Ch.271Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

The ground splits open.

Stone structures that had withstood the test of time begin to crumble. Some bricks rise up, while others sink down.

It’s like watching a stormy sea.

Literally, the earth is convulsing.

-RUMBLE!

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

In the cavern where starlight has fallen, amid the chaotic mixture of screams and noise.

The whisper of a demon, full of mirth, begins to be heard.

“O Star, sing of your wrath.”

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

“Bestow calamity with your destructive rage, and send the souls of the foolish to the underworld to become food for the hounds.”

Bound to the altar in the center of the cavern, with blackened eyes and jaws, it smiled.

The demon snickered as it watched the falling starlight. Between the rising and sinking bricks, withered, skeletal hands suddenly shot up.

The things that emerged from the ground had human appearances, but they were not human. They had small black horns on their heads, grotesquely twisted legs, and fingers sharper than eagle talons.

A small scream escaped Lucia’s lips as she witnessed the sight.

“Muspel…!”

The demon lying on the floor grinned at the cleric who had bitten her lip tightly.

Then he quietly raised his head, stared at the pouring starlight, and muttered.

“As your plan is being fulfilled…”

In the underground where not even moonlight shines. In that place filled with screams and monstrous howls.

“Break down the lofty gates of heaven, and save us.”

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

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician in History

While beating down the demon, suddenly the ground collapsed and monsters appeared.

Those creatures surged up from the ground.

-KIEEEEEK!

Deep brown skin with a reddish aura. Sharp claws and a pair of horns protruding from their heads.

Their severely hunched backs and skin clinging to bone reminded one of small, frail elderly people or patients.

But their jaws, wide enough to swallow a human head whole and crunch it, and their voices filled with hatred and rage that seemed to boil from within, were certainly not those of the weak and elderly.

In fact, they weren’t even human.

“What the hell are these things?”

I turned to Lucia in shock.

“Muspel. Soldiers of hell that appear in mythology. In short, they’re the demon’s minions.”

“…Demons?”

“Not demons. Unlike demons who possess intelligence, they’re more like puppets dancing in the demon’s grasp.”

Lucia slightly turned her head to look at the demon. The demon who had possessed the monk’s body was still staring at the sky with a grin.

Lucia’s gaze, which had been glaring at the demon with sunken eyes, turned back to the front. The creatures called ‘Muspel’ were surrounding us, cutting through the darkness.

“Gargoyles, Muspel, Leviathan… all the armies of hell follow the commands of demons. Judging by its ability to summon Muspel, it’s not a low-ranking devil.”

“So this bastard did it?”

I pointed at the demon pinned beneath us.

Lucia nodded.

“It appears so, given the circumstances.”

“How serious is the situation?”

“Well, if those Muspel have truly risen from hell to this land, it will be a difficult battle. But from what I can see…”

Just as she was about to continue.

“…AAAAARGH…!!”

A scream filled with agony shook the cavern. The direction it came from was behind the surging monsters. In this place where there should be no one besides us, a human I had never seen before appeared.

Or rather, something that was not quite human.

“Urghhhh…!”

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

Her legs were bent backward and twisted, and her exposed legs had turned a deep brown with a reddish aura, shriveling up.

Her fingers were so sharp that every time she struggled, they left deep scratches on the stone bricks.

A grotesque appearance, as if half human and half Muspel monster. The middle-aged woman had transformed into something that was human yet not human.

Screaming in agony and rolling on the floor, she spotted us and reached out her hand. And she pleaded.

“P-please… s-save me…!”

-KYAAAAK!!

-KIEEEEEK!!

The Muspel rushed toward her. Not just the ones emerging from around us, but also those that had been breaking through the bricks to approach us.

The monsters surrounded the person in an instant.

“KYAAAAAAAK…!”

A terrible scream echoed but was buried under the monstrous howls.

The surrounding monsters rushed at the middle-aged woman, and she was instantly sucked into a sea of monsters and disappeared.

It was no different from watching someone being swept away by a flood.

The desperate hand that had been extended for help was dragged into a churning sea of flesh along with her screams. The woman disappeared without even being able to utter her final cry amid the howls that shook the cavern.

I was left speechless by the scene that unfolded in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, I could understand the situation unfolding before my eyes.

“…Those things. Could they be human?”

“They were.”

Lucia made a small sign of the cross. Her calm explanation followed.

“There are three ways for hell’s monsters to rise to the surface. One is for a high-ranking demon to open a path and directly summon them to this land. Another is to offer sacrifices to summon the monsters of hell. And what you’re seeing now is the appearance of summoned monsters.”

