7DP 189
１８９．Pact and Oath
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
Part 1
『So long as I wear that armour, no dwarf shall ever come to harm by my hand.』
――The 7th Demon King's Child of the Demon Kingdom, Jilbagias Reiju
†††
The Demon Prince came to a halt, startled by the unexpected encounter with the Dwarven Smith-Warrior Battalion.
「NUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」
Seizing that brief opening, the leading dwarf warrior lifted his hammer.
Of course, it was no ordinary hammer. It was a 『Masterpiece』—a weapon imbued with the very soul of a dwarven smith. Its hammerhead had a rugged, weighty silhouette, yet its surface was etched with obsessively intricate engravings, from which surged a dreadful magical power that made one’s skin crawl.
That thing was dangerous.
Jilbagias felt it through his own body.
「DEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」
The dwarven warrior swung down his ancestral battle hammer with all his might.
Ten paces between them—well within striking distance.
Naturally, the blow landed.
A tremendous impact crashed through the Demon Prince's entire body with a deafening sound, and his defensive ward shattered like glass from that single strike.
「WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!」
Another dwarven warrior let out a warcry and swept his gleaming axe in a wide arc.
An invisible blade of force shot forth.
「!!」
But because he was a demon, the Demon Prince sensed the attack through its magical power. Taking that strike head-on was suicidal. The shaft of his spear—like a serpent of bone—coiled around his left arm and reformed into a shield made of skulls.
He caught the blow—no, he tried to. The skull-shield was torn apart in an instant, and the unseen edge still shot forward, sinking its fangs into Jilbagias.
However—
The scalemail he wore, 【Sindikaios】, shone with argent plates that radiated light as they resisted the slashes. The shock could not be fully negated, and Jilbagias staggered back. Behind him, the stone walls—where his body had not blocked the strike—split cleanly with a sharp crack, a straight line carved through the rock.
「What in the blazes!?」
「He blocked it!?」
Even the dwarves could not hide their astonishment; a strike from their finest enchanted weapon had been deflected. Jilbagias himself ran a hand along the silver scales of his scalemail.
（This armour… Truly magnificent!）
Though Jilbagias possessed immense magical power, to endure a masterpiece’s strike without so much as a scratch proved that among all the armaments forged by other races, this scalemail was surely at the highest tier.
Thus did the craftsman Ficelle prove his mettle, answering the oath-bound Jilbagias with the pride of his forge.
「That’s a fine piece of work, that one!」
「Could it be the handiwork of our kin!?」
「That gleam… I’d wager it’s fashioned from the scales of a White Dragon!」
Even amid their killing intent, the Dwarven smith-warriors’ eyes burned with excitement――
「――Hey, demon! Where did you get that armour!?」
One of the dwarves shouted, eyes gleaming with obsession beneath his helm.
Jilbagias hadn’t expected such a question in the middle of battle, and it caught him off guard. Yet the Dwarves didn’t use that moment to strike. Instead, they advanced slowly, weapons ready, but waited—stubbornly and honourably—for his reply.
（They really don’t waver, these Dwarves…）
A faint smile curled the corners of his lips for the first time that day.
It was small—a mere twitch—but a smile nonetheless.
「From the Demon King castle. Forged by a smith of no small talent。」
In any case, he could not lift a hand against them. It felt strangely leisurely for a battlefield, yet he answered all the same.
「It’s made by a Dwarf, was it!?」
「Naturally。」
「What’s his name!?」
The Dwarves leaned forward, eyes gleaming, breath hissing through their nostrils. Jilbagias hesitated. If he said Ficelle’s name, would it not drag the man into disgrace? To admit that a Dwarf had supplied a weapon to a demon prince—surely that would be called treachery――
「We know you took hostages and made our comrades work for you!」
One of the warriors roared, spittle flying.
「So if that man worked for you, he had no choice!」
「Yet even so, he forged a weapon of such exquisite craft that we must know his name!」
「He is no common smith! Could he be... A Maestro(Saint Craftsman)?」
「Impossible! Never have I heard of a Maestro being taken captive――」
The clamour was thunderous—it felt less like a battlefield and more like he had wandered into the blazing heart of a dwarven forge.
He couldn’t help but smile—half in amusement, half in admiration. To see the dwarves so utterly entranced filled him with quiet joy; their passion alone proved how splendid this armour truly was.
――I cannot—must not—break my oath…
Such earnest, lively folk. And this armour would surely serve as a great asset in the coming crown contest against the other Demon King's Children and the Demon King――
『Your Highness! What gonna happen if you, by some chance, break that vow?』
A bright, carefree voice rang in his head, freezing Jilbagias as though struck by lightning.
Ah—yes, that voice. That idiot who always made jokes, right after being beaten to a pulp by Platyfia during training—
『When that happen, the magical power enchanted in this armor will dissipate, turning this armor into nothing more than pile of rubbish scales.』
That had been Jilbagias’ reply.
『Good heavens, that would be quite the catastrophe!』
The normally serious young man had feigned shock.
『We must not let such precious item to become pile of junk!』
The mischievous younger brother had eagerly joined in.
