Continues on from Chapter 4 – Beyond the Endless Dream
Continues on to Afterword

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Epilogue – Consequences of the Necessary Path

1

After the Demon God Chaos was defeated by Basara, Mio, Leohart, and Ramsas.

When the Council realised that their plan to assassinate Leohart and the others had fallen through, they decided to resort to their final trump card — using the device that was installed underneath the arena, they planned to completely destroy everything including the venue itself and turn it to dust.

“Seriously, I can’t believe that we even have to use this last resort.”

“It can’t be helped. Chaos has been banished into an unknown dimensional space, and we don’t have the combat power to directly take down Leohart.”

Despite this, the attitude and tone of the Council members was still quite easy-going. Using this arena as the battlefield for the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction was the Council’s decision. Once they activated the device that would completely erase everything, a chain explosion would generate the energy to swallow and destroy everything around the arena. Toujou Basara’s elimination ability was certainly troublesome for them, but based on its power, it seemed to have various other restrictions apart from not being able to be used for a counter, plus it didn’t have the ability to eliminate all of the explosions in every location. That was why they were so relaxed. But among them, only one of them appeared to be depressed.

“—Oh, it’s such a pity, Mardones-dono.”

“………”

While that was spoken in a light-hearted tone, Mardones clenched his teeth upon hearing it. Because Belphegor was absent, the role of coordinating this plan was handed over to Mardones. And in the end, this was the result. One of the Council members smiled thinly as they spoke to the silent Mardones

“And Admirath also said that he wanted to ‘clean something up’, but he ended up losing his life. The heroic spirits belonging to Chaos that were sent to attack Wildart were all slaughtered by Jin Toujou before their master was defeated by Leohart and the others, how unbelievable.”

“…Not yet, it’s not over yet! As long as we activate the elimination device, victory will still be ours, and we can follow the plan…there won’t be any problems then!”

Mardones couldn’t help but raise the volume of his voice in response.

“Certainly, as long as we can quickly dispose of Leohart and those Moderates faction people, it won’t have any effect on our plan at all.”

When they said that, another Council member laughed as they said

“But — has the situation truly gone according to your plan?”

“……!”

When that was painfully pointed out to him, Mardones gritted his teeth once again. Mardones originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of Belphegor’s absence to gain a foothold to become the next leader of the Council, and at the same time make his subordinate Admirath the next Demon Lord, but they ended up losing their treasured Chaos as well. With such a heavy loss, even if he compensated by completely eliminating Leohart, his position as the number two rank would be in danger, let alone the chances of improving his own status.

“Anyway, we need to quickly resolve the immediate problem. Especially Leohart and the other few, we must absolutely finish them off here. After all, if Wilbert’s daughter had not interrupted midway to save him before we sent Chaos out, Jin Toujou’s son would’ve killed him…even if the audience thought he was just a young Hero, after seeing him like that, his image would’ve changed into something more powerful than that.”

When Mardones clenched both his fists in order to supress his anger, another member said

“Currently, Leohart’s image as the Demon Lord has already been watered down…rubbish that has lost its use should be cleaned up as soon as possible.”

“…………”

It was certainly a valid point. Trying to clean or restore his sullied name at the moment would only make matters worse. Their priority should be to deal with the matter at hand, and then plan their comeback. Although they had failed this time, they definitely had to regain the upper hand next time. In this way, he would eventually be able to take his seat at the head of the Council. When such thoughts went through Mardones’ head and he began to recite his part of the elimination device’s activation code—

“Ah~ so you were here after all, onee-chan has sharp intuition!”

In the special viewing room that only Mardones and the other Council members were allowed to enter, a somewhat frisky voice was heard. As he turned around to look, there was a beautiful woman standing in the doorway. Although she was a demon, she had the characteristic blonde hair and blue eyes that were a trait of the Gods. Every single member of the Council clearly knew who she was.

“Fufu, hello everyone~ ♪”

The person who smiled innocently and greeted them was Leohart’s older sister — Riara.

“Princess Riara…what brings you over here?”

Riara should have been in her room in Lundvall Castle together with Gardo. Gardo had also been marked as one of Chaos’ sacrifices, so there were some heroic spirits that were sent to attack Lundvall Castle…at the time, Riara should have been inside the royal palace.

…What does this mean?

Gardo was a highly faithful person, so it was difficult to imagine that he would break his trust with Leohart and leave Riara’s side. But right now, they were unable to sense Gardo’s spiritual reaction in the arena. Although they were unsure of how Riara had entered the arena by herself—

…For the sake of safety, we should kill her.

“Mardones-dono…don’t jump to such conclusions so quickly. Just because we’re getting rid of Leohart, it doesn’t mean we have to kill her as well.”

When Mardones vigilantly concentrated the magical energy in his body, another member smiled as they persuaded him, while their eyes stickily crawled over Riara’s body.

