Battle To Conquer The Roman Festival

With a loud creeeeeeak, the door opened. A magnificent red carpet, white pillars, and beyond them, a golden throne. A man sat upon the throne.

“Janikoro-san, right?”

“Correct, Demon King.”

Janikoro rose to his feet. His black robe swayed faintly.

“You are extraordinary. October Festival, Fifty-Year Festival, Chirchenses. You defeated them all with ease. That makes this all the more regrettable. Because now, I must pluck the bud that would likely surpass even the First and Second Demon Kings.”

Wearing his black hood, Janikoro spread his arms wide and looked down at Konoha and the others from the throne. Compared to this grand hall, the throne room they had first encountered seemed almost shabby.

“This underground labyrinth, Demon King, was once the royal castle of a certain king a thousand years ago. Over the course of a millennium, it became something resembling a labyrinth. That is likely why the tomb of the First Demon King, Couperin, took notice of it as well. Don’t you think it has quite an atmosphere, Demon King?”

Konoha remained silent. Meiro held her staff ready, prepared to fight back.

“I have heard that in this ancient royal castle, all manner of music was played, and every day was like a festival. Humans, demons, demi-humans—apparently it was a society where everyone, regardless of race, could laugh and live together.”

It must have been a wonderful world. Even in her original world, globalization and the erosion of borders had progressed, while cultural relativism had gradually spread, and attempts like that were already taking place across the world.

But such things were only appearances. Wherever there was light in history, darkness always existed behind it. Even the darkness shown in history textbooks had merely been dramatized and softened. Who among those living in the modern era could ever truly know the real darkness of history? No one could. That was why Konoha knew very well that no such perfect world had ever existed.

“Did you admire that kind of world, Janikoro-san?”

A festival was light. Festival music, bright lanterns, cheerful voices—and among them, darkness existed. No, perhaps it was not even mixed among them. Those people had been driven out of that space entirely. The poor, the slaves—had they truly not existed in that world?

“Of course not. It makes me sick.”

Janikoro’s answer was both exactly what Konoha had expected and nothing like what she had expected. If that was the case, then what was his true goal?

“In the end, we can never understand one another. Only when a single race dominates the entire continent can any of us live in peace. Do you know what caused the fall of that ancient kingdom, Demon King?”

Konoha did not answer.

“Internal collapse. In the end, humans enslaved demi-humans and tried to expel the demons. The human king massacred demons. Even now, the same state of affairs continues. In that case, is it not finally the demons’ turn? Humans have spent all this time draining this world of its blessings. What problem is there if the side doing the exploiting simply changes?”

Konoha did not answer.

“You see, Demon King, I am convinced that demons are superior. Demons possess the noblest blood in this world, and demons alone are worthy of becoming the race that governs it. That is why I intended for you to become their king.”

Konoha did not answer.

“You would slaughter humans and subjugate demi-humans. The men would be killed, the women violated and then killed as well. Absolute demonic supremacy not only across the Mercator Continent, but over every continent… No, an ideal paradise where only demons survive. I wanted you to serve as the representative of God in that paradise.”

Janikoro spat the words out with hatred. Something precious had probably been taken from him in the past. Konoha understood that much. But even so…

“I am the Demon King.”

Konoha murmured.

“I’m sure everyone among the demons truly expects me to wipe out humanity, subjugate demi-humans… and fulfill that kind of role. I don’t know what sort of tragic history demons have gone through, and I don’t know what sort of cruel history humans have created either.”

“Humans are evil.”

“Maybe they are. But, Janikoro-san…”

Konoha raised her face and looked directly at Janikoro.

“I like Meiro-chan. I still haven’t met many people from this world, but I’m sure there are lots of wonderful people like Meiro-chan too.”

“Wha!? K-Konoha!?”

Meiro turned her face away with a deep blush for some reason, but Konoha gave a wry smile and continued.

“I probably can’t say anything profound. I’m the Demon King, but I’m still just an immature child. I can’t irresponsibly say that everyone should just get along. I know how painful it is when that isn’t possible. I can’t tell people not to hate. I know how painful it is to keep hatred and suffering bottled up inside.”

Konoha continued. She remembered everything she had experienced over the past two months, and still, she continued.

“But I want you to believe this. Even if suffering can’t be reduced to zero, it can still be lessened. Pain can be shared. Hatred can be let out and gradually diminished. I know it isn’t that simple, and I know people do terrible things precisely because they can’t do that.”

Konoha continued, unwavering determination burning in her eyes.

