Descent of the Demon King

At the time the Demon King had declared, the Japanese National Diet Building was overflowing with people.

Some heads of state from various countries and regions had come in person, while others had sent diplomats and watched the assembly hall through monitors.

A massive number of press members from both domestic and foreign outlets lined the walls.

This scene was being broadcast to countries around the world, and viewership in Japan had already exceeded 80%.

"Good work."

The guards at the Diet Building had by no means been negligent.

It was simply that Ars and his group, having teleported in, seemed like illusions to them.

A golden mask and an all-black outfit. This was undoubtedly the figure who had appeared floating in the sky that day.

The guards who reflexively tried to stop them found themselves unable to move. Ria's Dragon Eyes had been activated.

Having entered the building, Ars found another guard and called out to him.

"Would you mind guiding us to the assembly hall?"

The guard was flustered, but seeing that they carried no weapons, he mustered his courage.

"This way."

Desperately moving his trembling legs, he led Ars and his group forward.

The final door opened, and Ars's party stepped into the assembly hall.

The moment Ars and his group appeared from the corridor, the hall erupted in commotion.

Leading the way was the masked Demon King, Ars. Behind him followed the dark elf Rei and the three-eyed man.

Next came King Hollyn of Lemdria and Prince Sion, along with the chief of the centaur tribe that was allied with Lemdria.

Third came Ria, Carla, and the Ogre King.

Seeing races that were clearly not human, the chamber boiled over.

"They could have at least prepared some chairs."

Even as Ars grumbled, he produced eight chairs from thin air where nothing had been.

The representatives from the other world each settled into their seats, though the centaur man alone remained standing.

"Now then, once again—hello, people of Earth."

Through the natural law magic of "Translation," his words resonated through the assembly hall in every language.

"I am the Demon King Ars. The one who rules the largest territory in that world. And this is King Ryuke Hollyn, and over there is Archduke Ryuke Riana. They are the rulers of the second and third most powerful nations in that world."

After making his introductions in a leisurely manner, Ars took his seat.

"Now then, let us begin our discussions."

The first to request the floor was Japan. Incidentally, the speaker was also Japanese.

"Your Majesty Ars, I would first like to inquire about the true meaning behind your statement the other day."

Ars tilted his head. What true meaning? That was everything.

"I don't understand the meaning of your question. We will destroy Earth to survive. In doing so, we will permit a tolerable number of Earth's people to immigrate to our world. That's all."

Murmurs spread through the chamber. Amid them, the American ambassador was quick to speak.

"So you are declaring war on Earth, then?"

"Ah, so that's how you see it."

Beneath his mask, Ars smiled wryly.

"It's better to think of this not as a war, but as a struggle for survival. And the outcome has already been decided—allowing immigration is our act of mercy toward the humans of Earth. The destructive power of our weapons is too different for this to be called a war. Or perhaps, unbeknownst to me, does Earth possess weapons capable of destroying a planet?"

The American ambassador fell silent. How much of the information about that world that Ria and the others had conveyed had actually been shared with him?

"You say you will accept six hundred million immigrants, but seven billion humans live on this Earth. Do you intend to kill over six billion people?"

Another speaker rose, but Ars's response remained unwavering.

"Correct. And not just humans—Earth's flora and fauna will share the planet's fate."

In a leisurely tone, Ars declared this coldly.

"To borrow the words of monotheism, this would be something like the Last Judgment."

At Ars's words, some made the sign of the cross over their chests. Others murmured "God…"

"Incidentally, in our world, real gods exist. For those who wish to remain devoted to monotheism, I would not recommend immigrating."

In response to the information contained in Ars's words, the ambassadors of various countries moved to contact their home countries. Others began conferring with the countries seated near them.

What a waste of effort, Ars thought, watching them with cold eyes.

"May I ask something?"

"What is it?"

"Is it not possible to maintain this state where our two planets are in contact? Though it's scientifically unbelievable, the fact is that our two planets' atmospheres are touching."

"That is impossible. In addition to the repulsive force between different worlds, we are merely maintaining this state through magical power from our side. In truth, the moment they touched, the gods of our world would have destroyed Earth. The one who stopped that was me."

"Then how much longer can this state be maintained?"

"Forty-five days."

That meant Earth would cease to exist in forty-five days.

The largest commotion yet filled the assembly hall.

Who could have imagined that the end of the world would arrive so suddenly?

"That's absurd! Magic cannot possibly exist!"

Before the representative who was sputtering in protest, Ars teleported in an instant.

"This is magic."

He whispered it, then returned to his seat.

Every human in the assembly hall had witnessed it—the invocation of magic.

"Now then, as you've just seen, our world possesses technology that is partially superior to Earth's. With that in mind, I would like to hear how you intend to respond to us."

"Before that!"

A man drew attention with his booming voice.

"You speak of immigrants, but how will the allocation work!? Surely you don't intend to let only the advanced nations monopolize this!?"

"That will not happen."

Ars denied it immediately.

"Once you immigrate to our world, your level of civilization will drop for a while. It will be a harsh environment for those unable to perform physical labor. In that case, it might be easier to simply die quickly."

"How arrogant…"

The one who murmured that was white, so Ars thought it rather convenient.

