Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 7 Chapter 1
Status: Incomplete
46% completed (estimated)
1/3 parts completed
Facing One's Reality and True Feelings
Part 1
In the home of the Moderates Faction, is the former royal capital Wildart.
From within the Oldora that was near it, there was a certain place where the sounds of swords clashing rang out continuously.
Those sounds were created by the reunited Toujou father and son, from live battle training.
Amidst the sounds of swords clashing, there were also the sounds of foliage being disturbed as they moved through the forest.
However – Basara and Jin were not on the forest floor.
They were in mid-air.
“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Along with a fired up yell, Toujou Basara swung out the demonic sword Brynhildr.
The target was the one in his line of sight -- Jin who was holding a mock sword while in mid-air.
“—whoop”
Jin casually brushed away Basara’s sword.
Yet – his first attack being dispelled, was within Basara’s expectations.
“Haaaaaahhhhh!”
He then linked together countless number of slashes with a single breath, trying to use his speed to break through Jin’s defence.
“Hey hey, attacking is fine, but won’t you at least think about the situation first?”
Jin forcefully swept his mock sword to push aside Brynhildr and break Basara’s linked attack – when Basara realized it, it was already too late.
Basara whose posture was broken, received a horizontal slash taking advantage of the opportunity from Jin.
“Guaaahhh!?”
With the impact from the heavy blow, his option of landing with his feet was taken – he then slammed into the ground. Zzdon
“Ga…..u, aa…!”
Although he had managed to cushion some of the impact of landing, the remaining force from hitting the ground slammed the air from his lungs.
But Basara still used all his energy to stand up. On his clothes were the scars left by the forest from that impact just now, and on his face and hands were many many minor scrapes and bruises.
As to the spots in his body that were screaming in pain, were even more countless.
The dirt on his clothes showed that this has already happened numerous times, like how the pain in his body showed the same thing.
Just then, Jin landed lightly on the ground after him.
“It’s already not easy to dodge in mid-air, so your openings would become wider. And yet you, the speed-type who lost in terms of power, still chose to remain in a single place – is something wrong with you?”
Jin said while lightly tapping the mock sword on his shoulder:
“Since you’ve fought Zolgear, you should already understand that when facing an enemy with higher power, you have to maximise your usage of your weapons to even out the odds, no? It goes without saying that you must be creative with your attacks, but if you can’t exceed your opponent’s expectations or imagination—
“————!”
Before Jin finished his words, Basara already started his attacks again. Keeping his body low, he accelerated suddenly, and at the same time Jin entered Brynhildr’s attack range he forcefully twisted his shoulders towards the back, sending out a horizontal sweep.
“Making such a big swing right after I said that – Ooh!?”
Seeing this, Jin raised his mock sword while saying that, but Basara cancelled Brynhildr’s materialization before Jin made contact with it.
After eliminating the counterforce he would receive with the attack originally – Basara dug his left foot into the ground, utilizing the forces on his body due to the sudden change in motion to swing his right hand that was raised up.
If he materialized Brynhildr from that position, he could use lai with Banishing Shift – the [Banishing Shift] that had severed even the arm of the high-class demon Gardo. Yet—
“ ! ————?”
This attack of Basara’s was made useless. The movements of his right arm was stopped.
As if saying he wouldn’t fall for it, the floor of Jin’s right foot had intercepted it.
“Thinking of using this move was not bad, but just like how it’s easy for the opponent to make a move when you’re this close, the opponent can also easily defend or counterattack. If you really want to use something like this, remember to always break the pacing of the opponent when misleading them, if not… it’ll be bad if the attack is blocked!”
Basara’s collar was grabbed before he could react, and he then flew through the air before finally landing on his back on the ground.
“Gaa… uh… gu—!?”
He immediately sucked back the air that was knocked form his lungs. The mock sword in Jin’s hand, is now pointed at his throat.
“—and, this is what will happen then.”
Jin said with a smile, and pulled his mock sword away.
“So… do you want to continue?”
“ ! …Of course I do!”
Despite grimacing, Basara’s fighting spirit was still unquenched.
“I see. Rest for a while first then. If you continue in the state where it can’t really move, the training will have a reverse effect.
“……I understand.”
