Chapter 298: An Ancient Demon (2)
“I just came to see you imprisoned.”
Epherene murmured and looked into my room.
“…I’m not here to help, so you don’t misunderstand.”
She looked at the handcuffs around my wrists.
“How did you make this?”
Epherene mumbled with admiration.
“It’s an artifact that you can’t dismantle. Get out of here.”
“…Geez. It’s been a while, but you’re still the same.”
She searched my expression and pouted.
“More importantly, what is that demon?”
“Cannibal. It is a human-eating fiend.”
“?”
Epherene’s eyes went wide. Legends related to demons were stored naturally in my head without studying them. It seemed to be something like Yukline’s instinct, but among that knowledge, the man-eating demon stood out.
“This isn’t a place for you to be.”
“What the, I’m pretty strong now, you know? Look. Here.”
Epherene weaved her mana into nanotubes and wrapped it around her like armor.
“What do you think?”
I shook my head.
“He’s special.”
“Special?”
I pointed out the window.
“Look at the sky.”
The sky was still dark though the time for the sun to rise had long since pa.s.sed.
“…Oh. I learned this. This is the long night phenomenon, right?”
“Yes.”
It was a phenomenon in which the sand rose like a veil to obscure the sun when the concentration of mana in the desert surpa.s.sed a certain level.
“Sand gets lighter than air, so it floats. But what about it?”
“He caused this phenomenon.”
He swam through the darkness and devoured people, the Cannibal. He couldn’t be observed by the human eye.
“He has already designated this s.p.a.ce as a restaurant.”
“A restaurant?”
“Yes. You may have entered this place at your leisure, but you only have a few minutes left to leave. If you want to leave, leave now.”
This Killing Field would be completed soon, and when that happened, no one inside would be able to escape.
“No wizard or knight can destroy him.”
“…No wizard? What about Adrienne-“
“The same is true for Adrienne and Zeit.”
There’s a reason he was sealed.
“Can you kill that, Professor?”
I nodded.
“Because I am Yukline.”
“…Ha.”
Epherene let out a snort. Frowning, she crossed her arms and regarded me.
“At the end of the day, it’s only self-praise. You’re the same. Haah.”
She let out a sigh, then her expression became a little calmer, and she nodded.
“But I believe you. Because you don’t lie.”
Epherene took a step closer.
“But Professor. While I was in the desert, I realized one thing. Demon Bloods are not our enemy.”
“…”
“Of course, you would hate me for saying things like this, but to be honest, I don’t mind if you hate me more. I think I have to say it anyway.”
My hatred for Epherene aside, it was something dangerous to say.
“Our enemies aren’t the Demon Bloods. We’re just being played by Quay.”
I stared at Epherene. She faced me sternly.
“…I said our enemies are others. Do you want me to write it down in a thesis?”
“Epherene.”
I interrupted her.
“You’ve crossed the line.”
“…”
—I am thinking the same as you.
I couldn’t say it. Sophien would be watching over me. Instead, I asked.
“Did Idnik coax you?”
“…If so?”
Epherene bit her lip slightly. With this, her greatest sin was transferred to Idnik. Fortunately, I could talk.
“In the first place… wait.”
Epherene’s eyes widened as she was about to say something. She radiated mana and turned around.
“…Who is it?”
There was silence, embers burning in the dark. A human form appeared down the hallway.
“…Careful. It could be an enemy.”
I snorted.
“Isn’t it a Demon Blood?”
“…”
Epherene swallowed hard and kept silent.
-…Deculein.
And, a voice called my name from the darkness. The woman took off her hood and revealed her face to me.
Demon Blood.
“Deculein. You will remember me.”
She was quite unusual. She wore a cloth that covered her eyes. I smiled a little.
“Is it Lucy?”
“Lucy?”
Epherene asked.
“She is the granddaughter of the Demon Blood Captain. The Demon Blood used to live in Padahal.”
“…But how do you know?”
“I was the one who removed those eyes and put her in Rohalak.”
“What?! Why?!”
Epherene staggered back. Lucy remained silent, biting down into her lip at the memory. I briefly explained.
