Chapter 125: One of Seven Great Demon King, Belphegor

「…!? No way, another… S-rank monster!」

The moment Aria stepped on the next floor, she was astonished.

Standing before them was a gigantic frame.

「〝Ancient Golem?huh! Quite a troublesome opponent we got there.」

Ciel, who stood beside Aria, spoke the name of the monster standing in their way.

Ancient Golem―

It was a five-meter tall, S-rank, golem-type monster.

This golem’s appearance in this place was because of the influence of the demon king Belphegor.

The beast had also noticed Aria and co. It locked onto Aria and co with its only eye.

「Ciel-sama, May-chan, Aria-chan, and Tama-chan, all of you, go ahead first.」

Vulcan addressed the four while tapping her shoulder with Mjolnir’s shaft.

「I also want to fight that demon king fella, but… I guess we need brute force to deal with this one.」

「Yeah! We’ll catch up with you guys once we kick this guy’s ass!」

「It’s time to show our powa~!」

Vulcan, Stella, Lily, and Faeri were prepared to fight the ancient golem.

The demon race and the demon kings were weak against the holy element. That’s why they couldn’t let Ciel, May, Aria, and Tama exhaust their power before meeting the demon king.

Therefore, Vulcan and the other three had similar thoughts as Cedric. They chose to stay behind and fight the ancient golem while Aria and the others would go ahead.

「Aria, let’s go.」

Noticing Aria’s hesitation, Ciel tapped her shoulder. Vulcan and the other three agreed with Ciel.

「… I understood. Vulcan-san, Stella-chan, Lily-chan, and Faeri-chan, I’ll leave this place to you guys.」

Aria turned around to leave behind the four of them with a bitter look on her face. She was entrusting the ancient golem to her four comrades. She did it because she understood that she had her own duty.

「Well then, here we go! Nya~n!」

Vulcan readied Mjolnir and made a beeline toward the ancient golem.

Stella, Lily, and Faeri ran just behind her.

The ancient golem sensed the incoming enemies, then―

『GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO――!』

With a war cry, it also ran toward Vulcan and the others.

Aria, Tama, Ciel, and May dashed to the far sides of the ancient golem and continued running toward the stairs to the next floor!

◆

The final floor of the labyrinth—

『Oh my! Just when I was thinking that the floor above me has become noisy, it turns out I’ve got guests. How fascinating!』

A crystal-like object exuded an ominous light in the middle of the room, and a person with heteromorphy looked at Aria and co, who had just arrived on the floor.

It was a beautiful yet sinister-looking woman with tanned, brown skin, emerald green hair that flowed down until her waist, and a pair of devil-like horns sprouting from her hair.

In contrast with her languid tone, the pressure she released pricked the skin of Aria and co.

Yes, that woman was―

「So, you’ve really come from the future, huh… Demon King Belphegor!」

Ciel addressed the demon king in a calm voice.

Her gaze fell on Demon King Belphegor, then at a certain object that was slightly moving in the room.

An object resembling a giant crystal pillar lay erect behind Belphegor. Sealed inside that pillar was a figure similar to that of Belphegor, who was standing in front of the pillar right now.

A check with the magic tool also showed that the Belphegor in front of the pillar had the same mana wave fluctuations as the one sealed inside the pillar. It had thus confirmed her identity as the future Belphegor.

It also confirmed the authenticity of Ciel and May’s claim. It seemed as if Belphegor’s next sentence wanted to further confirm that fact.

『Oh my! How did you know that I came from the future, Hero-sama?』

「Demon King Belphegor, even if you’ve come from the future. I… will defeat you again!」

Ciel summoned her 《Celcius Blade》, glared at Belphegor, and pointed her sword toward the demon king.

『Ufufufufufu… I did lose to you and Prince Julius in the previous great war… But, do you think you can defeat me by yourself?』

Belphegor raised her arm, which was draped in a dark violet color, to the ceiling as she let out an eerie smile.

And then—

『Ufufufu…《Evil Surtr》!』

She whispered those words.

Just when everyone wondered what was going to happen—

The pillar sealing this era’s Belphegor and the future Belphegor’s horn cast an ominous, violet light.

At that moment, countless ominous violet lights, similar to the one from the sealed Belphegor, formed a sword that cast a similar ominous color.

『Now then, DIE!』

The moment Belphegor yelled, the violet sword rushed toward Aria and co.

「《Celcius Protection》…!」

Ciel readied her 《Celcius Blade》 and activated her skill. A giant ice shield appeared before them.

However, the violet sword slammed into the ice shield, and the makeshift shield barely protected everyone’s life.

But—

『AHAHAHAHA! RESISTANCE… IS FUTILE!』

Belphegor laughed even louder than before.

While Aria and co still wondered what would happen next, the sword’s shine became even brighter than before. At the next moment, numerous fine cracks appeared on the ice shield 《Celcius Protection》.

「…! You’re…stronger than before!?」

Ciel exclaimed in surprise.

Right at this very moment, the violet sword shattered 《Celcius Protection》 into pieces.

「《Seven Star’s Dark Demon Sword》!」

「NYAN（Rock Howling）!」

May and Tama immediately activated their skills to help Ciel.

The seven demon swords stopped Belphegor’s violet sword, then the additional power from Tama’s elemental howl pushed back the sword.

「Thanks, May and Tama-chan!」

「Good job, Tama!」

Aria and Ciel stepped back to regain their posture as they thanked Tama and May.

『Oh my! You can actually push back my attack. It seems like this battle won’t be a borefest…』

Belphegor’s lips curled up to form an ominous smile.