Chapter 222 Those Who Defy Despair
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”H-how… desuno?” Listarte stammered, her voice trembling. “How is the King of the Labyrinth-sama here!? And how did he… how did he walk through that wall of fire?”
The creature before them narrowed its eyes. “Who are you? How did you quench my flames?”
”Well now,” the King replied, his voice carrying a calm that felt utterly alien in the chaos. “From where I’m standing, I’m the one who should be asking for names.”
There was no mistake. The one who had intercepted the Demon God’s inferno – the one who stood as a shield between them and annihilation – was indeed the King of the Labyrinth. Behind that familiar, expressionless mask, his voice held an unnerving edge of composure.
”My Lord,” Listarte called out, her breath hitching. “That is Lord Blazer, the Flame Demon God ¹… this scorched wasteland was once a town, and he is the architect of its ruin. Those two armored figures beside him are his vassals. Even the most elite Beastman Knights couldn’t hope to best them, even in a group.”
”I see,” the King mused. “So, a ‘Demon God’ then…”
Listarte knew he possessed powers beyond mortal reckoning – his ability to command the skies with flight sorcery was proof enough of that. But to build a base in the heart of the Demon Forest ² required more than just wings. He had to have other, darker secrets. Even so, she found it hard to believe any skill could bridge the gap between man and god. In this world, the Beastmen reigned supreme in combat, and even their finest had been broken here. How could a mere human stand where they had fallen?
This is a disaster, she thought, her mind racing desuwa.
If the King fell here, the secret of flight sorcery would be buried with him. The Empire’s grand design – to seize his techniques and his lands to cripple the Republic’s coffers – would turn to ash. But it wasn’t just about politics. If the King vanished, the Republic’s economy would take a devastating hit, and Listarte herself would have no way to navigate the treacherous depths of the Demon Forest safely.
”Please, King of the Labyrinth!” she cried. “You have to get out of here!”
”…And why is that?”
”Because you’ll die! It’s too dangerous desuno!”
He didn’t need her to tell him that. One look at the charred remains of the town and the battered knights should have been enough to warn any sane man. Yet, he didn’t move an inch.
”In a situation like this, I can hardly turn my back on you and yours, Listarte-sama. Do not trouble yourself,” he said, his tone as light as if they were discussing the weather. “Lord Blazer… I think I’ll try my hand at repelling him.”
”What…?”
”Heh… Heh-heh-heh!” The Demon God let out a jagged laugh. “This is rich! Truly entertaining. You? You intend to repel Me?”
The King ignored the mockery, turning instead to his companions. “Eme-rald, Sardonyx. Will you two take care of the help?”
”Understood,” Eme-rald replied.
”Leave it to us, Your Majesty,” Sardonyx added with a sharp nod.
”Fine… fine!” the Demon God bellowed. “Belact, Gilli. Go on then. Play with the little girls.”
The two armored vassals split, flanking the group. Eme-rald and Sardonyx mirrored them, moving to intercept. For a heartbeat, the air was heavy with the weight of four converging gazes. Then, in a flash of motion, they moved.
”No…!”
”It can’t be!”
”They’re… they’re taking to the air!?”
Listarte watched, breathless, as Eme-rald and Sardonyx engaged the vassals on equal footing. Swords clashed with a rhythmic, terrifying beauty, the four figures dancing through the sky. They moved with a grace that suggested they knew their opponents’ every thought before they even struck. Eme-rald was a blur, matching Gilli’s frenetic speed, while Sardonyx stood like an unbreakable cliffside, her defense turning aside Belact’s heavy blows with effortless precision.
”Incredible…” one of the surviving knights whispered.
”Are those… are those the women Rista was talking about?”
Listarte felt a flush of shame. She had judged them. She had assumed that because they were human, they were inherently lesser than the Beastmen. She had let her own prejudice – and Clary’s skewed assessment – blind her. But looking at them now, she realized how arrogant she had been. No one who survived in the depths of the Demon Forest could ever be called weak.
”They’re flying so freely…”
”And they’re maintaining invisible barriers!” another knight shouted. “To fly, to cast, and to duel all at once… it’s unheard of!”
The realization hit Listarte like a physical blow. They were weaving multiple high-level sorceries simultaneously while fighting for their lives. Even without a drop of magical talent, she could tell she was witnessing a miracle – or a nightmare.
Amidst the swirling chaos of the duels, the King and the Demon God remained still, locked in a silent evaluation.
”I must admit, I am surprised,” the Demon God rumbled. “That strength… it isn’t natural. You gave it to them, didn’t you?”
”I did,” the King replied simply. “I’m glad you noticed.”
”I could hardly miss it! That wretched, holy resonance… it reeks!”
Listarte’s heart hammered against her ribs. The King… he gave them that power? Does that mean… he is even stronger than them?
