Ch.26Chapter 26. The First Demon Hero, Spear-wielder Salomei

“Let’s go smoothly according to the plan, damn it!”

Rabin patted Lin’s back as she left the guild house.

The plan was simple.

To frame Rabin, the Mercenary Guild and Commerce Guild had hidden magical beasts in the city’s black market.

They had also given money to a poor beggar to transform him into a black market merchant who would deal with Rabin.

They would expose that Rabin had tried to bring in magical beasts by dealing with demons to take over Valtercrois.

That was their plan.

To counter it, Lucy and Lin would secure the magical beast and the black market merchant, and during the meeting, Rabin would shout first, “You’re the ones colluding with demons!”

Then, amid the confusion, Information Officer Adora would hide letters in the same format as the Demon Knight invitation Rabin had received in each guild master’s possession, and pretend to discover them.

Lucy and Lin would then reappear, show the magical beast, and deliver the final blow with the testimony of the black market merchant (the beggar).

Very simple and effective.

If it works, that is.

“Stop acting friendly with Lin!”

“And you stop overreacting over nothing and ruining everything!”

See, Lucy and Rabin were already at odds.

It was a vicious cycle—Lucy endlessly jealous, and Rabin fueling it by being friendly with Lin.

“Sigh…”

Leaving the two of them behind, Adora handed a map to Lin, who was sighing.

“Here’s the black market, and this marked spot is the cage where the magical beast is kept.”

“What type of magical beast?”

“Canine type, looks like a mix between a wolf and a hyena.”

“Is it a mutant?”

“Yes, but not a unique one.”

The reason canine magical beasts were tricky was that once they evolved beyond the mutant stage to unique, they immediately gained the skill “Pack Summoning.”

In other words, one howl could exponentially increase their numbers.

If this pack summoning skill were activated inside the city, it could cause numerous innocent casualties.

But since it wasn’t unique, that wasn’t an issue.

“Tch, the information officer gets to be part of the operation while I’m just on lookout duty.”

When Jiyol grumbled, Rabin personally consoled him.

“Can’t be helped. No one monitors the checkpoints as meticulously as you do, Jiyol. Those damn bastards might bring in outside forces for support at any time.”

“I know, I know.”

“When this is over, I’ll treat you big time.”

“Of course you should! We’re taking down the head of Valtercrois!”

“Absolutely! I’ll prepare a feast that’ll make the table legs bend!”

Surprisingly, they got along well.

Jiyol was assigned to monitor the city’s outer checkpoints for any incoming external support forces.

It was an important but boring position that he didn’t want, but Rabin had her reasons for asking him.

It was Jiyol who had caught the crow flying through Valtercrois’s sky the night before.

The letter instructing to find the hero’s weakness and kill him if possible had been read by Rabin, Lin, and Lucy.

“Damn, what are we going to do?”

Lin’s mind was racing.

At the same time, the dice of luck was rolling.

“Rabin, who are the Imperial and Shield Knight’s pawns in this city? The biggest ones, I mean.”

Who the pawns were and how many—all of this was game-based luck.

Just like how Lucy’s Demon Knight rival was random.

“The biggest ones…”

The previously cheerful Rabin sighed with difficulty.

“It’s the other two of the triumvirate, excluding me.”

Well, we’re screwed.

Usually, it would be one of the triumvirate or someone lower-ranked, but the worst possible outcome had been drawn.

Lin had never been lucky with gacha anyway.

As he squeezed his eyes shut, Lucy called to him softly.

“Lin.”

“What is it, Lucy?”

“I… I’d like to kill them all, but if you want to spare them, I’ll follow your lead.”

After hesitating, Lucy added:

“I’ll absolutely follow whatever you say, Lin.”

“I’ll follow whatever Lee says too.”

Everyone was waiting for Lin’s decision.

But Lin didn’t need to think about it.

“Let’s capture them, extract information, then kill them. And if they try anything funny, kill them immediately.”

The standard approach would be to make accusations about demon connections, prove it, and then kill them, but Lin thought it best to prepare for all scenarios.

One of those scenarios was that the pawns might actually be dealing with demons behind the scenes.

In the worst case, a Demon Knight might appear during the battle with the pawns.

“Alright, so capture them if possible, use them, then cleanly take their heads?”

The conclusion was reached and guidelines set.

Cracking her neck, Rabin turned around with a relaxed smile.

“Let’s go, everyone.”

Hundreds of Thieves Guild members followed behind her.

“Yes, Captain!”

—

Sadly, Lin’s decision to prepare for the worst was very appropriate.

“…Hey.”

“I know.”

Arsil and Tigria, who had received Rainford’s reply through a magpie.

After completing a day’s preparation and about to move to Valtercrois, they had to stop due to an obvious gaze.

“Come out while I’m still talking.”

Arsil casually said while putting on dragon-scale gloves.

White holy power sparked like lightning whenever she clenched her fist.

But only silence returned.

After exchanging glances, the saint showed three fingers to the mage.

One.

The thumb folded.

Two.

Next, the index finger.

And after a deep breath, the middle finger folded.

Three.

“De—!”

Just one syllable.

Tigria had only uttered one syllable.

Originally, she was going to say “Detect” and raise magical power to set the range for her spell.

But the moment she opened her mouth, a blue-skinned demon appeared through the forest trees, thrusting a spear that reached just before Tigria.

“You bastard!”

Arsil quickly kicked the spear away.

