103 – Monster.
…The woman on the throne opened her eyes.
Seemingly unable to comprehend the sudden release of possession, she narrowed her eyes for a moment.
Deus Makina soon gazed at her palace with a sharp look.
“Did you enjoy the game?”
Ganesha, one of the divine servants, smiled at her, but the Empress ignored her words and simply gazed at the spectacle before her.
The emptiness castle sealed for thousands of years.
Although it was a clear sanctuary, her view was not welcoming.
Feeling trapped like a caged parrot, and above all, the sense of the divine body released outside the seal disappeared in an instant.
The almost omnipotent power inexplicably diminished.
She had reigned as a queen for many years, a fact hard to believe, yet there was only one reason for her forced return to the palace.
“Is it death?”
The woman murmured, her hand caressing her throat.
***
The colors of the sky, momentarily divided, turned into white ashes and vanished.
The body of the devil, split in half, also began to scatter into golden starlight.
Looking at that, there was a sense of relief in accomplishing something significant, a joy of nearing the end of a long-standing plan.
No matter how hard I tried to be thorough, deep down, if I didn’t have such optimistic thoughts, it would be a lie.
…Parsisic.
However, even as I gazed at the fragments dispersing in the distance and the blue sky, I did not relax.
Apart from the obstacles remaining to kill Makina, there was something that needed to be done right away.
More precisely, someone to take care of.
A woman who seemed to need subtle but necessary care was waiting for me.
Tang─!
Was it because I kept her waiting for too long?
As I turned my head, a bright red beam grazed my cheek.
Though I evaded it through detection, it was a fierce attack with enough heat in the air to scorch flesh.
“Ha.”
Yet, there was no intention or desire to kill in her, which might ironically make her seem wicked.
Turning my gaze to the back, there was Sawamura Sento, enveloped in a crimson aura.
The ominous magical color seemed uncontrollable, writhing around his body.
Sento’s pupils were not sharp, but rather, there was a reckless vitality circulating.
“Sento, there’s no need to overdo it.”
There was no need to guess the situation that had become like this.
Since Sento had been tainted by the inner demon in ‘Jongmallobco,’ his appearance was exactly as expected.
The encounter with Deus Makina unexpectedly put pressure on me.
It was just a sight that made me sigh, yet the jealousy-ridden woman seemed to have no more patience.
Woom─
A massive force gathered in the horn-like part on top of his head amid the crimson magical layers extending here and there.
Without the aid of any supplementary spells, it was just a concentrated mass in one place, but the size of that mass was quite substantial.
In that magical sphere alone, the concentration of all the power Sento originally possessed was significant.
However, it seemed that there was still plenty of energy left in her, who was still in a state of corruption due to being influenced by the demon.
“Ha, today everyone seems to be showing off their magical prowess.”
She casually scratched her cheek and summoned a sword into the air.
Time did not stand still.
It was a situation of overpowering, where due to constraints, she could not use her abilities against her.
It was an unavoidable circumstance.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m defenseless on this side.”
However, I wasn’t so weak as to be rendered powerless without the ability of time.
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I ignited the flames of magic at the tip of the sword.
The blade trembled─! When the sword energy rose, the crimson magic cluster also stopped expanding.
A massive magic sphere, about ten times the size of Sentou’s sturdy head.
Woooooo─!
Inevitably, as his head grew heavy, Sentou gently lowered it, aligning the angle of the magic sphere above his horn with the target.
Of course, the target was me, floating in the air.
Quite a predicament.
Kwaaang────!!!!
I swung my sword at the relentlessly advancing beam of destruction.
Not too weak, not too strong.
With just enough strength to cut through the beam.
Thud-thud-thud-thud─!
I split the attack in half, rendering it powerless.
After enduring for about 10 seconds, the beam was cut off as the dense amount of magic reached its limit.
Shrouded in crimson aura, Sawamura Sentou looked at me, unscathed, and tilted his head.
“hahahaha, not expecting too much from a reckless display of magic, are you?”
Even the most magical creatures I know, like Makina with the most magic, didn’t pull off such stunts.
As I sincerely mocked the darkened Sentou─or rather, the demon within me─a change occurred in Sentou’s magical layer as he glared back at me with a smirk.
Bubbling─a sharp horn emerged from the head, surrounded by the crimson aura.
“……Huh.”
Three horns in total, including the original ones.
At first glance, with each additional horn on his head, the more horns the darkened Sentou resembled Xto’s fox demon, the greater the abilities he could unleash.
