The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 3 (24 page)

He had completely forgotten about it by that point. He wasn’t expecting that crystal to amount to much in the first place. If anything, he was impressed that it had actually grown into
something
.

But then, as Maou recalled all of this, Gabriel suddenly grabbed hold of Emi’s holy sword.

Surprised, Emi attempted to pull it back. The weapon refused to budge.

“Nuh-uh-uh! That hurt me on kind of a paper-cut level, but unless something really goofy happens, that holy sword isn’t enough to beat me, as things stand.”

He turned an easygoing eye toward Maou.

“So are we all working with the same playbook now? Great. Now let’s just all act like adults here and listen to what I’m asking you, mm-kay?”

This was, in other words, his final notice. His aim was to show what he saw as the obvious result if Emi demonstrated any hostility toward Gabriel at this point.

Without any stockpile of demonic power backing him up, Maou had absolutely no chance of victory himself. And that conclusion wasn’t about to change with the presence of Suzuno or the other demons.

Which meant that Maou had only one card up his sleeve.

Maou took a deep breath and faced up to Gabriel.

Emi and Gabriel tensed up for a moment, expecting Maou to make a suicidal lunge toward the archangel.

“…Huh?”

“Hey, hang on, what’re you doing?!”

Their expectations were unfounded.

“Please.”

Maou had prostrated himself on the floor.

The human personification of Satan, the Devil King who once stood at the apex of all demons and still publicly avowed his ambition to conquer the world, was now rubbing his forehead against the floor in front of an archangel.

“Please don’t take Alas Ramus away.”

The voice, and the physical act, were both sincere.

“Daddy…?”

Alas Ramus, unable to grasp the meaning behind Maou’s behavior, swiveled her head between Maou and Gabriel.

“Um, look, if I have to remind you, I’m an angel, mm-kay? And
you’re the Devil King, last time I checked. If you think I’m gonna fold like I did with that girl yesterday, you’ve got another think coming, bucko.”

There was a touch of irritation to Gabriel’s reply. But Maou was expecting it.

“I’m not saying for free, okay? You let her stay, I’ll let you have my head. That ain’t a bad deal.”

“What?!”

“Whoa, whoa, come on! Stop being stupid!”

This was enough to bewilder the both of them.

“You…
I’m
supposed to defeat you! You can’t just toss your life away here!”

“Lay off. Tell all your pals back home that you teamed up with an archangel to do me in, for all I care. What’s the big problem with that?”

“That’s a
huge
problem! Who the hell would ever want to team up with
these
freaks?! I need to defeat you by my own hand, or else it’s meaningless!”

“Why’s it matter what
you
think about it?! We’re supposed to be worried about Alas Ramus!”

“Uhm, would you folks mind not bickering like a married couple for a moment?”

“We’re not married!”

“We’re
not married
!!”

“Wowwww, way to give it to me in stereo…”

Gabriel was at least half impressed by the show.

“Mommy, Daddy, stop fighting!!”

For the first time in the past twenty-four hours, Gabriel and Alas Ramus agreed on something.

“Hey, uh, can I butt in with a question real quick? Why are you, the Devil King, being such a concerned hen over this girl? This girl you all but forgot about until a few days ago?!”

“Because I became ‘king.’ Because I got distracted by greed, just like
that
demon did. Because I forgot about the things I needed to cherish!”

His mind flashed back to that day, when the claws descended upon him, giving him a vision of death amid the red sky and parched land.

“This girl is a symbol of hope. A symbol I picked up after being snatched away from the edge of death. After getting a new lease on life. …But somewhere along the line, on the way to becoming the leader of all demons, I forgot about that.”

Sadao Maou, once a lowly demon hardly even worthy of the name Satan, rose up and slowly hugged Alas Ramus.

“Daddy…ow.”

The girl squirmed a bit in Maou’s tight embrace.

“You let this girl be for hundreds of years by now and nothing bad happened, right? So please…don’t take her someplace she doesn’t want to be. I’ll stake my life on it.”

“…Y’know, I can’t say I like this assumption that I’m gonna do all these mean things to her, mm-kay? Like I’ve been trying to tell you, she belongs in heaven. She is a fragment of Yesod—”

“I know all about that! That, and the Devil Overlord Satan of the past!”

Emi noticed Gabriel’s face harden the moment Maou said it.

