Chapter 68

68 . The demon king self-studies

“Amazing, you’re amazing Arnos-sama! As n.o.ble as always!”

“Yes! If Arnos-sama teaches me the heroes magic then we don’t need to go on this school exchange!”

“This school exchange means we have to go to Azes.h.i.+on right? Will we be lodging somewhere?”

“Possibly………… . are you going to do a night raid!?” (1)

“I can’t do something that shameful!”

“Why are you asking then?”

“Will we sleep in the same building as Arnos-sama? If so, isn’t that the same as sleeping together? It’s almost a hug right!?”

“You know…… . your strong delusions are quite embarra.s.sing . ”

My fan union is being noisy as usual .

“…… . I see……… You’re that inept person . ”

Has it finally clicked? Menou looked at my school badge .

“I thought something about you was familiar . You’re Arnos-kun right? You won the sword tournament . ”

“Aah . ”

“Like the rumours say, you really can do incredible things . ”

You might hear about my power but to actually witness it . Can’t you hide your surprise?

Well, I’m pretty sure Emilia wasn’t saying anything good about me to the other teachers so Menou might have been doubting what she’d heard .

From what I’ve seen of Menou she doesn’t seem to be one of the stiff royals like Emilia either .

“Well then, as you can all see this is the heroes magic . Anyway, next week everyone in this cla.s.s will be going to the royal capital of Gairadeite and studying at the hero academy . My third-year cla.s.s will also be going . The owl will be delivering all the necessary paperwork to your houses today so keep an eye out for it . ”

Getting over her surprise Menou had started over again .

“Today is only a quick introduction from me so the rest of your day is self-study . Please try not to disturb the other cla.s.ses . ”

Menou heads out of the room but stops as she remembers something .

“Oh right . I’m sure the hero academy is also practising army magic so there might be a compet.i.tion between them using

and us using

. The best mazoku from all over Deiruheido are gathered here in this school so I won’t accept us losing . ”

Menou winks mischievously .

“Well, I’m sure the third years will uphold our honour but I expect no less from yourselves either . Please don’t show any unseemly behaviour and all of you do your best with self-study . ”

Menou leaves the cla.s.s .

“Fumu . Self-study huh?”

“You’re not going to bother are you?” Sasha says looking over at me .

“Of course I am . It will be too boring otherwise . ”

I stand up

“Misha, Sasha, Ray, Misa come with me for a bit . ”

“That’s fine . ” (Ray)

“What are we doing?” (Misha)

“Because its self-study I’m going to teach you how to use your powers . ”

I hold out my hand and Misha takes it . The others also hold hands and I use

.

The place we arrived at was the demon forest . This is the best place for practising due to the magic soil that repairs anything so you can go wild without worrying .

“……………I’ve got a bad feeling about this . What are we doing here…… . ?” (Sasha)

“I’m going to teach you all . ”

Sasha had a faraway look in her eyes for a moment .

“You serious?” (Sasha)

“I said I’d teach you all to use your power . The mock fight between us and the hero academy is also a certain thing too . There’s no way it’s just a possibility . ”

“I guess, but you alone will be enough won’t you?” (Sasha)

“I won’t deny that . ”

“I learnt something during the demon sword tournament . ” (Arnos)

Sasha’s face takes on a curious expression and Misha stares at me

“Learnt what?” (Misha)

“Even if its insignificant use everything you have . Doing your best is the highest thing you can do . Even if you have to overturn heaven and earth, push through with all your might . Doing that gives birth to something irreplaceable . ”

“……… . Why are you coming out with those springtime of youth lines when you have that insane power…… . ?” Sasha complains while Misa has a bitter smile .

“……Ahaha…… . Even if we know that, those things rarely work . ” (Misa)

“I understand it though . Arnos’ feelings . ” Ray says with his refres.h.i.+ng smile .

“I thought you’d say that Ray . ”

“Good thing . ” (Misha)

“Really?”

Misha nodded .

“Do my best . ”

I glance over at Misa .

“Of course I’ll do it . ”

“Sasha?”

“If everyone else is I will too . I’ll come with you . ”

I laugh and start walking .

“I’m glad I’ve got such understanding followers . ”

I activate a magic formation and turn back to face Sasha .

Sasha’s eye’s round in surprise .

“… . . Wait a sec . You can’t be serious…… . ”

“Defend against it otherwise you’ll die . ”

A jet black sun left a trail of light behind it as it shot towards Sasha .

Sasha immediately dodges it by jumping up and activating Flight

.