“She’s so beautiful, and her God-like appearance is very rare…this boring battle has made us suffer heavy losses, so at the very least, we could keep her as a little souvenir to play with.”

He revealed an even more wretched smile

“Come on, Princess Riara…please follow us obediently.”

After that, both the right hand that he had stretched out and his smiling head flew into the air.

“Eh…?”

After a small voice barely leaked out from the head that was in mid-air, vast amounts of blood gushed out.

“You…ah…?”

The arm and head rolled onto the floor in front of the stunned Mardones and the others — and then the body fell down and sank into a gradually expanding pool of blood. For a moment, the others were unable to comprehend what had happened, but Riara giggled out loud ‘hehehe’. In an instant — Mardones and the others were no longer able to move.

…T-This is…!?

The powerful sense of oppression that Riara disseminated — was so great that it momentarily took away their freedom of movement. The principle was similar to the mental restraint Zolgear used when facing an opponent with a significant gap in strength. But for Mardones and these members of the Council who secretly manipulated the Demon Realm, they all had similar or greater strength to Zolgear. Riara was still able to kill one of them, and completely halted the actions of the other four. —Why? It was because the sense of pressure that Riara emitted was even heavier than Chaos’.

“You can’t run away~ onee-chan thought that you could truly make Leo-kun strong, and because of my great generosity, I allowed all of you to live until now. But now that you’re thinking of such hatred and trying to kill Leo-kun…how could onee-chan possibly allow you to do something like that?”

While Riara said that, she approached them with audible footsteps.

“…Ah, ugh…!”

However, Mardones and the others were unable to move, and couldn’t even utter a single word. All they could do was cower in extreme fear at the strange presence before their eyes. And then—

“Ah, but one of you did say something rather meaningful, didn’t you? Um~ how did it go again…”

Riara poked her cheek with her index finger and tilted her head for a moment, and then she smiled when her expression suddenly livened as if she had remembered. Her seemingly innocent eyes carried a fierce expression within them.

“Rubbish that has lost its use should be cleaned up as soon as possible…right?”

The very instant after they heard that sentence.

…W-What…?

Mardones’ world turned upside down. Until the very end, Mardones didn’t realise that it wasn’t the world that was upside down, but it was his head that had separated from his body and flown into the air — that was how his long tenure had come to a miserable end.

All of the other members of the Council met a similar fate. And as the odour of blood began to fill the room

“…Hmm~ I guess onee-chan’s work is all done now?”

After Riara joyfully said so while looking down at the five dead bodies on the floor—

“By the way…the person over there, how long are you going to hide for~?”

She suddenly spoke towards the wall that had nothing on it.

“……Geez, so I was discovered. You’re pretty scary, ojou-chan.”

After a bitter reply came from the wall, a figure emerged from it. A seemingly male silhouette gradually became clear, and his face was also clearly visible. Riara knew the name of the man that had appeared in front of her. So, she opened her mouth in praise

“I thought a lot of heroic spirits were sent to Wildart, but after you dispatched all of them, you still had the time to hide in such a place…you certainly are incredible, War God-san.”

“I really don’t deserve such praise. Those old men of the Council didn’t notice me at all, so I thought that I’d completely eliminated my presence…”

Scratching his head as he spoke was a Hero of the Village — Toujou Jin.

“Onee-chan’s womanly intuition is rather sharp.”

When Jin put a cigarette into his mouth from his pocket, Riara proudly puffed out her chest and said

“But you’re so naughty War God-san, you were clearly in this room first, but in the end you left everything to me.”

After taking a breath—

“—War God-san, you also came to kill these old men, right?”

After Jin lit his cigarette with his lighter and exhaled a puff of smoke, he replied

“How could you say something so scary…this fight is a matter between Basara and the others against your adorable younger brother. I’m here for insurance, just like you.”

A calm smile surfaced on Jin’s face.

“Anyway…I didn’t think that when I came to check-in on the Council that I’d discover someone like you on this side.”

He then narrowed his eyes and looked at Riara as he asked

“Your appearance is rather rare among demons, but that isn’t just an ancestral regression…what exactly do you have to keep fed in you to get that kind of monstrous aura?”

Riara giggled as she replied

“You can’t stare at me so much~ onee-chan’s selling point is her mysteriousness.”

Moreover—

“If you’re going to say something like that, then aren’t you the same, War God-san?”

Riara confidently said

“You don’t smell like just any ordinary human, you also have hints of a dragon’s smell…and not just any, but a high-level ancient dragon.”

“———”

These words surprised Jin so much that soot from his cigarette dropped onto the floor. But he didn’t change his attitude, and puffed out a mouthful of smoke and said

“Those kids really had a narrow escape from death…they’re lucky that you weren’t a representative of the Current Demon Lord faction.”

