Proximity

Stella, alongside Rilim and a dozen soldiers, was heading toward the basement of the Demon Castle. They descended the stairs until they finally reached the lowest level.

“It’s been a while since I’ve come down this far~,” Rilim said, glancing curiously at her surroundings.

“Even for the castle guard, there’s rarely a reason to enter this area,” Stella replied, her third eye open on her forehead as she proceeded with caution.

Huge, exposed gears turned on both sides of the narrow corridor. Stella didn’t fully understand the mechanics of it. She had heard rumors that the Demon Castle itself was fitted with mechanical contraptions designed to be used for combat in times of crisis. That fell under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Army’s leader, the “Alchemist General.”

They marched straight ahead and reached a room at the far end. A plate on the door was engraved with the words: Control Room. From within, she sensed the presence of a demon.

“This is supposed to be a restricted area—” Stella muttered, signaling Rilim beside her. “Let’s go.”

Whispering the command, Stella braced herself and threw open the door. The interior was lined with mechanical devices reminiscent of steam engines. At the center of it all stood a demon draped in a hood and robe.

“E-eek! A Demon Commander…!?”

The demon backed away in terror. From beneath the hood, the face of an old man was visible.

“What are you doing here?” Stella demanded.

“Y-yes, well, um…”

“This is a restricted area. Are you with the Seventh Army?”

The Seventh Army managed the mechanical systems of the castle. Stella assumed he was one of theirs, but his behavior was suspicious.

“I… I am, well…”

“Answer me.”

The demon flinched visibly. “I’m here on orders from the army… Y-yes, it’s a mission.”

His attitude was clearly dubious. Stella immediately activated her Clairvoyance. She looked through him—reading the fluctuations of his heart. His anxiety. His fear.

Even for Stella, completely reading the mind of another was impossible. However, as long as the opponent wasn’t a high-ranking demon, she could see fragmentary images. Behind the old demon, a faint, beast-like silhouette flickered into view.

It wasn’t the Alchemist General’s doing. This was—.

“The mission for the Seventh Army is a lie, isn’t it? Were you ordered by Zegart the Beast Emperor?”

“H-hiieee…!”

The old demon was instantly shaken. It had been half a guess, but she had hit the mark.

“Tell me the truth.”

Stella took a step forward. Suddenly, the old demon’s entire body began to glow.

“…!?”

“Stella-sama!”

Rilim lunged forward, pushing Stella to the ground.

BOOM!

A flash of light erupted. Stella felt a soft elasticity covering her entire body. She realized the old demon had self-destructed, and Rilim—having turned into a slime—had shielded her from the impact.

“…Thank you, Rilim. You saved me.”

“Ehehe, I’m just glad you aren’t hurt!”

Rilim returned from her slime state to her humanoid form and smiled.

“Even so—” Stella stared at the spot where the demon had been. To think he would self-destruct so suddenly. He must have feared being exposed by her “Eyes.”

He was clearly hiding some kind of scheme. “And that scheme is…”

Stella ground her teeth. Almost certainly, Zegart the Beast Emperor was the mastermind. The Demon Realm was already in a dire situation with the Hero invasion looming just two months away, and now they had to deal with Zegart’s treachery on top of it.

“Stella-sama…”

“Let’s go back upstairs, Rilim,” Stella said, her expression grim despite Rilim’s concerned look.

Stella returned upstairs with Rilim and the soldiers.

Clang, clang. The sound of armor echoed as a skeletal swordsman approached from the front.

“Commander Stella.”

It was Regal. “Something is approaching the Demon Castle.”

Stella tilted her head. “Something… is approaching?”

Then, she felt it. A holy presence, entirely alien to the Demon Realm, was drawing near. She sensed a massive power that would make short work of any average demon.

“First a suspicious demon in the basement, and now something on the surface… Troubles keep appearing the moment the Demon Lord is away.”

Stella activated her Clairvoyance to identify the intruder.

“No way, this is—”

She swallowed hard. A supreme weapon created by God during the Age of Myth. An existence that had destroyed many demons and even given the Primal Demon Lord Velpher a difficult fight.

“The legendary Divine Gear…!?” Stella groaned.

“It appears at a different point from where the Demon Lord headed,” Regal noted. “Legend says there are three Divine Gears in total. It seems there was indeed another one.”

“I suppose we should be glad he left us here to guard the castle,” Stella muttered, glancing at Regal. “We will protect the castle—and this Demon Realm. We were personally ordered by the Demon Lord to watch over things while he’s gone.”

“Naturally.”

In the next moment, the vibrations grew more intense. The very air seemed to scream as it groaned and buckled.

And then—the earth split open.

A massive volume of water erupted from the fissure like a fountain.

“Wh-what incredible mana…!” Stella groaned.

Her hair stood on end. Excluding Fried, who was an outlier, this presence was equal to or greater than a Demon Lord.

“Rilim, lead the soldiers and hurry the evacuation of the nearby residents!”

“Yes! I’m on it!” Rilim shouted energetically and dashed off.

“It certainly lives up to its name as a weapon of legend…” Stella whispered, her face tense.

Reflected clearly in her third eye was a massive shadow lurking deep within the rift.

“It’s coming, Regal,” Stella announced.

“Indeed.”

Regal donned his helmet and drew the sword at his waist. It was a grotesque longsword designed as if it were made of countless interlocking bones.

Almost simultaneously, something leapt out from the fountain of water.

A dragon. A giant dragon covered in blue armor, incessantly spraying torrents of water from its entire body.

“This is the Divine Gear…” Stella whispered.

The massive blue dragon looked down at them, its presence overflowing with hostility.

“I will take the lead,” Regal said, stepping forward with his sword in hand. “You take command of the army. I’ll need backup.”

“…Be careful, Regal.”

“Hmph. To think I’d hear a word of concern from you.”

“That thing is different from any Hero we’ve fought. Its combat power is on a different dimension—”

“All the more reason.”

Regal leveled his blade. On his expressionless skeletal face, it somehow looked as if a smile had appeared.

“A divine weapon that ran rampant in the Age of Myth… a prey truly worthy of my sword.”

The smile of a warrior.