Chapter 166: Great Demon (2)

“…Are you really going to help?”

Nana asked repeatedly, as if she couldn’t believe it, but my answer didn’t change.

Not only was this about a friend, but what swordsman would pass up the chance to cut down a greater demon, rarer than even an adult dragon?

While everyone else nodded in agreement, Marina alone raised her voice in protest.

“Wait a moment!! How can Ian handle a greater demon alone?! We should cooperate with the kingdom and…”

“If we do that, they’ll try to kill Euclid before the demon even wakes up.”

Though unintentional, Euclid had been deceiving the king since birth.

If such a criminal was found to harbor an ancient demon, even the most benevolent ruler would have only one verdict.

“If they destroy the vessel, the seed will perish along with its host. Even if the king doesn’t intend to, the other princes and ministers won’t sit idly by.”

The advent of a greater demon is a national crisis more dangerous than an adult dragon attack.

Even if the king was merciful enough to forgive, when the target is a prince, there’s no choice but to eliminate them.

“Think about it. Which would the king prefer: a demon rampaging in Euclid’s body, or us extracting and dealing with the demon ourselves?”

“Urgh…!!”

Realizing she was at an impasse, Marina hung her head dejectedly.

Of course, there was also the option of killing Euclid here to prevent the demon’s advent, but Marina, being an educator, couldn’t choose that path, however clumsily.

“But how will you deal with the demon? Once it manifests, it’ll essentially be holding the prince’s body hostage. We can’t just strike it down.”

“That’s why we need to transfer the seed. Conveniently, we have a perfect body right here.”

I pointed to the puppet that Ganryu had possessed earlier.

That body, still alive as its head hadn’t been destroyed, was arguably the best vessel for a demon.

“Good thing we have this. Otherwise, we might’ve had to go to an orphanage and grab a kid.”

I meant it as a joke, but the others didn’t seem to take it that way, judging by their uneasy expressions.

Truth be told, if we didn’t have this puppet, I might’ve seriously considered bringing someone from an orphanage.

This was something that even my Baldo couldn’t handle without someone else’s sacrifice.

“…When are you going to do it?”

“I’d like to say right now, but… I need some preparation too.”

First, we needed to clean up this situation and get ready.

We could cover up the attack by claiming the test was urgently stopped due to an unexpected rampage of magical beasts in the forest.

“I’ll take care of that part. But where will you deal with the demon…?”

“Can’t we do it here? It’s far from the academy, and it’s a good excuse to stay behind, saying we’re investigating the cause of the magical beasts’ rampage.”

Plus, if we handled it here, we wouldn’t need to move Euclid’s body, which would be less stressful for him… or rather, her.

After settling on this plan, I teleported back to the academy using Marina’s magic to prepare for confronting the demon.

While it seemed like we had some time as it would take a while to evacuate the students from the forest, in reality, time was very tight.

To put it in perspective, Euclid was like a bomb that could go off at any moment.

Not knowing when the demon’s seed might awaken and take over Euclid’s body, I had to finish preparations and return to the forest as quickly as possible.

“…Are you really planning to fight the demon alone?!”

As soon as we returned to the mansion, Jessica, who had been quiet until now, started chattering behind me.

Her voice was laced with undisguised anxiety, evident not only in her tone but also in her trembling hands.

“You don’t have to fight… If it’s demon-related, there’s the temple, and you don’t even need to get involved in the first place.”

“If we do that, Euclid will die.”

And I might lose the achievement of defeating a greater demon to someone else.

To spread the greatness of Baldo techniques, I couldn’t give up this accomplishment.

However, unaware of my deep thoughts, Jessica suddenly grabbed my sleeve and looked up at me with wide eyes.

“You’re not… offering to fight because you saw His Highness Euclid’s true form, are you?”

“Huh?”

Oh, right. Euclid’s original form was incredibly beautiful. Did she think that’s why I was volunteering to fight?

“Jessica, do you think my brain is in my lower body instead of my head?”

“You got another woman just weeks after getting engaged to me! And you’re still living with a woman you’re not even involved with!! Are you saying His Highness’s appearance has nothing to do with this?!”

“……”

It wasn’t that I had nothing to say in response; it just wasn’t worth refuting. I ignored Jessica’s words and continued forward to find Hori.

