The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: geli
Author’s Note:
Just a reminder.
Since the Rance series only has a few details regarding the history and the characters, with few to no descriptions of the past era, I will make up some settings to fill in the missing parts.
I will make up history and characters according to my own thoughts and imagination, so please keep that in mind while reading this work.
In short, I wanna see Ssulal-chan.
Chapter 003 – Majin
“Oi! What are you guys doing! Hurry up and protect meeeee!”
This was shrieked by the seventh demon captain I was cutting down today, and it caused the surrounding demons to cry out in confusion.
“Hih?! This is why I was against attacking this settlement!”
“Haa?! You were really enthusiastic about it the whole time before!”
“Shut up! Anyway, we’re not capable of winning against him! Just call on that person to come!”
“Like hell he will come!! I will just— GYAAAH!!”
I cut down the screaming demon.
“Lo, look what happened! Let’s escape!”
“UWaaaaaaAAAH!!”
I swung my sword toward the escaping demons, and sighed as I flicked off drops of demon blood from my sword.
…As expected, I’m tired of all this.
I was already quite far from the allied settlement. I wondered if they were alright? While I couldn’t say that I was kind, I did worry about the fellow soldiers who had fought alongside me all these long years. For the time being, they should’ve managed somehow, since I had disrupted the enemies by quite a bit.
However, the soldiers’ fatigue should have probably reached its limit. The incursions of the Demon Army had increased in frequency, to the point that these near-daily battles were like an almost constant smack of a whip for the soldiers. The order to retreat briefly came to mind. 1
However bad I was at being one though, I was still the king.
It wasn’t my style to retreat, and fighting was all I was good at. Despite this, the elders were the ones who held the real power.
What would happen if we retreated without defeating the remaining demon generals?
In order to let the soldiers retreat, they’d have to fall back from the frontlines and move closer to the settlement.
And with that, nearby settlements along the way would be sacrificed.
There was no such thing as a reserve force. I would’ve liked to suggest that the women also take up arms and fight, but I doubted that those elders would ever allow it.
Even though I was treated as a monster and a cancer in my own settlement, I still had a conscience. As long as I could still manage it, then I wouldn’t abandon them.
I checked my own physical condition.
There were a few scratches on me, but there weren’t any fatal or large cuts. I hadn’t taken any noticeable damage.
The only problem was fatigue. As such, I just needed to make sure I lasted until I could defeat the demon generals.
And after the demon generals were defeated, we would withdraw as soon as the demon army collapsed.
As I steeled my will, I rushed toward the hordes of monsters.
After I defeated 3 more demon captains, I finally found my goal.
“Wha, He’s already reached this point—!”
“!”
I rushed toward the demon general, intending to cut off its head in one smooth stroke.
“What kind of monster are you! Damn, those demon soldiers were all cut down like garbage… Kuh, hey, I will withdraw. Stop him for—“
“You won’t get away—“
I gathered all my strength, grasped my sword with both hands, and then pushed forward while swinging it.
“UOOOOOOOHHHH!!”
One after another, I started cutting down the demon soldiers.
Finally, I had the demon general in my line of sight.
“You’re the last one —!”
“Da, damn it! I don’t want to meet my end here —!”
However, right as I was about to stab my sword into its belly.
I suddenly felt something— and reflexively blocked to my left with my sword. As I did, I felt a heavy impact.
“Ga, GAAAAAAAH?!”
Despite successfully defending, I was still blown away by the force of this impact. My body was flung back before it crashed to the ground and sent up a cloud of dust. The impact of the blow dragged several demon soldiers with me before I finally came to a stop.
…What, what just happened…?
I shoved my hands against the ground and somehow managed to raise my body towards the demon general’s location. Then I noticed something standing there.
It was not a human. I could see an elongated silhouette.
Then, it was…
Eventually, the cloud of dust cleared and its figure was revealed
The first thing you would notice was its white body. Then the wings, and finally, its red eyes and claws.
Perhaps because I was looking at it with my own eyes, or because of the damage I had received from its attack, I was stunned once I heard the name that was muttered by the demon general.
