Chapter 97

The sword of Belial pierces through me.

It passes from my chest to my back, spewing out flames. The fire spills over, surrounding us, with explosions continuing to erupt loudly in all directions.

…That’s probably how it looks from the perspective of the head mage.

“Where there is light, there is shadow. The shadow and I, we are one and yet two. Stand up, imitate, for time will seek to stop it. Illusion Shadow.”

In the midst of the growing flames, I cast a spell. It seems the head mage didn’t hear it, and I felt relieved.

“Didn’t I order you to capture them alive? To kill them…!”
“It can’t be helped. They were far too arrogant, so I lost control.”

Belial chuckled, a smirk on his lips.

The head mage clicked his tongue and muttered bitterly, “So it’s a demon after all.”

“…It can’t be helped. Bring them here, I need to check if they are still alive.”

As he gave the order, he extended a hand, and I met his cold gaze with my red eyes.

“Is there really a need to check?”

“Of course! Hurry up!”

Impatiently shouting, the head mage tried to approach, but Belial only deepened his smile.

“…No.”

“What?! Ah, I see…! Is there not enough magic in the ring? Do I need to supply it?”

Muttering, the head mage raised his left hand, where the ring was, to shoulder height and extended it outward.

“Great god’s…”

At that point, his words stopped.

The ring slipped smoothly off his finger, and the sensation of metal disappeared.

When the head mage turned his face toward me, realizing what had happened, an expression of shock spread across his face. Right in front of him, the ring was placed back onto my finger.

“Y-you! The body should be there! How is it here…?! What is happening!!?”

“…It’s an illusion. Didn’t you notice? I cast Illusion Shadow.”

I gradually moved back, ensuring not to lose the ring on my left hand as I distanced myself.

“Impossible… I was stabbed with the sword! That can’t be an illusion!”

“Yes, I was stabbed. I thought it would make you hesitate. After that, the explosions Belial set off made sure you couldn’t hear my incantation.”

I had planned to use the combat to distract them, induce psychological confusion from being stabbed, and blind them with the explosions and fire. I was relieved it worked. No one would expect me to chant while pretending to have been stabbed.

“But… the sword definitely pierced through me…”

The head mage was still trembling, unable to fully understand the situation.

“You should have studied summoning magic more. If you had included a protection clause, your magic wouldn’t have been able to harm me. Physical attacks also face significant restrictions. That sword was an enchanted flame sword created by Belial. It could never harm me. You didn’t break the contract, did you?”

Anyone familiar with summoning contracts would know that, if you want control, you’d have to break the contract first.

But for a king, breaking a self-made contract is something they would deeply regret. Trying to force them to break it with the ring’s power would have been extremely difficult.

And if someone is protecting me under a contract, it’s highly unlikely that the other party would try to kill me.

It seems Belial had a hard time pretending to pierce me, considering that the sword vanishes upon touch. After the sword vanished, he quickly reconstructed it in front of my chest, making sure the flames concealed the process.

“Foolish!!”

Belial’s shout echoed as I turned to face him, and he swiftly picked me up, flying away immediately.

“I can fly on my own!”
“That’s what happens when you act leisurely! You’ll be caught in the blast, you fool!”

For once, Belial sounded genuinely flustered.

“Fools who would anger Lord Lucifer don’t even exist in Hell!! Despite how he appears, he is the one who will deliver the most brutal retribution among all demons! At the very least, this entire area will be destroyed, it’s clear as day. Move away, quickly!!!”

I passed by Lucifer, who was slowly entering the room. Although his usual smile remained, his eyes glinted coldly, cruelly.

“…Now, let me show you the power of the King of Hell. The very root of your filthy soul will freeze in joy…”

Lucifer’s voice had never sounded so cold before…

“Don’t come, don’t come!!!”

With the cries of the Head Mage ringing in my ears, I quickly flew out of the room.

“Stars, fall. Burn until you are consumed, and return to nothing. Etch your mark upon the earth and become a majestic natural disaster. Destroy!!”

I could faintly hear it… Could this be Lucifer’s curse spell!?

This might be the “difficult-to-obtain spell” mentioned in the records, a dark attribute Meteor spell! The incantation for this magic has never been fully deciphered!

I saw Ekvar riding a wyvern alongside Sebirino in the sky, a little ways from the castle.

“Master! Are you injured?”

I hurriedly broke free from Belial’s arms and flew on my own.

“I’m fine. Are you both okay? Was that Sebirino who did that?”

“Yes, you understand well.”

As expected, it was Sebirino who made a contract with Lucifer.

In order to use the curse magic effectively, he had to form a contract. Without one, the power of the King of Hell would be heavily limited in this world.

“We’re fine. I thought you might have gotten injured since you were carried out,” Ekvar said, relief showing on his face. I, too, felt relieved that they were safe.

