Chapter 256

I Favor the Villainess . 256

Feb 14 2021

Overwhelming

“… Really, you don’t know when to give up…”

Standing, the Demon Queen lightly dust off her robe .

While her magic barrier had disappeared, it appeared she herself had not sustained much damage .

Glaring at us, the Demon Queen continued .

“You aren’t getting ahead of yourselves just because you’ve broken my magic barrier, are you? I still have plenty―”

“Lily-sama!”

“Y-yes!”

“?”

As we had planned, Lily began chanting her spell .

It was the Time Magic that had previously caused us trouble .

“Time Magic…? I see . Perhaps wisdom from TAIM?”

Having stalled the Demon Queen’s flow of time, we could tell that the magic she could draw upon had also reduced .

Even if she did have absurd amounts of magical energy, it’s meaningless if she can’t draw upon it .

The strain we felt from the Demon Queen’s magic, which had previously been enough to force us to kneel in her presence, had greatly reduced .

Even then, the amount she had left was astounding . But at least with this, it appeared that we could put up a fight .

However, there was one thing that caught my attention .

I quickly shot a glance in the direction of the palace’s entrance .

Rodd-sama, Mei, and Alea seemed to have used up all their strength and lost consciousness .

The three were close enough to see .

There was no guarantee that they were safe from stray attacks, or after-effects of our battle with the Demon Queen .

“I won’t do something as pointless as aim for combatants who have already dropped out . ”

The Demon Queen spoke as if she had read my thoughts .

“Even though they have value as hostages?”

“Yes . I won’t waste any of my shots . I will use everything to defeat you all here . ”

It wasn’t as though this was some sort of kindness .

The fiend basically declared that she would use all of her strength to kill us .

“While I do think no matter what you try, it’ll be pointless… Challenge me with everything that you have so that there won’t be any regrets . ”

With those words, the Demon Queen sluggishly raised her right arm .

A fog began to form, filling the area .

“Claire-sama!”

“Right!”

Before the fog could encase the area in ice, Claire-sama caused it all to evaporate .

“I’ve already witnessed Judecca . Even if you’re the one casting it, it’s not going to work!”

“… Now that you mention it, something like that did happen didn’t it . The me of that time was weak, wasn’t I . ”

“You’re still weak . Perhaps you are weaker now than you were then?”

“You think so?”

“At the very least, Rei has become honest . In contrast, you’ve become so twisted . There’s no way I’d allow myself to lose to you in that state!”

Shouting her words in a howl, she closed the distance between herself and the Demon Queen in an instant, swinging down her sword .

The distance between the two had been about 20 meters .

Even Claire wouldn’t be able to close in at such speeds on her own .

She was able to accomplish this thanks to Manaria-sama’s wind magic, Boost .

“Do you think such a simple attack would work?”

The Demon Queen raised one of her arms to block the attack .

However―

“In fact, I do!”

Her voice now came from behind the Demon Queen .

Simultaneously, the Claire-sama in front of the Demon Queen disappeared while the Claire-sama behind the Demon Queen swung down her blade .

“So it was an illusion . ”

“… It seems it won’t go our way that easily . ”

Without even looking, the Demon Queen had formed a rock wall behind her to block Claire-sama’s slash .

It appears that the illusion was also part of Manaria-sama’s support .

The Demon Queen then raised her right forearm to point up .

“Khh…!”

Several sword-like boulders raised up from the ground before homing in on Claire-sama .

Claire-sama was forced to retreat backward .

“Onee-sama, Lily, us three will act as the vanguard!”

“Y-yes!”

“Got it!”

“Rei, you support us from there!”

“Understood!”

With Claire-sama taking command, we took formation .

As Claire-sama retreated while evading the sword-like boulders, Lily-sama and Manaria-sama coordinated an attack, flanking the Demon Queen .

Lily-sama with twin daggers and Manaria-sama with a longsword, three blades assaulted the Demon Queen .

“Hmph . ”

The moment before their blades reached her, a fierce explosion erupted, centered on the Demon Queen .

Unable to endure the blast, both Lily-sama and Manaria-sama were forced to step back .

And then,

“How about this?”

The Demon Queen released a tornado with ice blades swirling within it toward the two .

They each tried to dodge it .

However― .

“And this . ”

The ground beneath Lily-sama and Manaria-sama suddenly froze over .

Slipping, the two were unable to move how they wanted .

“Soil Change!”

Reacting instantly, I formed a regular patch of ground over the frozen surface .

Just narrowly, the two were both able to avoid the tornado .

“We’re not done yet!”

Taking the opportunity now that the Demon Queen’s attention was off of her, Claire-sama rushed in and slashed the Demon Queen from behind .

While it was a good call, her approach appeared far too straightforward, causing me concern .

However, just as expected of Claire-sama .

“Flame Lance!”

About three steps away from the Demon Queen, Claire-sama launched a lance of fire .

While this rudimentary magic had no chance of hurting the Demon Queen…

Her goal lay elsewhere .

“!”

The spear landed at the Demon Queen’s feet, causing smoke to rise from the explosion .

The smoke blocked the Demon Queen’s field of view .

“Now, onee-sama, Lily!”

In response to Claire-sama’s call, the three joined together for a pincer from three directions .

I thought that they had caught her this time but― .

“Too naive . ”

Even before her words had reached them, masses of compressed air slammed into the three .

While they had tried to twist their bodies to dodge, it was too difficult to completely avoid the invisible hammers .

“Ha…ah… Haa…ah…!”

“S-strong…!”

“As expected… of someone who bears the name… Demon Queen…”

The three were exhausted . In comparison, the Demon Queen had not been harmed aside from Alea’s one strike .

“Heal!”

I cast healing magic on Claire-sama and the others .

With that we were more or less back to where we had started .

