Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 381

381: The Form of a Vow

Now, for the finishing touch. I lightly patted Samarkand’s arm with the back of my hand.

“‘In a new contract, and in an unchanging trust.’ Show these slow-witted old fools the true power of a greater demon.”

“As you wish.” Samarkand’s form wavered. His eyes glowed red, his horns twisted and lengthened, and his fur, regardless of the wind, swayed as if in the sea. And his entire body became translucent. And a blue-green aura rose from his body like a flame.

The blood contract with a Greater Wraith… a contract with a race whose blood was ambiguous, a pseudo-undeadification, or so Rebecca and the people of the Undead Army had concluded.

To think that he had come to be bound again, after he had just been freed from a contract, was a strange thing, but I, who was happy about it, was probably of the same ilk.

His high mana and his strong muscles, as a greater demon, were almost unchanged, and he had gained the life force absorption ability of an undead and the high physical resistance of a wraith. As you could see from the fact that the scythe he had generated from his mana was translucent, his physical attack power had decreased slightly, and in this state, his natural mana recovery did not work. But he had the ability to absorb life force through contact and to convert it into mana, and our Samarkand, when he had died and been resurrected, had gained a resistance to light-attribute attacks. And the demons, who were said to have ‘blood as hot as lava,’ had a high resistance to fire-attribute attacks, in addition to dark-attribute attacks.

A resistance to the light and fire attributes, which were the weaknesses of the undead.

In the current, greatly weakened Listrea Demon Kingdom, where the elite of each army had been killed, I didn’t think there was anyone other than a supreme commander who could defeat him. —Or perhaps, even a supreme commander.

And our enemies were not the supreme commanders of the Demon King’s army.

The five or so knights who had remained as guards, leaving the high-ranking officials behind, charged towards the encirclement. They probably didn’t believe they could break through. It was a sudden movement, as if they had chosen to die in battle rather than to live.

“[Flame Pillar].”

A thick pillar of fire rose from their feet and engulfed the five knights. I narrowed my eyes at the brightness and the nostalgia of the spell.

“Samarkand, don’t you die.”

“Yes. …May I say the same to my master?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I would be happy if you would declare it.” Liz sighed.

As the pillar of fire subsided, the red-hot black armor clattered and collapsed. The contents were carbonized and, at the impact of falling to the ground, they were scattered as a powder of charcoal. The fact that the firepower had increased was probably due to the new contract.

“Then, Samarkand, give those people a chance to deepen their friendship with their subordinates who have fallen in battle. But they are, after all, the guests of honor at today’s ceremony. Be courteous.”

“As you wish. It is my master’s command. On this auspicious day, you will atone for the sin of drawing your bow against the greatest of all, with your lives.”

Samarkand was also an actor. …Though I was a little concerned that he might be serious.

“Wait—”

“[Disintegrate].”

The three of them were simultaneously enveloped in a dazzling white light—and the light, the moment the wind blew, was scattered like a dance of fireflies and melted into the blue sky. And when the particles of light had flickered and disappeared, as if to say goodbye… there was no trace of a person having been there.

A single chant. And with that, it was all over.

The strongest, and in terms of usability, the worst offensive spell, even more impractical than an instant-death spell—[Disintegrate]. A spell whose name was famous.

Whether an elemental disintegration spell was courteous was a matter of opinion, but it was probably more courteous than an instant-death spell or being burned to a crisp. Perhaps—it was Samarkand’s way of… a wedding gift… for today’s wedding, which had been rather ruined.

“—If we had fought a proper war.”

Were those people really soldiers?

“They should have known what it meant to pick a fight with a supreme commander.”

The supreme commanders of the Demon King’s army. All of them were of a mythical class. All of them were the greatest military assets. Even I, who had been a weakling, had become strong enough to not be ashamed of my seat at the end of the table.

At first, we had planned to have only Bridget, Liz’s sister and my sister-in-law, and Lathus, Aithys’s bodyguard, and even that had been an excessive force. The other supreme commanders had also said that they wanted to attend the wedding, which was a nice thing to say, so we had incorporated them into the plan, but the word ‘overkill’ was appropriate.

And besides, the death knights under Rebecca and Harken, the Order of Disease, were all elite. Samarkand, too, had gained a new power, and he was a powerful individual who was at the top of not just the greater demons, but the entire army. And even the bride, Liz, was an assassin from the elite Royal Guard, one of the top three in the country.

If they had ever fought alongside even one of them. If they had had a comrade who had fought alongside even one of them. They would have never devised such a foolish plan.

—The elite would not have participated in such a foolish rebellion.

The elite I knew were almost all here. The rest were in their graves.

I used a mana signature detection spell, and the only magical signatures—life force signatures—that remained were those of our allies. With this, it was all over.

“Honestly, ‘work’ is a pain. Everyone was so efficient, so there don’t seem to be any human casualties, but the venue is a mess. It doesn’t feel like a wedding.”

The holes where the death knights had been buried were conspicuous, and the grass had been trampled in the melee. The tables and the decorations were also broken in places.

I could see that everyone who had gathered was looking at us.

“Shall we do it again, on another day?”

“No, this is fine.”

The venue was a mess. And though they were the enemy, there were corpses lying around. And yet, there was no doubt that the one before me was wearing a wedding dress. And we had already exchanged rings. And though our vows had been interrupted, we had already spoken the words. All that was left was to give it a form.

I handed my staff to Samarkand and pulled Liz’s slender waist closer. And I cupped her face and looked into her golden eyes.

“Huh? Um.”

“—I vow to love you for the rest of my life, Liz.”

I kissed her.

“Mmm…”

After a full ten seconds, Liz pushed me away.

“What are you doing?! Everyone is watching!” She covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t hide the fact that her face was red, all the way to her ears.

“That’s why I called them, isn’t it?”

“Th-that’s true! But it wasn’t the right atmosphere!!”

“Then shall we do it again, on another day?”

“Once is enough for a wedding like this!”

“That’s right. I don’t want to have a second wedding either.” I smiled.

“I want to be with you forever, Liz.”

“…Honestly, this person… is incorrigible.”

Liz, who had been looking around for the right words, fixed her gaze on me, her face still red.

“Me, too. I, too, want to be with you forever.”

With those words alone, I felt as if I could live for the rest of my life.

“—I vow to love you for the rest of my life.”

We both took a step forward and gently pressed our bodies, our lips, together.

“Mmm…”

And again, after about ten seconds, we pulled apart, and I heard applause and cheers. Everyone who was present was clapping their hands and shouting.

To respond to their blessings, I waved my hand, and I noticed that Liz, who was beside me, was trembling. Her face was as red as it could be.

“Hey, Liz, did you… forget that we were in front of people?”

“Honestly… really, once is enough for a wedding like this…” Liz said, her voice strained, her face red, with tears in her eyes.

“Indeed.”

The day when a dark elf, a beastman, an undead, a demon, and a dragon had all attended a wedding together. I would never forget it.

“I look forward to our future together, Liz.”

“…Yes. And please, be a little more restrained from now on, Master.”

Liz’s sidelong glance. I smiled, a fresh smile.

“My bride is too cute, so it might be a little difficult.”

“! …Honestly!”

“Come on, you know? Our basic policy is to ‘have fun.’”

“…………You’re not going to stop with that policy, are you?”

“That’s impossible.” I replied immediately, and Liz chuckled.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of things from now on… but I look forward to a long life with you.”

“Yes. Me too… you know.”

Later, the Lord of Disease would be deified among the common people as the ‘patron saint of marriage,’ but that is another story.