Chapter 99: The King of Demons (4)
The place where Satan’s demons gathered was an abandoned village with few people, southwest of the mansion where Aster met Bart. It was the innermost place among the places designated by Bart.
This place still retains traces of the long-ago war against monsters.
Many residents were killed and evacuated due to the monsters that attacked the village, and even after that, it was still considered a dangerous area, so imperial citizens were not allowed to go to the ghost village.
Unlike the imperial demons, Satan’s demons did not need a proper living facility because they could simply gather together while avoiding human eyes.
It took advantage of the psychology of the opponent who thought that the demons of the empire would gather in a proper mansion, and so far, it had worked well.
Of course, it is not an appropriate place to stay that long, and of course the same goes for the hostages.
“… … I’m embarrassed.”
Runia was trapped in a room, muttering in frustration. On both hands were restraints in the form of bracelets that prevented the use of magic.
This restraint is tightly fitted around the opponent’s wrist and cannot be released by one’s own strength.
Of course, it might be true that pure physical strength without the use of mana or aurors exceeds the strength of this bracelet, but that is an absurd assumption for Runia.
Still, since the bracelets are not connected to each other like handcuffs, Runia’s limbs are free, except that she cannot use magic.
For something the devils did, it was decent treatment. Runia tried kicking the locked door as a test, but it was no use. The entire room was under a strengthening spell.
‘I locked myself inside this shabby abandoned house and did everything I needed to do.’
She was literally experiencing the worst feeling since entering Constel.
A sudden attack by demons on Constel.
The others coped somehow, but Runia was not in a good situation. Above all, compatibility is an issue.
The more people are influenced by Frondier, the more they resemble Frondier’s habit of trying to solve problems on their own.
Regardless of whether that is a good thing, most of those who want to follow the frontier also practice to prepare for all-weather situations.
That was a separate issue from the training or classes held at Constel.
‘If I’m the only one here, doesn’t that mean I’m the only one taken hostage?’
Unlike them, Runia is not particularly interested in Frondier, and rather, the person she is interested in is Aster.
As Aster grows as a swordsman, Runia grows as a wizard.
Even though they are the same wizard, unlike Aten, who compensates for her lack of physical ability by expanding her realm of ice, and Elodie, who can generate sufficient power with quick and simple magic, Runia is just an extremely ‘pure wizard.’
The higher the level of competency as a magician, the more essential it is to have a frontline guard who can block from the front, in the case of Runia.
The demons took aim at a situation where the students they targeted at Constell were separated, so Runia was at the greatest disadvantage.
Of course, from the perspective of Runia, the person involved, such words would not be convincing.
“Oh, I’m embarrassed. It’s embarrassing! “All the other kids did well, but I’m the only one who’s like this!”
Runia walked around the room and made noises. Every time, the old floor made a creaking sound.
“hey! Quiet!”
The demon watching Runia outside the room shouted. Runia glanced at the demon through the small crack in the door.
“Give me water!”
“… … her?”
“Ask for water! “Because I’m thirsty!”
It’s been a long time since Runia was tied up here.
Of course, that does not mean that Runia is suffering from hunger or thirst. I didn’t eat, but I wasn’t hungry yet, and the demons gave me water when the time came.
Runia drank the water provided by the demons without any hesitation. Of course, it’s not because I’m careless, but because I have thoughts that are close to certainty.
“You b*tch, don’t you know the situation you’re in?”
The devil’s murderous eyes flashed.
Runia’s answer didn’t even last a moment.
“Sweet! “Just give me some water!”
It was a threat that didn’t work on her.
‘I’m the only hostage anyway. I wouldn’t know if several people were captured, but if I was the only one captured by putting that many people in front of me, I can’t treat precious hostages carelessly.’
Moreover, from what Runia observed, these demons don’t know much about humans. How different you are from them, how much water you should drink, whether you eat the same food, and whether you are vulnerable to illness or fatigue. This is evidence that it has only been a while since they met a human.
Satan’s demons will lose their only negotiation material if Runia makes a mistake.
The operation to kidnap Constel had already gone far beyond their expectations, and they had suffered heavy losses. As a result, I have no choice but to treat Runia with respect.
So Runia’s choice now is simple.
Save up as much stamina as possible. I still have no idea what they are trying to do with me, but if I can’t use my strength when an important situation arises, then there really is no excuse.
“water!! hurry!!!”
“Ah, I got it! “Humans drink water like hippopotamuses.”
Soon, the devil in front of the door throws a water bottle into the room through a small gap. Runia accepted the water bottle.
Of course, there is no such thing as thirst.
‘Even if you can’t use mana, there are things a wizard can do.’
Runia first turned her back and drank some water. The devil can look this way at any time, and the blind spot in his field of vision is too narrow.
First, make sure the water bottle is not visible to your body, and then drink water little by little. Water that is gently picked up by the hand flows down as it is, making almost no sound when it reaches the ground.
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Sometimes you can hear the sound of water drops, but since Runia is drinking water right now, there is nothing strange.
Drip, drip, once enough water flows on the floor, Runia closes the water bottle and sets it down next to the door.
