The war is lost, but we need not lose in battle too.)

Allen recalled there was one person who could most likely explain why Kyubel abducted Lupto. He invoked «Homing Instinct», and teleported from 2nd floor to 1st floor in Space-Time God's territory.

"Hey, you're back!!  How did it go?"

"Luck... we failed. Shinonom managed to steal away the Space-Time system, and in the capital, Kyubel kidnapped Lupto."

"Wait, whaaat?!"

"N-No way!? Why would demons seek Lupto-sama....."

"The Space-Time Administrative System was stolen?!"

The battle at the 1st floor had already come to a conclusion, and with no more nuisance to take care of, Allen revealed the entire situation to his comrades.

«It's awful! I must check the system right away...»

Sophie and Formar were stunned to hear the news. Meanwhile, Desperado strutted toward the 2nd floor to check out the situation.

"Then Allen-san, why did they target Lupto-sama?"

With privy of Allen's ability to synchronise his vision with summoned beasts, thus consequently being aware of the situation from all perspectives, Sophia believed Allen should know the answer to it, and inquired.

"I don't know. But this is why I am here, to find out the truth. So, Virdiga, why would you target Lupto? What is the Demon King planning?"

Allen's source to find the answer was there—Fiend King Virdiga. The cracks now overrun shattered metallic exoskeleton, with purple blood oozing out from wounds all over. He had been watched over by his team members, and as it was to announce it was over for him, black fumes had begun to rise from his body.

«S, So they did it...... Lupto was taken away? With this, the world shall return to its true state...»

Perhaps the approaching death had given him a chance to reclaim his ego, a smile appeared on Virdiga's otherwise expressionless face. Well, a beetle's face. 

(Hmm, so he doesn't seem intent on revealing it, huh. Just what's it that they're planning? Something that even the Insect God, once used to be a higher god, would rather throw into his life who had seen millions of years in his lifetime... Either way, I should finish my task with him. I just hope once I have retrieved his soul, he doesn't seize my grimoire instead.)

On the other side, at Rabul's 2nd floor, Aula and accompanying angels were now explaining the situation to the Heavenly King and his people. Though they still appeared shaken by the situation, and it didn't seem like they'd leeway to put the warning in the log of grimoire. 

Well, Grimoire had already told him Virdiga was the S-rank insect summoned beast candidate. Allen pulled out a sacred beast stone from Grimorie, and put it against Virdiga, who was slowly crumbling away. 

«W-What're you trying to do to me?!!»

"Silence. You're defeated by me, thus your life belongs to me. Henceforth, you shall now work on my command."

«Like hell I am giving——»

Virdiga was taken aback by the situation, however before he could have displayed any more frustration and bitterness, he was sealed inside the sacred beast stone. 

«The soul of Fiend King Virdiga has been sealed inside Sacred Beast Stone. ......In absence of an administrator, please check the log at fixed interval regarding progress here onwards.»

«......»

The jet-black soul swirls inside the sacred beast stone. Grasping between both hands, Allen felt  Virdiga's intense rejection of the proceeding through it. 

(Hello, anyone there? I believe it's time for details to pop in the log to explain how to proceed with negotiation and turn soul into summoned beast? —Hmm? There's some movement in the Demon King's army. This is... the stronghold of Demon King... Inside the castle, I presume. Demon King's castle?)

Allen still had Kuwatatro's «Pursuit Gaze» locked into Fiend King Bask and Ordo, and it seemed teleportation didn't cut off the effect. From the vision reflected, the target of «Pursuit Gaze» didn't have many people around. The only ones he could capture were Bask, Ordo, Kyubel, abducted Lupto, and Shinonom.

Unfortunately, with the ability to hyperfixated on the target, the skill provided only a short scope perspective. Either way, this meant he could also confirm the situation of Demon King's army on the sideline.

(So, Bask managed to escape alive huh? Dogora was quite intense in his battle, but it appears he is still lacking in enough firepower.)

With Great Spirit God Easley gracing the battlefield with his presence, Dogora and Shea had gained an upper hand in their battle. Bask realised he wouldn't last longer should he insist on straightforward battle, and shifted to crafty tactics. Often, he would use demons and archdemons as shields, then sometimes he would hide among the corpses of fallen—either way, Bask managed to escape successfully by running around.

"Scree... My scree......"

Shinonom mourns the loss of Scree. With Scree catching Allen in his tentacle, despite being cleaved into two, Shinonom was given a chance to make it alive from the place. 

Ordo momentarily glanced at Shinonom, then shifted his gaze to Kyubel, his brows crumbled in a steep look as he displayed an undisguised rage.

«So, now would you explain about Virdiga and Gandira's absence?! Officer Kyubel, what is all this about!! It's supposed to be your duty as a strategist to report!!»

«Hey, what about Mara? Why is she not with you? I remember you had planned to meet each other at the Rabul before the retreat began!!»

«She was... well, already slain before I could make it out. If only I had arrived a moment earlier, maybe she wouldn't have met that date. However it was her relentless pursuit at the cost of life that we met our objective ultimately.»

«Hmph, I would like to hear more details. It's our duty to provide a just report to the Demon King.»

Ordo led an interrogation against Kyubel. 

Meanwhile, after ending their conversation with Heavenly King, the three great angels flew back  to their former superior, Merus.

«Merus-sama.......»

«...What is it?»

«Heavenly King requests a report over the current status quo. Is it possible to ask Allen and his party members to gather at Rabul?»

They needed a comprehensive conversation with Allen it seemed.

T/N - If your preferred genre is dungeon x light-hearted story, try out LET ME SPEND MONEY, DAMMIT!