The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King Chapter 74

Demon King Decarbia

The gates were open.

The east gate. The west gate. The south gate. The north gate. All of them.

They had been opened by the mercenaries and the civilians within.

The castle could not have been more vulnerable.

That was how it was. No matter how strong a castle is, it could fall easily if the people inside of it want it to.

I saw it with my own eyes. However, our work was not yet finished.

There was no doubt that Decarbia would resist.

His own men would come out to meet us.

And so I sent out a warning for the town’s residents to escape to safety. And then we marched to the center of the town.

It was this center that the main castle stood. Its door had been broken down already.

Clearly, the mercenaries were working hard.

Toshizou Hijikata watched this and said,

“Splendid. It is the kind of thing Mouri Motonari would do.”

It sounded like a compliment, but then I saw that his eyebrows were narrowed.

And then I remembered that he did not think well of that name.

Yes, he was on the shogunate side. And they had fought a bloody battle against the Mouri clan and the Satcho Alliance.

Perhaps it was because of that history that the name annoyed him.

Well, he could have compared me to someone else. Perhaps Sanada Masayuki? No, that wasn’t right.

He was one of those who resisted the Tokugawa clan until the end.

Well, Tokugawa Ieyasu then. I joked to him.

“I’m impressed that you know of him, master. But I suppose I shouldn’t be.”

He said with satisfaction. And then he led the soldiers into the building.

“My name is Hijikata Toshizou! The demon! Those who wish to die and those with no regrets, come out and face me!”

He shouted. And then a man who appeared to be a demon stepped out from Decarbia’s army.

“My name is Ananke! I am more skilled with the scimitar than any demon!”

Judging by appearances, his scimitar did look like a very impressive weapon.

“Ah, a crescent blade. But is it as strong as my Izuminokami Kanesada?”

Toshizou laughed with confidence. And then their blades clashed.

Ananke proved his strength by not dying after the first blow.

As the two battled, Toshizou’s werewolves and orcs began to enter the castle.

And so I warned them.

“We did not come here to injure those who welcome us. And there will be no stealing and violence. If any among you be so shameless, I will make you regret that you were ever born.”

Those words seemed quite effective.

But then again, they had trained under the demon vice-captain.

So they would have been quite disciplined, to begin with.

Actually, it was Decaribia’s own soldiers that showed their shame on this occasion.

As they knew that they were done for, they began to take what they could from the castle and flee. Materials and treasures. Some even attacked Decarbia’s maids.

Jeanne discovered this.

“Filth!”

And without another word, she silenced them forever with her holy blade.

Demons were decapitated and blood splattered all over the ground.

“That is fine. There will be no mercy to such villains.”

I said to her. And she continued to cut through them.

The fate of the castle was as clear as day now.

The only thing left to do was to kill the leader. And so I headed towards the throne room where the core was most likely to be located.

My men opened a path of blood as I walked towards it. I thanked them just as I arrived at the door.

But just as I placed my hand on it, Fuma Kotaro appeared like the wind.

“Demon King. Are you going inside?”

“Yes. I’m going to kill Decarbia. Well, I may accept his surrender as well.”

“I see. Then I shall help you.”

Kotaro changed from the maid disguise into his ninja attire.

“Thank you. Let’s see what the strongest ninja can do.”

I grinned and then destroyed the door.

I could have just opened it, but these kinds of theatrics were important. It might scare him, at least. Unfortunately, he turned out to be less of a coward than I thought.

Not only did he look at us expressionlessly from his throne, but he didn’t even speak.

…Also, he was floating.

This was because Decarbia wasn’t a person. He was some kind of object that was shaped like a pentagram.

“What is that?”

I asked. My walking database and maid replied.

She should have been with the rest of the men in the town square, but she had followed us into the castle at some point.

Damn it. But it was the right decision.

She quickly explained before I could demand why she was even there.

“Demon King Decarbia is rare amongst Demon Kings. He is not human.”

“That thing, is really him? Decarbia?”

“It is. He is special among the 72 Demon Kings. An aberration among aberrations.”

“I see. I can only hope there are not more of them. So, can this starfish thing talk? Can we communicate with it?”

It was the starfish that answered.

“To call a Demon King a ‘starfish.’ You are quite rude, Demon King Ashtaroth.”

“I see that you can.”

I grinned.

“Yes. I may be an aberration, but I am just as intelligent as you.”

“And yet you were very quick to fall for my little trick.”

“…I was blinded by gold. Besides, your imitation magic was very advanced.”

“Well, it was made by materials from a Demon King and the best craftsmen worked on it.”

“And I doubt I would have thought of such a plan myself. You are a tricky one, you are.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I bowed as if I was asking a lady to dance with me.

Then I pointed two fingers into the air.

“There are two actions you can take now. You can have the honor of dying against me in battle. Or you can work for me. Now, make your decision.”

“Neither of them are desirable.”

“I suppose.”

“And so I shall take a third action.”

And with that, Decarbia’s body began to glow.

Apparently, he meant to beat me in battle.

It was likely a decent option for him.

Of course, the castle had all but fallen. But he could still turn things around if he killed me in battle.

The tide would turn in just one stroke.

While I couldn’t blame him, I wasn’t about to lose to a starfish.

And so I enveloped my body with magic and prepared to fight.