The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 (21 page)

“Your agility in the air was never a match for mine, even in times past. I can still gain magic force in this world! Time is on my side!”

He had a point. If Emilia, who had no way to replenish her holy force, was caught in a marathon struggle, she would inevitably peter out sooner or later.

“Sorry, but I will
not
allow that to happen.”

An unfamiliar voice came from above the two of them.

A large mass of rock flew downward, zooming between Lucifer and Emilia.

“You!”

“
Him?
”

It was a gigantic body, one with bloodless white skin and a demonic, gnarled, locustlike tail. At its tip was a forked, clawlike spike.

“Far be it from me to fight in tandem with the Hero…but I have sworn my loyalty to Satan, the Devil King!”

It was Alciel, the Great Demon General, and a demon who once plunged the Eastern Continent of Ente Isla into a tornado of despair.

“And thus, my current foe…is you, Lucifer!”

The jarring voice, like running one’s fingernails across a chalkboard, was clearly reminiscent of the human Ashiya’s sarcastic tone.

“Oh, yeah. Guess you weren’t around, huh? But how’d you come back to life from
that
?”

Whether here or at the Shinjuku food court, Alciel was apparently doomed to be forgotten about quickly, whenever crisis struck. It was difficult to tell if this bothered Alciel, given that his animal-like demon face betrayed no emotions that a human could pick up.

“I was near death, Your Demonic Highness, and you granted me enough magic force to revive myself. No more, and no less.”

“Huh. Neat. But what’ve you been doing since then? You weren’t
here
.”

“I had…ripped through my pants, so I went back to the apartment to fetch my general’s cloak from the closet.”

He
was
, come to think of it, wearing a gigantic robe. It was made of a thick, heavy cloth emblazoned with the seal of the demon realm, a garment designed to symbolize the dignity of his role as Great Demon General. On one side was the bright, glittery general’s emblem, a mark that only the Devil King’s four closest officers were allowed the right to bear.

It allowed him to strike a bold presence, one truly worthy of the name Alciel, Great Demon General and commander of the successful invasion of Ente Isla’s Eastern Continent.

For the first time, Emilia discovered that a demon’s garb was for more than mere flash or intimidation. Though, for a human going face-to-face with a demon, whether said horrid monster was flashing his privates or not would never be the first priority.

“…Well, great. Don’t expect me to get all friendly with you, though.”

“Nor will I, Hero. Once this battle is over, we will be enemies once more.”

“Perfect.”

As she spoke, Emilia looked Lucifer squarely in the eye and slashed her hand to the side.

The beam of light this emitted instantly melted away the gun in Olba’s hand as the archbishop attempted to shoot Alciel in the back. “Gah!”

Alciel did not so much as toss a glance behind him. “Do not expect my thanks for that. That bullet would hardly even faze me.”

“Oh? Lofty words, there. That wasn’t exactly the case a few minutes ago, if I recall.”

“…You worthless fool!”

Lucifer interjected, showering Olba with abuse. “You had almost brought the Devil King to his knees! You could at least fight like you mean it!”

“But…but we’ll be unable to return.”

“Perhaps not! But we
certainly
won’t if we lose here!”

“…Damn you all…”

Olba finally recollected himself, his face belying his resignation. He seemed to be wholly unarmed, but the holy power within him was palpably welling up.

A clash between holy and demonic, between heaven and hell, was about to begin.

“Jeez, Alciel. Thanks for running off like that.”

Meanwhile, the Devil King was muttering to himself.

“Ugh… I’ve got nothing to do. And I probably look terrible.”

UniClo’s line of sweat-wicking T-shirts and stretch pants, utilizing the latest advances in sewing technology, was proving
remarkably resilient. Unlike the fashionable denim he had ripped through in the Shinjuku underground corridor, they were still managing to cover up the important bits without tearing, even after the wearer ballooned in size. In terms of keeping the Devil King safe from indecent-exposure charges, no one had anything to complain about.

“This…this isn’t a movie, is it?”

Chiho was still conscious, the sole witness to this clash of holy and demonic forces. Inside her holy antimagic barrier, she watched on, a stunned look on her face, as the unearthly battle unfolded. Her mouth was agape, and even the pain in her body seemed to fly away, no longer relevant.

