Intermission – Guy ? Crimson –
His birth (manifestation) happened in the distant past.
Born as an absolute being, he had sway over other beings with his Charisma.
The embodiment of Pride.
If he had grown like that, he could have been a being who would be called the King of the Underworld.
It was somewhat of an accident for a being such as he to be brought into the over world, but this was an event that will end up changing his fate significantly.
After arriving, he surveyed his surroundings.
He understood immediately, that he had been summoned.
The man who looked like the magician who summoned him was annoyingly spewing prideful words.
His wish was to destroy the opposing country which his side was warring against.
That was a simple matter.
Using the wide range destruction magic ――Death Streak―― without hesitation, he spread death easily.
Millions perished and cities of death were created. He felt nothing from what has been done.
But, attaining massive quantities of souls, he noticed he has ascended to a True Demon Lord.
It seemed, just reaping ten thousand human souls, was enough to reach ascension.
Then, what would happen if I collected even more souls? He was curious.
Also, he wanted to "repay" the person, who decided to give him such a "chore".
He summoned two retainers ――Arc Demons―― and gave them orders.
Swiftly erase this country from the face of this world.
He was currently in a good mood, having ascended.
The point was that he had destroyed the residents of the country, that the magician who summoned him and gave him such a "chore" resided in, with no pain or suffering. That alone, proved how much of a good mood he was in.
Also, the demons he summoned had the honor of being granted physical bodies.
Thus, a once flourishing, but having been divided, great country, that wielded ancient super technologies, met it's demise.
Such had happened thousands of years ago.
Although a country ended up destroyed as his idea of an experiment and "payback", he collected even more souls, but there weren't any more changes.
Which led him to understand, he cannot be strengthened any further.
This marked the start of boring days to come, but Guy didn't mind.
He roamed about everywhere, focused on enjoying the world for what it is.
His life wasted on only battles and refining his Soul in the underworld, now seemed bleak in comparison to the stimulating outside world.
Having fistfights with gigantic demon beasts, decimating self proclaimed monster kings with his magic.
To the native humans, he was viewed and known as both as a God and a Devil at the same time, it was such a period.
And then, they met.
The one who created the world, the ultimate existence.
"Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava. He who had created the world they live in.
Guy, who undoubtedly prided himself as one of the strongest alive, chose to challenge this being without any hesitation.
And ended up utterly defeated.
Guy was sent to the ground, as though there wasn't any resistance whatsoever.
Never once doubting his was the strongest, his pride at that time, was utterly shattered.
「End me. I am satisfied.
I now understand, that there will always be someone more capable out there in this world.
In the ever continuing and unbreakable logic of this world, my existence too, is but a small part of it.」
「Little one.
You see, I love all that have been born from me.
This monotonous world, has been slowly but surely progressing.
Intelligent beings are born, and they have now managed to attain the means to communicate with me.
And now, beings that have the ability to go against me have emerged.
A being such as you.
But, if they keep progressing at their current pace, this world will be destroyed in but a few thousand years.
For that, are you interested in cooperating with me?
Cooperate with me, and become an "Arbitrator".」
The magic kingdom that he destroyed came to mind.
Vying for authority, the foolish scene of strife despite being of the same kind.
(I see, *that* was definitely deplorable.)
There was nothing to hesitate about.
As Guy had also grown fond of this world.
「Why not. What should I be doing?」
「To be as you are. I would like for you, to take the throne as a "Demon Lord".
To show the world what it means to be feared, so that man will not grow to be overly "prideful".」
Pride.
Looking back, this role perfectly fits me.
It was a request, that obviously took into account that Guy wielded the unique skill『Pride』.(TN: the skill's name *is* pride lol)
「Very well then. I shall take that throne, as a "Demon Lord".
If man were to grow too proud, I shall judge them in your stead.」
Guy dove deeper down now that his pride has been shattered once.
And attained ultimate skill『Pride King Lucifer』.
A Demon Lord who had the power to rival God was born at this moment.
「Yeah, I leave it to you.」
Hearing Guy's reply, "Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava chuckled happily.
This was the moment, that Guy and Veldanava accepted each other as friends.
Guy now lived his life as a Demon Lord as promised.
But, that didn't actually mean he had much to do.
Turning his attention to gathering intelligence, he now gave orders and recieved reports from his underling demons.
Beside him stood the White Dragon.
It was a beautiful Dragon, with Blue Diamond eyes.
Perhaps having misunderstood something,
「I'm not accepting this, even if my elder brother has!」(TN: past velzard was so adorable (>ω<) )
She detestably complained, seeming like she wanted a fight.