“Me, Meglass-sama —!”
A faithful subordinate of the Maou who had been granted their blood— Majin Meglass.
As it stood before me, alarms instinctually started going haywire in my head.
“…”
Meglass simply looked on as I stood up after a bit, but it didn’t say anything.
All it did was just watch me.
The demon general got suspicious and called out to it.
“Uhm, Meglass-sama…?”
“…Back down.”
“— Huh?”
The demon general replied stupidly, confused by Meglass’s order when it finally spoke..
“Err, what does that…?”
It couldn’t comprehend what it was told, so it tried to ask for clarification. Its query was cut off by Meglass before it could finish.
“…You’re just in the way of the battle”
“I, I see! So Meglass-sama intends to handle it…?”
“…”
I won’t speak any further. Quickly get out of my sight already. Meglass’s silent attitude seemed to say such a thing.
“…I understand. Hey, all of you, back down so we won’t disturb Meglass-sama’s battle!”
“Eh, is that really okay?”
A demon soldier asked reflexively, to which the demon general nodded sagely.
“Meglass-sama will definitely finish him off. Just look from afar so you don’t disturb the battle. I will back down as well to command the front line.”
“Hah, understood!”
And with that, the demon general and demon soldiers left. Only Meglass and I remained in that place.
…This is a bad situation.
Even though I needed to hurry and defeat the demon general, there was a Majin right in front of me. I already was in a bad spot from the wounds I sustained from his initial attack, as well as from accumulated fatigue.
At worst, the soldiers might retreat by their own discretion, but it would be much harder for me to escape at this point.
I didn’t really expect a reply, but I asked anyway.
“…Could you just let me go?”
“…”
What a stupid question. That was what Meglass’s blood lust seemed to say.
It seemed I had no choice…
“I am Leonhart.”
“…Meglass.”
At least he bothered to introduce himself. With that final exchange, the battle began in earnest.
The battle started off similarly, with a super-fast attack from Meglass.
“Guu!”
Right as he struck, I desperately rolled away and somehow managed to avoid the blow.
Damn, I thought this earlier, but this guy is just way too fast!
It was practically impossible to dodge the attack, even after I saw it coming. You needed to use all your strength just to dodge it the moment you sensed its intention to attack.
“…”
It seemed Meglass was slightly surprised that I had managed to somehow avoid its attack. It paused for a moment— but it soon resumed its attacks.
Well, since it’s definitely heading toward me—!
I immediately jumped sideways while simultaneously slashing with all my strength toward the direction where I was standing.
“…!”
Meglass seemed to be quite startled by this maneuver; it hurriedly changed course and jumped up toward the sky to evade it.
Meglass, who was floating above, stared at me for a moment.
Perhaps it didn’t think a human would be able to respond properly to its attacks. I had been confident in my speed, but such confidence was shattered today.
But I couldn’t do anything against a flying enemy. My sole method of attack was with the sword in my hand. I couldn’t use magic.
But the same could be said for it as well. Regardless of how fast it was and the fact that it could fly, it still needed to approach me to attack, since it was also unable to use magic.
Well then, what should I do? I could try to bait him towards me somehow— or so I was thinking, but it was already going to attack!
I observed and waited right for the moment of its attack and immediately jumped sideways. I think I was able to do so faster than before. Right as I was about to swing my sword—
My body was flung into the air.
“Uuu— Aaaa—!”
I opened my mouth and let out a near silent scream. That was how tremendous the impact I had felt at that moment was.
The pain was such that I couldn’t even muster the strength to make a sound. Even thinking had become a struggle.
But with that attack, I was able to glean something. Rather, it seemed obvious after I realized it.
Its super-fast speed was not limited to just straightforward movements. It could also turn a little.
It might need to decelerate for extreme changes of direction, but there was no need to do so if it was just a slight turn. That was all it needed to do to evade my attack.
The scary thing was that it had also observed my movements and was able to match my actions. It was obvious that it possessed great reflexes since it was capable of such quick reactions, even while moving at incredibly high speed. And the enemy was a Majin. It naturally had greater reflexes when compared to humans.