“……”

“I expected they weren’t common hybrids from hell, but it seems the demon isn’t that high-ranking after all.”

Muttering this while looking at the demon, Lucia slowly got up. Then she picked up the thick Bible that had fallen to the floor.

“It seems we can no longer proceed with the exorcism.”

And swinging the Bible with holy power, she struck a Muspel that was approaching. The monster was hit in the head with the Bible and floated up into the air.

As the flying Muspel hit the floor, covered in dust and rolling around due to gravity.

The holy woman of the Order, who had struck down the monster from hell, adjusted her grip on the thick Bible and said.

“From now on, we must focus only on survival.”

*

A battle broke out in the undulating cavern. A horned monster charged with its sharp teeth bared.

“Watch out!”

At my warning, Lucia lowered her stance and avoided the attack.

The monster that had lunged to bite her snapped at empty air. After dodging the monster’s attack, Lucia grabbed its nape and forcibly stood it up.

-THWACK!

The thick Bible slammed into the Muspel’s temple.

Having been hit in a vital spot with a weighty object, the Muspel staggered greatly, and Lucia grabbed it and threw it away.

-CRASH!

Lucia dealt with all the monsters that charged at her.

She punched them in the face, kicked them in the abdomen, and also struck their heads with heavy and sturdy tools like the Bible and watering can.

I shouted a warning to Lucia as she fought the Muspel.

“Monsters coming from 9 o’clock!”

“Leave it to me!”

Lucia caught a monster charging in from her left. She grabbed the arm of the creature trying to claw at her and firmly planted her feet on the ground.

She used the momentum of the monster that had run from a distance.

Like a batter swinging at a baseball, she grabbed the Muspel’s arm and spun in place, swinging it to the right. The bat was the Muspel’s arm. The ball was the Muspel’s body.

The result was a home run.

-KYAAAK!?

The flying Muspel collided with other charging Muspel.

They tumbled like bowling pins and rolled on the floor, and the Muspel that followed tripped over the suddenly created obstacles and fell with a crash.

You know how in cycling races like the Tour de France, when one rider falls, everyone else falls in succession? That’s exactly what was happening with these Muspel.

I suddenly recalled the Tour de France I had watched in Europe.

A colleague from the intelligence agency who had bet with European intelligence officers in a bar lost 100 euros due to an accident in that day’s race.

It seems like just yesterday I was sipping beer with other intelligence officers, laughing at him as he raged. But that was already 35 years ago.

“What sin did I commit in my past life…”

I cursed as I dodged a Muspel flying through the air.

“To end up in this mess!”

The flying Muspel slammed its head into the stone floor. The horn on its head snapped off with a crack, and a scream of pain echoed loudly.

I picked up the fallen horn and drove it into the neck of the struggling creature. The monster, which had been thrashing about, went limp like a puppet with cut strings, putting a period to its painful existence.

Lucia, who had thrown a Muspel in my direction, apologized as she kicked another Muspel in the face.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were there!”

“Don’t worry about me! Just focus!”

“Yes!”

Lucia was dealing with the swarming monsters.

Fearing they might free the bound demon or attack me, she jumped into the midst of the monsters and used every means to push them far away so they couldn’t get past her.

Lucia’s martial prowess was as impressive as her strength.

She was holding off the monsters of hell alone, without any tools or help from anyone.

But she couldn’t handle all the monsters.

-KYAAAAK!

A monster crawling on all fours slipped past her side.

Lucia tried to pin it down with her leg to prevent it from moving, but she couldn’t move easily as she had to dodge attacks coming at her.

The Muspel that passed her charged forward, crawling on the ground. I had no choice but to take out my knife to deal with it.

“How dare you!”

The Muspel swung its claws, aiming for my ankle.

I dodged its attack by rolling on the floor, then moved to a position where it couldn’t attack me.

No matter how much of a mythological monster it might be, its original form was human. Due to human anatomy, one cannot attack an enemy behind them.

So what I needed to do was simple.

I grabbed the Muspel’s back and rolled on the floor. I wrapped my arms around the waist and thighs of the creature crawling like a dog, and using my weight, flipped it over like a turtle.

-KYAK!!

The flipped Muspel violently resisted, shaking its entire body.

My forearm, wrapped tightly around its neck to secure it, was torn, and my back was scraped by sharp stone fragments, but this was no time to worry about that.

I placed my knife against the Muspel’s Adam’s apple and slashed from left to right. Black blood gushed out, spurting from the severed artery in rhythm with the heartbeat.