“Onee-chan wouldn’t participate because that would be against the rules. But—”

Riara continued

“If War God-san was to fight, then onee-chan would consider it.”

“I see, then it’s a good thing that I kept a low profile…I almost gave myself some extra trouble.”

“O-Onee-chan is not a troublesome woman! How rude!”

After Riara pouted, she continued

“But, onee-chan is really happy to meet this War God-san, because this solves the mystery of your son’s dimensional transfer ability.”

“……Yeah.”

“That boy’s smell is even more complicated than War God-san’s…not only is he an example of ‘three types of mixed blood’, but he’s also the only one with the power of dimensional transfer, so onee-chan was always wondering about it. So…he also has a dragon’s blood.”

And then, Riara coldly muttered in a low voice

“…It’ll be bad if that boy becomes Leo-kun’s enemy, what should I do? Should I take advantage of this time to—”

After saying that much, Jin’s aura rapidly expanded in front of her, and at the same time—

“Say ojou-chan…this time, I want to remain as insurance until the end, okay?”

“That won’t do, War God-san. If you scare onee-chan like that, it’ll only have the reverse effect, you know?”

Because—

“In this way, you’ll make onee-chan want to help get rid of another obstacle for Leo-kun.”

In the face of Jin who had released a powerful aura, Riara also released the power that she had concealed within her. Amidst the tense atmosphere, their tremendous auras violently clashed like fire and water, producing a frenzied airflow. —Just as neither side would back down, and the situation progressed towards an unavoidable fight. Someone rushed into the special viewing room that had almost become a battlefield. It was the youth who had just cooperated with Leohart to defeat Chaos not long ago. Toujou Basara. His eyes immediately homed in on Jin, who wasn’t supposed to be here.

“…Dad? W-what is…?”

He then noticed the corpses of the Council members scattered across the floor, and was so surprised that he took a deep breath.

But he wasn’t surprised at their death — but because of Riara. He thought that the person confronting Jin was a member of the Council.

“Onee-chan is a little impressed right now…you actually showed up here.”

With strength as great as Jin’s and Riara’s, he was able to detect the confrontation of their murderous intent from afar. The two of them had also released nearly enough pressurising aura to get rid of any interference, but Basara still stepped into this place. It was simply because of this courage that he had gained her praise.

…More importantly~

Basara didn’t come here because he was worried about Jin’s safety. Based on the distance between here and the fighting space, even if Basara was a speed-type, it meant that he ran towards this viewing room immediately after the battle was over in order to make it in time. In other words, it was before the confrontation between Riara and Jin — he was already on his way before the Council members had been wiped out. That meant that Basara rushed to the viewing room without knowing of the existence of Jin or Riara. —Then why had he come? There was only one answer. It was for the same reason as Riara and Jin. This youth had been in constant battle against Leohart and Chaos, he left the fainted Mio in the hands of Ramsas to take care of, and under circumstances where he had no other comrades to meet up with or to heal his injuries, he came directly for the Council members’ lives.

…Ah…

Then, Riara noticed that there was one more person outside the room. They were hiding carefully, so as not to allow Riara to discover their presence, it was Lars.

…That’s right, they killed Zolgear together before.

Taking their safety into account, letting go of the Council would only bury the problem for Basara, and add to his risk. As for Lars, he held hatred towards Zolgear and the other despicable Council members who had killed the brothers and sisters that he had grown up with in the orphanage. Although she didn’t know who first proposed cooperating, both of their interests aligned.

Interesting — truly interesting.

As Riara thought that, she could not help but allow the edges of her lips to float up.

“…………”

Upon seeing this smile, Jin’s alertness elevated even further. Hence, Riara completely relaxed her expression and said

“Don’t worry, War God-san. Onee-chan isn’t thinking of doing anything reckless here anymore.”

She then smiled widely and dispersed her aura.

“The Council is already dead, and they can’t destroy the arena anymore. It seems like onee-chan did it herself, but it would’ve been taken care of either way. Don’t look at onee-chan like that, I’m very busy and have a lot of things to do, it’s time for me to excuse myself.”

After she said that, Lars presence disappeared.

Ah, he slipped away. I’ll call you over directly another day to see how onee-chan will deal with you…after deciding so in her mind, Riara felt that the agreed time was close, so she finished everything that she had to say

“Umm, can I call you Basara-kun? You seem to get along with Lars. Now that the Council of those old men are gone, the gaps between the Current Demon Lord faction, Moderates faction, and other factions will certainly disappear over time. Although a lot has happened between you and Leo-kun, you have to find ways to live in peace and be good friends with him, okay?”

“Umm…”

Basara couldn’t keep up with the sudden change, and was left dumbounded. But that didn’t matter.

“Alright then, War God-san, see you later?”

After Riara smiled and said goodbye, Jin also seemed to confirm that she had no intention of fighting and relaxed.

