At the bottom of Vegaltia’s Great Dungeon, in the boss chamber of the seventy-fifth floor, awaited a monster with jet-black wings.
“I… am… Beelze…bub… the Sin..ful… King of Flies… Exiled… from the Heavens…”
A grating voice filled the air. It wasn’t a human voice—just listening to it made the skin crawl.
“Mm… did it just speak?”
“Disgusting… it doesn’t even have a mouth, so how is it making a sound!?”
“Is this the boss?”
The three girls braced themselves, alert and ready.
『The King of Flies… Beelzebub, is it…?』
(You know about it, Linlin?)
『…Just from stories. It’s said that a former high-ranking angel fell from grace and became a great demon… That is the King of Flies, Beelzebub. It’s a tale from the age of myths.』
Demon. An intelligent life form said to dwell in a world different from this one. It is said that to appear in this world, a demon requires some kind of vessel. A little while ago, we had even fought a cursed sword inhabited by a demon… but in this case, the dungeon itself was probably serving as the vessel.
“This monster is stronger than I expected… If things go south, I’ll have no choice but to join the fight myself.”
The King of Flies, Beelzebub, detached from the pillar and took to the air.
“…Fast!”
In an instant, it closed the distance and swung a massive scythe-like weapon, reminiscent of a death god’s scythe.
“!?”
“Ugh!”
“Gah!?”
The three girls tried to block it with their weapons, but the sheer force sent them flying.
“Fast… and strong.”
“Even though I blocked it, the force…!”
“M-my hand is numb!”
Beelzebub passed by them and immediately executed a sharp U-turn, lunging at the girls again.
“How about this!?”
Anje quickly raised a wall of earth, blocking Beelzebub’s path. But just before colliding with it, Beelzebub made an almost right-angle turn and effortlessly bypassed the obstacle.
With fly-like speed and agility, it charged at the girls once more.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept toward Beelzebub. It was Fana’s magic. Seizing the instant when its speed faltered, Fana swung her sword.
Gakiiiin!
“…Blocked.”
Fana’s strike was deflected by Beelzebub’s massive scythe. With Fana now exposed, Beelzebub plunged headfirst toward her.
“…Dodge, Fana-oneechan!”
Reacting to my shout, Fana twisted her body just in time.
A needle-like appendage shot from Beelzebub’s mouth, piercing the space where her abdomen had been moments before.
“Yagyū Shinnen-ryū, Swift Thunder!”
At the same time, Karen’s blade struck toward Beelzebub. But it leapt into the air with astonishing speed, evading the attack.
“…My fastest technique…”
“Wait, it’s attacking with that!?”
“Watch out! If that pierces you, it’ll probably drain all your blood!”
“T-that’s… terrifying.”
Some flies are bloodsuckers, like mosquitoes.
“And it’s not just the blood—it’ll likely inflict all sorts of dangerous status effects as well.”
“Flies are known carriers of plagues, after all.”
Then, before anyone noticed, Beelzebub had somehow perched atop the first pillar. Its abdomen suddenly swelled grotesquely.
What the hell… disgusting…
The swelling descended downward—and was expelled from its rear.
…Poop!?
No—fortunately, upon closer inspection, they were eggs.
“Eggs!? And in such huge numbers…”
Thousand, no, tens of thousands of tiny eggs spilled from Beelzebub. Each was barely the size of a pea, yet the sheer volume far exceeded the size of Beelzebub itself—physically impossible, but likely a result of its magical abilities.
The eggs instantly hatched, releasing countless flies. A deafening buzz filled the chamber as they swarmed, merging into a thick black cloud. From that cloud, a shape began to take form.
“A clone…?”
“The fly monster’s multiplying!?”
“W-what is happening…?”
The countless small flies coalesced into figures identical to Beelzebub. Including the original, there were now ten of them. Immediately, all ten Beelzebubs lunged at the girls at once.
“Mm… which one’s the real one?”
“I have no idea!”
“This one! Yagyū Shinnen-ryū, Ranu!”
The three girls had no choice but to rely on instinct, striking at the ten indistinguishable Beelzebubs.
“…Missed.”
“This one’s not it either!”
“There’s barely any impact at all!”
The fakes, composed of countless tiny flies, seemed to have a liquid-like property. No matter how they slashed or struck, they reformed instantly into their original shape.
“Ugh!”
A massive scythe swung toward Fana from behind. She reacted instantly, twisting to dodge, but couldn’t evade completely—a spray of blood erupted from her right shoulder.
“So… that was the real one! Yagyū Shinnen-ryū, Swift Thunder! Uh—!?”
“Wha!? That was a fake too!?”
Karen immediately countered, but her blade only knocked a few of the tiny flies apart from the fake. They quickly reassembled, returning to their original form.
“The fakes can attack too!?”
“Yeah… and it actually hurts.”
“This is ridiculous!”
Surrounded by ten Beelzebubs, the three girls had almost no options left.
Hmm… perhaps this opponent is too strong.
It might have been impossible for them to handle this fight on their own.
“With the fakes attacking and the real one buzzing around, hitting it is nearly impossible… then I’ll make sure it can’t fly!
While shouting, Anje unleashed her magic. A massive wall of earth erupted, cutting across the vast boss chamber.
“I’m not done yet!”
Another wall appeared, parallel to the first. With the two walls in place, the room’s open space shrank to a fifth… no, a tenth of its original size.
“I see… so that’s one way to do it. But it can still move freely forward, backward, up, and down.”
Impressed, they realized that while clever, this alone wouldn’t completely neutralize Beelzebub’s mobility.
“Next, it’s your turn!”
“Mm.”
Sensing Anje’s intent, Fana responded instantly.
A fierce wind tore through the space. The violent gust swept through the narrow corridor between the walls of earth. Ten Beelzebubs were flung across the chamber, crashing into the far walls.
The impact blurred the outlines of the fakes. Unable to withstand the pressure of the wind, the bodies composed of countless tiny flies collapsed.
At last, the real Beelzebub was revealed.
“Now, Karen!”
“…Got it.”
Exhausted and grimacing from expending massive amounts of magic, Anje and Fana dropped to their knees.
Entrusted with their opening, Karen planted her feet firmly on the ground.
“Consider it done…!”
Karen surged forward, charging straight at the real Beelzebub.
“This perfect opening that the other two created… if I miss it, there’s no way we’ll defeat the boss! I absolutely cannot let this chance slip… But a normal strike probably won’t be enough… In that case, it’s all or nothing…!”
As Beelzebub raised its massive scythe in preparation to strike, Karen unleashed her attack.
“Yagyū Shinnen-ryū Secret Technique, Zetsunen!”
A desperate, all-or-nothing slash, channeling every ounce of her fighting spirit into the blade.
This was the very technique once demonstrated by her swordmaster, the old Yagyu Genzo, against the great serpent Yamata no Orochi. It’s a secret skill lying beyond even the formal mastery of the Yagyū Shinnen-ryū.
Karen, despite her advanced skill, had not yet fully mastered this move… but now, there was no other choice.
The strike hit Beelzebub squarely on the crown of its head, driving straight through its body down to the lower abdomen.
“Impossible… I… w-what… H-H-HaAAAAAAAGH!?”
With one final, strangled scream, the bisected body of Beelzebub collapsed, crumbling further as the copies vanished alongside it.
The boss chamber was soon swallowed by a heavy silence.
“They did it?”
『Master… why the foreshadowing?』
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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