Chapter 449: Celestial Zoa

The throne room of Crocus Castle is wrapped in silence. Now that the vampire sisters have all been defeated, the only protectors of the taken-over Crocus Castle are the butler and maid vampires, Maria, her brilliant right arm 『Jabberwock』, and her brilliant left arm 『Bandersnatch』. Perhaps because she is concerned about her defeated daughters, Maria, who sits on a huge throne, remains silent while hanging her head.

「――Yawn~…. Ah, I slept well! I had a lot of free time, so I took a light nap. Hmm~, I feel refreshed~」

Maria stretches her arms and shakes her body. Unfortunately, Maria was unusually quiet, not because she was heartbroken for her daughters, but because she was sleeping. Perhaps vampires are also affected by yawning, her eyes are teary.

「Huh? This feeling….」

Maria looked down at her right hand and tilted her head cutely, as if she was wondering what was going on. There’s no one else in the throne room, but she’s devoting herself completely to her little girl character. In a sense, she is her true self, and she’s being thorough as an idol. Anyway, Maria never seems to lose this kind of attitude, no matter where or when, no matter whether there are other people or not.

「Did they defeat my brilliant right arm 『Jabberworck』? Wow, it’s exploded into dust. I wonder if this merciless flame is Nell’s? My right arm is so pathetic~. Ah, maybe it’s wrong in this case? Let’s see…. Not bad, Nell! You’ve become so strong! …… Yep, I think this one is correct!」

Maria begins to play a mysterious little act with the throne as the stage.

「Still, she’s really gotten stronger, huh. My right arm was weaker than me, but it was seriously trying to kill her. Well, I’m deeply moved! What should I do next? Now that 10% of the blood from the one Nell defeated has returned, should I send my right arm to her again? I’ve already recovered while I was sleeping after all~. But, the result will be the same, right? Hmm~, my brilliant left arm 『Bandersnatch』 is fighting Zex, so it would be bad manners to send it to Nell…. Should I send my brilliant right arm 『Jabberworck』 together with my harsh right leg 『Tweedledum』 and my peaceful left leg 『Tweedledee』? I would lose 40% of my blood, but I guess that’s not a problem. Even if Lily-chan and everyone else come to attack me while I’m in that state, I won’t lose to them. Fufu, I guess the promising one is Deris’s group! If Deris and Alezel are with Nell, it will be a three-on-three fun battle. No matter how much they defeated my limbs, I will create them again―― hellish consecutive battles without a rest time will be fun!」

Maria dances around on the throne while thinking of various ideas. At first glance, it looks like she’s just playing, but Maria’s dancing is high-leveled and beautiful. Finally, she stopped her dance as if she has reached a conclusion.

「Okay~, I’ve decided! It would be a problem if they are exhausted before they come to the throne, so I won’t send a special Celestial Zoa anymore~. With Nell’s passionate charging, Deris’s dirty plans, and Alezel’s sneakiness, it seems that I can hold a wonderful concert that I haven’t experienced in the last few hundred years ♪. I will accept everything! After all, I’m big-hearted!」

Maria began to dance again. Her joy was evident in her dance, as if she were about to open a bottle of wine that she had laid down for years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pierced by Nell’s flame sword, the magic power and vampire’s blood that composed the body of the monster were scattered. It could no longer scream, nor could it flee from the forceful grip of Nell’s grip around its head. It was struggling in agony, and even when its limbs and tail hit Nell, they were burned by the flames around Nell. What a tragic way to die. Oh, no, it was not exactly a living thing. Besides, I don’t have time to worry about other people.

「――That was close, I was almost swallowed by Nell’s flames!」

「Whoa, she really managed to defeat that monster. And from what I see, it seems that Nell is unharmed. Maybe we can do this!?」

「How about worrying about me a little? I was about to be roasted right in front of you, you know?」

Nell’s flames created by Roto Flugel were pushing back the monster’s storm, and at the same time, they were rushing to the corner where I was. I’m glad I was able to react right away. If I were to react a little later, I would have been the only one who was seriously injured just before the battle against Maria.

「Eh? I mean, Deris, you can heal yourself with magic as long as you don’t die, right? It’s okay, there’s no problem.」

Nell, on second thought, you can burn this traitor.

「What stupid thing are you two doing?」

Nell, with her sword sheathed and her wings of flame still attached, comes flying up to the high ground where I and Alezel are.

「Oh, Nell, good work. How was it?」

「I think Maria made that magical creature seriously. It was stronger than the lower ranks of the Great Eight Demons. From what I felt, it was about level 11.」

「Geh, it’s higher than my level…」

「It’s not that hard even for Alezel, you know? I think you could win if you are willing to throw away your money.」

「I ain’t gonna do it if I will lose my money!」

「We’ve come this far, but you’re still being stingy….」

「But~」

「After you win, you can just ask for compensation more than you spent, right? The other party is Maria, the one who has been on the throne of the Great Eight Demons since ancient times, you know? She must have amassed a lot of money.」

「Alright, I’m motivated!」

「Fufu. Deris, you’re fine with it, right?」

「Y-Yeah.」

Nell sure knows how to handle Alezel, huh.

「Then, let’s aim for the throne now. If we are going to put Clarius on the throne, we must get rid of Maria. If we make her wait too long, we don’t know what that moody Maria will do.」

「Yeah. That monster was created by her magic, 『Celestial Zoa』, with her Unique Skill. So far, she only created two of them. If she feels like it, she can create as many as she wants. At worst, she may create something even stronger.」

「If we had to deal with such a thing, there would be no end to it no matter how strong Nell is. Maria-han’s Unique Skill is 『Philosopher’s Blood』, right? I’ve heard that her blood itself is a magic catalyst that exerts a tremendous influence.」

「Yeah, that’s about right. You should think that she has an inexhaustible supply of 『Philosopher’s Stone』, the highest grade of magic catalyst. It amplifies the power of magic and can make impossible things possible. It also has a wide range of other uses. In addition, she has the world’s best natural healing power, so she can use her blood as much as she wants. It’s like having bottomless stamina and magical power.」

「I’ve known it since long ago, but now that I hear it again, Maria-han sure is absurd….」

「Are you saying that now? Do you think there someone who’s not absurd in the Great Eight Demons?」

「Eh? Well, you’re right…. Ah, there’s Hund-han, right?」

「「Ah~」」

I can’t help but be convinced. He is still in the realm of common sense both physically and mentally. Come to think of it, I wonder if Hund-kun is doing well? I might be a little worried.