Chapter 301
✠At the same time. A fierce battle of cataclysmic proportions was raging in the Pontifical Palace.
Tesillid Argent and the Demon King Abyssinis. The Grand Chapel lost its original form due to the disaster-level destructive power unleashed by the two beings.
The decorations that filled its interior became refuse, the walls crumbled, and the pillars were severed.
Perhaps it was even fortunate that the ceiling, which those walls and pillars should have supported, had long since flown off.
Into this desolate place, already half-ruined and soon to be nothing but a foundation, poured an eerie purple moonlight.
Clang-!
The Demon King, empowered by the blessing of her symbolic moon and the Chaos Evil God’s bow, strode barefoot across the battlefield, swinging a long staff.
Hidden within the appearance of a delicate beautiful girl, a ferocious destructive power poured down on Tesillid.
Unlike her graceful footwork, the staff wielded with both hands unleashed an incredibly fierce power.
The Demon King’s attacks flawlessly occupied every direction, unleashing a relentless barrage without a single blink.
In a situation where vision was obscured by afterimages, one could not rely solely on sight. Tesillid pushed all five of his senses to their limits to confront the Demon King.
The Holy Sword, almost an extension of his body, deflected and repelled Abyssinis’s staff.
Everywhere her attacks, forcibly altered in trajectory, struck in vain, thunderous roars resounded.
Abyssinis’s pupils elongated vertically, revealing her excitement.
“For a mere human, you’re quite formidable. To face a Demon King and remain so unshaken.”
“……”
As she said, Tesillid’s demeanor during the battle was consistently calm.
Even now, the indifferent handsome man maintained his focus without returning any reaction, merely changing the angle and position of his blade.
“Not bad for a brief amusement!”
Abyssinis’s blue eyes widened.
Immediately after a cold, strange light circled within her eyes, another weapon responded to her call besides the staff.
Whoosh!
Red petals of Deadly Bloom surged on the air currents, restricting Tesillid’s vision.
The role of the eerie petals wasn’t limited to nullifying a single sensory organ.
They flowed in swarms, exerting lethal power wherever they brushed against.
Scratches appeared on various parts of Tesillid’s body, which had been caught a few times in the petals’ waltz.
His pristine white Holy Knight uniform was torn in places, and crimson lines were drawn on his cheeks and the backs of his hands.
Seeing blood, the petals grew bolder. They began to swarm as if to bury him alive.
Of course, Tesillid had no intention of offering his body as prey to the Deadly Bloom petals, which resembled a school of piranhas.
Vwoosh!
As the Holy Sword let out a clear hum, a dozen or so Aura Blades unfurled around Tesillid.
The summoned flying swords immediately radiated widely in a radial pattern to protect their master.
Along every trajectory the Aura Blades passed, the petals withered as if melting in divine aura.
The legion of flying swords, having instantly annihilated the Deadly Bloom petals, surged straight towards Abyssinis.
Abyssinis’s staff spun rapidly, batting away the flying swords flying from the front.
It was a perfect defense, showing no strain whatsoever.
However, while the flying swords drew the Demon King’s attention, the real attack secretly aimed for her back.
“When did he…!”
Piercing through her sensory blind spot, Tesillid Argent’s sword tip thrust towards Abyssinis.
The Demon King hurriedly spun her body, but it was a fleeting moment too late.
The Holy Sword narrowly grazed Abyssinis’s left shoulder.
Thud, thud, thud.
Ultimately, Tesillid succeeded in repaying the few drops of blood he shed with far more of Abyssinis’s own.
“Hah……”
Abyssinis briefly looked down with cold eyes at the ground being stained red with her blood.
The Demon King’s physical body would not be damaged by such a minor injury. However, there was a psychological impact.
A maniacal light flickered in Abyssinis’s blue eyes.
Demons are naturally excited by blood, and it mattered not whether it was another’s or their own.
Rumble!
Demon King Abyssinis’s aura distinctly changed.
As a whirlwind gathered around her, her golden hair, tipped with a minty hue, swept high and floated upwards.
It was as if she wore the most splendid and massive crown in the world, inverted.
The surging power also affected its vessel. From the beautiful girl’s vocal cords, the true voice of an ancient monster began to roar.
<To draw blood, what a blunder.>
“……”
Abyssinis truly began to reveal her intent to clash with the full might and status of a Demon King.
“As you wish.”
Tesillid also assumed a stance, preparing for a powerful blow.
He ran his left hand along the Holy Sword’s elegant blade, imbuing it anew with divine aura.
He didn’t forget to summon the maximum number of Aura Blades available and array them around him.
Abyssinis, holding her staff high with both hands. Her form vanished in an instant.
Boom!
Only a thunderous roar remained where her physical form had disappeared. A corresponding explosive speed instantly moved Abyssinis’s position three steps in front of Tesillid.
As soon as he entered her range, Abyssinis’s two arms swung the staff.
