Demon Lord Clayman's Castle
After fleeing in a frantic and almost disorderly manner, Gelmud and Laplace finally arrived at that place.
The interior of the castle was silent, lit by soft lights and filled with an oppressive atmosphere. At the center of the hall, Demon Lord Clayman sat elegantly, holding a glass of red wine as if nothing in the world could disturb him.
His eyes slowly moved toward the two miserable figures standing before him.
Upon observing them, Clayman couldn't help but let out a low, mocking laugh.
"Gelmud… Laplace…" he said, gently swirling the wine in his glass. "You two are in a truly deplorable state."
Faced with Clayman's direct mockery, Gelmud and Laplace neither tried to justify themselves nor retort immediately.
And, in truth, it was no exaggeration.
They were in a deplorable state… worse than they had ever been before.
Gelmud took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts before speaking.
"Clayman… you didn't witness what we saw. If you had… you wouldn't be speaking like that."
Clayman raised the glass to his lips and took a slow sip of red wine, his confident smile remaining intact, as if Gelmud's words carried no weight at all.
"Was it someone powerful?" he asked, with evident disdain. "And how exactly does that compare to me?"
As one of the Demon Lords, Clayman knew his position very well. Although he was considered the weakest among them, his power was still far beyond that of most beings in that world.
Even the so-called "Ten Saints" of the Western Holy Church were nothing more than contemptible figures in his eyes.
"Compared to you…?" Laplace couldn't hold back. A short laugh escaped his lips before he replied, "Clayman, do you really think there's any comparison at all?"
Clayman smiled with even greater arrogance, raising his glass in an elegant gesture, as if toasting his own superiority.
"Indeed, there is no comparison whatsoever," he nodded, pleased with himself. "How could worms like you possibly comprehend the true magnitude of a Demon Lord's power?"
Laplace: "…"
Gelmud: "…"
The silence that followed was heavy.
Even so, despite his notorious lack of emotional sensitivity, Clayman began to realize that something was off.
That reaction… that awkward silence… didn't match mere exaggeration or unfounded fear.
"Stronger… than me?!" Clayman asked, the confidence in his voice wavering for the first time.
"He would annihilate you without question," Laplace replied bluntly.
"Which of the Ten Demon Lords did you encounter?" Clayman asked immediately.
Without wasting time, Gelmud raised his hand, and a crystal ball appeared in his palm.
The surface of the sphere glowed, and everything that had happened in the Jura Forest began to replay before Clayman's eyes.
The scenes unfolded rapidly.
As the combat power of those individuals was displayed, the smile on Clayman's face vanished completely, as if forcibly erased.
His expression stiffened.
His heart began to beat irregularly.
At that moment, Clayman felt something rare for him: emotional disturbance.
It was no wonder Gelmud and Laplace had lost their composure.
If even several of that man's subordinates possessed such absurd power…
Then the existence at the center of it all…
Instinctively, a name surfaced in Clayman's mind.
Guy Crimson.
But almost instantly, he dismissed the possibility.
Impossible.
The man in the images had golden hair and wore equally golden armor.
There was nothing about him that resembled Guy Crimson.
And yet…
When the scene advanced and Angélica's attack was shown, Clayman's last shred of composure shattered completely.
His body stiffened.
His breathing faltered for an instant.
"What… the hell…?"
The wine glass in his hand trembled slightly.
---xXx---
Without Clayman or his companions having the slightest suspicion, in the distant Jura Forest, cheers echoed loudly from the Lizardmen's Swamp.
The sound of celebration spread like a wave, filled with relief, hope, and emotions suppressed for countless days.
The Orcs were radiant as well.
Tears streamed freely down their rough faces. None of them had ever imagined that, after committing so many unforgivable sins, they would be granted not only a chance at atonement… but also genuine help.
During the meeting led by Arthur, after the Orcs finally told their entire story, a decision was made.
They would work to atone for their sins.
Furthermore, the son of the former Orc Lord was chosen as the new leader of their people. Arthur himself granted him a name, symbolically sealing a new beginning for their race.
His name was now Geld.
