I Formed a Party with a Girl via an Adventurer Matching App - Chapter 59

 Fierce Battle

"Even if I am defeated, a new ruler of darkness will eventually be born and strike you humans once again. Until then, you had best enjoy your fleeting moment of peace to the absolute fullest..."

The moment the Demon King uttered those final words, he dissolved into fine particles and vanished into thin air.

Left behind in his wake were Cordelia and I, completely unharmed and in perfect condition.

"...W-We actually defeated him. The Demon King." 

"...We really did."

I could only mutter the words in sheer, blank amazement.

...No. No, no, no. Hold on a minute. Seriously, for real. Could everyone just wait a second?

We just brought down that Demon King—the guy who was the ultimate embodiment of final-boss energy, the absolute strongest existence in the world. Was it really okay for him to get beaten this effortlessly?

"...W-We really killed him, right? He's not actually trying to make us drop our guard or anything... right?" 

"I can feel the aura of magical energy that filled the area rapidly dispersing. I think... he really is dead..."

Holy crap.

But now that she mentioned it, the prickling, scorching sensation I had felt on the surface of my skin until just moments ago had completely vanished. On top of that, dazzling sunlight was now spilling through a break in the clouds of the Demon Realm's sky outside the window. The Demon Realm ruled by the Demon King was supposed to be a barren wasteland perpetually blanketed by overcast skies.

In the palm of my hand, the sensation of shattering his magic core—what you could call a monster's heart—still lingered. Working together with Cordelia to dodge his attacks and deflect the barrages of magic fired our way, the two of us had slipped right into the Demon King's blind spot.

I remembered every single moment of that battle with crystal clarity. It was an insane fight. My heart was still hammering against my ribs from performing such wild acrobatics.

"...Looks like we did it. Just the two of us, seriously." 

"...Yeah. We pulled it off with just the two of us." 

"With a compatibility rating of 0.02%, just the two of us went and killed the Demon King." 

"With a compatibility rating of 0.02%, just the two of us went and killed the Demon King, huh." 

"........" 

"........"

Behind us, as we stood there in silence, a groaning voice suddenly drifted over.

"Ugh... uuuugh..." 

"I think I can finally stand up..." 

"Ow, ow, ow... Dammit, what the hell just happened...?"

Turning around, I saw the adventurers who had been wiped out by the magical assault attempting to push themselves off the ground. Now that the Demon King was dead, the gravity magic pinning them down had dissolved.

Perhaps because the Demon King had been completely occupied with his fight against us, there didn't appear to be any casualties among the adventurers as far as the eye could see. That said, having their entire bodies subjected to an unnatural, crushing pressure meant they were all thoroughly exhausted.

One of the adventurers shook the shoulder of a particularly large man—the leader of our combined party.

"Hey, Gaiel. Wake up." 

"Ugh... guuuuuh—! Gasp?! T-The Demon King! Demon King, prepare yourself, uohhhhh!!"

Our hotheaded leader bared his teeth at the Demon King the absolute instant his eyes snapped open. Re-gripping his sturdy one-handed axe—which had miraculously survived the gravity assault undamaged—he hoisted it high into the air.

"Ambushes are strictly unforgivable! You cowardly Demon King! I'm gonna split you clean in two with my axe, uohhhhhhhhh—... ...Huh?"

...However, as he roared and surged to his feet, the target of his hostility was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing the empty throne sitting at the center of the room, Gaiel looked around wildly. But no matter how much he strained his eyes to search every corner of the chamber, not a single trace of the Demon King remained.

Instead, the only people present were Cordelia and I, standing pristine without a single speck of dust on our gear.

Gaiel froze for a moment, his prized one-handed axe still held high above his head. Then, with all of his previous momentum completely drained, he asked in a timid whisper:

"...Where's the Demon King?" 

"Dead." 

"Dead."

The fierce leader unexpectedly ended up parroting our words.

Slowly, Gaiel lowered his axe, having lost the target he intended to cleave.

"...W-What happened? While we were unconscious..."

He directed the completely natural question at us.

Of course he'd want to know. As far as they were concerned, they had rushed into the Demon King's chamber only to get blasted by a magic attack and immediately pass out. Then, by the time they finally regained consciousness and boldly raised their weapons, the Demon King was already dead.

From a common-sense standpoint, it was utterly incomprehensible. It was only natural that they'd want to know the truth behind the matter, but...

"Sorry. We don't have time to answer that right now." 

"Huh?" 

"Let's go, Cordelia." 

"You don't have to tell me twice, Kent." 

"Ah—hey, wait..."

Brushing past the hand Gaiel tentatively reached out, Cordelia and I left the Demon King's chamber behind.

Behind our backs, the groaning voices of the adventurers regaining consciousness echoed through the room. A few of them would undoubtedly need medical attention, but it was nothing they couldn't handle among themselves.

The Demon King had been defeated. We could leave the minor details to them without any issues.

Prev            TOC            Next