POV: Rygar Adoldia
We were in Gaslow Province, one of the most hostile regions of the Demon Continent.
The monsters that appeared there were far stronger and more numerous than those of any other Province.
However, there was still a certain ecological balance involved — the environment was not favorable to life in general.
For example, in Biegoya Province there were only a large number of Acid Wolves and Pax Coyotes, but the region also had native flora and fauna.
By comparison, Gaslow had the Basilisk, with its petrifying breath; the Black Drake, flying uncontrollably through the skies with its powerful jaws and poisonous claws; the Giant Water Roach, which created pools with its own secretion and then attacked anyone who came to drink from them; as well as the White-Fang Snake, highly agile and covered with hard, magic-resistant scales.
Its environment was terrible, uninhabitable in a sense. Some places emitted poisonous gas, others opened into deep ravines.
Given that all the monsters were extremely cruel, the entire place was filled with danger zones.
Thus, the Gaslow Territory in particular had the reputation of being an absolutely dreadful pit of demons.
There were almost no towns or settlements there, and the few that existed were especially fortified. Almost no adventurer went there.
Some, however, supposedly viewed this place as an aspiration.
It was home to the greatest fortification on the Demon Continent, built by the Immortal Necross Lacross, one of the Five Great Demon Kings of old.
The current master of that fort was Demon King Atoferatofe — the Immortal Demon King of the Gaslow Territory.
The Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe was extremely famous. She is the daughter of the Great Immortal Demon King Necross Lacross, and began to gain notoriety during the Second Great Human–Demon War.
Atofe was used as an example of the demon race.
Even if she was not very intelligent, she possessed insane dexterity and endurance in battle. She was feared as a ferocious Demon King.
Her subordinates made up for her intellectual deficiencies, but when their supply line was cut during the war, they were all wiped out.
Because of that she was captured by humans and sealed.
It was not until the Laplace War that Atoferatofe was revived.
Laplace was the one who gave her a new life, and she again made a name for herself as a Demon King, working alongside him.
She fought by unleashing her fury on the battlefield and crossed blades countless times with the Armored Dragon King Perugius.
There was a legend about her that was well known among warriors and swordsmen on other continents, saying that anyone who desired power should ascend to Fort Necross.
Even I was tempted to make the trip when I was younger, but compared to the mysterious fame of Fort Necross, the Sword Sanctuary was much more reliable.
Who knows what would have happened if at that time I had decided to come to Gaslow Province instead of the Sacred Land of Swords? That was a question I would never know the answer to.
In any case, it was probably a good decision back then — after all, no one who reached the Fort managed to return quickly.
About half of those knights died on the journey. Most of the survivors were integrated into Atofe's personal guard.
I knew a bit about that woman's personality because of Verdia. She fought a few times alongside Atofe during the Laplace War.
The only information that repeated in all the stories about that Demon King was that she was always involved in some battle.
Verdia told me that she was a fierce and powerful woman; her immortality allowed her to act recklessly and impetuously at all times.
And those were her only positive points.
Disregarding her fighting ability, Atofe was recognized worldwide as a legendary fool, enough to not even be able to follow a casual conversation.
If not for her reliable subordinate, Moore, she would probably have gotten into a lot of trouble during her long immortal life.
Anyway, our group that was going to see the Demon King consisted of three members: Eris, Verdia and me.
Ezkalor and Skoll would be left to hunt in the nearby monster-filled territories.
There would probably be a fight, but I wasn't very worried.
Others might fear Atoferatofe's Demonic Force and Immortality, but that wasn't so important to me.
Death was not the only way to defeat someone.
I had methods and a diverse enough set of magics to imagine infinite ways to subjugate her with ease.
Even Eris and Verdia could face her in combat, if they were united. Although it wasn't certain whether they could win.
After all, although a bit foolish, she was personally taught by the first North God, and was responsible for training the second North God.
Her skill as a swordswoman was top-tier; some claimed that her prowess even surpassed that of the North Gods. Others said it was merely on the same level as a North Emperor.
It was not possible to estimate for sure, since she rarely fought at full strength.
She was very carefree in her battles and often allowed her opponent a free first strike.
Being immortal, her concerns about injuries were near zero.
In any case, in the Oldgar Timeline, she was quite a big obstacle. Rudeus Greyrat defeated her in single combat and recruited her to the side of the Dragon God.
She might not be a great threat to me, but to the Kingdom of Gaia she could become problematic.
I preferred to have that mad demon under my command rather than allow her to strengthen my opponents.
And it was surprisingly easy to win her loyalty.
You just had to defeat her completely, unquestionably.
And that, I was quite confident I could accomplish.
---
Fort Necross was located very close to the ruins of the Teleportation Circle.
It was not such a long way, but the ruins lay deep in the mountains and some Black Drakes used them as nests.
The creatures came flying toward us and we sliced them up, one after another. Then, we made barbecue and an omelet with the eggs we found, since we heard their meat was tasty.
Hordes of other monsters descended from above to attack us, but we pushed on, killing or driving off everything in our path, and when we reached the mountain's base, an entire day had passed.
It was quite unusual for a Teleportation Circle to be so close to a populated settlement. Maybe it was related to the ambient mana being much denser.
"Didn't even sweat," said Eris.
She gladly cut down all the monsters that came at us, as if she wanted to show the benefits of daily training.
There were few opportunities to really fight, besides the Temple's combat exercises.
"I think this place is a bit safer compared to before..." Verdia pondered, "Although I couldn't even set foot here back then, so there's no way to be sure!"
