The Demon King’s army rushes in from the north like a tidal wave. From above, it looks like a swarm of ants.
The final magic circle to cast the spell spread across the continent was located right in the northern Forest of Demons of the Gothberg Marquisate.
“Lars, is everything alright back home?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. Gishta will hold on for us. Let’s stab the boss.”
“I’ve never fought a fully manifested Great Demon before. It can’t be that different, right?”
“Just wait for my signal.”
Lars and Charles made plans to strike the Great Demon together.
Lars had the Void Stone. It was the token that promised the Great Demon would accept him as a subordinate if it brought about his Last Day.
What kind of karma did he incur? It seems that Lars was quite popular with dangerous women. If he had known this would happen, he might have gone back and sorted things out first. He didn’t even live a sinful life in his previous incarnation.
“If I use the Void Stone, it’ll reveal my position to the Great Demon. The Great Demon will show up directly.”
“But won’t your soul get trapped inside it? That’s like making a contract to become a subordinate.”
“I have a plan.”
The two headed towards an abandoned house they had scouted earlier. Charles used an invisibility potion to conceal himself, while Lars activated the Void Stone.
Shuuk!
It was an unpleasant object that sucked energy out of him.
As the demon’s sigil was etched onto Lars’ body, flames burst forth, and the Great Demon appeared with a sultry gait.
“Thank you for responding, Healer Lars. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Ha-ha, I’m not exactly thrilled to see you.”
The Great Demon approached Lars, stroking his thigh with a long tail.
“From now on, let’s learn the proper way to answer obediently. You’re my minion now.”
“You just needed this, huh?”
Thud, Lars pulled out a small vial containing the remaining elixir from his pocket. The Great Demon smiled cheekily.
“Excellent. You really are the guy I’ve been keeping an eye on. To obliterate a mythic existence, you need an appropriate weapon, after all. I knew you would bring one.”
The reason the Great Demon spared Lars was that she wanted him to create an elixir to weaponize it.
“The contract with a demon is precise. It not only spares your life but also can offer considerable rewards. The pleasure I give is special. Typical humans cannot endure it for long before their brains fry.”
“Oh, that sounds interesting. Show me.”
“Hehehe.”
The Great Demon flirted with a gaze that seemed about to swallow Lars whole. Her long claws brushed against his nose.
“How does it feel? Do you get it?”
The expression of the Great Demon, who confidently asked, suddenly twisted into confusion.
“Huh…?”
Eek, eek.
Her shoulders trembled.
Immediately, the Great Demon fell back into a combat position. Her face contorted.
“What did you do…?!”
Lars grinned.
“It’s nothing much. I just returned a weaker debuff of pleasure back to you. Ever heard of causal inversion?”
“What? You twisted the laws of the world? To reflect my sorcery, that’s impossible!”
“Haha, a trade secret.”
What Lars did was akin to a trick to deceive a goddess. It required a high-ranking potion, and since some materials for the elixir had already been consumed, it was only possible in this very moment.
But it had the desired effect.
“Ugh… You ungrateful scoundrel!”
The Great Demon lunged at Lars with her claws. But as Lars lightly lowered his finger, she dropped to her knees.
The master-servant relationship of their contract had been reversed.
“You, Lars—!!”
“Now.”
With his signal, Charles burst onto the scene.
The holy sword’s white light filled the space.
*
“Ah—Lala-lah!!”
Gishta was battling the relentless Demon King’s army surging towards the Marquisate.
The glacier tribes infected by curses and the newly summoned void demonic legion.
Strengthened by the Great Demon’s magic, the Demon King’s army seemed to test their limits.
“Whoo!”
His heart was hotter than ever.
He exhaled the frozen air of the north and refused to stop moving for even a moment.
Because he had made a promise.
To protect his land.
“It’s black magic! Haeju!”
“Intercept the savages with arrows!”
“No matter what happens, defend the castle walls!”
Despite a long defense, it was becoming evident that their defensive line would soon be breached.
Gishta made a final choice. She would lead the Thunder Tribe and step directly outside the gate for hand-to-hand combat.
“Ah-ra-ra-ra—!”
A reckless charge—it was tantamount to throwing her life away.
However, a small wave soon became a massive tsunami. The incessant advance of the Demon King’s army met a storm and halted.
At the center of the chaos stood a wild woman striking a desperate pose, calling down lightning.
“It’s strange for a human to be this strong.”
The commander of the legion—a void demon who didn’t hide its green magic.
Unable to sit idly by, the commander charged in. In an instant, they unleashed their magic at Gishta.
Kwaaaang!
A huge crater formed, yet Gishta did not yield even an inch. As she swung her axe to block, the commander asked.
“Warrior, why do you not fall? What sustains your endurance?”
“Hahahaha!”
Gishta laughed heartily and shouted while calling down lightning.
“Because my friends believe in me!”
There was no hesitation from the wild woman charging forward.
She had no idea where she would be tomorrow. She had lived that way until now, and she still did.
But one thing was certain right now.
Who she would be with.
As long as that fact remained unshaken, she had faith that she would not fall.
“I still can’t understand humans. Trust is a concept born from subordination. So, who stands beside you now? In the end, you’ll be isolated and destined to die.”
Just as the commander was about to unleash a fatal curse by wrapping their magic once more.
