166 – Great Demon (2)
From noble mtl dot com
“… Are you really helping me?”
Nana asked me several times in disbelief, but my answer never changed.
It was a friend’s job, and more than anything, what swordsman in the world would give up the opportunity to slay an archdemon that is rarer than a saintly dragon.
While everyone nodded in agreement with my intention, only one person, Marina, raised her voice and raised her voice.
“Wait a moment!! It’s not just a devil, it’s a great devil. How will Ian deal with it on his own?! This is a collaboration with the kingdom… !!”
“If you do that, the devil will try to kill Euclid before he wakes up.”
Even though it was not his intention, Euclid is a sinner who has been deceiving the king ever since he was born.
But if the sinner had an ancient evil inside him, there was only one sentence that any benevolent monarch would make.
“If you break the body that will become the vessel, the seed will perish along with the host. Even if the king has no intention of doing so, other princes and ministers will not remain silent.”
The descent of the Great Evil is a national crisis more dangerous than an attack by an adult dragon.
Even if the king is so merciful that he intends to forgive, even if the person he must kill is a prince, he has no choice but to kill.
“And think about it. Here, the devil descends on Euclid’s body and runs rampant, and the devil is taken out and dealt with. Which one will the king be more pleased with?”
“Ugh… !!”
Realizing that she had come to a dead end, Marina lowered her head in tears.
Of course, in addition to this, there is also the idea of killing Euclid to prevent the coming of the devil at an early stage, but even if it was clumsy, Marina, her educator, could not choose that path.
“… But what are you going to do with that demon? “When that demon descends, it will be like holding the prince’s body hostage, so he cannot be defeated.”
“So we have to move the seeds. “There’s a body that’s perfect for moving here, right?”
What I was pointing to was the gap that Ganryu had possessed just a moment ago.
It was no exaggeration to say that the living body, whose head had not yet been crushed, was the best vessel for the devil.
“I’m glad. If I didn’t have this, I would have had to go to an orphanage somewhere and rescue an orphan.”
It was said as a joke, but the others seemed to think it was a joke and looked somewhat shocked.
Actually, I’m just kidding. If we didn’t have this, we should have really considered bringing in at least one person from the orphanage.
There was nothing I could do about this unless someone did it for me.
“… So when are you going to do it?”
“I’d like to say right now, but… “I also need some preparation.”
Before that, the first thing to do was to control the situation and complete preparations.
What happened in this forest would be able to hide the fact that we were attacked by saying that the test was urgently halted due to an unexpected runaway of magical beasts.
“I will take care of that. But where does the work of dealing with demons….”
“Can’t we do it here? “It’s quite far away from the academy, and I think it would be good to remain there in the name of investigating the cause of the demon’s runaway.”
Furthermore, if you handle things in this forest, there is no need to move Euclid’s body, so his… No, she would have less strain on her body.
With that in mind, I instantly transferred to the Academy using Marina’s magic to prepare to defeat the demon.
It would take some time to get the students out of the forest, so it seemed like we had time, but in reality, time was very tight.
To use a metaphor, Euclid is like a bomb that may explode at any moment.
Unless we knew when the devil seed would awaken and take over Euclid’s body, we had to get ready as quickly as possible and return to the forest.
“… Are you really planning to fight the devil alone?!”
When she returned to the mansion, Jessica, who had been quiet until now, started chattering behind her.
Her voice was mixed with anxiety that she could not hide, and that anxiety was seeped not only in her voice but also in her shaking hands.
“There’s no need for you to fight…. “If it’s something to do with the devil, there’s a temple and there’s no need for you to go out in the first place.”
“If you do that, Euclid will die.”
And the achievement of defeating the Great Evil may also be taken away by someone else.
I could not give up this achievement even in order to spread the greatness of Baldosul.
However, Jessica, unaware of my deep thoughts, suddenly grabbed my sleeve, raised her eyes, and said to me.
“Maybe… Looking at His Majesty Euclid’s true form, it’s not right to go out to fight, right?”
“Huh?”
Ah, now that I think about it, Euclid’s appearance back to his original form was very beautiful, but do you really think that’s why I’m fighting now?
“Jessica, you think my brain is in the lower part of my body and not in my head?”
“You got married to me a few weeks after getting engaged, right?! And he’s still living with a woman he doesn’t have a relationship with!! Or are you saying that His Majesty’s appearance has nothing to do with this incident?!”
“… ….”
