Evan D. Sherden, Into the Final Chapter (2)

The next morning, the members gathered in the hall and checked the plan once more. The happy Louise, whose face was shining with so much light, was ignored by everyone. After so much consideration, it was decided that the Junior group would stay behind in Merdin, except for Lin and Lan. With their abilities, no matter who invaded Merdinthats right, even if the Beifeka army invaded, they would easily fend them off!

Ill inform the Beifeka royal family that Louise has went on her journey to defeat the Demon King.

Thats an intentional inducement!

Of course! Those bastards will never give up on Merdin. Im planning to crush them thoroughly with this chance!

With this evil plan which even the Demon King would be astonished by, Shine just shook his head. But only Louise replied seriously.

Merdin is what matters to me and not Beifeka. I can consider the independence.

Not bad. Merdin can be developed to become a self-sufficient state.

What about becoming an expansion of Sherden?

No, thats a bitjust let it be, Merdin. Traditions are important, arent they?

Becoming Sherden 2 was just too much. It was the same with Louise. She was very lovely, but it was a bit of a burden for Evan to have her by his side all the time

But you are the true owner of this land

Its yours, you know?

Its the land that the child between you and I will govern.

Louise mumbled so charmingly and patted her smooth stomach. And everyone was dumbfounded at that moment and looked at Evan as they tilted their heads. But Evan was also bewildered. It was just one night, so it was weird she had shown such a gesture! It was just too soon!

Master? Perhaps last night wasnt your first night together?

No, Lua. Its a misunderstanding!

Evan went through hell as he was framed with unfair doubts. He couldnt understand why he had to deal with such a ridiculous situation when they were about to fight the Demon King!

Ifif everyones ready, lets go!

As Evan succeeded in proving his innocence, he asked the Junior group once more to defend Merdin. He made everyone board the dragon.

Gnar, go full speed towards the Eternal Glacier.

Kyuu.

Gnar growled and spread its wings. The flight was instant. Evan took out his binocular and saw the Beifeka army stationed at the borders of Merdin.

Good, good; their numbers seem to have gradually increasedLouise, did you communicate with them?

Yes. Ive told them that Ill clear up the dungeon and head straight to the Eternal Glacier. Along with the news that the Demon King has resurrected.

Strictly speaking, the Demon King hadnt been resurrected yet, but the conditions for it have been met. However, Louise said such things to easily fool Beifeka. In the process of recapturing the sealed Merdin, Louise found out that the Demon King had resurrected in the Eternal Glacier, so she left with her master, Evan, to confront the Demon King. How persuasive it was!

Thats good. If they are looking down on Louise and me, Ill take actions so that they wont.

Actually, the people in this world perceive the Demon King as the undefeatable enemy. And they will think that we will all die there.

And they would move to capture Merdin before it was too late. Since they had their army nearby, they wouldnt hesitate even a bit. If there were petty problems, Evans party only cleared out the path straight to the lords castle of Merdin, so there were monsters nearby its vicinity. The Astray Junior group was on standby in the center of Merdin.

Will the Junior group members be all right?

They are quite strong, so leave it to them.

Gnar increased its speed, and they were completely out of Merdins sky. Maybe the Beifeka army noticed it, too. The dragon flew fast northward. It passed Beifeka, Mana Road, Silk Line, and they were over the Great Sea of Elto Frent before long.

The Demon KingIm getting excited.

I wanted to confront him personally.

You can fight it next time.

Arisha, dont talk as if the Demon King is some kind of a field boss that appears regularly, will you?

In fact, it did appear regularly throughout the entire series, just like the field bosses

Evan Oppa, can I tame the Demon King?

Dont even try. I am telling you not to do so.

Tsk.

Autumn looked more suitable for the weather than winter, but the Great Sea of Elto Frent was already freezing.

Its a sign of the resurrection of the Demon King. If you dont defeat him, the ice will stretch all the way to the Silk Line Kingdom.

If its such an important thing to defeat it, the Silk Line Kingdom will take it as

Well, they will realize the situation someday.

They intentionally didnt report it to the Silk Line Kingdom; it would only cause chaos if they knew. By the time they noticed the phenomenon, the summoned Demon King would have already been defeated.

We will soon arrive at the Eternal Glacier.

Demons will be there. Everyone, get ready.

Roger that.

Gnar entered the area of Eternal Glacier. They had caused enough ruckus before, but since time passed since then, the glacier retained its pure white and cold atmosphere that seemed to reject all intruders.

Pure white?

Whats the matter?

Nah, the Demons

Why werent there any of them? Evan barely stopped himself from talking as he was too bewildered.

Arent they aware of the fact that all dungeons have been completed? No way, the message shouldve been relayed through the Devil to the Demon Realm. Demon King, you bastardwhat on earth are you planning?

Evans eyes narrowed.

Lua, use your Search. Find the Demons.

Right away, Master.

Mirole, assist Lua.

Sure.

Belois, the most powerful magician among the members, and Mirole cooperated and searched through the Eternal Glacier. Meanwhile, Evan asked Serena to have Gnar head towards the site where the final battle with the Demon King was supposed to take place.