At first, I went to Hori’s workshop as usual, but unusually, the lights were off today.

Leaving the workshop behind, I returned to the mansion and stood in front of Hori’s room. Without bothering to knock, I kicked the door open and entered.

With a loud bang, the door flew off its hinges, and Hori, who had been lying in bed, reflexively sat up.

“Uh, uhehe…?”

Making a dazed sound as she woke up, Hori looked at me with half-closed eyes, still groggy from sleep.

“I-Ian…?”

“I’m about to go fight a greater demon, so get up quick and bring me some medicine.”

“……”

Though not fully awake, Hori clearly understood the request for medicine. She got out of bed and headed to the cabinet in her room.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but you said you’re fighting a demon, right?! I’ve got just the thing!! A drug that increases overall resistance, including to demonic energy, and one that enhances physical abilities…”

Hori, who was pulling out bundles of medicine from the cabinet, suddenly noticed Jessica standing nearby and stopped mid-sentence.

Recalling how she’d been slapped for giving me drugs before, Hori’s cheek twitched violently. Then Jessica spoke up.

“Miss Hori?”

“Y-yes?!”

“Please prepare a drug with very strong side effects. To knock some sense into this person.”

“…Huh?”

What a wicked wife…

——

After receiving the medicine from Hori, I teleported directly to the forest using Marina’s magic.

Jessica had insisted on coming along out of concern, but I couldn’t bring a delicate noblewoman with her hair in buns to a place where a greater demon was about to manifest.

“…This place has really opened up.”

The forest, which had been densely packed with trees before I left, had been cleared of trees and bushes, transformed into a plain visible from anywhere.

“I thought an open area would be easier to fight in, so I made it like this. Would you have preferred the forest?”

“No, this is fine.”

“That’s a relief. Well then, let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

Led by Marina to the center of the plain, I saw Euclid lying on the right and the puppet, now just an upper body, on the left.

Nana was still holding Euclid’s hand desperately, like a mother watching over her fallen child. When I arrived, she let go with a look of determination in her eyes.

“As you know, Ian, when we transfer this seed to the puppet and it blooms, unlike with a normal human, there won’t be any restraints to hold the demon back. It’ll manifest in its complete form immediately.”

“I know. Once you transfer the seed, please take Euclid and Nana and run immediately, Headmaster.”

“…I don’t know what you’re thinking, trying to fight a fully manifested greater demon alone, but if it gets dangerous, I’ll step in right away.”

Saying this, Marina placed her staff on Euclid’s newly prominent chest.

Immediately, a chill that felt like it would frost over my entire body swept through me, along with demonic energy that seemed capable of engulfing the entire area. It surged towards Marina, but I quickly stepped forward and blocked it with Wolffang.

“Hurry and transfer it!! I can’t hold this back for long!!”

“A-alright!!!”

Marina poured more mana into her staff and uprooted the demon seed that had taken root in Euclid’s chest.

Before the demon seed could struggle, she practically threw it at the puppet. The seed immediately settled into the puppet’s body.

“Run!! Quickly!!!”

As planned, once the demon seed settled in the puppet’s body, Nana rushed to Euclid, hoisted her body onto her back, and ran to Marina.

“Ian! If it seems too much, run away immediately!”

With those final words, Marina activated her teleportation magic, leaving only me and this nameless demon in the vast plain.

“……”

True to its name as a puppet, the body that hadn’t moved an inch without someone else’s will suddenly stood up on its two arms and stared at me with unfocused eyes.

Then, as if its face had been cleanly sliced by a sharp blade, it began to split open. From within, a wicked demonic energy that seemed to embody all the evil in the world gushed forth.

The intense demonic energy erupting from the puppet, dark enough to dye the night sky even blacker, gathered and began to take shape.

As I started injecting the drug while watching the demon manifest, I saw that its form was incredibly grotesque, just as described in novels.

The demon, a head taller than me, had no nose or mouth on its face, just dozens of small eyes, all fixed on me.

It had six arms, like an Asura from Hindu mythology, and despite its extremely muscular appearance, its hands were empty.

“…You’re not that vicious woman. Who are you?”

“I’m the one who’s come to kill you.”