Chapter 36
Kardin quietly held his breath.
At the words “a duel before the throne,” the audience chamber suddenly appeared.
Am I seeing an illusion?
I quickly surveyed my surroundings.
The dirt ground where I’d been standing moments ago had turned into a bright red carpet.
The familiar patterned walls, dark crimson stone pillars, and torches illuminating the gloomy room without a single window…
It was an audience chamber through and through.
Still, it felt a little different from the one I knew.
I sensed an inexplicable danger.
And the atmosphere was somewhat different.
It was as if the entire audience chamber were hostile toward me.
“Have you finished your analysis?”
A voice tinged with boredom.
It came from the throne atop the dais, at the highest point of the audience chamber.
“Have I…… returned to the Demon King’s Castle?”
“Hehe, are you surprised? This is the Demon King’s Castle, yet it is also not the Demon King’s Castle. It is nothing more than a mental landscape I created on the spur of the moment. I had no choice but to unfold this magic so I could use my full power, but it seems to have worked.”
“I see……”
I remembered hearing it directly from my Demon King.
Demons could only use their full power inside the Demon King’s Castle.
I didn’t know how it worked, but there must have been some complicated conditions involved.
“Since this place is familiar to you as well, show me the full extent of your abilities.”
“……”
No.
This wasn’t the audience chamber I knew.
My instincts told me I shouldn’t fight here as I normally would.
Besides, I couldn’t exactly attack her first.
For now, I knew nothing about what magic my Demon King used, how she fought, or how powerful she truly was.
When you can’t gauge your opponent’s strength, information is what matters most.
Unfortunately, I’d never seen my Demon King fight.
To begin with, it was hard to even imagine her fighting.
In any case, I knew next to nothing.
But the same was true of my Demon King.
I’d never shown my strength in the Demon King’s Castle, much less in front of her.
So, if I was right, my Demon King should be on her guard against me as much as possible, but……
“Hmm…… Are you not coming?”
Why was she still looking down at me with such an arrogant posture? Anyone could see how full of openings it was.
Did she think all her subordinates were roughly the same strength?
Or perhaps this was her first time fighting.
With that thought, Kardin relaxed without realizing it.
My Demon King, who seemed to have no combat experience.
If I could just subdue her, this ridiculous duel would be over.
No matter how I looked at it, the terms were far too easy for me.
But then.
“Hmm?”
My Demon King slowly raised the hand resting on the arm of her throne.
A sign that she was about to do something.
Before I knew it, her index and middle fingers were pointed at me.
In the extreme tension of battle, it was only natural to react to every little thing your opponent did.
Kardin focused on the Demon King’s fingers.
He wondered what magic she would unleash from there, whether he could dodge it, and what he should do next.
At that moment.
The Demon King’s gesture changed.
Her index and middle fingers now pointed up at the sky together.
Then Kardin’s instincts kicked in.
I have to get out of here right now.
And he sensed an unnatural presence.
“Below!”
Boom!!
Kshkshkshkshk—!!
Kardin barely managed to leap into the air, then glanced down.
Black iron spears had burst out of the ground.
They covered the floor where Kardin had been standing.
That was close.
Looking closely, he could see tiny barbs on those spears.
The instant he was pierced, they would have burrowed through his entire body and crushed his bones.
And when he planted his legs and pushed off, his heart had lurched…… Yes, it had felt as though the floor sank beneath him.
Could this audience chamber……
“Hehe, your instincts are good, as expected. Still, you would do well to break the habit of relying on them too much.”
“What do you mean by that—Gah!”
Bang!! Boom!!!
Two impacts.
At the same time, pieces of his armor flew away as if they’d exploded.
The shards glinted in the light, like a falling shower of meteors.
What had just happened?
If he’d had human ears, he would have lost his hearing to the ringing by now.
He had definitely dodged my Demon King’s attack.
And yet, he’d felt an impact as though he’d collided with the audience chamber’s ceiling.
Did I hit the ceiling?
No, the opposite.
The ceiling hit me.
And I hadn’t been able to react.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t react because the ceiling had come down too quickly. I couldn’t react because it was an unimaginable possibility I hadn’t accounted for.
How could the ceiling suddenly drop without warning?
If there was one lucky thing, it was that second impact.
He’d nearly been impaled on the black spears thrust up from the floor, but his signature quick reflexes let him throw his lance and change his trajectory.
Thanks to that, he landed on nothing more than the bright red carpet.
