How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 3, page 21
part #3 of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Series
“He was a murderer!” Rem shouted.
“If Diablo wasn’t here, the whole town would have been destroyed by Krebskulm. Right now, an entire army of Fallen are advancing on Faltra from the western front. Did you know of that?”
“Wha—!?”
Klem shook her head. “I didn’t call them! Edelgard said she would wait in the forest, but I didn’t call them!”
“We have no way of confirming that. In fact, I can only think of this as the perfect opportunity for you.” Sylvie’s voice was frigid cold.
“You’re a more stubborn person than I thought,” Diablo sighed.
“Gotta be tough on the things that need me to be. I plan to protect the future of the races; that’s what an Adventurer does, right?”
“So, you don’t think Klem is harmless.”
“I’m not convinced, no. I’ll trust anyone the first time, but if they betray me, then never again. Nice and simple, no?”
“Do you truly think you will win against me?”
He did a quick analysis of the difference in their strengths: Sylvie could use spells that caused negative status effects, things like 《Bind》 and 《Silence》. But in the end, she was a Sorcerer, and Diablo possessed the ability to reflect all magic. There was no reason for him to lose.
“I think you have a misunderstanding of how I really fight.”
He felt an intense pressure from her, but he couldn’t let himself back down here. His instincts were telling him that making Sylvie his enemy was anything but a good plan.
—If what she just said is supposed to be the blurb she says right before we fight, then I’m already screwed...!
This was like a branching narrative in an adventure game—the kind where picking the wrong choice led to an immediate Bad End. It was a make-or-break situation, and he had no Save or Load options to help him; Klem’s life was truly on the line.
—Hold on a sec... Why are my only two choices “fight Sylvie” or “have Klem killed”? I can actually negotiate in this world; hell, I can even use magic. The choices should be endless!
“Do you hold the life you have in this town as something dear to you?” Diablo asked Klem.
“Hm? O-Of course I do.”
“But due to your little rampage earlier, it seems like you won’t be able to live here anymore.”
“Mmgh... That would be a problem for me...”
“I imagine it would, which is why I, the great and knowledgeable Diablo, shall educate you on a way for you to live in this town and continue eating biscuits. Without being hunted down by other Adventurers, of course.”
“There’s no way something like that could exist!” Sylvie exclaimed, leaning forward.
“You’ve said it yourself, Sylvie.”
“Huh!?”
“Oh, this is great!” Klem said excitedly. “I like the sound of your idea, Diablo! I do want to keep eating biscuits!”
Rem and Shera were in agreement as well.
“...If there really is a way, then please, tell us.”
“Yeah! It would be awful for Adventurers to come after her right after she finally went back to normal!”
Diablo nodded, and pulled a white stone from his pouch—a binding crystal.
“I shall cast 《Enslavement Magic》 on you! If you refuse, then the only option left is to fight!”
“You’re going to make me a slave!?” Klem’s eyes went wide.
“That’s right! You shall become a servant of the great Diablo!”
“What!?” Sylvie was in shock. “Isn’t that kind of off the table, Diablo!?”
“You’ve already said it yourself: ‘I’ll trust anyone the first time. If they betray me, then never again.’ Those were your exact words.”
“Y-Yeah, I did say that, but...”
Diablo puffed out his chest with another snort. “Exactly! Then you should believe in my enslavement magic at least once, am I wrong!?”
“Wow, just...wow... Now he’s being all gung-ho about this craziness!”
“Oho? So you’re the kind of person who goes back on their word when things don’t work out for them. How is that for someone who is supposed to lead other people? Can people put their trust in someone like this?”
“Man, never thought I’d be getting a lecture about trust from you of all people...” Sylvie sighed, then looked at Klem. “But would the Demon Lord Krebskulm be able to accept having that magic cast on her?”
Klem was deep in thought when Shera placed a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s all right! I’m supposed to be enslaved to Diablo, too. But once you get used to it, the worst thing about it is the collar kinda gets in the way when you try and wash your neck!”
“What was that!?” Klem’s eyes were almost perfectly round.
Rem nodded. “...It’s true, that is about the only inconvenience you will face, along with getting some curious looks from people around town. Oh, and I’m supposed to be enslaved to Diablo as well, by the way,” she said, touching her own collar.
“Being with Diablo makes you stand out anyway, so it’s pretty much the same thing!” Shera said happily.
