Betrayed by His Party, a Failed Healing Mage Revived Past Demon Lords Out of Spite and They Were All Overpowered Beautiful Girls - 9

Chapter 9: The Healing Mage Understands What Must Be Done

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At the destination of the skeleton soldiers, there was a group of a little over a dozen people clad in full-body armor. Engraved on that armor were the emblems of the Halmesia Kingdom, the “Flower” and the “Goddess,” and they overwhelmingly outnumbered the skeleton soldiers.

“Those are the Knights of the Halmesia Kingdom!?”

I immediately decided to retreat. They were the elite among elites that the Halmesia Kingdom prided itself on, its knights. 

There were two requirements to become a knight. One was proficiency in handling all kinds of weapons, including swords, spears, and bows. The other was the ability to use advanced magic of at least one attribute. In other words, they were combat experts. Individually, they fell just short of Albert, but it was said that when two fought together their strength doubled, three made it quadruple, and four made it eightfold. And there were about thirty of them.

This is bad. There’s no way I can win. I should run and get help from Elizabeth-san or Elshadow-san.

That was what I thought, but I was a little too slow.

“Two o’clock direction, one target. A powerful monster’s presence. Do not lower your guard.”

They found me even though I was hiding!!

How they detected me while I was concealed, I had no idea, but the knights began chanting spells and advanced toward me.

“Flame Magic: Burst Rain!!”

“Storm Magic: Gale Blast!!”

“Earth Magic: Rock Break!!”

This was what made the knight order terrifying. Each of them had swordsmanship worthy of being called a master, yet they were also top-class mages.

“Guh!!”

I leaped back in an instant, barely avoiding a direct hit, but I didn’t come out unscathed. The aftereffects of the magic left me with injuries that would be considered severe for a human. I hurriedly cast healing magic. Combined with my vampire regeneration, my wounds closed in the blink of an eye.

“The damage inflicted on the target has regenerated.”

“This regeneration… a vampire? Judging by how it’s acting under sunlight, it must be a Greater Vampire.”

“I’ve heard they can exert their full physical abilities even under sunlight. Judging from that, there’s no doubt about itt.”

“Troublesome. We’ll finish this in one go.”

The knights moved efficiently to eliminate me. Before I realized it, I was surrounded with no escape route, so I had no choice but to prepare myself…. That was when it happened.

“Hey, Onii-san, are you really getting cornered by such weak humans~?”

“Huh?”

When I looked up, I saw a badly battered Meme floating there.

“…Reinforcements from a monster. Seems wounded. We’ll take them both down quickly.”

“W-wait, squad leader!!”

“What is it?”

“That monster is no ordinary one!! The amount of magic power it contains is abnormal… it may be comparable to a Demon Lord!!”

“!?”

Tension spread among the knights. Meme, surprised that her strength had been seen through, grinned mischievously.

“Ahaha!! So the knights can tell how strong Meme is~? But you wouldn’t bully such a cute Meme, right~?”

“D-don’t meet her eyes!!”

“Too late~”

It seemed several knights had already made eye contact with her.

“I’ll protect Meme-chan!!”

“Be quiet!! I’ll protect Meme-chan!!”

“I’ll kill anyone who gets near Meme-chan!!”

“H-hey, calm down!!”

“No good!! They’ve been hit by a powerful charm spell and lost their sanity!!”

The elite knights of the Halmesia Kingdom fell under charm magic and began attacking each other. Then Meme delivered the final push.

“Hey, knights~ don’t fight over me~!! Just take down the ones bullying Meme~!!”

“““Yesss!!”””

“Damn it, retreat!! All units, retreat!! Leave behind those affected by charm!!”

The middle-aged knight leading the squad made a swift decision. He gathered the sane knights and withdrew, fleeing without even looking back.

“Ahaha!! Running away like that is so pathetic!! What a bunch of weaklings!!”

“…You saved me, Meme-san.”

“You’re welcome, Onii-san♡ But if you want to thank me, I’d like you to use your body~”

“Y-your body?”

What did she mean by that…?

“Did you just think of something naughty~?”

“N-no, not really.”

“Geez, you’re such a pervert♡ But if you want to do it with Meme, I might give you special permission~?”

“I-I’ll pass…”

“…Hmph. You’re weaker than Meme but still reject my temptation? How cheeky~”

Meme traced her fingertip across my chest. Her touch was strangely skillful, making me twitch from the ticklish sensation.

“Well, it’s fine~ I’ll slowly make both your body and heart mine anyway~”

“…Um, why are you coming on so strong?”

“You know, Meme realized something~ If I steal you away from that woman, then Meme wins, right~?”

That woman probably meant Elizabeth. Meme’s clothes were torn, so it seemed the battle between Demon Lords had ended with either Elizabeth or Elshadow winning. When I returned to the Sky Demon Castle to check, I found out Elizabeth had won. Elizabeth didn’t wear clothes in her room and casually said indecent things, but among the Demon Lords, maybe she was overwhelmingly the strongest.

“Alright, let’s go home, Onii-san~”

“Ah, yeah.”

The knights under Meme’s charm directed killing intent at me, but a single warning from her was enough to stop them. On the way back, I suddenly thought about it. What would have happened if Meme had arrived just a little, just a tiny bit later?

“…This won’t do.”

Even after becoming a vampire, I was still weak. If I lost to knights, then getting revenge on Albert and the rest of the hero’s party would remain nothing more than a dream. I had to become stronger. Swordsmanship, magic, anything was fine. I had to grow stronger in my own way and become able to fight.

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Side: Hero

The hero Albert visited the royal castle at the center of the capital of the Halmesia Kingdom. The reason was simple. The investigation unit sent to Sapan Town had returned and brought back information. In the meeting room, the king and many high-ranking officials had gathered, and among them stood the hero Albert.

“According to the investigation unit’s report, it is hard to believe, but…”

“Spit it out clearly!!”

“Y-yes, sir!! …After encountering what appeared to be a masked Greater Vampire, a monster girl with power comparable to a Demon Lord appeared. Due to the latter’s presence, some knights were charmed and… subdued as they were.”

“W-what did you say!?”

The meeting room erupted in noise.

“What does this mean? A monster with power comparable to a Demon Lord?”

“Yes. While we cannot be certain, the one who observed the magic power specializes in detection magic, so there is little room for error.”

“I’m not asking about the accuracy!! I’m asking why such a monster suddenly appeared!!”

“T-that is currently under investigation…”

“Damn it!! Good grief!!”

At that moment—

“C-could it be that a new Demon Lord has already been born?”

“““!?”””

At someone’s muttering, the room fell silent.

“I see. It is said that a Demon Lord is born several decades after one is defeated, but…”

“Then does that mean a new Demon Lord was born immediately after the last one was defeated!?”

“If that’s the case, what terrible misfortune…”

At that moment, someone raised their hand. It was a noble who had provided great support to Albert’s hero party.

“Everyone, do not be so pessimistic. We have here the hero Albert-sama, who has already defeated a Demon Lord.”

“Oh!! That’s right!!”

“If it is Albert-dono who defeated the Demon Lord, he may be able to defeat a monster of equal power!!”

“Eh? Ah, yes… I suppose so.”

Albert clicked his tongue internally. Right now, the hero party no longer had a powerful healer like a saintess. It was only because Alicia existed that the hero party had been able to push themselves recklessly. The optimistic nobles, who didn’t understand that, felt reassured without basis just because Albert was present.

This is a pain, but I need to find a new healing mage so I’m ready whenever I’m ordered to deploy.

Albert calmly considered what he needed to do. Even though there was no one in this world who could use healing magic more skillfully than the saintess.

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