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An underground realm that could be called hell in this world, Helheim. That was the place that Aigokeros was born.

If the sky was where mana was thin, the place where mana was the thickest would be the bottom of the earth.

The excessive amount of mana in the environment, which could not be compared to that of above-ground, mutated every creatures of the underground realm into hideous forms similar to the devils in myths.

An evil-looking existence transformed by the essence of magic. As such, due to the others who feared them, they were called devils.

Those that became transformed by this location were mostly the creatures that preferred to live in the dark places or caves, such as the bats, lizards and spiders.

If one were to think of it like that, they would not think that a goat would exist in this location. However, the chances were, some humanoids that had decided to live in this location had probably brought livestock together with them.

Yet, in this day and age, there was no method for anyone to be able to verify if that really was the case.

That was because there was not a single humanoid in Helheim right now. There were only a few remaining traces to suggest that they might had once been there in the very far history.

Even in this realm, Aigokeros was born with an extraordinary amount of mana and was distinguished as the Mighty Grand Devil.

As a result of an ancestor who had preyed upon the mutated bats, he inherited the features of the bats, namely in the ominous devil’s wings on his back.

A goat’s head, a human’s body, and the wings of a bat. A hybrid composing of three animals – no, magical beasts – that would not normally have mixed together. That, was Aigokeros.

He believed himself to be the most perfect form of a devil.

He was the only one of his species in the underground realm. There was no other devil that had the same features as him, the one and only in existence.

Therefore, he had no question as to whether he really was the ruler of the darkness.

From his point of view, even the demons were inadequate and incomplete. He believed that they were not the existence who were loved (contaminated) by mana.

To begin with, they’re just an imitation. They’re created by the intentional concentration of mana.

I do not know who created and for what purpose, but the demons are not a race that evolved naturally.

Someone had intentionally gathered and condensed the mana together, and after ignoring the natural course of the event, had forcibly created those sham of an existence.

Without a single exception, the entire race is a deteriorated reproduction of the Demon King.

Having said that, the real Demon King is also something different.

It’s true that thing is something magical… but there’s also something divine about it – something that could even be passed off as that abominable Goddess.

That was why Aigokeros could not believe in “her” existence.

Although originating from the sky, a place where a minimal amount of mana existed, her jet black wings did not contain a single strand of light.

Shrouded in denser mana than that of the devils, she pushed forward on her own path as if to say that she had no need for the love from the gods.

She had looked at Aigokeros and had sneered.

“I see, so this is a devil. I was also shunned and called a devil ever since I could remember but… what a shame, now that I look at it, such a faint existence.”

‘Faint’ was probably directed towards mana.

Aigokeros could not rebut those words.

That was because she was…. too dense.

How many demons had she killed? How many monsters did she take down and devour?

The amount of mana was so high and so dense that there was no other way but to think that she had taken in all the mana of every living thing she had culled. The amount so high that even Aigokeros had felt fear. And she herself had the whole body polluted by that.

Living beings became affected and mutated by being exposed to mana. They turned into monsters.

Which meant that she was probably… a monster. Whilst originally being a Flugel, a species that was loved by the heaven, she had kept on taking in mana, and was in the process of mutating into a separate species.

A predetermined evolution path by Goddess, a form that one should be. She had ignored that path and was transforming on her own.

He had understood. This woman was someone that not even the Goddess could control.

An existence that moved independently of the will of the Goddess, The King Of Mana… someone worthy of being called The Demon King.

By the time Aigokeros noticed, he had kneeled and bowed in front of the Black Winged Ruler.

“….. A, lady is…. You are the real… my King.”

He had capitulated without even fighting. And he had not felt shameful of that.

It was simple, things that should have been the way it was, became the way it was.

The disparity that was determined from the moment they had first met. The difference in the rank of what it meant to be mana.

That had caused Aigokeros to bow down as a retainer.

And the King, seeing that, just simply laughed quietly.

*

Amongst the 12 Stars, Aries and Aigokeros’ roles most resembled each other’s.

What was sought from these two stars were “hindering” and “disturbance” of enemies.

Aries, achieved this with the skill of a magical beast, while Aigokeros achieved it using arcane magic.

Although they were distinguished from each other depending on the situation and the enemy, amongst the 12 Stars, they had sat in the position that was most similar to each other.

However, the two’s personalities were the polar opposite.

Aries was gentle and timid. Aigokeros was hot-headed and would use any means necessary to achieve his objectives.

And the consequence of those differences manifested themselves as the difference in achieving their desired result.

Aries interfered against the enemies for the protection of his allies, whereas Aigokeros interfered with the enemy merely as a means to push them into the corner and harm them.

There, the question of which was better was meaningless.

Whatever the reason, for Ruphas, there was no doubt that both were useful fighting powers.

Notwithstanding, when it came to direct confrontation, there was an advantage for the ‘Goat’ who used his power as a mean to harm others.

“—ku!”

Aries blew flames out of his hands and started flying all around.

Chasing after Aries were countless hand-like-tentacles made out of incorporeal darkness.

