Ch.290Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

Veronica’s words were too sudden.

Words spoken plainly in a calm tone. They seemed somewhat unreal because of that.

But Veronica’s eyes were serious, and her lips were tightly closed. In that moment, I instinctively sensed it.

That what she had just said contained not even a hint of falsehood.

“What happened?”

“……”

After exhaling a long stream of smoke, Veronica clicked her tongue bitterly and began to speak.

Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

The incident began with Lucia’s impulsive action.

“When reports came in about the appearance of an evil entity presumed to be a demon, I vaguely anticipated that Lucia might do something reckless.”

The sudden appearance of undead, the disappearance of hundreds of residents, wounds that wouldn’t heal despite clerics’ healing arts and continued to decay.

Upon encountering this series of evidence, Lucia sensed that a demon had appeared here. And through documents in Archbishop Theodosius’s office, she confirmed that the demon had taken residence in the body of a monk named “Romain Cheire,” who had been baptized with the name “Agato.”

“They say ominous premonitions always come true.”

The moment she saw the Archbishop’s letter delivered to the Vatican, Veronica had a vague idea of what Lucia might do.

“She would definitely go after the demon. Alone if necessary. Somehow, I just knew she would do that. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Lucia took me, who was deeply involved in the series of events, to exorcise the demon.

She detected the presence of the demon using talismans, the bones of St. Balthasar, and a map that was one of the sacred relics. Though things went awry in the middle and we fell into a trap, Lucia somehow survived and cleverly subdued the demon, performing an exorcism.

Due to interference, the exorcism ultimately failed, but thanks to Veronica who arrived with reinforcements, we were able to corner the demon.

All the demon’s minions summoned from hell returned to the underworld. The necromancer, presumed to be the mastermind behind the plot, had his soul devoured by the demon.

The demon, having recovered from the wounds inflicted by Veronica, tried desperately to escape, but its movements were sealed when Lucia, whose mind was clouded by a curse, threw Brother Agato’s staff-sword, which pierced through both the demon and the necromancer’s corpse.

What happened afterward is a story everyone knows.

“The underground waterway collapsed, and everything was buried under a mountain of rubble. The residents’ bodies, Muspel’s corpse, the mummified body of the necromancer, and the demon possessing Brother Agato.”

“…That’s right.”

“When I was being carried by the Major, I thought I might end up buried in that backwater place in the prime of my life—but we managed to escape by running for our lives. My sister knows what happened after that, right?”

Her wavy purple hair swayed gently. Francesca nodded and answered.

“The ground around the utility tunnel completely collapsed. Even rescue teams couldn’t enter due to the risk of further collapse, resulting in casualties and countless people losing their homes.”

“That’s right,” Veronica muttered, taking another drag from her cigar.

“To be honest, at the time I thought that was the end of it.”

Tons of rubble had come crashing down.

No matter how powerful a demon might be, the body it possessed was still human. It needed external nutrients and could be damaged by impact. Even a demon that could withstand a bullet to the head would struggle to survive being crushed under massive boulders.

Even the High Priest, who had been hunting demons for centuries, once sealed a demon by rolling boulders from a cliff, so Veronica didn’t believe the demon buried under the rubble could still be alive.

She was wrong.

“Major, do you remember when I checked your condition at the cathedral yesterday?”

“Yes, I remember. You said there was some kind of prayer cast on my body.”

“That’s right. A prayer of protection. Lucia cast it.”

Leaning back on the sofa, Veronica crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

“While checking your condition, I sensed that the demon’s energy still remained in your wound. Normally, all traces left by a demon on earth disappear when the demon returns to hell. This does take time, but…”

Veronica tilted her head with a sigh. Her furrowed brow suggested she found the matter troublesome.

“But when I met you today and checked again, your condition hadn’t improved at all.”

“My condition hasn’t improved…?”

“To be precise, the demon’s energy was still faintly present in your wound.”

She added that if the demon had died as expected, the energy should have completely disappeared by now.

