In this world, there existed another underground world named Helheim, which was commonly referred to as hell. That was where Tayuya was born.
If the skies were where mana was sparse, then underground was where mana was dense.
All the living beings that made their home in the underground world were warped into new, repulsive figures without exception by mana so incredibly dense it couldn't even be compared to the surface. They became exactly like the demons people heard of in myths. The residents of Helheim were beings that had been transformed into evil figures by mana. That was why they were fearfully referred to as demons.
In that world, Tayuya was born as a great demon more powerful than any other.
She has a goat's horns, a human's body, a bat's wings, and a reptile's tail—Tayuya was a hybrid creature with features of four different beings—no, monsters—that would normally never mix.
She believed that she was the most complete and perfect demon to exist. In the underground world, Tayuya was a race unto herself. There were no other demons with her features. She was unique. That was why she never doubted that she was the ruler of darkness. Even the grimmfolk were immature in her eyes. They weren't truly loved nor polluted with mana.
The grimmfolk are just fakes in the first place. They're nothing more than things made up of intentionally gathered mana. I don't know who made them or for what purpose, but the grimmfolk were not born from natural evolution.
The grimmfolk are just poorly made imitations that someone created by intentionally collecting mana, compressing it, and using it to ignore divine providence and forcefully birth them. They are all just poor imitations of the Grimm King, without exception.
However, that Grimm King is also different. There's no doubt he's similar, but I can also feel something holy in him—something that connects him to that abominable Goddess.
That was why Tayuya didn't believe in 'her' existence.
Her wings were completely pitch-black even though she was one of heaven's people, who were supposed to live as far away from mana as possible. She was colored by mana more dense than even demons experienced, and she forged her own path while rejecting the Goddess's love.
When she saw Tayuya, she snorted through her nose.
"I see. So this is a demon. I was despised as the cursed child of demons back when I was young, but… I see. They're lighter than I thought."
Light? She probably means in mana.
Tayuya couldn't refute her. After all, the one in front of her was far too dense.
Just how many grimmfolk has she killed? How many monsters has she hunted and eaten?
The mana she was infused with was overly dense enough for Tayuya to fear her. She could only imagine that she had absorbed the mana of every single thing she had defeated and killed. Her entire body was contaminated with mana.
Living beings are changed by mana. They become monsters. So she must surely be a monster, even while being one of the flugels that are said to be loved by the heavens. She is absorbing mana and is trying to evolve into a different species.
The Goddess surely has a plan for her evolution. But she is ignoring all of that and is trying to change on her own.
I understand now. Even the Goddess cannot control this girl. She is the King of Mana, who defies even the will of the Goddess… She is the one worthy of being called the true Demon King.
Before she'd noticed, Tayuya found herself kneeling in front of the Black Angel of Death with her head dipped low.
"…Y-you are… Only you can be my king."
The general fell without even a fight. But Tayuya did not consider that an embarrassment. To her, things were just as they should have always been.
The definitive disparity between her and Tayuya—that being their rankings as beings with mana—was what made Tayuya bow to her as a servant.
And the king, having seen that, simply smiled quietly.
***
Among the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, Fiona and Tayuya's roles were extremely similar.
The things required of these two guardians were obstructing the enemy and sowing confusion. Fiona achieved that through monster skills, and Tayuya did so through magic. The two of them were deployed depending on the situation and the enemy, and among the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, their statuses were the closest.
The Ram and the Goat—the zodiac animals that were their motifs were also very similar. That might have been why it was inevitable that the two of them became close.
However, their personalities were polar opposites. There was the gentle and timid Fiona, and then there was Tayuya, who was brutal and unscrupulous. That difference in personality was directly reflected in the results that were desired from them. If Fiona was the one who obstructed the enemy to protect her friends, then Tayuya bewildered the enemy just to drive them into a corner.
There was no meaning in debating over which one of them was better. To Naru, they were both undoubtedly helpful in battle. However, the Capricorn of Zodiac's Guardian—who excelled at harming her opponents—had the advantage when it came to fighting directly.
"—Grk!"
Fiona shot fire out of both of her hands while flying every which way. Hundreds or even thousands of incorporeal tentacles of darkness chased after her.
The tentacles were a truly troublesome interference spell that not only afflicted stun but also debuffed speed if one was caught by it even once.
Fiona, who didn't possess any magic to counter it, could only continue to dodge.
