Do You Think Someone Like You Can Defeat the Demon King? (WN) Interlude 6
No exit from the Spiral Labyrinth
tl: deepl & meepilee
"Neigass, they're coming from the side!"
"Good luck!"
The ruins of the church's underground laboratory in the northwest part of the kingdom.
Sarah and Neigass were fighting a huge spider-like monster there.
The spider's head was shaped like a horse, and its mouth was covered with countless tentacles, so it didn't look like a normal creature.
The room was very spacious, as if it had been used for experiments.
It was not difficult for Neigass to fight while protecting Sarah.
She jumped to avoid a whip of tentacles coming from her side, held Sarah close to her, held her hands out in front of her, and launched her magic.
"Tornado Illegal Formula!"
"Buoooo--gooooooooooo, aaaa aaa aaa a!"
A huge tornado, generated by the excessive use of magic power, enveloped the two.
The power of the tornado gradually increased with the passage of time, and soon it became an absolutely invincible wall that cut down all enemies.
"Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Geeeeeeee! Giiiiiii!"
The two monsters, that plunged half of their bodies into the tornado's interior, screamed in agony.
Still, they desperately extended purple tentacles from their mouths in an attempt to devour their prey.
But before they could reach Neigass, something cracked and shattered.
"Gigaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The monster cried out, spraying mucus from its horse's mouth.
The other one, too, had reached the limit of its durability, and was cut in half from the center of its torso.
"Still can't die, can you?"
Sarah shouted.
The monster approached them even though its body had been cut in half.
The sheer vitality and persistence of the creature made her feel a slight sense of dread.
"It will be dead"
Neigass said.
"Melty Darkness."
She released a fist-sized black sphere from her palm towards the monster's head.
It approached like a fluffy soap bubble, and at the moment of contact, it quickly inflated to encompass it's head.
Inside, dark magic melted the skin and flesh.
When the darkness disappeared, the area appeared as nothing but bone.
As expected, the monster could not keep going if its brain was destroyed, and it fell limp and motionless.
"Phew. ......"
Neigass exhaled.
It was still enough to defeat it with a little time to spare.
But as the institute kept existing, these enemies would surely grow stronger.
It was hard to find a monster in the wild that was strong enough to withstand the outrageous spell Illegal Formula.
If they continued to progress at this rate, they would eventually be able to withstand the magic from demons the level of Neigass.
No, or perhaps they already could at this point...
"Neigass, your hand is injured."
Neigass, who had been seriously contemplating this, turned slack-jawed as soon as Sarah touched her.
Sarah, while being stunned by her, used healing magic on the wound that had appeared on the back of her hand before she knew it.
"I wonder how long I've had this happen to me."
"You must be on your guard, the enemy is getting stronger and stronger."
"If Sarah is worried about me, being injured is not so bad. ......"
"If you're too rash, I'm going to leave you alone."
Sarah said coldly and walked away.
"I'm just kidding. Wait, Sarah!"
Neigass ran after her, and when she got next to her, her face turned serious again and she started to talk.
"The first time I tried to crush one, it really surprised me"
"It's true, the wound doesn't twist, but it looks worse and worse. The last time I saw one, I was like, "Oh my God, it looks so bad."
"The chimera ...... is the study of connecting the bodies of various monsters and giving them suitable cores to create powerful weapons ....... It's very concerning, really."
"I wonder what kind of things they are making in the lab that is now in operation."
She stuck out her tongue and said, "Ugh," and shook her head to get rid of the image from her mind.
Neigass smiled giggling at the sight of her.
"If it weren't for you, Sarah-chan, I wouldn't even know where this institute is, so I'm really grateful to you."
"I'm sure you would have found this place without her. What is this, a favoritism stunt?"
"Why is it that sometimes when I'm nice to people, I get harsh words in return? ......
"I guess I deserved it."
The truth was, without the information brought by Sarah, she would have had to keep on and on searching the ruins, which had nothing to do with the church.
Sarah, on the other hand, had no idea that the location of the Chimera's laboratory was marked on the material she happened to find in the church when she was searching for the location of the medicinal herb "chiarrali" that Reach had asked her to find. She had no idea that the name of the place written on the document would indicate the location of the Chimera's laboratory.