The tree’s behind her disappear in a jet black explosion .

I ready another one .

“Hey! Wait wait! Isn’t firing off Flame Prison Anhiliation Cannon

a bit much for self-study?”

“What sort of self-study doesn’t endanger your life?”

“What are you saying!? Are you an idiot!?”

“It’s fine Sasha . Your origin gives off its most demonic energy when your life is in danger . A light that is about to go out increases its light to stay lit . This is a solid guidepost to follow for those who study magic . ”

Sasha barely evades another

while her face has the look of someone driven into a corner .

The scenery behind her is burnt again .

“It doesn’t matter how strong my magic gets if I’m dead does it!”

“Of course it does . Use that stronger light to avoid your lamp going out . Use your power right at the moment you are about to die to save yourself . Then the next time you are about to die your power will increase again . ”

The mazoku in this age are weak because there is no risk of death . In order to increase your power, it’s essential to die to the extent where you don’t die anymore .

I ready another

.

“…… . Saying such absurd things…… . ”

“You can do it”

“Such a reason . ”

“You can do it . Don’t you believe in me Sasha?”

Sasha looks at me silently .

“Use your

. They are the ultimate anti-magic . Remember when you resisted the time magic of Eugo Ra Raviaz?”

I fire another

.

“………… . Erghh………… . Really…… . . !!”

Sasha deploys antimagic in front of her and slams the power of her demon eyes into the

.

“…………… . . Take responsibility if I die!!”

The

burns through Sasha’s antimagic in no time but Sasha’s

reduce the momentum of the black sun .

The black sun got smaller and smaller as well as the flames dimmed but it didn’t lose all it power and slammed into Sasha .

“……Geh…… . . Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa………… . !!”

Sasha was engulfed in black flames and got blown away right to the other side of the demon forest .

“Is… . Is she okay?”(Misa)

“Alive . ”(Misha)

Although not perfect she was prepared to die and as such her

almost destroyed the

. Thanks to the

she won’t die though .

“I would say I’d fight you but I’ve got no sword . ” (Ray)

“Leave it to me . ”(Misha)

Misha uses Construction Creation

and makes an ice demon sword for Ray .

“I’m saved . ”

Ray picks up the sword and heads towards me .

“Here I come Arnos………!!”

“Regrettable . ”

I catch the blade with my hand and shatter it .

“That was a poor use of

Misha . When creating stones don’t create the stone but create the atoms that make up the stone . What makes a demon sword? You should look into the abyss better for your answer . ”

While speaking I thrust my fist at Ray who tries to handle it barehanded .

“…… . Haa…… . ”

It seemed like he blocked it for a moment but my strike broke through and connected deep in the pit of his stomach .

“…… . . Kuuuu……………!!”

“You need to think more about how to fight if you lose your sword Ray . If you have a sword you arent likely to be defeated by your opponent but if you lose your sword you have too many openings that can be exploited . ”

“…… . . That may be so but you feel stronger than before…… . . ”

“Even I don’t stand in the same place for long . If you want to catch up with me you’d better run with all your might . ”

Ray collapses on the spot as rain starts to fall on me .

Misa is nowhere to be seen .

Rain Spirit Mist

.

“Don’t keep showing me the same magic over and over again even if it is spirit magic . ”

I walk slowly forward and grab a single drop of rain .

“Aah…… . . ”

It turned into the body of Misa .

“You are weak to begin with Misa but even the weak have their own way of fighting . Use your head more and make better use of your spirit magic . ”

I hit Misa with my magic power and she falls down unconscious .

“Arnos . ”

I turn around to look at Misha who’s made a huge demon castle out of ice using

“Again . ” (Misha)

“All right . ” (Arnos)

I create another demon castle on the spot using

.

Turning my palm upwards my castle rises into the sky .

“I’ll try it . ” (Arnos)

I point at Misha’s castle and my castle flies towards it colliding violently .

A loud noise resounds and countless pieces of rubble fall down .

After the dust settled only my castle remained . All that was left of Misha’s castle was rubble .

“You’ve still got a long way to go . ”

Misha suddenly falls down unconscious . Without any hesitation, she had poured every bit of magic she had into that castle .

“Fumu . Good resolve . ”

I draw a formation under everyone and cast Total Complete Demon Healing

.

All 4 people regained consciousness and slowly got up .

Using

I restore their lost magic power with my own .

“Now then, let’s continue our self-study . I’ll revive you all as many times as needed until school ends . ”

(1) The term used here is Yobai which roughly means night crawling .