Fortunately, the hostility the two felt toward Mariang was quickly resolved. One of them hadn't even known who Mariang was in the first place, but either way, the atmosphere that had seemed ready to chop her to pieces at any moment had vanished.
More than that, seeing how simply showing her face had been enough to incite this degree of hostility, it seemed Mariang's notoriety was even greater than he had thought.
Or perhaps Eunha simply held personal ill will toward Mariang.
There was no need to leave it as a mere question, so Ian left Mariang on the bench and fell into step with the two of them toward the city hall building, opening his mouth.
"Your reaction is quite sensitive. Do you have some bad blood?"
Whooosh.
The blowing wind was laden with the scent of hyacinths. Giant petals blanketing the outer walls of the city hall broke apart, scattering pure-white flurries in every direction. Eunha snatched away a leaf tickling her nose and answered immediately.
"Bad blood... I can't say there isn't any. Mariang killed an acquaintance of mine."
"...An acquaintance, you say?"
An acquaintance, for a shut-in hikikomori like her?
Ian guessed it might be an online friend, and his guess turned out to be exactly right.
"Yes. A friend I met on the internet. They're French, and we mainly discussed magic... Why do you look like that?"
"No, it's nothing. Please continue."
Ian muttered, rubbing the corner of his mouth with his hand. Yuna stood beside him with her mouth hanging open, touching the flowers, while Eunha stared at Ian with suspicious eyes and continued.
"Hmm... Well, to continue."
Her gaze swept across the city hall floor. The scales of Reptilians scattered everywhere sparkled like jewels.
"Honestly, we weren't that close. We'd barely contact each other once a month, and even our conversations were ten minutes at most? That was all. I don't think the closeness was... particularly great either."
"Truly just the level of an acquaintance."
"Yes. I think that's correct."
Eunha picked up a scale with an expressionless face. The emerald-like scale sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.
"However, that said, a friend is a friend. I was quite surprised when I suddenly heard that she had been killed by Mariang. Even if I didn't feel sadness or anger, I was disappointed on the inside. After all, a conversation partner I barely had was dead."
"W-was she a total outcast? Some kind of—?"
"Look who's talking, Ms. Han Yuna."
Eunha lightly brushed off Yuna's jab and turned to look at Ian.
"Anyway, even if I don't feel any desire for revenge, she did kill an acquaintance, so it's fair to call it bad blood. Mariang's track record itself is quite cruel, so there are more than enough reasons to be hostile."
"...Her track record."
The only information he had about "Mariang" was that she was Eddie's lover and buddy. He had no idea what she had done in the past or what she had gone through to get here.
Even if he asked her now, her memories had already been altered, so it was unlikely she could give a proper answer. She'd probably just spout a bunch of meaningless nonsense.
So if he was going to ask, it would be better to ask Eunha. Thinking so, Ian shoved his hand into his coat pocket and opened his mouth.
"Do you know anything about Mariang's past?"
"She's a pure-blooded mage born in France. She was the daughter of a fairly famous house. The magic their house handled was alchemy, but she alone showed exceptional talent in magic related to the Mysteries. So she received a lot of support."
Swish, swish.
Eunha drew a demon summoning circle on the empty floor.
The summoning circle engraved with Amdusias's seal flickered blackish-red as if alive. The goat's heart in the center of the summoning circle beat briefly, and the Lemegeton scattered a faint light.
"After enrolling in the Clock Tower, she maintained high grades. I heard she was fairly well-liked by the nobles and professors there too."
"..."
"But a year before graduation, she suddenly joined hands with Eddie and murdered her supervising professor. She fled the Clock Tower just like that. In the process, she slaughtered dozens of students and staff members of the Clock Tower alone."
"...I heard Eddie only killed one professor..."
"That's right. Eddie chose a very secret escape route. Mariang, on the other hand, didn't. She chose to break through head-on. The reason their routes differed was to cause confusion during pursuit. It was actually effective."
Thread and flowers spun by a maiden rose above the magic circle. Eunha sprinkled the beast horns she had ground beforehand onto the demon's seal as if salting food.
"The fleeing Mariang returned to her main house and consumed every member of her household. After that, she entered Laplace. That's all I know."
"...C-consumed?"
Yuna, who had been listening quietly, asked with a slight furrow of her brow. Eunha nodded.
"Yes, consumed. It's probably exactly what you're thinking."
"...Hweh."
"Mariang tore apart and ate her entire family and relatives alive. She replaced her stomach with something of the Mysteries. Thanks to that, she achieved rapid growth, and her basic physical abilities far surpassed those of a human."
"There's a reason the Clock Tower branded her a criminal," she added, then opened her grimoire and stepped back. Ian stepped back as well.