The spear, so heavy it barely moved, immediately changed angle and tried to strike Tigria’s abdomen.

“Not there!”

Clang-!

Twisting her body with all her might, Arsil’s fist struck down the spear.

Only then did the spear retreat back to its owner’s shoulder.

“Strange.”

The blue-skinned demon with white side-tailed hair had a naturally languid attitude.

Overall, she had a cute face but was quite tall.

Not as much as Lucy, but she had a decent chest and firm, perky buttocks.

“I thought I could kill you easily.”

“Hey. Are you showing off in front of the saint?”

“Maybe I focused too much on speed? Hmm~.”

Crack

“This bitch…”

Arsil gritted her teeth in anger at being ignored, but the demon didn’t care at all.

Conversely, Tigria couldn’t move due to tension.

Despite yawning and showing openings, she could feel all the demon’s nerves focused on her.

If she made even the slightest wrong move, let alone speaking or casting a spell, a lightning-fast thrust would come like before.

“Yawn~. Since you blocked my attack, you must be the hero’s party?”

“And you’re obviously a demon.”

She hadn’t heard of a demon who could handle a spear this well.

Facing a new formidable enemy, Arsil deliberately kept talking based on her experience.

Her instinct told her to extract as much information as possible since they couldn’t capture her now.

“You’re yawning in front of a hero party’s mage and saint?”

“Hmm~. That mage isn’t moving at all. Maybe I should take out the escort first.”

“Hey, you bitch!”

“Ah~. Bitch, bitch. The illusionist said that people who only curse, and use a limited variety of curses, are among the weakest.”

“What did you say?”

“Yes, according to the illusionist, you must be the weakest. I should quickly deal with you first, then the mage.”

It was strange.

Usually, melee weapon users were warrior types, simple-minded and relatively easy to talk to.

Despite his confusion, Arsil’s cheeks trembled with rage.

Even when living in the sewage alley, she had never been looked down upon like this.

“Ah! Right. The illusionist told me to check what you’d do if we fought, and act accordingly. Let’s see…”

The demon pulled out a paper from her waistband and nodded while reading what was written on it.

“First, introduce yourself… including your name? Ugh, we didn’t even exchange names among ourselves, but I have to tell the enemy my name?”

Despite being full of openings, neither Arsil nor Tigria could move.

It was humiliating, but this spear-wielder would be difficult to handle without Lucy.

“Don’t kill them… don’t even half-cripple them… sigh… so many annoying instructions.”

Crumpling the paper and putting it back in her pocket, the demon waved her hand languidly.

“Hello~? I’m Salermei, the vanguard and spear-wielder in the Demon Knight party.”

“Demon Knight party?”

“Oh, think of it as the demon version of your hero party, if that helps you understand.”

“Demons can’t have heroes!”

“Wow, it’s just a term. You really are stupid.”

“Grr…!”

For reference, the paper from the illusionist had instructed her to provoke the enemy as much as possible.

But Salermei hadn’t made a single intentional provocation.

“Unfortunately, I’m told not to kill you. This time, I need to buy time.”

“Salermei, vanguard of the Demon Knight party! What is your purpose?”

“Purpose? Ah~.”

For the first time, a smile bloomed amid her languidness.

“Our goal is to follow the Demon God’s will, resurrect the Demon King, and destroy the Empire and the Church.”

“What?!”

“And my personal goal is…”

Let’s make this clear.

Unlike before, this was clearly an intentional provocation.

“To bring Lin to my side.”

“Lin? The porter? Why is the porter coming up here?”

But Salermei ignored Arsil again.

“Shh~.”

The spear-wielder raised her index finger toward Tigria and returned to her languid expression.

That alone was enough for the brilliant mage to understand.

That the porter’s existence in this world after the Demon King’s defeat was more significant than expected.

And that Lin had a deep childhood connection with Arsil.

It was just intuition, but Salermei was acting as if she already knew all the facts.

Perhaps the boy Arsil had called cute might be…

“Stop ignoring me, you spear-wielding bitch-!!”

Crackle-!

Arsil, enveloped in holy power, lunged forward.

“You know what?”

But the spear-wielder was somehow hanging upside down in the air like a bat.

“I was originally created as a counterpart to Hero Luciana.”

With similar attributes, Salermei was exactly the rival for Lucy that Lin had wanted.

A perfect warrior lacking nothing in speed, strength, and battlefield judgment.

“So I thought I could meet Lin this time.”

She adjusted her posture.

Salermei flipped her body mid-jump.

She gripped the spear short and raised it above her head.

“But in this world, the illusionist is more suitable. After all, the world-line is fixed, and there’s only this world, neither past nor future.”

So,

“Let me take out some frustration on you?”

Blue eyes gleamed.

Simultaneously, blue magical power flickered like flames on the spear.

Ultimate Skill

“Throwing Spear: Dart The End!”

The spear, carrying destructive power like a blue meteor, was hurled toward the two.

“Concentrated-Hardened-Defense!!!!!!”

Despite the defense spell being cast so quickly it was barely comprehensible, the blue spear tore through the magic like paper.

The spear, merely passing between them, severed and burned the mage’s left leg and the saint’s right arm.

“…Gasp!”

“Severe injury…!”

Salermei, who had already retrieved her spear, raised it again toward the two who had collapsed helplessly.

“What are you doing?”

Lin’s prediction was right.

“Hurry up and heal. Aren’t you a saint? I’ll wait.”

At some point, this world had turned into a game of terrible RNG.