“Yeah…please find a place to meet without the smell of blood next time, and your attitude should be as cheerful as it is now, like ‘nohoho’.”

“O-Onee-chan never said anything like ‘nohoho’~!”

After Riara ‘hmph~’ stuck out her tongue, she left the special viewing room. Once she was at the corridor—

[—Aneue, can you hear me?]

She received a telepathic message from her adorable little brother, and she responded in her mind.

[Mmm, of course I can, Leo-kun. I’m sorry, although onee-chan wiped out the Council all at once, there was a minor unexpected incident.]

[…Was there a problem?]

[No, no problem at all! Onee-chan is really strong.]

As Riara walked, she energetically flexed her slender right arm.

[I know…but it’s my duty to worry about you aneue.]

What she then heard were words of delight. After saying such adorable things, we’ll see how onee-chan will pay you back for that; after deciding that, Riara asked

[—How is the situation on that side? Is Belphegor there?]

Indeed, Leohart was not actually in the arena. He was in the playground that Belphegor was probably staying in. Just as Basara immediately went to the special viewing room to destroy the Council after defeating Chaos together, Leohart also went to Belphegor’s location as soon as possible.  The plan that the two of them had originally agreed on was…Riara would eliminate the Council members in the arena, while Leohart would search for Belphegor’s position, and would monitor the location until Riara arrived so that they could defeat him together. Not allowing Leohart to do it alone was because it would be too risky for Leohart to try and face the leader of the Council, Belphegor, alone. Hence—

[Just wait a little longer, Leo-kun. Onee-chan will use teleportation magic to get there.]

After moving some distance away so that neither Basara or Jin would be able to detect her presence, Riara prepared to initiate a magic circle, but before she teleported to the position of her little brother that she was communicating telepathically with, she noticed that he did not reply, and so she asked in puzzlement

[Leo-kun, what is it?]

[…To be honest, there’s been a bit of a problem here on my end.]

The answer from the other side sounded stiff.

[Hmm?]

Riara tilted her head.

[Could it be that Belphegor isn’t there?]

[He is…just come over first, and then I’ll explain it properly.]

After saying that, Leohart ended the telepathic call.

What could it be…his tone did not seem urgent, so it shouldn’t be a major problem.

“Mmm…I guess I’ll find out once I’m there.”

Riara did not want to waste any time on speculation and spoke her mind, and then she walked into the magic circle that had manifested before her eyes.

(Part 1 of 3) (3/11)

2

After confirming that Riara’s presence had completely disappeared, Basara finally relaxed. After a layer of uncomfortable sweat had built up on his back, he felt as though he had barely escaped with his life intact.

“…Dad, what was that…”

“I don’t know…she should be Leohart’s older sister, a truly relentless person. She killed all of the Council members in the blink of an eye.”

Jin also kept his eyes on Riara who had just left the room, and only after answering the question did he turn back towards Basara.

“Seriously, how reckless…”

Smiling wryly, he stretched his hand out and brushed the dust off Basara’s cheek with his fingertips.

“You fought well…truly, I didn’t think that you would get so far. This way, the road to peace between the Moderates faction and the Current Demon Lord faction will improve. Just looking at the results, this is pretty good.”

“Just looking at the results, that may be so…but, I fought very dangerously from start to finish. I only found a way to defeat Leohart because of your help, dad. And being able to defeat that Demon God is all because Ramsas came to help us, as well as the combination of Mio’s and Leohart’s power.”

Basara smiled bitterly as he replied, and in the end—

“…I wasn’t actually talking about that.”

“Then what?”

Jin smiled at the confused Basara.

“It’s fine, I won’t talk about that…the situation has been resolved now.”

He then looked outside the window. So—

“……Well, for the time being.”

Basara also followed Jin and looked out. Outside the window — overlooking the arena, everyone surrounded Mio and Ramsas. Yuki and Kurumi, Maria and Zest, and even Lucia and Noel were present. After confirming once more that everyone was safe, Basara gently stroked his chest and muttered a heartfelt whisper

“I really hope that Mio will never be dragged into the politics of the Demon Realm from now on…”

“Although things will never go as planned…I think that should be fine.”

Jin continued

“After all, just as that ojou-chan said, the Council no longer exists.”

(Part 2 of 3) (3/11)

3

In the erotic playground that Zolgear built, but was now managed by Belphegor.

At the other end of Riara’s teleportation magic was the location of where Leohart was — he appeared to be in a large bedroom. —However, Leohart was not the only one waiting for her. A large corpse lay in the centre of the bed that was dyed red by a pool of blood, and there was a large hole that went straight through its chest to its back.

“Belphegor…”

Riara looked down at the miserable corpse, and then murmured the name of the high-level Demon who had secretly dominated the Demon Realm for a long time.

