Three Demon Great Generals walked up to the room where the Demon King stood.
The Demon King and Kyubel looked at them before they began speaking.
'Well, took a while but we're finally done.'
Basque placed his hands behind his back, speaking with a lax voice.
'Basque, you defeated the least number of them though.'
Bildiga, a beetle walking on two legs and a metallic-looking shell quickly interjected with the truth.
'What was that?! I'll crush you down, you damn bug!!'
'I just stated the truth. And what do you mean by crush me down? I don't quite understand what you mean, mind showing me?'
'H-heh, sure. If you want it so badly.'
Basque took one of his hands from behind his head to grab a greatsword fastened to his back.
''You fools. You're standing in the Demon King's presence, show some respect!''
Ramonhamon, the Demon Great General with two heads and two sets of limbs, warned them not to fight there.
One head was male, the other female, and they always spoke at the same time, so their voice sounded somewhat harmonic.
'Huh? Aren't you the one making the most noise all the time though?'
Basque pointed out that the two voices speaking together were twice as loud as a single person.
''Oh? Are you sure you want to go there?''
Hearing Basque's words, Ramonhamon's heads turned at him in anger.
'Alright, just look who you're standing in front of.'
Kyubel spoke to them, and they quickly turned to kneel in front of the Demon King.
'Milord, we've completely eradicated the bugs swarming the northern regions of the Central Continent.'
Bildiga informed them that they had defeated the Insect A summons Allen had procreated to nearly 10000 entities.
"I see, good job. How powerful were they? Allen's summons?"
Rather than victory or defeat, the Demon King wanted to know the enemy's details.
He asked Bildiga to detail how the fight went.
'They were rather weak, and posed little difficulty in being defeated. If the summons are a representation of the summoner's power, then he shouldn't be too powerful either.'
The summons were defeated so easily that Bildiga believed any more analysis was unnecessary.
If the summons had similar Stats to Allen, then the summoner was not very strong either.
"Hmm, I see."
'We can't allow ourselves to lower our guard though. I first saw him in Rosenheim, and he's been growing in strength at an alarming rate. Or maybe he has some Skill to hasten his development.'
They had observed him both in Rosenheim and when fighting the Evil Cult, events that happened only a few years apart, but Allen had become unnaturally strong.
Not even Kyubel, the Primordial Demon General, had ever seen someone grow so quickly.
'I'm not lowering my guard, I'm merely reporting the current situation.'
Bildiga answered, saying he only replied to the question he was asked.
''Merus, who supposedly became a summon, was absent there. I'd assume Allen is in some situation which is stopping him from revealing his trump card.''
Ramonhamon appended some information after Bildiga was done with his report.
"So there's a chance that wasn't Allen's full power? This new hero is truly watchful then."
''I just felt it was necessary to mention that.''
'Good work everyone.'
There was hardly anything that could win against three Demon Great Generals together, but they had not seen all of Allen's power either, so they could not get overconfident.
That was the overall sentiment in the room, and Kyubel congratulated them.
''Where should we attack next? The human realm keeps striking back lately, so I believe it's time we show them our power.''
Ramonhamon wanted their next orders.
The Demon King's Army had always attacked with smaller forces, but now the humans had reclaimed most of the Central Continent's northern side.
That was getting a bit out of hand, so the three Demon Great Generals had been sent to deal with Allen's Insect A summons.
But that was not enough, and this was the perfect chance to show the Demon King's Army's true power.
"Hmmm."
''Please give us permission to attack the cities with the Talent Change Dungeon or the S Rank Dungeon where Allen's Army and the Hero's Army are currently training together.''
If Allen's summons were that weak, they could easily attack the two cities.
It was clear those two cities were important landmarks strengthening the human realm.
Ramonhamon wanted the Demon King's approval to attack both sites.
'Our only priority right now is resurrecting the Evil God, General Ramonhamon.'
This was no time to siege cities.
"That's true. We can't afford to split the army. We need to pool all our resources into the Evil God's revival."
That was where the Demon King wanted them.
'Milord, are three Demon Great Generals truly necessary there?'
"Yes."
'Understood.'
The Demon King knew Bildiga was not defying his orders, but simply verifying them.
The Demon King was very used to Bildiga's attitude, which did not even tolerate jokes.
If that was the Demon King's decision, they would follow his orders.
A sense that things had been decided spread through the room.
'Say, Demon King, I actually tried my best this time…'
"Hm? What happened?"
The Demon King turned to Basque, who looked somewhat dissatisfied.
He had worked as hard as he could, so he seemed to want a reward.
'That's not true. Basque was the worst performer.'
Bildiga repeated that out of the three of them, Basque had defeated the least number of summons.