"But if one was as good a wind magician as Neigass, she should be able to find out the location of the institute from the flow of underground winds, right?"
"The kingdom is filled with so many ruins that it's hard to tell them apart."
"Why are there so many?"
"Maybe they are remnants of the time when we were fighting Origin."
"Fighting ...... Origin?"
Neigass stopped in her tracks with a look that screemed guilt
"Neigass?"
"No, no,......, it's more of a figure of speech,......."
"The first thing that comes to mind is that the "Origin" has more than meets the eye. I'm sure Neigass won't tell me anything anyway, being a human."
"Ugh. ......"
She was conflicted. In actuality, she very much wanted to tell Sarah the truth. But she couldnt.
"Nugugu......!"
"I was hoping we could take a bath together at the inn today. "
"Mmmm ......!"
She suffered and struggled even more.
She prostated herself and begged.
Her intuition was screaming no.
But if she thought about it "calmly", it would be unfair not to tell Sarah anything about the origin after involving her this much--
"Mgaaaaah! Okay, okay, I'll tell you as much as I can! I'm desperate now, and I don't give a damn about confidentiality! So let me take a bath with you!"
Neigass rubbed her forehead against the ground in a move that transcended the human condition and begged for it.
Sarah, of course, was taken aback.
◇◇◇
T/N: Spoilers: slight content warning? Nothing as bad as that one milkit scene
They took a lodging in Nowais, the nearest town.
After entering the room and taking off his robe, Neigass was still as excited as a child, saying, "Oh, bath, bath, bath!"
Sarah, on the other hand, was regretful, saying, "I think I was too rash"
She could have been able to get her to tell her information about origin without having to leverage her body, just by jumping into her chest.
But now that she had made a promise, there was nothing she could do.
That's why she took the trouble to get an expensive hotel with a bath in the room.
So, it was time to take the long-awaited bath.
Sarah was immediately stripped of the bath towel she was wearing and sat on Neigass's legs in the bathtub.
She had been hugged and molested many times before, but the situation was different when their skin came into direct contact.
Her face was red in the steamy air.
On the other hand, Neigass was hugging Sarah's body with a very happy look on his face.
"Heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh...... heh......"
"I beg you to stop that old man-like laugh."
"I can't do that. I can't, because I'm bathing with Sarah."
"You haven't forgotten your promise to teach me about Origin, have you?"
"I remember that part, so don't worry. Then where should I start?"
It seemed that she was planning to talk in the bathtub.
She was probably stalling for time so that she and Sarah could soak in the same bathtub for a long time.
Sarah, who wanted to hear what she had to say despite her annoyance, had no choice but to comply.
"I guess I'll start with the story that the kingdom was fighting against Origin."
"It's was not a kingdom, but a tribe of humans and demons, to be precise. Thats why there are so many ruins buried in the territory of the demon tribe."
"Did the humans and demons cooperate ...... with each other?"
"Of course. But no matter how much resistance they put against the origin, there was no way they could survive without it."
"Resistance, huh?"
"Yes, resistance. The actuality was that when the origin was born, the creatures that existed on this planet evolved rapidly. Some of them acquired "attributes" and became able to use magic."
"I wonder if it is possible to evolve in such a convenient way."
"Perhaps it was the "will of the planet" that kept life on this planet. The old human race evolved and split up into human and demon races for this reason. By making life diverse, one of them could survive even if one of them perished."
The scale was so large that Sarah could not quite grasp it.
"To understand this, you need to know what the origin is."
"That's what I want to know the most."
"Then I ask you, Sarah, what do you think should be done to eliminate conflict from this world?"
Why was she suddenly talking about something that had nothing to do with the origin?
She guessed that this was also a story that had some connection to the origin.
Sarah put her index finger on her lower lip and said, "Hmmm," in distress.
Neigass was excited by this cute gesture.
"I guess by giving everyone a good moral education."
"You're more pragmatic than I thought. ......"
"No?"
"I'm sure that's the ideal, but the people who created Origin had this in mind."
Neigass put her lips to Sarah's small ear and whispered.