“When I arrived, he was lying on his belly. In order to investigate whether it really was Belphegor and his cause of death, I turned him over.”

And then, Leohart began to recount the circumstances of his arrival.

“His female companions have only fainted, so I woke a few of them up to question them, but all of them said that they couldn’t remember what happened last night. It’s probably the effect of a memory-erasing drug or fragrance.”

Riara turned towards a corner of the room, and the group of women in their underwear huddled together in a corner trembled.

“Hmm…that’s a problem. Huh, did Leo-kun put this bed sheet on?”

Riara’s gaze suddenly turned paused on the bed sheet that was covering Belphegor’s lower body. Blood hadn’t seeped into it, so it was indicative that it had been placed there some time after his death.

“…Yes, I didn’t really want aneue to see that kind of thing.”

“Eh~ when onee-chan hears Leo-kun say that, she only wants to see it more…!”

Leohart’s words actually stimulated Riara’s curiosity, and she immediately lifted it up.

“Wow…how strong.”

And then she exclaimed out loud when she saw the reason why her younger brother had covered it up. The lower body of Belphegor that was covered up by the bed sheet — had an even more severe wound that was different from the fatal wound on his chest. A particular organ had been chopped off from the root with a sharp weapon.

“Wow, oh my. So the legend that Belphegor had two was true?”

“That’s enough, aneue…”

Leohart snatched the bed sheet from Riara’s hands and covered the problematic part.

“Leo-kun Leo-kun, speaking of the severed part…ah, could it be that?”

“…Yes.”

After Riara noticed that some distance away from the bed that there was an unnaturally placed bed sheet, Leohart displeasedly nodded and said

“But aside from us, who would do something like this…”

It wasn’t strange for someone else to be after Belphegor’s life, but the problem was a matter of who would actually do it. —Normally speaking, people could not escape the toll of time and the fate of losing power. But that was not the case for everyone, and one of those people was Belphegor. This high-level Demon was able to become the chief of the Council and manipulate the Demon Realm within the palm of his hand because he had immense power. Being able to successfully form a contract with Chaos was the best proof of this. The immense power that he had held onto from long ago had still yet to wane, so Leohart did not want to act rashly. And so, Belphegor, who stood at the summit of the Demon Realm and dominated it, had now become the ridiculous corpse in front of them.

…Could the War God-san have done this?

Speculating based on the people who had the ability to kill Belphegor, the first person that Riara thought of was Jin. As for Balthier who disappeared halfway through the battle, the probability was much lower…unless he possessed great power that Riara and the others did not know about. He had always been very loyal to Leohart, so it was difficult to imagine that he would deprive his master of the opportunity that he had waited many years for. As far as the available information was concerned, it was more likely that he was killed by Chaos when he was investigating the situation. Of course, there was also the possibility that someone else had taken the opportunity of the battle to assassinate him. But all of the other powerful factions were under the surveillance of the Eight Demon Generals, and the security level of Lundvall Castle was at the highest level, so it was difficult for anyone to infiltrate. Someone able to accomplish such a task would require strength that was on par with Jin. Thinking about it like this, if it was really Jin…when Riara considered the most probable possibility, and looked around for any clues on whether it was the man known as the God of War—

…Huh, isn’t this smell…

Riara’s nose suddenly picked up a particular scent. Amid the putrid stench of Belphegor’s blood, and the perfume that was used by the women of the playground, traces of another scent were hidden. It was the smell of blood — moreover, Riara knew who it belonged to. It was something that she could not forget. After all, it was the extremely rare scent that she had just smelled. —However, it did not belong to Jin. Moreover, when Jin confronted her in the special viewing room of the ancient arena, his body was in perfect condition. Riara didn’t find out that Jin had a dragon’s blood in his veins through the smell of his blood, but through his natural smell and aura. Although it was possible for her to speculate on the smell of Jin’s blood, speculation was only speculation after all. Presently, the smell of this blood was one that Riara had definitely smelt before. It was quite close to Jin’s but the race was more complex. When she thought of that person — everything made sense.

“Yes…so that’s why he used perfume.”

Riara exclaimed in a tone different from her usual coldness. It was highly probable that he had been injured by Belphegor’s counterattack, which is why he carried such a heavy odour of perfume onto the battlefield. When she met him in the special viewing room, although she knew what his intentions should have been, Riara believed that it was a trick he used against Leohart. But she was wrong, the truth was not like that. That youth — used it to eliminate the scent of Belphegor’s body and his blood. Based on the state of the corpse, he had been dead for around half a day. It was possible that he infiltrated the playground last night to assassinate Belphegor, treated his own wounds, and then eliminated any evidence that he had been here…and before that, the perfume had been used to eliminate his own scent in order to facilitate his infiltration. So, that was why he only appeared at the last minute when he fought against Leohart

“…So that’s how it is.”