"Arrogance? Perhaps you should reflect on your own history before using that word. Do not think I am unaware of what occurred on the North and South American continents and the Australian continent."

From the very premise, Earth was defeated.

Not only in terms of military power, but they were overwhelmingly behind on information as well. Earth, having no reincarnators or transmigrators, knew nothing about that world.

"How do you plan to allocate the immigrants? Will it be decided according to population ratio?"

"It will not. Those who hold ideologies we deem harmful to our world will be excluded on our end."

"Will there be any racial distinctions?"

"As you can see by looking at us, there are differences between races to begin with. Discrimination based on race… doesn't happen that much."

"'That much' implies it does happen sometimes?"

"Those on this Earth who are currently harming people of other races or ethnicities will be screened out by us."

Some turned pale, but they had only themselves to blame.

"Even so… forty-five days is far too short. Unless you can transport tens of millions per day, there's no way to make it in time."

"Hmm."

Ars made a show of placing his hand on his chin in thought. Indeed, even using the floating continent's transport capacity, it was nearly impossible. The Divine Dragons probably wouldn't cooperate. So what could be done?

It was simple. Just reduce the number of immigrants. The continents other than the Dragon Bone Continent could be filled with immigrants from the demon territories. If they could free up the food prepared for six hundred million people, that alone would be a help.

"That will depend on your efforts. We have no compelling reason to accept Earth's immigrants."

At that moment, Ria stood up.

"My country can transport tens of thousands of people per day using teleportation magic."

With Ria and Carla's magic power combined with Serge's space-time magic, it was certainly possible. In theory, at least.

"That still won't even scratch six hundred million! This is effectively a declaration of war!"

A shouting voice rang out, and others joined in chorus. Ria was seized by frustration, but Ars remained seated with perfect composure.

Ah, here we go again.

I've been deceived by this man again.

"I never heard anything about forty-five days."

"Because you never asked."

Ria almost reflexively drew Gallach, but stopped herself at the last moment. If she swung that sword, the people in this hall would become casualties—even if the Demon King survived.

"Ria."

Calling her name, Carla placed a hand on Ria's shoulder.

Believing that Ria's anger had subsided, she cast a calming spell on the crowd that had been raising fierce shouts.

Blue light spread forth, and the people in the assembly hall suddenly grew docile and returned to their seats.

Stepping forward, Carla spoke in her bell-like voice.

"Gather on wide, flat ground with only the minimum necessary belongings. Once preparations are complete, we will begin teleporting you."

When Carla turned back, Ria could only nod.

"If you are still dissatisfied, you may resort to force. We do not need you."

Those words wounded Carla herself.

On the battlefield, Carla hesitated even to take the lives of enemies. Yet here she was, forced to say such things before innocent civilians.

"What will you do, Your Majesty Hollyn?"

Ars asked in a casual tone, and Hollyn answered offhandedly while stroking his beard.

"I have no interest in this world to begin with. I will consider lending you mages if you wish, but if there is no harm to Lemdria, I will maintain my neutrality."

Prince Sion nodded behind him as well.

As a ruler, this judgment was correct. A king should prioritize his own nation's interests above all else, and even if one world perished and billions of humans died, his duty was to put his country's benefit first.

Those who could least bear this were Ria and Serge, whose memories of Earth were still fresh. For Ars, his memories of Earth had all but weathered away over a thousand years.

"Let us arrange another discussion at the same time three days from now. Though I doubt much of significance will come of it."

As Ars wrapped things up, Ria found herself unable to oppose him.

This man was not evil. He was not something that could be described with such a simple word.

The nine of them teleported to Manesh's royal court. There, Ria fixed Ars with a terrifying glare.

"You're… not just a Demon King. You're not something so simple…"

Having removed his mask, Ars quickly put distance between himself and Ria.

"I really didn't know about the forty-five days until just before either. I truly had prepared food, clothing, and shelter for six hundred million people, and I had even prepared magical tools for land development."

So was it the Divine Dragons who were at fault?

Only Ohma was present. She sat on the floor in an undignified manner, eating roasted nuts.

"What, I didn't know either. The other Divine Dragons probably knew, but there's nothing to be done, is there? Even Valis probably thinks it's impossible to select six hundred million humans and teleport them all."

At Ohma's words, delivered without a trace of malice, Ria clutched her head.

What should she have done?

Even if they carried out transportation using teleportation and the floating continent, they would likely save tens of thousands at best. Seven billion humans… and far more animals and plants besides would all be annihilated.

"Should I have started a human-demon war…?"

In terms of military strength, the demon territories were overwhelming. But if Ria had killed Ars, the demon army would have collapsed, and humans might have been able to put up some kind of fight.

Even if 99% of humans and demi-humans died as a result.

Wouldn't that have been better than sacrificing Earth entirely?

"Well then, King of Lemdria, I shall send you to your castle."

"Very well, I'll leave it to you."

Ars teleported, and the demons also teleported to the demon territories.

Those who remained were the leadership of Ogress and Ria's personal friends.

"What's wrong?"

Irina came to ask. Even she, who was destined to become a Divine Dragon someday, had probably not been told anything.

In near despair, Ria conveyed what Ars had said.