Army in the Sky
In a castle in the vast sky.
Inside the audience room, chalk pillars were lined in rows.
Angels with pure white wings filled the hall.
Among them were 10 individuals who stood out with 3 pairs of noticeably large, strong and pure-white wings, as well as 3 individuals with jet black wings, all kneeling in the front row.
13 Seraphim class individuals of the “Apostle of the End” group.
Unlike Dino, who was a fallen angel, the pure white seraphim didn’t show any expressions.
As if they were robots, their expressions remained still like Noh masks[1].
However, two of them were pleading with surging emotions to retain their humanity.
They were Kagali and Vega, who were resurrected as seraphim.
Of course, since they gained a “power” that greatly surpassed their former one, their energy seemed to rise greatly.
Their master had not appeared yet.
They received an order to assemble, however they were waiting because there was no estimated time.
It wasn’t all of the angels’ army of 1 million angels, only the higher-ranking angels of commander class gathered here, however, even so the hall was filled with sublime divinity.
In that quiet hall,
「Hey, Dino. For you to be that person’s subordinate, it’s the first time I’ve heard about it, you know?」
Kagali whispered quietly.
Dino awkwardly,
「I thought that there wasn’t a valid reason to say it. Because I’m an “Observer” you see. It’s in the basics to act whilst hiding one’s true identity, you know」
Answered so.
She nodded, agreeing that it would be so,,
「Then, you seemed to have been defeated right? Aside from Demon Lord Rimuru, do the subordinates pose to be much trouble too?」
And she asked the question that she was most concerned about.
Rimuru was a Demon Lord with deep connections. It seemed to be Dino’s duty to neutralize the labyrinth forces during the period when that person fought against Kagali and Co.
The secret agreement of Yuuki and Dino was unknown, even to Kagali.
Dino who had infiltrated the Octogram was acting as an “Obsever”.
His objective was to monitor them from within, the demon lords; who were the primary forces opposing the angels. Infiltrating the group, Dino’s duty was to collect information.
It was Pico and Garasha who investigated without going to the front stage, while Dino was laying down low because of his conspicuous position.
The fallen angels were individuals who engaged in special missions, and were released in order to investigate human society.
However, there was a reason why Dino started the operation.
Originally, Veldanava held the rights to command the angels. However, they were transferred from Veldanava to Ultimate Skill『Justice Lord Michael』 and finally, to Rudra when he borrowed the skill.
However, even with his willpower, Rudra had been unable to move the seraphim class.
In other words, Rudra hadn’t noticed Dino’s existence, who had acted secretively.
And yet, Dino had made a secret agreement with Yuuki.
He was attracted to Yuuki when he met him, he was charmed by the “power” Yuuki had――and was unaware of its scope, to the point where he was obeying Yuuki’s every order.
He was unable to clearly understand the reason, but perhaps――
「It was beyond troublesome. It was to the level where it could not be taken lightly of, no matter what..
I think that fellow is the strongest in the labyrinth, I’m sure he’s stronger than me.
Certainly, I was tired because of the continuous fighting and I had also underestimated my opponents as well……
The other party had been leading me around without showing any of his seriousness.
――In addition, apparently, several of them seemed to have been reborn as awakened Demon Lords.
Don’t make that face of ”what are you talking about?”!
I believe that if our positions were reversed, I’d probably have the same reaction as you though.」
Dino responded like he was tired.
To such an appearance, Kagali realized that what Dino said was not a joke but the truth.
「What a weak thing to say. You should just smash a guy like that! Worry not, yours truly will crush him!」
Vega boasted.
(It’s nice to be an idiot……)
Dino thought so, but he didn’t let it out of his mouth.
Because nothing will come out of it, even if he did say it.
Kagali let out a sigh, having been amazed, while Pico and Garasha unpleasantly knit their eyebrows.
However, nothing was said, as those girls realized that even if they did say anything to Vega, it would be useless.
The place was wrapped by silence once again following Vega’s remark.
Kagali thought about Dino’s remark.
Kagali, herself, had taken in the power of the seraphim and in turn, her power increased greatly. Furthermore, although it was something not known to any other than Yuuki, she had also awakened as a Demon Lord.