Even if that devil could look around inside, he wouldn’t be able to see the water bottle right under the door.
In the water bottle that the devil carelessly handed over, there was still water that Runia did not drink.
Jump and jump.
Runia is walking around nervously, just like she did before.
Annoyed, depressed, embarrassed, etc. I don’t care what the devil says and just complain to myself.
The water on her shoes is erased by her voice, and is sucked deep into the ground, and when Runia hits the ground with the heel of her shoe, it gets even deeper.
‘… … With this, the pillar is complete.’
Runia is currently carving her mark.
She was born with a natural talent for mana manipulation. If you can perform more detailed manipulations than others, you can perform more complex and difficult spells, and you are naturally relatively free from magic of higher difficulty than others.
In other words, in terms of ability to complete spells and magic, the progress is much faster than others.
In particular, this ability goes well with magic circles. Even if the magic circle is drawn somewhat incorrectly or the symbols are omitted, as long as it is perfectly in Runia’s mind, Runia can activate it while ‘correcting’ the magic circle.
‘What is dropped is a dot, what is drawn is a line, and what is struck is a symbol.’
Right now, there is still no mana, and there are countless barely visible marks on the floor. Now it’s just covered in meaningless traces.
However, in her footprints that seemed to wander aimlessly, she had already carved a magic circle.
A magic circle that can be activated if you have even a handful of mana.
None of the lines, dots, or symbols are correct, and Runia has never operated a magic circle this messed up before.
The composition and assortment of the magic circle have already been prepared.
‘Everyone has grown tremendously in that short period of time.’
And above all,
‘There’s nothing I can’t do.’
Her self-esteem was greatly damaged.
* * *
When Aster arrived at the abandoned village where Runia was captured.
“… … Right.”
As soon as he arrived, Aster was strongly convinced. It wasn’t just Aster. All my colleagues thought the same thing.
There are Satan’s demons here somewhere. Runia is captured.
“There are these guys somewhere in this lung.”
“Maybe you don’t have to stay in just one house. “This place has been abandoned for a long time, so very few people know the composition of the village.”
It may be an abandoned house, but a village is a village. It has its own scope.
“I wish we could get to Selena before she knows we’re here.”
Aster looked around as he spoke. This was to check for easy intrusion routes.
Selena similarly narrowed her eyes slightly and looked out at the entire village.
And before Aster could say anything,
“Then I will go first.”
“huh? “Are you okay?”
“yes. I have good eyesight. “I have good sensitivity.”
It’s not just that she’s good, but in fact, Selena’s senses were the best among Frondier’s colleagues before she gained her ‘sixth sense’.
Even now, it is unrivaled number one when it comes to the five senses. You can even feel the weight of a single needle.
Selena grew up as an assassin to learn and grow. Aster simply cannot match this type of experience.
“Then let me ask you a favor.”
Aster knows this, so he willingly entrusts the job to Selena.
Aster and Frontier are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to trust.
I tend to believe when I can, and I tend to doubt when I can. That creates a fundamental difference in the methods of the two.
Even after they become like each other, Aster moves with others and Frondier moves alone, ultimately resulting in an uncontrollable difference in their personalities.
Selena went in first. I decided to give a signal when the time was right.
Meanwhile, Aster and the others held their breath and checked the situation once again.
“Frondier defeated the leader of the demons here, so the demons here must have noticed this change.”
“You may not know exactly what the situation is.”
Probably the only information that the devils know right now are ‘Marco does not return by the designated time’ and ‘Marco cannot be contacted’.
It’s definitely an unstable situation from their perspective, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do anything about Runia. Perhaps someone went to see Marco at the place where he was supposed to meet Frontier.
“The devils’ plan had more loopholes than I thought.”
Elodie said.
If you look at it like this now, you’re relying on Marco for almost everything. As it was, it was he who wanted to kidnap Aten, and it was Marco’s job to negotiate with Frontier and bring him back.
“Hmm, maybe in theory there wouldn’t be a loophole?”
But Cybel tilted her head and said so.
“huh? why?”
“Because there would be no way in hell that a devil named Marco would have the idea of ‘no contact’.”
Tilting her head at those words, Elodie realized.
“… … yes. “Because he was an immortal demon.”
Aten nods his head in agreement.
“I don’t know if he was truly immortal, but he had amazing regenerative abilities. Even though I wasn’t sure that Marco would be stronger than Mr. Frondier, I would have believed that he would contact me right away if something went wrong. Since he has no hesitation in cutting off his own body, it is difficult to restrain him. Even if you are arrested, you can still convey some information as long as you specify a magical trigger.”
Marco regenerates even if his head is blown off or cut into pieces.
Demons that don’t die usually don’t faint.
Marco is actually more insensitive to pain than others. I’ve probably never fainted in real life. So, I don’t even make such preparations.
“… … “I didn’t ask because no one would know, and I didn’t ask because I was afraid to ask.”
Aster, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.
“Frondier, what did you do to that devil?”
“… … .”
“… … .”
Of course, everyone was silent as there was no way they could have known.