◈ Episode 141. In Splendor (1)
[Quest: The Simuard Family’s Request]
The magic family, Simuard.
They wish to uncover the source of the terminal curse placed upon them.
─Visit the Simuard manor. (Success)
─Face the Countess of Simuard. (Success)
─Defeat the demon possessing Yula Simuard and break the curse contract. (In Progress)
The updated quest objective.
I had prepared everything for this moment.
Needless to say, there were the fluttering [White Outer Wings]
and even the [Lightning-Struck Branch Wand].
[Masterpiece
- Lightning-Struck Branch Wand]
[Grade: Unique]
[Restriction: Lv.380]
[Effect: When manifesting elemental magic, mana consumption increases by 30 percent, but destructive power increases by 30 percent.]
The effect was a double-edged sword.
Elemental magic already consumed a staggering amount of mana. If I poured out the hundred elemental spells stored in the outer wings, it was obvious I would suffer mana exhaustion, but I did not care.
The Arcana Continent, overrun by demons.
Granfell’s pride only rose higher in that living hell.
『Perhaps what demons should fear most is not Granfell’s class as a demon hunter, but the human being called Granfell himself.』
That was right.
To me, the Arcana Continent was practically home ground. Whether it was an upper-rank demon or a Demon King, bringing down at least one of them with my life on the line was not impossible.
And yet.
[The First World Tree has noticed your existence.]
[The First World Tree blesses you.]
[Vitality and mana regeneration have greatly increased.]
……
Even I hadn’t expected this.
The World Tree’s blessing had activated the moment I unleashed my mana. Naturally, this had not been part of my preparations. It was merely unexpected luck.
[Luck: 7]
Indeed, investing that precious 1 point into Luck was worth it……! In any case, World Tree, your effect lives up to your name. Even right now, I was consuming quite a bit of mana.
‘I don’t feel my mana draining away.’
It was on a level incomparable to something like an elixir-herb buff.
Most magic tools and items probably couldn’t produce an effect like this either.
That blessing of the World Tree became the basis of my confidence.
One step—
The lake.
I manifested magic and walked across the surface of the water.
It was something I could never have imagined doing when I was starved for mana.
But now, with [Natural Enemy Relationship]
and the World Tree buff added on top of that.
Manifesting magic at this level had no effect on my mana reserves whatsoever.
So, since such an opportunity didn’t come often, I might as well walk a little.
So this was what walking on water felt like.
But the distance between the demon and me did not shrink.
“……!”
Because whenever I took one step closer,
the bastard took one step back.
The exorcism ritual had already been activated.
Within the ritual.
The battle of willpower between me and him had, for all intents and purposes, begun a while ago. But there was nothing to worry about. Granfell’s lofty pride breaking before a demon?
Do not underestimate my dark history.
Because I knew better than anyone that such a thing was impossible.
“……Are you merely going to watch? Demon World!!”
Suddenly, the bastard shouted toward the sky.
“Demon Kings, great evils! He, that man, has come for us!”
You’re just spreading rumors all over the neighborhood, aren’t you?
As you can see, he was clearly startled.
Well, it was understandable.
‘It’s only natural that they know of my existence to some extent.’
A demon hunted by a demon hunter had its very existence erased and could never revive again.
It was only natural that the demons would notice, in their own way,
that great evils and Demon Kings had vanished from existence.
However.
‘They never imagined I’d appear on the Arcana Continent.’
I didn’t know what demon common sense was like.
But by common sense, who would even think of such a thing?
That the last demon hunter would charge into the Arcana Continent, filled with demons, of his own accord—and alone, at that.
Even I, the person in question, couldn’t have imagined this until just a few days ago.
Goooo—
But whether it had been planned or not.
This was not about anything else, but Marcelo’s life.
For Granfell’s pride, of course.
And also so that I wouldn’t work myself to death buried under the duties of chief.
I had no choice but to enter the Arcana Continent.
“Do not make me say it twice.”
A cold declaration.
At the same time.
Crack, crack, crack—!
The lake froze over in an instant.
I spoke to him, to my prey.
“The only words I have permitted you are an apology to the House of Simuard.”
[『Marvel』], Absolute Zero manifested.
“……!!”
The bastard’s face froze solid just like that.
From the tips of his toes to the crown of his head.
An uncontrollable chill swept over him.
This could not continue……!