If Naru were the one fighting, she wouldn't have had to care about some debuffs and could have just charged into the mass of tentacles, ripping them apart with her bare hands in order to brute force her way to Tayuya to hit her. However, Fiona couldn't do that.
No. Rather than couldn't, it would be more accurate to say that if Fiona did that, she would lose. Naru, who boasted extraordinary amounts of power, could fight through some obstruction or debuffs easily. However, such things were lethal to Fiona. After all, Tayuya's stats were higher than her. If Fiona were to suffer a debuff it would directly lead to her loss.
"WOOAAARRRGGHH!"
Fiona descended towards the ground and punched it with her burning fist. The earth shook violently, as if the area were affected by a localized earthquake.
Earthquake was a skill which shook the earth and had been taught to Fiona by Naru. It was normally an earth—aligned skill, but it was quite useful, so Fiona liked it.
The tentacles stopped all at once.
And in that moment, Fiona quickly ran.
Even Tayuya shouldn't have been able to withstand several of Fiona's all-out attacks. So, Fiona once again became an avatar of fire as she attempted to charge at her opponent. The rainbow-colored fire left a trail as Fiona flew in a straight line at Tayuya. Fiona thrust her fist forward with all the strength she could muster… and punched through Tayuya.
"…?!"
I… punched through her? No… That wasn't Tayuya.
It was a fake—an imitation, a trap meant to ensnare pitiful prey lured out on a moonlit night. This was one of the moon element's spells— 'Shadow'—which used a virtual image to trick the opponent, much like shadows made more prominent in fading light.
If Naru were present, she might've explained it by saying that it was just a spell that lowered the opponent's accuracy.
"Cra—!"
"I've got you… Fiona!"
Tayuya swiftly struck at Fiona, who displayed an opening right after her attack.
She used her unique skill 'Deneb Algedi', which condensed moon attribute mana and unleashed it at the user's enemy. Its effect was to inflict large amounts of damage which could not be healed for a set period of time.
Tayuya put her demon-like arms together, and darkness condensed between her palms.
I can't dodge it, and I can't put my guard up in time. My only choice is to try and withstand it!
"—!"
Fiona shut her eyes tight and mentally readied herself to withstand the coming pain.
It's fine. I'll still be able to get up after taking this.
It's going to be harsh since I'll have taken this attack twice. Honestly, it's awful that my evasion skills don't work. But it's not like I have no chance of turning this around.
"DIEEEEEEEE!"
Wait, did she just tell me to die?!
Although that thought occurred to Fiona, at the same time she also thought that it was very like Tayuya.
She really is a demon. Tayuya normally restrains that side of herself, but whenever she gets excited she has a bad habit of spouting violent lines like that, even towards her friends.
But of course I won't die. I can't. I need to withstand this and think of my next move. But a pair of black wings appeared in front of her at abnormal speed.
"You fool. What would come of killing your friends?"
With a single sentence, muttered exasperatedly, the figure stopped Deneb Algedi with one hand. Black sparks came in torrents, and the ground was gouged out from the aftershock. But the person who'd stopped the blow wasn't fazed at all.
In this day and age, beings who could do something like that to an attack from one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians were in short supply.
First was the Goddess of Love & Creation—an omnipotent and all-powerful Goddess no one was sure actually existed.
Second was the Grimm King—an abominable enemy who led the grimmfolk.
Third was the Rose Princess—the strongest of the legendary Seven Maidens of Midgar, the queen of the night who still retained all her strength from the Era of Heroes.
And the last one was—the Black Empress.
"Hah!"
Along with a loud shout, Naru struck Tayuya's strongest skill and dispersed it. Her orange cloak fluttered, and the scattered darkness spread to the surroundings, leaving behind trails of destruction.
But behind her, Fiona was untouched. Naru had completely defended against the attack.
"Wha… Y-you are… Ohh, you are…!"
Tayuya shouted with a trembling voice filled with delight.
As if to respond to her expectations, Naru untied her hair and removed her glasses, removing her clumsy disguise. Tayuya's king was revealed, the very person she had been wanting to see again for one thousand years.
"Mmm. We are glad to see you in good health. It has been a while, Tayuya." Naru smiled at her demonic follower and laughed.
She looked exactly like the person Tayuya swore loyalty to, completely unchanged from one thousand years ago.
In front of Lunaru Fenris, her loyal servant trembled with joy.