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The ground splits apart.

Even structures of stone that have withstood the test of time collapse. Some bricks rise, while others sink.

It’s like a scene from the ocean, with waves crashing violently.

Literally, the earth shakes.

-Kuururung!

A noise reminiscent of an earthquake erupts, shaking the cavern. The walls of the cavern crack and tremble, sharp fragments falling through the starlight.

Amid the chaos of screams and noise, the falling starlight fills the cavern.

The whisper of a devil, full of laughter, begins to be heard.

“Oh stars, sing of your wrath.”

Men and women, the elderly and children. Countless voices join in a chorus.

“With destructive rage, bring forth calamity, and send the souls of the fools underground to be fodder for the watchdogs.”

Lying in the center of the cavern, bound to the altar, the creature smiled with its eyes darkened and its mouth ajar.

The devil grinned, gazing at the falling starlight. Withered and skeletal hands rose between the rising and sinking bricks.

Lucia, witnessing the sight, let out a small scream.

“Muspel…!”

The demon lying on the ground grinned at the priest who clenched his lips tightly.

Then it quietly lifted its head, muttering as it gazed at the pouring starlight.

“Your plans are coming to fruition….”

In the underground where even the moonlight does not shine. In that place where screams and howls are rampant.

“Smash open the lofty gates of heaven, and rescue us.”

The howls of the monsters that have risen to the surface echoed high into the sky.

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician in History

In the midst of battling the demons, suddenly the ground collapsed and the monsters appeared.

They surged up from the earth.

-Kieeehh!

Their skin, a deep brown with a red aura, sharp claws, and a pair of twisted horns on their heads.

Their hunched backs and skin stretched over bones reminded one of a small, frail old man or a patient.

But the wide-open mouths, capable of swallowing a human head whole, and voices filled with hatred and rage were anything but the voice of the elderly.

In fact, they weren’t even human.

“What are those things?!”

I turned to Lucia, alarmed.

“Muspel. Soldiers of hell from mythology. In other words, minions of the demons.”

“…So, they’re demonic creatures?”

“They’re not demons. Unlike sentient demons, they’re closer to puppets being manipulated by the devil.”

Lucia gently turned her head to look at the demon, still chuckling as it gazed at the sky while occupying the inquisitor’s body.

Her eyes narrowed, looking straight ahead once more. The creatures called ‘Muspel’ surrounded us, piercing through the darkness.

“Gargoyles, Muspel, Leviathan… the demonic army is all commanded by the demons. From the fact that they’ve summoned Muspel, it seems we’re not dealing with a low-ranking demon here.”

“Was it that bastard’s doing?”

I pointed at the demon lying below.

Lucia nodded.

“It seems that way.”

“How serious is the situation?”

“Well… If those Muspel truly came from hell to this earth, it’s going to be a tough fight. But from what I see…”

Just as she was about to finish her thought—

“…Kyaaahh…!!”

A scream filled with pain reverberated throughout the cavern. The sound came from behind the surging monsters. In this place devoid of any other humans, someone unfamiliar appeared.

No, to be precise, it was something that had become a human.

“Kuhh…!”

A middle-aged woman rolled on the ground, screaming. Her face was unmistakably human, but her body was not.

Her legs were twisted backward, and those exposed limbs had transformed into a deep brown with a red hue, growing thin and frail.

Her fingers were sharp, leaving deep scratches in the stone bricks with every flail.

A bizarre appearance, as if half-human and half-Muspel. The middle-aged woman was now something that was no longer human.

She writhed on the ground in agony, and when she spotted us, she reached out her hand, pleading.

“P-please… save… m-me!”

-Kyaaaaah!!

-Kieeehh!!

The Muspel charged at her. The ones rising from the surroundings and those bursting through the bricks to approach us.

It was instantaneous—as if the monsters surrounded the woman in a flash.

“Gyaaaah…!”

A horrific scream echoed, but was drowned out by monstrous roars.

Monsters rushed toward the middle-aged woman, and in an instant, she was swallowed by a sea of creatures, vanishing without a trace.

It resembled a person being swept away by a flood.

