Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆Death God; Zarxis

After going through the transfer gate, the first thing I came across was a vast desert; it was as tasteless as usual. There was nothing special in this place, there was only barren soil with red rocks and sand.

It was also the same for the Gypseal desert area, which was near this Apophis desert, it was literally a barren land infested with Lamias, Gorgons, and Basilisks. The only difference was that this desert was ruled by the Serpent Queen, Diadona.

After walking for a while, a palace suddenly appeared right before me—it was the Apophis' Palace.

We had created the Apophis alliance to oppose those shitty Gods of Elios. The Serpent Queen Diadona should be hiding in this place, which was concealed by a barrier.

When I arrived at the palace, a Gorgon attendant, who had been waiting for me in front of the gate, acted as my guide. I followed him through the dark corridors, which were isolated from the outside; no light touched them.

But, this darkness wasn't a big deal for the Serpent Queen and her kin, their forte laid in their perception. The Gorgon leading me advanced forward without any problem.

Once we arrived at our destination, I entered the room. The room had beautiful ornaments on its big wall. It was a room befitting a queen. Queen Diadona, sitting on her throne, was looking at the direction of the huge window by her side, which showed the spacious hall.

「You've finally returned eh, Zarxis. Have you found your son?」

「Nope, I failed to find him. He might have been killed by someone.」

The God of Dream and Sleep, Zand, was my son. It had been a really long time since that unfilial son of mine contacted me. The last time he contacted me, he had informed me that he had a really important piece of information he needed to share. But then, his communications stopped. Maybe those shitty folks of Elios were aware of the importance of the information in his hands and disposed of him.

Zand was a mere petty God, he was barely even qualified as a divine being. Alphos could literally insta kill Zand once he found him. Well, it was either Alphos or Thors. Thus, I assumed that he had already been killed by one of them.

I took a breath.

Though I didn't care about that useless Zand, the information he obtained was really valuable.

「Did he betray us?」

Hearing that question, I smiled at Diadona.

「That's impossible. Those overly proud Elios folks would never accept him as their ally, even if it’s just for show.」

Those folks really hated us after all. They wouldn't even lie about allying themselves with any of us.

「Sure enough. Does that mean someone killed him? Poor Zand.」

I shook my head upon hearing that.

「I don't feel any pity for him. From the very beginning, I did not have that much expectation for him. Rather than talking about him, I'm curious about what you’ve been looking at since a while ago, Diadona.」

Never once did Diadona turn around to look at me during our conversation. She kept looking at the banquet hall below her window. Which reminds me, I've been hearing some cheering from there since a while ago.

What are they doing over there?

I went to Diadona's side and looked at the scenery outside of the window.

「What are they doing in there, Diadona?」

When I looked down at the banquet hall, I saw two men fighting in the middle of the hall. As for the cheering, it came from the spectators who surrounded them.

One of the two men was Labrys. There was no way I could’ve mistaken him for anyone else since he donned his signature ox head and six arms. The one fighting him, on the other hand, was a small human child wielding a long spear. Naturally, he wasn't just your average human child. His true figure was completely different from the one he showed right now.

His name was the Serpent Prince, Dahark. He was the son of the Serpent Queen Diadona.

Labrys was swinging his double-edged giant ax as Dahark used his long spear, which had a length thrice his height.

The onlookers cheered harder as these two fought.

「It's a mock battle between Dahark and Labrys. It's a nice show, Zarxis. That Labrys is actually a pretty decent fighter, isn't he?」

Diadona spoke with a delighted voice.

Yeah, she was right.

Labrys was defending against Dahark's onslaught. Though Labrys also counterattacked in between, all of them got shot down by his opponent.

「OIOI! WHAT'S THE MATTER, LABRYS OLD MAN! I'M JUST STARTING!」

「DAMN YOU SHITTY BRAT!!」

Labrys didn't just use an ax, his other arms wielded other weapons such as swords and spears. And yet, he still couldn't get close to Dahark.

Nevertheless, he was still a splendid fighter.