“Kuh!”
Yula quickly made a decision.
Slash—!
So that the cold could not climb through his entire body,
he drew out the claws hidden beneath his flesh and cut off his own ankle.
Even if his body could regenerate, to think he would end up cutting off his own ankle with his own hand.
Yula breathed heavily.
‘……So this is what an exorcism ritual is?’
Yula had not directly participated in the Holy War.
He had no desire to be treated the same as the foolish Demon Kings and demons.
He had merely watched Akshan’s end from a distance.
What better spectacle could there have been?
Despite being mere humans.
Akshan’s demon hunters, who looked down on demons.
To think they would be betrayed by their allies and instead hunted by demons.
It seemed as though just watching it would be an ecstatic sight. However, the course of the Holy War differed from Yula’s expectations.
—“Those damn bastards……!!”
Even in a crisis where they had been betrayed by their allies and surrounded by demons, Demon Kings, and great evils. Akshan hunted demons until the very end.
Despite the overwhelming difference in numbers. Even though they knew they had no chance of victory.
They did not break until the final, final moment.
As a result.
Akshan killed more than ten Demon Kings.
And that was not all.
—“I can’t die like this. If it has come to this, then I’d rather……!!”
They forced a great evil, the Seven Deadly Sins Greed, to commit suicide.
Because if he died by a demon hunter’s hand, his very existence would be erased.
Yes, demon hunters.
They were beings who could drive even a great evil to such terror that it would commit suicide.
—“But now there is nothing that can stop us.”
The extinction of their natural enemy, Akshan.
Like the other demons, Yula had breathed a sigh of relief. Beyond that, he had once again admired his own judgment in not participating in the Holy War.
But to think that judgment would return as a boomerang.
‘Why? Why can I see nothing else?’
It was not enough that he had occupied a vacant Demon King’s seat.
He had gained enough power that he no longer needed to fear the hierarchy battles, but Yula lacked experience. Beyond that, he had no experience whatsoever facing his natural enemy, a demon hunter.
Yula’s field of vision?
In the darkness, he could see only Hoyeol.
More precisely, only Hoyeol “s.”
The special space atop the lake.
Hoyeol standing upright.
Hoyeol standing upside down.
It shook Yula’s mind even more violently.
Yula gathered himself.
He recalled all the hardship he had endured.
‘I endured, endured, and endured again.’
He could not vanish so meaninglessly now.
Yula shouted once again.
“Look, demons. There is a demon hunter here. If you leave him alone, the being who will drive us to ruin is here!!”
Everything was nothing but an illusion.
Just because the Demon Eyes could not be seen did not mean they did not exist.
He was not the only thing existing in the darkness.
I was merely mistaken.
After racking his brain, Yula thought of it.
‘……Yes, let’s buy time.’
No matter how much of a natural enemy he was, he was only human.
Toying with a human heart?
To him, it was an exceedingly simple matter.
Yula opened his mouth.
“How laughable, demon hunter. Are you trying to avenge the Holy War now? When Akshan, your comrades, were dying so miserably, where were you and what were you doing?”
The last demon hunter.
He had no way of knowing what story existed between that man and Akshan, nor did he care. But if he was a weak human, he could not help but waver. Yula added his words.
“If there had been a demon hunter of your caliber, the result of the Holy War might have been different. But you were not there. And what was the result? They slaughtered dozens of Demon Kings and drove a great evil to suicide, but Akshan ultimately lost. They were annihilated!”
If he was a weak human,
he could not help but feel guilt.
Then his willpower would inevitably waver as well.
‘I will aim for that opening.’
But, as if to mock his wish,
the voice that returned was no different from usual.
“No matter how many times I kindly admonish you, there is not the slightest improvement.”
“……What?”
“Indeed, comparing you to a beast would make me feel sorry for the beast.”
……
How?
Not even the slightest agitation could be felt from him.
“However, since you have saved me some trouble, I shall play along.”
What was with that arrogant gaze?
Was he not looking down on him instead?
And what did he mean, saved him some trouble?
That was why he would play along?
Before Yula could ask the reason, the man continued.
“To pity Akshan is an insult to their pride.”
“Pitying them is an insult? Don’t make me laugh!”
“It is also an act of regarding their sacrifice as pitiful—and as something light.”
“……!”
Unwavering eyes.
He was sincere.
The man truly thought that way.