 When he burst into the special viewing room, that was already enough to surprise Riara; she did not expect that he had also snatched away their primary goal of taking Belphegor’s life. But then, why did he reluctantly carry the injury from Belphegor to fight against Leohart in a death match? Belphegor was an absolute symbol of the Council, so if news of his death was disclosed before Mardones implemented his plan to take the position, the Council’s power would suddenly collapse, and it was possible that there would be no need for the decisive battle, which meant that Mio and the other girls with him wouldn’t have had to risk their lives to fight in the arena.

…No, it’s not that simple…

Although they and Basara and the others wanted to eliminate the Council, their motives were different. In order to protect the safety of Wilbert’s only daughter, Naruse Mio, Basara prevented her from being used as a political tool. If he first disclosed that Belphegor had died by his hands, even if the threat of the Council disappeared, Leohart’s side would regard them as a new threat. In order to avoid that situation, the best option was to deliberately allow the remaining Council members in the arena to implement their plan to kill Leohart, and then with Leohart — cooperate with the Current Demon Lord faction and Moderates faction to defeat the malice of the Council. As long as they cooperated to defeat the Council, they would be able to provide peace for the two factions. As for the daughter of the former Demon Lord, she only had value in troubled times. Once there was peace, it would actually be easier for her to become a seed of conflict, and she would be viewed with fear. But they couldn’t actually kill her, and so the peace between the two factions would be resolved. In simpler terms, maintaining Mio’s safety and keeping a distance from her was the best way for the Current Demon Lord faction and Moderates faction to maintain peace. —It was truly hard to believe. This decisive battle between the Current Demon Lord faction and the Moderates faction was a key battle to determine the future of the Demon Realm. Regardless of which of the two factions won — whether they eliminated the Council, or the Council assassinated Leohart, it was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Demon Realm. However — the situation was not like that. That youth had deceived everyone before that, and changed the course of the Demon Realm’s history alone. This truth—

“…I’m sorry, Leo-kun. Onee-chan may have made a grave error.”

“Aneue…?”

When Leohart confusedly asked, Riara sighed lightly. Considering the high likelihood of Basara and Leohart clashing again the future, it would have been better to kill him off early — that intuition was certainly correct. But, even if that meant a death match with Jin, her chance to kill Basara was only that one time when they had met in that viewing room just earlier. Jin had heard what Riara had blurted out about her intent to kill Basara. Since he knew the extent of Riara’s true strength, he would probably come up with strategies to protect his son, making it more difficult to kill him. Even so, a risky assault was a valuable option—

“It’s fine. Leo-kun, let’s go.”

Riara linked arms with Leohart beside him as she spoke. As long as she didn’t make a move, Basara probably wouldn’t be detrimental to Leohart. Because doing so would then get Mio involved in the Demon Realm’s matters again and put her in danger. Although it was a pity that she couldn’t personally kill Belphegor, she had at least gotten rid of Mardones and the other Council members. Her and Leohart’s goal of ‘Erasing the Council from the Demon Realm’ was already complete. So right now, there was no need to ask for more trouble. At the moment, there were still other things to do — like giving a thorough reward to her own beloved little brother. So, Riara carried a sweet smile as she spoke

“Congratulations, Leo-kun…after we get back to the bedroom, I’ll thoroughly reward you again.”

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The showdown between the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction that would decide the future of the Demon Realm — the eve of that day.

In the lustful erotic playground, there was a room that was filled with an obscene atmosphere. It was located in the depths of the building for the pursuit of ultimate pleasure. Only specially selected members knew of its existence — a VIP room. Opening the large doors to enter this extravagant and ultimate space, the first thing that was felt was the comfortable and soft touch of the bright and thick red carpet that covered the floor of the room. The ceiling and walls were decorated with pure gold carvings to give visitors a gorgeous visual feast of luxury. —It was just before the historic day for the Demon Realm, and a few hours into the late night. In the VIP room of the playground, there was one person enjoying every possible minute of his pleasure. It was someone among the seven seats of the Council who seemed to be more focused on [Lust] than his own position of [Sloth]. The high-level Demon whose name was synonymous with history — Grand Duke Belphegor. After becoming the new master of this erotic playground, Belphegor completely changed the appearance of everything to suit his own preferences, and didn’t leave a trace of the previous owner Zolgear. Picking a great number of different women every day, he indulged in deep lust and pleasure with them. On the night of this day, Belphegor also appeared upon the giant bed in the depths of the VIP room. Among the dozen or so stunning beauties that he had chosen, nearly half of them were gathered around his crotch.

“Fufu…I’ve taught you for so long, so I’m sure all of you should know the taste of my treasure by now.”

Belphegor laughed joyfully. Not only did he have four arms, he also had two male parts which split at the root and sat on top and bottom.