10,000 souls had been poured into her Demon Lord’s seed.
As the person who took on the power of an awakened Demon Lord and a Seraphim, She acquired the Ultimate Skill『Dominion Lord Melchizedek』.
Obtaining the absolute rule ability, she was given one of the “Four Fiends of the Heaven Commanders” rank by Yuuki.
He chose the four strongest people and named them the “Four Fiends of the Heaven Commanders”.
She and Dino were two of the “Four Fiends of the Heaven Commanders”. Another one is Vega, while the last person was unknown……
She thought that today’s summons was to unveil the last person.
She put it aside and kept thinking.
She and Dino were equals.
Such a person had asserted that he wasn’t joking about being played around by his opponent.
It might be an enemy that they could never be careless with. But, even so……
Kagali had a hard time suppressing the pleasant feelings that sprung out from her heart.
The tremendous power that she now owns.
She had a hunch that the chance to test it will come soon.
And……
“Just you wait, Leon. Next time, it’ll be your turn to cry!”
Kagali kept thinking while holding back her feelings of obscure joy.
Is her present self really weaker than Dino?
No. She never thought so.
Even if the opponent was capable of leading Dino around, if it was her then she could probably win.
Because her power already surpassed an awakened Demon Lord.
Kagali thought, that if it’s her current self, even Demon Lord Leon might not be a threat.
Kagali quietly waited for Yuuki to appear whilst continuing her thoughts.
Vega doesn’t think.
He just waits for an order.
He has power.
He looked into the deep abyss of this world by experiencing death.
He insatiably devoured a seraphim and made the power his own.
At the same time, the fragments of the abilities that he had acquired so far fused, and he felt that they were strengthened.
Defeat gave birth to power.
An incarnation of spontaneous explosive power. That was Vega.
As the result of being Yuuki’s creation, he was able to take various skills (abilities), fuse them, and supplement them, enabling him to evolve into an ultimate battle monster.
He acquired the Ultimate Skill『Evil Dragon Lord Azi Dahaka[2]』.
It has the destructive ability to overwhelm the other existing skills.
It will be a catastrophe for the world, because this ability had awakened to a person who didn’t think about power control. No, that might have been the reason why he was able to acquire that power, simply because he doesn’t think, he only does.
Anyway, that was it.
Vega waited. Order ran through his body.
His purpose was merely to block those in front of him and annihilate them.
Dino cast his eyes down and thought about the current situation.
How did it become like this? No matter how many times he wondered about it, he couldn’t come up with an answer.
A long time ago, his duty was to descend down to the surface on the command of that personage.
He thought that, at that time, he didn’t have his ego, but one day he suddenly noticed that he was able to think about things for himself.
He asked Pico and Garasha who were his colleague, and the two seemed to have had their ego sprouted at nearly the same time.
It was troublesome to use her power, but Dino had to use Ramiris in order to become a Demon Lord.
Degeneration from Holy to Demonic attribute.
At that time, he had used the secret method of attribute change that only Ramiris was able to perform.
His two colleagues didn’t need to degenerate though, but for some reason they went together with him and became fallen angels. Dino’s impression of them were that they were strange fellows.
After his master had disappeared, Dino kept observing the whole time.
He had to make sure of the ending to the game between Guy and Rudra, because his loyalty to his master, who had disappeared, wasn’t lost.
Because Dino believed that his master would come back one day, no matter how much time it would’ve taken.
And then, he came across it.
The brightness of the soul that he could understand at first sight.
Dino realized that his master had finally returned.
But, it seemed his master wasn’t able to move freely because of some kind of constraint.
So he handled his duty as an “Observer”, the same as always.
Because he knew that his friend was troubled, he continued his willful life while incidentally doing some meddling in various ways.
He did well so far.
Because the only instructions given to him by his master, who returned, was for him to cooperate with a young man named Yuuki.
The problem was the matter of his failure in his attack toward Ramiris from the other day.
He had reluctance in killing Ramiris, who was his benefactor, however he had no other choice but to do it in order to neutralize the labyrinth.
