Volume 6 Chapter 164
The Demon’s Objective
[Previously]
– The Holy Maiden and the Holy Maiden candidate, along with a female Holy Knight, are captured.
– Elmia is the only one restrained while standing.
– Duke Ifer turns out to be the demon Gusion.
「What’s going on…… Why are demons in this Holy City? W-Where’s the real Duke Ifer!?」
Currently, Elmia couldn’t use magic, but she could feel the presence of a holy barrier surrounding her.
For eighteen years since her birth in the Holy City of Sanctum, she had always been familiar with the magical power of the holy barrier that covered the city—-In other words, where she was trapped was indeed inside the Holy City.
Inside the holy barrier that could annihilate demons, there was a demon, a higher being than demons, right before her eyes.
She couldn’t believe what was happening.
「Ho, you’ve realised that this is inside the Holy City, haven’t you? Well done. As a reward, I’ll answer your questions…… First, about the Duke」
「What?」
Such a thing couldn’t possibly be happening.
This place was the very heart of the Creator God — the Sanctum.
It was the place farthest removed from demons in this world. It was impossible to believe that the ruler of Sanctum, Duke Ifer, was a demon.
「A thousand years」
「──Huh?」
「It took a thousand years for me to infiltrate this Holy City and take this seat. For me, a demon, a thousand years is but a blink of an eye, but it was quite a struggle」
A thousand years ago, Gusion received instructions from the Evil God to corrupt the Holy City. However, no matter how many of his demon subordinates he sent, the holy barrier of the Holy City didn’t allow those demons to infiltrate.
So he decided to first capture the Holy Maiden, who was responsible for maintaining the holy barrier. He planned to capture the Holy Maiden, brainwash her, and force her to maintain the barrier. Without the Holy Maiden, the Holy City could easily fall, he thought.
However, each time he sent his demon subordinates to attack the Holy Maiden when she left the Holy City, the Holy Maiden, who received the protection of the Creator God, miraculously escaped those attacks each time, thanks to some stroke of luck.
Sometimes, a hero would suddenly appear and defeat the demons.
Other times, a spear of light would pierce through the air from somewhere, piercing the demons attacking the Holy Maiden, causing them to vanish.
Yet another time, the Holy Maiden suddenly teleported back to the Holy City, and the demons that were touching her body were brought into the interior of the holy barrier and purified in an instant.
Luck was too weak of a term to describe it.
Gusion began to think that maybe the Creator God was constantly watching over the Holy Maiden and eliminating his demon subordinates.
Gusion gave up on directly targeting the Holy Maiden.
He planned to take his time, put in the effort, and scheme to corrupt the Holy City.
His plan was—-
To infiltrate the Holy City himself.
He would violate a human woman, impregnate her, and then reincarnate himself into her child. And when the child grew, he would reincarnate into another human woman by violating her.
He repeated this process for five hundred years.
By repeatedly being reborn as a human, the demonic elements gradually faded from his body and soul.
No matter how much the demonic elements faded, he remained a subordinate of the Evil God. He constantly thought of how to corrupt the Holy City.
Finally, he obtained a body that wasn’t repelled by the holy barrier. But Gusion wasn’t satisfied with that. Just entering the Holy City wouldn’t serve his purpose.
The demon who entered the Holy City would repeat the same process of reincarnation. This time, he was born as a woman, and when that body grew, he ingratiated himself with a man from a prestigious family.
With the abilities he had as a demon who had lived for a long time, manipulating magic power was as easy as breathing, and he could even change his appearance.
He gradually infiltrated prestigious families, just a little at a time, for fifty years.
Fifty years ago, he finally became the wife of the head of the Ifer Ducal family, who ruled Sanctum.
And when they had a son together, he reincarnated into that son.
That was the current Duke Ifer.
He was a demon from the moment he was born.
「Nonsense, there’s no way──」
「Can’t be done? But I’m actually here」
Gusion was indeed inside the Holy City.
He had the same magic manipulation techniques and magic power as a demon, and he had obtained a body and soul that were not rejected by the holy barrier. Thus, even the Creator God couldn’t notice Gusion’s presence.
「Tomorrow, my plan will finally be complete」
「Ah, tomorrow? —- W-Wait a minute!?」
Elmia understood the meaning of Gusion’s words.
Among the candidates deemed suitable for the Holy Maiden, only Isha had been chosen. But there was another girl, another candidate, who was about to turn sixteen this week.
That girl was the daughter of Duke Ifer.
She will celebrate her sixteenth birthday tomorrow.
In terms of the abilities required to become a Holy Maiden, she possessed them all —- in fact, she exceeded Isha in terms of abilities.
However, in terms of loyalty to the Creator God, she was inferior to the other Holy Maiden candidates.
It was only natural; she had no loyalty to the Creator God, given that she had a demon’s soul inside her.
