Ch.135The Demon Realm. (2)

I had a dream.

Majestic marble columns rising high. Statues symbolizing Aether, the goddess of light, and Holy Knights aligned in perfect rows and columns.

In the dream, Livga was among them.

Perhaps it was due to the exhaustion from prolonged administrative duties.

It seemed I had dozed off for a moment.

Footsteps could be heard from somewhere. A soft crunching sound, like someone walking on snow.

…Sister?

At the end of the temple stood a woman with flowing white hair. Though I could only see her back, Livga was certain the woman was Olivia.

Livga approached, reaching out her hand. Just as she was about to grasp Olivia’s shoulder, a cold breeze brushed past her neck.

“…!”

Livga opened her eyes wide and lifted her head. Only then did she realize she had been slumped over her desk.

A strong wind was blowing in through the window. That must have been what woke her up.

“Oh my…”

Lately, Olivia had been appearing in her dreams frequently.

Was it because she missed her?

Livga rubbed her face and sorted the papers scattered across her desk. Surprisingly, she was wearing armor typical of Holy Knights rather than priestly robes.

It was uncomfortable, but given the circumstances, she had no choice.

“You’re awake?”

“Ah… yes. Did you get any rest, Lady Jayna?”

Jayna, who had just entered the room, stretched and shook her head weakly. She had rarely been this busy in her entire life.

Of course, studying under Olivia had been the most challenging time… but this was difficult in its own way.

Livga cautiously broke the silence.

“Did I sleep for long?”

“No? You probably slept for about thirty minutes at most.”

“Where is Aramis?”

“He just switched shifts with me.”

“Why did you come here instead of going straight to the break room?”

Jayna patted the sofa.

“There are only men there, so it’s much more comfortable here.”

“Ah…”

“Well, I’m also serving as the Saintess’s guard. Though I’m not sure how much help I’d be…”

Jayna clicked her tongue as she sat on the sofa. Outside the window, Holy Knights were rushing about busily. It seemed another demon had appeared somewhere.

Since they hadn’t been specifically called, it probably wasn’t a particularly strong one.

Despite having attained the position of Grandmaster, the world was still far too vast. This was already the third time this year she had nearly died surrounded by high-ranking demons.

They say you see as much as you know?

Before, she had only vaguely thought of Olivia as strong, but now that she was a Grandmaster herself, it was different.

‘Thinking I could defeat her was insane.’

She was constantly realizing how absurd it was to have reached [Truth].

And what a fortunate connection it had been to have Olivia as her master.

Looking back, it wasn’t all hardship back then. Her skills improved rapidly, and she could focus solely on magic without knowing anything else.

Of course, Glacia dismissed this as mere nostalgia.

But now it was different. Just maintaining the front lines against the endless stream of demons was overwhelming.

It was fortunate that the passage connecting to the demon realm had appeared in the nearly uninhabited north; had it appeared elsewhere, at least tens of millions would have died.

Jayna let out a faint sigh.

If only Master were here…

It had already been five years since Olivia disappeared.

They didn’t know why she vanished or where she went.

“Damn it, here you are. Come out quickly!”

Someone burst in.

It was Glacia. While Jayna had grown into a complete woman, Glacia had barely grown as much as an ant’s fingernail.

Glacia herself explained it was because of her dragon race, but somehow it lacked credibility.

Of course, just because her appearance hadn’t changed didn’t mean the amount of magical power she possessed remained the same. Her aura had become incomparably sharper than before.

Jayna, startled, said:

“…I just switched shifts?”

“I don’t care about that, just look at the sky.”

CRACK!

At the sound of something breaking, Jayna hurriedly turned her gaze to the window.

The sky was splitting open, creating a massive rift.

Monsters were pouring down like rain through the crack.

“…Insane.”

“It’s an emergency, so hurry up and get out. And Saintess… please come quickly too. The others are waiting.”

*****

She had actually visited the demon realm quite a few times before. When she first attempted the non-lethal ending, she had gone there several times under the pretext of research.

That’s why she could roughly guess where she was now.

Sulfur bubbling everywhere, and a massive volcano continuously spewing lava.

‘…The south?’

If it was the south, it would be the domain ruled by the Great Demon Baphomet. Baphomet out of nowhere? Olivia frowned at this unexpected situation.

‘Baphomet brought me here?’

That couldn’t be. Although the Returners were injured, it would be impossible for Baphomet alone to bring her to the demon realm.

To begin with, creating a passage connected to the demon realm wasn’t something that could be done easily.

