Chapter 98: The Four Demon Dukes, Vassago

「Tch! The number of our opponents keep increasing.」

Dany smacked his lips while swinging his sword to get rid of the grime and blood on the blade of his sword.

The party had finally arrived on the 13th floor of the labyrinth, but… the number of the monsters they encountered only went up.

So far, they had confirmed that the monsters became more ferocious in the presence of the powerful demon race.

Beelzebub’s foresight about one of the resurrection sites being inside this labyrinth was spot on.

「Dany, this is bad.」

「Right…」

Kenny and Marietta returned from their scouting and called out to Dany. Judging from their voice, Dany could tell that they had either brought back the news of the Four Demon Dukes, or the appearance of a powerful monster.

「What’s the matter, Kenny, Marietta?」

「We found a group of four trolls waiting ahead of this passage.」

「And all of them are variants.」

Dany ended up groaning upon hearing that news, while Howard muttered some words.

「Geh… another troublesome fella.」.

Troll variants were treated as the superior species of troll, and their rank was… A+. They were different from a normal troll that went berserk once it entered the battle. The variants were witty.

「Your Highness, please leave those guys to our squad. Since the variants are starting to appear, I think it’s almost the time for the revival of the Demon Duke.」

「… Are you sure about this, Dany?」

「It’s okay. We’re the survivors of that Ragnarok too, you know?」

「… Makes sense. Okay then, I’ll leave those trolls to you.」

「「「「HAH!」」」」

After a slight hesitation, Prince Julius made his decision. Aria and co. were dumbfounded. They didn’t understand the meaning behind the exchange.

Dany and his squad called out to Aria and co. and showed a confident smile. Then, they went toward the location of the four trolls.

『GEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!』

『GEBABABABABA!』

The Troll variants let out war cries upon seeing the fast approaching knight squad.

Each of those trolls was equipped with weapons. One held a sword, the second one a spear, the third one a gauntlet, and the last one had a cane.

It was clear that these variants were 〝Troll Knight?, 〝Troll Lancer?, 〝Troll Fighter?, and 〝Troll Mage?.

Dany charged toward the Troll Knight, Howard chose the Troll Fighter, and Kenny and Marietta held their weapons as they dashed at the Troll Lancer and the Troll Mage.

「EVERYONE, USE THIS CHANCE TO RUN PAST THEM!」n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

After the path was cleared for them, Prince Julius ordered Aria and co. to take this opportunity.

Aria and co. heard the clangs generated by the fight, but they decided to trust the knights and didn’t turn around.

◆

『Hou! It’s more boisterous than my expectation, but―this sacred wave, a hero is mixing amongst you huh.』

「That’s right. Are you one of the Four Demon Dukes?」

『Correct. My name is 〝Vassago?… One of the Four Demon Dukes who serve Demon King Mamon-sama.』

Prince Julius stopped when a man appeared in front of him and the others upon their arrival on the 15th floor of the labyrinth.

The tall man whose height surpassed 180 cm had a trained body that was wrapped in a violet robe. His skin was brown, and his hair was emerald green. He was the one they were supposed to fight, one of the Four Demon Dukes.

Just seeing that man stand in front of her was enough to send chills running down Aria’s spine. That showed just how much pressure Vassago exerted. The difference between Vassago and Beryl, the demon she fought a long time ago, was like heaven and earth.

「We came to kill you, Vassago of the Four Demon Dukes.」

Having said so, Prince Julius drew his bluish-silver greatsword from his back. Aria and co. followed him… or so it was supposed to be…

『Humph, my bad, I’ve no time to play around with you. I’ve to revive Mamon-sama as soon as possible. But well, a crippled hero like you can’t defeat me, GUGUGUGU…』

Prince Julius gasped on hearing Vassago’s words. Vassago could see through how much weaker he had become. It could only mean that――

Vassago spread his arms and shouted with a wide grin on his face.

『HEED MY CALL! 〝Orthos?! 〝Cyclops?!』

Just when everyone was wondering what the Demon was doing, a sinister purple flame erupted from Vassago’s hands and transformed into a large purple shadow.

「Be careful, everyone! It’s the 〝Summon Beast?!」

Almost at the same time as Prince Julius warned Aria and others, the purple shadow transformed into two different figures of mons―nay—summon beast.

Summon beasts were the familiars that the demon race could summon with their special mana. The beasts’ power was proportional to the power of their summoner.

『Orthos, Cyclops. Feast on the meat of those foolish people.』

『Feast… Meat…!』

『ThAnk YoU, As AlWayS… I SHAlL ParTaKE.』

Hearing Vassago’s order, Orthos let out an excited voice. Cyclops was a bit calmer, but the hint of madness in his voice couldn’t be hidden.

Orthos was a wolf-type summon beast about four meters long. Its hair was red, which made it look like a wolf on fire. Cyclops was a one-eyed giant-type summon beast with purple skin and a height that reached three meters.

「「IT SPOKEEE!!」」

Both Aria and Stella screamed in unison upon seeing Cyclops and Orthos speak.

『Well then… Farewell, Hero and your party.』

The scenery around Vassago warped, and then, everyone saw a cityscape-like scenery colored in purple in that distortion along with Vassago’s fading figure.

「That scenery! He’s moving to 〝Spirit World?…!」

「I won’t let you go, nyan!」

Prince Julius guessed Vassago’s plan as soon as he saw the blurry scenery. And then, Vulcan, who arrived at the same conclusion, attacked Vassago with her battle hammer-type artifact, 〝Mjolnir?.

Mjolnir was an artifact that was made from manadite along with other materials, just like Aria’s Tempest Bringer.

Vulcan released the compressed mana as wind and flame. She created an explosion to enhance her swinging power like Boost Hammer.

Vulcan was inching closer and closer to Vassago’s fading figure with the help of the explosive burst from her Mjolnir.

But—

『It’s… FUTILE!』

「Nya!?」

Cyclops stood in front of Vassago and blocked Vuncan’s Mjolnir with its fist.

Vulcan let out a shocked voice when her full-powered strike with Mjolnir, whose power was enhanced even further with her inherent skill, 《Artifact Master》, was stopped by a fist.

Vulcan belonged to the tiger-eared tribe whose members were famous for their brute strength. In addition, her inherent skill, 《Artifact Master》, boosted her already monstrous strength to a whole new level.

And yet, her full-powered strike was stopped by Vassago’s summon beast.

『I forgot to tell you. When we revived, we, the Four Demon Dukes, revived with a greater divine protection from our liege, the Demon King-sama. Now, enjoy your suffering… KUKUKUKU――』

Vassago’s figure vanished after he said those words.