"To think she practiced cannibalism on her own family... Really, even someone like me with no family finds it a rather disgusting story."
"...You have no family?"
"Ah, yes. I'm an orphan."
"Ah."
Eunha's expression filled with awkwardness at the completely unexpected information.
"U-um... th-that... I'm sorry. Did I say something I shouldn't have?"
"It's fine. I don't really mind."
Ian chuckled and eased her guilt. Then he turned his coldly chilled eyes toward Mariang sitting on the bench outside the city hall.
'...Cannibalism.'
Cannibalistic culture itself had existed since ancient times. Even now, weren't there man-eating fiends swarming South America, deeply influenced by the Inca and Maya civilizations?
He had heard they were periodically subjugated, but because the ruins remained intact, complete extermination of those monstrous bastards was impossible. The only difference between them and Mariang was whether or not they knew that cannibalism was a sin.
Cannibalism among the same species was not a phenomenon that occurred frequently even among beasts. This was even more true for humans. Unless in extreme situations, intelligent humans rarely ate their own kind.
Mariang had done that difficult thing. She had even eaten her own family.
It was impossible with an ordinary state of mind. No matter how obsessed with magic one was, there was a line a human must not cross simply by being born human. The ability to decide 'I should cross it' and immediately do so could, in some ways, be called a talent.
It wasn't exactly an enviable talent.
'I had intended to treat her normally if possible, but seeing what she's like, I can't leave her be. I'll have to suppress her as much as possible.'
Ian clicked his tongue and moved to a corner so as not to interfere with Eunha's magic.
The magic that had manipulated Mariang's mind was, strictly speaking, memory alteration rather than mental domination. It was true that the existence of Ian was engraved in her head, but that didn't mean her innate nature had changed. If left alone, she would surely cause trouble somewhere.
So it was necessary to thoroughly educate her mind before then. Even if he didn't resort to physical torture, it seemed best to instill at least a minimum sense of caution.
"I'll begin."
As he was thinking, Eunha shouted, standing before the summoning circle. Ian nodded, and Yuna shuddered, recalling the image of Kamigin standing alone in front of the city hall.
"Ugh... d-demon summoning rituals are really creepy? I can hear screaming and laughing at the same time... Ah, anyway, it feels awful."
"So you've seen one before."
"Y-yeah. The demon we rode in on. W-we saw it when summoning that, right?"
"Ah."
Ian nodded and leaned back against the wall. Yuna crouched down and sat on the floor.
"B-but they said the demon we're summoning this time is relatively whole. S-so maybe it'll b-be okay?"
"Whatever happens, if the contract fails we'll have to subdue it. I wonder if demons die when their heads are cut off too."
"Th-there's no way the contract will fail..."
Yuna hugged her staff to her chest and tilted her head.
"B-because we have the Lemegeton."
"Amdusias."
As Yuna's voice cut off, Eunha's low incantation filled with magical power weighed down on those present. Ian exclaimed in admiration at the heavy magic of Solomon settling on his shoulders.
The Catholic-system Aether left behind by the magician-emperor of the distant past who had received God's favor.
Ironically, this Aether could not directly handle angels despite God's favor, but its magic acted like a panacea against demons, filling their vision like fog. The sight of golden powder scattering beautifully was truly a spectacle.
And in the center of it all.
Eunha, whose pupils and hair tips had already been dyed golden, was pouring horse blood into the center of the summoning circle with an expressionless face.
"Unicorn Duke. Duke of Hell. Adversary of Eiael and composer. Beautiful archdemon, master of music and plants."
The horse blood sprinkled on the summoning circle seeped into the goat's heart. As if it had gained life, the briefly beating heart began pumping more violently and scattered droplets of blood in all directions. Some of it splashed onto Eunha's cheek.
"By my father's name, I command thee. Reveal thyself here."
Originally, summoning Amdusias required an intact horse corpse. However, just as Solomon had done, Eunha did not use the orthodox method for demon summoning either. Instead, she made horse blood permeate the entire magic circle, disguising it as if a real horse corpse were present.
To unsummoned demons, there are no eyes, nor ears. A simple trick was enough to deceive their senses. Of course, this would be impossible without Solomon's overwhelming magical power. Forced summoning through minimal conditions was a method permitted only to the owner of the Lemegeton.
In a way, it was similar to summoning creatures from the Outside. Both were summoning rituals using rather unremarkable sacrifices.
However, it was hard to tell which was greater between creatures of the Outside and archdemons. It was natural, as no one had directly compared them.
'Perhaps the creatures of the Outside overwhelm them starting from the higher species, while the lower ones are about equal.'
