Chapter 46: Demon King

Thanks to Kazuya, I finally managed to shake off the temptation of the Demon King, Debidangalm. Still in Kazuya’s arms, I looked toward the Demon King.

“Oh? So you reject my offer… What a waste. Now, only a future of death remains for you.”

“Miki.”

Kazuya whispered softly.

“I need the ancient magic enhancement. Do it.”

Huh? The ancient magic enhancement… you mean that kiss spell? Here!?

Ugh… W-Well, fine. It’s the strongest boost, after all. Yeah.

Kazuya cupped my cheeks with both hands, turning me to face him. As I began chanting the enhancement spell, he kissed me.

His tongue slipped into my mouth.

Gathering my courage, I met him with my own, and our tongues entwined. He devoured my mouth completely.

Unlike me, still clumsy and hesitant, Kazuya’s tongue moved freely—so much so it felt like it had a will of its own, exploring and caressing every corner of my mouth.

“What do you think you’re doing before me!?”

The Demon King’s outburst snapped us back to reality, and we broke apart. The enhancement should be complete now.

Kazuya gently set me down, and for the first time in what felt like forever, my feet touched solid ground.

“I’ve received a kiss from the goddess of victory. I’ll end this in one strike. I’m counting on you.”

“Got it.”

I understood. “End it in one strike” could only mean an ultimate technique in his awakened form.

In other words, lightning magic through Takemikazuchi.

I began chanting the incantation for the strongest lightning spell.

Kazuya awakened, readied Takemikazuchi, and dashed forward in silence.

The incantation finished just as he launched, and lightning struck Takemikazuchi directly.

Through the divine blade, Kazuya and the weapon were further enhanced.

“Heavenly Blade Supreme Slash!! Lightning Flash Sever!!!!”

With his shout, Kazuya’s figure vanished. Lightning tore through the air, illuminating everything with blinding brilliance.

Faster than the Demon King could react—faster than he could even utter a word—Kazuya cleaved him from the shoulder in a diagonal slash.

The Demon King's body twisted, his upper half sliding away and crashing to the ground.

“Kazuya!! You did it!!”

I couldn’t help but shout with joy.

But Kazuya kept his guard up, eyes fixed on the Demon King’s corpse, his stance unwavering.

“Lightning Flash Sever – Frenzied Slash!!”

Without hesitation, Kazuya slashed the Demon King's body again.

Ruthlessly. Mercilessly. Thoroughly.

He carved the body into pieces, and the lightning scorched each severed edge black.

Once the Demon King’s remains were nothing but charred scraps, Kazuya finally returned to my side and relaxed his stance.

“Is it really over this time? We did it!!”

“Yeah, after cutting him up that much, it has to be.”

“That’s my Kazuya! Woohoo!”

We high-fived.

Just like that—so quickly, so cleanly—the Demon King was defeated.

Kazuya must’ve been frustrated that Ashler had stopped his ambush earlier, so this time, he went all-out from the start. And it worked.

No living creature could survive something like that.

---

We were celebrating, holding each other in joy.

And just as we were about to kiss again—

Kazuya swiftly grabbed me and leapt backward.

A black shockwave tore through the space we had just occupied, blasting a huge hole in the wall behind us.

“Oh? So you dodged that? I thought you’d be off your guard. I’m genuinely impressed.”

—!?!?

W-What!? What just happened!?

“Lightning is troublesome. Regeneration takes far longer than expected. And your speed exceeded all my calculations. Truly a shame—I had hoped to make you one of mine.”

We turned toward the voice—and there he was.

The Demon King, Debidangalm.

He stood there, perfectly whole, not a scratch on him. As if Kazuya had never torn him apart.

“Demon King Debidangalm!! How are you alive!? I saw myself carve you into pieces! That wasn’t an illusion!”

Kazuya demanded answers—and he was right. If only a part of him had been cut, maybe you could explain it away. But this? His whole body had been shredded into hunks of flesh. No ordinary magic could reattach that. Nothing could recover from that.

In this world’s magic system, you can’t even reattach a severed arm—let alone regrow it.

It would’ve been easier to believe it was some kind of illusion. But it wasn’t.

There’s no way he could’ve recovered from that.

“Hmm. Yes, I suppose a story from the old days is in order. As a reward for defeating me, I shall tell you… and then you may despair.”

---

The Demon King began to speak—about his origin, his powers, and even the truth behind his extended lifespan.

A thousand years ago, the Demon King, Debidangalm, had been created by an alchemist. He was a magical lifeform—an artificial being. However, born without any apparent abilities, he was nothing more than a slime and was discarded as a failed experiment.

But in truth, he wasn’t a failure. He was an unparalleled masterpiece.

That slime-like being, driven by instinct, became aware of hunger. It feared starvation and began to seek food, guided only by primal urges. By chance, a female elf passed nearby. It absorbed her. And once it felt full, it awakened to its abilities.

—Those abilities were Regeneration, Multiplication, and Evolution.

At the same time, intelligence bloomed within it. Consciousness emerged, and soon it learned to speak. With its regenerative and multiplicative abilities, it expanded its body, and through evolution, it began to grow and transform. Over time, it consumed various beings and developed further.

By then, it had lived 500 years, continuously evolving through its own powers.

No longer slime-shaped, it had molded itself into a form completely indistinguishable from a human. It mastered its powers, allowing it to regenerate from any wound or severed limb through Regeneration and Multiplication. It had become the ultimate, invincible lifeform.

Then, for some reason, it began conducting experiments—on humans.

It blended into human society, even marrying. While it never had children, from the outside, they appeared to be an affectionate, beautiful couple. Its appearance was modeled after the first elf it had absorbed.

