Free Web NovelChapter 332: 332 KonoSuba 57
Lately, Aqua hadn’t been around during the day. So I asked Cecily about it.
"Hmm, I’m not sure either, but she said she needed to spend her saved money quickly, so I think she’s been out buying things here and there..."
Now that she mentioned it, I thought I’d seen something like that too — Aqua coming home in the evening with lots of shopping. So I decided to ask her directly.
"You’re late? What were you doing?"
"Fufufu, this is a new cake that came out yesterday! And this is premium alcohol that’s supposedly only sold to nobles. And..."
Like a general displaying trophies after winning many battles, Aqua proudly showed off each item she’d bought. From a quick glance, they were almost all high-end snacks and alcohol. And lately, Aqua seemed to be getting chubby again.
"Is it okay to spend money like that?"
"So what? We’re about to settle things soon. Either I’ll return to Heaven or be destroyed — one of the two. So there’s no need to save!"
"That’s true."
Aqua’s mind worked well in these areas. But I doubted she could spend it all on food during the vacation. Given the large bounty and request rewards from the Regina Church incident, and having done many requests to raise levels, the members were basically overflowing with money. Not as much as me, of course.
"Don’t you dare want any! This is a gift to myself for all my hard work."
"Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal it."
Aqua gathered her purchases and hummed a tune as she went to her room. I’d told them to leave no regrets, so I decided to let her do what she wanted. Still, it was amazing how she ate like that but still showed up properly for every meal.
The next day, Darkness also returned home.
"Welcome back, Darkness. Did you have a good time with your father?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Yeah. We also visited mother’s grave together, so that’s why I’m late."
"Sorry I couldn’t go with you. Once the Demon King business is over, let’s go together again."
"Yeah, let’s."
After Darkness arrived home, she spent time with her fellow wives. Cecily said she was bored too, so we played board games and occasionally went to restaurants, enjoying peaceful times. Aqua was still busy buying things. Then Yunyun and Nerimaki also returned home.
"We’re back."
"Did you both have a good time with your families?"
"Of course. Well, there were some things here and there..."
"Huh? Like what?"
"As a Crimson Demon, according to tradition, I have to succeed the position of village chief. It wasn’t time yet, but since we’re about to assault the Demon King’s castle, I took the test early."
"Really? Did it go well?"
When I asked, Yunyun linked arms with Nerimaki and said with a bright expression,
"Yes. I failed a few times, but Nerimaki helped me a lot, and I finally succeeded."
Nerimaki looked a bit embarrassed at that. In the original, Kazuma’s party helps with the chief test, but it seemed the two of them managed it alone. And from the situation, it was good that Yunyun had grown very close to Nerimaki as well — Yunyun needs many friends.
"That’s good."
Then Nerimaki shared some interesting information.
"By the way, while we were in the village, that Mitsurugi we saw before came to recruit a mage, and ’Arue’ joined his party and left with them. She said she’s been having trouble writing lately, and thought maybe experiencing things firsthand would bring new inspiration."
"Really? Well, last time Mitsurugi was thinking he should recruit a mage after seeing you guys in action, so that’s what happened. But I’m surprised Arue joined his party."
"I know, right. I thought she’d just hole up in her room writing."
This was quite different from the original, so I wondered what would become of Kyouya’s party.
Anyway, since everyone was gathered, we spent about three days resupplying. We checked our equipment for problems, did a few simple requests in Axel village to warm up, and informed Megumin of our plans. I also had preparations of my own.
"Here it is."
Following [Jack Sparrow’s Compass], I quickly arrived at the Treasure Island that appears in a Konosuba episode. Due to the timing, it was still submerged, but it seemed about to surface soon. This Treasure Island was actually the alias of a giant monster called ’Genbu,’ which grew by eating minerals deep in its veins and only appeared on the surface once every ten years.
Genbu’s shell was covered with various rare minerals, earning it the name ’Treasure Island.’ The most important among them was a special mineral found only in the Konosuba world — ’Coronatite,’ which was filled with energy.
Having absorbed the power of leylines for a long time, Coronatite held tremendous energy — enough to power the giant ’Mobile Fortress Destroyer’ for hundreds of years. Therefore, even if we ran out of mana, it was a valuable resource that could be used in emergencies.
I dove into the sea and began loading minerals into my inventory, searching for Coronatite. It was hidden deep among various other minerals, and there wasn’t much of it.
But as I frantically mined, I secured not only Coronatite but also significant amounts of Mithril, Manatite, and even Adamantite and Orichalcum — all of very high purity. I mined so much that Genbu’s shell became smooth.
"That should do."
