episode_0018

Episode 18

“Hup!”

With a burst of energy, the chain lightly slipped away from the wall as I exerted force. The horns almost sprouted as well, but I managed to block them somehow.

I can’t even express this sensation myself.

“Well then.”

Rumaniel must have gone to stop the Allied Forces. There is a high possibility that the main forces of the Demon Army, called the Three Generals, followed her.

Therefore, the Demon Castle is practically empty. I wanted to join forces with Chris if possible and find a way to escape properly, but if that wasn’t an option, I had to escape from the Demon Realm alone.

I could jump out the window, but guards were visible around the castle gates and elsewhere.

It would be best to delay any knowledge of my escape as much as possible, so it seemed better to refrain from any conspicuous actions.

However, when I cautiously opened the door and went out, I realized it was a mistake.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go, Edward.”

“You…”

The one blocking my path was Rumaniel’s aide, probably named Aisha.

She seemed more like a friend than an aide, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the power to stop me.

“Can’t I just let him go? I don’t want unnecessary fights.”

“No. If I let you go, who knows what Lumie might hear about later.”

I see. There’s no other choice on this end. I had to quickly knock her out and move on.

I stepped forward and closed the distance with Aisha, transforming into a demon to avoid killing her, and threw a punch, being careful not to harm her.

But my fist didn’t reach her; it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

“A barrier?”

“Hmph! You underestimated me!”

As my punch was blocked, I stepped back slightly. I hadn’t felt the activation of magic, but suddenly, it was there. Perhaps they had anticipated my escape before I even left the room.

The passage in front of me was surrounded by barriers. Just in case, I lightly scanned the surroundings and faintly sensed magic.

“Hmm. Impressive, isn’t it? They’ve meticulously set up barriers not only in front and behind but also on the ceiling and floor.”

“…How do you know all this? Is this my secret transparent barrier? How did you figure out what even the Three Generals were deceived by?”

Well, I’m not sure either. In the past, I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but maybe it’s thanks to my enhanced senses as a transformed demon that I vaguely guessed at it.

“Even so, isn’t it a bit too fragile? It may take some time, but with this level of barrier, there’s nothing I can’t break through.”

“Of course, I didn’t think I could stop you with just a barrier. Lumie boasted, or rather explained, that you are very strong even for a man.”

With a snap, Aisha flicked her finger. A magical circle appeared in front of her, which, based on my limited knowledge, seemed like a summoning circle.

“I specially prepared this. Try to escape from this child if you can!”

As the summoning circle glowed, something struck me with the wind splitting. I barely blocked it with my arms, feeling a tingling sensation.

Lowering my arms, I looked at what Aisha had summoned. It was a monster of a peculiar form. At first glance, it resembled a griffin, but its head was that of a lion, and its tail was that of a snake.

The shape of its wings also seemed somewhat different. Was it a mutation?

“Hehe. My masterpiece among masterpieces, the Chimera! When it comes to strength, it’s at a level that even Nephanis can’t match!”

I don’t know what a Chimera is, but just by looking at it, I could sense that it wasn’t an ordinary opponent.

It seemed difficult to defeat it in a short time. Naturally, prolonging the fight was risky.

In other words, there was no choice.

“…”

I steeled myself once again and drove forward, leaping ahead.

As I released what I had been suppressing, my body instantly felt lighter.

Terrifyingly so.

—

“Die! Die, you traitor!”

“I’m telling you to die instead!”

The two swords, brimming with vitality, clashed relentlessly without any quarter given.

The two, whether sisters or not, showed no mercy in their swordplay. The unmatched swords of both sides collided, sparking flames.

However, it wasn’t just the swords sparking flames. Leila and Chris fought incessantly, shouting at each other.

“How could you desire your sister’s husband! Shameless!”

“You always irritated me! I could only grit my teeth in the room while you took everything!”

In terms of skill and experience, Leila was far superior. Even though tired and inexperienced, Chris, who had just begun learning combat, should not have been a match.

Nevertheless, despite these differences, the equal fight was possible due to Chris’s transformation into a demon, enhancing his physical abilities significantly and filling in his deficiencies with overwhelming talent.

“What do you mean I took everything! I just move well!”

“It’s thanks to the miracle named fate! You’re no longer a match for me!”

That wasn’t true. Certainly, Chris surpassed Leila by far in talent, but Leila had accumulated strength crossing over various battlefields.

Furthermore, she had recently reached a new level. If she hadn’t continued the confrontation with Veronika without proper food or rest for days, the outcome would have been decided long ago.

“Ugh!”

“Tch!”