The desperate hand reaching out for help was pulled into the swirling flesh of the monsters, drowned out by their cacophony, and she disappeared without even a final scream.

In the blink of an eye, the scene unfolded, and I lost my words.

At the same time, I understood the situation unfolding right before my eyes.

“…Those things. Could they be people?”

“They were,” Lucia remarked, drawing a small cross. A calm explanation followed.

“There are three ways for the monsters of hell to rise to the surface. One is for a high-ranking demon to open a path and directly summon them to this land. The other is to offer a sacrifice to call forth the monsters of hell. What you’re seeing now is the appearance of summoned monsters.”

“……”

“I suspected they weren’t just lowly hybrids, but it seems they weren’t very high-ranked demons either.”

Lucia muttered as she looked at the demon, then slowly rose. She picked up a thick holy scripture from the ground.

“It seems the Grand Exorcism can’t proceed any further.”

And then, invoking the Divine, she swung the scripture widely. A Muspel, moving toward her, was struck in the head by the scripture and floated into the air.

As the airborne Muspel fell to the ground, covered in dust, the Saint of the Cult clenched her scripture tightly and spoke.

“From now on, we can only think of surviving.”

“Please focus on surviving like now. That’s all you should think about.”

“I’m already doing that. But…”

I mumbled while watching the encroaching monsters.

“Isn’t this a bit too much?”

The number of Muspels was unimaginably high. At least several dozen. It might even surpass a hundred.

Although Lucia didn’t kill any Muspels, there was no sign of their numbers diminishing. In fact, they seemed to have multiplied significantly. This was due to the fact that those things were continuously crawling up from the underground.

-Kyaaaaah!!

-Kieeeeek!!

Muspels clawed their way up from the underground, digging through stone bricks and piles of dirt. It felt like we had poked a hornet’s nest as they relentlessly kept coming.

After throwing the closest monsters away, Lucia created some distance before standing next to me. She was breathing heavily, with beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“There’s quite a lot of them…”

“‘Quite a lot’…?”

At that moment, a devilish voice snickered in my ears.

“How reckless. Young Cleric, do you really think you can defeat them and see the rising sun again?”

“…”

“No. You will die here today. This underground and this night will be your last.”

The demon laughed maniacally, its body twitching in delight. I gave the creature a look of disbelief and turned to Lucia.

“Why is that loser acting all tough? He’s bound in a rag and can’t do anything, yet his mouth is still running.”

“Because he’s bound. A demon cannot untie itself from its restraints.”

“Is that so?”

The demon, lying on the ground, smiled as it said that. Then it began to muster strength into its limbs.

Crack! Crack! The sound of the cloth fraying echoed from the bindings. The demon was trying to escape the chains restraining its limbs. Was it planning to tear them apart by force?

Watching this, Lucia quickly grabbed a watering can filled with holy water and doused the demon’s limbs.

At that moment, smoke began rising from the demon’s body, accompanied by an earth-shattering scream.

“Kyaaah…!!”

Lucia, having subdued the demon with holy water, kept her eyes on the surrounding Muspels in preparation for battle. The hellish creatures, witnessing the demon unable to exert its strength, hesitated to approach unlike before.

“Damn you! I will tear you apart and feed your limbs to mangy dogs and eagles!!”

Curses were hurled at Lucia. Yet, she paid no mind and sprinkled holy water once more.

The demon twisted its limbs and thrashed as the holy water struck it. Dark crimson blood began to ooze from its mouth.

I glanced at the spewing demon and then back at Lucia.

“Is that blood from the demon?”

“No. That blood is from Inquisitor Agato.”

“You mean it’s not the demon’s blood?”

“Correct. No matter how strong a demon may be, once it occupies a human body, it cannot transcend the fundamental limits of the human form.”

Lucia brushed the blood off her scripture as she spoke.

“Even if a demon occupies a body, a possessed person is ultimately still human. That means they need to eat, sleep, and rest. They’ve suffered physical attacks and undergone a Grand Exorcism, so it’s no strange matter that it would bleed like this. In reality, there have been numerous reports of possessed individuals dying during an exorcism.”

