Chapter 58
Episode 17: David’s Final Moments
「You really came all this way just to be killed by me, huh?♪」
Hearing those words, David flew into a rage.
「I am the one destined to rule this world! I won’t kill you quickly. I’ll have you raped and tormented until you regret ever being born, and then you’ll die! Knights, capture her without killing her! After I’m done with her, you can all have your turn!」
「Yeah! We get to have this exquisite woman for ourselves!」
With David’s command, the knights, now fully consumed by lust, rushed to attack me.
I channeled my magic into my left eye, activating my Holy Eye.
「By the command of Celestia Z. Sylvania, let the power of Justice Michael obliterate the wicked with the light of judgment!」
A radiant sword of light, unleashed by Justice Michael, pierced through the attacking knights. Without a word, the knights were engulfed in white flames, instantly consumed and reduced to nothing.
「Wh-what… My knights, they just vanished… You truly are a demon. But with my sword, purified by the Church, no demon can stand against me!」
David charged at me, sword in hand.
His attack was so slow that I caught it with just two fingers, and then I kicked him in the solar plexus, sending him flying.
「Guh… Wh-what…」
「And you call ‘that’ ruling the world? What a joke. Well, I won’t kill you easily though (laughs).」
With those words, I approached David and broke both of his legs.
「Gyaaaaah! Stop it—!」
「I won’t stop♪ After all, I’m going to kill you (laughs).」
「Please, stop… I know I’m going to die eventually…」
「That’s why I won’t stop♪ By the command of Celestia Z. Sylvania, let the power of Gluttony Beelzebub devour David Leone while tormenting him!」
「Gyaaa, it hurts—! Stop…」
Beelzebub’s power began to consume David piece by piece, gnawing away at his body. Whenever the pain made him pass out, he was revived, only to have more of his body torn away. His arms gone, his legs gone—by all rights, he should have died, but death wasn’t permitted. Bit by bit, Beelzebub devoured his entire body, leaving only his head, but still, he could not die. Only when everything had been consumed did David finally find release in death.
「Mystique-sensei, I’ve finally avenged you, though it took me a long time. All that’s left is to defeat the Leone Kingdom, the enemy of Holy Sylvania. Please, watch over me.」
As she gazed up at the sky, Celestia wept…
–
Episode 18: The One Who Arrived
A great shockwave rippled through the Kingdom of Leone.
The crown prince had set out to end the monster disturbances but lost his life in fierce combat with the monsters. This news spread throughout the kingdom.
Hearing this rumor, a man in the corner of a tavern showed a look of relief.
『Selen, you finally defeated the crown prince. It took a long time, but I’ve managed to get to a place where I can feel your presence.』
That man was Stratos Barrios, once a classmate of Celestia.
After leaving the academy, he had pursued Celestia all the way to the Kingdom of Leone on his own. His right eye had been blinded in a battle with monsters, and his body was scarred from surviving intense fights.
Even if they were to meet again, forgiveness wasn’t guaranteed.
But unless he conveyed his gratitude, he couldn’t move forward.
After finishing his meal, Stratos resumed his search for Celestia, wandering through the city. On a narrow path, he noticed a merchant being attacked by monsters, and he rushed to help.
「Are you okay? My help might be small, but I’ll assist!」
「Th-thank you!」
「I’ll act as a shield and block their attacks. Use that chance to strike back!」
Stratos braced his spear and shield, blocking the monsters’ attacks, while the merchant behind him attempted to counterattack. However, the merchant was struggling to inflict any real damage. Stratos couldn’t strike back effectively as he had to focus on defending the rear.
「Damn it, if this keeps up, they’ll overpower us…」
As he fought on, the situation was turning against them. At that moment—
「I’ll lend a hand.」
A familiar voice reached his ears.
Stratos turned toward the voice, and there, a beautiful girl with platinum blonde hair and purple eyes was fighting against the monsters.