I came out of the sea, used [Life Magic] to clean myself, and returned home. It was already evening, having spent quite a long time mining.
As I prepared dinner, I thought about whether I’d missed anything. Now, aside from the Demon King, there seemed to be nothing left. I still had the cure for ’Cororin’s Disease,’ but with [Unlimited Transmutation], I didn’t need to go through the trouble of obtaining high-ranking demon claws.
"Finally, tomorrow is the day. The day my heroic tale’s final page will be inscribed."
Megumin said that during dinner.
"Yeah. So everyone, eat well. Tomorrow will be tough."
"Haaah~ finally tomorrow — the heavy blows... slurp~ I’ve been waiting for this moment~!!!"
As usual, Darkness couldn’t stay still. Everyone looked at her in disbelief.
"By the way, I’ve heard rumors that the Demon King’s castle is protected by a powerful barrier. How will we handle that?"
When Nerimaki asked me, I took out several Manatite crystals filled with mana from my subspace bag and showed them. Originally, I had planned to cut through the barrier with my sword skills, but after securing so much high-purity Manatite from Treasure Island, that became unnecessary. So I decided to do it similarly to the original.
"It’s this. Using this, all the mages in our party will use Explosion magic consecutively, not only to break the Demon King’s castle barrier but also to damage the castle itself."
At my words, Megumin’s eyes sparkled as she examined the Manatite.
"Oh~ I see! With these, I could use Explosion magic as much as I want?"
"That’s right. We’ll deal tremendous damage to the Demon King’s castle and then begin our assault."
Certainly, everyone was stronger than in the original, and with the addition of more mages, we could constantly barrage with Explosion magic.
"I’m looking forward to tomorrow."
"But Aqua..."
Everyone else was fine, but Aqua was a bit concerning. Judging by how much she’d eaten during the break, she wasn’t just a little chubby — she’d become so fat that her belly had formed rolls.
"Yo-yo effect."
"It’s the yo-yo effect."
As each of the members commented on Aqua, she quickly made excuses.
"I didn’t know this would happen! What do I do with all that wasted money?"
"To spend that much money just on food... well, it can’t be helped. We’ll go through with the assault, defeat the Demon King, and then you can lose the weight again."
"F-fine."
Aqua herself seemed embarrassed about gaining so much weight, so she didn’t make any more excuses and just agreed.
The next day, we packed our things early in the morning and prepared to leave. Luna looked at me with worried eyes.
"Please come back safely."
"Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll come back alive."
After giving Luna a light hug, I led the members and headed to the Demon King’s castle. Since the Demon King’s castle was quite far from Axel village, we teleported to the Crimson Demon village, which was closest. The villagers, apparently knowing we were coming, all came out to see us off.
"All of you, please return safely."
"With you guys, it’s definitely possible!"
"Do your best, Silver Flash!"
"Megumin, Yunyun, Nerimaki, fighting! You are our village’s pride!"
As everyone came out to cheer for us, Yunyun’s eyes reddened a bit. Having everyone in the village cheer for her like that, she seemed overwhelmed with emotion. Megumin, of course, was busy striking poses and acting superior.
"Everyone, look forward to it! I’ll capture the Demon King and return as a great mage!"
Megumin’s family and Kommeko also came out to cheer. Kommeko came to me and took a piece of candy from her pocket, handing it to me.
"Big brother, you have to defeat the Demon King and come back splendidly."
I patted Kommeko’s head and said,
"For your sake too, Kommeko, I’ll definitely defeat the Demon King and come back."
Kommeko smiled brightly. Just then, Hoiizaburo, watching from the side, said,
"I won’t give you Kommeko!!!"
It was absurd, but I just let it slide.
With the village’s encouragement, we moved toward the Demon King’s castle. There were groups of Demon King army soldiers that seemed to be scouts, but we quickly dealt with them and reached the castle.
"Let’s begin."
"Yes!"
Aqua and Cecily began casting buffs on us, and I took out the Manatite from my subspace bag. The mage members then took the Manatite and began chanting Explosion magic. Of course, I pretended to chant as well, timing it to join them.
KABOOOM!!! KABOOOM!!!
"Good! Keep going!"
"Got it!"
We continued absorbing mana from the Manatite and casting Explosion magic consecutively. The Demon King’s castle sent someone out to counter us, but they were instantly annihilated without a trace by the consecutive Explosions. It was probably a fallen angel, said to be the strongest mage guarding the Demon King’s castle — but they died without even saying a word. Unfortunately, since there was no Leisure Life system notification, I hadn’t landed the last hit.
KABOOOM!!!
