Akatsuki Translations

“Thank you for making the effort to come, Mirage. Allow me to be direct: I would like to have a match with you. And when I win, I would like you to renounce your position as one of the Four Heavenly Kings at tomorrow’s ceremony.” -Astarte

Waiting in the training grounds deep into the night for Mirage’s arrival, Astarte abruptly spoke without exchanging any pleasantries.

The training grounds, frozen over by Mirage’s Niflheim, had already regained their original state.

“To think that after two months, the moment we meet again, you’d suddenly challenge me to a duel in the middle of the night. I was getting excited, thinking you were going to confess your love to me.” -Mirage

“Don’t jest. Let me make it clear—I don’t recognize you as one of the Four Heavenly Kings.” -Astarte

With those words, Astarte pointed her scythe towards Mirage with intense seriousness.

Mirage realized that words alone wouldn’t resolve this situation. He decided to prepare himself and started to swing his large scythe as a warm-up exercise. The sound of the wind cutting through the air echoed around them until it eventually stopped.

Though he was not in perfect condition, Mirage judged that he would be fine like this, considering his current physical condition. It had been two months since the defeat of the Wicked Dragon, and tomorrow a ceremony would be held to appoint the new Heavenly King who would govern the Eastern lands. Mirage would take on the name of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and Astarte would become his adjutant.

“Whether you acknowledge it or not, the fact that I’m one of the Four Heavenly Kings was decided by the Demon Lord. It might end up being futile, but does that not matter to you?” -Mirage

“…It doesn’t matter. Besides, it wouldn’t be wise to appoint someone who can’t fulfill the responsibility as one of the Four Heavenly Kings. In a duel between demons, it’s not uncommon for one of the combatants to lose their life.” -Astarte

Astarte’s words were dangerous, suggesting a rebellious intention. However, Mirage couldn’t deny the truth in her statement. In a serious duel, there was no room for holding back, and accidents were bound to happen.

Mirage and Astarte had already received prior consultation from the Demon Lord Lilith, but the other soldiers were unaware of who would be appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Most of them probably thought that Astarte, who was the daughter of Belzebuth, would be appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Even if there were sudden changes, only a select few would know about it.

To understand how they reached this situation, we need to go back a little in time.

Two months ago, when Astarte woke up in the conference room, Mirage and the officers had already disappeared without a trace. Hurriedly organizing a unit to head to the location where they planned to lead the Wicked Dragon, Astarte witnessed a transformed landscape—a once lush green meadow had become barren. All the vegetation withered, the land scarred, and it appeared uninhabitable.

Astarte couldn’t help but wonder what kind of intense battle could have caused such destruction. Despite searching the area, including the path where they intended to lure the Wicked Dragon according to Mirage’s plan, Astarte couldn’t find the dragon, nor could she find Mirage and the officers’ bodies.

Upon consulting with Demon Lord Lilith, Astarte concluded that the absence of any sightings of the Wicked Dragon meant that Mirage and the others had successfully defeated it. From that point on, Astarte became busy with tasks such as protecting refugees, rebuilding destroyed villages and towns, and replenishing new officers.

Though she must have been concerned about the well-being of those who went to defeat the Wicked Dragon, Astarte had no choice but to work tirelessly, leaving no time to rest. Gradually, the East began to stabilize, and just as the return of the Heavenly King, Belzebuth, drew near, Astarte received news from Demon Lord Lilith.

Mirage had appeared at the Demon Lord’s castle.

“It seems you really don’t like the idea of me becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings.” -Mirage

“I would never entrust my life to someone who treats their subordinates like pawns, letting them die. I cannot accept even just the retirement of my father, and on top of that, to think that Mirage would become the next Heavenly King… I’ve even suspected if the Demon Lord had gone mad.” -Astarte

As Astarte spoke with a dangerously rebellious tone, Mirage recalled the events of the past two months. After defeating the Wicked Dragon, Mirage’s body had become so weak that he could hardly move. With his last bit of strength, he teleported to his secluded family home in the depths of the demon realm.

“If I’m going to die anyway, I want to die at the place where my father’s grave is,” he thought.

Unintentionally, he had brought the dragon’s corpse with him. However, that unexpected action ended up saving Mirage’s life. It was a well-known story that dragon’s liver and blood were used as medicine. In his semi-conscious state, Mirage instinctively sought life and clung to hope, sucking the blood and biting into the liver of the Wicked Dragon.

Without any plans or certainty, he simply clung to life through his instincts. Over time, his wounds healed, and he was able to move his body again. However, he lost the ability to use magic, not only teleportation magic but all other spells. He couldn’t even communicate with anyone.

He concluded that his magic circuit had been damaged, and he decided to focus on recuperation. Finally, just a few days ago, he regained the ability to use teleportation magic. First and foremost, he went to the Demon Lord Lilith to take responsibility for the defeat of the Wicked Dragon.

“Try not to say such reckless things. Well, I must admit, I was surprised too.” -Mirage

Mirage had thought that some form of punishment, whether it be whipping or beheading, was inevitable. However, what surprised Mirage even more was that Demon Lord Lilith was genuinely pleased to see him safe. After embracing and patting him all over, she even tried to remove his mask. Then she informed him about Belzebuth’s retirement and Mirage’s appointment as the next Four Heavenly King.

Mirage had intended to refuse naturally, but being told it was a form of punishment for this incident, he couldn’t go against it, and that’s how the communication with Astarte had proceeded to this point.

Furthermore, Mirage was unaware of the whereabouts of the twenty officers, and he didn’t know what had become of them. He thought that the fact they still hadn’t shown themselves probably meant that they hadn’t made it.