Alciel used his force to throw countless enormous pieces of rubble into the air. As if on cue, they hurtled toward Lucifer and Olba at dizzying speed.

Emilia climbed aboard one of them, thrusting herself toward her foes. Although it pained him down to the bottom of his soul, Alciel took control of the rock Emilia clung to, the spike on his tail twitching.

“Heavenly Flame Slash!”

The holy sword fell, launching a horde of flaming blades that rocketed toward Lucifer’s shoulder. Lucifer staggered back midair, but the wound was not serious.

“Emilia, have you lost your mind?! Teaming with the forces of evil… The Church will never forgive this!”

Olba’s invective seemed hopelessly out of touch as he dodged the detritus Alciel flung at him. Emilia laughed, as did the Devil King, still engaged in his Atlasian labor on the far side of the battle.

“Silence, betrayer!”

“Don’t give her that crap, baldy.”

“That’s hardly anything
you
have the right to say.”

“…
You’re
one to talk.”

Even Lucifer and Alciel felt impelled to comment.

Olba, not expecting this unanimously scathing response, was
stunned for a moment—just long enough for one of the smaller pieces of debris to strike. It would have killed any regular man, but he was still an archbishop of the Church, fallen as he might be. He shook his head and grunted.

“…Yes. So I let my guard down for a moment.”

Small shards of metal and concrete were scattered all around Olba. He must have guarded at the last moment. But he was still faintly bleeding from his head, where his protection failed to reach in time.

“… …”

“You call
that
letting your guard down?”

As the Devil King commented from afar to no one in particular, Alciel went on the offensive, confronting Olba at close range.

“Away from me, foul demon!”

“… …”

“Whoa, Olba’s digging himself a major hole with his mouth.”

Alciel was in the habit of never speaking unless necessary, leaving the Devil King to provide running commentary instead.

“But this is turning into a kind of weird battle. Are those guys really aware of who’s on whose side any longer?”

Out of a corner of his eye, he spotted Chiho’s eyes darting to and fro, her body still protected by Emilia’s power. She made eye contact with the Devil King several times, a puzzled, indecisive look on her face whenever she did.

“Dahh… Guess there’s no making excuses for
this
.”

The Devil King bitterly resigned himself to a long explanation afterward.

“Heavenly Ice Dance!”

Emilia’s sword clashed against Lucifer’s magical barrier, the competing forces producing a frigid tempest.

“Nn…gh…”

Something resembling frost began to rain down upon Lucifer’s wings.

“That ice has the power to freeze out magic, blocking its effects. Your speed has abandoned you!”

Emilia’s sword boldly tore through Lucifer’s barrier, leaving a slash wound that ran across his chest.

“Grraaaahhhh!!”

Lucifer attempted to keep away from his foe.

“Not so fast!”

Emilia closed the gap, using the debris kept in the air by the Devil King and Alciel as footholds.

“Ngh!”

Lucifer shot out bolts of black flame to keep her in check, but Emilia let them hit her, not attempting to dodge. They were all dashed to embers by her Cloth of the Dispeller before they could strike home.

Alciel, meanwhile, was closing in on Olba.

Olba’s specialty in battle was maintaining the rear ranks, providing the support that saw the Hero Emilia’s band of fighters to victory. He alone against a Great Demon General was nothing even resembling a fair match.

Forced to devote himself entirely to defense, he looked toward Lucifer for support. But Lucifer himself was facing long odds before the Hero’s strength.

Just when Emilia and Alciel closed in on their opponents:

“…?!”

“…?”

A loud roar echoed across the ground. Everyone stopped. They had felt the sudden release of magical power that accompanied the rumble.

“Satan…”

“Your Demonic Highness…”

Emilia and Alciel focused their gazes upon the Devil King.

The lord of demons responded with a contrived laugh, looking every bit the human being he was before.

“Ugh. That was so,
so
heavy. But I got it all down gently! So we’re all okay now! I rock!”

The rumble was the sound of the rubble from the collapsing Shuto Expressway landing on the ground, guided in slowly by the Devil King.

“So! I think now’s a good time for me to get involved.”