The “Devil Overlord Satan of the past” must have been the one Maou was talking about last night. But what did that have to do with Gabriel?

“…That’s why I can’t let her go. I don’t want to let her go. So please…just…!”

Maou fell to his knees, unable to finish.

“Sorr-ee. Change of plans!”

“Gah…nh…”

Maou writhed in pain on the floor. It was hard for Emi to tell, her sword still restrained by Gabriel’s strength, but it seemed like he was unable to breathe.

“You know, I really had no intention of going this far, but that’s kind of digging your own grave there, mm-kay? I try to be a good-natured angel when I can, but if
that’s
what you’re going to bring up, I’m kind of obliged to take action.”

“Graaaaahhhhh!!!”

“D-Devil King?!”

Gabriel peered closer, as if to bring home the point. As he did, Maou’s neck began to twist inward, enough that Emi could see it, as if being clasped by an invisible hand.

“My liege! My liege, what is it?!”

“Get back, Alciel! Let me crush him with my Light of Iron!”

Suddenly, the alarmed voices of Suzuno and Ashiya rang out from the outdoor corridor.

“Oooops! Got a little too loud for my own good, hmm? Well, not that it’ll amount to anything. That barrier isn’t gonna fall apart
that
easy!”

Gabriel remained unfazed. They could hear the sound of something heavy banging against the door, but despite being an original from the apartment’s construction sixty years ago, it didn’t so much as crack.

And even now, Urushihara was nowhere to be heard from. He was probably the lone resident who was still asleep.

“Emilia, the Hero… Just to make sure we don’t regret anything later, I’ll take care of the Devil King, mm-kay? I know you’ve got your own issues and stuff, but I’ll be happy to pass along a revelation to the Church or whatever about you getting the blessings of an archangel, blah blah blah, like what the Devil King said. That sound good to you?”

The situation was desperate.

The demons in the apartment were powerless, the holy sword’s power bound.

“That
does
sound good to you, doesn’t it, Emilia?”

Gabriel’s eyes remained on Maou as he spoke, his voice as free and guileless as if he was asking someone for extra sugar in his coffee. That was about as much as he cared about the human world.

“…No deal.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s my turn to tell this girl a story. If you take her away, I’ll wind up breaking my promise.”

“Whaaa? Aw, come on…”

His words belied disappointment, but his tone betrayed a singular lack of interest in Emi’s declaration.

Emi’s frustration mounted.

“I don’t
care
about what all you stupid angels are dealing with! I am the only one who’s gonna cut the Devil King Satan down! I’d
never
give anyone else the honor!!”

“Um…do you have anything less hackneyed you could say right now…?”

“Besides, what kind of so-called good guy would take a crying girl away from her own father?! Heavenly Flame Slash!”

“Oh? Whoa! Agh, ow, ow, ow, ow! Jeez, that’s hot! What’s up with
that
?”

Emi infused the blade of her holy sword with searing flame.

It had been enough to slash through the fallen angel Lucifer, but now it didn’t so much as singe the palm of Gabriel’s hand.

“Okay, maybe that didn’t look like it hurt, but it did, mm-kay? Like, a lot! Y’know, I
really
didn’t want any rough stuff with you, but why can’t you see things
my
way here, hmm? I’m
supposed
to be the guardian of these fragments, y’know!”

“Who asked you?!”

“Well…nobody
asked
me, exactly, but this is my duty, and—”

“……”

“Gnh…haggh…”

“Who…was that just now?”

Even Gabriel, previously replying to Emi’s question with a sullen tone, suddenly turned serious.

“We were playing. Having fun. That’s all!”

A voice rose up from the feet of Emi, Gabriel, and Maou:

“Market told me. You were all big liars.”

Her arms and legs were tiny, her eyes little buttons, but her will was strong enough to take over the room.

“He said you were liars, but you got to be gods anyway!”

Alas Ramus lightly brought her hand to Maou. That was all it took.

“…Gahaa!!
Koff
…egghh…”

“Huhhh?!”

Gabriel’s hold on Maou loosened, letting him catch his breath as he broke into a cold sweat.

“I hate you! I hate all of you!”

“Truly?…”

Alas Ramus toddled toward Gabriel as she spoke.

“You took us all away, you kept us all alone…and…”

At that moment, the purple crescent-shaped mark formed across Alas Ramus’s forehead as her yellow dress began to glow as brightly as the summer sun.