“Chuu…ah, kuu…hah ♥”

“Chuu…hah, Belphegor-sama…♥”

The women sucked on the tips of Belphegor’s rods with intoxicated expressions, slid their tongues back and forth along his shafts, and placed his testicles into their mouths. Two women gathered on both his left and right side and were held close with his four arms. The breasts of those two on the inside constantly changed shape, while the two on the outside knelt on the bed while they allowed his fingers to poke around in their underwear as he pleased.

[———]

The women who were in a deep aphrodisiac state due to the effects of a special drug wildly climaxed continually with every one of Belphegor’s hand movements and they disseminated their feminine odours. Soon—

“Which one…I’m about to release.”

When Belphegor said that, he followed his instincts and desires to shoot his load. Although he had already fired off around ten times, his two tips still released a fountain of semen, dying the faces and chests of the women below his crotch white. The women who were drenched in semen then cleaned up his thing with loud slurping sounds, and seemed to indulge in pleasure as they licked the fluid off each other’s faces, breasts, and then passionately kissed each other with their white tongues. While Belphegor enjoyed the obscenity of the women with satisfaction, his eyes suddenly darted towards a corner of the room.

“—Say, how long are you going to stand there for?”

“!…Ah…guh…!”

The silhouette leaning against the wall seemed to respond with a groan of pain before they stood up. —It was an uninvited guest who had dared to infiltrate this playground. Belphegor knew who that youth was. They had met a day earlier, and it was impossible for him to forget his appearance. He was the only son of the man known as the God of War, Jin Toujou, and would soon duel against Leohart — Toujou Basara.

“Speaking of which, you actually dared to come and kill me on the eve of the decisive battle…fufu, you’re an interesting little brat.”

Belphegor had immediately found out that the youth had infiltrated his playground, but he deliberately ignored that rudeness. —For Belphegor who had lived who knows how many years, his greatest enemy was ‘boredom’. These days which involved re-training had caused the women to forget about their previous master, and the unexpected situation was a good form of entertainment for Belphegor. So, Belphegor allowed him to search around everywhere, waiting for him to come. So not long ago — Basara finally made it to the VIP room and raised his sword at Belphegor. However, Belphegor brushed him aside with a slight hand gesture.

“……!”

Basara expended a great amount of effort to get back up, and he raised his silver demonic sword at the enemy. The large blood stain on the right side of his torso was caused by a hole that Belphegor had made by firing out a magic beam from his middle finger. Although it wasn’t a fatal injury, it wasn’t a light injury either. A lot of blood had been lost, and if it was not treated, his life would be in danger — when Belphegor thought so—

“———”

At the other end of his gaze, the bright green aura around Basara that was specific to all Heroes began to mix with a touch of red light.

“Ho…it’s the same glow as that guy, isn’t that Wilbert’s red aura?”

Belphegor slightly widened his eyes to look at Basara and said

“I understand now…I remember at the end of the last Great War that Wilbert’s younger sister disappeared for some time. It was said that her troops were withdrawing from a battlefield when they encountered Jin Toujou midway, and to allow her subordinates to get away, she stayed behind to stall him…there was no word of her for six months, and people thought that she had died. In regards to what happened between Jin Toujou and that woman, nothing was ever heard.”

So that’s how it was.

“I had heard that she and Jin Toujou had met on the battlefield several times…so that’s what it was.”

Although it was not known what other romances had occurred outside of when the Hero encountered the Demon Lord’s younger sister on the battlefield, that was the only theory that could explain the red aura surrounding Basara’s body. Although the pregnancy of Demons was shorter than that of humans, it was not as short as being able to give birth within six months. It was likely that Jin and her had used some kind of trick to speed up the process. Basara’s Demon lineage should normally have been supressed by his human lineage and would not be able to awaken, but it had suddenly awakened now, perhaps because this peculiar playground had a much higher concentration of magic than the normal Demon Realm. The VIP room was also filled with Belphegor’s magical energy, and both of these had entered Basara’s body through his wounds to cause Basara’s Demon bloodline to become active enough to awaken. Mio was only able to use this power because she succeeded Wilbert, while a chemical change had been produced because of Jin’s blood and the Demon’s. With momentary curiosity, Belphegor shooed the women off his bed as he said

“How interesting…I’m starting to want to know a bit more about you now.”

“———!”

Basara dashed towards Belphegor, and without a second word he slashed down with Brynhildr—

“—Fufu, you’re still so lively?”

Seeing this, Belphegor laughed as he snapped his fingers — and at the same time, the sparks that he produced became an electric current that pulsed towards Basara who was in mid-air.

“Guh, gaaahh—!”

The violent burst of lightning that had hit him caused Basara to scream as he fell to the ground where he lay motionless.

“Oh, too bad…”

Belphegor grinned as he reached out with his left hand to touch Basara, and then used his power to cause Basara to float up into the air, and place him onto the bed. He then slowly and carefully observed the youth before his eyes. He examined every corner of his flesh, and even his spiritual composition.

