Chapter 254: The Holy Mothers Strike
Ria’s cage had crashed into the Great Demon King Ifriil with such force that a massive cloud of dust billowed up.
「The Great Demon King aside, is Ria actually okay?」
Holding the weakened Rara-chan in one arm, I rushed to check. As the dust settled, I saw Ria standing firm against Great Demon King Ifriil, surrounded by countless floating silver feathers.
「Guha…」
The Great Demon King Ifriil coughed up blood; his left arm was completely severed, and he was barely managing to stand with his injured left leg dragging behind.
「Seriously, how are you still alive? You’re one stubborn bastard!」
That stubbornness applied to Ria too.
It seemed the cage was protected by the power of the ‘Silver Feathers,’ leaving her surprisingly unscathed.
Otherwise, breaking the sound barrier with that speed would have destroyed the cage and her with it. Even Great Demon King Ifriil, who once shrugged off a hole through his gut, was in severe pain.
Come to think of it, the ‘Silver Feathers’ were the only attack that ever worked on him. The combined power of all the Dragon Maids had propelled the cage, fortified with the ‘Silver Feathers,’ straight into the Great Demon King. It was a wild tactic, but it was the best attack we had available.
Even Great Demon King Ifriil, known for his unpredictable strategies, couldn’t have anticipated this. The heavily wounded Great Demon King was now completely cornered by Ria’s relentless all-range assault of flying ‘Silver Feathers.’
Who knew the feathers could be used like this? In any case, I was just relieved she was okay.
「Damn you, Holy Mother of the Evil Goddess… Guha… you reckless b*tch!」
Great Demon King Ifriil spat curses along with his blood. Victory was finally within our grasp.
「Takeru, I will now seal Great Demon King Ifriil’s movements.」
「Got it!」
「Great Demon King Ifriil, by the command of Asama, your ambitions end here. With me here, you have no hope left!」
Even as the ‘Silver Feathers’ bound his movements completely, Great Demon King Ifriil laughed.
「Fuhaha! Fuhahahaha!」
「What’s so funny?」
「The Ravena Cathedral at the Papal State… in the Hall of Creation…」
「What are you babbling about?」
Ria’s expression shifted.
「Thanks to the Evil Goddess’s power you unleashed, I finally located the true position of Asama. That’s where her true body is, isn’t it?」
「So what? You’ll be struck down here by my Hero.」
「If you think you can manage that!」
「Takeru. His movements are sealed. You can finish him now.」
「Yeah…」
With Rara-chan still in my arms, I poured all my power into my magic sword. It felt stronger than before.
The output of the ‘Neutral Sword’ surged to double its usual strength.
「Takeru…」
Rara-chan, conscious once again, opened her eyes in my arms. Right, I remember now.
The Great Demon King Ifriil had called Rara-chan a fragment of the Mother of Chaos.
The Mother of Chaos was known for her erratic and whimsical nature, bestowing blessings for reasons beyond human comprehension and often in the heat of the moment.
I was one of those blessed by her, and Rara-chan likely was as well. Now, her power was flowing into me.
With this strength… I can do it!
「Great Demon King Ifriil, you’ve made a fatal mistake.」
「What are you talking about?」
「The essence of the Mother of Chaos is neither darkness nor light. It’s harmony and neutrality!」
Great Demon King Ifriil’s smirk vanished from his face.
「That’s nothing but the nonsense you’ve fed her!」
「Even so, it’s my prayer. If the Mother of Chaos is a deity, then she will hear my prayer too.」
With my wish deep in my heart, I calmly swung the ‘Neutral Sword’.
This world must not come to an end.
Great Demon King Ifriil tried to block with his twin black swords, the Bloody Twin Swords, but with only one arm left, his power had diminished.
Slowly, the weakened Great Demon King Ifriil’s body was cleaved in two from the shoulder down.
「Graaaahhhhhhh!」
I let the surge of power guide my swing as I brought the sword down.
「You apostles of the Evil Goddess… You twisted the true essence of the Mother of Chaos!」
My sword sliced through, and the body of the Great Demon King Ifriil crumbled to the ground.
「Farewell, Great Demon King Ifriil.」
「Heh… heh… haha…」
Even in defeat, Great Demon King Ifriil’s broken form still found the strength to speak.
「Still talking, huh?」
「You think you’ve won? You think this is over? Now my body… will return to the source of the Mother of Chaos, and everything will be as it’s meant to—gurgh.」
Before he could finish, I delivered the final blow to his head, silencing him. Now, it was nothing more than a lifeless corpse.
「It’s over.」
All that was left was to deal with the demon beasts Great Demon King Ifriil had summoned. Turning around, I saw that the Dragon Maids had already decapitated all the dragon heads.
These girls are on a whole other level. Honestly, they probably could have taken down Great Demon King Ifriil without Ria and me.
I was about to laugh at the thought when the ground began to tremble violently.
「What the—?」
「Takeru… Asama says we need to run.」
「Run? To where?」
「Anywhere, as long as it’s far from here!」
The tremors were only intensifying. Master Lyle shouted urgently.
「Let’s retreat to the port of the Demon City. If necessary, we’ll escape by ship.」
Hydra, who had sneakily been controlling a Metal Dragon, called out.
「Then let’s sprint to the port! Everyone, get on board!」
I couldn’t help but think, ‘Are we really letting the enemy lead us?’ but there was no time to argue. We all clambered onto the back of the Metal Dragon and began our escape. Any stragglers were scooped up by the Dragon Maidens in flight.
As I bounced along on the Metal Dragon’s back, I glanced behind us and gasped.
「The hill… it’s splitting apart!?」
The valley between the hills had cracked wide open, revealing a chasm. Swarms of demon beasts poured out, but they looked frantic, as if fleeing from something.
As I watched, something immense began to emerge, slowly raising its head from the abyss.
「What is that thing?」
「Whatever it is, it can’t be good.」
Lyle-sensei said, sighing.
Something colossal was pushing up from the depths, its form slowly becoming clear. It appeared to be… a woman?
Oracle spoke up.
「Takeru, it seems part of the ritual succeeded, even if only partially.」
「But we defeated Great Demon King Ifriil—」
「Yes, but Great Demon King Ifriil’s plan was never just to revive himself. He intended to sacrifice Takeru and Rara-chan, who were blessed by the Mother of Chaos, to accelerate her resurrection. However, there was another recipient of her blessing, wasn’t there?」
「Great Demon King Ifriil himself.」
「This chasm spews out demons even when only ordinary corpses are thrown in. But with Great Demon King Ifriil’s remains added, it wouldn’t be surprising if it became a catalyst for awakening a fragment of the Mother of Chaos. Great Demon King Ifriil must have always planned to offer himself as a last resort.」
「So, what does that mean for us?」
As we put more distance between us and the emerging entity, its shape became clearer. A giant figure with long hair, resembling a woman, was slowly crawling out of the Mad Volcano.
「I can’t say for sure. At least the whole of Abyss Continent won’t rise, but that thing… could it be—」
「Hey, Oracle. I think I’ve seen something like that before.」
「What a coincidence. So have I…」
What emerged from the Mad Volcano was a massive creature, slithering with familiar, writhing tentacles. It turned to face us—a beautiful but eerily expressionless visage.
The upper body was that of a stunning yet emotionless woman.
The lower half was composed of countless wriggling tentacles. It was… a one-hundred-meter-big tentacle oneesan.