Part 4
It was Baduta.
Unlike the guys that were naked at the bottom, he was properly wearing armor.
He held a spear tinged with magical power in his hand.
He poured a sharp glint of his eyes on Diablo.
「I’ve been waiting for you, Diablo or whatever it was.」
His heavy voice reverberated.
Being confronted like this raised Diablo’s tension all the more. It felt as if heat was rising from deep within his body.
This was without a doubt a Demon King-like moment.
Diablo turned the 《Staff of Tenma》 towards him.
「Kukuku......Baduta, lament on your carelessness of standing before my eyes!」
However, he was worried──If it was a powerful person such as Baduta, he should be able to guess the difference in ability between himself and Diablo.
What was with the opponent’s confidence-filled attitude? Was it a trap? Was it a bluff?
Diablo’s haughtiness and confidence-filled attitude was, of course, a bluff. It was a Demon King role play. Putting aside when it was in the game, whenever he fought in this world, he always suppressed his nervousness and fear.
He inquired.
「Baduta, what is this scene?」
「If you are a first-rate Magician, then wouldn’t you know?」
Since he was a mere Gamer, he didn’t happen to have any knowledge on things that didn’t have to do with battle like that on hand.
However, if the objective of this place was the same as the game......
「So you were performing the sorcery for the Marked Death Disease.」
「Fumu......Did you hear from Lumachina that it was sorcery?」
「You are saying that she also noticed?」
Baduta frowned.
「It can’t be, you mean to say not just the High Chief Priest, but even a Magician had noticed?」
「Fu, I am not some Magician. I am a Demon King that came from another world!」
「Such nonsense......」
──This is pretty unbelieveable, isn’t it.
He thought that Rem and Shera’s honesty, both of whom simply believed him, was priceless.
「Are those foolish fellows groveling at the bottom also related to that sorcery or whatever......」
「If you become my subordinate, I shall tell you anything.」
「You are talking quite arrogantly, aren’t you, Baduta. That sorcery......Did you learn it from a Demonic Being?」
The opponent’s eyes went wide open.
「Wha!? How, did you know?」
It was because it was sorcery that a Demonic Being used in the game──he couldn’t possibly say that.
「Kukuku......I said that I was a Demon King, did I not!」
He still didn’t know what this other world was, but he thought that it might be the source material for the MMORPG Cross Reverie.
Even in regards to this sorcery, only the R-18 portion was omitted.
He probably brought Rem and Lumachina here for some reason, a reason that was not narrated in the game, and make them do such immoral actions.
Diablo made a command.
「Release those two. In addition, if you atone for these vulgar misdeeds, I shall leave you with only your life.」
Baduta laughed, shaking his shoulders.
「Diablo......You sure are young. How you achieved that much strength, with that youthfulness, I am entirely interested in it but......At any rate, you are inexperienced.」
「What was that?」
「You have never lost a fight, have you? If you fight like that, you become conceited and believe that you will "absolutely win". That is why, even in this current situation, you’re thinking that you’ve "cornered the enemy", aren’t you?」
「Hmph......That is because it is the truth.」
While taking a self-important attitude, he broke out into a cold sweat in his mind.
Certainly, Diablo was thinking that he would "probably win if he fought one-on-one".
Even if his MP had decreased, Diablo’s level was higher, and the difference in equipment was large.
Baduta’s spear was tinged with magical power, but at most it was of SSR rank. Diablo’s equipment was SSR equipment that was strengthened to the limit. If it were given a rating, it was EX rank.
It was an overwhelming advantage.
On top of that, Diablo possessed superior Player skills, and he had never lost even when he fought against a similarly level 150 top Ranker.
──Boiling it down to being theory-like, my parameters are level 150, and my equipment is 150. And then, my Player Skills are 150! Altogether, my level is 450! The difference from the level 130 Baduta is, 320!
If they fought, there should be no mistake that he would win.
Baduta stroked his beard.
「Now then, it would seem that you are an absurdly strong Chemical Elemental Magician but......What magic are you able to use here?」
「Mu......?」
*Kon kon* Baduta knocked on the stone wall.
The stone that was hit by his gauntlet had a bit of it break off and fall.
It was surprisingly fragile.
「This place is underground. At this depth, the surrounding area is bedrock, but if the ceiling were to collapse, a large amount of sand would probably come falling down.」
Diablo gulped.
「Making such a bluff......You will also be buried alive, won’t you?」
「I wage my life for the sake of victory. That is only natural. It should be same for you. However, what about the lives of your companions?」
「You bastard!」
Diablo had come to save Rem and Lumachina. If he were to bury them alive with sand, it would all come to nothing.