He was on the floor, more than ten meters from where he’d started.
“Hehe, that was all part of my opening move. Kardin, do you still see me as some ignorant fool who knows nothing about fighting?”
“Cough, cough. Pfft…… Hahaha…… I’m sorry, my Demon King……”
A laugh tinged with self-mockery.
Kardin mocked himself as he knelt on the ground.
Was I the one lacking combat experience?
I’d been looking down on my opponent without even realizing it.
It was a moment that made the title of one of the Four Heavenly Kings feel shameful.
How could I dare call myself my Demon King’s loyal lance while crawling on the ground like this?
Kardin quickly pushed off the ground and stood up, readying his stance once more.
He had no intention of making a fool of himself again.
Kardin assessed his condition.
The core responsible for his demonic energy was in tatters before the fight had even begun.
Worse, my Demon King had taken most of my demonic energy.
With that, most of my techniques that relied on demonic energy had been sealed away.
What a predicament.
Besides, this subspace itself was absorbing my demonic energy and mana.
And since my Demon King seemed even more relaxed than before, it looked like all the power it absorbed was being converted into power for her.
Had she calculated everything from the start?
“Well, you really got me with that—”
Black chains immediately came hurtling toward him.
Space turned inside out, and they shot out from every direction—walls, floor, and ceiling alike. He immediately understood their purpose.
The targets were my legs, arms, and head, right?
A spell meant to tear me limb from limb.
“Hup!”
A lance recreated from demonic energy lightly knocked aside the incoming chains. Sparks flew with a sharp clang!
Some of them changed course and came at him from the gaps, but a broad sweep of his lance was enough to block them.
The only thing that bothered him was how the ground swayed like tofu whenever he swung his lance, making it hard to keep his balance.
Perhaps that was the most frightening thing about this space.
Every time he tried to approach my Demon King, the unstable ground was a serious handicap for someone like him who used a lance.
He couldn’t put any strength into his legs as he swung his weapon, so he couldn’t use his proper techniques.
On top of that, the walls and floor would suddenly surge upward and toss him around helplessly, while this wildly shifting space repeatedly blocked his path to my Demon King.
「Spatial Severance」
Space split apart.
But it quickly healed.
「Void Lance」
A thrust that ignored the target’s defenses.
But the space closed in with an equal force, canceling it out.
「Summon Black Steed」
Failed.
My Demon King immediately sent it back where it came from.
Ten minutes passed like that.
This subspace gnawed away at my power and always canceled out my attacks with an equal force.
It felt like I was fighting another version of myself.
“This is getting troublesome.”
***
An hour had passed.
The endless exchange of attacks continued.
Kardin still hadn’t managed to reach the Demon King.
The audience chamber, writhing as if it were alive, tormented Kardin without pause.
But amid this frustrating situation, Kardin had realized one thing.
“……I wonder if it’ll work.”
It was only a guess, but if he used the ‘Authority of Domination,’ he could probably break out of this situation.
The authority to subjugate any living being he considered beneath himself.
That was the Authority of Domination his Demon King had bestowed upon Kardin.
But he couldn’t use it on my Demon King.
It wouldn’t work in the first place.
He’d just used it on the Hero’s party to restrict their movements, yet my Demon King had still been able to approach him and speak to him.
Kardin opened his hand.
I’ll use my authority on the subspace itself.
This place was probably made of mana, and since mana was the source of all life, I should be able to take control through my authority.
A glint.
Having finished thinking it through, he immediately used his authority.
His eyes glowed violet.
At the same time, the space that had been hostile toward him began to settle down with a grinding crackle.
Kardin cheered inwardly.
A way out…… had opened.
“Oh…… At last, you’ve realized the true nature of that authority. It’s just as well; I was getting bored.”
Clap, clap, clap.
My Demon King gave a small nod.
That arrogant gaze looking down at him.
It seemed she’d used that opening move to estimate his strength too hastily.
After all, demons were a race that considered all things in the world beneath them. Perhaps it was only natural for them to look down on someone stronger than themselves.
Unfortunately.
「Ruin」
KWA-BOOM—!!
“Hmm!?”
My Demon King’s gaze wavered.
Of course she’d be surprised.
The opponent who’d been within arm’s reach just moments ago—
“—had come right up to her.”
……
…
.
An application of 「Ruin」.
Kardin used 「Ruin」 as a thruster and reached the Demon King’s side in an instant.