Whoa, its really clean.

You dont say. I dont see a single monster.

Its more suspicious since there is nothing.

That moment, Belois sighed and lifted her head.

There are none, Master. I cant find the Demons nor any monsters within the search radius.

Same result from me, Commander.

Huuuuh?

Well, things were becoming more and more unpredictable, werent they? They arrived at the destination with Evan wearing a distorted expression. However, everyone, including Evan, tilted their heads as they looked down. It was because there was nothing in that place.

Did I get the wrong coordinates?

But Master, there is no place thats suspicious other than this one. Ive performed the mana scan earlier, and

Commander, wait a second. This is perhaps.

I knew it; its a barrier!

Lin shouted all of a sudden. Mirole stared at Lin as she was upset with the fact that she lost her chance to speak, but Lin didnt seem to mind it.

They were all hidden by the barrier! Its a tremendous one. And besides. Whoa. Lan, I need your head!

Sure!

Are you girls robots with switchable heads!?

Of course not. Lin and Lan, the twins, shared a deep spiritual connection with each other that allowed them to share their holy power and status, too! Lin, who received most of the holy power and intelligence from Lan, thoroughly analyzed the barrier and suddenly shouted as her eyes became bigger.

Its connected to the barrier in Merdin. A trigger was activated when the barrier in Merdin got destroyed, so those who broke that barrier cant spot this one.

Can you explain it in a simpler version?

Hmmmso, its a cause and effect.

Everyone was still tilting their heads at the answer from Lin, who became ingenious thanks to Lans status. Lin was hitting her head with both of her arms and tried her best to give another example as Evan stared at her blankly.

What I mean is, this barrier became stronger and gained immunity due to the strong power you guys used to break the barrier in Merdin. Thats what I meant by cause and effect! We are neither able to easily find nor break this barrier since we just destroyed the one in Merdin!

So thats what it is, I see. Its something like Dont even think the same attack will work on me twice!

Yup, thats right. As expected from Commander Oppa.

It was a spell that frequently appears in the game. It was like a counter-type spell, the most troublesome measure for an enemy that could cast an unfair skill that ignored all rationality. There were a lot of traps and enemies in Yo-Ma Great War Zero, which the Great Ancient Wizard couldnt handle by himself. But to have that implemented at this moment was unexpected.

It sure did use its head. They were certain that those who broke the barrier of Merdin would come for the Demon Kingand they prepared for it four years ago.

Perhaps, did the Demon King know that Evan was looking for him? Well, Evan received the worlds curse through the Four Heavenly Kings, so the probability was high. But what bothered him was that the Four Heavenly Kings that attacked Sherden barely recognized Evan when they were killed. However, the barrier on Merdin was put up on the same day, so the Demon King knew Evan when his operation began, but he had no idea what Evan looked like and where he lived. Therefore, the Demon King had experienced something related to Evan in the past and was alerted by Evan in the present and came up with a plan

Ha, its annoying

Whats the matter, Master?

I was thinking of resting well after finishing all of the quests give to me, but the realization that what Ive done so far was just phase one and phase two with harder difficulties waiting for me just kicked in. What would the protagonist feel?

Is that so?

Evan frankly spoke his feelings to Belois, who was looking at him with worry.

At last, youve come to regard yourself as the protagonist. Evan, Im really happy.

Sorry, but its not the time for that, Arisha

When moving on to phase two, there were many monsters that were far stronger than the final boss of the first phase! If the final boss of the first phase was the weakest enemy, the hardships that the party of the protagonist suffered all along became nothing.

But whats the reason for hiding thoroughly like this? Does it intend to delay the ritual to gather more strength?

Originally, the Demon King appeared when the player reached the Eternal Glacier, so this situation was something Evan didnt expect at all.

Didnt it just hide out of fear towards you, Master?

Shine quietly spoke to the bewildered Evan, and he started laughing because he was at a loss for words. The Demon King hid? Did it use such complicated tricks to hide from a human?

Didnt it cast the barrier on Merdin since it didnt want to be resurrected? Because its impossible to proceed with the resurrection ritual if all three dungeons are not completed.

No way

Shines argument is quite convincing.

I had that in my mind since before.

That bastard, its wise for an enemy

The members started whispering. Evan lightly clapped once to calm them down.

Anyways, if you guys know about it, then its fine. From now on, we will break that barrier and resurrect the Demon King to kill it. Is that clear, everyone?

But didnt you contribute the most in breaking the barriers in both Merdin and the dungeon, Master? Can you still break this one?

Itll be too much for Lin and Lan.

I know what you are concerned about, but its a petty thing. Because

Evan clenched his left fist and lifted it up. Gnar lowered its altitude as if he understood what Evan wanted. Evan stood on top of Gnars head when it stopped at an appropriate altitude, and Evan threw down his left fist with all his might while shouting.

My Annihilation just evolved to Annihilation v2!

Along with the sound of the sky trembling, the road to the last boss battle opened up.