CHAPTER 72: SHARLUEL THE POWER OF GOD

　–The human army led by the Hero, and the Demon King’s army led by the Demon King.

　The history of the struggle between the two camps is extremely long.

　In the hands of the brave party, our Demon King may be defeated.

　 There are times when our Demon King is defeated at the hands of the Hero Party.

　On the other hand, reckless Heroes are often swallowed by dungeons during their journey to defeat the Demon Lord.

　But this struggle will never end.

　The reason is that behind this struggle, there is a great power moving.

　And the great power that we demons refer to is the Demon God or President Overlord.

　 He never appears on the stage, but as long as he is alive, even if dozens or hundreds of Demon Kings fall, their replacements will always line up.

　On the other hand, there is a great power at work among humans as well.

　People call him “God”, and he is revered.

　God sits in the heavens, a world of a different dimension from this one, with countless angels in his service.

　He (she?) also does not appear on the stage. He (she?) also does not appear on the stage, but occasionally interferes in the lower world by creating human heroes through “Oracles”.

　As soon as one Demon King is defeated, another is elected.

　Whenever a hero falls in the middle of the road, another hero is chosen by the oracle.

　In this way, the two great powers that work behind the scenes of history have continued to maintain a kind of balance in their never-ending struggle.

　This is why it is impossible for them to exist.

　As God’s faithful servants, angels are supposed to be waiting in the heavenly realms but to appear in this place…!

“-Hmm, It’s an auspicious thing for the filthy demon race, isn’t it?, to look up to my splendid resurrection and congratulate me.” (Sharluel)

　She calls herself the Power of God Sharluel, and she ridicules us who have can only stand and stare.

　In her gesture, there was no hint of alarm about being in the middle of enemy territory.

　The way he floated through the air, ignoring the force of gravity, was like a cat enjoying a sunbath.

“What is this…! What the heck is that guy !? Oh, my head-nya…!” (Nekomata)

“What is this… I feel terrible…!” (Yukime)

　Suddenly, Nekomata and Yukime began to suffer from some sort of condition.

　…This is not good! The low-level girls are already starting to be affected!

“You guys! Don’t look at him!”

“Nya…!? What…!” (Nekomata)

“That light is poisonous to the demons! If you are exposed for too long, you won’t just suffer from a headache!”

“……Oh?” (Sharluel)

　Sharluel’s attention is directed to us.

　She tilted her neck as she observed me from head to toe.

“Hmm? How strange… Your body is human, but I can feel the corruption from demons from your soul… What is this…” (Sharluel)

“–do not move.” (Alraune)

　A very cold and controlled voice gave the remark.

“…Oh, demons seem to have a lot of blood lust, how troublesome.” (Sharluel)

　Sharluel looks down and smiles.

　There was a figure of Alraune, who has her hands on the ground and was ready for battle.

“…I don’t know who you are, but if you do anything weird, it’s going to be very bad for you.” (Alraune)

　Looking at it, Kyuu-chan and Sergeant are also on alert.

　There is nothing careless about the expression on their faces, they instinctively know what to do.

　A presence was released by the girl above us.

“Fufufu, you are quite the stubborn group… Well there’s Nembutsu, though I don’t think words can be understood by you…” (Sharluel) []T/N: Nembutsu for Japanese Buddhism is the repeated chanting of the Amitabha chant/prayer. This one is from Oxford-sensei.]

　However, Sharluel casually smiled in spite of the situation.

　Suddenly, a shadow casts over her head.

　Momiji with her naginata jumped up using her tremendous leg strength.

“There’s no need for questions! Go away!” (Momiji)

“No, Momiji! Stop–!” (Senri)

　As Momiji shouts, Senri stops her.

　 But the sword that Momiji swung out became a ray of light, just as it sliced through Sharluel’s neck…

“What!?” (Momiji)

　Momiji makes a startled cry.

　Sharluel, who should have been slashed by the sword, shimmered and returned to her original state as if nothing had happened.

　Nonsense! That in no way matches to the [Unique Abilities] of the Keepers, is this the [Authority] of Angels–!?

“Fufufu, is that all? Here, a sign of my goodwill.” (Sharluel)

　Sharluel fingertips give off a dazzling light.

“I won’t…!” (Momiji)

　Momiji took on a defensive stance, but it was in vain.

　The converging divine light became a ray of light that pierced Momiji from the left arm through her right foot following a straight line.