The moment such a thought flitted through Ian's mind, Eunha closed the Lemegeton and activated the remaining protective magics excluding the summoning spell.
"May God's flames burn away the impure. May our precious young lambs praise God forever and ever."
Fwoosh!
Golden flames bloomed upon the skin of Eunha, Ian, and Yuna. The flames, not hot, burned away dust and germs clinging to their surfaces and spread a pleasant warmth.
"Deliver us from evil. Wash away their sweet temptations with clean water, and let us rejoice more in God's warmth than in the beauty of jewels. We are sinners bearing sin, so please grant us the sight to judge good and evil, and let us burn the wicked beneath God's will."
Mental barriers capable of withstanding demons' voices and temptations were engraved in the three people's minds. The area where the summoning took place and where it did not were separated, blocking sound.
After that, Eunha gathered the golden dust in the air and carved a constellation onto the ceiling.
Pisces.
It was the sign of the Fish.
"Eiael is with me. Chavua and Rahel watch my back, Aivamia and Haiaiel guide the path of the young lambs. And thus Mumiah repels the devil's wickedness. A mere archdemon shall not dare raise its head."
[Laaaaaa...!]
At the same time as the incantation's end, a song rang out from the carved constellation. Pure white feathers fell like snowflakes, and Eunha looked down at Amdusias's convulsing seal and coldly muttered.
"Come. The glory of God covers my back."
[Aaaaaaaah!!!]
[Kyahahahaha!!!]
Bizarre screams and laughter poured out from above and below Amdusias's summoning circle. But soon they were blocked and canceled out by the heavenly song.
...Rustle.
The feather is gently placed upon the summoning circle. Immediately after, a snow-white hand bursting from the goat’s heart seizes the feather and tears it apart.
[Ah…… the song of the sordid angels.]
A mouth sprouts from the hand. It soon becomes a head, then a horse with instruments embedded throughout its body. Having taken form in an instant, it gazes down at Eunha with crimson pupils, its eyelids half-closed.
……Puhwak!
A black, single horn sprouts from the horse’s brow. The rapidly lengthening horn shoots forth as if to pierce Eunha’s pupil, stopping directly before it. But Eunha does not flinch. Instead, she snaps at him in a cold voice.
“Show respect, Duke of Hell. God is watching over us.”
[Ah, God. A fine resonance indeed.]
Amdusias.
The Great Demon of Hell and Duke who commands twenty-nine legions smirked and played the keyboard embedded in his upper body. The discordant note, wedged amidst the heavenly song, burned a few scattering feathers.
[O Merciful One. O Lord of Hell. Father of the Fallen Angels, and Creator of us all!]
“…….”
[For I too revere Him, O young mage who bears His mercy upon your back. Rejoice. I myself shall submit beneath His light, becoming of my own accord the lowest and most beautiful shadow.]
Kuuuuung……!
Amdusias lowers his body deeply.
The eye level between the two beings shifts. Now Amdusias looks up at her, and she looks down at Amdusias. Eunha takes a step toward him, clutching Lemegeton in her hand.
“I desire a contract. Submit to me.”
A forceful tone. Amdusias plays his voice through the trumpet embedded in his neck.
[Successor of Solomon. That alone grants you the basic qualification. But since you have summoned me, you know that additional conditions are required, do you not?]
“I know.”
[Then this shall be quick. Prove your chastity, Successor of Solomon.]
Swish.
Amdusias thrusts his horn toward her. Eunha does not dodge. Instead, she brings her finger to the tip of the sharp horn.
Blood flows from the stinging wound that blossoms, and crimson droplets slide down Amdusias’s horn. Amdusias closes his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching.
[Chastity means, first of all, a pure body. You have never spent the night with the opposite sex, nor touched one. The purity of your flesh is proven.]
“…….”
[Chastity means, as well, an ignorance of lust. You have never harbored sexual desire for the opposite sex. The purity of your energy is proven.]
“……I wish you would shu—”
[Lastly, chastity means a pure heart.]
Amdusias cuts Eunha off and slowly opens his eyes.
[Until now, you have kept only one man in your heart. And only recently. A great boulder has fallen into a lake that was tranquil until now, so even if it has not developed into love, you hold at least some fondness.]
“……Sh-shut u—”
[No other man has caused so much as a ripple in the lake of your heart. Truly, you are of supreme purity and single-minded devotion. The purity of your heart is proven.]
Amdusias smirks, shifting a single eye independently to fix his gaze on Ian.
[The conditions of the contract are met, Successor of Solomon.]
He let out a sharp laugh.
[This shall be a love fraught with hardship.]
“……?”
Ian, unable to hear the creature’s voice due to the magic, tilts his head to the side.
“……Why is that bastard staring at me like that.”