Now, let's go out and fight.

　A three-sided, six-armed - all-out battle form, Wölfer attacked Regal.

''This is...?''

　In an instant, I realized.

　I can't catch it.
　There is no way to escape.

　If this one attack is over, I will be cut down for sure.

(This is the true strength of the "Beginning Demon King"........)

　Even thousands of years of training as a swordsman are not far enough to reach Wölfer.
　He was pressurized and couldn't stop his fighting spirit from fading.

''What's the matter, you've given up!


　Wölffer barks.

'I am...'

　You will be cut.
　You're gonna lose.
　No, no, no!
　I won't stand idly by and let you cut down!

　The will to fight that I had almost lost rises again.

　Is it instinct or just willpower?
　Regal himself didn't know for sure, but he stepped forward.

''Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!''

　Along with the spirit of the rifle, Welfar unleashed his six swords.

　Regal did not dodge.
　His bone body was torn apart countless times.

''As a swordsman, I am not as good as you──but!

　The skull's eye light blinked intensely.

''As an undead swordsman, I'm different!
What...?

　A body of bones torn apart by Velfer.
　Some of them turn into blades and go towards Wölfer.

　-No.
　From the beginning, he had them slashed on purpose in order to use them as flying tools.

An undead body itself is used as a weapon...?
No, that's not it either.

　Regal spewed out all the miasma at once and sent his right arm flying.

　A double attack with the blade created from the body of bone and the sword in his right hand.
　This is the only swordsmanship that Regal can perform that combines his abilities as a swordsman and his characteristics as an undead person──.

''Kutu...!

　Welfar knocked off all of the bones while getting shallow cuts on his shoulder and side, and tore into Regal's right arm as well.

''──after all, you are strong.''

　Regal, now down to just his skull, rolled to the floor.

'No, it made me cringe. Seems to be more up in arms than I imagined.'

　Welfar brought his sword down.
　His face was slightly stiff and sweat was running down his cheeks.

'You're strong, dude. That was fun.'

　The Beginning Demon King with a big smile on his face.

''........I hope you enjoyed it.
What about you?　Did you enjoy it?

　Welfar asked.

　Regal huffed.

(No way, this one was trying to make me feel better from the start...)

　'You cared for me, you say?

'Your reason for fighting was a grudge against the humans but that's not the only thing that drives you, is it?
..........
"Your pride as a warrior. And the love you can't get rid of - you're torn between resentment and love. Perhaps for thousands of years.
So you've seen it all before, have you?
I'm not a prospect. It's just a feeling.

　Wölffer laughs.

'We're both warriors. We've spoken by the sword.'
With all due respect, sir, what does Your Majesty intend to do with the humans?

　This time Regal asked.

''Demon kings in the past have generally had an adversarial relationship with humans. Demons are nothing more than enemies to the human race.
Freed doesn't seem to think so, though.

　Wölffer chuckled.

I'm not particularly fond of humans, either. There was a time, back when there were no wards in this world, there was a massive invasion by humans.
A full-scale invasion...?

　It was the first time I'd heard of it.

"They unilaterally condemned us as evil and attacked us. We fought them off painlessly and attacked back into their world.

　And Wölffer.

'Retaliation.'
Retaliation...
Although the humans aren't as powerful as the demons, some of them were still killed in the first invasion. To avenge them, I led my army into the human world.

　Wölfer's expression was stern.

''But in the end, the cycle of killing each other would only continue. We hated each other, and they hated back too - we eventually returned to the demon world and laid wards across the entire demon world.
To avoid further fighting?
Yes. But now that the boundary has been broken, the edge of the war has been opened once again. And this time, even the heavenly army is invading the country. We need to get rid of the sparks that are falling on us.

　Wölfer sighed.

'I don't like humans, but that doesn't mean I don't hate them, either, I guess. If I had the time to harbor such feelings, I'd rather spend my time ruling the demon world. The bottom line is that it's a matter of prioritizing your feelings.
Priority...?
Hatred, pride, compassion - it's all you. From there, you can choose what you value and decide where you want to go.