As he spoke, the cars, rubble, and people locked inside the magical barrier landed softly on the ground around him. For the Devil King, that much work required only a trivial effort now.

“Let’s get this over with, okay? Besides…”

The Devil King’s magical force shimmered like a dark haze, the force of an erupting volcano behind it. Alciel flashed a faint smile, and once again, Olba collapsed in fear while keeping himself aloft.

As for Lucifer, the look on his face was one of pure frustration.

Only Emilia understood what the Devil King was most concerned about at the moment.

The sun was at its highest point in the sky. It was almost lunchtime.

“I’m gonna be late for work at this rate. I promised Chi I’d teach her how to do maintenance on the ice cream machine.”

“… …”

A passing glance from the Devil King would be enough in itself to knock a normal human being unconscious. To Chiho inside the barrier, the look instead made her blush despite herself.

Alciel’s eyes turned upward as he groaned to himself. Emilia noted how strangely charming the Devil King looked as he grinned, then slapped herself for entertaining the thought for even an instant.

“Right. Anyway. You guys. I had this wondrous plan for taking over the world, and you made me just stand by the side this whole battle like an idiot!”

That
was what riled him the most. Apparently.

But before anyone had a chance to bash him for it, the Devil King brought the full brunt of his glare upon the still-collapsed Olba.

“Uhngh…hhh…!”

The sheer force behind the demon’s sharpened stare was enough to send Olba flying, as if batted away with a giant hammer. His body slammed against one of the fallen expressway panels, knocking him out cold as he made a depression in the concrete.

“Pathetic! Pathetic, Olba!”

Howling with laughter, the Devil King spent not a single moment looking back at the archbishop. In the next instant, it was Lucifer he stood before.

Neither Lucifer, nor Emilia as she watched from afar, could follow his movements with the naked eye.

“You… Your Demonic…”

All Lucifer could do was nervously back away from his former commander.

“You think calling me
that
will please me at this point?”

In demonic society, defying those in the upper echelons was generally a serious taboo. And even half angel as he was, Lucifer had long since fallen to the darkness.

“Yo, Emi. What should we do with this guy?”

The Devil King turned toward his mortal enemy, face livid with sadistic glee.

The Hero seemed almost bored as she answered her own mortal enemy in return.

“Hmm, let me think… How about we make him take responsibility for messing up the city?”

“Good idea. Also, if I’m late for work, that’s on you, Lucifer, you got that? If this screws up my perfect-attendance record, what’re you gonna do about that? Huh? What the
hell
are you gonna do about that?!”

“Wh-
what?!
I don’t understand!!”

As Lucifer screamed, bewildered, Alciel muttered to himself, “Something the likes of us will never be able to understand, I fear…”

“In any event, I’ll be helping myself to your magic power.” The grin on the king of all demons’ face was gleeful.

“We’ll take care of your punishment after that,” the Hero whispered, her voice emotionless as she clanged her knuckles against the midpoint of her blade.

“Ahh…hhh…”

Lucifer, faced with the glorious light of heaven and the deepest pit of darkness, could do nothing but gurgle helplessly.

“If you call yourself a Great Demon General, at least
try
to take it with some dignity!!”

With the Devil King’s shout, light and darkness thundered across Sasazuka.

“So, how do you plan to make up for all this?”

Lucifer, no longer in possession of his fallen-angel form, could do nothing but be silent at the Devil King’s—or Maou’s, to be exact—question.

He was on his knees. On his knees, as a fragile, weak human being, atop the asphalt road, rubble, and chunks of concrete scattered to and fro, the postbattle scene one of total ruination.

Lucifer, the Great Demon General who had turned the Western Continent of Ente Isla into an inferno of punishing hellfire, was now upon his knees in front of the Hero and the Devil King.

In Sasazuka. In Tokyo. In Japan.

“I can hear the news guy now: ‘Due to a disaster of unprecedented proportions, the Shuto Expressway and Tokyo-Gaikan Expressway are impassible from Hatsudai to Chofu,’ et cetera, et cetera. Oh, and the Koshu-Kaido road.
And
the Keio rail line; that’s totally blocked just before Shinjuku. And, you know, I tried to be careful, but we might be dealing with some deaths here.”