After barraging with Explosion magic for a while, the protective barrier finally fell, and the Demon King’s castle began to be visible.
"It seems the barrier is down, but we can’t stop here. Let’s keep barraging and completely devastate the castle itself."
"Got it! Leave it to us!"
Megumin was, as expected, the most excited. We kept barraging with Explosion magic until the Manatite in my subspace bag ran out. Unable to withstand it, the Demon King’s castle gradually crumbled into ruins. The Demon King’s army soldiers tried to do something, but faced with overwhelming firepower, they could only die without accomplishing anything.
In the original, once the barrier was down, they immediately entered the castle. But I believed it was better to inflict as much damage as possible. That was also the best way to utilize Megumin.
KABOOOM!!!
"Whoa... to assault the Demon King’s castle this way! With this level of firepower, even the kingdom could be destroyed... Would someone seeing this brand us as a threat to the kingdoms?"
Darkness, overwhelmed by the Explosion magic’s firepower, worried. Megumin, excited, said,
"This is Explosion magic! The explosive force, the blast wave... it’s so magnificent!"
I glanced at Megumin as she spouted nonsense — she was drooling, her eyes unfocused. She was far too intoxicated by Explosion magic. I quickly stopped her. She was already an Explosion addict, and any more would be irreversible. It seemed I’d overused Explosion magic around her.
"I think this is enough."
"No, not yet!"
Bop!
"Ugh..."
When words wouldn’t calm Megumin, I gave her a light smack on the head.
"Calm down! If you keep using Explosion, the Demon King might run away."
"I-is that so?"
Finally, Megumin’s eyes returned to normal. We waited for the dust to settle, and the half-ruined Demon King’s castle revealed itself.
"That’s... a bit much, I guess."
"Yeah..."
I took out two Moguninins from my inventory. Since they appeared instantly, to the other members it seemed they’d just suddenly materialized.
"Gah! Who are these..."
The members, surprised by the sudden appearance, took battle stances, but I gestured for them to stop.
"They’re Ninins. I hired them for the Demon King’s castle assault."
"I-is that so."
I introduced them to the members simply as Ninins. Fortunately, given that we were assaulting the Demon King’s castle, the members didn’t question it further.
The Ninins immediately knelt before me and said,
"Master, give us orders!"
"You two will protect the mages and priests accompanying me."
"Understood, Master. We have identified the targets."
After giving those orders to the Ninins, I said to the members,
"Let’s move inside while watching our surroundings."
Darkness and I took the lead, with Moguninins on either side. The mages, ready to cast magic at any moment, and the priests protected each other as we advanced. The castle’s traps were all destroyed, making movement easy — but soon, an undead legion began swarming toward us.
"Aqua, Cecily!"
"Got it!"
"Okay!"
Darkness and I moved forward to block the incoming undead, while Aqua and Cecily cast skills at them.
"Sacred Turn Undead!"
"Sacred Turn Undead!"
Occasional undead that slipped through the sides were quickly dealt with by the Moguninins or the mages. Our teamwork was seamless, honed through many requests. However, this was the Demon King’s castle, and some undead could withstand even the strong skills of Aqua and Cecily — though barely. I finished those off.
As we moved further in, we entered a large open area, and suddenly the Demon King’s army began pouring out from all sides. Realizing traps were useless, they’d switched to attrition tactics.
"Ninins, cover the rear."
"Understood, Master."
"Darkness, protect the members."
"Got it."
I quickly gave orders and fought against the swarming Demon King army. Yunyun and Nerimaki supported me with spells that could be cast quickly.
"Lightning!"
"Blade of Wind!"
The Moguninins’ performance was also remarkable — they darted around at incredible speed, cutting down or blowing up enemies.
Slice! Boom!
"Guagh!"
"Kyagh!"
Even while doing so, if any Demon King soldiers approached the mages and priests, they prioritized eliminating them first. Watching the Moguninins, I wondered why that ancient magic-tech empire had given up on capturing the Demon King. Even giving a Moguninin a railgun (temporary) should have made assaulting the Demon King’s castle possible.
Anyway, after fighting for a while, the number of attacking Demon King soldiers gradually decreased, and eventually they all fled.
"Phew... it’s over."
Yunyun sighed in relief. Darkness, however, seemed unsatisfied, shaking her head.
"Taejin, I was so excited, but without any heavy blows, I’m disappointed. If we have time, can I change back into that armor you gave me?"
Even here, Darkness was like this.
"No, hold it in! We’re almost there. The heavy blows you’ve been waiting for will come."
I couldn’t tell whether she came to defeat the Demon King or to satisfy her own desires.