It was a troublesome interference arcane magic where once the target was caught by them, they would be stunned and be affected with speed decreasing debuff. It was an arcane magic without counter, such that Aries had no other option but to avoid.

If it was Ruphas, she may have been able to say “who cares about some debuff that lowers some of your stats?” whilst charging in and shredding the tentacles into thousand pieces and taking Aigokeros down. However, such a feat was not possible for Aries.

No, rather than not possible, perhaps it was more correct to say that he would lose if he did something like that.

For Ruphas who possessed exceptional combat abilities, some interferences or disturbance to her ability might not overly affect the fight. However, for Aries, it was detrimental.

After all, let alone someone of equal strength, the enemy was someone who possessed greater ability than himself.

To suffer a decrease in his stats would have directly lead to his defeat.

“Uooooaaaaa!”

Aries dived towards the ground and slammed the flaming fist into it.

When he did, the ground greatly shook as if there was a local earthquake on that spot jolting everything nearby.

Earthquake. It was one of the signature moves that he had been taught by Ruphas.

Originally an [Earth] attribute skill, but because the skill was quite useful, he had taken a liking to it.

The movement of the tentacles all stopped at once, and at the same time, Aries quickly dashed forward.

Even if it was Aigokeros, he would not have been able to remain standing after repeatedly taking Aries’s ultimate skill.

As such, Aries again turned his whole body into a flame and tried to charge in.

Rainbow-coloured flame drew a track on the ground as Aries’s whole body flew in a straight line.

And putting all his power into it, he struck his fist forward, piercing Aigokeros’s body.

“…..!?”

Pierced, and he thought.

This was not it….. This was not Aigokeros at all.

It was a fake created by the moonlight’s reflection, an imitation.

A trap laid out to hunt down pitiful creatures who might have been lured in by the beautiful night with moon.

As if a hologram made out of the shadow cast by the moonlight, it was one of the moon attribute’s arcane magic. This arcane magic, [Shadow], was used to toy the enemy with the image with no physical substance.

If Ruphas was here, she would have explained the skill as such “Putting it bluntly, it’s just arcane magic that decreases enemy’s accuracy”.

“Oh shi…..”

“Caught you…. Aries!”

Aigokeros attacked without giving any break to Aries who was still stuck in a delay after his attack.

He used his unique skill [Deneb Algedi], a condensed moon attribute mana cannon.

Not only did the skill come with very high damage, it included an added effect for the victim to be unable to recover the damage received by the skill.

As the name of the skill suggested, he combined his arms together and started condensing darkness on his palm.

It was impossible to dodge. There was also not enough time to guard against the skill.

Hence the only option left was to endure through the skill.

“——!”

Aries closed his eyes shut tightly and prepared within himself to take the pain that was about to come.

It’ll be fine, I will still be able to remain standing even if I take the skill.

If there’s a second strike, it might be quite harsh. And honestly speaking, not being able to use recovery skill to recover is very painful.

Having said that, it’s not like there’s no chance for a turn-around.

“Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!”

Oi, he just said die.

Although Aries was thinking like that, he also thought Aigokeros was acting like Aigokeros.

His true nature is really that of a devil.

Although it was held down normally, once he was affected by emotion, even if the opponent was an ally, he could easily say unsettling things.

Of course, Aries couldn’t die for Aigokeros nor could Aries afford to die.

Aries had to endure through it and had to think about what would happen afterwards.

In front of Aries who was thinking along those lines, black wings cut in with irregular speed.

“You fool, what’s the point of killing your ally?”

One line, muttering a line out of exasperation, she stopped the Deneb Algedi with one hand.

A black flash splashed on the impact like a lightning and the after-effect gouged into the ground. Nevertheless, the person who had stopped the attack was not even slightly affected.

In this day and age, there was only a very limited number of individuals who were capable of achieving such a feat in the face of 12 Heavenly Stars.

One of them was The Creator Goddess. An omnipotent and almighty Goddess who might not actually exist.

One of them was The Demon King. An inauspicious enemy who dictated the entire demon race.

One of them was The Vampire Princess. One of the legendary 7 Heroes who even in this age, retained her full power. A king who ruled over the night.

And one of them was – The Black-Winged Supreme Ruler.

“Sovereign!!”

With a shrieking sound, Aigokeros’s ultimate skill was punched away.

With a scarlet appearance, the darkness that was scattered away to the surrounding left traces of destruction.

However, the darkness did not reach Aries who was behind her. The attack was completely cut away cleanly by her.

“Na…. A, lady is… O o, your lady is…..!”

Aigokeros shouted out with a shaky voice which was filled with delight, with great joy.

In response to that, she untied her hair, took off her glasses and removed the bad disguise she was wearing.

What appeared in front of Aigokeros was the appearance of his master that he had waited 200 years to reunite.

“Fum, it’s great that you are also in great health. It’s been a while, Aigokeros.”

After seeing the smile of the subordinate who had the appearance of a devil, she herself smiled back.

The figure was that of his master that he had sworn his loyalty to, an appearance no different from 200 years ago.