But I couldn’t stop there. I quickly severed its neck, then thrust the blade into its temple to destroy its brain completely.

Only after feeling the distinct sensation of the skull being shattered through the handle could I push away the creature’s body and get up.

“Hehe.”

A mocking voice clearly came from the side. The demon, with its limbs bound to the altar, was looking at me with a smile in its eyes.

“You commit murder as if killing insects. How peculiar. The flesh is unremarkable, but the soul within is hidden as if by fog, impossible to see. Quite fascinating for a mere monkey.”

“Shut your mouth…”

I got up, supporting myself on the floor. My body must be in terrible shape because the sky is spinning.

Above me, starlight is pouring down, and in front of me, Lucia is kicking a monster and sending it flying into the wall. As I picked up the knife that had fallen to the floor, Lucia, who was punching a monster she had tucked under her arm, said to me.

“Are you alright!”

“Yes, I’m still kicking.”

“That’s good. Please hold on a little longer!”

The monster tucked under her arm rolled on the floor. Lucia kicked the face of the Muspel that couldn’t regain its senses.

With a thud! The monster hit by the front of her shoe slammed the back of its head into the ground. Though not killed, its limbs twitched slightly, and its chest rose and fell repeatedly.

Now that I looked, Lucia wasn’t killing the Muspel. She was only throwing them far away or beating and kicking them to incapacitate them. She wasn’t killing them by breaking their necks or shattering their spines.

She was thoroughly buying time and neutralizing the monsters without killing them.

The demon lying on the floor snickered at Lucia, who was neutralizing the monsters.

“Young cleric. You still think of them as human. No matter how hard you try, do you think that liar will answer your prayers?”

“……”

Lucia didn’t respond to the mocking question. She simply continued to throw away the once-human monsters one by one.

I had to deal with the Muspel that evaded her and came charging at me.

I severed their necks one by one with my knife.

I stabbed them in the neck with my knife, shot them dead with my gun. I broke their joints, grabbed what little hair they had left, forcefully bent their heads back, then pressed the gun muzzle against the back of their heads and pulled the trigger.

Lucia, who had kicked a Muspel’s leg and thrown it at other Muspel, glanced at me as I was killing the Muspel.

I met her gaze as I kicked away a Muspel with a hole in the back of its head.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Lucia turned her head and added.

“Please continue to focus on surviving. That’s all you should be thinking about right now.”

“I’m already doing that. But…”

I muttered, looking at the swarming monsters.

“Aren’t there too many of them?”

The number of Muspel was enormous. At least dozens. Maybe over a hundred.

Even though Lucia wasn’t killing the Muspel, their numbers showed no sign of decreasing. No, they seemed to have increased significantly from before. That’s because these vermin kept emerging from underground.

-KYAAAAK!!

-KIEEEEEK!!

The Muspel clawed through stone bricks and dirt, crawling up from below. They kept emerging endlessly, like disturbing a beehive.

After throwing away the nearest monsters to create distance, Lucia stood beside me. She was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

“There are quite a lot of them…”

“‘Quite’…?”

At that moment, the demon’s cackling voice hit my eardrums.

“How foolish. Young cleric. Do you think you can defeat them and see the rising sun again?”

“……”

“No. You will die here today. This underground, this night, will witness your end.”

The demon laughed like a madman, his body twitching. I looked at him with an incredulous expression and asked Lucia.

“Why is this loser talking so big? He’s tied up in rags and can’t do anything, yet his mouth is the only thing that works.”

“Because he’s bound. A demon cannot break the holy bonds by itself.”

“Is that really so?”

The demon lying on the floor said with a smirk. Then he began to exert force on his limbs.

Crack! Crack! The sound of cloth stretching and breaking came from the bonds. The demon was trying to break free from the bonds restraining his limbs. Is he trying to tear them apart with brute force?

Watching this, Lucia quickly sprinkled holy water from the watering can onto his limbs.

Smoke rose from the demon’s body, and a tremendous scream erupted.

“AAAAARGH…!!”

After subduing the demon with holy water, Lucia prepared for battle, watching the Muspel surrounding us. Having witnessed the demon’s inability to use its power, the monsters of hell hesitated to approach, unlike before.

“You fucking bitch! I will tear your limbs to shreds and throw them to the wild dogs and eagles as food!!”

Curses poured out toward Lucia. But she paid no attention and sprinkled holy water once more.

The demon, hit by the holy water, twisted his limbs and went berserk. Clumps of dark red blood also poured from his mouth.