“It was a good eye, so I took them out instead of her power source.”
“…I mean, what kind of-“
“Lucy. Did you escape from Rohalak?”
“…”
Lucy didn’t say anything. But she exuded a terrible enough death variable she didn’t need to. It was a sure death variable that could kill me.
Where was Carixel? Who was supposed to stop her?
“Are you going to kill me?”
“You ask that. The resentment of the clan you killed is greater than the wrath over my eyes you stole.”
“Hmm. You’re making the worst choice. You’re too impatient to be the elder’s granddaughter.”
“…You worthless professor. Now, be condemned by my clan.”
Lucy radiated a killing aura.
Boom-!
Dark red mana shook the building.
Whooooooooooosh-
It rushed in to tear my heart apart but-
It suddenly stopped moving. Then, it returned to Lucy.
Wriggle, wriggle.
Like salmon swimming up a river, like time flowing backward.
“Stop.”
This miraculous phenomenon was entirely Epherene’s doing. Lucy looked at her.
“…Wizard Epherene. Idnik told me about you. Isn’t Deculein evil to you too? Let me kill him.”
“Stop.”
“…Haah.”
“It’s for us.”
“…Us?”
“Yes. Look out the window.”
Epherene imitated what I had just done to her. Lucy followed her, pointing to the darkness outside the window.
“The demon is here.”
“Do you think I don’t know? We will kill Deculein and disguise it as something the demon did.”
“No! You know only one side of the story. I’m telling you that before you kill Deculein, the demon Cannibal will lock us in here. You will be unable to escape. Right?”
Epherene looked back at me and asked. I nodded.
“Yeah. So I’m telling you, it’s the ancient demon. He’s incredibly powerful. Insanely powerful. For example, the Roahawk of the Demon Realm.”
“…Roahawk?”
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!
At that moment, a strange cry cut us off.
After it abated, Epherene continued.
“Yes. And that demon can only be dealt with by a Yukline. So if you kill Deculein, it means we’ll all die here…”
* * *
Meanwhile, outside the main building. Lia was running around the desert with Delric.
“Come in—! It’s dangerous out there!”
“Listen, all members of the Imperial guard! Retreat inside!”
They were trying their best to reduce casualties.
“In! In!”
Deculein said he was worried about an attack from the Altar, but they never showed. No, they were all killed as soon as they arrived. They were devoured.
“…Lia. You said it’s called Cannibal.”
Delric said.
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to deal with him?”
“Nope. There’s no way.”
Lia shook her head as she ran through the training ground. Delric’s brow furrowed.
“No?”
“Yes. It’s a guy you can’t even see in the first place. It’s no different than gas… so we can’t kill it. Huh! There!”
Lia pointed to a member of the guard lying on the ground. His leg was severed, but he still seemed to be breathing.
“Hey, there! Hey!”
The two ran to him.
“Are you okay?!”
Looking closely, they could see it was Bell’s lieutenant. He looked between Lia and Delric, trembling in pain.
“Hey. Where are the rest?”
“…They all died. So you too… must also run away. Something, something is strange.”
He pointed to the east, to the gathering darkness.
“I tried to run away but only hovered in one place. The land around me repeated over and over again… I couldn’t get out-“
“It’s okay now. We’re here. Where is General Bell?”
“He… should be in the main building.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Lia nodded with satisfaction and administered first aid.
“Knight Delric?”
Then she turned to Delric.
“We can’t help it; we should take care of outside. We can’t let everyone die.”
“Only outside? What about the inside? Her Majesty is in the main building.”
Delric asked. Lia answered briefly.
“You can leave it to the professor.”
“…Count Deculein is now-“
“They say General Bell is in the main building.”
“Bell? I recognize his strength, but he cannot match the demon.”
Lia explained with a grin.
“I know. He’ll release the professor since he can’t kill the demon. Do you think he wouldn’t let him go when he’s about to die?”
“…Oh.”
A deep smile crossed Delric’s lips.
“Indeed. That’s reasonable.”
…
At the same time.
Sophien was smiling with her chin resting in her hands.