Standing in front of Ruphas Mafahl, the retainer was shaking in delight.

*

…So what was even the point of me disguising myself…?

Yes, I’m that person that needlessly cross-dressed as a man which eventually had no meaning whatsoever, I’m that Ruphas.

Haha, go ahead and laugh vegetable prince.

Even though I disguised myself before coming out, I was seen through with one look by Aigokeros.

Anyways, mah. Is it that?

I guess I should say it was a close call.

It was so close that my arms were tingling but in the end, it was not something important.

More than that, I was surprised that I just punched away Aigokeros’s skill.

I will state it clearly. I don’t have any skill like that.

Fundamentally, the skills that I possessed were limited to attack type or self-buffs.

I had thought that defensive skills from the alchemist or acolyte class were enough for me. Furthermore, if it was not enough, I could always be supplemented by the party members or the 12 Heavenly Stars.

I was informed, within divine magic, there existed some defensive skills that could defend against the enemy’s arcane magic, but I had no time to be using such a skill.

In other words, all I did was to simply punch the attack.

As I thought, although this world felt like the game, it was not the game.

It was possible for me to do some things that could not have been done in the game, and similarly, it was a possibility that I would not be able to do some things that could be done if I was within the game.

To begin with, if it was a game, it was not possible for someone to storm in between the attack after the attack animation had ended and the spell cast.

Anyways, for the time being, Aigokeros that I am currently looking at…… Un, he really has that ominous appearance.

He looked just like what the society perceived devils to be.

Yet, with such appearance, he was on his knee and pouring tears out of his eyes. He was praying at me as if his emotion was bursting forth.

What is this? Some religious cult? Satanism?

Or more like, if you’re a devil, don’t be praying like that. What am I? A Demon King?

…..Ah, actually I’m something like that.

“Ahh – ….you know, what is it. You really made me worried.”

I called out to him whilst he was sobbing and creaking a small puddle on the ground.

No, un. I was thinking of giving him one good punch when I met him, but I lost the will to do so after seeing such a scene.

The appearance of him sobbing really portrayed how much he had worried about me – or rather about Ruphas, and as such not even I could come to hit him at that moment.

I gave Aigokeros whose crying voice was shaving into my sanity a light pat on his shoulder.

“You were dutiful and loyal. Raise your head, Aigokeros.”

“Ye, yes!”

When I told him to raise his head, for some reason he remained hunched back like a cat and only raised his head.

Is this what you call that?

He had probably wanted to raise only his head but because he had no legs he ended up looking hunched backwards?

Aigokeros, I appreciate that you try trying to follow through with the attitude and action of the retainer, but that posture comes off quite discourteous instead.

“I’m sure you’ve already heard from Aries, but I don’t seek to do anything towards the people of this country. I understand that you wanted to do it for me. However, it’s quite troublesome for me if this country collapses. Can you remove the Madness debuff from the people of this country? With it, I’ll overlook this incident.”

“Yes! If that is what my lady desires!”

Aigokeros lowered his head and started mumbling some incantation.

He was probably reciting the incantation to remove the curse.

Listening to Aigokeros, Aries muttered with dissatisfaction, “Even though you didn’t listen when I told you.”

“If I may say something, Ruphas-sama. Even if I remove the debuff, the citizens of this country most likely would not calm down.”

“What?”

“To begin with, my debuff only causes the enemy’s emotion to be amplified. Which means, I merely gave them the push. As a consequence, even if I were to remove the debuff…”

….That, doesn’t sound too good.

I remained silent to avoid showing agitation on the outside but was flustered on the inside.

No wait, hang on, it’s fine. It’s still not the time to be flustered.

If it’s Libra…. If it’s Libra, she’ll do something about it.

The chances are, Jupiter had already been captured by Libra by now. If we stuck Jupiter in front of the citizens, it might be possible to reverse the situation.

It was not possible for me to personally go out in front of the people, but I could leave the explaining part to Dina or Libra.

“Mah, there’s still a method. We just have to bring forth the person that was pulling the strings in front of the people and redirect the emotions towards him. Dina, it’s fine for me to leave the negotiation to you right?”

“Of course. Please leave it to me.”

When I asked her the question, Dina was who hiding in the surrounding tree’s shadow to avoid getting caught in the fight stuck her head out.

She seems to always be on standby in a good and safe position every time. Was this what you called diligence or was it something else?

With a “gu”, she raised her thumb with a face full of confidence.

“This Dina is not good at fighting but is good with words. I’ll skilfully manage this incident caused by Aigokeros-sama for you!”

“….. Ruphas-sama.”

Aigokeros strangely looked at Dina first then looked towards me.

Ah, this development seems familiar. I guess you could say when it’s the third time, I’m quite used to it.

Although I already predicted what Aigokeros was going to say next, I decided to at least listen to what he was going to say.

In any event, he was probably going to say he didn’t know who Dina was –.

“Is this woman, perhaps, the adviser that skilfully used stealth to always blend in with the background?”

—Wh…. at……!!!?