”It seems you weren’t just another stray sacrifice,” the Demon God said, his voice dropping an octave. “I suppose I should learn your name. You heard mine from the sacrifice over there, I believe?”
”I am the King of the Labyrinth,” the man replied, his voice echoing. “Dominator of the Demon Forest.”
”King of the Labyrinth, is it? A bold title… but one you seem to have the teeth to back up!”
The ground groaned and buckled. Suddenly, pillars of fire erupted from the earth like the ribs of a cage. Listarte flinched, but the King stood his ground, unshaken.
He didn’t even see us as people… just ‘sacrifices’, Listarte realized with a chill. But the King… the Demon God is looking at him as an equal?
The Demon God thrust his arms forward, and a torrent of azure flame roared toward them.
”HAAAAA!”
”**Holy Zero Shield** ³,” the King intoned.
The King of the Magic Labyrinth stood against the infernal heat, perfectly neutralizing the flames just as he had before.
I couldn’t fathom his methods, only that he could manifest a barrier of such staggering power in a heartbeat. It proved he was more than just a gifted sorcerer⁴. No-he was a sorcerer who had transcended the very limits of humanity.
”My turn,” the King said. “Gather, O radiance of the stars! Seikou⁵!”
Countless light-spheres materialized around him, screaming toward the Demon God. The titan was too slow; the lights banked and veered, slamming into him in a relentless barrage. Several rounds punched clean through his obsidian plate.
”Oh…!” my sister gasped.
”Unreal…” someone muttered.
Black miasma hissed from the jagged holes in the armor. As we stood there, stunned into a stupor, the two continued their high-level sorcerous duel. I looked toward Clary.
”Clary, that sorcery of his…” I began.
”I… I don’t know,” Clary replied, her voice trembling. “The precision required to command that many projectiles while maintaining a barrier of that magnitude… it’s impossible. I can’t even see the activation windows. That isn’t sorcery. It’s something else entirely.”
Clary’s reaction mirrored the terror she felt when the Demon God first appeared. No-this was deeper. The shock was even greater now.
”Ah!?” I cried out.
Realizing he was losing the war of attrition, the Demon God lunged, thrusting a massive arm toward the King of the Magic Labyrinth. With that kind of weight behind the blow, I was certain the King would be crushed instantly.
Instead, he caught the titan’s arm with calm precision. Using the Demon God’s own momentum against him, he pivoted and heaved, throwing the armored colossus over his shoulder.
”He threw him…?” I whispered. “That mountain of iron… with one arm!?”
”Is that… as incredible as it looks?” someone asked.
”Incredible doesn’t cover it!” the soldier barked. “You need god-like strength just to gain purchase, and if you mess up, the weight flattens you. The King… what a hell of a man!”
My sister stood wide-eyed, her gaze locked on the clash. Meanwhile, the Demon God’s servants were being suppressed by the two girls; their coordination was nonexistent.
”To think you would push me this far!” the Demon God roared. “But it ends here! Magna Is Belluna… Come, O White Echoing Star of the Four Poles!”
The Demon God took to the sky, beginning the same incantation we’d heard before. I hadn’t realized he could fly-but it was the chant that chilled my blood.
”King of the Magic Labyrinth! Get back! That attack is lethal!” I screamed.
The memory was vivid: a searing white flash that had erased everything from the center of town to the northeast. Now, he was preparing to rain that same annihilation down from the heavens.
”I am he who opens the gate at the abyss of time! Here I carve the flame-quake of the end and the beginning!” the Demon God laughed. “It is over! The hour is struck! Cruz Ark End!”
The world dissolved into blinding white. There was no cover, no escape. We braced for the searing heat, for the sensation of our flesh turning to ash… but it never came.
”Impossible!” the Demon God shrieked.
The King had deployed yet another barrier. It held firm, a translucent diamond against the tide of white light.
”Nngh… you…!” the Demon God groaned, pouring more power into the blast.
”Useless,” the King said. “You cannot break my defense.”
The struggle lasted only seconds before the white flash flickered and died. The King of the Magic Labyrinth had stood against the Demon God’s absolute peak and emerged unscathed-and he had kept us safe in the process.
”Now, it’s my turn to show you my winning hand,” the King declared. “The brilliance of the seven stars in my palm! Gather, blessing of the sacred bolt! Thunder Tremor Sword!”
He thrust his right arm toward the sky. A discharge of sparks erupted, more blinding than the Demon God’s flash. A roar like the world cracking open followed, and a shockwave of wind nearly knocked us off our feet.
A pillar of absolute lightning surged from his hand, traveling at the speed of light to swallow the Demon God whole.
”So… beautiful…” I whispered.
My mind was struggling to process the scale of what I was seeing. I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. I had seen the Demon God’s overwhelming power, and now I was seeing the King stand head and shoulders above it. I realized then that I hadn’t understood him at all. I had looked at him and thought I knew his limits, never realizing I hadn’t even scratched the surface.