Seeing Basara nod, Jin gave a slight smile, and lighted a cigarette.
Jin right now was very different from Basara, with his clothes being completely clean and no sign of any injuries on him, or not even being short of breath. After leaving the [Village] for five years… Jin also had a blank period of [Five Years] just like Basara, this man that was known as the strongest Hero, it doesn’t feel like there was any regression in him at all. From when Basara against Takigawa, and then against Takashi and the others, then against Zolgear, and then against Gardo and the giant spirits after coming to the Demon Realm, he had gained quite a lot of real battle experience. Of course, if Jin who came to the Demon Realm wanted to, he could take part in a few warm-up rounds first; but if he did something like that, the news that he was in the Demo Realm would spread, creating a large crisis or trouble in the Demon realm by now.
…In other words
The reason was simple, and it was that there was already a large gap between his and Jin’s strength. Back when they were still in the [Village], Basara and sparred with jin a few times, so he personally knew that there was a big gap between him and Jin, but—
…no.
The gap between him and Jin’s strength is not important now, the problem is—
“Dad…”
While sitting on the ground, he lightly raised his head and asked:
“You have met the current demon lord… Leohart, right?”
“Yes. Now’s not the right time to say this, but he seems really young and very promising.”
“…What are my chances of winning?”
Jin had already fought with both Basara and Leohart, so Basara directed a question about the power difference between the two.
“Well…”
Jin gave a prelude, and continued:
“Firstly, you are bothered by your blank period, and feel that you haven’t really regained back your battle senses… but the current you, is already stronger than five years ago in the [village]; and in these five years, your physical body base had grown, and with the strengthening from the Master-Servant Contract with Mio and the rest, those girls are probably like that too.
“Uh, but…”
“You will once again go into a difficult battle, but that’s only because your opponent is just that strong, not because you’re weak.”
That’s right.
“You guys are strong. But unfortunately, the one called Leohart is stronger than the current you by two… no, three times. If I fight against him head-on, I’ll probably can’t win against him.”
“Even dad can’t…?”
Basara’s heart was shocked. Being stronger than him by three times was already enough, but to think that Leohart would be even stronger than Jin…? In Basara’s heart, his image of [No one can win against Jin] was very strong; when he heard that Leohart was even stronger, he couldn’t even feel that he had a fighting chance.
“No, not really. I didn’t say that I’ll lose… it’ll depend on the situation.”
Seeing Basara’s face become stunned, Jin said with a wry smile:
It’s the same with you... Basara, you still haven’t completely brought out your own and your weapon's power yet, right?”
“I…”
To the point Jin brought up, Basara confirmed it with silence. While he was indeed recognized by Brynhildr as its user, he still haven’t reached the anywhere near [Sakuya] recognizing Yuki as its user.
“And also, you still don’t really know where your biggest talents are… although that’s partly my fault.”
“ ? What do you mean?”
“nothing… In short, once we solve that part of the problem, you’ll probably be able to fight against Leohart for a while/
Jin then said:
“I really would like to slowly spend time teach you until you can use it freely, but since the deadline the other party set is not far away, we don’t have that much time.”
“…Nn, I know.”
“If I tell you the reason, it might make you overthink it and not be able to grasp it…”
After Basara expressed his understanding, Jin stopped there for a while and asked:
“—you’ve rested enough already?”
“Eh? Ah, yes…”
Despite feeling Jin’s tone dropping, Basara still nodded.
At that moment, all sound around Basara and Jin suddenly disappeared – someone had put up a barrier. After that—
“I see – then I get a little more rough now.”
Jin said to the stunned Basara.
In the next moment, the aura emitted by Jin suddenly changed. Basara who received the brunt of the sudden change, had stopped breathing.
“————!?”
Basara’s whole body tensed up, frightened, and instinctively raised Brynhildr. If he didn’t take up his stance to fight, he wouldn’t be able to face the current Jin at all.
However, the body couldn’t lie. His whole body was trembling non-stop.
At the same time, a certain feeling appeared in his heart.
It was something he had not felt when facing Zolgear or Gardo – fear.
“—previously, I have said that I’ll clean up after you, remember?”