“…And now you’re mean to Mommy and Daddy! That’s
bad
!!!”

“Yagh!”

“Aaaahhh!!”

Then she emitted a bolt of golden light, sending Gabriel flying against the Devil’s Castle wall.

The holy sword fell out of his hand, freeing Emi from his grasp.

“Alas…”

“Wait, Daddy!”

“Whoa! Hang—”

From the side of Maou, still unable to get up, the glowing Alas Ramus flew toward Gabriel’s chest like a bullet.

“Grhhh!”

Squeaking like a toad caught under an eighteen-wheeler, his body was sent right through the wall with Alas Ramus, flying into the air.

“Whoa! Alas Ramus! …Heavenly Fleet Feet!!”

Leaving Maou behind, Emi focused her Cloth of the Dispeller upon her legs, giving her an instant blast of speed as she chased after them.

“Emilia!”

“Your Demonic Highness!!”

Gabriel’s unexpected departure must have removed the barrier from the door, because Suzuno and Ashiya both suddenly barreled through it, taking the hinges off as they did.

Witnessing the disabled Maou and the giant hole in the wall, Ashiya’s eyes burned with menacing rage.

“Currrrrrse youuuuu, Emilia! Such a heinous, despicable act of treachery!!”

Between the way Ashiya’s mind worked and the scene he was presented with, no one could blame him for that conclusion.

“No… G-Gabriel…and Alas Ramus…”

“What?! He is here?!”

“Alas Ramus…she’s fighting. Get…after her…
Kagff!
”

“Alas Ramus…?”

“Fighting?”

Ashiya and Suzuno, unable to grasp the situation, could do little more than glance at Maou and the wall.

“Suzuno, please, get…me up…”

Suzuno nodded at the groaning Maou. But:

“Halt, human! Stay where you are, Devil King Satan!!”

“Do not defy the will of Lord Gabriel!!”

Suddenly, the four lackeys that Gabriel had brought along the previous day flew upward, blocking the hole Alas Ramus had poked in the wall.

The Heavenly Regiment each bore a pair of white wings upon their backs.

“Ngh… Not you…”

Even if they wanted to fight, Suzuno was the only one with any capacity to do so. And no matter how weak Gabriel said they were, going one against four with a group calling themselves the Heavenly Regiment didn’t seem to present the best of odds.

Not at first.

“Heh. Do you even know who you’re talking to?”

A new voice suddenly made the four angels freeze in place.

“You think a bunch of Gabriel’s hatchet men are in any position to tell
me
to stay here?”

“Uh…Urushihara?”

Urushihara, clearly just waking up, stared the four angels down as he leaned groggily against the front door.

“Get out of our way.”

There was nothing special to the order.

“……”

But it was still enough to make the four angels meekly clear the way.

“Maou, Bell: You’re good. Get going. I’ll make sure they don’t bother you.”

“Wh-what is…?”

“Did you forget what kind of angel I used to be, Ashiya?” Urushihara whined, cranky.

Lucifer was one of the Great Demon Generals who commanded his lord’s demonic forces. But in another life, one chronicled in the many legends and scriptures that retold his fall from grace, he was the strongest angel in heaven—one who grew so powerful that he attempted to usurp the heavenly throne for himself.

“Before I fell, I was the leader of the archangels. Remember? And maybe I couldn’t get away with that in front of Gabriel, but a bunch of Heavenly Regiment foot-soldier lackeys aren’t about to defy
me
.”

It was difficult for the denizens of heaven to resist an upper-level angel, even a fallen one.

That may have been the case, but the sight of the Heavenly Regiment folding against a fallen angel who slept all day and tapped away at his computer all night brought the quality of the Regiment’s recruits into serious question.

“Eesh. You have the worst habit of actually being useful sometimes.”

“You don’t have to add ‘sometimes,’ Maou. Just go, all right?”

“R-right! C’mon, Suzuno!”

“Very well. Climb on to the head of the hammer! Hang on tight!”

Through the hole the archangel made, Suzuno and Maou flew off into the early-morning sky.

“Alas Ramus?!”

Emi’s eyes were focused high in the skies above Sasazuka.

Alas Ramus charged forward like a heat-seeking comet. Gabriel could do little but defend himself.