That labyrinth was obviously a threat and he decided that its guardians, the devils, inside were not an existence that he could ignore.
Since it would be difficult to bury them all, it was natural to aim for Ramiris, who made the labyrinth.
However, he didn’t really intend to kill her and only intended to apply a seal with Deep Hypno (Eternal Sleep).
But it ended in failure.
Not only just that……
A mark of a blue butterfly was engraved on his regenerated right hand.
No matter how he looked at it, Dino thought that maybe it was a curse, or something similar, of some kind of restriction series’ ability.
This would explain the reason why his escape was so easily allowed, so Dino felt like he wanted to let out a deep sigh.
Just after that attempt, Dino’s true master awakened.
He felt depressed in reporting his own ineptitude, while at the same time feeling pleased.
If the other party is Yuuki, at least……
“Sorry, failure, failure!” He was able to report it with a smile.
The longer he hesitates about making the report, the worse the consequences will be.
Dino’s anxiety was proved right after all.
『Hiya! Dino-kun, are you well?』
He didn’t want to hear it, the voice of the Demon Lord (Rimuru), who was more unpleasant than the devil, resounded in his brain.
(This is bad, as expected, it was the ability of such a system right!?)
He couldn’t erase the mark of the blue butterfly, even if he had tried to do so.
It shone more beautifully now, compared to the time when it had first been attached, as if the shine was evidence that the ability had taken root.
Although he had covered it with a bracelet, it was only its appearance that he was able to hide.
『Is this Rimuru?』
『Yeah, you understood well. It’s me, me.』
『What is your business? I’m busy though……』
For the voice that echoed even though he didn’t want to hear it, Dino asked.
『Nothing. It’s just a simple conversation, Dino-kun.
You seem to have provoked me for a fight right?
Well enough about your attack to the labyrinth, your colleague seemed to aim at the town right.
Normally, it’s an unforgivable act, but I may let it slide this time』
『Seriously!? What is the condition……?』
『It’s a simple thing. You are on Yuuki’s (Assumed) side right?
Because an all-out war will happen between me and Yuuki, you must not do anything.
I intend to have you be a spy, but the information will be totally untrustworthy.
Even you will feel sorry with betrayal too.』
『Wa? It isn’t a forced question or the like?』
『I’ll know if you are telling a lie, and it’s the same even if the matters change after you say it okay?』
Dino understood what Rimuru was talking about.
If he changed the contents of the information after he had reported it, it was no longer a valid report.
Rimuru seemed to have grasped the right to decide Dino’s life or death from a distance, but it was impossible to control to the extent of restricting Dino’s action, or something like that.
It’s suicidal to plan a strategy based on information that can’t be trusted for a large scale military campaign.
And so Dino shouldn’t do anything, in short, he should continue as a neet?
But, then there’s no point right?
『But, with only that, aren’t there no merits for you?』
『There is. I can shave off the war potential of your side, as long as you don’t join the battle……
The biggest advantage is to have you become our contact.
Although it’s okay if you participate in the fight, I want you to move when it becomes some kind of emergency.
Oh well, although I doubt whether the opponent who wants to destroy the world will respond for a discussion――』
“I see”, so Dino understood.
Demon Lord Rimuru will intend to fight with a frontal attack till the end.
He plans to win. Even though he advised him to surrender, he still wants to use Dino.
Dino thought that he’s a really naïve Demon Lord, naïve in every aspect.
Or possibly, it may be Rimuru’s aim to make him think like so……
Even if his group almost lost, he understood that a surrender will not be accepted, therefore Dino didn’t think that Rimuru will rely on him either.
『Understood. I’ll take your complaint.
I will be devoted to the observer role as much as possible. It will be fine right?
Ah, that’s right. To Ramiris, I’m sorry, I will be saved if you give her my apologies.』
『 Ah? Apologize later by yourself. She yelled threateningly that she will try all of her 48 special moves on you.』
『It’s not 48 right! She can only use dropkick, can’t she?!』
『How would I know. She said so. Will you say it to her?』
『Fufu. Understood. See ya.』
『Ah, see you later.』
(See you later, huh.)
Dino was aware that he felt happy from the bottom of his heart after a long time.