In fact, Labrys was one of the most powerful fighters gathered in this place. It seems the reason Dahark had gotten this far against Labrys was because Labrys was still frustrated by his loss against Alphos.

「ENOUGH!! BOTH OF YOU STOP AT ONCE!!」

Diadona stopped Dahark and Labrys.

As expected, both sides might have really gone for the kill if the match kept going on.

「Victory is mine, Labrys old man.」

Dahark spoke with a triumphant face.

「HAH!! THE HELL YER TALKING ABOUT!! I'M GOING EASY ON YOU SINCE IT'S A MATCH!! NOT TO MENTION THAT I'VE YET TO USE FLAME OF MOROK!!!」

Labrys replied while snorting.

Sure enough, Labrys had yet to use his trump card, the Flame of Morok, but that fact aside, he wasn't someone who would go easy on his opponents.

「Ah, you're right. Shall we duke it out for real next time? I don't mind if you use Flame of Morok next time.」

Seeing that Labrys couldn't accept his loss, Dahark provoked him with an irritated voice.

「Humph!! Greenhorn!」

Both sides readied their weapons again.

They might really try to kill each other this time.

The people around them who were cheering until now suddenly stopped.

「I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!!! YOU FOOLS!!!」

Diadona's angry voice tore that silence.

When I looked to my side, Diadona's hair was already standing to its ends, her eyes shone with an ominous light.

Even divine beings were scared of Diadona's evil eyes.

Labrys and Dahark, who were exposed to Diadona's glint, stopped moving.

「Labrys, you should vent your anger on a proper opponent. Remember the reason behind you losing your beloved house.」

Diadona stepped out from the window, floating in the air above the banquet hall as she spoke.

「YEAH, I KNOW ALREADY! I SHALL SEND THAT HERO OF LIGHT INTO THE ABYSS OF DESPAIR!!」

Labrys turned around as he said so.

「Dahark. The reason I gave you the poisonous spear, Pisar, isn't for this kind of quarrel. Remember, who is your true enemy?」

Diadona asked while looking at Dahark. The poisonous spear, Pisar, held in Dahark's hand, was originally Diadona's weapon. The reason why he, who was always seeking blood and battle to the point that his passion would melt the earth, was granted that spear, which was enclosed with eternal ice by Diadona, was so that he could use it to defeat those detestable folks in Elios.

It was definitely not to be used lightly on a petty quarrel.

「Yeah, I know that, Mother!! I will definitely shred Alphos' beautiful face to pieces one of these days!!」

Dahark said with a vexed look on his face.

The atmosphere of the onlookers changed the moment they heard Dahark's remark. It was as if they were scared of something.

The name of the white noble Holy Knight, Alphos, who was widely known as the God of Song and Art in Elios, was truly hated by the Gods who didn't belong to Elios. Many gods were jealous of his handsome face, which made the majority of the Goddesses in Elios fall in love with him.

Yet, no matter how jealous they were, they couldn't do anything about it. That’s because not only was Alphos gifted with a beautiful face, he was also extremely powerful. Many were fooled by his appearance only to find themselves getting kicked in the ass by him.

Dahark was also one of the people who suffered a humiliating defeat in Alphos' hand.

Though he managed to survive the predicament with his snake-like tenacity, I heard that he couldn't move freely for a while after that due to the injuries he received from the battle against Alphos. Ever since then, Dahark never neglected his training in order to defeat Alphos.

「I WON'T LOSE THIS TIME!! I WILL BECOME THE FIRST PERSON TO MAKE THAT UNDEFEATED ALPHOS SUFFER HIS FIRST DEFEAT!!」

Dahark shouted while raising Pisar the poisonous spear high in the air.

「Unfortunately, that's impossible.」

A voice resounded from somewhere.

「WHO'S THERE?!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY IMPOSSIBLE?!!」

Dahark looked around to find the owner of that voice. He found him immediately.

Or should I say that he showed himself.

It was someone donned in a red exoskeleton and a poisonous red tail. A pair of giant pincers spread on his back like wings.

