Black Iron Magician

「…… Vakala-san, right?」

「Umu, as expected of Haruna-chan. I was surprised that you were able to defeat my disciple splendidly. Ah, can you move this large axe aside? Look, my disciple’s arm is broken. You sure didn’t hold back~」

Haruna swung her Doggan Staff with all her strength. However, Akira’s armor, where Vakala’s voice came from, wasn’t shattered. He used his left arm to guard against the handle of the staff swung at him, and he was able to stop the Doggan Staff. Thanks to that, the left arm of the armor was clearly bent in a wrong direction. Yet, Vakala was still showing off his arm and laughing to make fun of it. No, he couldn’t make any expression since he doesn’t have a face, but his voice was exactly like that.

(I didn’t stop just because he suddenly called out to me. And yet, he was able to defend against my Doggan Staff buffed with Death Scythe. Did he use gravity manipulation around his arm to weaken its power? If so, then that means he’s so skilled in magic that he could temporarily ignore the Doggan Staff’s nature. But, Toue-kun was only using zombie magic. Hmm….)

Haruna is very quick-witted in battle. She has already begun to analyze the changes that took place in Akira’s body during this momentary exchange.

「Hey, Haruna-chan? Are you listening to me?」

「…… I’m listening. By the way, Vakala-san, is the person in front of me right now, Toe-kun? Or is it Vakala-san?」

「Eh, a question in this situation? Well, that’s fine…. You can say it’s Kira, and you can say it’s me. Originally, Kira was revived by my magic, like Haruna-chan and Gobuo. You see, a magician of my level can even break in and directly manipulate them. To put it simply, it’s almost like possession. Normally, it would be a difficult thing to do, but it’s a different story now that Kira’s soul has been destroyed. As you can see, I am free to do as I please.」

Saying so, Vakala created a smiling face with the black mist on Akira’s head. Strangely enough, the expression was more vivid and eerie than Akira’s.

「In other words, the body is Toue-kun, and the soul is Vakara-san, right?

「That’s right~. By the way, you seems to have doubts, but unlike Kira, I can fully use all the magic he has acquired. He had no reason, so he couldn’t use his magic well. That’s when I, his master, came up with an idea. I thought it would be a good idea to specialize only in using zombies, which would have a synergistic effect with his Unique Skill. He was impressive that he could control that many people, wasn’t he? Now, can you move away that big axe――」

「――I see. So it was Vakala-san who taught Toue-kun that tactic.」

「…… Haruna-chan, why are you putting your strength into your weapon? Are you angry at something? Hmm, I heard that young people these days are easy to lose their temper. Oh, how scary.」

His left arm, where the Doggan Staff is stuck, emits a cracking sound. The cracks that run along Akira’s arm deepens, and the arm bends in a gruesome direction.

「From Vakala-san’s tone of voice, I guess you came to fight me, right? To make up for Toue-kun who disappeared before we could settle the fight.」

「Hmm, being too perceptive is not good. Now it’s not a surprise anymore.」

――――Snap!

The Doggan Staff was swung, and the left arm of Akira, possessed by Vakala, was blown off into the distance. However, at the same time, Vakala jumped backward. Only the left arm was damaged, and the torso was completely prevented from being damaged.

「That’s right. The special gift is that I will take the place of my incompetent disciple. Still, even before I told you that, you were eager to beat me…. Could it be that you are angry that Kira killed Elderado’s people that you knocked unconscious?」

「………」

「Ehh, those eyes, did I hit the mark? From what I’ve seen so far, I don’t think Haruna-chan is that kind of person. You won’t go easy even if the enemy is your acquaintance, and you will beat them without mercy. There’s no reason for you to get angry just because hundreds of enemy soldiers are dead.」

「That’s not necessarily the case. In fact, I really want to vent my anger on Vakala-san right now.」

「Hou? Maybe the bad influences from Deris fade away because you are too far away from him.」

「It has nothing to do with Shishō.」

As if saying that the talking is over, Haruna is preparing to swing her Doggan Staff again.

「Well, listen to me first. I won’t feel good to defeat you while being misunderstood. In the first place, Elderado is my miniature garden. It’s up to me whether let them alive or die.」

「……?」

「You don’t seem to understand, huh. The man lying down there, he said something about my curse before Kira took him, right? Saying that Elderado will be destroyed if the royal blood is cut off.」

「Yes, he said something like that.」

「Going back, it was hundreds of years ago――

No one asked for it, but Vakala started talking on his own. Haruna can just attack him now, but as mentioned before, she’s having wounds all over her body. Even though the body is Akira, inside him is one of the strongest Great Eight Demons. Haruna understands that rushing at him right now is foolish. So, while she still has time, she takes out an ointment (high-class medicine made by Quitet) and secretly treats her wounds.

To summarize what Vakala said, a very long ago, even before the organization called the Great Eight Demons was made, there was a small country on the continent of Dai. That country was the Kingdom of Elderado, the foundation of the Elderado Great Empire. The country was in the center of a war that was raging at that time, and it would be destroyed sooner or later.

The king at the time, Tieck Elderado, did his best to ensure the survival of his kingdom. However, his subordinates were already on the verge of giving up. There was no way that a single man’s efforts could overturn the gap in power between his country and the enemy countries, and the capital was already on the verge of falling. It was about to leave its name in history as a small country that was crushed by the large country. But at that time――

「――I see. Vakala-san appeared in front of Tieck-san, right?」

「Ahh, that’s the most important part! That’s the highlight scene where I appeared!」

…… Anyway, the Great Demon King Vakala appeared. Unlike the present, Vakala was acting like a Demon King, but for some reason, he appeared in front of Tieck and offered a certain contract.

「It was something you call a deal with the devil. 『I will overturn this great disadvantage and make Elderado a superpower that no human nation can match』. I whispered this in his ear while exerting overwhelming pressure.」

「…… I guess that would have been possible for Vakala-san, who was a well-known Great Demon King at that time. But the price of making such a big wish come true would be tremendous――」

「――No, the price was trivial. One, the life span of Tieck and his descendant would be halved, and the probability of them having children would be reduced to about one-tenth. Two, they should never let their blood run out. And lastly, they should move their country with killing me by any means as their number one priority.」

While pointing the location of his own heart, Vakala said so happily.