Chapter 18
A demon who had stolen the body of the First Imperial Prince.
Marbas, ranked fifth among the 72 Great Evils, rarely showed a frown.
Fate had become twisted. The prophecy that should have been perfect had become riddled with errors. All because of a single person.
A single human was ruining everything.
'I should have been wary of that one rather than the Child of Prophecy.'
The Weakening Curse cast to naturally dispose of the Emperor.
Someone had noticed it and arbitrarily dispelled it.
When first discovering this fact, he considered it a minor issue. Since he could simply recast the curse, it hadn't deviated significantly from the prophecy.
He firmly believed it could be resolved without direct intervention, simply by employing assassins.
The first assassin organization's headquarters was coincidentally struck directly by a hurricane and half-destroyed,
The second assassin organization was annihilated by a twenty-student bodyguard squad that had been concealing their presence,
The third assassin organization's hideout was discovered by the Mercenary King who had been doing bounty hunter work,
And the fourth assassin organization's leader suddenly died of a heart attack.
None of that could have been mere coincidence.
It couldn't be mere coincidence, yet no matter how much he searched, he couldn't figure out how that professor had intervened in these events.
As if mocking him, that professor used unknown powers to prevent assassinations, capture infiltrating comrades, and twist fate as he pleased.
Such an existence could no longer be left unchecked.
Having made that judgment, he took the risk of arousing the Primordial Dragon's suspicion and summoned Ryan to his stronghold.
That turned into an irreversible blunder.
A disgustingly pure white light erupted forth.
What emerged from the light was that damned divine messenger.
After years of effort finally breaking that brat's spirit completely. In just one day, Ryan had discerned that she had the makings of a warrior and rekindled her will.
The silver-haired girl.
A radiant sword materialized in her hand. Immense divine power received as God's representative.
The Empire's witch, who should have gone mad with guilt and fallen to darkness, had somehow been reborn as a proper warrior.
The worst possible outcome created by Ryan. Once again, he had been thoroughly played by that professor.
But he had no intention of taking this lying down.
The girl charged at Marbas. While her momentum and power were certainly considerable, her technique itself was unremarkable.
The movements of a girl who had never even held a sword before were incredibly crude, and she couldn't even control her suddenly acquired power properly, so he would take full advantage of that.
The sword of light cleaves through the air with a whoosh.
Rather than meeting it head-on, he deflected it fluidly. Though it's an opposing force - mere contact causes flesh to melt away - this much is manageable.
He had gathered plenty of souls to use as fuel.
Having effectively controlled the Imperial court, it was easy to replenish souls by wielding that power.
The melted flesh swells and regenerates. Perfectly restored as if no wound had ever existed.
In contrast, his opponent showed clear signs of fatigue.
Immense power wielded for the first time. Her still-immature body must be screaming in protest at having to handle it.
The girl gritted her teeth while using her sword for support.
Though she must be experiencing pain unlike anything in her life before, perhaps proving her potential as a warrior, she continued forcing herself back up.
The sword swung again and again.
Even when knocked down, the girl kept swinging her sword.
While that spirit was certainly worthy of respect...
[You're still too amateurish.]
She lacked overwhelming experience. Too focused on attacking, she neglected what she should be protecting.
He concentrated demonic power. No need to focus on power. Speed alone is sufficient since the goal is to throw off the opponent.
A strike aimed at the collapsed new professor.
Noticing this, the girl desperately threw herself forward.
While she barely prevented the attack from reaching the professor, her stance naturally crumbled. It would take at least 5 seconds to regain her posture.
That's more than enough time.
One fatal strike.
He burned through all his demonic power and souls for this single spell. By sacrificing efficiency, he drastically abbreviated the incantation while maximizing power.
[...Die.]
Hand raised skyward.
Simultaneously, a massive meteor began to fall.
A thunderous roar echoed. Those who dared challenge Marbas would be erased from this world without a trace.
That should have been the outcome, and yet.
The demon's face suddenly colored with confusion.