Verdia was very excited.
She had the chance to fight a Demon King, and now with these many monsters, getting more and more used to her new abilities.
Not that she was a fan of battles like Eris.
She was more like a player testing a new item in an online game; her excitement was high at the moment.
"Hmph! With our strength, I think we need to invade a big Labyrinth to get some challenge!" Eris laughed.
"That would be interesting! I've heard that older labyrinths have different magical challenges and mysterious obstacles the deeper you go."
"Huh? Can't you just kill everything in the way?"
"I don't think so? I mean, at least the labyrinths I invaded in the past had some puzzles that needed the mind to solve, traps and such..."
"Well, you deal with that when we get there then!"
While Eris and Verdia talked, I looked at the fort below us.
The first thing that stood out was that it was completely black. I imagined it was constructed from some kind of durable ore from the Demon Continent.
It wasn't particularly large — just a castle and a town protected by thick walls, which is not uncommon.
What qualified it as a fort was its structure. The walls divided it into five blocks, each attached to the other, forming a terrace.
The three lower ones were an ordinary castle-town and the two upper ones were filled with buildings not much connected to everyday life, besides a large amphitheater. A military facility, probably.
Right at the top there was a black castle-like building that rose imposingly above the rest. That must have been the fortress.
We ended up approaching the fortification from behind.
Verdia had already sent a letter about our visit a long time ago, but they only knew it would be that week, not on which specific day, so they might not be ready.
I observed the fortification with my Demonic Eyes and investigated with my senses. There was no protective Barrier, and no form of concealment either.
I could already sense everyone inside with ease.
"Doesn't seem very well fortified..." I commented.
Verdia laughed and said, "It was well guarded five hundred years ago, I guess peaceful times affect even a Demon King's army."
I silently agreed as we advanced.
The guards appeared as we approached: five of them, wearing black armor, standing on the wall. They saw us and began shouting something.
Eventually, we reached the base of the wall, and there was a large door, probably some kind of back entrance.
It was a gate painted black in a black wall, so I hadn't noticed it from afar, but it became quite obvious as I got closer.
"All right, heroes! Congratulations on arriving at Fort Necross!"
Demonic Language. Maybe they were prepared for our visit after all. Or perhaps that was a common greeting to anyone who passed here?
"You must be very strong of heart to have crossed the demonic mountains!"
"Do you seek the honor of the champions or the power of the Demon King?"
"Either way, it doesn't matter!"
"If you wish to enter, come!"
"First, you must defeat us, Lady Atofe's personal guard!"
Well, exactly as expected.
Verdia seemed excited and smiling, as if she were appearing on television.
She had already heard about this in several places during her youth, but had never been here on her own — it was quite cute.
Eris was as always; she seemed eager to test the strength of a Demon King's army.
"All right, you fight first, girls. Just to be clear, I am the Sixth World Power, the Beast God. I suggest you inform your superiors about our arrival."
I said that because I didn't sense any particularly exaggerated movement in the fort.
They probably thought we were just a few random heroes.
"Wait! You're the special guest who sent a challenge letter?!"
"Probably me."
There was a short pause.
"All right! We are opening the gate! You can wait in the first room for a moment?"
"Sure."
The gates in front of us opened slowly, and we entered the first room. There were some chairs and tables, so we sat there to wait.
A guard came in and served us a kind of red tea in the meantime; we waited about twenty minutes.
During that time, I just wanted to laugh at the whole situation.
I could sense the entire fort, and I was trying to ignore the small theater they were staging in the center of the fortress.
As I confirmed there was no malicious trap, I simply waited curious and amused.
---
We were in the audience hall of Fort Necross, which was outdoors.
A long staircase embedded between thick pillars carved with images of demons led to a platform surrounded by candles lit with purple flames.
In front of each candle stood a soldier in black armor at attention. The platform had no walls or railings.
From the edges, you would probably have a good view of the castle-town below and, way at the back, there was a throne ornamented in a threatening way.
Wait a minute, it wasn't really an audience hall; it was more like, I don't know, the place where you draw a huge magic circle to summon an ancient arch-demon or something at a decisive moment.
An arena where a band of brave souls fights to stop a Demon King.
That's the kind of place it was. It wasn't an audience hall.
It was an arena.
"All right, heroes! Congratulations on getting this far!"
Sitting on the throne was a woman the height of Eris.
Her skin was bluish, her hair white and her eyes blood-red. She had bat wings and a thick horn projected from her head.
Like the knights, she also wore black armor, although it was clear hers had been through far more battles than theirs.
It was covered in scratches and all the decorative elements had long since been ripped off.
A huge sword hung at her waist, one that looked much too large for her somewhat thin arms. Its sheath was far more extravagant than those of the other soldiers.
She stood up, seeming genuinely excited, then opened her robe with a gesture. The light of the sunset behind the mountains cast deep shadows over her.
She looked like a truly majestic and wonderful figure. That is, if you focused only on her appearance.
"I am the Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe Rybak!" she declared.
In the time we had been waiting, she had been making an effort to get everything ready... or she waited for the sunset because she knew it would add a touch to the scene.
Regardless, it was an effort worthy of note; it looked quite like a Demon King from my previous life.
"You should be proud to be here, mortals!" said one of the guards. The others followed, one after another:
"Brave champions, you have overcome many trials! Now we want to know!"
"Do you seek the honor of the champions? The fame of heroes?"
"Or maybe… the power of the Demon King?"
-----
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