The plains of Baron Bernard’s territory were filled with dust. A force of at least 3,000 troops had gathered in front of the walls.
The black knight at the forefront, after staring at the walls for a moment, approached on horseback. The gatekeeper of Baron Bernard’s territory, who was watching the scene through a small gap in the wall, trembled with fear.
“Open the gate.”
At the low female voice, the guard turned his head. He was drenched in cold sweat and shook his head in disbelief when he saw the blonde girl.
Astria drew her sword with a disinterested expression. At that moment, the soldier felt as if his head had been cut off and was rolling away.
“Open it.”
Astria merely held her sword at the guard’s neck with a calm gaze.
“Y-Yes, ma’am.”
Rumble—
The heavy gate slowly opened. Astria walked toward the army.
Seeing the soldiers with her own eyes, she became certain.
‘They’re mixed in.’
About half of the soldiers had faces filled with terror. The object of their fear was not the enemy but the comrades beside them.
‘Those must be the devil worshippers. It’s easy to tell since they look so killable.’
Astria yawned lazily as she walked, as if she were taking a stroll.
-‘You said that even lives with no value are precious. Tell me, what about devil worshippers?’
She recalled the conversation she had with Sena. Sena had responded with an ambiguous smile.
-‘I think human lives are more important. After all, I’m not a veterinarian.’
Step.
Astria stopped walking.
Astria stopped walking. A few meters away, the black knight also stopped his horse and slowly removed his helmet.
He appeared to be in his mid-forties.
His eyes were slit-like, and countless eyeballs rolled incessantly within them.
“There’s no need to be so afraid.”
His tone was completely flat. Astria said nothing, whether out of shock or not.
Misinterpreting her silence, the black knight unnaturally curled his lips into a smile and dismounted.
“Human, I sense immense divine power from within. Kill and bring them to me. Then, I’ll let you live.”
“…You’re ugly.”
The demon cocked his head, as if he misheard her.
“What?”
“You’re so ugly, it’s unpleasant. For the sake of future generations, kill yourself.”
Understanding her words at last, the demon reached into the air. Black mist gathered and formed a spear.
“Foolish answer.”
The spear thrust from the demon’s hand. The attack was sudden, without any point of origin. Astria did not move even as the spear tip approached her head.
Just as the spear was about to pierce Astria’s head, it stopped. It seemed to be blocked by something invisible, quivering as if resisting a force, then slowly redirected.
It turned towards the demon. The spear shot forward instantly. The demon bent his body grotesquely to dodge it.
Astria’s brow furrowed in displeasure at the sight.
“What are you doing? I gave you the chance to kill yourself.”
“…You’re no ordinary human. But even so, you’re just human.”
The black mist gathered again, forming countless spears.
These weren’t ordinary spears. Each one was imbued with a terrible curse. Even a slight touch would bring death to any living being.
“You cannot contend with a demon like me.”
The number of spears was disturbingly large, enough to fill the sky.
Dodging was impossible. Deflecting such a dense barrage of spears was equally unthinkable.
Yet Astria remained indifferent.
“An impressive trick. Who commands this army?”
“Since you’re going to die anyway, I’ll tell you. My name is Kavrium. A Duke of the Demon Realm and a Great Demon. A noble servant of the ‘Great One.'”
Kavrium wiggled his index finger to shoot the spears.
Countless spears rained down.
However, Astria, who had been right in front of him, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where did she go?’
“A duke, lying to me.”
Her voice came from right beside him.
Astria was suddenly standing next to the demon.
“…Lying?”
“You are not the Great Demon.”
She spoke as she passed Kavrium.
“You are far too weak for that.”
Crunch, crunch—.
The sound of flesh and bones being crushed echoed. The demon stared blankly at Astria’s back.
“How is this—”
Thud!
The demon’s body exploded. The scattered blood was all that remained to prove he had ever been there.
**
On top of the walls.
Lucia stood with her mouth agape.
“Is that really a human?”
Even seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it.
The demon Astria killed felt powerful enough to make one’s skin tingle even from a distance.
Yet, Astria killed the demon with the casual demeanor of someone taking a stroll.
The demon, which could only be killed by a priest, was crushed purely by brute strength.
The method was as crude as it was effective. She concentrated and compressed her magical power in one place.
“If she can do that, we might not need to eliminate Cruyff to kill the Great Demon.”
“Sister Lucia, that’s not the case.”
Ellie spoke sternly.
Lucia looked at Ellie, who was standing on tiptoe to peer over the wall, with a mix of pity and amusement.
“Of course, Empress Astria has impressive strength, but the power of a Great Demon is incomparable to that of an ordinary demon. If you look closely now… hmm, it’s hard to see.”
Ellie, who had little physical strength, struggled to keep on tiptoe and began to shake.
With a small sigh, Lucia grabbed Ellie’s waist and lifted her up.
Ellie spoke again, trying to maintain her stern demeanor.
“Right now, Her Majesty is selectively killing only the devil worshippers and merely knocking out the ordinary soldiers. It might look effortless, but she’s undoubtedly expending a lot of energy.”