And it was a problem, as he was at his wits’ end.
Dino didn’t have any intentions to betray his creator (master) after all.
On the other hand, Dino understood that if he had reported it as it was honestly, he would be erased.
It has become troublesome, that was Dino’s honest feelings.
But,
(Whatever. After all, I’m very useless.
I mean, the more seriously I work, the weaker I become.
Because I say that I don’t want to work, it’s a dream come true!)
Positive, and with a carefree and lazy thought which others couldn’t follow, Dino reached a conclusion.
And so, his bright face became slightly refreshed while he awaited his master’s arrival.
That positivity was the fearsome point of the man named Dino.
It was time.
A bell resounded solemnly, and the door was opened.
A young man and a celestial maiden, who followed behind him, appeared and walked calmly towards the throne.
The young man is Yuuki, no, he’s the other ‘Yuuki’ inside Yuuki.
The celestial maiden is a beautiful woman who had long, silver hair flowing down her back. However, her face was devoid of any emotion.
She was a beautiful woman who had a pretty face like a Noh mask.
When Yuuki sat down on the throne, the celestial maiden, with natural movements, stood on his right side.
「Show your respect!」
A dignified, melodious voice echoed throughout the hall.
With it as the signal, the people who gathered stood up together and formed a line.
「Yo, everyone. Long time no see. To some people though, nice to meet you.
I’m the person who carries the nucleic core (heart) of the “Stellar King Dragon” Veldanava in my soul.
Being one in body and soul with Yuuki, it’s an unusual case as there’s 2 hearts in 1 soul.
It’s my turn now, please treat me well.
About me, call me Velda and not Yuuki.」
And so Yuuki, no Velda, said as he started to talk.
When Veldanava married Lucia, who was the younger sister of Rudra, he changed his name to Velda Nava.
Thus, he settled it by giving his official name.
And now, it was time for the descent of the true master of the castle on the sky.
The grand audience hall, by the blessing of the will-less angels, was wrapped in a wave of joy due to the overwhelming divinity.
Their true creator had returned after a long time.
Velda intends to settle everything with the Great War (game) that he declared to the Demon Lord Rimuru.
It is the last decision that he gave and it was the will of the Creator (Kagurazaka Yuuki) who reproduced him.
It could be easily imagined that it would become a large-scale Great War, the likes of which have never been seen before.
He did not understand his own true identity.
He is Angra Mainyu, the one who wished for the destruction of the world.
He wandered to many worlds, passing through the eternity of time, until he dwelled into Yuuki’s soul.
When Yuuki had just become a grade-schooler, his parents were involved in an accident and died.
It was an instant death due to a head-on collision with a truck whose driver fell asleep at the wheel and it was at this time, that Yuuki awoke..
It could be said that Yuuki’s will, that wished for the destruction of the world, was the main reason why Angra Mainyu awakened.
Since then, several years have passed by and once again he crossed worlds once again. Was it a coincidence or was it the inevitable?
He recovered a fragment of his missing memory and built a firm will due to Yuuki acquiring the Ultimate Skill『Creation Lord Ahura Mazda[3]』.
However, that power was too much for Yuuki at the time.
Angra Mainyu regained his memory as Velda once again simultaneously.
Velda, who had just awakened, used most of Yuuki’s power, so Ultimate Skill『Creation Lord Ahura Mazda』 was degraded into the Unique Skill『Creator』.
And so, with the relationship of coexistence and mutual prosperity, it became like how it was now.
According to his memories, his true identity was Velda, in other words; he was the heart of the “Stellar King Dragon” Veldanava.
Most of his soul power had been passed to Milim Nava who was his daughter.
The remainder was him, Velda Nava.
But, was he really Velda? He may only be Angra Mainyu, whose will awakened to a simple skill.
This was the question that had always dwelled inside Velda’s mind.
“Stellar King Dragon” Veldanava had perished, and Velda was left.
Then, is the current him the “Stellar King Dragon”? The answer was no.
He is an empty shell which had lost its power and he was not a match to his power during his prime.
But, there were no problems. His power was sufficient, he even finished recovering『Justice Lord Michael』, which transferred when he died.
