I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

Honestly speaking, I doubted anyone else my age had ever been as entangled with the demon lords.

Even the Lord of Blood and Iron had probably been too busy taking down cultists at 16 to have ever met a demon lord in person.

At this point, I felt like I had enough experience to write a book on the subject of... demon lord-ology? I’d publish it under my name, of course.

—How to Meet Four Demon Lords and Survive

In short, “FDLS.”

It would probably be a record-breaking bestseller.

As per the wisdom of demon lord-ology expert and future bestselling author, Luan Bednicker...

There was no need to overcomplicate understanding those evil transcendents.

Other than Hadenaihar, I’d met three demon lords—two if I excluded Eldest Senior Brother, who still felt more like family than a demon lord. That left Tangtata and Ahop.

First, Tangtata. The green pig mostly treated people as playthings. I didn’t think he was aware of that, though, since he called his playthings “partners.” To Tangtata, we were just players in his games.

Next, Ahop. The tall figure wrapped in black was so indifferent to humans that it casually crushed even its own high priest. It almost seemed to regard people as nothing more than insects.

It was ridiculous, really, but... those two demons, despite being the most cruel of them all, likely bore no actual malice toward humans.

Then what about Hadenaihar?

I looked at the piles of dolls strewn around me, lost in thought.

Perhaps this one simply saw people as toys. Not figuratively but literally.

As for me... maybe I’m just a limited-edition toy?

The Blood-Lit Moon's speech had been surprisingly clumsy and not inarticulate. In some ways, it seemed even younger mentally than Tangtata...

If you took a toy away from a child, they would always react one of two ways: either they bawled their eyes out or they threw a tantrum... Either way, there was no better way to waste your time than to try to reason with an emotionally charged kid.

I wonder if it has more cards to play.

The demon lord hadn't fully descended yet, but even beyond that, I had a feeling this wasn't over. The demon lord was still hiding something, and I needed it to be revealed before Sellen made her move.

That was why I pushed to provoke it, even if it meant taking a risk.

Crack...

It was then that I heard the chilling sound of something cracking.

Was the building about to collapse? No, this sounded different. This sound was far too loud.

The sky?

I looked up at the blood-lit moon and saw a jagged crack running across its distorted face.

Had I made it so angry that its face was tearing apart? As that dumb thought crossed my mind, countless dots appeared around it, enough to cover the sky even through the black window.

Looking closer... those were not dots.

Kwooooooooom!

“...What now?”

Fragments of the moon were falling at full speed, each trailing fire behind it like a meteor.

“...”

Even I, who rarely lost my composure, was momentarily stunned.

The red meteors showering down from the blood-lit sky might have looked breathtaking...

If only they weren’t headed straight toward us.

“Everybody, get d—!”

I was interrupted by a sound so loud that I couldn’t even hear myself finish my sentence.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

The sound of explosions swallowed everything around me.

* * *

Building 13 of the research wing... The building that shouldn’t exist. The building that was just a rumor, a ghost story...

Under the moon’s meteor bombardment, Building 13 became nothing more than a ghost story once again.

As if Building 13 had never existed at all.

“Ugrhh...!”

I pushed away the rubble pressing down on my shoulder and barely managed to stand.

I ached all over. I had at least four bruises, maybe more. That was pretty serious, and I’d used protective bodily ki. I should count myself lucky I didn’t have any broken bones.

“Is anyone alive?” I asked, and with a clunk

“...I wasn’t asking you bastards, goddammit.” Really, I shouldn’t have said anything.

I drove my fist into one’s gaping mouth.

Crack.

A hard crunch, like punching wood. If they were living creatures, my punch would have crushed its neck and stopped all its movements, but these damn puppets weren’t alive, so even if I shattered their heads or cut them in half, they kept moving.

Even ghouls, reanimated by necromancy, weren't this tenacious.

One of the Deathberrys bit my shoulder with a loud crunch!

I clicked my tongue and gripped its head with my hand, crushing it, but... I realized the situation was going downhill.

When we’d been outnumbered, fighting in a tight, narrow battlefield had worked in our favor. It was the same reason someone fighting a crowd would lure them into an alleyway.