This was possible because 「Ruin」 was essentially an attack akin to self-destruction.
To explain 「Ruin」 in one sentence:
‘A thrust that packs highly volatile demonic energy and mana into one’s lance to the limit, then unleashes it.’
Because it required intense concentration to fill the lance with demonic energy and mana, it naturally took a long time to cast.
But what if he shortened the casting time and activated 「Ruin」 quickly? Instead of making the demonic energy and mana explode from their repulsive force, he could use that force to accelerate rapidly in the opposite direction.
In any case.
“It’s over, my Demon King.”
“……I am not yet unable to fight, so how can you say it’s over?”
My Demon King said this as Kardin held both her arms and pinned her to the throne.
What could a mage do now, after allowing her opponent to get this close?
At least by the standards of this world, the mage had already lost at this range.
Even if she used silent magic to resist quickly, a skilled knight could take her life in an instant with a single motion.
From this point on, everything the mage did would be meaningless.
Knowing that, Kardin quietly gripped his lance.
All that remained was to drive it in as he had earlier and make my Demon King submit.
That was all that was left.
However.
“……”
“Hmm, you. Don’t tell me you’re hesitating even after coming this far?”
Hesitation.
Yes, Kardin was hesitating right now.
Even though he had aimed his lance at his liege, he still hadn’t moved.
“Won’t you use that sturdy shaft to pierce my ‘here’?”
“Ghk……”
A sudden lewd remark.
Even in a situation like this, the Demon of Lust was smiling.
However, Kardin was a skeleton who had endured lust—forcibly—for several hundred years.
A temptation like this didn’t faze him.
There was only one main reason he hesitated.
To be called my Demon King’s loyal lance, yet stab my Demon King; to have trained to protect her, yet attack her.
It filled Kardin with a humiliation he simply couldn’t bear.
That was all.
Even if the first time had been a mistake, this time he would be stabbing her of his own will.
If he took my Demon King for himself that way, would I really be able to forgive myself?
I don’t know.
“Hmm…… Yes. I can give you the courage you need.”
“Pardon?”
How could she possibly……
My Demon King tilted her head.
It was a signal for me to bring my head closer.
I immediately bowed my head and brought my ear close to my Demon King’s lips.
I could hear her breathing.
“Hehe, you see……”
Gulp.
He had no Adam’s apple, but it felt as though his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
An inexplicable tension hung in the air.
“I was forced to lose my virginity♡”
Huh?
“W-What does that……?”
“You know what the bedchamber in the Demon King’s Castle looks like, don’t you?”
I did.
Bedding and all kinds of furniture lay scattered about, a mess that seemed to announce she’d been abducted.
So that was…… Ah.
“Yes. Back then, the Hero forcibly raped me.”
“……”
“I screamed for help, but no one came. Each time, the Hero said he liked my voice and thrust his hips even harder. I had to forcibly tighten my vagina to satisfy him just to survive♡”
Glancing down.
My Demon King looked at her own womb.
She described the horrific situation in an excited tone.
Kardin felt his rage burn like hellfire.
How on earth was this supposed to give him courage?
At that moment, my Demon King wore an ecstatic expression.
“As I took his cock inside me, I realized something…… Ah, I thought I would never be able to forget this for the rest of my life.”
“What does that—”
What the hell are you talking about?
“If you don’t teach me a proper lesson now, I’ll keep thinking of the Hero and wetting myself. Haa♡ I’ve become the Hero’s woman beyond redemption. I’m afraid it will be difficult for me to build a romantic home with you.”
“A-Ah……”
How could this be……
The rage burning inside him began to turn into despair.
“So shouldn’t you show me what a stronger male is like and make me change my mind?”
“Ah?”
Kardin’s eyes lit up.
In other words.
Was my Demon King asking him to educate her so thoroughly that she would never think of the Hero again?
“Come on, hurry. I can still see the Hero’s cock in my mind. Hehe.”
The Demon King stuck out her tongue and made a gesture as if she were sucking on something.
There couldn’t be a male who didn’t understand what that meant.
And so, after the Demon of Lust launched her mental attack on Kardin……
I-I have to teach this ungrateful wife a lesson right now.
I have to crush the fiend who dares imagine another man.
I have to impress upon her that I’m the real male!
Those thoughts took over his mind.
“Aaaaaah!!!!”
And so he thrust his lance forward.
“It’s over, Kardin.”
Without realizing it was all according to the Demon King’s plan.