Natural enemy.
Yula felt as though he understood why demon hunters were called the natural enemies of demons.
Their way of thinking was not that of weak humans. That way of thinking was surely broken beyond repair.
The natural enemy finished speaking.
“It is time for you to drown in your own ugliness.”
……
So I can guess what kind of mindset you had when you brought up the Holy War. But do you really think that would work on me? On me, who had been living my present life and had a blank period of over ten years away from Arcana?
Still, the information about the Holy War was quite welcome.
Thanks to that, one question that had remained in my mind had been solved.
You know, the sense of incongruity I’d felt from the great evil, the Seven Deadly Sins Greed.
The thought that it made no sense for a great evil not to know about the exorcism ritual.
If the Seven Deadly Sins, Greed, had committed suicide, then it made sense.
The somewhat inexperienced scent of a demon that had come from him.
And the fact that his level had been similar to the Demon King Decarabia’s.
Demons were growth-type monsters.
Great evils were probably no exception.
If Greed had committed suicide and then revived, everything fit together.
In that sense, two feelings coexisted within me: relief and shock.
Level 650 as soon as he was reborn.
Then what level had Greed originally been?
And how had Akshan forced such a great evil to commit suicide?
‘……It’s not something to pity them for. Even praising them wouldn’t be enough.’
The Magic Tower and the Goddess Church included, forces that had not yet been revealed had betrayed Akshan. That meant Akshan had pushed Greed hard enough to force him to commit suicide even in such an absurd Holy War.
That was why I could say it sincerely.
“To pity Akshan is an insult to their pride.”
Now that our exchange was over, I pointed my wand at the horrified bastard. A bastard floundering in the exorcism ritual would have no way to withstand one hundred spells. I could guarantee it.
Unlike him, I had experience.
“It is over, insignificant demon.”
In order not to sink beneath heavy pride and drown.
While struggling with every bit of strength I had and did not have.
I had fought great evils and Demon Kings several times above the appropriate level.
The effect of [Aesthetic], which had reached [Intermediate].
The 『Light』 I had scattered to use as a catalyst for elemental magic began to shine brilliantly. As if trying to replace the stars of Arcana that had vanished from the night sky.
In splendor.
Each and every star resonated with the magic bursting from the outer wings. Pure spheres of mana became catalysts for elemental magic, drawing out the destructive power of the stored spells to the limit.
Literally, a hundred colors.
Elemental magic so numerous it was difficult to count unfolded above the lake.
It was a little like fireworks.
Was it because the lake reflected the light?
This was at least twice as spectacular.
“At last, it resembles Arcana’s night sky.”
To think even Granfell’s aesthetic sense was satisfied.
But I could guarantee it.
To the bastard trapped in the exorcism ritual, there would be no fear greater than this.
As if to support that guess, the bastard screamed.
“Aaaaaah!! I can’t, I can’t die like this!!”
His final frenzy, was it?
Evil energy erupted from the bastard’s body.
The demonic energy rippling in the air began to transform into the shape of a pattern.
“Marcelo……. If only I can grasp his lifespan, then I……!!”
But unfortunately for him.
That would never happen.
I declared coldly.
“I held no expectations, and yet you exceed all bounds.”
“……!”
“I do not wish to hear any more. Be silent.”
Black magic, 『Black Coffin』.
A bastard whose mind had collapsed would not be able to resist intermediate black magic.
As proof, a message appeared.
[‘Silence’ has occurred on the Demon King, Yula.]
Toward that bastard, the stars poured down.
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
…….
The dizzying messages only lasted a moment.
I felt gazes.
Had they only realized the Demon King’s death after the exorcism ritual had ended?
The enormous demon eyes floating in the night sky glared at me all at once.
At the same time, [Natural Enemy Relationship]
reacted.
Hundreds.
No, thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Every demon in the vicinity was charging toward me.
Yes, it would have been a situation where I couldn’t help but panic.
If not for the effect of [Last Adventurer], that is.
But I had also taken this into consideration.
I told you, didn’t I?
Thanks to you shouting so loudly, you saved me some trouble.
I shifted my gaze.
From the Demon Eyes in the night sky
to my rear “ship.”
[Flying Machine Fortress, Iron Castle: Awaiting orders]
[Flying Machine Fortress, Iron Castle: Awaiting attack orders]
It was time to begin the real fireworks.