But now we were fighting in a wide-open space. If we became surrounded, we were done for. That meant we had to keep moving, but that would quickly drain our stamina.

[...]

The back of my head itched, and it wasn’t because of a Deathberry.

The blood-lit moon floating in the sky was staring at me.

My plan to draw its attention seemed far more successful than I’d expected...

The problem was, I had no idea what had happened to Sellen after that meteor shower.

The worst-case scenario was that she was dead. Even if she wasn’t dead, though, she was probably unconscious somewhere...

For now, I had to believe she was still in one piece, but I couldn’t rule out the worst.

“Apuah!” came a carefree voice, completely devoid of tension, from somewhere under the rubble as an unexpected figure emerged.

“Evan?”

Honestly, he was the last one I’d expected to be alive. He’d been unconscious when the bombardment struck.

He’s one lucky bastard.

By some miracle, he seemed completely unscathed.

“Luan?” Evan asked, his eyes widening as he looked at me. I immediately hurled the Sword of Seven Sins toward him.

Stab.

The Deathberry that had been creeping up behind Evan went down, impaled by the sword.

I broked eye contact with Evan and said, “Had a nice nap?”

“Fuck, that scared me. What a way to wake up. I’ma borrow this for a sec!” Evan said, grabbing the Sword of Seven Sins.

I was worried since that sword wasn’t wielded like your average sword, but I didn’t have time to give him idle advice.

Instead, another thought crossed my mind.

Is it just a coincidence that Evan escaped safe and sound?

Evan had been unconscious. He’d been completely defenseless. What were the odds of him surviving that bombardment without a single scratch?

Maybe... what I’d assumed to be a reckless bombardment might have actually been a calculated attack aimed at me?

Which meant that thing in the sky might not be as far away as it seemed.

The accuracy of long-range attacks varied greatly depending on distance. If it could rain meteors on a single human inside a building with such precision... then the moon was likely far closer than it appeared.

The headmaster had said it too, hadn’t he? That the moon was getting closer?

...Of course, I might be overthinking it. Maybe it was the “demon lord’s authority” or whatever.

Such doubts never ended when facing an unknown enemy. For now, I set that possibility aside.

* * * * *

* * * * *

A moment later, another figure emerged from the wreckage: Charon. Honestly, he looked the worst of us all.

Just how much blood had he lost?

His whole body was drenched in red and his eyes were rolled back even as he slaughtered his enemies.

He actually looked like he was about to keel over. He seemed to barely be holding on to consciousness.

But he was still alive, and that was what mattered.

If Charon’s still alive and kicking, then...

It was significantly more likely that Sellen was still alive.

She had yet to show herself, though...

She must be waiting for the right moment.

That was the smart move. There was no reason to reveal herself needlessly.

The most effective attack was a surprise attack. A hidden blade was always the most dangerous.

The problem was, even I couldn’t figure out where she was hiding, and I didn't have the freedom to use golden fire eyes to find her.

I needed to find Sellen’s location. Only then could I lure the real body with the reversed eyes over to her.

I had already identified its location... which was, unfortunately, as far away from me as it could be.

As expected, the demon lord was most wary of me. Why hadn't it moved that puppet to a completely safe place, though?

If I had to guess, that body was controlling the puppets around it. It was acting as a transceiver, conveying orders from the moon above.

If that was true, then if the main body moved beyond a certain range, the puppet minions charging at us would all stop moving.

Should I just keep moving around like this?

If I wandered through the wreckage long enough, Sellen, wherever she was hiding in ambush, would eventually reveal herself.

It wasn’t a bad plan, but I wasn’t sure my stamina would hold out that long. Worse, Evan and Charon might pass out before then.

Just as I was thinking that...

Hwaaaa...!

Hundreds of flowers suddenly appeared under the rubble.

Flowers? What?

For a second, I thought I had lost my mind, but one whiff of the scent told me that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t one of the demon lord’s tricks either.

Was it a blessing? It definitely felt like it.

A blessing that could make flowers grow... I nearly laughed at the thought, but it really wasn't that strange. I’d heard of some blessings that were practically useless.

Whose blessing is this?