“But you know? I don’t want you to erase everything and end it all before even trying to believe. I can’t just stand by and watch you destroy everything and call that the end. I may be the Demon King, but before that, I’m human. Kushibiki Konoha is human. So I will absolutely stop your slaughter.”

She looked at Janikoro. He murmured, “I see,” then walked straight down from the throne.

“Then I truly must kill you. I will use necromancy on your corpse and make use of the body alone. The body of a Demon King should be more than sufficient to serve as our ruler.”

Janikoro raised one hand. A black staff was gripped within it.

“I, Janikoro, shall conduct. The ancient king killed us and buried us away. The road to the kingdom opened, and the pines along the highway sang gracefully. Triton’s Fountain played an elegant melody of flowing water, while the royal castle sank into twilight.”

At once, the throne room began to shake violently. Miasma gathered around the tip of his staff.

“…It’s coming.”

At the same moment Meiro murmured those words, the miasma began taking form.

“The festival has begun. Blood, flesh, everything shall be offered unto you. Our witch: Roman Festival!”

“GIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

A stone structure appeared before Konoha.

“You could almost mistake it for some kind of golem, but this… is the witch.”

Its full height was dozens of times greater than Konoha’s. It had a pure white face and body like a stone statue. Yet its body seemed to be constructed from bricks, and bells from trumpets and trombones protruded from various places. Its legs resembled Roman aqueducts. Water gushed from them, flooding into the throne room. Its massive body rose into the air. At the same time, various brick structures also floated up around it.

“This is… incredible.”

“So this is the Roman Festival…?”

The two stared in astonishment at the enormous figure before them.

“Now, witch! Kill the Demon King!”

“GIIIIIIIIIIII!!!”

The colossal body loomed before Konoha and Meiro.

“It’s coming!”

“I know! 《Oni Princess》! Come, 《Ibaraki-doji》!”

Konoha leaped upward, her silver hair streaming behind her. She readied Agate and drew it against the floating Roman Festival.

“《Oni Slayer》!”

A transparent slash tore through the air. It carved into the brick structure… but only shallowly. At Janikoro’s command, the floating buildings flew toward Konoha.

Crash-crash-crash!

“Ghh!”

She cut down the approaching structure with a single slash, then cleaved apart the merciless rain of bricks one after another. But the water released from the aqueducts steadily worsened her footing.

“Kyaaah!”

Konoha slipped. An enormous quantity of bricks immediately rained down upon her.

“Skill: 《Freeze》! Basic Magic: 《Shatter》!”

Meiro’s magic smashed apart the bricks after freezing and weakening them. Fragments of shattered ice scattered down like glittering crystals.

“Meiro-chan!”

“—! 《Wish of the Frozen Wastes》!”

Ice spikes erupted from the ground, blocking the arched structure that came crashing down next. However—

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“Wha!?”

A deafening sound erupted from the brass instrument bells embedded within the Roman Festival’s body. The sound shattered the ice into pieces.

“No way!?”

“Meiro-chan, look out!”

The witch’s fist swept sideways and closed in on Meiro, moments away from striking her directly.

“《Oni Slayer》!”

Konoha cut it down, but the steadily rising water level made it difficult to maintain her balance.

“The room is huge, so why is the water only this deep around here!?”

Konoha’s black kimono became soaked. The wet fabric clung unpleasantly to her skin.

“Meiro-chan!”

“Ghh, what is it?”

“Even my panties are completely soaked…”

“I don’t care! Dry them later! More importantly, we’re moving to the edge of the room. The footing is too bad here to dodge the buildings properly.”

“Okay! Ugh, it feels all chilly and drafty…”

The falling bricks occasionally came close to hitting Konoha, but her defensive skill, 《Barrier》, blocked them to some extent. Still, considering the drain on her magical power, she could not keep it active forever.

“Ghh. We can’t move properly in all this water.”

“Meiro-chan. Can you freeze all of this water?”

“—!? That’s an option. But even if I do, the water level will just keep rising afterward.”

“No. I want you to make just the surface really solid. And then, Meiro-chan, I want you to stay somewhere where there isn’t any water.”

“Wha!? …I see. So that’s what you mean. You’re not completely stupid after all.”

“Hey, my grades are actually pretty good…”

Konoha said that and began running. She cut apart the falling bricks one after another, then stabbed her sword into one of the temple’s white pillars.

“My nails… this is probably going to hurt. Oh well!”