“Grandpa… Agares treated me like his own grandchild. Barbatos may always behave roughly, but deep down, he was very kind and strong. Beleth loved my father dearly and cared for me as his daughter. Orias may not have talked much, but he comforted me when I cried during difficult training.” -Astarte

Astarte recounted her memories alongside the names of the officers. Having spent her entire life with them, they were not just subordinates to her, but akin to family. A grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, brother, and sister—these twenty officers meant the world to her, just as she did to them.

The pain of losing so many family members at once was unimaginable, something Mirage couldn’t comprehend, despite not being insensitive or foolish. But the truth was that he had no other options.

“I hate you. Even if there were no other choices, I hate you for making cruel decisions. I hate you for becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings in place of Father. I hate you for assigning someone like me as your deputy, I refuse to acknowledge it.” -Astarte

Astarte was also well aware that for Mirage, who could use teleportation magic, it was possible for him to escape freely and leave the Demon Lord’s army and live peacefully in some distant land.

However, understanding something logically doesn’t necessarily mean that emotions follow suit.

The anger, sorrow, hatred, and mixed feelings that resulted from driving the officers to their deaths—such complex emotions found no outlet and thus, it was perhaps inevitable that they would be directed at Mirage, who proposed the strategy and survived alone.

Furthermore, this decision, which seemed as if he had been recognized for his accomplishment of defeating the Wicked Dragon, and being appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, was clearly fueling Astarte’s emotions.

“Well, well, I seem to have become quite unpopular. Whether you accept it or not, I, who have slain the Wicked Dragon, am one of the Four Heavenly Kings, while you, who merely slept, are a deputy. If you don’t like it… show that you are more capable than me and drag me down from this position, Deputy Tart-chan.” -Mirage

Mirage spoke provocatively on purpose, but he had no real intention of annoying or belittling Astarte.

However, he had chosen this approach because he judged Astarte’s mental state to be extremely unstable. Astarte had lost her beloved father to retirement, her family-like subordinates to death, and her goal had been usurped by Mirage.

Until now, she had been able to work hard to support the lives of the refugees by rebuilding the Eastern lands. But what would happen if that were to disappear?

Losing her emotional anchor, it was clear that she would eventually stop moving forward.

When the heart loses its anchor, it is inevitable that the steps will cease before long.

Therefore, Mirage believed a new goal was necessary, even if it meant nurturing hatred toward himself. As long as it could serve as the driving force to propel Astarte forward, it didn’t matter.

Being appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings and having Astarte as his deputy was the most efficient arrangement, he had judged.

To be frank, Mirage found his position as one of the Four Heavenly Kings to be an irksome responsibility he would readily relinquish to Astarte, if he could.

“My name is Astarte, not Tart-chan. Please do not call me by such a strange name, Heavenly King, Mirage-sama.” -Astarte

If one only heard the words, they might seem a sarcastic retort to sarcasm. However, Astarte’s expression was icy cold, her eyes shooting daggers at Mirage. Underneath his mask, Mirage secretly smirked.

His principle was to avoid unnecessary actions and to conduct necessary tasks efficiently. What he needed to do now was not only fulfill his duty as one of the Four Heavenly Kings but also atone for the fallen officers by ensuring that the Astarte that those officers had loved did not abandon her goal.

The Demon Lord, Lilith, appointed the Four Heavenly Kings, but if Astarte could demonstrate the necessary skills and achievements, there would be no problem. If Astarte, who had trained to defeat him, was recognized as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Mirage could retire without any hesitation.

“If you hate me, you can try to take my head. Then, I won’t be able to say anything.” -Mirage

“That’s a good idea. I’ll cut off your head, Mirage-sama, and I’ll take the seat of the Four Heavenly Kings. I’ll also peel off that tasteless mask you wear.” -Astarte

Despite being taken aback by Astarte’s casual response to his alarming proposal, Mirage grew more cautious. Astarte was not an opponent he could defeat while being negligent, and given that he had been recuperating for nearly two months, his chances of victory were evenly matched.

Nevertheless, he could not leave the stage without achieving victory, for he still had a role to play as a hurdle Astarte must overcome. Therefore, he had to maintain an appearance of relaxed confidence, as though he had effortlessly secured his victory.

“Well, that’s enough chatter. Come on, let’s get this over with quickly. I want to rest in my room.” -Mirage

“I will do so even without you telling me to. Rest as much as you want in the Underworld!” -Astarte

With a loud shout to psych herself up, Astarte swung her scythe at Mirage. Against Astarte’s relentless attack, too fast for the eye to see and likely aided by enhancement magic, Mirage deftly manipulated his own scythe to fend off the assault and counterattack. They clashed, sparks flying from their weapons as they engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle.

“What’s the matter, Tart-chan? Weren’t you going to defeat me?” -Mirage

“Stop calling me by that unpleasant name. It’s annoying.” -Astarte

“I told you before, if you don’t like it, try to defeat me.” -Mirage

Mirage continued to provoke, and Astarte made her discomfort clear. From now on, Astarte would challenge Mirage countless times, each time scrutinizing for any habits or weaknesses. She would eventually be able to predict Mirage’s moves even without crossing blades and reproduce them in her mind using magic. It was unimaginable for the current Astarte that this would be used in Mirage’s absence and even involve verifying tactile sensations and smells for better reproduction.

“I will definitely defeat you and become one of the Four Heavenly Kings.” -Astarte

The scythes of both parties danced, and for a while, the sounds of intense battle echoed throughout the training ground late into the night.