Guy was feeling bored recently, so he decided to face her seriously.
After battling for 3 days & 3 nights, Guy's base of operations turned into a silver world blanketed in ice.
Guy simply laughs it off, but for everyone else who lived there, it was a disaster.
She was Veldanava's younger sister, and seemed to be jealous of Guy as he had been accepted by her brother.
But, the seed of jealousy hadn't shown itself inside of her, so her real motive was probably to test Guy.
In the end, she seemed to have found something interesting, and now followed alongside Guy.
This, was how Guy met "Frost Dragon" Velzard.
He shifted his headquarters to the Northern Continent.
It was because the Aura (youki) leaking out from Velzard dropped the surrounding temperature.
Since there was less impact on the surroundings up north, he decided to move his base there.
At that time, Velzard had just learned to transform into her human form, but even more Aura was leaking because of that. (TN: velzard also had her time as a problem child (´ω｀) )
It was the right decision to move his home base. But that place had now became a land of permafrost that was void of any life, that was the only thing that was regretful.
To distract himself away from his boredom, he began surveillance on a larger scale, focusing on locations which showed large scale advancement in livelihood.
Although they looked scrawny when compared to "that place with super technology", the knowledge of magic and skills which were passed down, slowly began to resurface in their advancement.
It was amusing to watch the humans.
In time, villages became countries, and small scale skirmishes started to show up.
Is it time for me to appear?
As a warning, some countries were destroyed.
The humans, in the face of the threat Guy posed, slowly gained the mentality of working together.
(That's good. Unless you get on my nerves, I won't be destroying your country!)
Guy was fairly fulfilled, with his job as "Arbitrator".
Time passed, and a few hundred years went by.
On a certain day, to the bored Guy, a party came to challenge him.
These intruders, managed to overcome the frozen lands which no man dare tread.
「Your's truly is Rudra. Rudra・Nasca!
A Hero of mankind, one who has shouldered the wishes of his people.
Vile Demon Lord, time to meet your end! Also, give this one all of your treasures!!」
「Rudra nii-sama, you're acting like the demon lord now!」
「Ahh, that's no good. He's getting blinded by greed.
He's definitely gonna get his ass whooped.」(EN: nii-sama = big brother, for you lesser weebs)
Having such a conversation, a weird trio.
Hero? What's that?
Guy has been bored for so long, those words piqued his interest.
「Fufun! Coz Your's truly is the strongest, I won't be needing help from you guys.
Hey Demon Lord, I challenge you to a one-on-one battle!」
The good-looking young man who can be called a biseinen, charged in wearing his intricate full-body magic armor. (TN:maybe pretty boy for biseinen? lol)
Should I easily evade or receive the attack. Maybe I should counterattack and make him regret his choice.
Guy thought with Thought Acceleration, while looking at the 3 of them.
But,
「Nii-sama! At least have some support magic ――Holy Blade―― !!」
The magic released from the silver haired girl, who looked to be his younger sister, enveloped Rudra's sword in light.
It was a dazzling, eye catching light, which exudes a radiance that seemed to destroy evil.
(Shit. That light could cut through all barriers!)
Plus, he has been hiding his true strength, the young man's swinging sword accelerated towards Guy.
At the last second, Guy parried the blow with his Demon Sword "Tenma".
The young man, with his vivid sword techniques, gave Guy problems even when predicting his moves using "Clairvoyance".
「Hey, you're good! You are the first who managed to make me draw my sword!」
「Hah! To think you would parry the attacks of Your's truly! This is gonna be fun, Demon Lord!
Before this one destroys you, how about he hears your name?」
「How brazen, for a human….
I'm Guy.
All who have faced me, end up screaming Giyaaーーーー.
Does that work as my name?
It was a pain to think about, so I shortened it to Guy for my name.」
「…. Wait a sec.
That's not how names work. Names don't work that way at all!
It won't be awesome if your's truly defeats a Demon Lord with such a weird name….
Come to think of it, your hair's a beautiful Cardinal Red color――」
「Hold up. If you talk about Cardinal, you think of me. What are you doing giving away my name!?」(EN: Velgrynd talking)
「Nn? Ahh, I get it, what a noisy fella….
Alright, Crimson then! How's that, no more problems right?」
「…. it's kinda similar, but that's good i guess. Words don't really go into that thick head of yours….」
「Great! Then it's decided. From today, you shall be "Demon Lord" Guy・Crimson!」
Thus, "Demon Lord" Guy・Crimson was born.
Because of what he did, the young man ――Rudra―― lost consciousness, and ended up wandering the borders of life and death; his battle with Guy ended up getting delayed….
