The demon lord brandished the sword she used for self defense.

Things have really taken a turn…

“Demon lord-sama, I’ve brought this wake up medicine to try to bring you back to consciousness. I have no intention of harming you.”

“But I can only see that green-colored drug as poison.”

Frankly it did have a lurid color that made it seem like poison no matter how you looked at it…

“That’s just what it seems. Once you take it, I’m sure you’ll be saying ‘Ah~, so nasty! But give me another!’”

“There’s no way I can believe that! If you want me to believe you so badly, then defeat this Provat Pecola Aryess in a duel to prove your innocence!”

“H-How can that be considered proof…”

“It’s simple. If you really intended to harm me, then you wouldn’t let me live. But if you were really trying to help me, then even if you win you wouldn’t follow up and try to kill me.”

I see. That does make sense but…

“Doesn’t that mean I have to one-sidedly defeat you…?”

“If you were to die, then that would be that. The only fact that would remain would be that I’ve slain an a.s.sa.s.sin. There’d be no problems for me.”

That’s some pretty harsh things she’s saying without any hesitation.

I could still run away without fighting, but if I were to do that

then the opportunity to give an explanation and straighten out the situation would be totally lost. It could possibly even end up in an all out war. There’s also the concern that they would execute Beelzebub and Vahnia as well.

Then the only choice left was to let our fists do the talking.

I focused my mind.

Overwhelm the enemy.

“Now, Azussan. Come!”

I kicked the floor and approached the demon lord.

The demon lord took her large sword and gave a high speed horizontal slice.

Wooosh!

“That was dangerous!”

“Huh, to be able to dodge that… What frightening speed…”

The demon lord seemed bewildered.

As expected of the demon lord, there was no doubt she was highly capable. With an enemy this strong, then I could let loose and attack without hesitation. I was still a bit troubled as to whether or not it was fine to even attack her in the first place though.

Once more I closed in, but that sword really was dangerous. The demon lord wielded her sword with great speed. It seems that she’s had a lot of training in some school of swordsmanship.

It’s not like I can’t draw closer, but there were still a lot of uncertain elements. I didn’t want to fight while taking any risks, and I shouldn’t be taking any either. If I were to lose, then my family and my friends, many people may die.

“If you keep taking your time, then that elf’s life will

will be in danger you know.”

Those words lit a fire inside me.

“Hurry up and have at me.”

You don’t even need to mention it.

If it’s to protect my family, then there’ll be no compromise.

I used all of my strength to accelerate my body.

Then– I gathered all of my power and let loose my fist.

Towards her sword.

The demon lord, whose sword I struck, staggered back and b.u.mped against a wall.

“Woah there…”

“With this, the fight is over I’d say.”

“That’s quite hasty of you. You were able to break my balance yes, but you haven’t really driven me to a corner yet.”

“Is that right. It seems like you still don’t get it.”

I always wanted to say something like that.

“I’ve already destroyed it you see.”

Shorly after, the sword crumbled to pieces.

With a dumbfounded look, the demon lord dropped her now useless sword.

“For that to happen…”

“No matter how much you’ve trained your body, there’s a limit to how strong a weapon can get.”

The sword was in the way, so I broke it. It was the quickest route to saving Harukara.

After destroying her weapon, it was my turn.

I sped myself up even further.

Then I slammed the area right beside the demon lord’s face with all my strength

Boooom!

It was a frighteningly fierce kabe don[1]

The wall even had cracks on it.

At last, the demon lord’s expression started to become strained.

It didn’t seem like the demon lord could fight without her sword. If she was someone

was someone who could fight with her fists, then she wouldn’t be looking so ready to flee.

“Demon lord-sama, this is checkmate.”

I didn’t let any anger show on my face and tried my best to give her a smile. But I’m sure my eyes weren’t smiling at all, so I was probably giving off quite some pressure.

“If we keep going it’ll be my win. It’d be better to stop don’t you think?”

The demon lord was looking at me with upturned eyes. Was she trembling or something? She wasn’t saying a word.

“Will you listen to what I have to say?”

“I, I… I will…”

“Please save Harukara. That girl is just a bit clumsy but she bears no ill will. Also could you make sure that no crimes fall upon the demons who helped me as well? This was all just one huge and unfortunate misunderstanding. If demon lord-sama gives her pardon, then everything will be cleanly resolved.”

“Yes, onee-sama.”

As I was wondering about the weird name she called me by, the demon lord closed in and hugged me.

“I’ll obey every word you say onee-sama! Please treat me well!”

“Um, what’s this about onee-sama…?”

“I’ve always yearned to find someone who was stronger than me that I can look up to. I thought that Azussan would be perfect for that role, so I gave you a test.”

A test? She started this fight on purpose!?

“From now on I’ll be living my life full oflife full of love and respect for you onee-sama, so please look after me.”

“Um, demon lord-sama… I’m honored to have your love and respect, but could you first guarantee the safety of Harukara and the others…?”

“Ah, please don’t be so polite with me. Please say something like ‘Provat, release my family,’ in a tone as if you were commanding me.”

Er, did this person have a few, slightly unusual, proclivities…?

Come to think of it, I might’ve read somewhere once that people in high positions tended to have some m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic tendencies…

However this was to save Harukara. I didn’t like giving out orders, but I’ll have to this time.

“The name Provat isn’t very cute. I’ll call you Pecola instead.”

Her name was Provat Pecola Aryess after all. Though since she was a demon, I didn’t know which part of it was her surname and which was her given name.

“Yes, onee-sama.”

“First, quit sticking so tightly to me and let go Pecola.”

“I’m sorry, onee-sama.”

She obediently followed my orders and let go, seeming extremely happy.

[1] kabe don (壁ドン) is done in the situation where there’s an aggressor and a victim, and the aggressor has the victim backed against a wall. The act itself is when the aggressor slams their hand against the wall (kabe) beside the victim resulting in a don sound. Usually this is done in order to intimidate the victim, making them seem unable to escape, then proceeding to threaten or extort the them.