“Guu…!” (Momiji)

“Sister!?” (Sakura)

　Sakura moved quickly and catches Momiji.

　Divine Light is a poison to us demons—the holes that were pierced sizzle and burn her flesh, making her gasp in pain.

“No! Momiji…!?” (Senri)

“Nyanyaa! You, Momiji-sama…!” (Nekomata)

“—Don’t move!” (Yukime)

　Yukime and Nekomata, who are ready for battle, screamed.

　Sharluel looked down at us and chuckled.

“ I thought demon tribes were all single-minded, but you’re still so young but you’re already working so hard.” (Sharluel)

“ In any case, even if we were to attack her all at once, they would probably slip through as they did before. I’m sure you’re able to get away with it even when you’re in the middle of the enemy lines, thanks to your [Authority].”

“… This was a surprise. I’m not sure who you are and how you know about my angelic powers… but yes, you’re right.” (Sharluel)

　Sharluel spreads her pure white wings that sprout from her back and gloats.

“My power as an angel is [Shimmer]—simply speaking. It is the power to assimilate with the divinity that fills the air… that’s my [Authority].” (Sharluel)

“–the power to assimilate the divinity that fills the air!?” (Sergeant)

　It was Sergeant who raised his voice.

　He was the top person among all those who are enthusiastic about studying within the Cave of Silence.

　Therefore, he was the first to realize the horror of the meaning of Sharluel’s words.

“Well, that means that as long as there is divinity around her, hitting, slashing, or burning will have no effect… Doesn’t that mean she’s… Immortal!?” (Sergeant)

“What…!?”

　Sergeant’s words made everyone in the room aware of the threat she posed.

　I see, I now understand…

“Finally, I understood, then Senri has no choice but to seal you, even if you are far below her level…!”

“Yes, even the Keepers, they are powerless in front of my [Authority], and the only miscalculation was that raccoon there had a [Unique Ability] to seal, well, now it’s sunny and I’m free.” (Sharluel)

“Because of… me…” (Senri)

　Senri, who began to blame herself, muttered with tears in her eyes.

　But she held her ground and stared back at Charruel.

　The look in her eyes was full of determination.

“Then I’ll seal you again! You abominable angel!” (Senri)

“Oops, I’m sorry but no, I’ll use this, this time.” (Sharluel)

　Sharluel took something out of his bosom.

　An indigo crystal that shines in her hands—a “Sky Drop”.

　It is a magic item that connects the heavenly world and the lower world. I thought she was going to run away before she could be sealed away, but something was wrong.

　This one looks like it is doing something… like—it’s calling something down from heaven.

　The next moment, the surrounding air changes.

“Th-the earth is shaking…? What’s happening!?” (Alraune)

“Uuuuu, it smells really bad…! What is it that is reacting to Kyuu-chan’s radar…!” (Kyuuchan)

“Narugoa-san, this is…!” (Sergeant)

　Some kind of presence is approaching. As the earth is trembling. I can feel divinity shine down my body…

“Sharluel!”

　In the midst of the turmoil, I shout her name.

“I’m sure your God won’t allow you to do something so selfish! No, even if he did, our president, Overlord, wouldn’t allow it! A real war is about to begin.”

　It should be an absolute principle that the Pillar of the World and the Heavenly Realm, respectively, do not interfere in the conflicts of the lower realms.

　If this is broken, humans and demons will immediately plunge into an all-out war.

　That’s when a war that will never end until one of them is truly destroyed will begin.

　It’s not as if you don’t understand the horror of this–!

　However, Sharluel frowned curiously.

“–What are you talking about? God and the Demon God, that day we killed them… right?” (Sharluel)

“……killed……?”

　Before I could comprehend her words, it descended upon us.

“What is that…” (Alraune)

　 Alraune muttered, looking up far above us.

　However, there was no one to answer this question.

　Since everyone was speechless in the face of the overwhelming scale of the thing.

“Well, look at that! This is the pride of the heavens, my strategic weapon, my toy for annihilating the filthy demons!” (Sharluel)

　This thing suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was tremendously huge.

　……No, those words are inadequate to describe its size.

　There is no way there’s a blade from Inanaki Sacred Mountain is big enough for that

“That thing has a name, [Anchor] is its name! “

　A white giant with chains wrapped around its body was peeking at us from far above, hovering above the Inanaki Sacred Mountain.