Jin slowly said in a heavy tone:
“Next, I will not be holding back at all. If you really want to resolve this matter with your own hands, struggle through it with your life. Not only just strength from risking your life on it, if you can’t appreciate it, can you really leave your life to it when in a pinch?”
Relax…
“If you really can’t, when the time comes – I will do it for you.”
At that moment, Jin’s mock sword released a dazzling green aura.
“If I make you only able to barely move, you’ll continue relying on me and become a hindrance… So that’s why I beat you until there’s only a single breath left in you, to make you throw that thinking away. If you feel that you can’t handle it, then give up.”
You hear me?
“If you make any bad moves.. making me clean up your corpse is not filial, okay?”
In the moment he finished saying that, his sword was swung – the green aura instantly gathered to become a wave of attack, going towards Basara.
“——————”
The Basara right now was stunned by the oppressive feeling from Jin, so although his mind could keep up with the pace of the wave, his body couldn’t react. Forget about using [Banishing Shift] to eliminate it, he couldn’t even meet the attack with even half of his power.
Hence – Basara’s mind flashed, thinking about how it would develop from here on.
--Jin had said, he had a chance of being able to defeat Leohart.
If things were left to Jin, it might end more beautifully than if he were to deal with it.
If he placed Mio’s matter as his first priority, he should just take Jin’s attack just like that and then lie down – this assessment, Basara could understand.
“——————!!”
Yet Basara’s hands, still held on to Brynhildr tightly.
His promise to Mio, as well as to the girls that were important to him like his family, has to be protected by his own hands. He can’t leave it to someone else – he can’t abandon his beliefs just because he’s faced with a life-or-death situation.
…That’s right.
Basara remembered, that even if he did not have the unparalleled power like Jin, he had vowed to protect everyone, just like how Jin protected him.
He can’t be like five years ago anymore, he had to control himself – he’ll decide if he’s weak and powerless after things end; he can’t do nothing and expect to be saved.
Hence—
“——————!”
The attack wave Jin released swallowed him whole – at the moment before it happened,
Toujou Basara took action.
Part 2
While Basara was in Oldora Forest receiving training from Jin.
At the girls’ group where Mio was at, they were undergoing special training in the courtyard in Wildart City under the supervision of the mother-daughter pair Sheera and Lucia. Close ranged fighters who primarily uses weapons or martial arts like Yuki and Maria were instructed by Lucia; mage-type fighters like Mio, Kurumi and Zest were instructed by Sheera. What they were doing here, is something that is not special training like for Basara. Sheera and Lucia who had the role of instructors held tactical workshops on the ways of fighting coordinated for Mio and the others, studying old match ups, or planning new moves.
The focus is on bringing out as much of their power as quickly as possible, and raising the strength or effectiveness of their base stats. By strengthening their foundation, it brings about more possible moves to use, thus making their strengths more valuable and effective; however – exactly because of that, this kind of training is very draining.
Thus, before they put in effort that surpasses their physical abilities, they have to continuously put in all their strength, and there was also no guarantee that they can break through their barriers holding them back. To grow beyond the limits, requires a reforming of the consciousness on a completely different level – in other words, an awakening is needed.
Something like that, is not something that can be accomplished in a single night. Since they started around two hours ago, Mio and the others were already out of breath, and were already staggering.
“Ara ara, how surprisingly meaningless… no other choice, let’s all take a break first.”
Seeing their physical states, Sheera sighed while saying.
“Everyone, here. This is a magic water that can help in recovering from fatigue.”
The maid Noel who was waiting nearby then came and handed long water bottles into the hands of Mio and the others one by one. After feeling the slightly sweet and sour water moistening their throats and the thirst leaving their bodies, only then did the girls seemingly come back to life.
The training had not gone on for long, so naturally no one has gotten some new power yet, but everyone seemed to have gotten a vague feeling on what they should do. The reason was, that they had already found the direction and path they should go towards to take their fighting strength to the next step.
Kurumi’s goal is be able to borrow more power through the dark elements received from Lucia; Yuki’s is to be able to utilize [Sakuya]’s power in the Demon Realm by establishing a connection to the Human Realm through the dimensional boundary.