Though the spell formula should have been perfectly constructed, for some reason nothing happened when he raised his hand.
Looking around for the cause, what enters his vision is the figure of a man. One who had certainly been collapsed unconscious on the ground, but whose eyes were now wide open.
Cold sweat ran down the demon's back.
For a moment, an ominous possibility flashed through his mind.
'That should be impossible.'
The magical systems used by humans and demons couldn't possibly be the same.
Spell formulas that use souls rather than magical power as fuel.
Moreover, there's no way the system of spells used only by demons would be known to the public. Even for that man, this should be his first time encountering such spell formulas.
Therefore, stealing his magic should be impossible.
It should be impossible to steal his magic, and yet...
The constructed spell formula transformed of its own accord. The man clearly understood and manipulated all manner of characters and array formations that he should be encountering for the first time, purely through intuition.
Try as he might to stop it, nothing works.
Experience and techniques accumulated over nearly eternal years. Yet they were being overwhelmed by a genius who had merely glanced at his spell formula once.
Blood tears flowed down.
A body that seems ready to collapse at any moment.
Yet with just his lips curved in a smile, the man raises his arm high toward the sky and shouts.
Hand raised skyward. Simultaneously, a star begins to fall.
The noble light that was meant only to be gazed upon from below is pulled down to earth by human will.
Then, a massive roar consumed the world.
*****
My head is spinning.
Though the vertigo makes me feel like I could collapse at any moment, I somehow manage to hold onto my consciousness.
'I nearly died from the backlash there.'
The 5th Imperial Princess was sleeping before me, having exhausted all her divine power.
If that girl hadn't continuously healed me and protected me from the impact of the large-scale magic, I would have been a corpse long ago.
Just thinking about it makes my head spin.
I've had four near-death experiences in my first month of employment.
That demon we just fought. Given that ominous atmosphere and the special circumstance of disguising as royalty, he was probably meant to be a boss character in the mid-to-late original story.
Nearly dying because I happened to encounter such a being years early - talk about bad luck, this is beyond bad luck.
The Imperial Palace somehow seemed even more cursed than the Academy. Though I desperately wanted to get out of here right away, there was still something that needed to be done.
'This is exactly when you need to make sure to confirm the kill.'
Just because an opponent is down doesn't mean you can let your guard down.
I myself had actually bitten my tongue to avoid truly passing out in front of the demon, pretending to be unconscious while waiting for the right moment to counterattack.
I trudge toward the fallen demon.
Sure enough, there's definitely still life in him.
The demon, now more hideous than before with half his body turned to charcoal, frowns as he looks at me. The sight is truly grotesque.
[You'd best not think you've won with this.]
Such a typical line. I ignore his words, rummaging through my belongings for an appropriate weapon.
[No matter how much you struggle, you cannot defeat fate. Eventually you will lose everything and fall into despair.]
Without hesitation, I draw out a dagger.
A gift from the Emperor. Since it worked when I killed that Amon fellow last time, it should be effective.
[I look forward to seeing your expression when the Empire falls someday. It's a shame I won't be around to witness it.]
The demon flashed an unpleasant smile at me.
He probably expected me to tense up and get nervous at those words. But that's impossible.
"The Empire will not fall to the likes of you."
Because I alone know.
No matter how powerful they are, the protagonist will surely overcome all hardships and achieve a happy ending.
I plunged the dagger into the demon's heart.
The demon turned to ashes without even a death cry.
That takes care of confirming the kill. Now all that's left is to discuss with the 5th Imperial Princess about passing all credit for defeating the demon to her, then getting out of this cursed palace.
I turned my head with that conclusion.
As I turned, I came face to face with things I shouldn't have seen.
Numerous eyes came into view.
People who had somehow approached and were now watching me.
With a thud, a white-haired old man collapsed to the ground.
Watching the Emperor of the Empire silently weeping with tears streaming down his cheeks, I thought.
...It seems things have gotten seriously complicated.