Chapter 12 – The dawn of light era
"Demon lord...!?" (Maurice)
While still raising his guard, Maurice exclaimed so.
[Hou~ Do you know me? Indeed, I'm Demon Lord Light Emperor.] (Light Emperor)
A voice full of confidence echoed inside their head.
[Mmm, so that’s how it is…. You people are the heroes Dark Emperor talked about.] (Light Emperor)
"H-How did you know...?" (Maurice)
[More than 50 years ago, in order to take revenge on you people, Dark Emperor begged me to train him. However, if you're still alive, I guess this means Dark Emperor has messed up.] (Light Emperor)
When he appeared in the Demon Forest before, Dark Emperor told Maurice that he had spent the last fifty years to train himself in order to take revenge on the heroes. In other words, Light Emperor was the one who trained Dark Emperor back then.
"What should we do...?" (Colon)
Colon asked her two comrades anxiously. Light Emperor in front of them was far stronger than Dark Emperor who they had once fought more than fifty years ago. On the other hand, they were not as strong as their heyday anymore. Victory or defeat was obvious even before the fight began. Even so, as the members of hero party, there was only one action to take.
"Of course, we will fight this guy!" (Phillip)
"I'm thinking the same!" (Maurice)
"Well, we've known each other for a long time.... I will be with you guys until the end...!" (Colon)
Unless miracle occurred, they all would surely be killed in that place. Nevertheless, it was not a reason to run away. They had entrusted the future to their disciples. If they could protect today, their disciples would protect tomorrow.
"Maurice, take this...!" (Colon)
Colon took out a bottle from her bosom and threw it to Maurice.
"What is this?" (Maurice)
“The strengthening medicine that will increase your physical ability by 100 times! The side effects---" (Colon)
"I don't care with the side effects." (Maurice)
The world might be destroyed if they lost after all. If drinking the medicine would increase the possibility of defeating Light Emperor, Maurice didn't care what happened to his body afterwards. After drinking the medicine from Colon, Maurice felt the power surging inside his body.
"This is my full power! Take it and die, Light Emperor!" (Maurice)
Maurice put his whole body and soul into the punch.
"Gaaaah!?" (Maurice)
The moment his fist touched Light Emperor's face, Maurice was attacked by an intense pain. His arm bent in a strange direction and covered by blood.
"Maurice...!? Hold on, I will heal you right away!" (Phillip)
Maurice's wounds were instantly healed by Philip's Universal Healing (Heaven's Cure).
"Don't worry about me! If you have time to heal, use it to attack instead!" (Maurice)
"Calm down, Maurice! Normal attacks don’t seem to be working against him." (Phillip)
[Correct. I've activated 【Reflection】 to bounce off all incoming attacks. The story will be different if it's an attack with overwhelming power. However, your weak attacks will never reach me.] (Light Emperor)
"That's why I will use this...!" (Colon)
The moment Colon completed the rune, a black translucent sphere engulfed Light Emperor. Magic Drain --- using the rune that Colon successfully invented ten years ago, this magic would rob the target’s magical power.
No matter how strong Light Emperor was, he wouldn’t be able to use magic without magical power. And without his magic, Light Emperor was just a living skeleton.
[Magic to rob magical power, huh. It's quite interesting.... but at this pace, it will take 100 years to deplete my magical power completely.] (Light Emperor)
"N-No way........" (Colon)
Colon lost for words after hearing the overwhelming amount of magical power that Light Emperor had.
[This magic isn't suitable for the likes of you. I will show you an example.] (Light Emperor)
"Impossible.... You can use Magic Drain, too...!?" (Colon)
This magic was something that Colon invented herself. Even if he had caught glimpse of the rune, Light Emperor was a user of light element magic. He shouldn't be able to use Drain Magic, which was a high-tier dark element magic.
[If you can do it, then I can do it too!] (Light Emperor)
In the next moment, it was their turn being engulfed by a black translucent sphere. Magical power has a close relationship with mental power, overuse it would put a burden on the body. Colon and Philip who were robbed of all their magical power, lost consciousness. Maurice trembled with anger when he saw his fallen comrades.
"Ba-Bastard.... Fight me properly...!" (Maurice)
Maurice and his two comrades had spent most of their lives training in order to defeat the demon lord. However, they even were not allowed to show the result of their efforts.
[It's called fight when the opponent is on equal ground. However, you people are too weak. This is not a fight, but a child's play for me.] (Light Emperor)
Light Emperor continued.
[Then again, it seems you’re a little different than these two. I shall commend you for keep standing even after I drained your magical power.] (Light Emperor)
Maurice was a martial artist. Compared to the other two, the burden on Maurice's body was insignificant when his very little magical power was drained in an instant.
However, Maurice still had no solution against Light Emperor's 【Reflection】. When Phillip and Colon lost their magical power, the defeat of the hero party was already confirmed.
[That being said, it doesn't change the fact that you are all weaklings. I don't understand why Dark Emperor lost.] (Light Emperor)
"Wrong, we're not the one who defeated Dark Emperor and Earth Emperor. It's my disciple!" (Maurice)
[Hou~ Setting aside Dark Emperor, this is the first time I heard that Earth Emperor has been defeated too. How interesting! In that case, will bury your disciple with these hands.] (Light Emperor)
"You can say that because you haven't met Ash! His strength is far beyond you!" (Maurice)
[That's convenient then! I can become stronger just by confronting the strong after all.] (Light Emperor)
"Wh-What do you mean...?" (Maurice)
[I can relive the memories of my target and use them to grow at the speed of light!] (Light Emperor)
Using his special magic, Light Emperor could master everything they had acquired after long years of training in a matter of seconds, by skipping the "process". Maurice didn't want to believe it, but he was able to use Colon's Drain Magic earlier.
[Do you know what this means? Yes, the stronger my opponent is, the stronger I become.] (Light Emperor)
Maurice thought that if what Light Emperor said were true, then he should never let him meet with Ash at any cost. Because if that happened, Light Emperor would gain the power of the world's strongest martial artist.
"No matter what.... I will defeat you myself no matter what...." (Maurice)
Maurice's body was suddenly attacked by an intense pain. He fell on his knees as he was struggling to keep his consciousness from leaving his body. The side effects of the strengthening medicine had started to show. Looking down at Maurice, Light Emperor clattered his teeth happily.
[Have a taste of my power with your body and feel the terror with your soul. Then, you can burn it into your eyes, the beginning of a wonderful world I will create!] (Light Emperor)
Light Emperor spread her arms towards the sky, feeling proud of his power.
[Now, this is the dawn of light era---] (Light Emperor)
"Master!?"
Suddenly, a child's voice interrupted Light Emperor's speech. Turned around, there was a little boy dressed in a princess-like outfit standing.