(MC POV)
With the door guardians taken care of, we proceeded into the castle after we did a quick check of our equipment.
It's important to check them ok? Especially after a battle like that, you need to check for damages and maintain them. Plus we would be up against the demon lord next so that makes it even more important.
Pus.h.i.+ng open the huge double doors, we found ourselves already in the throne room of the demon lord's castle.
Huh… Not sure why they would put the throne room at the very entrance but oh well.
The demon lord of this World was wearing a full suit of armour that was as black as night with spikes jutting out of its shoulders. If you ask me, it really was the stereotypical evil villain's edgy armour that you might find on such evil bosses.
Eris led the way into the throne room, prompting the demon lord to stand up from the throne slowly.
Our group stopped a short distance away from the demon lord and we stared at each other for a moment.
At this point, usually the hero party and the demon lord would exchange some words. The demon lord might congratulate the hero for making this far or the hero might talk about ridding the world of their evil.
Nothing of that sort happened and the demon lord simply said one word before the fight started.
"Die."
The figure of the demon lord blurred before he reappeared in front of Eris, a jet black sword in his hand that was brought down towards Eris's head.
Eris raised her s.h.i.+eld just in time to block it, the blow causing the air itself to vibrate from the force before the ground cracked and Eris sank into a crater that was ankle deep.
Bait leapt up and swung her greatsword at the demon lord's side, only to have the demon lord catch it with their free hand effortlessly.
Laverna drew her bow and shot an arrow towards the demon lord, aiming for the eye slits of the helmet.
It would have pierced right through the hole but the demon lord tilted their head down at the last moment and let the arrow bounce off the top of their helmet instead.
Denna then followed up with a lightning bolt shot towards the demon lord's chest but a barrier appeared in front of the demon lord that absorbed the lightning easily.
Bait then found herself being lifted up by her sword before she was thrown towards us. I managed to duck to avoid it but Denna was not as fast to avoid her which caused them to tumble away and crash into the wall.
Eris tried to stab the demon lord while still trapped under their sword but they simply shoved their weight against her s.h.i.+eld to leap back and create distance between them.
I finished healing up Denna and Bait before proceeding to buff Eris, giving her enhanced strength and speed before she charged forward again, this time moving faster than before thanks to my buff.
The demon lord still managed to match her speed as they defended against her overhead slash with an air of casualness, forcing her back with a punch to her s.h.i.+eld using their other hand.
ραпdα---nᴏνa| сom Eris let out a growl of frustration and attacked them once more, throwing a combination of slashes and stabs at the demon lord from all directions
They blocked and parried her attacks with their own sword, being surprisingly agile despite the heavy armour they were wearing.
Laverna tried to shoot the demon lord with her arrow when they moved to a position where their back was turned, only to see them dodge to the side to allow her arrow to fly towards Eris instead.
She had to raise her s.h.i.+eld to block it but that left her side open which the demon lord exploited by stabbing their sword into her side, the ebony blade sinking halfway into her skin.
Eris roared out in pain and stabbed her sword at the demon lord in response, clenching up her body to stop the demon lord from pulling their sword out easily.
Her sword made a metallic sc.r.a.ping sound as it slid against the demon lord's gauntlet, leaving only a scratch against the metal while they remained unharmed.
The demon lord then used the same hand to grab her neck, flexing it to try and break it.
Their attempt was foiled when Bait smashed her greatsword into their back, catapulting them forward and away from Eris.
Our hero groaned in pain as she pulled out the demon lord's sword to toss it aside, allowing me to cast healing magic on her.
Her wounds closed back and it left no mark on her skin, the only indication that she was ever wounded was the hole that was now present in her armour.
"Tch… This b.a.s.t.a.r.d is stronger than aye thought he'd be…" Bait growled, standing with her stance low and her sword pointed at the demon lord.
"He's the demon lord after all," Eris reminded, lifting her weapons once again in preparation to attack.
She looked like she was about to charge again before turning to me, "I am grateful for the heals, Master!"
That prompted Bait to also turn around and give me a thumbs up, "Yeah! Master's heals are perfect!"
I gasped, "You should not take your eyes off your--"
I didn't have time to warn Bait before the demon lord appeared in front of her to punch her in the abdomen, sending her flying up into the sky.
The crack sound we heard should be the sound of her spine snapping from the blow and I was already working on my healing magic to heal her even as her feet left the ground.
The demon lord also managed to pick up their sword before Eris could stop them, though they did get an explosive arrow and a fireball hitting them in the arm for their effort.
Unfortunately the armour was strong enough to shrug off those blows without much leaving much of a scratch.
Eris rammed her s.h.i.+eld against the demon lord's chest, forcing them back a few steps while she swung her sword at their knee.
Though the sword did not cut through the armour, she definitely hit it hard enough to leave at least a bruise on them.
Before she could celebrate her small victory however, the demon lord dashed in to smash the pommel of their sword towards Eris's chest.
This time I was prepared so I created a s.h.i.+eld that absorbed the brunt of the blow for her, allowing Eris to take the attack without moving an inch.
She took advantage of that by swinging her s.h.i.+eld against the demon lord's head, hitting them hard enough that the helmet came flying off.
The demon lord stumbled back a few steps before turning to glare at Eris.
Oh would you look at that? The demon lord has a face similar to Eris!
Who am I kidding, it's obviously another one of her personalities. Yep, it's that kind of world. The biggest evil you need to fight is actually yourself!
How's that for a plot twist?!
Eh? What do you mean it's something that's overdone?! I thought real hard for this, you know?!