I saw Evan and Charon looking around. From their confusion, this didn’t seem to be their doing...

That only left one person.

So she’s still alive.

The demon lord wouldn’t know that this was Sellen’s doing. In other words, this was a message for me.

I scanned the area. Blooming in all directions were lavender-colored roses strikingly similar to Bednicker eyes. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the smell of roses; they were actually making my head spin.

Amidst the chaos, the overwhelming scent of roses, and trying to scan my surroundings, I felt like I was about to lose my mind...

But then, finally, I spotted it. A single daisy amongst the rose field.

...How childish.

Although it was a bit silly, I got the message: Daisies were symbolic of House Goodspring.

With my body heating up, I took a deep breath, making my chest swell as my lungs expanded.

“...!”

My vision turned white.

Having easily entered White Flame, I reigned in the surging ki as I focused my strength into my knees.

Pzt.

Electricity sparked from both my eyes.

Lightning-walker steps.

Rumble!

As I kicked off the ground, the flower field across the rubble was upturned, and rose petals scattered in every direction.

CRAACK!

The group of Deathberrys that had surrounded me persistently were blown away by the wave of force from my footwork, exactly as I’d planned. This was why I had packed extra internal energy into my feet.

Clench!

I roughly grabbed the horns jutting from the main body’s temples and squeezed with all my strength.

Crack!

I wanted to rip them out entirely, but that didn’t seem feasible. Instead, still gripping the horns, I hoisted the Deathberry into the air and hurled it toward the lone daisy.

Crackle!

Tendrils of ice shot up and coiled tight around the puppet.

In this instant, not only did the puppet’s eyes shift away from me, but so did those of the moon looming overhead.

From beneath the crumbled building, Sellen made her appearance. She must have suffered a blow to her head because blood stained her white hair.

Her eyes were cold and focused, and she carried the Scissors of Amon in her hand.

[...!]

The moon’s face cracked once more. Fragments of the moon, looking like black dots, stained the sky once more.

A second meteor shower?

But it was too late. The scissors had already neared Deathberry.

Snip.

The interlocked blades severed Deathberry’s thread at last...!

...No, something was off.

Sellen’s expression hardened.

Was she not able to cut the thread?

That should have been the right spot.

I focused my internal energy to my eyes.

The fuh?

The thread that had been near the nape had somehow shifted to the crown of its head. Worse, its location was constantly shifting, like it had a will of its own.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

I ground my teeth.

The problem now was Sellen. It seemed she couldn’t keep track of the thread because her vision wasn’t nearly as keen.

I made my decision quickly and jabbed my fingers into the bite wound in my shoulder. I almost cursed at the pain, but I was able to hold it in as I pulled my fingers out.

Glaring at my bloodied fingers, I used lightning-walker steps again and closed the distance to the Deathberry I’d hurled away.

Fire ki wasn’t what I needed right now.

I drew the lightning ki up from my legs to my upper body, making my entire body tingle as if it had been struck by lightning.

That was the backlash of forcing lightning ki through my body when it still needed time to get used to the energy.

But I didn’t care. This was exactly why I’d trained to toughen up my body.

Crackle.

My fist sparked with lightning ki as I threw it forward.

Lightning fist.

BAM!

This technique, I had only ever used in real combat once before. Coincidentally, that had also been against a demon lord.

Deathberry’s body shuddered violently from my fist, sunk deep into its gut.

I knew its body wouldn’t be paralyzed from the lightning ki—it was just a puppet, after all. What I wanted to cause was confusion.

If this Deathberry was receiving commands from the Demon lord through that thread, I needed to disrupt the system.

Fire ki wouldn’t burn the thread, so I used lightning ki instead. It was a last-minute decision, but thankfully, it worked.

Then, I flicked the blood dripping from my left hand straight at the top of Deathberry’s head.

Splatter!

My goal wasn’t to cut the thread but to stain it.

And my plan worked. Now, even if Sellen couldn’t see the thread, she should still be able to tell its location.

...Honestly.

Sellen’s eyes flashed.

I literally spoon-fed her this.

Snip!

The divine artifact, the Scissors of Amon, finally cut through the demon lord’s thread.

____