Thinking back, Guy and Rudra's entwined fates may have started here.
After Rudra recovered, they battled countless times.
Rudra was powerful, calling himself a Hero was no fluke.
The awakened Hero Rudra, and the ascended Demon Lord Guy.
Rudra battled with the pinnacles of technique and skill, while Guy used his overflowing power and Skills.
Although it was a stalemate for a period, it can be said Guy slowly was gaining the upper hand.
Rudra's little sister, Lucia, and the beauty with the azure hair, "Scorch Dragon" Velgrynd, speechlessly watched over the two of them.
This has become something of a daily occurrence, since god knows when.
On one such day,
「Hey you! Even though you said to battle fair and square, isn't what you are doing too devious!?」
After obstructing his(Guy's) vision, Rudra cut Guy's stats down with a Holy Barrier, so Guy was voicing his complaints.
「Justice goes to the victorious! No, without victory, it is justice no more!
That's why, Your's truly shall attain victory by any means!
Also, that move you just used, that was a move this one used last time!
Going around stealing other's moves…. You're the devious one!!」
Retorted Rudra.
Recently their strength has been comparable, being on the back foot probably made Rudra anxious.
His declaration at the start was blown off elsewhere, and he was gunning for the victory by any means now.
Though Guy looked like he was sighing, on the inside he was enjoying such conversations too.
Having someone comparable as a sparring partner was amazing as it is, and just as Rudra said, he could vividly feel himself improving with each battle.
Just attaining an Ultimate Skill isn't the end, mastering it's usage is where the real challenge lied.
Although he was battling Rudra at his level, using only his sword, Guy was slowly overpowering Rudra.
At this point, with Rudra pulling small tricks every so often, they ended with a tie, having no conclusion.
But, if they went on like this, sooner or later Guy is going to emerge victorious.
But….
Guy felt something out of place.
「Oi…. You, during our first battle, why did you not defeat me then?
If you didn't name me, and just came at me with everything you had, you would have won, right?」
Proud as he is, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Guy still chose to ask Rudra this question.
Just as Guy wielded『Pride King Lucifer』, Rudra wielded『Justice King Michael』.
If he went all out from the very start, he had a definite chance of doing damage to Guy.
It was a fact, that Rudra had his chance at victory.
「You dumbass! There's no meaning if Your's truly just *defeats* you!
Getting you to acknowledge how awesome this one is, then turning over and becoming my ally.
Your's truly, is the *Man* who's gonna rule the world.
That, was his promise to his master "Stellar Dragon King" Veldanava.」
That was his answer.
To bring even himself(Guy) under his wing, the *Man* Rudra.
Guy, was now conscious of the fact that he *liked* Rudra. (TN: inb4 yaoi shippin') (EN: ..inevitably!)
That said, if he didn't, he would've killed him immediately, it felt kind of moot at this point.
「Well that's that, on a serious note…. If Your's truly went all out, he wouldn't be able to control it.
Well, this『Justice King Michael』, is a power borrowed from Veldanava….」
After listening to what Rudra had to say, although it was unexpected, Guy found himself accepting the circumstances.
If… It was a power that was a part of Veldanava, having the capability to defeat me isn't hard to imagine.
「What the. That would make this――」
Meaningless, was what Guy was about to say, but his voice was muffled by the roar of an explosion.
The cause, was a fight among sisters, between Velzard and Velgrynd.
It seems, that due to their newborn brother's selfishness, he was out rampaging about as he liked.
They were pushing the responsibility onto each other, saying Velzard's severe discipline being the cause, and Velgrynd's spoiling him being the cause. (TN: lol wut?) (EN: I.. want doujins NOW!)
This was something he was used to already, but Guy thought it would be nice if they could do it somewhere else so as not to be a nuisance to others.
Guy and Rudra took cover so they won't be dragged in.
He kinda lost interest in their fight.
His position as Demon Lord, was something that he was doing for Veldanava in the first place.
It couldn't be helped that he was unable to get serious about his battles with Rudra, who was also Veldanava's friend.
「We're done here! I really like you. (TN: as a person) (EN: don't add words to his mouth!)
That's why, I won't be killing you, nor will I fight you for real.
But, to stop the world from falling apart, I'll stay in my position as Demon Lord.」
Just as Guy said that while looking Rudra in the eyes, (TN: woot moar shippin!)
「So, then. Why don't we have a "Game"?」
Rudra said that, while trying his hardest to hide his half embarrassed half laughing face. (TN: we be shippin!) (EN: it seems Rudra is the uke)
「A "Game"?」
「Yeah.