Baduta didn’t care about the lives around him.
「With this, the maximum magic like what you fired at the 《Sand Whale》 has been sealed, hasn’t it? Next is your footing. Do you specialize in fighting on stairways? Let us see just how well you can evade with the footing here......」
「The one that will suffer from being unable to evade, is you!」
He fired magic.
《Explosion》
An explosion occured.
The stone stairway crumbled, and it fell down.
The fragments of stone fell on top of the group that were sloppily having intercourse at the bottom of the cylindrical room.
「Ugh!?」
It was much more fragile than he thought.
In addition, because it was an enclosed space, the shockwave felt was many times stronger than how it would be outside.
Sand flashily fell down from the ceiling.
──So even magic of this level is too strong!?
Baduta calmly evaded, going down the stairway. If Diablo were to grasp that speed, he would have liked to use magic with a much wider range but......
If he were to use something like that, the ceiling would give out.
Diablo cast his eyes towards the altar.
It seemed that the damage from the magic just now hadn’t reached the altar where Rem and Lumachina were. He was relieved.
The people in the surroundings had become strange. Even though fragments of stone and sand were falling from above, they stayed intoxicated by the banquet of madness and not a single one of them tried to run away. They didn’t even show signs of noticing the surrounding dangers. They probably no longer had any sanity left within them.
Baduta smiled.
「You do things without thinking.」
「Hmph......I simply tested you out a bit. To see if you are worth of making me get serious.」
「I see. Well then, allow me to go next.」
Baduta prepared his spear, and came thrusting it out.
He needed to repel him with magic!
──Just what level of magic will end things without destroying the stone walls!?
Baduta shouted.
「You’ve hesitated, greenhorn!!」
The distance was filled all at once.
The spear aimed for Diablo’s heart. It clearly came to kill.
「How naive, Baduta.」
The magic 《Grand Mine》 activated at his feet.
It was a magic that caused an explosion when a specified spot on the ground was stepped on. It was an Earth attribute Elementary Magic, and had low power, but it was because of that that he didn’t need to worry about the stone wall breaking.
Baduta did not stop even as he was enveloped by the explosion.
「It is your loss!」
「Ugh!?」
Baduta’s spear headed towards Diablo.
Evasion was──
The stone wall to his right, there was no choice but to fall on his left, and quickly moving back was too unsuitable in this place that was a bending stairway.
The advancing Baduta had Diablo and both sides of the stairway in his sight.
He had no choice but to rely on his memory to move back.
However, the length and height of each step of this stairway subtly differed.
It would be the end if he slipped up.
「Ha! Do not underestimate a Demon King!!」
Diablo brushed away the spear’s attack with his left hand.
He was a Magician who was supposed to be weak at close combat, but his basic parameters were at a suitably high level.
He swept it aside.
Even though that is what should have happened, the spear vanished from his field of vision.
*Zoku* A chill ran down his spine.
──What!?
If was different from what he expected.
His own left hand wasn’t where it should have been.
Wasn’t it supposed to have brushed the spear away and prepare for the next attack?
A massive amount of blood spilled down onto the stone stairway.
Diablo’s left arm was, severed even through the bone, and it dangled only by his skin.
──Uowaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!?
He desperately held down the scream that was about to let out.
A greasy sweat spouted out.
The pain was too much, and his vision flickered.
Shera, who was watching the fight from the top of the stairway, raised a scream as if to do it in Diablo’s place.
And even though she shouldn’t know about the situation, Rem raised her voice at the bottom.
What happened to Lumachina?
Horun’s figure was gone. Did he run away?
Diablo still had the composure to worry about his surroundings.
Normally, he surely would have writhed about in pain, crying and shouting. Was it all thanks to his tough level 150 body?
He was somehow able to put himself on guard.
「Fu......Fufu......You are pretty good......Baduta.」
「You overestimated your own strength, and came to a place where you can’t exhibit that magic of yours. You might have thought that you used all sorts of methods and "ascertained the secret location" but......this was all calculated in order to call you here without suspecting anything. If I had left a letter behind saying "I am waiting at an underground facility", you probably would have been cautious and come after making adequate preparations. But, because you had arrived here with information leaked by my subordinates, you came in without any vigilance.」
He couldn’t deny that.
Instead of clicking his tongue, Diablo showed a grin.
「It is weaklings that think about the various small details.」
「It is just as you say. I do not believe myself to be strong. I do not get self-conceited. I always make thorough preparations, drop formidable enemies into my plans, and defeat them in situations where I have the absolute advantage. Relying on ability, equipment, and techniques, that is what a greenhorn does.」
There was a terrain effect even in the game. Special restrictive conditions as well.