“Of course, your condition has improved dramatically compared to before. Though I don’t know what happened to you last night.”

“……”

I had a pretty good idea what she was referring to, but I decided to keep quiet. Sinking into the sofa, Veronica continued her explanation with a serious expression.

“It’s true that the energy has weakened and your condition has improved, but the demon’s energy hasn’t completely disappeared as I expected. Similarly, I confirmed that energy still remains in the bodies of the other inquisitors besides you. There’s only one thing this situation could mean.”

“…The demon is still alive.”

The saint nodded.

“Yes. It means that creature is still alive.”

It was a declaration of firm resolve that left no room for even a glimmer of hope.

It was an assumption I didn’t want to imagine, and one I had never bothered to consider, but now I had to accept it.

That the demon was still alive.

At that moment, Francesca, who had been listening attentively to our conversation, spoke up.

“Do you have any idea where the demon might be?”

“Roughly? Probably still buried under the rubble.”

“……”

“Anyway! Now that we’ve confirmed the demon is alive, we can’t just sit around doing nothing. Once bitten is enough, don’t you think?”

Veronica, who had been sprawled on the sofa, got up and dusted herself off. After patting her backside as if shaking off dust, she tossed her half-smoked cigar into the ashtray.

Then, with a somewhat refreshed expression, she casually continued.

“So now we need to prepare too.”

At least that’s how it appeared on the surface.

“Follow me. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying for the time being.”

*

From the moment the demon’s survival was confirmed, we began preparing for the eventual confrontation with the creature.

But before that, there was one crucial matter to address.

“The demon is buried underground now, but as long as it’s alive, there are almost no safe places in the north.”

As long as that creature roams free, safety can’t be guaranteed anywhere in the north. Considering that flocks of ominous crows had once followed me around, neither hotels nor Francesca’s office could be considered safe.

“Then where is safe?”

“Apart from rifts emitting magic so dense even demons avoid them, or the bodies of archdukes, the cathedral is essentially our only option. You can consider this the safest place in the region.”

Still, St. Basilius Cathedral, where I was currently staying, was one of the most reliable and comfortable places to stay in the north.

A sacred place with a thousand years of history.

A building established on the birthplace of St. Basilius, who slew a demon.

The saint’s remains were enshrined in the cathedral’s crypt. There was also holy water said to have been drawn from rock split by the Magi.

The cathedral housed not only clergy and monks but also inquisitors and holy knights, and even two saints—when throughout the church’s history, there had never been more than one living at the same time.

This level of security went beyond a safe house; it was practically a fortress.

“So it’s best for you to stay here for now, Major, since you’ve directly encountered the demon. Of course, the same goes for my sister and the hero, your companions.”

“…I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. As a mage, I don’t need to stay here.”

“I’m worried about you, sis! Don’t refuse and just stay put, you little brat!”

“……”

Veronica requested that all of us stay at the cathedral for the time being.

Francesca, who belonged to the Magic Tower, was visibly reluctant to stay at the cathedral, but was forcibly assigned a room after being caught by the self-proclaimed “big sister” Veronica.

While the saint was persuading the alchemist, I went to find Camilla and explained the situation, omitting the demon part and simply stating there were security concerns.

I didn’t tell Camilla the truth because of Veronica’s request.

“The hero isn’t directly connected to the demon yet. My sister is already deeply involved whether she likes it or not because she’s the head of the Magic Tower, but the hero isn’t.”

“You mean there’s no need to involve her unnecessarily?”

“Exactly. Well, unless the hero herself volunteers to help catch the demon.”

Whether it was because she was a saint or because she truly had confidence, Veronica seemed to believe that the cathedral’s personnel alone would be sufficient to vanquish the demon.

It wasn’t baseless bravado.

She was a clergywoman who had sent two demons back to hell. If she lacked skill, it would be mere bravado and recklessness, but Veronica was far more adept at destroying demons than the still inexperienced Lucia. With sufficient skill came abundant confidence.

