Chapter 14:

Not From Around Here II

The Demon Lord Shouldn’t Be At This Much Of A Disadvantage!!: What do you mean the descendants of the Heroes are overpowered due to nepotism?


Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 30

It was through their connection with their Divine Artifacts that Inessa and Lylia knew when a Demon Monarch resurrected. Like a singular, powerful beat of an ethereal heart, they both sensed the moment when Geist, or in the past Nacht, reappeared in the ruins where they would execute them once more.

Quietly waiting for the signal telling her that he had returned, Inessa teleported to his location immediately to confront him. However, the being she saw was no longer merely a demon of shadow and armor that she could strike down without a second thought.

Her time in Facide, as the Champion of the people, had conditioned her to forget, to not think about it, and, with Nacht and Geist coming back to life, not internalize what she was doing as ‘killing’ the same as if she were to cut down a person. The few bandits she had fought in the past, she would capture and hand them over to the guards or knights, and let them deal with them. The few monsters she had slain before didn’t leave corpses behind, so killing them didn’t feel real. And the only demon she had encountered in her three years as the Champion had been a lesser demon, where there was an option to deal with them without taking their life.

After a week of contemplating it by herself, it was frightening how such a short amount of time in her life had desensitized her to taking something’s life just because it wasn’t ‘human’. But Geist was human. Not a Facidian human, but an Earth human, like she had been.

So, while she appeared with sword in hand and shield at the ready, she didn’t lunge at the towering, armored being immediately. She simply stared at him, as he stared back, unarmed and waiting for her to make the first move.

“Remember, Essa. Don’t talk to him. Don’t pity him. Just kill him. Okay?” Lylia’s words from the night prior echoed in her head.

There was a non-zero percent chance that Geist was lying. That he had somehow learned that she was summoned from Earth and was using that to manipulate her.

But if I were to believe that, then I would have to believe all those nobles keep making passes at me simply because they like me. She thought, an equally unlikely circumstance to believe, if not more so. “Hey, Geisty… Can we talk?” She asked, finally, breaking the silence between them.

His face was lost behind the darkness cast by his helmet, if he even had a face at all, but she could still see the all-too-human, weary smile he gave her as he nodded. “I’ve been asking you guys that for over a month now.” His voice was deep, resonant, and menacing, but his tone was warm and considerate.

“A month and a day, actually. Months here are three weeks long.” She corrected him with a giggle as the tension faded. “Oh, but just because we’re talking doesn’t mean I won’t have to kill you before I go back. I’m sorry, but I still need to fulfill my responsibility as the Champion.”

“Yeah, I kind of assumed you would. You might not enjoy this like Lylia does, but you don’t strike me as the type of person who would turn her back on people in need. But can I ask why?” He asked, not approaching her and sitting on the ground since a dialogue had been agreed upon. “If one thing’s the same between here and Earth, it’s that women still love to talk. Both you and Lylia have given me the impression that your efforts and sacrifices aren’t appreciated as much as they should be, though you both could also be blowing things out of proportion. But even if you are, if you feel so unappreciated, and you weren’t raised here like Lylia, I assume, was, then why continue fighting for these people?”

“I didn’t want to. Not at first.” She admitted, a small, joyless smile on her face as her eyes wandered to the surprisingly stubborn architecture of the dilapidated structure. “I cried– a lot. I just wanted to go home. See my family, hang out with my friends, and finish my cosplay outfit. You know, normal girl stuff. I never asked to be chosen by some goddess who sends a freaking truck to run you over.” The one-note laugh that escaped her throat was as incredulous as it was reluctantly accepting.

“Nacht got me in a storm. He mentioned something about our bodies being difficult to affect with magic, but souls were easier.” Geist agreed, nodding sagely. “So… Is that how you looked back on Earth, or did you possess someone living here?”

“Wow, I knew Nachty could be… eccentric, but that’s excessive, even for him.” She said, surprised but at the same time not that surprised. “Apparently, the Goddess Lini created this body in my original’s image. Keeps me from not recognizing it as my body, or something like that. However, most people don’t believe that, since I, and the summoned Champions before me, don’t have blonde hair and gold eyes like Lylia and the Popess get. I mean, even the king and queen get gold eyes as proof of their ‘divine right to rule’. So seeing someone, the only person in the world as far as I can tell, with dark hair and no outward sign that I’ve received the Goddess’ blessing, I kind of get it. That, and summoned Champions of the past haven’t always been the most… virtuous.” She added, trailing off as she recalled the history told to her.

“From the perspective of the past Demon Monarchs, all the Champions and their parties were heartless, genocidal maniacs.” The greater demon joked, trying to lighten the mood. “A bit biased, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t hear you say it was untrue.” Inessa shot back, crossing her arms.

Crossing his arms, he raised what passed for an eyebrow as he looked at her accusingly. “How many Corrupted are out there right now?”

There was no clever or witty rebuttal in the face of such objective truth. “...Okay, fair. But for the most part, Champions are good people… to the Pure. There was a Champion some time long ago who abused his power and even tried to take over the kingdom. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but the Divine Artifacts stopped working for him before he could succeed, and the Saint or Saintess at the time stepped in to stop him. Ever since, summoned Champions have been viewed with suspicion.”

“And yet they still summon new ones?” Geist questioned.

