At last, the two Demon Kings had come face to face.
Whether this was Alien vs. Predator or the Great Dinosaur War, I didn't care. My honest wish was for them to just take their fight somewhere else.
Why was I the one caught in the middle? Go do this where I’m not around!
I hoped they would just pass each other by without noticing, but—
Verdict’s feet stopped.
Then Aristia stopped as well. Naturally, as her companion, I had no choice but to follow suit.
The atmospheres surrounding the two opposing Demon Kings were polar opposites. One was like a sharpened blade; the other was like a sleepy cat.
"Hey there, Verdict-san!" Aristia called out, her tone incredibly casual.
Wait, Verdict!? He has a name to hide his identity—Klaus! I panicked for a moment, but realized there was no one else nearby to hear.
"Hmph. Do not address me so familiarly, you half-baked pretender."
Apparently, his condescending attitude didn't change even when facing a fellow Demon King.
"Half-baked," huh? He was likely mocking Aristia’s noncommittal attitude. It seemed these two shared some sort of mental "hotline," a psychic connection between those of their rank.
"To stand on the precipice of magical perfection only to abandon all ambition... it is beyond comprehension."
Verdict's voice, thick with mockery and disdain, lashed out at Aristia.
"How an existence like you managed to reach the rank of Demon King is a mystery."
"Uhehehe, it’s strange, isn't it? I didn't exactly ask to be made a Demon King, after all," she replied breezily, as if they were merely discussing the weather.
Even facing a former Demon King who had once conquered the world, Aristia treated the encounter as nothing more than a mundane part of her day. Was that just her personality, or was it born from an unshakeable confidence in her own strength?
"Speak no more. Enjoy your empty words for now. One day, I shall beat the true meaning of being a Demon King into you."
After spitting out those words, his cold gaze shifted to me.
"You look like you're having quite the time, surrounded by two Demon Kings, lowlife."
"Are you sure you didn't mean 'I look like I'm about to vomit'? Thanks to all this, my days have been plenty busy."
"I hear you visited Lyzelion. And that you were miserably killed. Fufu... was that your attempt at a countermeasure against me?"
I should have known he’d find out. Information leaked easily in these circles. When I was first killed by Verdict, Shiunin had been all too happy to tease me about it.
"That stubborn blockhead is a truly dull man, but his defensive power is worthy of marveling at. By all means, try to tame him and entertain me."
Having said his piece, Verdict began to walk away as if he had lost interest in us entirely.
"Enjoy your fleeting peace, lowlife. When I grow bored, that is when your torso and head shall part. Struggle to your heart's content. I shall enjoy laughing at the sight."
He patted my shoulder, leaving behind the lingering echo of his laughter as he departed. The remnants of the killing intent I felt as we passed continued to prickle and burn against my skin.
I felt a surge of anger at being looked down upon, but now was not the time to let it out. He wasn't even considering the possibility of losing to me. That was exactly why he was giving me time. I had to exploit that conceit to the fullest. I would prepare the situation, gather my forces, and ensure his death.
Once he had vanished from sight, I spat out my words through gritted teeth.
"Just you wait, Verdict...! One day, I'm definitely going to be the one to take you down!"
"...Hmm. So you really want to win against Verdict, Albert-kun?"
"Yeah. I’m responsible for his resurrection, so it's on me."
"I see. Mm-hmm. In that case, I have a great idea!"
"A great idea?"
"You can just blast him away with a super-strong attack magic!"
I felt the strength drain out of me. It was like saying, "If you want to defeat an opponent with 10,000 HP, just hit them with a spell that deals 10,000 damage and ignores defense!"
What kind of meathead strategy was that? If I could do that, I wouldn't be struggling in the first place!
"I do know a few spells through Ancient Magic, but..."
Shiunin's Thunder Emperor's Flash or Floria's Tria Petal... I couldn't really picture myself finishing Verdict off with those. They hadn't worked on Lyzelion, either.
The problem likely wasn't with those Ancient Magics themselves. If Shiunin or Floria used them personally, they would probably be effective even against Lyzelion. The limitation lay with me, the user.
"No, that's not what I mean. You should just make one."
"Make one? Make what?"
"Magic. You should just create an Original Ancient Magic that's perfectly suited for you, Albert-kun."
"What?"
Create an Original Ancient Magic? She said it so casually, like she was talking about cooking dinner for herself.
"A spell completely focused on raw attack power. Uhe! That sounds like fun!" Aristia said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Original magic itself wasn't unheard of. I’d even used that as an excuse when Eliana questioned me after I went on a rampage with Frenzy. However, what she was suggesting was Ancient Magic—something that resided within the Demon King's Domain.
To craft something like that myself? Just how high was the difficulty level?
"I don't feel like I'm capable of that."
"You can do it."
Aristia looked at me with a smirk.
"If you work on it with me, it'll be easy. After all, I mastered magic and reached the rank of Demon King."
That's right. If she's helping me...!
Even after knowing her for a short time, I could tell her grasp of magic theory was superlative. Her confidence clearly came from that vast well of knowledge and experience.
"...Will you really help me?"
"I'll help! I hate the idea of the world ending, but I love magic research. And besides, you know, I really want to be your friend. Uhehehe."
Fr-friend!?
"W-well... I'll think about it. If things go well... yeah, if they go well."
"Guhehehehe!"
What kind of laugh was that?
Borrowing the power of one Demon King to defeat another, all while becoming friends with the first...
Things had certainly taken a wild turn for me.
"Alright. Give me a hand."
"You got it!"
And so, I decided to join forces with a Demon King.
How did it come to this?
...Actually, it wasn't a bad development. To defeat the seemingly impregnable Verdict, there could be no more reliable partner.
Besides, Aristia was harmless. Eliana and Leon were frantic about her, but she wasn't an opponent who required such desperation. It seemed like persuading them to back off would contribute far more to world peace.
If "allying" meant "becoming friends," I could live with that.
I mean, if I can just eliminate Verdict, wouldn't it be a happy ending already?