[Moderate Harlequin Alliance].
It was a small group made up of the [Deathmen] revived by Kazaream, the [Curse Lord] who had once been one of the [Ten Great Demon Lords], through the forbidden spell [Birthday].
On the surface, they looked like nothing more than a bunch of ridiculous clowns, but in actual combat ability, every one of them except Clayman was a fighter you could not afford to underestimate.
Even without gathering souls and evolving into an [Awakened Demon Lord], they possessed enough power to hold their own in one-on-one combat against opponents of that level.
Booom!!
But looked at another way, that also meant their ceiling topped out at around the level of an [Awakened Demon Lord].
"Hmm..."
'...More troublesome than I expected, but I'm finally starting to get the feel for it.'
Letting out a light breath as he judged that inwardly, Adelio lowered his gaze slightly.
At the end of his gaze was Footman, the [clown], kneeling with countless sword marks carved into his body.
"......Ho... hot..."
There were dozens upon dozens of cuts from [Overlord Black Star].
An ordinary human would have been drenched in blood by now, but perhaps because Footman was a [Deathmen], an already-dead corpse, not a single drop had fallen.
Aside from some of the ornaments on his clothes and his [clown] mask being chipped, he showed no real damage.
'That's enough testing for now... I should head over to Shizu's side soon.'
Having gotten a decent grasp on controlling his strength... definitely not venting over that title... Adelio slid [Overlord Black Star] back into its sheath.
"...? What are you thinking...?"
As the clear sound of [Overlord Black Star] returning to its sheath rang out, Footman spoke in confusion, as if asking whether Adelio had not been trying to kill him.
Adelio stared at Footman's mask and slowly opened his mouth.
From here on, it was no longer the Hero's strength that mattered, but a demon's specialty.
"[Moderate Harlequin Alliance]."
"...!!"
"I've heard the name a few times. A small group of majin dressed like [clown]s, active mainly in the underworld of Ingrassia."
Needless to say, that was only half true.
It was true that the [Moderate Harlequin Alliance] had some notoriety in the underworld, but since they were connected to Yuuki, the [Grand Master], it was difficult to learn even their name, let alone where they operated, unless you made a serious effort to investigate.
Of course, if he had used the [Magius] on Ermesia's side or Luminous's network, it would not have been impossible.
"......So you already knew about us."
From Footman's point of view, unaware of Adelio's circumstances, all he could do was accept it.
He had no idea how much Adelio knew about them, so he had no choice but to keep his answer as simple as possible.
If Adelio already knew even Clayman's plan... then a single move here might be enough to make Clayman lose his seat among the [Ten Great Demon Lords].
But there was one thing Footman had overlooked—
"Well, I only know the name, and I'm not particularly interested. Whether your little alliance runs wild in this great forest or schemes up something else, it won't immediately turn into damage on the human side."
—Adelio had no intention of bringing Clayman down in the first place.
"...What? Then why did you stop me—"
"—Because you were trying to kill the [Ogre]s. That's all. I never intended to kill you from the start. And if you and the [Orc]s had targeted monsters other than the [Ogre]s... I probably wouldn't have stepped in so directly."
He absolutely refused to admit it was because of the title.
"......Then... are you saying you won't stop us from attacking monsters other than the [Ogre]s?"
"That's right. If you don't believe me, you can even make a request in your own way. Of course, only if what you can offer is enough to cover my price."
"......"
In other words, impossible.
It sounded as though he was offering another option, but in reality, there was only one answer Footman could choose.
"......Understood. We'll... withdraw for now..."
In the end, Footman chose to flee exactly as Adelio intended.
Sssss...
Soon, purple-tinted magic power wrapped around his body, and he scattered like mist, vanishing in an instant.
'......'
"[Report. Confirmed [Spatial Movement] from individual: Footman. Shall I trace it back?]"
'No, not now.'
Rejecting Odin's report, Adelio turned his eyes toward the young [Ogre] who had approached the [Ogre] chieftain at some point.
"......"
The chieftain's son, Benimaru.
The giant man, well over two meters tall, was also staring at Adelio with stunned eyes.
'...Benimaru, huh.'
Looking at the man with amused interest, Adelio shifted his gaze again.
Footman had just disappeared, and Gelmud showed no sign of charging in here, so there was somewhere else he needed to worry about first.
Fwoooosh!!!
That place—the source of the flames rising so high they could be seen even from here.
**
The outskirts of the [Ogre] village.
Farthest from the central area where the chieftain was, the village outskirts were being engulfed in flames spreading out from a single woman.
"......A m-monster of a—"
Slash!
A haze of white flames.
Fierce white fire devoured the [Orc]s without pause.
"Just give up already. You don't have any chance of winning anymore."
The absolute swordsmanship and destructive flames she had cultivated as the disciple of two Heroes and a [Primordial Demons].
Standing at the center of the blaze, the black-haired woman displayed that power while keeping the flames just restrained enough that the [Orc]s barely did not die.
Fwoosh!!
"......That human..."
"...Is she... on our side?"
"......Looks that way."
The [Ogre]s watching the woman's figure from up close swallowed dryly in relief.
As they reminded themselves that a hero capable of stopping an army alone was on their side.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register