“Hoho…not only a human and a Demon, but even the blood of a God has been mixed in.”

The mixed blood of three races. Discovering the secret of Basara’s birth only served to deepen Belphegor’s interest in him. After further observation, he also discovered that in Basara’s soul, there was a sealed area that even he could not see through, nor release.

“This brat is truly quite appetising…”

Belphegor laughed and then discovered something new again.

“………Hmm, looking closely, you look rather cute.”

In Belphegor’s long life, Belphegor had played with everything that he could have. Regardless of whether it was male, female, young or old, as long as they could give him pleasure, he didn’t refuse anyone, and even went after Demonic Beasts. —However, even someone with rich experiences such as him had not tasted something with the blood of three races. After a great amount of training, the youth’s body was a rich and juicy fruit in Belphegor’s eyes. Faced with the fact that such a rare specimen lay in front of his eyes — this caused Belphegor’s lower body to instantly heat up. He had originally wanted to send both him and Leohart together to Chaos as sacrifices.

“Alright…getting a taste of boys isn’t too bad once in a while.”

After saying that, his two large male organs intertwined into a single giant thing, and then—

“Don’t worry…you’ll get used to my size soon.”

As long as Belphegor wanted, changing the external or internal structure of his limb was not an issue. Turning the youth with the mixed blood of three races into his own personal toy was undoubtedly the most enjoyable game for him. Mardones who was in charge of the decisive battle would probably raise some complaints, but that was his business. So, Belphegor stretched his hand out towards Basara—

“………Hmm?”

In that instant, Belphegor saw something fly across into a corner of the room, and so he turned to look. There was a familiar object that continually twitched around over there.

“———”

When Belphegor looked down in astonishment, he realised that the thing that should have been at his crotch was missing. Basara’s hand had let go of Brynhildr when he was struck by the electrical current earlier, but it had now manifested again in his hand, which explained the phenomenon that had happened to Belphegor’s body.

“—Gaaaaaaaaaahhh!?”

Belphegor grabbed his crotch in pain, and kneeled down as he began to fall forward. Underneath him, Basara suddenly disappeared before Belphegor fell on top of him, and then—

“Ah…ugh — gah!”

A certain object pierced through the struggling Belphegor’s back, pinning him to the bed as all the blood and energy was drained from his body.

…H-How could…!

With the essence of his soul being drained, Belphegor began to feel the gradual thinning of his own existence, causing him to stiffen.

“—I heard a lot about your deeds, and it seems like you’re even more revolting than that Zolgear.”

Behind him, the youth’s voice coldly drifted down.

“———”

The women at the bedside collapsed and fainted one after the other. Most of it was due to witnessing Belphegor’s miserable fate, as well as the relentless pressure that Basara released which their minds were unable to withstand. And then—

“Ugh…ah…ah…”

Belphegor’s lungs had been pierced making it difficult for him to speak, but Basara continued

“I was always thinking…about the final goal of this decisive battle, and how best to reach it. Even if we win the upcoming decisive battle, I’m afraid that the conflict between the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction won’t be resolved that simply…I think that regardless of whether Leohart wins or loses, he plans to eliminate all of you after the battle. And you guys already expected that and prepared a countermeasure. After killing Leohart while holding the greatest amount of power in the Demon Realm, the dissatisfied people are likely to organise another rebel faction.”

And then—

“Another seed of conflict will be planted in the Demon Realm…and just like before, Mio will be hunted, used as a political tool by some people, and her identity will be used for justification. The fate of being ‘the only daughter of the strongest Demon Lord’ will still haunt her forevermore — but, I won’t allow that to happen.”

In the next instant, Belphegor heard the final phrase that decided his fate.

“So Belphegor, I need to kill you…and under circumstances where no one else will see or hear of it, I must kill you alone.”

“……Ngh……!”

Belphegor tried to do whatever he could to escape this life or death crisis. But since the large demonic sword pinned his body down, his futile struggle only hastened his death, and he simply could not move.

“Understand this…don’t think you can just die happily, and don’t think that you’ll die as a dignified high-level Demon. It’s not the first time that you’ve used drugs or magic to make the women in this playground lose their minds…after living for so long, you must have had countless victims who have suffered by your hand. After playing with the lives and fates of so many people just to pass the time and your boredom…at this very moment, the time of retribution has arrived.”

 The words of the youth behind him thus became reality. In that moment, Belphegor’s only fate was to await the arrival of his death.

—Then. Toujou Basara said one last thing to Belphegor. His icy voice carried a great darkness that could devour everything.

“I will be watching you. You will slowly suffer this shameful bitterness — and then you will die for me.”

(Part 3 of 3) (3/11)

Continues on to Afterword