The Realist Demon King’s Plan
The black magic energy disappeared from Eligos’s body.
Eligos himself was the first to notice the change.
“M-my power. Ho-how is this… What happened to my core!?”
Demon King Ashta reacted immediately.
He used teleportation magic to appear in front of Toshizou and Jeanne.
“It seems that things went according to my plan then. I just received a message from Eve. She has succeeded in destroying the core in your castle.”
“That’s impossible! My castle would not fall so easily! Only a giant would be able to penetrate it!”
“I happen to have them. Giants.”
“Wh-what!?”“I employed cyclops for heavy duty construction work. They were hiding in a forest near your castle. They are not the smartest of creatures, but they are very strong. Eve waited for you to leave the castle in order to take my head. And that’s when she attacked.”
“No! It can’t be! Even if you did break through my walls, the core was well hidden! It was buried far underground.”
“Well, let us look at the situation calmly. Do you need any proof other than your weakening power?”
“…Damn it.”
At this point, he had no choice but to accept reality.
Eligos’s shoudlers dropped as he continued.
“…I am still not defeated. I can fight with or without magic. But there is one question I have. How did you find the core? Even Sharltar did not know its location.”
“But Sharltar revealed it after being tortured.”
“What!? So he knew? He knew where it was?”
“It would seem so. So where was it? Only the servant I sent knows where it is.”
“A hidden door behind the throne. There is a secret room beyond another secret room. But everyone involved with the building of it was killed. I do not understand how it…”
“Yes, yes. Keep your answers short in the future. Your rambling reminds me of Sharltar.”
I sighed with annoyance and then sent a telepathic message to Eve.
“…You heard him. Behind the throne.”
Eve heard this and said,
“Certainly.”
She sounded very pleased.
Eligos suddenly looked at me with suspicion.
“What are you talking about? Were you not talking to a subordinate who knows the location?”
“Not at all. Neither of us had a clue.”
“Wh-what!?”
“You’ve been had. That is all. And now your core will be destroyed.”
“Bu-but, I am sure that the magic has left my body!”
“A temporary effect. I gave my subordinate, Eve, a crystal ball made from Demon King Sabnac’s ashes. It contained immense magical power. Power to ‘seal magic.’ It was used in your castle, temporarily stopping the core from sending energy to you. It would not have lasted very long.”
Even while I said this, Eligos’s aura returned.
He had regained his unbeatable body.
And with that realization, came incredible rage.
“You tricked me!!”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
And with that, I snapped my fingers loudly.
An image of Eligos’s hidden room appeared in the sky.
And there too, was a maid who wielded a hammer.
“St-stooppp!!! Stop! If you destroy that…”
He sounded quite pitiful now, but Eve could not hear him.
And I was hardly moved by his pleading.
This Demon King had used Sharltar to kill many people.
As long as he lived, as long as he breathed, he would not stop to satiate his desires.
In that case, I would just have to bury him.
I gave Eve the order.
Break it with your hammer!
In the next instant, Eve’s hammer swung downward. Demon King Eligos’s core, the core that every Demon King had, was destroyed.
While his heart may have been foul, the shattered core was beautiful. Like falling snow.
In that moment, I was reminded of the words of the Goddess when I first awoke.
‘Destroy all the cores of all the Demon Kings, and you will win…’
And so I won this battle.
Eligos had lost his magic. He was now just a ‘knight.’
At the same time, the army of undead that Sharltar had made also stopped moving.
They returned to ordinary corpses and crumbled.
And like that, I was victorious against an army of ten thousand.
Not all of the enemy were undead, and those were yet alive. However, it was doubtful that many of them would continue to obey a Demon King whose core had been destroyed.
Most of them began to run or throw down their weapons and surrender.
I watched all of this as if with pity. Then I suggested that Eligos follow their example.
“Your undead are gone. What remains of your army have clearly lost the will to fight. You may as well surrender. Unlike you, I do not torment my prisoners.”
Upon hearing this, Eligos laughed as if he had gone mad.
“…Ahahaha!”
“Are you amused?”
“No. I had heard tales that this newborn Demon King had the heart of a human and was soft as a baby.”
The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King