Watching all of this, an involuntary smile appeared on Arthur's face.
With that, both the population and the workforce of his domain had increased in an absurd, almost unbelievable way.
Thanks to Arthur's firm and clear words, the generalized animosity toward the Orcs diminished drastically.
In contrast…
The animosity of the entire Jura Forest became focused on just two names.
The true architects of that tragedy.
Gelmud and Laplace.
"Hm… Angélica, come here," Arthur suddenly called.
"Yes? What do you need, my father?" she asked promptly.
"Do you like destroying things?" he asked, a dangerously amused smile appearing on his face.
"I love it," Angélica replied, smiling in the same way.
"Everyone! Attention here!" Arthur called out.
"As the lord of the entire Jura Forest, I cannot, in good conscience, allow someone capable of committing such atrocities to go unpunished."
"???" everyone reacted in unison.
"What does Master mean-nya~?" Felicia asked curiously.
Does he intend to capture those two?
But we don't have any information about them right now… do we?
In the next instant, everyone was stunned to see Arthur casually snap his fingers.
A massive blue vortex appeared before them.
Through it, they could see a magnificent castle, standing at the edge of a towering cliff.
"This… this is…"
Everyone stood dumbfounded.
Could it be that Gelmud and Laplace were hiding there?
But that castle… it seemed to be…
Demon Lord Clayman's territory.
As one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, his symbol and domain were widely known.
Even so, before everyone's incredulous eyes, Arthur simply extended his hand toward the vortex.
A second blue vortex opened in front of him.
And from within it, Arthur forcibly pulled Gelmud and Laplace out.
"The castle is all yours, Angélica," Arthur said calmly. "Have fun."
"I've wanted to do this for a while now…" Angélica murmured.
A witch's hat appeared out of nowhere on her head, while a magic staff materialized in her hand.
"Darkness blacker than black itself, I beseech you, unite with my deep crimson…"
"The time of awakening has come. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, manifest now as intangible distortions!"
"I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force… a destructive force without equal!"
"Reduce all creation to ashes… and emerge from the abyss!"
"EXPLOSION!"
As a Demon Lord, Clayman's skill [Magic Perception] was extremely advanced.
The very moment the gigantic magic circle appeared above his castle, he sensed it clearly.
"Who is doing this?!" he roared. "How dare you?!"
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!
Before he could react, a catastrophic explosion was unleashed from the magic circle, annihilating everything within at least a one-kilometer radius around the castle.
"…You overdid it again…" Arthur commented flatly as the shockwave ruffled his hair.
When Gelmud and Laplace regained their senses, they realized they were back in the Jura Forest.
Upon seeing the man standing before them… and the devastation caused by the woman at his side…
Both were utterly terrified.
What kind of absurd power was this?!
Where did this monster come from?!
Not only Gelmud and Laplace.
Benimaru, Hakurou, and everyone else were also completely bewildered.
This… was unbelievable.
"Benimaru, Shion, Shuna, Hakurou, Souei, Gabiru, and Geld," Arthur said. "Your enemies are right here. As for how you take your revenge, decide among yourselves, i'm not going to get involved."
The master wants them to take revenge on their own?!
Even so, a small glimmer of hope arose in Gelmud and Laplace.
If that monster doesn't intervene… maybe we can escape…
After a few seconds, they chose the simplest path.
A battle.
Geld and Gabiru would face Gelmud.
Benimaru would face Laplace alone.
The fight was brutal.
One side fought driven by vengeance.
The other, by survival.
Both gave everything they had.
But the outcomes were completely different.
It didn't take long for Gelmud to be killed by the hands of Geld and Gabiru.
Laplace, on the other hand, despite being mercilessly beaten by Benimaru, managed to escape alive thanks to his extraordinary escape abilities.
Benimaru merely sighed.
At the very least… he managed to give that clown a thorough beating.
As for Demon Lord Clayman…
He lay amid the rubble.
Gravely wounded.
Questioning, for the first time, his own choices.
By sheer luck, he had escaped complete annihilation from that explosion.
(End of Chapter)