“No, I am here.”
A familiar voice rang in Gishta’s ears.
Pew! Crash!
Fireworks exploded above the commander’s head, and droplets of liquid poured down. It was holy water.
“Ugh—Ahhhh…!”
In an instant, demons were purified without even a scream.
“I’ve come to help!”
The next blow followed. The trajectory of the holy sword. The hero, Charles, had joined the fray.
“Lars!”
He still wasn’t visible.
Gishta turned her head around, searching for him.
“Don’t get distracted. You’ll get hurt.”
Before she knew it, that man had reached her side and playfully put an arm around her.
Lars Gothberg. Her eternal friend.
Someone she would spend her whole life with.
An existence beyond that was right next to her.
Seeing his confident expression, Gishta felt a wave of pride wash over her, the pride of having defended this land until now.
“Lars! Did we win?!”
“Of course. I flipped the pact of the soul stone given by the Great Demon with a new elixir combination. I took advantage of their moment of complacency.”
This was the last one left. Lars handed Gishta a small vial.
“It looks sweet.”
Whoosh!
As Gishta gulped down the potion, an unprecedented vitality surged through her heart.
The overwhelming mana of the dragon filled her up and threatened to explode.
“Laa—ahhh!!”
The mana surged like a colossal dragon, roaming the battlefield.
It felt like the Heavenly Dragon had returned.
Melting the vast snow mountains, causing landslides to cover and wipe out the reinforcements swarming in.
The melted snow flowed down and merged with the great river of the Marquisate.
Thus, the war came to an end.
*
“Whoo.”
The cold northern wind blew towards the two.
White breath escaped their mouths.
But Lars and Gishta’s bodies felt hotter than ever.
Before the heat of battle dissipated, they moved their legs and climbed up to the top of the castle wall, pushing through the snowfall.
Morning sunlight poured down between the distant mountain ravines.
“…It’s a spectacular view, as always.”
“I think so too.”
As they gazed at the land they had fought to protect, their eyes slowly turned towards each other.
Words were no longer necessary.
Their hands overlapped.
*
Finally, with the elixir combination potion healing Acella, Lars’s Bad Ending List was cleaned up nicely.
Looking at her cursed self, Acella examined her hands, unable to believe what had happened, her expression tinged with regret over the time lost.
“What are you planning to do now, Gothberg?”
“I think I’ll need to fix the Marquisate for a while. The aftermath of the war still lingers. No matter how much of an adventurer I am, I have an attachment to my homeland.”
“Sure. Then I will assist you in the meantime.”
“Your Majesty? Don’t you have to manage the court? Since you passed away in the war, you don’t have to strictly follow the commands…”
“Do you want to call me a rogue who doesn’t know even the minimal courtesy? Bring me the reports.”
Seeing the oddly soft Acella, Lars shrugged his shoulders.
After a massive war, there were plenty of tasks left to do in the Marquisate.
Fortunately, Neria handled many duties as the head of the family, and adventurers like Hugo and the Thunder Tribe settled in to help, but Lars still had many obligations to fulfill.
“Ah, it’s so hectic.”
As Lars emerged through the back door of the mansion, a rather fascinating sight unfolded before him.
The temperatures rose due to the war’s impact, melting parts of the unexplored land’s glaciers and extending the riverbank. The view was clearer than ever.
He wanted to leave.
The instincts of an adventurer were stirring.
“You felt cramped inside, didn’t you, Lars?”
“Haha, you really know how I feel.”
Lars chuckled. Gishta was looking down at him from the mansion’s wall.
“I can’t help it for a while. I’m the eldest son of the clan, after all, so I have to do what I must.”
“Yeah, I get it. Just call me if there’s anything you need help with. I’ll be happy to assist.”
“More than strength, right now, I just want to eat some roasted wild boar from the lava area. That was delicious.”
“Oh, from the intermediate world, huh? I remember it. The juiciness was fantastic. Should I go fetch some for you?”
“It would probably take a year, wouldn’t it? It would become aged meat.”
“If I go by dragon, I can get it quickly.”
“Pfft. I’m kind of scared to actually go. Come here.”
Flutter, like a puppy responding to a command, Gishta landed right in front of Lars. He placed his hand on her shoulder and jumped on her back.
“Forget the wild boar, let’s go get some corn cobs instead. I need to move around; I’m feeling restless.”
“Corn! Yay! Oh, but I don’t have any money. You have to buy it for me.”
“Don’t worry. In this town, my face is my wallet.”
“Sounds good!”
“Oh, and one more thing. I think I’ll have to hold a ceremony with Acella soon due to the contract. So let’s do it tomorrow.”
“Got it!”
In reply to Lars’ casual remark, Gishta responded without much thought. When she pondered over it, it felt like something important had been stated.
“Wait, what did you just say?”
Gishta lifted her head, unsure if she heard it wrong, as Lars chuckled and smacked her arm.
“All the corn will be sold out. Let’s go!”
“Huh, alri—ght!”
Thump, thump. With lively footsteps, the two set off.
It was the pleasant sound signaling the beginning of a new adventure.
―――――――――――
· Good Ending
· Melting, flowing, and connecting
―――――――――――
Their journey would surely not end with just a handful of corn cobs.
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