『That’s not Selen…』
Not recognizing Celestia’s true form, Stratos couldn’t tell it was her, but thanks to her intervention, the tide of the battle shifted, and they successfully repelled the monsters.
The merchant expressed his gratitude to the two who had helped.
「Thank you so much for saving me.」
「I’m glad I made it in time. Be careful, okay? ♪」
「Are you the Holy Maiden, Celestia-sama?」
「Yes, I’m Celestia Z. Sylvania.」
Hearing the merchant’s conversation with the girl, Stratos was stunned. He approached the girl and spoke.
「Selen, is that you? You look so different, I didn’t recognize you at all…」
「Huh…? Oh, are you… Stratos?」
「Yeah, it’s me, Stratos. Is it really you, Selen? Your appearance has changed a lot (sweat).」
「Yeah… I was disguised back at the academy.」
「I came all this way to apologize to you and beg for your forgiveness…」
「Forgiveness… That’s not for me to give. You need to seek forgiveness from Selen-sama and Slaine-sama.」
「That’s…」
「Without seeking forgiveness from those two, I can’t acknowledge you as a comrade… I’m sorry.」
It seemed Stratos had been seeking forgiveness from the wrong person. Unless he returned to the Empire and apologized to the two, he wouldn’t be able to move forward.
「I understand. I’ll go back to the Empire and apologize to them. Once I’ve received their forgiveness, I’ll come running back to you.」
「Yeah, it’ll be tough, but hang in there.」
With that, Stratos set off to return to the Empire to apologize to the two.
–
Episode 19: The Reason for Being the Strongest
After defeating David, we’ve been struggling to take key positions. The reason is simple: the Crown Prince’s Knights have been deployed.
The strength of the Crown Prince’s Knights is on a completely different level. When we previously tried to assault a fortress, even with the highest-ranking familiar by our side, we couldn’t capture it without casualties. As Roha, who actually faced one of the knights, said:
〚That strength was beyond what one could consider human. If that was just a low-ranking member of the Crown Prince’s Knights, it’s likely that the commanders are stronger than I am.〛
For Roha to admit someone is strong is impressive enough, but hearing that there might be someone stronger than Roha made me realize why the Kingdom of Leone is considered the strongest in the world. I knew then that we needed to change our strategy.
My familiars don’t hesitate to risk their lives for me, but because I aim for human-demon coexistence, I don’t want to sacrifice those who trust in me.
I understand that in any battle, there’s no such thing as avoiding casualties… but still.
With that in mind, I decided to enhance my familiars even further by unleashing them in the 【Forbidden Tower】 to empower them. During that time, I didn’t just sit idle. I focused on destroying highways, fortresses, and continued to eliminate bandits and monsters on smaller roads by myself.
One day, I came across a merchant being attacked by monsters on one of those small paths, so I stepped in to help.
「Are you okay? I’ll lend a hand!」
「No problem, I’ll kill the monsters and then I’ll kill you!」
As soon as he said that, the merchant slashed down the monsters and pointed his sword at me. It turns out he was a member of the Crown Prince’s Knights, pretending to wait for me to come and help.
「Thank you for coming to be killed.」
「I have no intention of being killed, so don’t thank me!」
「I am the Crown Prince’s Knights’ Captain, Bengel. Or rather, I ‘was’ Bengel, I suppose (laugh).」
After laughing, Bengel transformed into a demon. Now I understood why Roha had said 〚Their strength is beyond human〛. The Crown Prince’s Knights are composed of demons.
〚The idea of demons being in the Crown Prince’s Knights gives me a bad feeling… Does that mean the King is also a demon?〛
〚You can speak the demon language, but it doesn’t matter. You’ll die soon anyway, so I won’t say anything.〛
〚Your reaction says it all. I already know the answer♪〛
As soon as our conversation ended, the fight between Bengel and me began.
I decided to take this opportunity to see just how strong the demon-composed Crown Prince’s Knights really are.
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