Chapter 1.7 (1/2)

Chapter 1.7

1.7 Maou’s Castle and Sora

The door to Maou’s Castle opens on its own for no reason.  Is this a trap?  Sora, having just finished a fierce, life threatening, battle with Cerberus, is near his limit and therefore, more cautious.  Regardless, he strolls inside without hesitation.  Yami holds Sura as she follows behind him.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling brighten as he enters as if they were waiting for him.  In the middle of the room is a large statue of Elias.  Next to the statue is a set of large, black, doors.  A closer look reveals that both halves are already opened.  Spread over the floor is a red carpet.

How surprising.  Sora expected Maou’s Castle to be a filthy place.  It’s practically the opposite.  There is no blood or skeletons anywhere.  Heck, there isn’t even a speck of dust.  This place is way too clean.

While Sora is distracted by the castle’s cleanliness, an ak.u.ma appears before him.  His eyes are small and sharp, with beautiful blue pupils.  The short beige hair on his head is parted by two horns.  From the way the horns grow, the ak.u.ma almost looks like a knight.

Yami hurries to get in front of Sora in order to attack if needed, but the action is soon rendered moot.

The ak.u.ma says, “Dai Maou-sama has ordered that no one is to lay a hand on you.  We have no intention of harming you.”

Yami tilts her head at the explanation.

Makes sense, I told her we’d be going to Maou’s Castle, but I never mentioned anything about Dai Maou Elias.

Sora place his hand on Yami’s right shoulder, pon, as he steps past her.  He says to the ak.u.ma, “I understand, but did you show up for any reason in particular?”

“Dai Maou-sama ordered me to bring you to her.  Please, come with me.”

“Understood.”

The ak.u.ma turns for the door upon hearing the reply.  Sora follows after, saying to Yami, “Let’s go.”

The ak.u.ma comes to a stop before a door and knocks.  The door opens on its own.  Wait, an ak.u.ma wrapped in a robe opened it from the inside.

Inside is a large staircase covered with a red carpet.  Sora looks around as they climb and notices that various paintings decorate the wall.  They range from being mysterious to depicting acts of cruelty.  At the end of the staircase is an enormous painting where the path splits left and right.  The ak.u.ma leads right.

Various doors line the corridor.  I wonder what’s inside them.  The ak.u.ma then places his hand on the wall and, kururi, the wall flips around and takes the ak.u.ma with it.

A hidden room!  That’s so cool…

Sora places his hand on the same spot as the ak.u.ma and, kururi, he, Yami, and Sura are also swallowed by the wall.  Before them is a long pa.s.sageway.  The heavy fog makes measuring the exact length impossible.

The ak.u.ma seems to have gone ahead, leaving Sora and his group to continue on their own.  A large door soon comes into view.  The ak.u.ma from earlier stands before it.

The ak.u.ma says, “We’ve arrived, step inside.”

“Understood.”  Sora tries to open the door with his right hand, piku, but can’t.  The ak.u.ma is reluctant, but helps him.

—Gogogo

The door makes a loud sc.r.a.pping sounds as it slides over the floor.  The first thing Sora notices upon entering is a beautiful stained gla.s.s.  The second thing he notices is a round table.  Seated around the table are 6 ak.u.ma.  While most glare at him, one watches him with a warm expression.  I know that silver

hair and those purple eyes— it’s Dai Maou Elias.

Sora, possessing Elias’s memories, should also be familiar with the ak.u.ma surrounding her, but is currently too tired to check.

Elias destroys the tension hanging in the room by saying, “Like I thought, it’s Sora~!”

A pale, black haired, ak.u.ma says to Elias, “Dai Maou-sama, are you acquainted with this human (inferior being)?”

Elias stands up and lifts the ak.u.ma by his head.  All of the other ak.u.ma are shocked by her actions.  Sora too is unable to look away.  Her grave warning is a complete flip from how she destroyed the tension earlier.  She says, “Watch your mouth.  Next time, I’ll kill you.”

The real Elias can be terrifying.  This is the Dai Maou…

Elias releases the pale, black haired, ak.u.ma and approaches Sora.  She glances towards his missing left shoulder and despite the tension says, “Who stole it~?  Hold on, was it that queen~?”

“No, this… is the result of a fierce battle.”

“A fierce battle?  Against what~?”

“I fought a Cerberus on Deekos Volcano.”

“Cerberus!?  That’s, really impressive~.  Did you come visit so we could play~?”

“Sorry, actually—”  Sora explains his confusion about the Dai Maou’s divine protection, the evil eye, and her memories.

“I see~.  The fastest way to understand about my divine protection and my memories is by fighting!~”

The surrounding ak.u.ma panic at Elias’s words.  Could the thought of her fighting be that nerve wracking?

“No, that’s somewhat impossible right now.”

“Really~?”

“Right now, as you can see, I’m completely at my limit.”

“Ye~ah~, you are!  Rose, restore Sora’s stamina~.  Vera, [create] a new arm for him~ and make it marvelous~.”

“I understand.”

“Of course!”

A blond ak.u.ma with a gradient styled haircut and golden pupils with a slight droop to them steps up to Sora. “Beecome, lively!”

Sora’s stamina replenishes itself in an instant.  She must be Rose.  He says, “Thank you very much!”

Rose says, “Fu~n, giving grat.i.tude to an ak.u.ma… you’re quite the pleasant child.  No wonder Dai Maou-sama is please with you.”  She then returns to her seat.

An ak.u.ma with crimson hair shaped in a gradient bob cut style and crimson pupils walks up to Sora next.

She must be Vera.