episode_0067

Monday dawn.

Our adorable Pisces was dreaming of her scoundrel of an owner.

‘…Pisces..! I was wrong all this time. I didn’t realize there was no woman like you, my number one minion.’

‘Hehehe..! No, this isn’t right. It’s too late to “regret” it now. Owner-nim will now go through “devastation” and then… become “obsessed” with me!’

The Pisces in the dream wasn’t her usual cute minion, but a charming femme fatale from a ‘regret-ruin-obsession’ story.

Yet, somehow she was clumsy… That’s what kind of person she was. Her “hehehe” laugh, and calling him “Owner-nim.”

What kind of femme fatale in the world would say such a thing?

‘Then there’s no choice… I’ll have to go back to Rosalie-nim.’

‘..???!!! Noooo..!!!!! Don’t goooo!!!’

With Ras’s back quickly turning and leaving with a sad expression, Pisces thrashed and fell out of bed.

“Whimpering…. It was a dream… Thank goodness… Such a relief.”

The last moment in the dream, where Ras scurried away, was so horrible that Pisces exhaled a sigh of relief that it wasn’t reality.

“I shouldn’t play push-and-pull. Ugh… That ‘push-and-pull strategy’ or whatever, it was suspicious from the start. No…! In my opinion, Marisa, that woman, is very, very suspicious. That foolish seagull had no sense of danger at all.”

Marisa, the friend she had made for the first time on Saturday, was surprisingly kind and gentle despite her high combat power, by Pisces’s standards.

But being kind and gentle doesn’t mean a woman isn’t dangerous.

‘Rosalie… that Unnie treats me so well right now. I like it, but… anyway, Marisa has a hidden deviousness about her. No!!! Girls like Marisa are far more threatening than Rosalie Unnie who openly makes advances.’

Marisa said she would “help” and “advise” Irha and Pisces in their romance, but the quick-witted Pisces didn’t take this at face value.

Unlike the naive, foolish Irha who just chuckled happily when told she would be helped, Pisces was completely sharp!

And Pisces’s intuition and shrewdness were closer to an accurate and cool-headed analysis of the situation.

“Hehe… Still, it’s nice to dream of Owner-nim. My Owner-nim is very handsome too… Hehe… Shall I sleep a little more? Monday is usually a day for sleeping in anyway.”

Pisces, a freelancer who was neither a student nor an office worker, wiped away her cold sweat and tried to go back to sleep.

But then…

“Uh… huh…? What is this… What in the…?”

A chilling, searing pain, as if her entire body was being torn apart by sharp blades.

Terror, nausea, dizziness, as if facing death itself…

This was Pisces’s physiological reaction when a high-ranking demon, a being that awakens obedience and fear deeply ingrained in the half-demon Pisces’s genes, was nearby.

“A demon. And a really strong one is nearby…?? I’ll die. Pisces will be caught and killed. Or dragged away… What should I do? I have to run. No… Ras…”

Pisces was trembling as if in a panic-induced chill, but fortunately, unlike in the past, she had a trustworthy owner in the world.

[…Demon here. Save me. I’m so scared. There’s a high-ranking demon near the house… Ras… please come quickly.]

Pisces completely abandoned her usual cleverness, even forgetting her beloved “Owner-nim” title, and ramblingly asked for help like a child who had seen a ghost.

Fortunately, her incredibly strong owner quickly responded to her urgent plea for help.

[Don’t worry. I’ll go straight there, just wait a bit. I’ll make sure it leaves the vicinity of your house.]

[Okay…]

Pisces huddled in the furthest corner of her house, trembling violently.

Perhaps due to fear, she couldn’t use any of the clever dark magic she usually wielded so well.

*

The two demons, Antikrea and Haimon, who had entered Delphie City, were devising a plan.

“Rosalie or Low Kick, where’s the fastest place to find that woman?”

“I don’t know. You should use that shrewd head of yours to figure it out.”

Just as it had been since Azurda, a proper conversation never materialized between Antikrea and Haimon.

‘Ugh… That thing… It’s really not even a handful anymore. I’d just…! Ugh. I’ll let it go…’

Demons are generally intelligent, just as they are powerful in magic.

But demons are also the epitome of ‘Our child is smart but doesn’t study.’

As beings with extremely strong bodies, powerful demons often disliked using their brains in a fight.

Therefore, most of those who were good at thinking were weak by demon standards. Like Antikrea, until recently…

While those like Kardmos, who were strong and cunning, were praised for their brilliance, those like Antikrea of the past, who were weak and cunning, were looked down upon as merely shrewd. That was the ecosystem of Azurda.