As the light faded, the Demon God plummeted. Black smoke trailed from his broken form; it was clear to everyone that he was finished.
His two servants scrambled back to his side as he crashed into the dirt. Their armor was scarred and pitted, while Emerald and her companion didn’t have a scratch on them.
(Those two girls… they have the strength of the Knight Order of the Beastmen!) I realized.
My sister and the others had fallen silent. There was nothing left to say. We were just spectators, irrelevant to the battle.
The Demon God struggled to his feet, trembling. Even after that strike, he could still move.
”Ha… ha…!” the Demon God wheezed. “I am not yet at my full strength, but to think a man existed who could push me to this!”
The wall of fire encircling the town flickered and died. His power was failing.
”King of the Magic Labyrinth… truly, you are a terror,” the Demon God said. “I shall concede for now. I must recover.”
”Running?” the King asked.
”For today,” the Demon God replied. “Even you wouldn’t wish to continue this fight and risk those huddling behind you, would you? That secret art of yours-had you fired it on the ground, the collateral would have leveled this region. You could only use it because I was in the air.”
”………”
The Demon God’s words struck me like a blow. It was true. If the King had used that lightning on the ground, the debris would have killed us all. The fires would have been unstoppable.
He had been holding back. Even against a monster like that, he had been tempering his power to ensure we survived. We weren’t just spectators-we were a handicap. My tail twitched with a sharp pang of guilt.
”Kukuku… King of the Magic Labyrinth. In honor of your strength, I swear: I shall not lay a hand on the Demon Forest you claim as your domain,” the Demon God said. “If you wish for a quiet life, do not leave your woods!”
Black flames erupted beneath the Demon God’s feet. When they vanished, nothing remained but three suits of empty armor.
—
Summary:
The King of the Labyrinth intervenes in the battle between Listarte’s party and the Flame Demon God, Lord Blazer. While Listarte fears for the King’s life due to her prejudice against human combat abilities, his companions Eme-rald and Sardonyx prove their incredible power by dueling the Demon God’s vassals in the air. The Demon God recognizes the King’s ‘Holy’ resonance as the source of their power and begins a direct confrontation.
The King of the Magic Labyrinth easily counters the Demon God’s strongest magic and physical attacks. After a devastating lightning strike, the Demon God flees, revealing that the King was holding back to protect the onlookers. The chapter ends with the Demon God retreating and swearing off the Demon Forest.
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Trivia:
- The Empire specifically wants to seize the King’s lands to bankrupt the Republic.
- Listarte’s primary concern is the loss of flight sorcery secrets if the King dies.
- The Demon God refers to all mortals as ‘sacrifices’ until the King appears.
- Eme-rald and Sardonyx are utilizing three complex sorceries simultaneously: Flight, Defense (Barriers), and Combat Enhancement.
- The flames released by the Demon God are blue (azure), indicating higher intensity
- The Demon God was previously responsible for erasing part of the town.
- The King’s lightning attack was only safe because it was fired into the sky.
- Emerald and the other girl fought the servants and are secretly top-tier fighters.
- The Demon God admits to being at less than full strength
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Character Insight:
Listarte undergoes a significant moment of self-reflection, realizing her racial bias against humans was based on faulty intel and arrogance. The King shows a protective yet detached side, treating a ‘Demon God’ with the same level of concern as a change in weather.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Holy’ resonance mentioned by Lord Blazer suggests that the King’s power is the antithesis of demonic energy, a classic high-fantasy trope where divine or holy energy is ‘wretched’ to demons.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Listarte – Judiette’s younger half-sister. A fox beastman sorceress and the only Imperial citizen capable of riding the Skygoon. Have long dark hair. Wearing ornate Imperial princess robes with gold trim. A cup.
• Lista – Judiette’s younger half-sister. A fox beastman sorceress and the only Imperial citizen capable of riding the Skygoon. Have long dark hair. Wearing ornate Imperial princess robes with gold trim. A cup.
• Sard – Magical Girl version of Liliarette. A-cup, wolf cut hair, class guardian knight. Yellowish-red vibe.
• Clary – A rare beastman sorceress and follower of Judiette. Older than Judiette, she speaks bluntly despite the princess’s status. She has light purple hair split in the middle and reaching down to her waist. She is described as having a large bust and wears dresses with loose necklines.
• Ami – A palm-sized fairy-like being from a world separate from both Earth and the isekai realm. She has light blue hair tied in a ponytail, mischievous blue eyes, and tiny wings that flutter behind her. Her outfit consists of a provocative high-cut leotard and a short jacket that looks like a miniskirt from the back, leaving her legs bare. Despite her playful appearance, she is actively searching for a contractor who can protect her from dangerous pursuers in exchange for the powers she offers.
• Emerald – Magical Girl version of Cleonora. Smaller, side-tailed, green-and-white mini-skirted girl.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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