Of course, Veronica wouldn’t be the only one going after the demon.

Both Francesca and I were already involved in this matter, and Lucia was someone whom even Veronica herself vouched for as “a child with more talent for grand exorcism than me,” so we all needed to go after the demon.

Clap. Clap. Veronica drew our attention with her applause and looked at Francesca and me with a smile.

“Now then, Major, you should prepare to go after the demon with our sisters. Do you have any weapons?”

“I have a pistol authorized by the Imperial Ministry of Defense.”

“Good. Do you have it with you now? Ah, then let me see it.”

I handed over the pistol from my inner pocket. Veronica admired the gun, which fit her hand better than a revolver, examining it from various angles.

What on earth is she planning to do with that? I couldn’t hide my puzzlement as I questioned her.

“So, what exactly are you planning to do with that?”

“…Huh?”

“You must have a plan if you asked for it.”

“Ah, don’t worry. I have everything figured out.”

Veronica grinned.

A mischievous, wicked smile. Pearly white teeth gleamed between her red lips.

“It’s hard to explain in words, but you’ll see soon enough.”

“…?”

*

The kitchen of St. Basilius Cathedral.

Urgent footsteps approached.

Bang! The door was violently flung open. The middle-aged priest who entered first didn’t even have time to straighten his disheveled vestments before frantically looking around and raising his voice.

“Saint Veronica! What on earth are you doing?!”

Veronica, standing in the kitchen, smiled brightly.

“Grab him.”

“Yes, Saint.”

The holy knight who received the order seized the middle-aged priest. While the knight subdued the struggling priest, other priests streamed into the kitchen. Holy knights summoned by the saint reluctantly captured all of them.

The priests thrashed about like live fish thrown onto the floor.

“Saint! Saint! You mustn’t do this!”

“Please! Please stop this!”

“Come to your senses. This is wrong no matter how you look at it!”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.”

Veronica dug her pinky finger into her ear, then stood before the cauldron with an expression that seemed to say, “What’s all this barking about?”

A blazing fire and a massive iron cauldron.

Inside was a large amount of boiling water.

“I don’t see why everyone’s making such a fuss…”

“Fire! Fire! Put out the fire! Now!”

“Oh, just wait a moment, brother!”

Standing before the fire, Veronica dropped something into the boiling water. From a distance, it might have looked like food ingredients, but up close, one could see that what was being plunged into the water was certainly not food.

A silver rosary crucifix, a large ceremonial cross, a cast iron bell, and more.

Each was a sacred object treasured by the cathedral. Veronica continuously threw these sacred items into the water that was boiling like a furnace.

And then,

“Gasp…!”

The middle-aged priest clutched his heart.

Desperate pleas from the priests echoed through the room.

“Stop! Please stop!”

“You mustn’t do this! Please reconsider before boiling that, Saint!”

Veronica opened a box placed in the kitchen.

A snow-white wrist bone. A bone contained in an elegant wooden box.

The relic of St. Balthasar.

The saint threw the sacred relic, which had been strictly preserved in the church’s vault, into the boiling water.

“Nooooo!!”

While the priests wailed and twisted their limbs as if witnessing the gates of hell opening, Veronica stirred the cauldron with a ladle.

Occasionally, when St. Balthasar’s bone tried to climb up the cauldron wall to escape, she would tap it back into the water with her ladle. Then she would press it firmly to the bottom of the cauldron with the ladle to prevent it from climbing up again.

A cauldron of boiling sacred objects and relics.

Holding the ladle, Veronica smiled with satisfaction.

“With all these things thrown into the holy water, the effect should be extraordinary. With holy water this potent, we won’t even need to bless your gun, Major. I think the demon will be sent straight back to hell the moment this is splashed on it!”

“……”

I closed my eyes as I watched the saint boil the remains of a dead saint.

“…She’s insane.”

No matter how I looked at it, Veronica didn’t seem quite right in the head.