“Hoo… I’m angry. For now, it’s highly likely that Deurosa has collapsed, but we should also consider the possibility that the academy folks are prepared. Or maybe we split up, you cause a ruckus outside while I infiltrate…”

“Rejected. Wouldn’t the ability you gained be better for causing a troublesome widespread ruckus? I’m better suited for infiltrating without a trace, knocking out a woman, and bringing her back, you idiot.”

‘That actual…!’

But uncharacteristically for the foolish Haimon, his reasoning was very sound.

Haimon, aside from his bulky physique, was a warrior type specialized in one-on-one combat, while Antikrea, aside from her small stature, was a Spiritcaller much more capable of wide-area, multi-target engagements.

Moreover, after Antikrea gained power in Maugen Dorf Forest, her total power increased enormously, making her excellent at causing a ruckus and drawing attention loudly.

“I’m not sure if Rosalie Berhart will be holed up in the school, or if she’ll come out to deal with the ruckus you cause. You remember her appearance clearly, right?”

“Of course. His Majesty personally pounded her ‘image’ into my head. You! Don’t even think about treating her like a gentleman just because she’s pretty and has big breasts. Make sure you knock her out properly and bring her here!”

Haimon merely chuckled at the nervous little girl’s words.

Of course, Haimon was a lecher, and Rosalie’s beauty would surely rank at the top even in Azurda, which was filled with beauties.

But such things would not make him complacent or neglect his mission.

“Are you jealous? Don’t worry. I’m not such a scoundrel as to covet a woman His Majesty has his eyes on. It’s funny how a tiny thing gets so irritable.”

“What? Jealous?! Hey, these days in Azurda, small and cute girls like me are more popular, okay? I’m better than her, okay?”

Antikrea flared up and retorted wildly at Haimon’s accurate remark, but Haimon merely shrugged and ignored the pathetic sight.

‘Seriously… just wait until this mission is over..! I’ll torment you ten times over for everything you’ve done. You nasty bastard!’

At any rate, completing Kardmos’s orders came first.

The two bickered a little more and then split up, heading to their respective positions.

Haimon to the academy, and Antikrea to cause a ruckus in the middle of Delphie City.

*

After concluding that there was no need to divide into search parties and pursuit teams, a combined assault force set out for search and pursuit.

‘Magic communication devices are likely to be of little use. Isera couldn’t contact us either. So, how about leaving more defensive troops at the academy and having one team move swiftly?’

This was the result of our clever Rosalie-nim’s excellent suggestion.

The fact that demons could jam magic communication devices within a certain range was not widely known in this era.

While the exact principle wasn’t known, it was understood to be based on the demons’ innate control over mana and spatial manipulation.

Thus, when demons openly began to engulf their surroundings with their heavy, thick mana, delicate tools like magic communication devices would not function properly.

They didn’t know this from the start, but learned such techniques around the time Azurda and Sephiroth’s all-out war began in earnest.

So… at this point in 998, there was no talk of demons using such tactics even on the battlefields at the border.

Not only in 998, but even in the early stages of the Great War, just after the new millennium when I was first conscripted and dragged away, such methods hadn’t spread.

Therefore, I couldn’t help but suspect the regression of Demon King Kardmos or a powerful high-ranking demon even more.

If Kardmos was a regressor who returned with his memories perfectly preserved, just like me, it wouldn’t be strange at all for him to use ‘future’ techniques or principles from their perspective.

Professor Isera being completely isolated and cut off from external contact in Maugen Dorf Forest, and the TAs being unable to make contact until they escaped the forest… I realized there was a reason for all of it.

Anyway, for that reason, Rosalie-nim was diligently running beside me, matching my pace.

She radiated a uniquely intimate atmosphere towards me, maintaining a significantly closer distance than the other team members.

“Hehe… Ras. Teacher-nim didn’t say that because I wanted to be with Ras, but… it’s good to be together anyway. I feel more at ease too, somehow?”

“Me too. Don’t worry, Teacher-nim. Whatever comes, I’ll knock it all down if I’m with you.”

“Hehe. I thought Ras was just cute, but I wonder if you know how much I sometimes get a little fluttery when you act like this~”

Her innocently giggling demeanor was quite lovely, despite the urgent situation.

The woman I had come to love, our health teacher, and the ‘Saintess’ of the Heavenly God Cult in my past life.

In the not-so-distant future, Rosalie-nim would become the Saintess of the Cult and be directly deployed on a mission to cut off the Demon King’s head in Azurda proper.

And in the final stage of that mission, she ultimately died alongside the Demon King.

Since I regressed, preventing such a catastrophe was one of my major goals… And the current situation was likely one where the ‘future Demon King’ was targeting Rosalie-nim.

I had to solve personal problems like Rodrigo and Leon, while somehow also dealing with the Azurda situation.

Perhaps seeing my worried gaze, Rosalie-nim began to gently reassure me, a hint of worry in her expression.

“Ras. Don’t worry too much. And don’t try to overdo it. Even if I look like this, I’m actually very strong.”