‘It’s probably either Agares or Asmodeus.’

It was much more likely to be Asmodeus.

She was the only Great Demon who could gain an advantage against three battered Returners. Of course, there was a possibility that several Great Demons had appeared simultaneously, but if that were the case, they wouldn’t have left her abandoned like this.

At the very least, they would have bound her entire body with thick chains to control her magical power.

[Using ‘Magic Detection’.]

Nothing detected nearby.

She spread her magic to see if anyone was around, but there was no result.

“…”

Why did she feel that the current situation was better than being kidnapped by the Returners?

Just looking at her physical condition, surprisingly, she was uninjured.

…Could it be that real demons are actually more humane?

Olivia shook her head, trying to deny it. Surely that couldn’t be the case.

‘I don’t know why they left me alone, but…’

As Olivia took a short breath, she sensed something approaching.

Thud thud thud thud…!

The ground trembled beneath her feet. Monsters were rushing toward her, tearing up the earth’s surface, spewing language that couldn’t be expressed by human vocal cords, and spreading a disgusting stench in all directions.

Olivia clenched her palm and then released it.

A chilling cold arose and shot toward the targets, piercing through the monsters like lightning. Body fluids splattered everywhere but froze before they could even touch the ground.

The monsters were completely shredded. They were torn into thousands of pieces, making it impossible to tell what they originally looked like.

But despite that, they were still alive.

The flesh continued to writhe for a while before seeping into the ground as if being absorbed.

Olivia frowned.

‘…I need to get out of here quickly.’

As time passed, more monsters would gather. They could detect even the faintest trace of magical power. And then they would swarm like flies attracted to excrement.

Just as Olivia was about to complete the spatial transfer magic circle, the ground where the flesh had seeped in suddenly collapsed.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A demon with bright red eyes was there. It was a demon with the elegant form of a woman. She had a figure that would make it difficult for any man, or even a woman, to look away.

…As expected. I thought someone was watching.

But Olivia just glared at the demon with cold eyes.

The ruler of the northern demon realm, Asmodeus.

As expected, coming to the demon realm was all her doing.

Asmodeus approached Olivia, swaying her hips. She came close enough to touch and then observed Olivia carefully from bottom to top.

“Hmm… why haven’t you awakened yet…?”

Her voice carried a hint of bewilderment.

“Asmodeus, Duke of the North, second in the demon realm hierarchy.”

At those words, Asmodeus slowly raised her head to meet Olivia’s eyes. Her eyes narrowed at the fact that Olivia knew not only her true name but also her position and rank.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Was it you who brought me here?”

“I wonder. Despite being a Great Demon, if I had brought you here, would I have left such a tempting soul unattended?”

Asmodeus glanced at the horizon as she answered. In the distance, monsters were approaching like a swarm of flies.

“You must have had no choice but to leave me alone.”

“…Are you trying to test me right now?”

“Perhaps.”

Asmodeus frowned.

“I see now that despite your appearance, your tongue is quite sharp. Just like us. How about it? I’ll create a position for you if you’re willing to come over to our side.”

“But I’m human?”

“A human stronger than most Great Demons.”

“What rank?”

“I’ll give you the title of Duke of the East.”

Olivia laughed coldly.

“Not that useless thing.”

Only Great Demons could create passages from the demon realm to the human world.

And Asmodeus was the strongest among such Great Demons.

That was why Olivia had engaged Asmodeus in conversation.

She needed to persuade her somehow to return to the human world.

And gather information while she was at it.

Olivia whispered:

“You were honestly surprised, weren’t you? That I woke up instead of the Demon God.”

At Olivia’s direct statement, a ripple appeared in Asmodeus’s eyes.

“…You. You’re a much more remarkable human than I thought…?”

When she went back to the past timeline, she confirmed that there were remnants of the Demon God within “Olivia’s” body.

Then it was certain that the Demon God must also be dwelling within this body now.

Of course, it sounded like a terrifying situation just by hearing about it, but Olivia had something to rely on.

[Prevention of Consciousness Erasure]

– Your consciousness will not disappear under any circumstances.

As long as she didn’t lose consciousness, she wouldn’t lose control of her body.

Eventually, the Demon God would give up on taking this body and choose to descend upon the continent in the year 1000 of the Imperial Calendar as originally planned.

“That’s right. It’s been five years, so I naturally thought the Demon God had awakened.”

This time, Olivia’s brow furrowed.

“…Wait. How many years?”

“Five years.”

Asmodeus said.

Olivia couldn’t close her mouth.