The moment it observed me dodging left or right, it merely aimed its charge toward the same direction.
As a result, I received the full brunt of its charge as it had managed to turn right when I moved to the right as well.
To put it bluntly, it wasn’t just a Majin with great speed. It was an experienced warrior.
No, I should have known that already. Based on what information I had, Meglass was the fastest warrior of the Horus’. Because I was too slow to realize— nah, that wasn’t it. My loss in this battle was inevitable.
The truth was that, in the world of Ludo-Rathowm, there was an insurmountable gap between Majin and humans. Unless I bridged that gap somehow, my loss was already decided the very moment I tried to fight a Majin.
“…Kuh…Aah…”
Damn, was this where I would meet my end? If that happened, I might get reincarnated again. But if that happened, that person would no longer be me. It would simply be another person with the awareness of “me.”
“…”
Before I could notice it, Meglass had approached me. Perhaps it intended to send me off as a fellow warrior. Well, while I had tons of things I wanted to complain about, my mouth couldn’t move, and it didn’t feel that bad anyway. I resigned myself to let it go ahead and kill me.
“…!”
Ah, what? Why was it suddenly on its knees? I didn’t think I was worth that much respect though?
As I watched the strange actions of Meglass, a shadow fell upon my face.
…Who is it? Did Death come to pick me up?
Above me stood a petite girl. She had a white hair and red eyes, and she was staring at me with a steely expression.
While angels did exist in this world, I doubted that an angel would look like this… Well, whatever is fine. My body was in a lot of pain, so they should just hurry up and do whatever they intended to do.
“…I see. I understand.”
It seemed the girl had been engaged in a conversation with Meglass. She nodded as if she had received confirmation about something.
“Hey, you… Would you be willing to follow me?”
Hah? Was she talking to me?
No, whatever you were about to do, just hurry it up already. It was okay with me, whether I go to heaven or hell.
I somehow managed to move my head to respond.
“A, Alright… it’s a promise, okay?”
The girl looked away for some reason and then nodded after a moment, as if she had decided on something. Then she crouched and brought her fingertips to my mouth.
Ah…? Why did she — GuUUUHH?!
—My body feels hot. Hot. Hot.
Something raged inside my body; it felt as if it was tearing me apart.
The pain that had faded earlier on returned. It felt like my body was being completely destroyed and then forcefully remade.
And then that heat, which had felt both never-ending and instantaneous, ended.
“— Ah?”
I stood up then and there.
I — what happened to me?
…I’m still alive?
I inspected both of my hands. They both moved without any issues.
I surveyed my surroundings — or tried to. Both the girl and Meglass were standing in front of me.
The girl observed me from head to toe, and then nodded as if she had found something interesting.
“It seems there was no problem. Well then, let’s go.”
“Hu, Huh? What are you talking about? Rather, what did you do to me?”
Perhaps it was because I was so flustered that I talked how I naturally would’ve, which was unlike how I usually talked to the people in the settlement.
“I will explain later. Meglass, carry him”
“………” 2
Though I felt his distaste in being ordered to do such a thing, Meglass grabbed and carried me.
“Wha, You, what is this?”
I questioned the girl as I was hoisted up in the air.
The girl glared back, then shook her head and said.
“Then I will tell you one thing first.”
“Ah?”
“My name is Ssulal. And also— I am the Maou.”
“— Huh?”
The girl, who called herself Ssulal, had just dropped a ridiculous bomb on me.
Tsukii Note
I will try to list all of the divergence points compared to the original work as the chapter goes. I will try to do it in a way that won’t spoil the story too much.
1st divergence compared to the main story
Leonhart exists, and became a Majin (Highlight text to see the spoiler)
Also, the gallery:
Meglass: https://i.ibb.co/wsvR3Gk/Meglass-Kichikuou-Portrait-2.png [Portrait]
https://i.ibb.co/MPXv0wc/Meglass-2.png [Sprite]
Note that this portrait comes from an older version of the game, since he didn’t appear on the screen of the newer game before dying due to the plot.