When Ibaraki-doji descended into her, Konoha’s nails grew enormously long. Using those claws, she skillfully climbed the pillar.

Meanwhile, Meiro—

“《Wish of the Frozen Wastes》!”

She spread powerful ice across the surface of the water. Then, just as Konoha finished climbing, a change occurred in the battlefield.

“What!?”

Janikoro stared in shock. That was right. A Witch’s Treasure Chest was originally a zone designed with raids in mind. Therefore, this flooded zone had originally been designed so that its water would spread throughout the entire area in response to a group of twenty-six people.

“But since there are only two of us, the area where the water gets spread was automatically restricted. That’s why all the water got concentrated into such a small space. So what happens if nobody is standing inside that zone anymore?”

Meiro activated the basic spell 《Levitation》. It was an extremely difficult spell among basic magic, made possible only because of Meiro’s magical power.

Now, there were zero adventurers standing on the ground.

“The amount of water released should go down, right?”

“!?”

The quantity of water pouring from the Roman Festival’s aqueducts began to decrease. Not only that—

“The water… is spreading everywhere!?”

“With nobody standing there, the amount being released decreases. And since there’s no longer any need to restrict the zone, the water distributes itself evenly. That means the water level won’t rise quickly anymore, so… Meiro-chan!”

“I’ll keep freezing it. 《Wish of the Frozen Wastes》!”

The water gradually froze over.

The most important element in conquering the Roman Festival was the changing footing. If one realized how dangerous the water was on the first attempt, it was possible to devise a method of sealing it away and continuously attack the main body during the resulting opening.

But could a full raid adapt to such an environmental change that quickly? The answer was no. With twenty-six people present, ice could not be spread across the footing, but if even one person was missing, the water would no longer flow evenly.

The Roman Festival was a raid-killing witch.

“GIIIIIIIAA!”

“I won’t let you!”

It attempted to destroy the pillar with a deafening blast, but before it could, Konoha’s Oni Slayer destroyed the trumpet.

“Tch! Witch, knock them down!”

“If you think the witch is obeying every single one of your orders, you’re sorely mistaken. 《Wish of the Frozen Wastes》!”

“Ghh!”

An arrow of ice shot toward Janikoro. Clinging to the Roman Festival’s head, Janikoro ordered the witch to block it.

“It’s tough.”

“We’ve only gotten past the first stage, after all.”

Konoha landed on the frozen ground. The moment she touched the water, she would be detected as an adventurer who had entered the zone, causing the volume of water released to increase again.

“Can your sword not get through it, Konoha?”

“Hmm, it’s pretty hard. The brass instrument parts are fragile, but destroying them doesn’t feel very effective. And even if we defeat Janikoro-san, I don’t think that’ll stop it.”

“This is no time to look away.”

An entire brick building came crashing down.

“Haaaaaaaah! 《Oni Slayer》!”

Konoha caught the building with Agate. Bricks crumbled down and struck her, but she ignored them completely and forced the structure back.

“Daaaaah!”

The bricks shattered into countless pieces and rained down. They smashed apart the ice underfoot, bringing the frozen surface close to collapsing.

Konoha was bleeding as well, after a brick split open the skin on her head. Thick red blood trickled down her cheek.

“Konoha!”

“I-I’m okay. More importantly, what do we do? This will never end.”

The buildings were being generated endlessly, and three Roman-style structures were already floating in the air. Even the brass instruments they had destroyed were gradually regenerating, their bells turning toward them once again. Countless bricks floated overhead as though waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

Then Meiro suddenly took Konoha’s hand with a look of determination.

“I’ll clear away the surrounding bricks and those troublesome buildings. Konoha, do you still have magical power left?”

“I do, but… can you really do that?”

“I’ll do it. There are still so many things I want to do with you. I can’t afford to die.”

Her eyes were beautiful like sapphires. But within them smoldered a hot blue flame. Konoha nodded without even taking a second.

“Okay. I want to go to lots of places with you too, Meiro-chan. We only just became friends, so there are still tons of things I want to do!”

Meiro wiped the blood from Konoha’s face with the hem of her robe, then stood and faced the witch.

“I am the Witch of the Frozen Wastes. I will never allow anyone to hurt my one and only friend.”

Then she looked back and spoke.

“Witches hate lies and boredom. Keep your promise, Konoha.”

“Of course! We’re definitely getting out of here, Meiro-chan!”

Meiro gave a brusque yet slightly satisfied smile, then turned back toward the witch. She raised her staff—

“Special Skill 《Frozen Melody》!”