The Demon King slowly turned to look at Kyubel.
Kyubel's gaze from under his mask seemed to say to at least hear what Basque wanted, so the Demon King told Basque to continue.
'I know, I'm not some beast. Without any stand-out feature I'll never be able to match the rest of you.'
He had treated Bildiga like a bug earlier, but now he called him a beast, but no one said anything. His emotions were always so easy to change.
"A stand-out feature? Oh right, your weapons were taken from you that last fight."
The Demon King remembered how Basque's twin orichalcum greatswords had been taken by Allen during the Evil Cult fight. Allen had been really insistent in taking his possessions.
'And I also heard that there's some crazy good sword in this palace's treasury, so give it to me!'
Basque's eyes twinkled as he struck his arms forward, pleading to the Demon King.
"A sword? I believe we have a couple of orichalcum ones."
There was a treasury in this palace, where the Demon King lived.
The Demon King thought about the items stored there, thinking of an orichalcum greatsword that would fit Basque.
'Not that dumbass. I heard there's a Cursed Sword there!'
'Basque, do you mind toning it down a little now?'
Kyubel warned Basque for his language.
'Ah, right.'
He did not apologize whatsoever, he barely seemed to regret it either.
"The Cursed Sword Onuba, huh… If you manage to wield it, you may take it."
'Ohh, for real? Alright!!'
Saying that, Basque rushed out of the room, even though the conversation was not over yet.
"He's still the same as always. I wonder if Basque will get to wield the Cursed Sword Onuba though? It's hard even for me to hold it."
The Demon King sighed watching Basque go, then spoke to Kyubel.
'There's a high chance Basque will get to use it. He still has Elmea's Blessing [Full Equipment]. Though well, there's also the possibility of the Cursed Sword swallowing him.'
Kyubel had recruited Basque into the Demon King's Army, but Elmea's Blessings should still be active in him.
"I see, that's good then. If anyone else wants something feel free to ask. Just remember we have to resurrect the Evil God no matter what. That is all I want."
He would do anything to accomplish that goal.
If someone wanted a Cursed Sword, he would give it to them.
He just wanted them to remember what their goal was.
''Yessir!''
'Understood.'
"It's time we end the era of men. We'll kill anyone who gets in our way, or is annoying to live with. The next time we fight, we'll go all out."
The Demon King reminded everyone of that before reclining on his throne.
As he looked up, his eyes were filled with a type of ambition Basque lacked.
'Was it here? Or around there? I think it's supposed to be here. Oh? Is it this room?'
While the Demon King thought about things on his throne, Basque ran barefooted through the palace.
He eventually reached the enormous doors concealing the treasury.
'Oh, Lord Basque. I'm sorry, but this is the Demon King's treasury. Do you have permission to enter?'
The gatekeeper's body was a statue, protecting the treasury. He asked if Basque had permission to enter.
'Huh? Of course I do! Get out of the way!!'
'Ghahh?!'
Basque answered annoyed, finding this hurdle after coming her in such good spirits, so he kicked the gatekeeper away and entered the treasury.
There were all sorts of treasures of gold and silver, as well as ominous and eerie items as far as the eye could see.
It was a large treasury, so Basque had to walk around a bit before his eyes focused on a single jet black greatsword thrust into a pedestal.
Basque assumed that was it, so he rushed to it and forcefully took it out of the pedestal.
'Hmph?! What the hell is this?! I can't get it out!! Grhaaaahhhhh!!'
Basque's veins swelled up as he put all his strength into his arms, but the sword would not even budge.
'H-hey you! Get your dirty grabbers off me!! Who do you think you are to touch me like that!!'
The sword let out a coarse voice, protesting against Basque.
'Huh?'
'Are ya dumb or what! Don't "Huh?" me! I told you to let go, you stupid kid!! Do you even know who I am? Do you?!'
The voice became even ruder, and it was easy to imagine saliva spitting from its mouth, if it had one.
'You're the Cursed Sword Onuba, right?'
'Yeah, guess there's something inside that skull after all. But if you know that then go away already! I want to sleep.'
The Cursed Sword was in no mood to talk.
No matter how hard Basque continued to pull on it, it would not come out from the pedestal.
It was like the sword was telling him to give up and walk away.
'...Hey, why are you sleeping? I've heard all about it. Apparently Gaia took your place or something, so you went crying to that Goddess of Darkness hag.'
Basque started talking to the silent Cursed Sword.
"Huh?!"
The Cursed Sword replied with a doubtful voice, while Basque began talking about everything he knew of the Cursed Sword so far.