“They have to. After a while, people stopped being selected as worthy by the Divine Artifacts… at least, the Champion’s set. Lylia inherited her Divine Artifacts from the previous Saintess, and she’ll select a new Saint or Saintess when she dies.” Inessa explained, wandering the ruined remains of the room and really looking at its design for the first time. “I was summoned because the former Champion, Mr. Iskacles, is no longer recognized by the Divine Artifacts, and none of his children, or extended family, were worthy. The ritual the kingdom uses was gifted to them by the Goddess Lini, just like the Divine Artifacts themselves, so whoever is summoned will be recognized by them and be the new Champion.” Coming to a stop as she looked at her sword and shield, the brunette took a moment to consciously recognize the power they, and the rest of her equipment, gave her. “And now, they want me to make some babies, so they can grow up and inherit my position. A Champion born of Facide is trusted to be loyal to Facide.”

With a weary sigh, the faces of countless nobles flashed through her mind. The widowed men old enough to be her father or even grandfather, to the boys younger than the younger brother she’d never see again. There were not many between these extremes who didn’t also already have wives and partners, with the ones her age and older having kids as well.

“That’s… So, really, they just want the Champion they summoned to make new potential Champions?”

“Basically, though nobody says it out loud.” Finding a refreshing comfort in someone being as uncomfortable with the circumstances as she was on a fundamental level, Inessa giggled softly. “I’m still just trying to not have to marry someone for as long as I can, and you resurrecting every day makes for a great excuse. But it will only be a matter of time. Then, after a few generations, when whatever I pass down through my bloodline dilutes too much, a new Champion will be summoned.”

“Okay, and I know I’m not proving Lylia wrong with what I’m about to say, but… Have you considered making the people of this world fight their own battles?” Geist asked, his tone as even and neutral as his simmering disgust would allow.

“Of course I have. At first, I did all the time.” She replied, though not with anger or loathing, but with a gentle acceptance. “It wasn’t fair. I was taken from my home, told I had to fight and kill for people who don’t like or trust me, and eventually start a family with some shallow noble who is only looking for a status boost. Of course, I wanted to tell them to deal with their own problems and leave me out of it. But then I made a friend. And that’s when I felt it.” Having circled what she could make out as the perimeter of the room, Inessa stood in front of Geist and held up her sword. “These aren’t just divine objects gifted to the people of this world. They are the manifestation of the determination of the Champions of the past to protect the next generation. In a time when Chrysaor’s Curse was slowly diminishing the magic of this world, making it harder and harder for them to defeat the Demon Monarchs of their time, they would beseech the Goddess Lini for more power. Not for themselves, but for the next Champion, and the one after them, and the one after them. And after proving themselves, and giving up revival magic for the Goddess’ aid, they earned each of these relics. Because they believed that having the power to maintain the peace their world enjoyed was better than being able to come back to a life of suffering and hardships.”

The person before the large, armored demon was no longer the uncertain girl who was wavering about what to do. She was now a young woman of resolute will, shouldered the unspoken promise that transcended time, passed on from Champion to Champion. It wasn’t about the entire world that they were protecting; that was just a side benefit, a consequence of finding someone or something in Facide that was worth fighting for and defending. It didn’t matter if other people didn’t appreciate her efforts. All that mattered was what mattered to her.

“And I want Lia to have peace, or at least stand by her side while she fights for it. It doesn’t matter who else benefits from that, as long as the people who I want to be happy are happy.” Her energetic, playful smile returning to her face, she giggled again. “Sorry, I’m sorry, Geisty. Even if you were a human before this, and even if I do actually hate this world and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of the people who live here, I’ll keep killing you if that makes Lia happy.” While there were a couple other faces that came to mind for her, mostly young kids too young to know to hold a bias against her, she didn’t need to elaborate that much to him. And Prince Liamion, too, I guess. He’s a bit younger than my younger brother should be, but since the Champion isn’t allowed to marry into the royal family, he hasn’t tried to hit on me. He’s more like a kid brother than anything.

Slowly standing to tower over the shorter brunette, Geist manifested his greatsword and raised his guard. “Well, even if I don’t know what I’d do if I actually defeated either of you, I’m not going to just roll over and–?!”

“Use: Photo Thrust.”

Before he could finish, Inessa used the technique granted to her by her Divine Artifact to try and impale him in the chest. He was only just able to deflect the strike from its true mark, taking the blow closer to his shoulder instead of dead center.

“Oh, Geisty~ It’s cute that you think you could beat us.” Her playfulness, a stark contrast to the lethal intent of her attack, she hopped back to gain a bit of distance and parried the huge blade that swung at her with her shield effortlessly. “But, sorry, if I take too long talking with you, Lia’ll get suspicious. I’m not supposed to be talking to you, after all.”

Despite the threat to his life, having died and resurrected so many times had eroded the shadowy being’s fear of ‘death’. “Yeah? Well, us talking so long gave me plenty of time to stock up on revives.” He joked back.

“Oh, yeah~ That is a problem, isn’t it.” The brunette said, though her tone suggested it was anything but. Pointing her sword at him, she smirked. “Use: Cleanse.”

Before Geist could move, the familiar, brilliant ray of holy light shot from her weapon and washed over him, and from her perspective, she noticed the brightness and intensity of the violet lights that served as his eyes dimmed drastically.

“That’s cheating.” He said, dropping his shoulders.

“That’s the result of sacrifices in the past protecting the present.” She quipped back, rushing forward, slipping past his guard, and cleaving him from shoulder to hip diagonally with one attack. “See you tomorrow, Geisty~”

Before his body could split in half, the Demon Monarch evaporated into a flame of shadow, with a chunk of slivery-blue crystal formed from where he stood.

Stretching, Inessa sheathed her sword and turned around to collect the Mana Crystal. “Man, I feel better now. I was totally overthinking everything.” She said, a smile stretching from ear to ear. “You’re a good listener, Geisty. Thanks~”