However, I didn’t see a way to break out of this deadlock .

While it had looked like we had been pressing her, the Demon Queen had actually just primarily focused on defense . In truth, we had yet to land a single effective blow .

She was dealing with our attacks perfectly .

As she was me, it seemed that she wasn’t capable of wielding a sword, but even with magic alone she was excessively strong .

From the types of magic that she had used, it appeared she was not simply a Dual Caster .

I’d venture that she was a Quad Caster, similar to Manaria-sama and Mei . It also seemed safe to assume that she had high affinity with all of the elements .

The biggest trouble was that the Demon Queen had cast all of these spells wordlessly .

As one becomes more advanced in magic, deciphering the effect of the spell through the activation phrase or incantation is what’s normal .

For example, Claire-sama’s speciality,“Flame Lance” . As soon as someone hears the “Fla” part, it becomes obvious to any veteran that they will need to deal with fire .

However, that was not the case for the Demon Queen .

As she had so much latent magic, one could sense a heightened amount within the area and guess that the Demon Queen was casting something, but that was all we had to work with .

There were too many factors stacked against us .

“Do you intend to continue?”

“Of course we will . I will definitely defeat you . ”

“You show wonderful spirit, Claire-sama . However, you will soon come to know that cannot come to be . ”

“Say whatever you like . ”

“Then, I suppose I’ve observed enough . Perhaps I should seriously take the offensive . ”

““““!?””””

A sudden wave of uncertainty hit us .

Up until now, she had yet to be serious…?

“Is that a bluff?”

“It seems not, Rei . Look at the Demon Queen’s feet . ”

“?”

I looked as Claire-sama directed me to . Amidst the floor that was scarred from the aftermath of the battle, the Demon Queen’s legs remained unscathed .

“Wha…”

“T-the Demon Queen has yet to move from that one spot…!”

Lily-sama’s scream put to words what we all felt .

“It’s my turn now . Lily-sama, Manaria-sama, will you be able to sustain through this?”

With those words, the Demon Queen waved her arms generating a beam of dark light that stretched toward the two .

This is…!

“Kyaa!?”

“Guh…!?”

Though panicked, I still managed to form a tungsten carbide wall in front of the two . While I had succeeded, the impact from the blast still sent the two flying backward .

“What force… and above that, that magic is…!”

“That’s right, this magic was also used during the incident with Lana . Though at that time, Rates was the one who had cast it . ”

Magic that belonged to none of the four elements, Dark Magic .

What could this…?

“Dark Magic,while only usable by demons, there are quite a few powerful attack spells . ”

As though just to give an example, the Demon Queen once again swung her arm horizontally .

Three dark, crescent shaped blades flew toward me .

“N-no you don’t!”

Recovering from the previous attack, Lily-sama hurried in front of me to cut down the blades that threatened me .

However,

“H-huh?”

“!”

As though avoiding Lily-sama, the dark blades wrapped around her and continued to rush straight toward me .

“Guh…!”

Using Lift Up to form a foothold, I evaded upward .

“You’re not out yet, Rei!”

Sharp words of advice came from Manaria-sama .

Turning to look behind me, I saw that the dark blades had changed directions, homing in on my position .

“How annoying!”

Repeatedly launching ice and earth arrows, I somehow managed to cancel out the attack .

“Perhaps I’ll have you retire from this battle first, Rei Taylor . ”

The Demon Queen then generated countless new dark blades in front of her .

All of them rushed toward me .

“You’re kidding!”

Once again I tried to counter with a barrage of my own ice and earth magic, but a number of the dark blades managed to slip through .

This is bad .

“If I just take care of the source―!”

Seeing an opportunity, Manaria-sama rushed in for a slash . However, the Demon Queen calmly caught the attack with one hand .

“I thought that you might try this, Manaria-sama . Do you really like that girl so much?”

“Yes I do . Which is why I find looking at you so unbearable!”

“How sad . Similarly, I too find no comfort seeing someone such as her put your heart in such disarray . ”

With her one hand, she pulled Manaria-sama along with the sword, tossing her into Lily-sama who had been quietly approaching from the opposite side .

“Wa, wawawah!?”

“Don’t try and catch me Lily! Just dodge!”

Manaria-sama’s words failed to reach Lily-sama in time, so Lily-sama caught her .

While they were down, a dark beam struck them .

“Kyaa!?”

“Guh…!”

Unable to hold their ground, they were both blown backward . Though I had been able to watch the exchange, my hands were already full dealing with the remaining dark blades .

There seemed to be no build up necessary for the Demon Queen to launch spells .

Almost without movement, she launched one spell after the next .

On top of that, with no activation phrases or incantations that could serve as tells, her spells seemed to come at us that much faster .

“Lily-sama, you’ve slowed down the Demon Queen, right!?”

“Y-yes, the effect should be in place!”

“To think she is still able to use such magic and react so quickly . How unfair . ”

Despite her disposition, she was still the Demon Queen after all .

“Why don’t you go after me?”

Keeping posture, Claire-sama asked the Demon Queen .

I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was dissatisfied that the Demon Queen was holding back only against her .

“I have already said, I won’t kill you . ”

“You realize the Three Great Archdukes are already gone, right? I don’t believe there should be any other options . ”

“Do you truly think so? I believe I still have an option . ”

“…?”

As she spoke, the Demon Queen created and launched more dark blades .

This time the blades flew toward Lily-sama and Manaria-sama as well .

“Stop this!”

“I can stop any time . Once you’re dead, that is . ”

“―!”

So that’s what she meant .

“Demon Queen… you…”

“So Claire-sama, what will you do? Will you just watch as they die while sucking on your thumb?”

“…”

This is the ultimatum that the Demon Queen offered Claire-sama .

―If you want to help them, kill yourself .