—So you already knew. The demon would come, and Bell would have no choice but to release Deculein.
Keiron asked. The Emperor nodded.
“Hmph. There’s no way I can abandon Deculein because of a moron like Bell.”
─Deculein made me angry, so I gave Bell all the power.
At first glance, it might seem like a purely emotional decision, but of course, there was a large proportion of calculation involved.
“Even if we bring hundreds of millions of people with the strength of someone like Bell… one Deculein is a hundred times better.”
Sophien said so and changed her clothes. She tied a sword around her waist and put back her long hair.
“In this chaos, Bell will have no choice but to free Deculein with his own hands. With that, his position will be reversed at once.”
—…Hmm. Your Majesty seems to have forgiven the professor already.
Keiron responded sarcastically, but Sophien nodded without remorse.
“Yes. I have no choice but to forgive Deculein.”
She looked at the cactus given to her. It was growing in a very adorable way.
“Because I love Deculein.”
Love. I forgive you because I love you. Deculein’s sin was no longer sin because of love.
—But don’t you have to save the professor?
“Not yet. Just watch, Keiron.”
However, it was true that Deculein would be disgusted. So, Sophien had planned more than simply overthrowing Bell.
“Let’s go. To Julie.”
What she wanted was for Julie to be isolated.
“The condition has already been met. Idnik, Epherene, and the one called Allen or whatever are all gathered here.”
—Yes, Your Majesty.
Now everyone’s attention had turned to the demon called Cannibal. This moment was the right time to visit Julie.
—But, Your Majesty. Would you mind if I ask you just one more thing?
“You will ask even if I say no.”
—What will you do when you meet Julie?
Keiron asked bluntly. It was indeed a worthless question, but Sophien was worried.
“Why do you ask something obvious? I…”
I will kill her right away. I will stab my sword through her pale throat…
“…”
As Sophien was about to say that, her mouth stopped. She wanted to do that. She meant to do that.
“I will…”
Oddly enough, she kept imagining it. Deculein’s face mourning Julie’s death. Deculein’s heart mourning Julie’s death.
“…Julie, that woman.”
His sorrow spread into her own. His cry spread into her own.
“I’ll, Julie, that woman….”
However, putting all those weak feelings aside.
“…I will kill her.”
* * *
“General Bell! Now we must free the Count! Come on, get the key!”
General Bell’s office, the candles were burning eerily.
At the lieutenant’s cry, Bell clenched his teeth.
“Shut up.”
“Are you planning to die like this?”
“Shh.”
“Not shhh…”
Bell grasped a key. The only key that could release Deculein’s handcuffs. However, Bell didn’t want to free Deculein. But to not do so would be death.
No, releasing him meant death. The freed Deculein would try to kill him.
“…Indeed.”
However, a sly thought popped up in Bell’s head.
“But I can’t be killed by the demon either.”
As Bell murmured, the faces of his lieutenants became happier.
“Good. For now, I will free Deculein.”
As if it was nothing special, Bell declared Deculein’s liberation as if he were acting generously. Immediately his lieutenants jumped up.
“Yes! All right! We’ll go right now-“
“However.”
However, Bell’s sly thought started now. He took a key out of his pocket.
“I’ll release his handcuffs later.”
“…Yes? What does that mean?”
“Releasing his body and his handcuffs are two different things. I’m going to free Deculein’s body, but I’m not going to release those handcuffs.”
It was a promise to ensure his well-being. At least that was the right move to be safe from Deculein.
“I must have this key to be able to control Deculein. Even if you haven’t read a history book, you would know how violent the Yukline becomes around dark energy, right?”
“Huh…”
As his lieutenants watched, Bell stood with a grin.
“What are you doing? Let’s go. Are you all on Deculein’s side? Or shall we not go?”
“…Oh, yes! let’s go!”
Belatedly, one lieutenant opened the door to his office.
And right at that moment-
Craaaaash—!
His body broke down into blood, flesh, bones before melting across the floor.
Drip, drip-
He was consumed in an instant.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The situation was much more serious than expected.
Bell swallowed hard and said.
“…What are you doing? Everyone, take the lead…”