Volume 8 - CH 1.2

Volume 8, Chapter 1: The Dark Twins, Part 2

A couple of days after the failed assassination, a crowd of humanoid figures gathered in the old castle in the center of the giant underground cave – the base for the combined Forces of Darkness.

The castle was said to have existed for thousands of years, and some theories proposed that it was the castle that the first [Hero] had built.

Thanks to the stories, those who entered this sacred place were kings amongst the Forces of Darkness, and with the amount of blood shed that dotted its history, it had been sealed for nearly a millennium.

But now, the seal had been broken, and several hundred from the Forces of Darkness had entered the castle courtyard.

“Is 《that》 thing here……”

“……yeah, there’s no mistake”

The First and Second Prince of the Dark Elves, the Crown and Third Prince of the beastmen, and their retinues of nobles and knights were here.

They were the so-called [Loser Gang]. Although they had the right to succeed the throne by virtue of their ranks, with their lack of talents, all of them were unlikely to become kings, and were even placed in positions where their lives were threatened because of their ranks.

Grasping at straws for power, they chased the legends.

Such as the legend that the one who controlled the castle would be the king. And that a [Sorcerous Weapon] had been sealed within the castle.

Of course, if there really had been such a thing, it would long since been in someone else’s hands. But, thanks to the skillfully manipulated “information”, they all assumed that this was some secret that only that had acquired.

The basement of the castle was dedicated to the “daughters” of the dark elven royal family.

They would be given [Power] to rule.

It was hilarious that they clung to such terrible information, but that was perhaps a better sign of how skillful Nefertia’s information manipulation was, and how desperately cornered they were.

Gathered here were the scapegoats for Nefertia’s attempt upon the twins’ life.

They would offer up the twins for sacrifice, and in the end, only Nefertia’s desires would be realized.

…… Or at least that was how it was supposed to be.

“Enter quickly.”

““………”“

Held roughly by their arms, Nefi and Rimi were thrown into the underground altar by their brothers, wincing at the pain.

They were still little girls around five years of age. Some of the beastmen felt a twinge of guilt, watching the girls hold onto their stuffed toy so tightly.

An ancient altar set in the basement of the castle.

The princes and knights were somewhat uncomfortable sacrificing a few people. But, for the sake of obtaining that [Sorcerous Weapon], they pushed their doubts out of their mind.

“Rejoice, my foolish little sister. You should be proud that we will obtain great power with your lives!”

The second prince drew his sword and thrust it toward the twins.

“Die!”

………*boink*

“………aA……AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?”

The second prince’s hand was cut off at the wrist by the outstretched ears of the girl’s stuffed rabbit.

The First Prince and the Beastmen royals were all stunned into uncomprehending silence, even as the Second Prince screamed in pain and confusion.

In their midst, the two girls’ soft voices rang out like bells.

“Mr. Bear.”

“Mr. Rabbit.”

““If you will””

The beastmen and dark elven knights were each equal to at least a few human knights.

They were usually even able to defeat [Lesser Demons], and some of the royal guards were even able to take on [Greater Demons].

But that was only “normally”.

Of course, there would be no such knights among the [Loser Gang]. In addition, as they were all confused and afraid of this unknown…… the soft toy jumped out, defeating the knights in the blink of an eye, and began to feast.

Besides, what they were facing was a [Greater Demon] whose powers were greater than usual by twofold, that had a [Name] and had even fully [Manifested].

““Goodbye, brothers.””

As the little girls called out to them, the First Prince sank into the sea of blood, his face etched with disbelief.

And with that, the blood and souls of several hundred losers were gathered, as on the side of the altar, runes began to glow with light.

“……It came out.”

“The first hero’s…… original secret arts”

The tales weren’t entirely untrue. It’s just that they’d misinterpreted it.

It had been dedicated to the daughters of the royal families. It was tradition for the royal family who had inherited the blood of the Hero to obtain the [Hero’s Secret Arts] as a ruler by pouring their strong magics into the altar.

The magic power could be substituted with souls, contained within the blood. It had just been the whim of the hero to limit the succession to daughters.

It had all been in the twins’ hands from the very beginning.

The First Princess had also intended to kill the twins by deceiving her elder brothers using these tales that Nefertia truly didn’t believe in.

It had been the twins who had propagated this particular version of legend. They thought that their sister would definitely act upon it, and their original plan had been to use the First Princess to obtain the [Secret Arts] easily.

Well, when they were investigating this tradition, let’s just say that they had the advantage of help from a certain Butler Demon who had been commissioned by a black cat.

And in doing so, in [Saving the Twins from their Predicament], the Demons would throw the forces of darkness into confusion.