I glanced at Lucia while looking at the demon spitting blood.

“Is that the demon’s blood?”

“No. That blood comes from Brother Agato’s body.”

“You’re saying it’s not the demon’s blood?”

“Yes. No matter how much of a demon it is, once it possesses a human body, it cannot escape the fundamental limitations of that human body.”

Lucia said, brushing off blood from the Bible.

“Even if a demon possesses a body, the possessed is still human. Meaning they need to eat, sleep, and rest. So it’s not strange that he’s spitting blood after receiving physical attacks and undergoing an exorcism. In fact, there are numerous reported cases of the possessed dying during exorcisms.”

Lucia compared the demon to water and the possessed’s body to a glass bottle. No matter how water changes its form according to its container, it’s still the glass bottle that holds the water. The moment the glass bottle, vulnerable to external impacts and temperature changes, breaks, the demon can no longer dwell within the possessed’s body.

That’s why demons always hide within the possessed’s body, waiting for an opportunity. Eating, sleeping, resting, working, taking care of the body as usual. Trying not to reveal themselves.

Because that way, exorcist priests won’t come looking for them.

I nodded and replaced the magazine in my gun.

“I see. That was a very interesting story…”

Suddenly, the conversation stopped.

“…?”

I halted all actions, including changing the magazine, and Lucia turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why did you suddenly stop?”

“…The possessed.”

“Pardon?”

“The possessed is human, and no matter how strong the demon is, it can’t overcome the fundamental limitations of humans… Glass bottles are sensitive to external impacts and temperature changes… Demons take care of the bodies they inhabit…”

“…Major?”

Lucia called out to me, but I didn’t answer. All my attention and gaze were directed at the demon lying on the floor, spitting blood.

“The possessed is still human. They need to eat, sleep, rest, work…”

Brother Agato, the possessed, is a combat priest of the Order. He was a deacon who assisted exorcist priests and also served as a guard, both a cleric and a monk.

But he disappeared in the Moritani continent 20 years ago while on a mission with an exorcist priest, and now he has appeared in the northern part of the Kiyen Empire.

The period of activity was at least a few months ago.

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

For reference, the northern part of the Kiyen Empire is under martial law. This means it’s an area that even imperial citizens and civil servants cannot easily enter or leave.

Yet this creature crossed from the Moritani continent to here, entered the north, and operated in the north for months without ever being caught by the imperial intelligence agencies or the Order’s Inquisition.

And the north is a very barren place.

Despite support from the imperial government and the Order, civilians in shelters and refuges die from cold and starvation in this region.

But.

“How has this bastard survived until now?”

“……”

I turned to Lucia.

She was looking at me silently with a tense expression.

The answer came.

Not from her lips, but from the demon’s.

“…You’ve figured it out? You’re quite a clever monkey.”

The demon grins.

“But it’s too late.”

WHOOSH!

An enormous wind blows down from above. Flying stone fragments and fine dust sting my eyes. With difficulty, I raised my head to check above, then grabbed Lucia and threw myself sideways.

-BOOM!!

The shockwave makes my body jolt.

Holding Lucia, I pressed my body tightly to the floor to protect her.

Thud! Thud! Fragments and stone pieces hit my body. I felt as if the back of my head was being torn by a rather heavy, sharp stone fragment.

People, objects, and bricks scatter in all directions. The bucket and watering can containing holy water are thrown to the floor, and the cloth wrapped around Lucia’s fist flutters as if pushed by the wind.

Flip-flip-flip! The pages of the Bible turned wildly in the wind. Lucia quickly pressed them down with her hand to protect them, but when she saw blood drops on the back of her hand, she hastily raised her head.

And she looked at me with wide eyes.

“You’re bleeding from your head…!”

“……”

I grabbed her hand as she tried to brush my hair up. Then, after waiting for the wind to subside, I slowly turned my head.

A massive pupil.

In that place where monsters that had risen from hell by parasitizing human bodies and a demon that had stolen a monk’s body lay.

In that place dimly lit only by fallen starlight.

A magician in a black robe,

Was looking at us.

Lucia’s eyes widened as she recognized him.

“…A necromancer!”

The named one slightly raised his head.

Due to the deeply pulled-down robe and the dark surroundings, his face wasn’t visible, but one thing was certain: he was male.

He looked at us, scanned the scattered holy items around, then approached the bound demon.

And.

-RIP!

He tore apart the holy bonds restraining the demon’s limbs with his hands.