『When the Dwarves show up――』
Their grey-haired elder brother thumped his chest!
『――Leave them to us!』
He shouted, raising his spear and laughing brightly――
『The dwarves are too valuable to kill, it’s safer to avoid any confrontation with them... But I’ll leave the judgement to you guys if you meet them in confined space.』
If memory served, that had been his reply, accompanied by a wry smile.
He could not imagine those three idiots ever defeating a company of Dwarven warriors armed with ancestral masterpieces...
「Uuu...!」
Jilbagias’ face turned ghostly pale as he stumbled backward, barely keeping his balance. Nausea rose. He pressed his hands to his ears, yet the laughter in his head would not stop.
Rather—it grew louder. Louder still. The world swayed around him; his footing felt unsteady――
「What’s wrong!? Tell us the name of that craftsman!」
「He seems… off, does he not?」
「…This gets us nowhere.」
The Dwarves exchanged glances, watching the quivering Demon Prince with furrowed brows.
「…It’d be quicker to see for ourselves。」
One dwarf muttered.
The restless air vanished instantly; the blacksmiths became warriors again.
「――Nnngh!」
The axe—one of the greatest of masterpieces—cleaved down again. This time not as an unseen strike, but with the full charging might of its wielder.
「!?」
Like a man awakened from a trance, Jilbagias lifted his head, eyes snapping open. The axe, broad and heavy yet razor-sharp, was inches from his throat when he swiftly raised his spear-sword to meet it.
Clang! The blow hit with fearsome force, and the holy sword nearly flew from his grasp, but he held it through sheer will.
「What in the gods’ name!? What sword is that!?」
The dwarven warrior-smith gaped. His ancestral masterpiece of an axe—broad, weighty, unmatched—had been stopped cold by what looked like a frail, dull blade.
Yet his astonishment was only natural—for that weapon was the Indomitable Holy Sword itself, the very blade that had once clashed head-on with the Demon King’s spear, without ever bending or cracking.
「The spear ti-- No way, is that, a sword!?」
「I can understand if he got such armour, but what on earth is that!?」
「What in blazes is going on!? I must see it! I must know!」
The dwarves’ excitement blazed even higher.
「Uuu...!」
But paying them no mind, Jilbagias spun on his heel and fled at full speed.
「He’s fleeing! After him!」
「And he dares call himself a demon!? Stand and fight!」
「That armour and sword, submit them for inspectio~n!」
With a thunderous rumble, the dwarven smith-warriors charged after him, filling the narrow stairway until it clogged entirely.
「Stop right there!」
The foremost dwarf burst from the guardroom and, with a fierce “Hmph!”, swung his hammer down at the fleeing Demon Prince’s back.
Though the prince was already more than ten paces ahead, an invisible blow struck him squarely.
With a loud bang, his defensive ward shattered, sending him tumbling forward. But he quickly scrambled back to his feet and ran without looking back.
「Stop right there!!!!」
「Blast it, he’s too fast!」
「Pathetic, and you call yourself a demon!?」
Their armour clanged and their boots hammered the floor as they gave chase—but their legs were far too short to keep up.
Just then, a distant roar shook the entire castle.
「Nuh!?」
「This is... the west gate? Has it been breached!?」
The dwarves halted in the narrow corridor, glancing at each other.
「...We cannot stay here. The east gate must be protected at all costs!」
「Fall back! Fall back!」
「Damn it... the finely crafted armour... the sword...」
「Enough, you fool! Let it go!」
The hammer-wielding dwarf, nudged on the head by his companions, gazed wistfully down the corridor—
But the demon prince’s figure had already vanished, swallowed by the darkness.
†††
『――Your Highness! Leave them to us!』
――Stop.
『We’ll fight in your place, Your Highness!』
――Stop.
『Why won’t you let us fight for you, Your Highness?』
――STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!
『Why, Your Highness... why..』
The innocent voice gradually twisted into a terrifying, eerie resonance.
Why... why did you... why did you...』
Kill uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus
「STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!」
Jilbagias kept screaming as he ran.
He ran up the stairs—up the watchtower.
He had to get away from the voice, which echoed as if rising from the depths of the abyss.
『Why, Your Highness... why...』
Even when he reached the top of the tower, the voice did not stop.
It resounded endlessly in his ears, like unending tinnitus.
「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!」
Jilbagias threw his spear aside and clutched both ears.
His bloodshot eyes fell upon an object lying on the floor.
――A short bolt, from one of the shattered crossbows he had destroyed in his rampage.
「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!」
Like a drowning man seizing a lifeline,
Jilbagias snatched it up and, without hesitation, drove it into his own ear.
「STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!」
Again and again, he gouged at his ears.
Thick streams of blue blood oozed and dripped.
Nevertheless—
『Why, Your Highness… whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy』
The voice would not cease.
「Stop... Please STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!」
Pressing both hands over his ears, Jilbagias sank to the floor, shaking his head weakly.
「I beg you… stop… please…」
Thick drops of blue blood fell from his ears—
and splattered onto the floor, mixing with the red blood of the slaughtered human soldiers,
until all of it blended into a deep, blackened crimson.