“When Lucifer appeared out of nowhere, I was so stunned… I almost didn’t manage to escape,” I confessed.

“Still as careless as always, that hopeless little girl,” Belial muttered.

As we moved away from the castle, we saw something burning falling from the sky.

A large rock-like object, a meteor.

When it hit the castle, there was a massive explosion accompanied by a loud roar. Thick smoke billowed up, and beneath it, red heat glowed intensely, obscuring everything around the castle. Even from a distance, dust and wind reached us.

The deafening sound of destruction died down as the smoke cleared, and when we looked, the castle had been blown away, leaving behind a massive crater. Rocks, bricks, and wall fragments were scattered over a wide area. Trees were felled, leaving behind violent traces of destruction.

The center of the impact area was oddly untouched, though.

There stood Lucifer and the Head Mage.

They had let the Head Mage witness the destruction alive. When Lucifer gets angry, he truly becomes merciless…

I decided to return home without witnessing what would happen next. I knew the Head Mage would be killed, but I was too scared to know what might occur.

Some time later, Lucifer appeared at my house.

“Don’t worry, you’ll never have to see him again. I’ve erased him, body and soul,” he said with a smile that seemed oddly happy.

“Is that so…?” I replied.

“I used my power after a long time. Could I have something to drink?”

Lucifer spoke as he sat down on the couch, and Sebirino immediately bowed.

“Of course. Would you prefer something warm or cold?”

“Something warm would be good.”

On the couch sat Belial and me, with Lucifer across from us. Ekvar seemed reluctant to join us. I had informed Sieghardt, who had been waiting outside, of the situation and asked him to report to the kingdom.

Even though the castle and terrain had been destroyed, we couldn’t pretend to be unaware of it.

The captured Head Mage of the Egdoarm Kingdom had fled and attempted to summon demons in an abandoned castle, drawing the wrath of a demon that caused massive destruction. The demon responsible was already “sent back,” or so it was claimed.

Thus, Ekvar and Sebirino were left to negotiate with Egdoarm for an apology and compensation. That, too, would be relayed.

Since the area around Chenkaslar  was lacking in magic item craftsmen, elixirs might be well-received. It might be worth looking into supplies.

Lucifer, having destroyed the entire area including the castle, calmly drank the steaming tea on the sofa.

No matter how you looked at him, he didn’t seem like the type of person who could do such a thing. Truly the King of Hell…

It seemed that Sebirino’s contract with Lucifer stated that he would cooperate for one day, and in exchange, he would be given anything he wanted. Lucifer must have taken a liking to him. Sebirino seemed eager to acquire Soma sap or Gawkelena.

“So, what do you plan to do now, Lord Lucifer?”

“If we’re returning, I’ll be sent back, but since the contract was for one day…”

“Since it’s such a rare opportunity, I think I’ll look around the human world for a bit. Prepare a bed with a canopy.”

“A bed with a canopy…?”

“Do you have one of those in this house?” Belial asked, clearly exasperated, but he seemed unwilling to compromise on this.

“I don’t like seeing the wall from the bed,” he stated firmly.

“Lady Iriya , maybe you should consult the Duke about that? He can introduce you to a merchant,” Ekvar suggested.

Following Ekvar’s advice, I hurriedly arranged a bed. The Duke’s residence apparently had canopy beds, but I was told that beds previously used by others weren’t desirable.

Lucifer’s whims were quite something.

It almost felt like a subtle indication that he might return before too long.

At last, I thought we might be able to live peacefully… Maybe?

Despite having completed his business, Ekvar seemed to want to stay longer.

“I want to get to know you more,” he said seriously, and I asked which magic he wanted to see next. His expression became rather ambiguous, though I thought he looked the same as when he watched my magic. I wondered if the royal guards should be here. The country was probably in chaos right now.

Sebirino, too, was pleading to stay, but I convinced him to get to work. It was strange—this wasn’t the person I knew.

“Magicians are not humans, but servants of knowledge,” he declared. Still, it didn’t seem related to him staying close to me.

I had some follow-up work to do and needed to find a source for Gawkelena, so regardless of how it went, it seemed like I’d remain in this area for a while.

Belial, still unsatisfied with this encounter, said he wanted to hunt again. Lucifer, too, seemed to look forward to hearing about the inner workings of Hell.

That “foolish girl” remark was because of a stolen important ring, I was told. There was no arguing with that.

Currently, my house was hosting the Court Magician of Egdoarm, a close aide of the Crown Prince’s personal guard, and two Kings of Hell. Quite an overwhelming force, I’d say… Why does my house feel harder to attack than the kingdom?

In any case, I decided to prepare some healing items. Research on the Philosopher’s Stone would still be ongoing.

End of Part One