An attack capable of piercing even the most impregnable fortress. It aimed at Tesillid, generating tremendous wind pressure with its mere movement.
CRAASH!
A destructive light blossomed in a hemispherical shape, swallowing the entire Grand Chapel and erupting high upwards.
Shockwaves repeatedly tore through the air, centered around the pillar of light that seemed to pierce the heavens.
Tremendous waves capable of exploding ordinary bodies with their vibrations covered a wide area.
Even those in the Pontifical Palace courtyard, both humans and demons alike, writhed in pain and prostrated themselves on the ground.
It was more than a dozen seconds later when the shockwave, which seemed capable of reaching the continent’s edge, finally ceased and the light began to fade.
As the merciless light diminished, Abyssinis’s slender pupils gradually expanded.
The great demon’s eyes gleamed with self-assured victory.
‘A direct hit.’
The body of the primitive human would have been reduced to dust, leaving no trace.
Such was the futile end of one who dared to defy a Demon King. Therefore, she expected nothing to remain before her eyes.
However, the scene revealed as the light receded was vastly different from her expectations.
“My apologies.”
<……!>
The tip of the staff was blocked by the Holy Sword. He had used the sword’s surface as a shield to parry the powerful blow.
Moreover, he seemed perfectly fine, as if there hadn’t even been a penetrating blow.
<You withstood that? A human body?>
Tesillid returned an attack instead of a reply.
While exchanging a few blows amidst the clang of steel, Abyssinis, regaining her composure, adjusted her assessment of him once more.
<You were called the Holy Sword’s Master, weren’t you.>
“Yes.”
<Now I see. It wasn’t just Evil’s Bane Executor who was the problem.>
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As her eyes recognized his true worth, her hands became even more merciless. The battle intensified further.
Yet, Tesillid still seemed not to be exerting his full power.
As proof, while scraping the staff with his blade, he rolled his eyes to the side, surveying his surroundings.
‘This is……’
It wasn’t that he was being complacent by ignoring the Demon King.
It was because certain unsettling things kept catching his eye, preventing him from focusing solely on the battle.
The Grand Chapel, which they were currently using as their battlefield. Its floor was densely engraved with countless lines and characters.
And these, in harmony, formed a single geometric pattern.
The identity of this engraved pattern was clear.
‘A magic circle.’
Thanks to all obstacles being cleared away by the fierce battle, it had become clearly visible.
Now that he thought about it, even when he first entered the Grand Chapel, Abyssinis had been performing an unknown ritual amidst thousands of candles.
<You who would disrupt Lord Reed’s plan, I shall take your life here!>
Just then, as if to snap him back to focus, the staff fiercely thrust directly at his face.
Clang!
Tesillid barely blocked the attack, but his body was pushed back by the direct recoil.
He didn’t resist.
Instead, he deliberately used the recoil to create distance, allowing him a moment to speak.
“Demon King Abyssinis, you are indeed a loyal subordinate of Reed.”
<How dare a mere human speak to me, a Great Demon, as if complimenting me? Your arrogance pierces the very depths.>
“If compliments displease you, then simply consider it the truth. More importantly, I have a question.”
“Is this also Reed’s plan?”
He glanced and gestured towards the floor.
The magic circle, now clearly visible, was large enough to contain even a formidable magic dragon, and it was filled with complex, dense spell formations as if to allow no empty space.
The powerful ominousness emanating from this magic circle stemmed from something other than the subtly rising demonic energy.
It was the fact that even the 117th iteration of Tesillid Argent was seeing this magic circle for the first time.
A magic circle that the Tesillid currently here had never seen prepared during his 100th iteration.
The existence of a variable is inherently more threatening than any adverse condition. Thus, he attempted the best interrogation he could.
“It seems like quite an important magic circle. What role did Reed assign you?”
<Role?>
The reply came with a deflating sound.
<To be assigned an important role, such glory is not for me.>
“What do you mean by that?”
<It means he expects nothing from me!>
The sudden outburst of rage was absurd and lacked context. However, Tesillid gained something.
“So, it’s your own initiative after all.”
<…….>
That fact was enough.
“Whatever the plan, it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, I’ll stop it.”
<It’s useless, human! It will be impossible as long as you can’t stop this heart that reveres him!>
Deadly Bloom petals gathered and danced a waltz around her.
<Lord Reed is the prophet of all evil who will fulfill our long-cherished wish! For his sake, I would do anything, even if it means my status and existence are ground into dust!>
Tesillid also redeployed his legion of Aura Blades in the air.
“You truly are blind in your devotion to Reed.”
<I do not expect understanding from a primitive human!>
“……Primitive human, you say.”
He rolled the phrase around in his mouth for a moment, then cast his gaze downwards and muttered.
“I wonder.”
A seemingly meaningless murmur. But within it lay a strange pressure, disguised as profound meaning.
And Abyssinis’s senses were keen enough to perceive it.
‘What is this?’
Privilege for Possessors