“That’s odd. She’s not known for being so kind-hearted.”
“Tsk-tsk. Sister Lucia, you still don’t understand a girl’s desire to impress the man she likes.”
“Sister Ellie, I don’t think this is the time for jokes.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Ellie?”
When Lucia spoke in a gentle voice, Ellie shrank back.
“Anyway, in a fight with the Great Demon, she will have to use even more extreme methods. It will be much harder and more painful.”
Demons always seek the most troublesome ways to make humans suffer.
After all, they are called demons for a reason.
This time, too, the demon mixed devil worshippers with ordinary humans, making it difficult to deal with them.
But the demon underestimated Astria’s power and paid the price.
A Great Demon would undoubtedly be more cunning and challenging.
“…I can see she’s getting tired. Empress Astria’s great strength also seems to be hard for her to control.”
“That’s why ancient records say this: We humans must fight while keeping an eye on the angels, but demons don’t have to worry about anything, so they are strong.”
“So, it means that since the angels are watching, we have to fight the Great Demon while being mindful of their presence.”
A Great Demon is something you can’t guarantee victory against even in the best condition.
As Ellie said, a Great Demon wouldn’t come alone.
Demons are more cunning and vile than any other creatures. They never tire, and even when injured, they heal quickly.
Fighting one-on-one is already uncertain, and Astria would have to bear all these penalties while fighting.
“…We have no choice but to eliminate Cruyff.”
“The problem is, will the angel accept that?”
“The angel….”
Lucia thought of the angel.
The angel, whom she could only think of as a perfect being.
As a human, it was impossible to fully understand the angel’s intentions.
But one thing was certain.
“The angel will surely open a way for us.”
After all, the angel Lucia had seen so far was perfect, beautiful, and invincible.
**
“Kyaa, Sylvia, I’m scared! I’m scared!”
Sena hid behind Sylvia, eyes tightly shut.
“S-Senior! It’s a devil worshipper! You need to handle this to extend your lifespan!”
“N-no! It’s too scary! Just this once, Sylvia, please handle it…!”
Sylvia had kept her promise. She immediately sensed the presence of the devil worshipper.
The devil worshipper headed straight for their room. It was highly likely they were the ones who had slaughtered the entire Bernard family.
Sena gritted her teeth, determined to avenge the family no matter what.
The problem was the devil worshipper’s appearance.
It had a human head. Had it been just that, Sena wouldn’t have been so frightened.
As a doctor, she had more tolerance for gruesome things than an ordinary person.
But—
‘A human head with arms attached! It’s disgusting! And it’s holding sh*t in its mouth… ugh.’
Instead of ears, there were arms attached.
Where a neck should have been, numerous thin legs were sprouting.
And most disturbingly, the mouth…
“Kyaa! Kyaa! It’s moving! It’s moving!”
For Sena, who had a fear of dirt and hated disgusting things, it was like a 4D horror movie.
“It’s coming! The dirty thing with arms on its head is coming! I-I can’t… handle this anymore.”
Sena couldn’t withstand the shocking sight and fainted.
“S-Senior? Senior!”
Sylvia supported Sena and shook her shoulders urgently.
But Sena had already lost consciousness, her mind reeling.
“How much did you hate it if you fainted?”
It was the first time Sylvia had seen Sena like this.
Sena, who always carried herself with nobility and cleanliness, never showed signs of surprise or raised his voice.
Yet here he was, screaming like a little girl.
It was so…
‘So cute!’
Unfortunately, there was no time to continue finding Sena adorable.
Squelch, squelch.
The devil worshipper had come right up to them.
“…Even I think this is pretty disgusting.”
Sshring.
Leaving Sena on the bed, Sylvia drew her sword.
She approached the devil worshipper with half-closed eyes.
“That person… For that person. I have to obey that person’s orders…”
The devil worshipper, now just a head, muttered incessantly.
Sylvia, uninterested, quickly stabbed it with her sword.
“Kee-! Kekk!”
‘It won’t die immediately, but it does smell awful.’
The stench was truly revolting.
Sylvia was actually relieved Sena had fainted.
Sighing deeply, Sylvia slowly brought the skewered head towards Sena.
“Sorry, Senior. I wanted to give you only good things.”
Bringing such a filthy thing to the purest person she knew felt terribly wrong, but Sylvia was willing to do anything to extend Sena’s lifespan.
As soon as the devil worshipper’s head touched Sena’s white skin…
Sssaaa—
A massive release of divine power burst from Sena’s body, reducing the devil worshipper to dust.
“It worked!”
Sylvia beamed.
As expected, Sena’s body, brimming with divine power, was lethal to devil worshippers.
After a moment of looking out the window, Sylvia sat by Sena’s bedside, gently stroking his tousled hair.
Her gaze was filled with concern.
“…I wonder what happened. Did it increase? Or is it still the same? I can’t tell.”
[9]
The number above Sena’s head wavered faintly.
[11]
It was a very small change, invisible to Sylvia.