One day, it had a question: What would happen if it applied its powers to other organisms?

Perhaps it was simple curiosity—or something else entirely.

The first test subject was its own spouse.

After the man had wistfully remarked how envious he was of the youth around them, the creature used its powers on him.

From there, it began experimenting with humans, granting them the powers of Regeneration, Multiplication, and Evolution.

Humans were ideal: abundant, intelligent, and capable of communication.

One of its key experiments was extending human lifespan.

Take Kalif, for example—he wanted a longer life, but it would be a problem if he became stronger in the process. So, to prevent that, it used Regeneration to halt cellular aging at his current state, accelerated cell division with Multiplication, and used Evolution to stop further development.

With this, Kalif would never age beyond his current state—and crucially, would not become stronger. If everything went well, he might live over 200 years.

In reality, Kalif had only lived a bit over 100 by sheer luck. Most people died within a few years or decades when the abilities failed and their systems shut down.

In short, the lifespan extension experiment was still in its trial stage.

And if the person died prematurely, they still couldn’t rebel due to the brand’s control. They had no chance of overpowering Debidangalm anyway.

Debidangalm himself continued evolving and growing stronger through Evolution, using Regeneration and Multiplication to dominate powerful demons and magical creatures. He repeated his experiments, creating stronger monsters and demons, keeping the most successful as his subordinates.

A thousand years passed since his creation. Finally, he rose as the Demon King.

His current appearance was modeled after his long-lost husband in his youth—when he still posed as a human.

◇◆◇

In other words, the story about extending Kazuya’s lifespan—living for a thousand years—was a lie. Worse, it could’ve killed him almost immediately depending on luck.

If that had happened, I would've lost my mind. Once branded, he wouldn’t have been able to oppose the Demon King. We would’ve been helpless. All we’d have left was regret.

Thanks to Kazuya, we avoided that fate. You really can't trust the Demon King’s words.

I was truly glad I had trusted Kazuya.

And the reason Debidangalm had revived from that shredded state—was because of Regeneration and Multiplication. That explained everything.

But honestly—how do you even defeat something that can come back from that kind of damage!?

“So that means… we have to destroy the core!!”

Kazuya shouted.

The core? Kazuya… the Demon King never said anything about a core…

Wait—! Could it be… one of those classic fantasy tropes!?

I get the feeling, but this isn’t a game or a manga, you know…?

But when the Demon King, Debidangalm, heard Kazuya’s words, his eyes widened in surprise.

“How do you…!? Hmph, no matter. You’ll never find its location anyway.”

Looks like Kazuya hit the mark. So much for fantasy knowledge being useless—his past life experience was seriously terrifying.

“Still… Kazuya, your lightning is truly troublesome. My full regeneration only just now finished.”

“What!?”

So that whole story just now was stalling—to buy time until he could fully regenerate.

Kazuya’s attack had dealt that much damage, even to him.

But now he was ready to fight at full capacity again.

“However, I now understand. —It would be disadvantageous to continue in this form. Kazuya, I shall show you… my true form. Behold it!”

With that, the Demon King began to transform. His body swelled and expanded, his shape shifting like morphing clay.

Once the size of an adult man, he now grew to over six meters (19 feet 8 inches) tall. His lower half had four massive legs, and his upper torso extended from above them.

The closest comparison I could make was to a centaur, except the lower half was elephantine—thick and massive. Horns and spear-like protrusions jutted out from all across his heavily muscled demon body.

“Fuhahaha!! This is my true form!”

…Well, I wouldn’t call it cool, exactly. More like… a final boss. If someone told me this was the last boss, I’d probably buy it.

---

Regardless, the final battle had now truly begun.

A preemptive strike would be ideal!

Or so I’d like to say—but the ancient magic enhancement had long worn off. I resorted to dual chanting: one spell to physically enhance Kazuya, and the other to empower Takemikazuchi with lightning magic.

At the same moment, Kazuya entered his Golden Awakening. He unleashed Heavenly Blade Supreme Slash: Lightning Flash Sever, aiming at Debidangalm’s legs.

The Demon King’s lower half—like that of an elephant—was covered in thick, tough skin. While Kazuya’s attack could slash it, it wasn’t enough to sever. And the moment he cut it, regeneration kicked in, instantly repairing the wound. It wasn’t enough to land a decisive blow.

Any attacks directed at the upper half were blocked by the countless horns protruding from his body. They acted as shields, breaking the momentum of the blows.

While Kazuya repeated this cycle several times, I focused on bombarding the Demon King with high-level magic.

But as expected of someone called the Demon King, his magical defenses were formidable. His mana was immense, and his barrier was incredibly tough.

Though our attacks were landing and doing some damage, the constant regeneration rendered them meaningless. Nothing stuck—nothing ended it.

Due to his elephant-like lower half, the Demon King’s movements weren’t fast. Kazuya completely outpaced him in speed.

But that meant nothing in the face of that hardened hide and his Regeneration and Multiplication abilities. We just couldn’t land a decisive blow.

The Demon King kept attacking us relentlessly, regardless of distance—his magic and the many horn-like protrusions from his body extended and stabbed at us, endlessly.

Even if we cut them, they’d regenerate instantly and sprout again. It was frustrating.

Both Kazuya and I kept fighting while trying to locate the Demon King’s core, which had to exist somewhere.

But no matter where we attacked, there was no response. We assumed that if we struck anywhere near the core, he’d react defensively—but there was no such reaction at all.

At this point, we couldn’t even guess where the core might be.

Just where is it hidden?

If we don’t find it soon, Kazuya’s awakened state will run out. We have to locate it before that happens.

But we had no leads, no strategy—just the ticking clock and our failing momentum.