This one and you, with our respective pawns, we fight for conquest of this world.
Your's tru-… I believe that it is possible to unite the humans.
I was able to become friends with someone like you.
There's no need for a "Demon Lord" or "Arbitrator".
Veldanava was being obstinate with his ideals……
But I have persuaded him and got his approval.
Even though the chances are amazingly close to zero, I'll be doing everything I possibly can.
『Justice King Michael』's Armageddon, will bring forth an army of angels that will destroy everything.
But, I'll give it my all to control this power.
If humans advance too much, military power and civilization will become collateral.
And, I shall unite this world, and create a utopia!
So, I would like you to stop going around slaughtering humans.」
「Hah! It's not as though mindless slaughter is a hobby of mine.
I only kill those who annoy me.
It matters not whether they are kind or villainous.
If I like them I let them live, I kill them if I don't.
But, well…. Why not?
I'm bored anyway.
I shall not take the field personally, and instead I'll gather up other Demon Lords, and they shall represent me.
Now, your goal is to conquer the world before it becomes one that is under total control of the Demon Lords.
I give you my word that I will not directly interfere.
But, I will continue my work as the "judge".
It is my promise with Veldanava as the "Arbitrator".
Also, as a "Hero", you should already know right?
Heroes, are they who wield the greatest power, the avatars of justice.
Armageddon as it is, is a greater deterrent compared to the threat of Demon Lords.
It is a "program" meant to destroy the world, prepared for when the "Arbitrator" abandons his job.
Veldanava is a perfectionist, not a romanticist.
After seeing intelligent beings finally being born after several hundred million years, he sees the need to manage them so they don't end up destroying themselves.」
「But, even so!
I, have the obligation to bring him peace of mind.
Veldanava, has consummated with my sister.
And, Lucia has been blessed with Veldanava's child.
Veldanava now, is no different from a normal human.
He had always been alone, as someone who wasn't bound by the concept of a lifespan; that Veldanava confided to me while smiling.
He has found happiness being together with Lucia, but even now he still worries for the future!
Ever more so, for the future of his child….
That is the reason why I need to let him settle down.
To let him see, how much this world that he has created, has matured, has become a wonderful balanced world――」
To Rudra's words, Guy had none to return.
In his head, although he thought of and denied multiple possibilities, he ended up understanding Rudra's feelings.
He was vexed, at his own brilliant mind.
(What the hell man, you idiot…. Doesn't that mean, that you'll be the one shouldering everything….?)
Guy was at a loss for words, towards this foolish man, who he saw as his greatest friend.
Guy then processed, and calculated the chances in his mind.
The possibility of success was abysmally low.
This man(Rudra), who Guy saw as his best friend had, at his own convenience, decided to shoulder all the trials of establishing this utopia he so sought.
But, if it was this man, then maybe….
It was a fact, that there was something in Rudra that made you think as such.
In the end, Guy accepted Rudra's "Game".
If all of Guy's representatives are defeated, it's Rudra win. If that happens, Guy will follow Rudra.
But, until that condition is met, as promised with Veldanava, Guy will continue his work as "Arbitrator".
There was little merit for Guy to win.
At most, he gets to stop Rudra's reckless plan, and returns to his work as "Arbitrator" and stop the other Demon Lords from getting out of hand.
But, that was enough for Guy.
To his hard-headed friend, words will not be enough to get him to back down.
And so, this "Game" between Guy and Rudra, which would span more than 2000 years, began.
the result….
Was a cycle of tragedies.
Shortly after Milim was born, Lucia and Veldanava perished in a magic attack caused by another country plotting against the Nasca Kingdom.
Milim grew up without knowing her parents' faces. Also, not knowing of her relation to Rudra.
Milim's pet too, perished at the plot of a certain country.
To calm down the vehemently enraged Milim, Guy had to take her on with everything he had.
The repeated tribulations.
The ugly truth of the human world that was shown.
After shaving off his Holy powers through countless rebirths, he lost his qualifications to be a "Hero".
Even so, Rudra remained a Saint, through sheer force of will.
But――
After a certain point, Rudra's heart began to be tainted, as he began utilizing means that strayed from his past idealist self.
Cold, cruel means.
Attaining victory against Guy became the only goal, but that, only caused more tragedies.
「I said it already didn't I, you foolish blockhead….
That kind of stuff, is more suitable for us Demons, who are capable of fully controlling our emotions….」
As he mumbled such, he was unconscious of the things that flowed down his cheeks….
As he quietly, gave his once greatest friend, his prayers.
And so, the Game between Guy and Rudra that had spanned eternally, came to it's end.