"They thought it would be a good idea to connect the brains of all life forms and make them into a single life."
Sarah's body trembled with fear.
The tone of her voice sent chills down her spine, but then she thought about it.
"Ooh, it was fun to say that so close"
"It's not funny, it's important to set the mood, right?"
"I don't mean that, those were just the facts, plain and simple."
She puckered her lips and complained.
"By the way, what do you mean by connecting brains?"
"I mean it as it is, if there is only one, there will be no conflict. Well, it seems to be an endless machine that continues to generate energy and increase its size forever by circulating the human consciousness through its circuits."
That is why origin did not stop.
By compensating for its own exhaustion with the energy it produces, it will continue to expand its scale endlessly until it is destroyed.
"It's kind of a lonely thing, isn't it?"
Sarah said, staring at the shaking surface of the water.
"It's true that if you're alone, there may be no more conflict,...... but then you can't fall in love with someone else either."
"Sarah, ......."
The response was typical of a sensitive woman.
The drops dripping from her chin looked like tears symbolizing her sadness.
Neigass was moved and put a little strength into her hands as she hugged her.
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the sound of water in the quiet bathroom.
It was Neigass who broke the silence with these words: "That's a roundabout way of confessing your feelings for me."
"You're ruining the sentiment."
It was ruined.
Sarah got up and got out of the bathtub.
Oh, wait, I didn't mean to hurt you!
Neigass desperately clung to his legs, but they slipped and slipped.
In the end, the dreamy bath time was over.
◇◇◇
After her bath, Sarah sat down in front of the mirror table provided in her room.
Neigass stood behind her, drying her hair with wind magic and brushing it.
But things were not right. Humans and demons used to cooperate with each other, so why do they get along so badly now?
"Why are humans and demons getting along so terribly now?
Is it because there are so many people like Neigass?"
"Sarah's bitterness knows no bounds. ......"
"I'm sure you've deserved it multiple times"
The most important thing to remember is that Neigass is to blame.
But what about the other side of the coin?
What had the humans done to them?
"The human being is a creature with strong desires and would eventually break the seal of origin in search of power. The first brave man who sealed the Origin said, "I want you to protect it so that it will not be taken away by future humans."
Unlike humans, the demon tribe was less greedy and has fewer in number.
The first thing that came to mind is the fact that the origin is not a demon. "New facts keep coming out," she said. "From the sound of it, the origin was sealed up around the Demon King's castle? And Cyrille isn't the only brave man in the world today."
"I'm going to say it now, but you're right. The castle was built on top of the sealed ...... origin in the basement of the castle of the Demon King."
"..... origin seems to be on a larger scale than I thought."
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the origin was not sealed up by the demons, but a very powerful adventurer.
The true values of a brave man will be revealed when the Origin returns, or perhaps...
"Perhaps, Origin's oracle sent Cyrille-san to the Devil King's castle ......?"
"To break the seal, I suppose."
"Crafty, isn't it for the same reason that Flamm was chosen?"
"I don't know about that, but I'm glad she stayed away because she wouldn't have used it for anything good anyway."
Neigass knew about Flamm's "inversion" attribute.
She knew about Flamm's "inversion" attribute, the only thing that could destroy the core, but she was not sure if it would work against origin, so she kept quiet.
"What is it? I haven't heard the reason why humans and demons don't get along with each other, right?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't know the exact reason. "
"Wouldn't that be difficult to war if the whole country didn't know it?"
"I'm sure it would be."
"Is it the work of Origin ......?"
"Probably. The church, which has strong ties to the king, is conducting research using the origin core with the entire organization. "
When the wind magic stopped, Neigass touched Sarah's golden hair.
It seemed to be completely dry.
Sarah smiled through the mirror and said, "Thanks."
"I remember that humans and demons are resistant to this kind of beast tamer-like magic. If that's the case, then why are we under the influence of the core now?"
She moved from in front of the mirror and sat on the edge of the bed.
Neigass, crawling under the covers first, replied, "There are many possibilities."
"Perhaps that a human or demon tribe that was previously resistant to the effects of the Core newly connected to Origin which has learned how to control it"
"If that is the cause, then the culprit is someone who has access to Origin, right? I hate to say it, but is there a traitor among the ...... demon tribe?"