'And then even though you wanted to serve the Goddess of Darkness, you couldn't get into the Underworld, so you ended up as decoration here. That's so damn funny, and now you just want to sleep? Gyahahaha!'
Basque began cackling so loudly he rolled on the floor holding his stomach.
'Ah yeah sure, so funny. Hahahah! Just die already!!'
The sword's voice was low, but it was quickly filled with rage.
The moment its voice changed, the sword slipped out of the pedestal and the jet black blade darted at Basque.
Fwhoosh!!
Basque quickly reacted to cover his vitals with his fist, but the blade easily pierced through, and continued digging itself deeper into him.
The sword was trying to take his life, heading straight for Basque's heart.
'I like that force. That's so nice. Say Onuba, why don't you come with me?'
Basque put more force into his muscles, stopping the blade's movement.
'Hm?'
'I need a weapon. And if I had a Cursed Sword like you, I'll be even stronger. So come!'
Basque paid no attention to the blood dripping from his fist, grinning as he tried to convince the Cursed Sword.
He had nothing to offer in return, making his demand extremely one-sided.
'...So you want me? But I want to kill Gaia. That's where I belong.'
'Huh?'
The sword did not answer Basque, instead stating it wanted to kill Gaia who stood in place of it.
The Cursed Sword also had a rather selfish personality.
'So if I give you my power, you'll let me kill Gaia, right?'
The Cursed Sword offered Gaia's life as a condition to fight with Basque.
'Ohh! That sounds good, I'm glad we're on the same page.'
Saying that, Basque used his other hand that was not pierced through to hold the Cursed Sword.
'My elements are earth and darkness. Make good use of that. Also, never call the Goddess of Darkness a hag again.'
The Cursed Sword would not tolerate any insults against the Goddess of Darkness.
'Ohh, you have two elements, though damn, darkness makes sense. But hey, at least I finally got a darkness weapon!!'
Basque seemed like he had not heard the warning about respecting the Goddess of Darkness.
He was more happy about obtaining a weapon of the darkness element, considered the strongest and rarest in the world.
He felt like he could overpower any other element in existence now, except for divine.
'I see, you can actually wield me. Hey Basque, pick up that band floating over there too.'
The Cursed Sword Onuba sounded impressed by how easily Basque took hold of the sword, giving both of them a little understanding of the other.
'Huh?'
The blade pointed in a direction on its own, a pedestal not too far from there.
There was a circular mass of spikes, like a wild thorny shrub, floating above the pedestal, which constantly seemed to beat as if it was alive.
'That's Gehena's Band. It'll change your defense's element to darkness, and boost your Endurance by a lot. Wear it.'
That was an item that changed the element of one's defenses, into an element of the highest level. The sword told Basque to wear it.
'Seriously? So defenses can change elements too!'
Basque ran to that pedestal, moving far more swiftly than his big frame made one imagine, and took Gehena's Band in his hand.
crick crick crick
'Good.'
The Cursed Sword muttered, sure it had won.
'What's good? Ghah?!'
Skrish!!
Gehena's Band began crawling over Basque's body.
The band's sharp thorns dug deep into Basque's body.
Gehena's Band clung even more tightly onto his body, and Basque was unable to handle all of it as blood began dripping from all over his body.
'Such an idiot. That's Gehena's Band, made from the Goddess of Darkness' clothes. A fool like you would never be able to wear that. But now I can use your body like my puppet, so it all works out.'
Crack crack
After covering all of Basque's body in thorns, Gehena's Band began contracting.
Basque's bones began breaking, and Basque's enormous body seemed to shrink.
But at a certain point that shrinking stopped, Gehena's Band unable to continue.
'...A-Amazing!!'
Basque's exhilarated voice rang out, even though his skin was shredded and his muscles about to burst.
His body was quickly enveloped in the same golden sacred letters that appeared when Kiel used his healing magic.
'Wha-?! A-are those Elmea's?! D-damn you, do you have Elmea's Blessing?!'
The Cursed Sword was shocked seeing those holy glyphs, understanding what had produced them.
Basque used his enormous strength to prop himself from the ground.
'Ohh, this feels good.'
He did not seem to mind the blood covering his body, or the Cursed Sword's shock, Basque was simply interested in the effect of Gehena's Band.
'...'
The Cursed Sword fell silent, finally understand what kind of person Basque was.
'Anyway, I have a new weapon and armor. Now I can turn that Dogora or whatever into mincemeat! Heeheeheehee!!'
Dogora touched the scars left from when Dogora cut his body diagonally, and he had to get it sewn together.
Now that he had obtained more power, Basque recalled that fight against Dogora.
Dogora was the first person he wanted to kill.
Basque had a maddening and menacing grin as he imagined all his future fights with this newly gained power.