“...I can’t say it is the same, but I’m sure it would be better than having Adventurers coming after your life.”
Klem nodded, showing her assent.
“Are you really serious about this, Diablo?” Sylvie grimaced. “Doing that...to a Demon Lord?”
“As long as it satisfies you, then yes,” Diablo said while glaring at her.
“Please believe them, Sylvie!” Shera begged.
“...Going off what you said earlier, you should trust them at least the once. I don’t want to make you out to be the kind of person who goes back on their word, Sylvie,” Rem said, following up with a logical argument.
Klem raised both her hands. “All right, I shall allow it! Put this ‘enslavement collar’ or whatever on me!”
As for Sylvie—
“Guess it’s my loss, Diablo.” With a dry laugh, she admitted defeat.
“Haha... If you’re going to use enslavement magic on Klem, then I have no choice but to trust her... Though I don’t know if that kind of magic would even work on the Demon Lord Krebskulm.”
“Just who do you think I am? I am the Demon Lord, Diablo!”
Klem puffed out her chest. “I shall allow it, so hurry up and use this magic!”
“I shall allow it! Let’s hurry up and use this magic!”
Diablo nodded. He took the white stone in his hand, thinking back to the steps Shera had taken to acquire her Summon the other day.
—Wait, I have to kiss Klem...?
Sylvie was watching; Shera, too.
Rem gave him a curious look. “...Do you not understand how to do it? Just chant the spell exactly as I tell you.”
—All right.
Diablo resigned himself to what had to be done.
Epilogue
When the great wings of light had spread across Faltra’s North District—
Alicia Cristela was in the middle of the large Fallen army. She was surrounded by various monstrosities of all shapes and sizes, who were waiting for the opportunity to advance on Faltra. Edelgard was standing by her side.
“Ohhhh, Lord Krebskulm!!”
As she let out a cry of rapture, the Fallen around her followed suit: “Just, like Alicia, said!”
“I have only done as the Fallen priests had told me. I created a person who was important to Lady Klem, and then arranged for said person to be crushed and taken away from her.”
“No, easy task... Amazing.”
“For a member of the weak races such as myself, this is all I could do...”
“If Demon Lord, resurrected... Everyone, will get, magic power! If hurt, will be healed! Can we, win, against races? Yes, we can!”
The Fallen let out a series of cries and shouts at Edelgard’s words.
The wings of light that had appeared in Faltra pierced the heavens. A magic circle filled the sky, and the Fallen rejoiced, claiming it to be proof of the great Demon Lord Krebskulm. Alicia’s plan had went off without a hitch. Her greatest ambition was slowly being realized. She waited in silence for the time of joyous tidings to commence.
The Fallen were waiting for the barrier around Faltra to be broken.
If the newly awakened Krebskulm could destroy either the Mage’s Association or the barrier towers, the Fallen could invade the town. The city of Faltra would become a place of celebration for the true rebirth of the Demon Lord.
There were a great number of Fallen who had accepted Edelgard’s proposal, and not only the one hundred followers from her faction: Fallen from the Vahl faction were there; even Eulerex appeared as well.
The wings of light had appeared as a magic circle indicative of the Demon Lord was spread across the sky.
When would the barrier finally shatter...!?
The time of joyous tidings—
—never came.
Everything went silent.
As soon as Edelgard whispered that Krebskulm’s presence had shrank, Alicia knew her plan had been a failure.
Eulerex was the first to approach them: “What is the meaning of this? Both the wings of light and the magic circle of Lord Krebskulm have disappeared.” The enormous, one-horned owl spoke harshly, his voice dripping with condemnation.
The other Fallen began to throw blame onto Edelgard and Alicia. The members of the Vahl faction, however, only cared about killing the races, and had already returned to the forest. But perhaps because of the grudge they bore from the fight with Diablo the other day, the Eulerex faction was not so easily pacified.
“I shall have you take responsibility for wasting the time of so many Fallen on this fool’s errand.”
The other Fallen chanted their assent, raising their fists in the air.
Though there were some Fallen from Edelgard’s faction who came to her defense, others started to voice their support for Eulerex instead. But that was to be expected; this would mark the second time Edelgard had mobilized troops and failed. They had never made it past the Bridge of Ulug.
Not only that, but Alicia was also responsible for the failure of this plan. And yet, being killed in retaliation by the Fallen for her failure, without destroying the races... It was all too pointless for her to bear. Alicia was filled with regret.