The aftermath of the powerful strikes sent Leila and Chris apart.

Separated, they glared at each other. However, to say that only anger filled their eyes would be a lie.

They were truly enraged to the core. It was a fact, but their shared past as sisters couldn’t be changed no matter what they did.

“…”

“…”

Leila saw Chris move so vigorously for the first time.

Chris now realized how strong Leila was.

It was complicated. The sisters’ emotions were so entangled that they could hardly be expressed in words.

When both sensed they could no longer continue the fight, Chris sheathed his sword first and spoke.

“Go.”

“What?”

“Go. Edward will be waiting on the top floor. But don’t get it twisted. It’s not for you, it’s for Edward. …I’ve already promised to help him.”

Leila, about to say something to Chris, found herself unable to speak as Chris turned away, leaving her speechless.

Even if she had stayed, Leila doubted she could have spoken. Without saying a word, she ran past Chris.

Chris also remained silent, watching his sister’s retreating figure.

The paths of the sisters had diverged irreversibly. They couldn’t return to normal means.

Perhaps.

Truly, perhaps.

Leila and Chris at that moment couldn’t even imagine that their paths might cross again under some circumstance.

—

After carefully pushing the unconscious Aisha against the corridor wall in the aftermath of the barrier’s collapse, I massaged my head.

As expected, two large horns that weren’t there before touched my hand.

Without any excuse, I completely stopped being human. It wasn’t my intention.

“…Can I go back now?”

I thought I was ready to fight, but when it became reality, I hesitated as expected.

Even though I’m just an ordinary human, it’s a big problem. I am even a descendant of the Bell family. I didn’t know how to handle the situation where it was revealed that I had become a demon following Chris.

Chris managed to completely hide his whereabouts, but what should I do? My mind suddenly became incredibly complicated.

Do I have to live hidden for the rest of my life? What about Leila? Will she still love me like before, seeing me transformed like this?

I don’t know.

Maybe it would be better if things didn’t go back to the way they were…

“Edward!”

At that moment, the voice I most wanted to hear but also didn’t want to hear rang out.

My body froze at her voice, unable to move. I don’t know how to face her.

Should I show myself? She must have already seen me. If she called me to kill me without suffering as a demon, what should I do?

She ran towards me, buried under a flood of thoughts that suddenly came to mind, unable to move.

“You’re safe!”

“Huh?”

She hugged me with all her might.

Safe? Me?

What’s going on? Can’t she see?

“Th- Leila. On my head…”

Before I could finish speaking, Leila swiftly turned me around, grabbed my cheeks with both hands, and pulled me towards her.

“Yeah, good! There are no traces of magic on you! You can relax, Edward!”

“That’s fortunate, but are you really not seeing this?”

Thinking she might be pretending not to notice, I finally tapped my horn with my hand to show her, but Leila’s attitude remained unchanged.

“Horn? Why? I expected you to endure all kinds of disgrace since you were captured by demons. I know without you saying that those damn demons tied you to a bed and did unspeakable things. But don’t worry! Even if you get dirtied up, my love for you won’t change!”

Being tied to a bed was the only truth.

“I didn’t! Nothing like that happened!”

“It’s okay, Edward. Whatever happened doesn’t matter. As long as you stay by my side in the end, I…!”

“I said it didn’t happen! The demons or the devil didn’t do anything to me!”

Let’s not mention that I almost made a mistake.

Leila smirked at my desperate protest.

“Really, nothing happened?”

“Yeah!”

“The devil’s spawn? Well, of course, it’s good that you weren’t defiled.”

“It’s not like that… Maybe I should thank you for respecting me. Anyway, we’ll talk later! Escaping is the priority now!”

Knowing it would surely drag on, we decided to leave the demon realm.

Leila and I jumped out through the window. We had already caused a commotion fighting against Aisha’s chimera or whatever it was, and while Leila came to rescue me, there was no reason to hide anymore.

We leaped over the walls and escaped outside the demon castle. Although the demon army chased us, they couldn’t catch up because skilled fighters went after them.

While running to escape the demon realm, I realized that Leila had some misconceptions about me.

“My mother-in-law came alone to save me?!”

“Yeah. She caused a disturbance on purpose to buy time to rescue you.”

“What about the allied forces?”

“…It didn’t work out due to the absence of the Kingdom of Law and the Kingdom of Magic.”

Listening to the explanation, we ran tirelessly and reached a forest at the entrance of the demon realm through the route Leila had sneaked into.

There, we witnessed a fierce battle between my mother-in-law causing a natural disaster and Rumaniel.