While it seemed she was conversing casually with me, Rosalie-nim seemed to be delicately sensing her surroundings.

It was then, as I was about to open my mana sense and begin serious detection.

[…Demonhere.Saveme.I’mso scared.There’s ahigh-rankingdemon near thehouse…Ras…pleasecomequickly.]

Pisces sent a terrified message.

The child was so scared that she even forgot the “Owner-nim” title, which she had playfully made a habit of using recently.

This creature was a half-demon by origin and had always suffered threats to her life, treated as less than livestock in Azurda, so she was pathologically afraid of demons.

She once told me that it was a fear and helplessness imprinted in her blood, like prey animals fearing predators.

Anyway, a prey animal’s survival instinct was truly powerful, so she could always detect a demon if it was nearby, even if it was suppressing its power.

Given that the magic communication device could still be used, it seemed the demon hadn’t fully unleashed its power yet.

[Don’t worry.I’llgo straightthere,justwaitabit.I’llmake sureitleavesthevicinityofyourhouse.]

[Okay…]

I sent her a reply as quickly as possible, and fortunately, she replied immediately.

“Teacher-nim. Pisces sent a message. It seems there’s a demon very close to Pisces’s house. It doesn’t seem to have fully used its power yet, but…”

“Oh my…! Pisces-nim said she had quite an excellent talent for sensing, didn’t she? Heavens… We need to go quickly before it causes a ruckus there. To think it already entered Delphie before city control was properly established…”

“I think it would be better for Teacher-nim to lead the entire team. After all, you have the most credibility.”

Rosalie-nim briefly nodded at my words, then immediately began to command the team members.

“Everyone, follow me. It seems a demon has already entered the city center. It’s faint, but it’s been detected.”

All the members of the operations team, who had been running at a moderate pace while also searching, began to move in perfect unison under Rosalie-nim’s command.

Rosalie-nim’s full-speed running was much faster than I expected.

Wait, minion. Your leader is coming to save you quickly!

*

“Heh. So, shall we start causing a ruckus in earnest? It’s my first time using my full power, but if someone teaches me so well like this…”

Antikrea stood in the wide square in the middle of Delphie City, eyes closed, murmuring to herself.

She had just finished preparing to cast a large-scale spell that would properly draw attention.

Beside her were translucent beings visible only to her, ghosts who were both her friends and loyal subordinates.

New ghosts born from a mixture of various vengeful spirits, ghosts whose very existence was mighty, growing stronger by devouring other spirits… Beings whose very natures were all different.

However, one thing was certain: all of them followed the beautiful and capable Antikrea and pledged their loyalty to her.

Ghosts were beings desperate for communication and tangible sensation, which is why they fanatically followed a powerful Spiritcaller who could fulfill these needs.

‘Turn this place into a forest, that cursed blood-stained forest.’

‘Rampage. Roots, trunks, branches… A river of blood into the hateful empire founded by the Great Founding Emperor!’

‘Take root, grow, and cause a ruckus. Let’s erase and destroy everything. If [we] are together, there’s nothing in the world we can’t destroy.’

Leaving the chilling whispers of the ghosts behind, Antikrea cast the largest spell she had ever attempted since becoming a Spiritcaller.

“Antikrea Original – ‘Forest of Ghosts’…. Opening…!!!”

With a voice befitting a ‘ta-da’ sound effect, Delphie’s central grand plaza began to transform into a forest similar to Maugen Dorf Forest, but with a much more grotesque feel.

“Argh…!! What is this…!! Transparent things are grabbing my body!!!”

“Help me…!! The branches! The roots..! They’re wrapping around my body!!”

And at the same time, a dozen unlucky passers-by from the early morning became living sacrifices offered to the forest and transformed into nourishment for Antikrea’s magic.

Along with trees that instantly grew thick and tall, something in the shape of Maugen Dorf Forest monsters filled her surroundings…

And then…

“Nature for nature, city for city. Isn’t this too anti-city magic? Have some respect for the city.”

“Hehe. Ras-gun’s words are rough, but it’s a good posture for establishing dominance.”

“First-years! Don’t rush forward without thinking, fall back. It’s important to scout and understand the opponent first.”

A group of noisy, insignificant-looking humans appeared before her.

A seemingly arrogant but quite handsome young man, an annoyingly pretty young woman, a good-looking man chuckling deviously behind them, an old man, a middle-aged man, a middle-aged woman, and…

Antikrea slowly turned her head, searching for the human her master had commanded her to bring.

“Hmm… Rosalie… Rosalie Berha…rt? Oh my. There you were?”

“Do you know me?”

“….. You’ll find out in time. Anyway, shall we really have some fun?”

With Antikrea’s impish grin, having finally spotted her target, the battle in the heart of Delphie City began.