“On, my signal... Run. To town,” Edelgard whispered into her ear.
“...!?”
The voices of the arguing Fallen grew louder. They were much more savage and vicious compared to the other races, which was why they lived so far apart from one another. It was all for the purpose of never making contact with other Fallen face-to-face. It wouldn’t take long for these arguments to turn into a bloodbath.
The Fallen bared their fangs at Alicia, the Human who was the source of their failure today, when Edelgard swung her spear around in a grand revolution.
“《Swing Spike》!!”
She mowed down the encroaching Fallen using a sudden Martial Art; the hostilities had commenced.
Their comrades suddenly taken down, members from the Eulerex faction came after Edelgard. It was then Edelgard’s most trusted steed came barreling through the Fallen, scattering them left and right.
Being a 《Grand Dragon》, it was a monster possessing a durable body that could outrun any monster on land; no Fallen could keep up with it.
“Run!”
At Edelgard’s command, Alicia took off running, never looking behind her. The fangs of a Fallen could sever her torso from the rest of her body at any moment; if that was the case, then the only thing she could do was trust Edelgard.
If her death would have become the cornerstone needed for the destruction of the races, then she was fine with being killed—but falling prey to the Fallen taking out their frustrations on her would be nothing more than merely dying in vain—
An impact struck her side. It felt like her innards were being crushed.
—Am I dead!?
The source of the shock was an arm, wrapped around her waist. It was Edelgard, blood flowing steadily from her head.
“What!? They got you, Lady Edelgard!?”
“No, talking... You, will bite...tongue...”
“I have an adequate understanding of horsemanship. I would never make an amateur mistake like that.”
As said, she was perfectly capable of speaking on horseback without injuring herself.
Edelgard nodded. “Then... Leave, to you.”
After Edelgard pulled Alicia up onto the grand dragon so that she was straddling it, Edelgard collapsed in a heap. If the grand dragon hadn’t caught Edelgard with one of its hands, she would have fallen off.
“Lady Edelgard!?”
Alicia desperately grasped at the reins. They were covered in countless thorny spikes, so despite her gloves, a sharp pain assaulted her. Blood from Alicia’s hands smeared over Edelgard as Alicia tried to support her.
They pulled away from the pursuing Fallen. The grand dragon was abnormally fast as they crossed over the Bridge of Ulug which, strangely enough, had no guards present. They had most probably received orders to retreat in the face of the Fallen hordes.
Approaching Faltra, Alicia bit her lip. She wanted to destroy the races, and to have the beautiful Fallen rule the world—
But right now, with every fiber of her being, Alicia wanted to save Edelgard.
To be continued...
Afterword
Thank you for reading the third volume of “How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord”!
I’m the author, Yukiya Murasaki.
In this volume, the previously sealed away Demon Lord Krebskulm has been resurrected. Diablo had been all gung-ho about defeating them...but Krebskulm turns out to be a little girl. No man can win against that. In the end, after a series of events, it turns into a battle of Demon Lord vs. Demon Lord.
(The way Diablo destroyed the city walls was mentioned in another series with the same world view, too.)
Cafés have made an appearance in this volume, and I also tried writing about some of the sweets found in this world. Not only that, but I finally put in a scene with “enslavement magic,” since Diablo was asleep for that in the first volume.
We’ve come to a close on one part of the story, so I’m thinking I’d like to focus on Alicia and Edelgard’s plot line in the next volume, and maybe get in some new developments as well. I’m planning on getting that out starting at the beginning of new year.
Special thanks—
Tsurusaki Takahiro, thank you for the wonderful illustrations. It’s pretty fun trying to push our limits like this!
To Ooishi, the designer at Afterglow, thank you once again!
To my editor, Shouji, my deepest gratitude for allowing me so much freedom that I almost worry I’m too carefree when writing. (Also, looking forward to the next episode of your radio talk show.)
Thanks to all the staff at the Kodansha Light Novel Editing Department, and to the family and friends who supported me.
And for all of you who have read this, I can only offer you my utmost gratitude. Thank you all very much!
Yukiya Murasaki
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Copyright
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 3
by Yukiya Murasaki
Translated by Garrison Denim
Edited by Kris Swanson
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Yukiya Murasaki
Illustrations by Takahiro Tsurusaki
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan in 2015 by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
Publication rights for this English edition arranged through Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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Ebook edition 1.0: May 2018
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