Gusion, who had a share of his own soul within her, was trying to have his daughter, a share of himself, take the seat of the new Holy Maiden.
What that meant was—-
「Tomorrow, the Holy City will be annihilated」
「W-What!?」
「Ten demons are here inside the area where the holy barrier is, and a thousand more demons will rush in. There’s no way to stop it」
Sanctum was protected by the holy barrier, which even repelled demons, so there weren’t too many defensive forces.
Despite having around fifty holy knights, it was questionable whether ten holy knights could hold off a single demon.
Demons were that much of a threat.
Despair and fear caused Elmia’s face to contort.
Seeing that, Gusion laughed.
「Wonderful. What an excellent face of despair. It was worth enduring for a thousand years. Tomorrow, everyone in Sanctum will surely wear such expressions. I believe even the Evil God will be pleased」
With these words, Gusion turned his back to Elmia and left through the door. In his place, two empty-eyed priests entered.
No matter how much the demonic elements had faded, Gusion couldn’t touch the Holy Maiden. The barrier that protected the Holy Maiden was more advanced than the one covering the Holy City.
Anyone with even the slightest impure thoughts toward the Holy Maiden couldn’t touch her.
So Gusion brainwashed the priests and had them kidnap Seira. All five priests responsible for conducting the holy rites in the city had been brainwashed by Gusion.
Each priest picked up Seira and Isha and prepared to leave the room.
「Wait! What are you planning to do with Seira-sama!?」
「Don’t worry, I won’t kill her. Even if I forcibly kill her, it would only expose my existence to the Creator God」
Killing the Holy Maiden wouldn’t deactivate the holy barrier. Gusion had successfully assassinated the Holy Maiden once before, but at that time, the barrier didn’t disappear for several days until the next Holy Maiden was chosen.
If the Holy Maiden died suddenly, the magical energy stored in the Great Temple’s crystal would be automatically consumed, maintaining the barrier until the next Holy Maiden was chosen.
Killing the Holy Maiden wouldn’t cause the barrier to disappear. Furthermore, the crystal that activated the holy barrier was protected by an even more powerful force, making it impervious to destruction even if Gusion used his full demonic elements.
That’s why Gusion had to resort to this troublesome method of making his daughter the Holy Maiden and having her deactivate the barrier.
Gusion becoming Duke Ifer, the ruler of this Holy City, was convenient for infiltrating his own half into the Holy Maiden candidate.
「I’ll brainwash the Holy Maiden and have her baptise my daughter. This Holy Maiden candidate’s daughter will serve as a sacrifice to supplement her insufficient holy power. After all, I can’t go to the Temple」
「Stop it!」
Elmia tried to forcefully break the restraints on her hands and feet to stop the priests from taking Seira and Isha, but the magical steel restraints on her limbs remained unaffected.
「Behave yourself, and I won’t kill you. Not yet, anyway—-」
With a sneer, Gusion’s face twisted obscenely.
「Every time, you’ve killed my subordinates…… I will be the one to give you the greatest despair and fear, with my own hands」
The killing intent emanating from Gusion struck Elmia, who was defenceless, without her holy armour and unable to release magic.
Her body trembled, her legs lost their strength, and pain shot through her dislocated shoulders. Elmia’s face contorted with fear and pain, and Gusion watched and laughed.
「I’ll save the pleasure of killing you for after I’ve conquered the Holy City. Along with the Holy Maiden who has outlived her usefulness, I’ll have plenty of fun」
With those words, the demon left the room.
Everything was going according to plan.
After all, he had spent a thousand years to get to this point.
He would conquer the annoying Holy City for the Evil God, kill the Holy Maiden who could defeat demons, and let loose demons on the city, collecting negative energy in the form of fear and despair offered to the Evil God.
Gusion smiled as he imagined what it would be like when people who were caught off guard by the protection of the holy barrier disappearing.
However, there was one thing that bothered Gusion as he proceeded with his plan.
Yesterday, two of his subordinate demons, who had attacked the Holy Maiden, were defeated by someone. Those who defeated those demons were currently staying in the Holy City.
He could sense it due to the connection of their souls. And he had heard from his informants who had managed to infiltrate the city.
「That Sage, Haruto, or something…… I might have to deal with him personally」
He had come this far after paying no small number of sacrifices. He had no intention of delaying the plan further. The timing to make his half-daughter the Holy Maiden was now or never.
Even though only ten of his subordinate demons remained, that was more than enough as a force to rampage through a single city.
The problematic Sage was indeed strong enough to defeat his demons, but he was just a human, after all. If it came down to a confrontation between him and a demon like Gusion, there shouldn’t be any problems—-At least, that’s what Gusion believed.
The demon’s plan was flawless.
In fact, even the Creator God hadn’t noticed Gusion’s presence.
Perhaps the Holy City had already fallen into the hands of the demon.
If the Sage, who had been cursed by the evil god, and his family, had not happened to visit the Holy City, perhaps—-
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