Moreover, according to the DLC setting, the creature living inside Sentou’s inner self is a formidable monster akin to Japan’s Three Great Demons.
Krrr─
In other words, he was quite a formidable fellow, not quite on par with Makina.
Suddenly, next to the howling Sawamura Sentou, fifteen crimson hands and pupils made of magic emerged.
Driven by a bizarre magical mechanism, lines connected, starting to draw a single spell.
─Amplification, eruption, reinforcement spell.
Magic assistance intertwined with demonic power.
The magic clusters placed on the three horns boiled like magma.
It seemed quite difficult to control the power while unleashing it this time.
“Should I use a reversal.”
Hmm, it would be easy for the body, but if Sentou got caught up in it, it would be quite a predicament.
On the other hand, injecting power into the sword seemed too intense, and that could also lead to trouble.
“Well, this is troublesome.”
While scratching my head in contemplation, the spell on the horn was completed.
The bubbling magic cluster gradually swelled in size and eventually erupted.
─Grand eruption, the spell of destruction.
Kwaaang──!!! A massive wave of lava surged high, as if reaching the sky.
What does it know to act like that.
If left unchecked, it seemed like it would melt all the humans frolicking in the distance.
I took a deep breath and summoned my magic, arranging the spells in the air.
“As expected, shall we put it to sleep for now?”
It was rare to use defensive spells, but this time was an exception.
– Summoning Spell, Wall of Iron.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A massive wall rose from the ground, strong enough to withstand the waves of lava.
Not just a straight line defense, but a structure surrounding the entire space with a darkened cento.
– Coffin of Darkness, Punishment Spell.
A single cento was enough to stop the dying lava.
The black coffin, entwined with dark energy, trapped the waves of fire and cento within.
Thud! The collision of spells inside the coffin caused a rough tremor, but it held.
For a sorcerer, the synergy between spells was more important than the power of a single spell.
“Sing, cento.”
The goblin drawn on the door opened its mouth wide as if ready to swallow something in front of it.
I completed the alignment of magic and soul with a chant.
Kwaaahh!!
The overwhelmed coffin finally released a wave of lava.
The weakened lava wave hit the door.
As expected, this part had enough leeway.
Clang–
However, on the cento revealed from the coffin, four horns had suddenly appeared on its head.
The dark red magical layer thickened, and beside her, not only arms and eyes but also legs and a body protecting the ground, along with dozens of thorns, emerged.
Covered in such a bizarre magical apparatus, the cento’s body seemed to float in the air.
…I was curious what would happen if the horns reached five as a former otaku.
If time dragged on, the seal would weaken, and the cento’s body would take damage.
As I watched the cento enveloped in dark red magic, I recited the sealing spell.
“Commence, Seal of Bongyeon.”
A sealing spell for the Japanese three great monsters, the King of Goblins – Jucheondongji.
Even the ancient sealing spells were recorded in Makina’s castle.
Ironically, this time, I witnessed her virtue.
“Shutendoji’s Prison of Flames.”
– Roasting…
A strange voice began to spread from the goblin of the Summoning Spell.
Clang! A charred locust emerged from the ground and pierced the cento’s dark red magical layer.
Despite the shock, there was no way to receive damage, yet the phantom of Shutendoji immediately writhed.
– Uwooooo!!!
Clang! Struck by the emerging black spears, the arms and legs of the dark red magic shattered.
The eerie eyeballs swelled and burst, the body entangled in black bars.
The cento, covered in magical layers, seemed to have lost consciousness, closing her eyes silently, but the demonic power controlling her struggled violently to break free.
…Kigigigik.
Actually, whether the struggle had any effect or not, a window on one side bent, making an unpleasant sound.
If left alone, it seemed quite possible for it to escape on its own.
Of course, there was no intention of letting it escape comfortably.
“Shock, Soul Strike.”
Leaping beyond the physical realm, I reached the figure entangled in the black window bars.
The sudden appearance seemed to startle the figure as it recoiled.
Facing the monster that had emerged after a long time, I smirked and extended my fist.
─Thud.
My fist made contact with the vaguely formed goblin head in the crimson magical layer.
“Spirit Strike.”
A strike that only impacts the soul.
Kwaaah──!!
Amidst the fierce waves, the crimson magical layer shattered and dispersed, catching the falling Sento in my arms.
I gently stroked her face, still looking as if she was having a bad dream.
It was time to go back home now.