For cases of emergencies like in the battle against Zolgear, Maria could overload the central circuit of her spirit to turn into her [Adult Form]. In order to be able to use it in tight situations, Maria needed to enhance the condition of her body and mind for her spirit to remain in an ‘activated’ state, to make it easier to recover the energy required for refining the ‘Key’ required.
While Zest’s originally high combat prowess was raised even more after being subjugated during the establishing of the Master-Servant Contract with Basara, she was still a new comrade of theirs. Thus to fill in for her weaker points, she quickly learnt about the fighting styles and abilities of Basara, Mio, Yuki, Kurumi, and Maria, to build up more rapport and fighting combinations.
Everyone who had set down their goals, were still actively seeking advice or an exchange of opinions from either Lucia or Sheera even during the break. Except—
“…………”
Only Mio was sitting silently, looking down at the ground with a glum look. The other four has already begun their own training methods to become stronger, and Mio was the only one who has yet to find a direction.
Even if she had inherited her own father’s power – Demon Lord Wilbert’s power was really great, but the backlash from using it will cause her to lose consciousness, just like what had happened before in Wildart City when the Current Demon Lord Faction sent out giant spirits and the high-class Demon. While she could use that power… the price is the loss of consciousness, which could cause herself to become a burden in the decisive match with the Current Demon Lord Faction.
…Just what should I do?
Unable to find a specific solution, Mio clenched her fist. During today’s special training, she had also tried controlling Wilbert’s power, but no matter how many times she tried, she would always lose consciousness just after activating it a little. The power that Wilbert could use effortlessly, cannot do anything in Mio’s hands.
The base reason is that her power was too little, since—
…Even that person could use gravity magic very well…
Mio had heard that after she had lost consciousness in the previous skirmish with the Current Demon Lord Faction, Ramsas and Jin had resolved their crisis; and just like Mio, Ramsas had used a gravity magic attack that eliminated an einherjar by itself and he could safely maintain his consciousness, showing that it was not a power that only Wilbert could use. As long as she could find a way, the more easily she could use it at will.
“—um, Mio-chan. That power is not something that can be controlled just so quickly, you know?”
As Mio became frustrated over her own helplessness with it showing up on her face, someone suddenly said that as if seeing through her thoughts. When she looked up, she realised that Sheera was already standing beside her.
“That power was given to you unilaterally to protect you, his only daughter; from the beginning, he was not even considering that you would master using it. Well, Wilbert aside, it doesn’t mean that Ramsas has mastered it yet.
“Eh… But he…”
Mio couldn’t help but ask.
“That is not a power that he has. He only knows about the theory to activate it, and had forced himself force it out; so compared to you who would lose consciousness, his burden is a lot more… if he overuses it, he might just lose his life.”
“Really…?”
“Really. He might appear to be fine, but from my point of view, he is just not letting it show.”
Sheera said with a bitter smile.
“From the start, Wilbert did not want you to inherit the throne of the Demon lord… that’s why he asked his subordinates to bring you to the Human realm to raise you; him choosing to give you the power before dying, is for you to protect yourself from danger after his death. Although it might seem contradictory, to him, that was his duty as a father.”
As if recalling those times, Sheera looked at a faraway place.
“That power is like a defense mechanism, activating when you are at your extreme limits when in a life-threatening situation or when your stress is too much. I can understand that since you have got such a powerful power, of course you would want to use it to help Basara-kun and everyone else; but you shouldn’t focus on that too much for now, and focus on raising your own power… While you may feel that this is simply just taking a detour, but if you really want to make use of Wilbert’s power, I think that this is the shortest route.”
“………”
As Sheera’s encouragement sunk Mio into silence—
“Nfufu, that’s right – Mio-sama”
“Ya! W-Wha… Ma-Maria!?”
Someone suddenly hugged Mio from behind and started fondling her breasts and Mio immediately turned around to deliver her scolding, but the culprit Maria ignored her and carried on with her actions.
“Forget about Wilbert-sama’s power for now, think about how to stretch your own strengths first.”
Wouldn’t that be fine?
“It’s exactly because you often spend time on these worries or you think that you can slack off and relax just because you are the first to do the Master-Servant Contract with Basara, that allowed Kurumi and Zest to catch up.”
Translator Notes and References
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