Lucia likened the demon to water and the possessed person’s body to a glass bottle. No matter how water may take various shapes, what holds it is ultimately the glass bottle. The moment the fragile bottle, sensitive to external impacts and temperature changes, shatters, the demon can no longer remain within the possessed person’s body.

Thus, demons are said to always hide within the body of the possessed, waiting for a chance to strike. They eat, sleep, rest, work, and take care of their physical form while trying to avoid detection.

That’s how exorcists won’t come looking for them.

Nodding, I changed the magazine in my pistol.

“I see. That was quite an interesting tale…”

Suddenly, the conversation fell silent.

“…?”

I halted all actions, including changing the magazine, and Lucia looked back at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why the sudden silence?”

“…The possessed person.”

“Pardon?”

“The possessed is human, and no matter how strong a demon is, it ultimately cannot surpass the fundamental limits of humanity…. The glass bottle is sensitive to external shocks and temperature changes…. The demon takes care of the body it occupies….”

“…Colonel?”

Lucia called my name, but I didn’t respond. All my focus and attention were directed toward the demon, lying on the ground and bleeding profusely.

“The possessed is ultimately human. They must eat, sleep, rest, and work…”

Inquisitor Agato was a battle-priest of the Cult. He was a deacon assisting exorcists while also serving as a guard.

However, he had gone missing in the Mauritania Continent twenty years ago while on a mission with an exorcist and had only now reappeared in the northern part of the Kien Empire.

His activity period spanned at least several months back.

According to testimonies collected from the village where the residents had gone missing, the demon had been here for at least several months.

By the way, the northern region of the Kien Empire is an area under martial law. This meant that not only the citizens but also civil servants couldn’t easily come and go.

Yet that creature had crossed over from the Mauritania Continent into the north and, despite operating here for months, had never been caught by the Empire’s Information Agency or the Inquisition.

And the north is a very barren place.

Even with support from the Empire government and the Cult, the citizens taking refuge and shelter were dying from freezing and starvation.

But…

“How has that thing been alive all this time?”

“…”

I turned to Lucia.

She was gazing at me with an expression of heightened concern.

An answer returned, not from her mouth, but the demon’s.

“…You’ve caught on? You’re quite the clever monkey.”

The demon grinned wickedly.

“But it’s too late.”

Whoooosh!

A tremendous wind suddenly swept in from above. Flying debris and fine dust stung my eyes. Struggling to lift my head, I checked above and threw myself to the side, hugging Lucia as tightly as I could.

-Kwaaaang!!

The shockwave rattled my body.

I pressed Lucia close to the floor to protect her.

Thud! Falling debris and rubble battered my body. I felt the sharp fragments strike painfully against the back of my head.

People, objects, bricks were tossed about haphazardly. The bucket filled with holy water and the watering can were sent flying, and the fabric around Lucia’s fist fluttered in the wind.

Flap flap flap! The pages of the scripture turned chaotically in the gust. Lucia quickly pressed her hand down to protect them, but when she noticed drops of blood falling onto her hand, she gazed up in alarm.

And her eyes widened as she looked at me.

“Blood… from your head!”

“…”

I grasped her hand reaching towards my head. Then I waited for the wind to settle before slowly turning my gaze.

A vast, hollow space.

Monsters that had crawled up from hell and occupied a monk’s body were lying in that place.

In the dim glow cast by the fallen starlight.

A magician cloaked in black robes,

was watching us.

Lucia’s eyes widened in horror as she recognized him.

“…Necromancer!”

The called out figure slowly raised its head.

Due to the deeply shaded robe and the dark surroundings, I couldn’t see its face, but one thing was certain: it was male.

He looked over at us, then scanned the scattered sacred items before approaching the bound demon.

And then.

-Buuuk!

He tore the bindings holding the demon’s limbs apart with his hands.

-Buuuk! Buuuk!

The shredded purple bindings fell to the ground. The torn fabric burned as though charred and turned into ash, swirling into the air.

Freed from its restraints, the demon stumbled to its feet, and the necromancer casually draped the demon’s arms over his neck and shoulder, aiding it.

Seeing this, Lucia screamed in panic.

“No, don’t!”