However, times where the Player side prepared it, that almost never happened. A majority of the time, the administrators would prepare the special terrain, and the Players would think about the considerations for conquering it.
Diablo curved his lips.
──True, I might have been self-conceited. My thinking was shallow. This has seriously become a good reference, Oji-san.
Even if there was a need to take not damaging the stone wall into consideration, 《Grand Mine》 was the wrong choice against a Warrior-type that was greater than level 130. It was too weak that it couldn’t even slow him down.
It seemed that the opponent had piled up a lot of practice in regards to moving on the stairway. He could evade magic on the level of 《Explosion》.
That being said, if Diablo were fire high powered magic with a vast range, the stone wall would end up being destroyed.
Truly, this was a really well thought out countermeasure for Magicians.
──Even so, I will win!
「Baduta, magic that you do not know of exists in this world as well! 《Lightning Sphere》!!」
*Baribari* A purple lightning traveled through the air.
A sphere clad in lightning came forth. For its size, it had a diameter of about three meters.
If Baduta were to touch it, an intense electrical shock would run through him, and only Baduta would receive an electric shock without damaging the stone wall.
The drawback of this magic, was that it was slow.
It slowly flew towards the opponent.
In a normal situation, it could easily be evaded but......This was on top of a stairway. There was no where to avoid it.
「I see. So there was this sort of magic as well.」
Would he meekly go down the stairway as far as possible? He probably wouldn’t do that.
If he had level 130 leg strength, he should be able to jump over the three meter sphere even while wearing armor.
──Come!!
He had planned to force Baduta towards the cliff with a 《Grand Mine》 he set up on the wall.
*Jirijir* The sphere of electrical shocks approached the opponent.
──What? Is he not going to jump?
*Hyuu* Baduta’s figure disappeared.
It wasn’t upwards. Incredibly, the guy jumped down towards the cliff.
──You’re kidding me, right!?
「Your aim is quite obvious, greenhorn!」
For a moment, it looked as if Baduta had fallen, but one of his hands remained on the stone stairway.
He was hanging from it.
And then, after letting the 《Lightning Sphere》 pass by, he brought his body back up onto the stone stairway.
Baduta’s posture was bad.
It would have been effective if Diablo made a direct attack right here.
However, Diablo was a Magician that specialized in firepower. Challenging him in close combat would be reckless.
If fact, it had taken his all just to avoid the spear that Baduta thrusted out.
Diablo stepped back.
The heel of his right foot got caught on the stone stairway.
「Cra──!?」
「You have slipped up! This is the end!」
Baduta’s spear was thrusted out. A glittering, seven-colored effect spread out.
So it was the Martial Art 《Rising Spear》──The move’s activation was fast, and its power was high. In addition, it invalidated the Physical Damage Reduction effect.
Most likely, when he had cut Diablo’s left arm a little while ago, he probably noticed that there was the Physical Damage Reduction effect in Diablo’s equipment.
The spear lodged itself into Diablo’s chest.
The sharp spearhead, it tore through his 《Hollow of Jet Black》, severed his muscles, smashed his bones, and pierced his heart.
A large amount of blood spouted out from his mouth.
The pain was so great that, without even realizing that it was pain, his brain burst and it felt as if he would lose consciousness.
Death.
He fell into darkness.
His heart was crushed due to the high level Martial Art. This was without a doubt instant death damage.
The 《Staff of Tenma》 fell from Diablo’s right hand.
It rolled on top of the large amount of blood that was spilled.
Crumbling down, he fell to his knees.
The one that raised a high-pitched scream, was probably Shera.
Baduta was confident of his victory and expressed a smile.
Diablo’s right hand grabbed onto Baduta’s left wrist.
Breathing out rough breathes like a beast, and his eyes shining with a blazing radiance, his bloodstained lips opened.
「You’ve finally, stopped......you senile old man.」
「..............................Wh..................Why, are you alive!?」
Baduta tried to get away, but Diablo’s grip wasn’t so weak as to let him shake it off so easily. Diablo invoked a magic whose condition was "contact".
「......Send everything to the world of stillness......《Absolute Zero》.」
Starting from the part that Diablo was in contact with, Baduta’s left arm turned white.
One of the Water Attributes strongest magics.
Any and all kinetic energy is completely and eternally lost. The target was limited to one person, and the spell won’t activate unless done at zero distance.
Baduta’s eyes went wide open.
「UOOOOOOHHHHHHHH──────!?」
「Go and become a sculpture of ice!」
While hurling blood from his mouth, Diablo shouted.
Baduta invoked a Martial Art with his right hand. With the 《Finger Blade》that turned his hand blade into a drawn sword──
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