-RIP! RIIIP!

Finely shredded purple bonds fell to the floor. The torn bonds blackened as if burned and turned to ash, scattering into the air.

Freed from his restraints, the demon staggered to his feet, and the necromancer unhesitatingly put the demon’s arm around his neck and shoulders to support him.

Seeing this, Lucia let out a scream.

“N-No!”

Lucia jumped up to stop the necromancer.

But he was faster.

As the necromancer extended his hand, a green magic circle was drawn in the air. The edges of the magic circle rippled, and the magic began to move as mana flowed through the circuit.

Eventually, in the blink of an eye, when the magic was completed.

Lucia, who had been running forward, suddenly collapsed to the ground.

I staggered forward and caught her as she fell. She had seemed fine, albeit tired, but now she was pale and covered in cold sweat.

“A curse…”

“Indeed, your skill is considerable, but you lack awareness. Experience too.”

A snickering sound filled the cavern. The demon mocked the fallen Lucia.

“Your prayers do not reach heaven. As always.”

“……”

The demon chuckled and turned his head.

The necromancer supported him and turned around, and simultaneously, the monsters baring their teeth slowly tightened their encirclement.

I laid Lucia on the floor. I took holy water from a glass bottle that hadn’t broken in the chaos and poured it into her mouth. If holy water can harm a demon, it should quickly break a curse. Even if it takes some time.

I roughly calculated the number of magazines in my pocket, forcefully pulled back the slide to complete the loading, and gripped my knife firmly.

Then I aimed at the necromancer who was moving away among the approaching monsters.

At that moment,

“……”

The retreating necromancer turned around and looked in this direction.

As if that was a signal, the monsters that had been approaching slowly increased their speed, and I applied pressure to my finger.

*

-BANG!!

A heavy gunshot echoes through the cavern.

A sudden gunshot. Just before firing, I hastily removed my finger from the trigger.

But the gunshots didn’t stop.

-BANG!! BANG!!

Two gunshots echo. A much heavier sound than any pistol could make.

As the gunshots rang out, the heads of the charging Muspel exploded.

The ownerless bodies collapsed and rolled on the floor, and the shattered flesh pieces splattered on the faces of the monsters following behind.

The firing was so sudden.

Even I who was about to shoot, the necromancer who was trying to leave, and the charging monsters. Everyone stopped and stood in place.

It was then.

The sound of empty cartridges rolling on the floor was heard from afar.

Due to the acoustic properties of the place where even small sounds echoed loudly, the sound of falling cartridges was as loud as thunder.

The direction of the sound was from behind.

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

“I didn’t want to come to this backwater even as a child.”

-Step.

“I don’t know what fate I have, but at my age, I’ve come all the way to the north.”

-Step.

“I came because I sensed Lucia’s holiness. But do I have to do such menial work at this point in my career?”

“Please maintain your dignity…”

“Shut up for a bit. Coming to a backwater I didn’t want to visit and crawling through sewers—how can I not curse, Brother?”

Vulgar curses and footsteps are heard from a hole next to the cavern.

Hearing that voice, I lowered the gun I was holding and let out a deep sigh.

“Oh?”

The owner of the voice emerged from the tunnel.

“I came to grab this brat by the hair because I heard she caused trouble, but I didn’t expect you to be here, Major?”

Flowing black hair like silk.

A teardrop mark at the corner of her eye.

Tall stature and an appearance that anyone would recognize as aristocratic. And a manner of speaking that anyone would recognize as common.

Lucia’s former superior and my informant.

Current Holy Woman.

“It’s been a while, Saint Veronica.”

It was Veronica.

“How many months has it been?”

“Fucking glad to see me, aren’t you, Major?”

Veronica grinned as she slung the shotgun over her shoulder. The person behind her panicked as the muzzle pointed backward.

This person, really…

I let out a deep sigh and nodded.

“I’m tearfully glad to see you.”

She wasn’t alone.

Clerics of the Order wearing cassocks emerged from the tunnel. Leading dozens of clerics, Veronica slowly looked around the interior of the cavern and clicked her tongue.

“Does that senile old woman not even clean the sewers of her own territory? All sorts of strange things are gathering here.”

Veronica’s gaze fell on everyone.

The charging Muspel, the demon and necromancer trying to escape, and me with my gun drawn and the fallen Lucia.

“…Tsk.”

Veronica lightly clicked her tongue and took the shotgun slung over her shoulder in her hand.

“So.”

And checking the shotgun shells inside, she said this.

“Who’s been bullying my little sister?”