The Red Scorpion God, Giltar.

That was his name.

He, along with his little sister, Bruhl, were the Gods revered by the scorpion folk, the Giltabruhl.

Giltar should have been with the Frog Goddess, Heqat, fighting the Hero of Light.

When did he return?

「Ooh, it's Giltar eh. How did the Hero of Light’s matter go? Is he as powerful as the rumors say?」

The look in Diadona's eyes sharpened.

The Hero of Light was Goddess Rena's lover. In short, he was additional combat power for Elios. It seems Diadona was also curious about that hero.

「Quite strong. The rumors about his strength are true, leader.」

Giltar replied respectfully.

His form was flawless. As pretentious as always.

「WAIT, GILTAR!!! WHAT ABOUT THE MATTER THAT YOU MENTIONED BEFORE?!!!」

Suddenly, Dahark interrupted the conversation as he pointed his spear toward Giltar.

「It's exactly as I said, Youngster. It's already impossible for you to be the first person to defeat Alphos.」

Giltar spoke with a face as if it was something obvious.

「YOU MEAN I CAN'T WIN AGAINST ALPHOS?!!」

Giltar shook his head upon hearing that.

「I don't mean that, kid. I said, you can't be the first person to defeat Alphos. That’s because someone else has already beaten Alphos before you.」

「WHAT?!!」

Dahark couldn't hide his shock.

And Dahark wasn't the only one who was taken by surprise upon hearing Giltar's remark. The people around them were equally surprised, because Alphos' name was synonymous to the word "Undefeated" until now.

There was even a rumor saying that he was stronger than even Oudith, the leader of Elios. Thus, they couldn't help but be shocked the moment they heard that Alphos was defeated.

「WHO!! WHO'S THE BASTARD WHO DEFEATED ALPHOS BEFORE ME?!! DAMMIT, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO DEFEAT HIM!!」

Dahark was shouting hysterically upon snapping back to reality.

「The one who defeated Alphos is the Dark Knight, whose name is heard everywhere nowadays. He's the one who defeated Alphos, Dahark.」

I was even more surprised upon hearing Giltar's remark. The Dark Knight he was talking about must be the strongest Dark Knight employed by Modes. I met him once before. But, I couldn't see him as someone with that much power back then.

Labrys had also mentioned the Dark Knight in one of his stories with a vexed look on his face. Just like the Hero of Light, the Dark Knight was Labrys' nemesis too.

「DARK KNIGHT!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF A PERSON HE IS, BUT I'LL MAKE HIM REGRET SNATCHING MY PREY!!!」

Dahark shouted again.

It seems he was itching for a fight.

「WAIT, DAHARK!! WE'LL LEAVE THAT COWARD MODES FOR LAST!!」

But, Diadona stopped him immediately.

「What are you talking about, Mother? You've been planning to defeat the Demon King for a long time, right? Then let's just do it now.」

Dahark replied with a dissatisfied look on his face.

「No. We have to postpone your fight with the Dark Knight for later. We mustn't provoke the side that doesn't belong to us or Elios.」

The look in Diadona's eyes sharpened even further. Dahark became obedient the moment he was glared at by her evil eyes. Diadona wouldn't forgive anyone who disobeyed her, even if the said person was her own son. Dahark knew that side of his mother very well.

「Guh!! I understand, Mother!! I'll leave the matter with the Dark Knight for later!!」

Dahark was dissatisfied but he agreed reluctantly since he couldn't go against his mother.

「Good child.」

Diadona smiled upon seeing that.

「But, Mother. I'm allowed to fight the Dark Knight if he comes to attack us, right?」

Though I don't think that the Dark Knight would raid our base, Dahark hadn't given up yet and was trying to create a loophole.

「Yeah, you can fight him as much as you want if he comes looking for trouble with us, Dahark.」

Dahark smiled happily upon hearing her confirmation.

「Glad to hear that! The Dark Knight who defeated Alphos, eh? I wonder just what kind of a person is he?」

Dahark looked toward Nargol's direction as he muttered those words.

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