"There is no reason for the demon tribe to be in favor of Origin, and there is no trace of them when we checked."
The only people who can contact Origin even if they have no trace of them are Seatum, Zion, Deeza, and that's about it.
She imagined them betraying her - but she quickly dismissed the idea as absurd.
"I don't know all the details," she said.
"You just have to go with the flow," she said. The first step is to find the laboratory where the chimera is operating in order to determine the source of the power contained in the core.
Neigass squinted her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
Her face was very well-defined, although it was usually hard to get a good impression of her because of her constant joking around.
If only she would keep her mouth shut, she would look like a cool beauty, and when Sarah saw the look on her face, she was thrilled.
She immediately came to her senses and shook her head.
"What are you doing, Sarah?"
"Nothing!"
"Do you want to sleep with me if you're lonely?"
Neigass opened the futon and invited her to sleep with her.
"I refuse!"
Sarah acted very angry and roughly pulled the futon over her head.
"You're a bore, aren't you?"
She smiled and touched the switch of the lamp with her finger, letting the magic flow through.
The lamp, which had illuminated the room faintly, went out.
The outline of the wooden ceiling floated vaguely in her vision.
When she dropped her eyelids, even this was obscured by the blackness of the room.
"Good night." "Good night, ......."
Even at a time like this, it was important not to forget to say good night to each other.
They closed their eyes and immediately fell asleep in preparation for tomorrow's search.
◇◇◇
The library in the Demon King's castle was filled with the history and wisdom of the demon tribe.
When everyone was already asleep, Seatum sat down on a chair and absorbed herself in her book, forgetting to even blink.
No matter how many times she checked, she could not find any looseness in the seal of origin.
However, she was not convinced by any means, so she kept coming here night after night to look for other clues.
A hand reached out from behind her, and a cup of tea with a fragrant aroma was placed on the desk.
"My brother..."
Seatum turned around and was about to say so.
"But it wasnot Zion who is smiling, but Deeza, a man in a tailcoat wearing a pair of glasses.
"I'm sorry to be the one that you see"
"I didn't mean to ...... ugh, no, I didn't mean it that way.
"Shall I go get Zion now?"
"Oh, Deeza, don't be so mean to me!"
Seetum turned her head down, her face bright red.
"The opposite was also true, it was rather strange why they are not in love with each other."
"Of course, he knew that this was due to her sense of responsibility as the Demon King, and she also knew that the existence of the origin was interfering with their relationship."
"It's already late at night, you'll break down if you put in too much work."
"It's an emergency now, I can't do that."
"Hmm, you've become a fine demon. ...... I can remember a time when you were a child who cried all the time."
Hiding behind the brave Zion, he always looked anxious.
That was the Seatum of their childhood.
"I don't know, I'm fine with it. I've never been ashamed of the time I've spent here at the Devil's Castle since I was picked up by the previous generation."
Deeza was abandoned as a baby and then picked up.
Therefore, he did not know who his parents were.
"...... it is Deeza who teases me by saying so, and bringing up a story about how I cried so hard."
"You have no credibility."
"You always do this... and see you're smiling like that- I knew you were going to make fun of me!"
When Seatam puffed up her cheeks, Deeza's mouth relaxed even more.
He cleared his throat and warned her, "Then, the king of the demons, give me a hand."
"I promise I wont overdo it"
With these words, Deeza left.
The remaining Seatum faced the book again.
"I know, but ......"
If there was a diary kept by her predecessor, she might have been able to find some clues.
Seatum clearly remembered his mother writing it, but no matter where she looked in the castle, she could not find it.
Then she would have to do something on her own.
Even if she had to force herself to do so, she had to plug the invisible hole in the seal.
For the next several hours, Seatum continued to turn the pages of the book until her own body reached its limits.
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Feedback for dicedmangoes or meepilee
TN: school has been swamping us lol... Anyways it is now winter break so we should be able to resume schedule. Hoping to create some semblance of a backlog by next term so y'all don't have a week long drought again lol
Diced should be editing this soon