As for his purpose, it was plain and simple.
To resurrect Lucia and to see whether he truly was the heart of the “Stellar King Dragon” Veldanava who truly loved Lucia.
He would destroy the world many times and his soul would return many times to call back Lucia’s soul.
His wish is to destroy it over and over again endlessly to regain her back for sure.
He collected the fragments of her soul in order to regain her heart.
The probability of success was extremely small, to the extent that it could be said as a non-possibility, but the answer would never be 0.
Then, he would just carry it out.
His host named Yuuki wanted to destroy the world, so their purposes matched.
Thus, they formed a cooperative relationship and treated each other as equals.
It was Velda’s turn right now. Until he wished to swap, Yuuki will be sealed in the depths of their soul.
By the way, he let Lucia’s body that he had kept to borne a seraph, and brought back her appearance of when she was still alive.
『Justice Lord Michael』moved Lucia like a heartless doll.
Michael had a close nature to Angra Mainyu, having been taken in by Velda once before, it retained its faithful will to him.
It could be said that Michael is most suited to be the guardian who would protect Lucia’s body.
Because of Michael, it’s not possible to wound, or to even touch Lucia’s body, as long as Velda yearned for Lucia.
Originally, Lucia had possessed the Ultimate Skill『Wisdom Lord Raphael』 which seemed to have been lost upon her death.
Thinking back on it, when he transferred『Justice Lord Michael』, instead of keeping it, his Ultimate Skill,『Covenant Lord Uriel』was also lost in the same way.
Those two souls had been completely broken, and maybe because of that, it was scattered to the world.
Because he was Velda, even from the state of only being a heart, he had been able to revive.
Reviving Lucia might have been possible when he was the ”Stellar Lord Dragon” Veldanava, but it was not an easy task for the current Velda.
First of all, he must recover all the abilities.
Whatever it takes, he needs to obtain the Ultimate Skill,『Wisdom Lord Raphael』 that will be reborn somewhere, and someday.
He wasn’t panicking.
Because time is infinite and his life span was as well.
Because Lucia will surely wait for him until after he finishes destroying the world.
As Velda was reconfirming his raison d’être, he stared at the angels.
They were beings that he had created long ago.
An army of destruction that needed a large amount of power to summon, yet vanished immediately after being weakened.
But, he solved the problem by giving the angels physical bodies without consuming his own energy this time.
It could be said that preparation was everything.
The 13 pillars of the “Apostle of the End”. Also, Velda’s faithful guardian knight.
Those 14 people became Velda’s strongest subordinates.
Lucia is the chief.
Michael, who dwelled in Lucia’s body, will use the seraphim’s power and protect her.
Following after her are the 4 strongest commanders, Four Fiends of the Heaven Commanders.
The former Demon Lord Kazaream, Kagali.
Vega whom he had created in cooperation with his partner, Yuuki.
Dino, who was his old subordinate.
And ‘Him’, Velda’s guardian knight.
The fallen angels, Pico and Garasha, were treated as Dino’s subordinates but it had been decided that those two would become Lucia‘s personal attendants.
Seven of them remained.
The Executioners (Seven Angels of Punishment).
They were the commanders of the detached corps who led the army of angels.
They were revived as seraphim using the souls of strong people among Yuuki’s subordinates.
The chief of the seven people was the assassin named Arios.
They awakened the Ultimate Skill『Weapon Lord』, as they were people who were skillful with the shield, sword, axe, hammer, spear, whip and bow.
They were also sufficient as war potential, enough to destroy the world.
The angels who listened to Velda’s speech didn’t show any expression.
However, they felt the supreme joy of being able to obey the orders of their creator once more, and they waited impatiently for an order to be issued.
The outbreak of the war was nigh.
Guro's Note
Do think count as a cliff? XD
Thank you for coming~
[1] This: For more information go here
[2] アジ・ダハーカ Aji Dahaka (Aži Dahāka/Azh dahak/Zahhak). The son of Angra Mainyu in Zoroastrianism, an evil figure in Iranian mythology and folklore.
[3] アフラ・マズダ Ahura Mazda. The creator and sole God of Zoroastrianism.