Lucia sprang to her feet in an attempt to stop the necromancer.

However, he was one step ahead.

As the necromancer reached out, a green magic circle was drawn in the air. The edges of the circle shimmered, and as the magic flowed through the circuits, the spell began to activate.

In the blink of an eye, as the magic completed,

Lucia, rushing forward, suddenly fell to the ground.

I stumbled forward, catching Lucia as she collapsed. Though she showed signs of exhaustion, she was still coherent, her pale face drenched in cold sweat.

“The curse….”

“Indeed, the skills are considerable, but the awareness is lacking. Experience is the same.”

A sly chuckle filled the cavern. The demon mocked the fallen Lucia.

“Your prayers will not reach the heavens. Just as they always have.”

“…”

The demon snickered, turning its head away.

The necromancer turned with the demon supporting it, and at that moment, the monsters baring their teeth began to close in on us.

I placed Lucia gently on the ground. Amidst the chaos, I retrieved a vial of holy water from an unbroken glass bottle and poured it into her mouth. Even if it was holy water that targeted demons, it should lift the curse soon enough, even if it takes a bit of time.

I mentally calculated the number of rounds in my pocket magazine and forcefully racked the slide, completing the reloading process.

Then, taking hold of my knife, I aimed at the receding necromancer amidst the encroaching monsters.

Just then,

“….”

The retreating necromancer turned to face us.

As if it were a signal, the monsters surged forward, and I steadied my finger on the trigger.

*

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶!!

A heavy gunshot echoed through the cavern.

Suddenly, the gunfire rang out. Just before pulling the trigger, I hastily removed my finger from the trigger.

But the gunfire continued unabated.

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶!! ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶!!

Two gunshots rang out. The sound was heavier than any pistol could ever compare to.

As the gunfire rang out, the heads of the charging Muspels exploded.

Their lifeless bodies collapsed onto the ground, and the splattered guts stained the faces of the monsters that followed.

The discharge came so abruptly.

Even I, who was about to shoot, the necromancer trying to escape, and the monsters closing in—everyone froze in place.

Then, the sound came.

The sound of empty casings rolling on the ground reached from afar.

The clattering of the casings echoed throughout the terrain, as loud as thunder.

The direction of the sound was from behind.

I turned my head to identify the source of the sound.

“I never wanted to come to this backwater even when I was young.”

– Thud.

“I don’t know what fate brought me here in my old age, but here I am in the north.”

– Thud.

“I came because I sensed Lucia’s divinity, but why am I getting dragged into this mess?”

“Please have some decorum….”

“Shut up! I don’t even want to be here, wandering around the sewers of this backwater! How can I not be angry, Brother?”

An obscene curse and footsteps were heard from the hole beside the cavern.

Hearing that voice, I lowered my pistol and let out a deep sigh.

“Oh?”

The owner of the voice emerged from the tunnel.

“I came to grab you by the hair since I heard you got into some trouble, but I sure didn’t expect to find you here, Colonel?”

The flowing silken black hair.

Tears under the eyes.

A tall figure with an aristocratic appearance today and the unmistakable shabby demeanor.

Lucia’s former superior and my information agent.

A current high priestess.

“Long time no see, Saint Veronica.”

It was Veronica.

“What, has it been a few months?”

“I bet you’re thrilled to see me, Colonel?”

Veronica grinned, shouldering her shotgun. The person behind her gasped in horror at the gun being pointed backward.

That person is definitely…

I let out a deep sigh and nodded my head.

“It’s tearfully delightful.”

She wasn’t alone.

Clerics from the Cult clad in priestly garb emerged from the tunnel. Leading dozens of clerics, Veronica scanned the interior of the cavern and clicked her tongue.

“Is that old hag still not cleaning her own sewer? How come so many strange things are coiled up in here?”

Veronica’s gaze landed on everyone.

The lunging Muspels, the escaping demon and necromancer, and finally me with a drawn pistol and the fallen Lucia.

“…Tsk.”

Veronica lightly clicked her tongue before gripping the shotgun resting on her shoulder.

“And so…”

Then, checking the shells inside, she said:

“Who’s been messing with my little sister?”

 

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