It’s not that I didn’t have anything to refute, but it wasn’t worth refuting, so I ignored Jessica’s words and kept moving forward in search of Hori.
At first, I went to Hori’s workshop as always, but today, unusually, the lights in the workshop were turned off.
After leaving the workshop and returning to the mansion, I stood in front of Hori’s door, kicked it in, and went in without knocking.
Bang!! With the sound of the door being ripped off, Hori’s body, which was lying on the bed, reflexively got up.
“Uh, hehehe… ?”
Hori woke up with a dazed sound and looked at me with half-closed eyes, probably because she had just woken up.
“Hey, Ian… ?”
“I’m going to go fight the Great Evil from now on, so get up quickly and get some medicine.”
“… ….”
Hori wasn’t completely drowsy yet, but he clearly understood that he was told to bring medicine, so he got out of bed and headed to the cupboard in the room.
“I don’t know what it is, but you said you were fighting the devil, right?! Then I have something good for you!! Weak and physical abilities that increase overall resistance, including magical energy… !!”
Hori, who was taking out a bundle of medicine from the cupboard, stopped when he realized Jessica was next to him.
Jessica said while Hori’s cheek was trembling strongly, probably because he remembered the fact that he gave me medicine one day and then got slapped.
“Miss Hori?”
“…… Yes, four?!”
“Please prepare medicine with very strong side effects. “This person needs to come to his senses.”
“…… Yes?”
There is such an evil place in the world….
*****
After receiving the medicine from Hori, I was transported to the forest at once using Marina’s magic.
Jessica was worried and said she would follow her to the forest, but she couldn’t take the fragile bun-haired girl to a place where the great evil would soon descend.
“… “It has turned into something open.”
The forest, which was dense with trees until I left, has lost all trees and bushes, turning into a plain that can be seen from anywhere.
“I made it like this because I thought the open area would be easier to fight in. Was the forest area better?”
“No, this is enough.”
“That’s a good thing. Well then, let’s go. “There isn’t much time.”
In the center of the plain where Marina was taken, Euclid was lying on the right and a puppet with only the upper body remaining was lying on the left.
Nana was desperately holding Euclid’s hand, who had not yet woken up, like a mother protecting her fallen child. When I came, she fell from Euclid’s side with eyes full of determination.
“As you all know, Ian, if you transfer this seed to a puppet and make it bloom, unlike ordinary humans, there are no shackles holding the devil back, so it will descend in its perfect form right away.”
“I know. “If you move the seeds, Dean, please take Euclid and Nana and run away immediately.”
“…… “I don’t know what you were thinking when you decided to fight the great evil that has descended in its perfect state alone, but if it becomes dangerous, I will join you right away.”
With that said, Marina placed her own staff on her bulging Euclid chest.
Immediately, a chill that felt as if frost was forming all over my body and a demonic energy that seemed to cover the entire area spewed out and attacked Marina. I immediately stepped forward and blocked its demonic energy with my sword.
“Move quickly!! “I can’t stop it for long!!”
“Oh, I know!!!”
Marina poured more mana into her staff and uprooted the evil seed that had taken root in Euclid’s chest.
Then, before the devil seed could struggle, he almost threw it at the puppet, and the devil seed settled in the puppet’s body.
“Run away!! Hurry!!!”
When the devil’s seed settled in the puppet’s body as planned, Nana ran to Euclid, carried the body on her back, and ran to Marina.
“Student Ian!! If it seems too difficult, run away immediately!!”
With those words, Marina activated the transference spell, and only I and that nameless demon were left on this wide plain.
“… ….”
As the name suggests, the body, which cannot even move without someone else’s will, jumped up with both arms and stared at me with unfocused eyes.
And then his face began to split cleanly, as if he had been cut by a sharp sword, and an evil demonic energy that seemed to have gathered and condensed all the evil in the world came out of it.
The powerful magical energy that seemed to color the night sky even blacker as it spewed out from the puppet began to gather together and take a single form.
When I saw the moment the devil descended, I started injecting the medicine, but the devil’s appearance was very deformed, just like the one described in the novel.
The devil, who was one head taller than me, had no nose or mouth on his face, only dozens of small eyes, and all of those eyes were looking at me.
His arms had six like those of Asura in Indian mythology, and despite his very muscular appearance, he was not holding anything in his hands.
“…… Not that vicious woman. Who the hell are you.”
“The person who came to kill you.”