Chapter 10
Rei dodged, kicked, and struck the flying hands.
In her fluid movements, flashes of ferocity drew silver trajectories.
The dark hands were instantly destroyed upon contact with Rei's limbs, wrapped in silver mana.
That silver mana was the proof of the blood Rei inherited.
Argentooth.
It was Rei's unique magic as a battle mage.
The silver teeth crushed and pulverized anything that stood in their way.
Rei knew this Devil Sorcerer.
The pursuer who followed immediately after her escape.
The Oppressor, Malebris.
No matter how much she shook him off, he persistently followed.
This was the annoying thing about Devil Sorcerers.
Because they borrowed the power of devils rather than their own abilities, they could do things that would normally be impossible.
Devils that could find the desired targets of their pact-bearers were very common, and Malebris must have contracted with such a devil.
The same went for concealing presence.
While someone of Rei's caliber could immediately sense an ominous feeling, it was extremely difficult to find an opponent hiding with a devil's power.
And most troublesome of all was that black hand, his main magic.
The cursed touch paralyzed the senses and caused exhaustion upon contact.
For Rei, who mainly fought in close quarters, it was the worst possible matchup.
Why is that guy still there...!
Rei frowned, sensing Roman's presence still quietly behind her.
This should be enough.
She had bought him time.
It was Roman's fault for not leaving.
Rei protected Roman not because she hoped he wouldn't die, even if she did.
She didn't want to owe a debt.
She just felt uneasy about him dying because he got involved in her affairs.
However, even while thinking she had done enough, Rei's attention kept checking on Roman.
It was at that moment when Rei's concentration wavered slightly due to her concern for Roman.
"Got you."
Malebris exclaims with certainty.
Too late...?
Even Rei judged it impossible to retract her extended fist to block.
Shiiing─! Boom-!
A black bullet burst the black hand.
The wind from the explosion roughly shook Rei's hood.
"Why are you still here!"
"Paying back my debt. Physical enhancement, I gotta pay the price, right?"
And without you, the bet is ruined!
Shouting the second reason only in his heart, Roman fired magic bullets in succession.
Boom-! Boom-!!
Bullets fired continuously.
Though some missed without precise aiming, the unceasing barrage of bullets forms a curtain of fire, bringing down the black hands.
Seeing this, Malebris tensed his eyes and pulled out the next finger.
Mere magic bullets destroying my Touch of Evil?
There was no magic.
What that youngster was firing was just pure compressed mana.
How much mana must be packed for such magic bullets to destroy the Touch of Evil, a magic imbued with a Devil's authority?
Or is it mana from a higher-ranked devil than my own?
There were differences in rank among devils.
The power of a higher-ranked devil suppressed that of a lower-ranked one.
But Malebris denied this assumption.
Impossible. A Devil in a pact with such a youngster can't be higher-ranked than my own.
It was impossible for a half-wit who couldn't even use proper magic and just fired mana clumps to have a pact with a higher-ranked devil than him, who had lived as a Devil Sorcerer for half his life.
Rather, it was more reasonable to infer that this novice, unaware of the terror of the price, was running wild, overcome by momentary emotions.
Foolish child: A Devil Sorcerer should be more cold and calculating than any other mage.
Use minimal power to achieve the goal, and always keep your composure in dealings with devils.
This was the cardinal principle that must be understood to live as a Devil Sorcerer.
And Rei, who had Devil Sorcerers as enemies, knew this as well.
Even if the price wasn't lifespan, it was the same. The price was something that tormented the Devil Sorcerer.
In some ways, a price that wasn't lifespan was more dangerous.
Prices that weren't lifespan were mostly related to pain. They inflict fatal damage to the mind.
Roman's power was ultimately nothing more than consuming his own lifespan.
It wasn’t something to be handled recklessly.
"Hey! You'll really die at this rate!!"
"It's fine! Just look ahead!"
"You... madman...!"
He'd really die at this rate.
Seeing Roman's suicidal charge, Rei frowned strongly and rushed forward.
He was like this during training too.
What kind of Devil Sorcerer uses power like crazy just because he got scratched a bit in a duel?
A madman who couldn't control his emotions.
A guy who didn't think about tomorrow at all and lived only for today.
That was how Rei saw Roman.
To stop him, she had to end the fight itself.
She put strength in her legs and made a big leap.
Now was her chance, with the Touch of Evil reduced in number due to Roman's magic bullets.
Thud-! Pat!
Two footsteps propel Rei's body forward like a comet.
An intense silver flash forms in Rei's hand.
Her magic, Argentooth, was magic-breaking magic.
Even the protective magic Malebris would have cast was like paper before her fangs.
Rei's fist drove itself into Malebris' heart.
Simultaneously, a huge beast's head suddenly pops out from Malebris's chest.
"Huh?"
Chomp!!
As the beast's mouth closed, Rei's hand was bitten off at the wrist.
There was no pain.
The arm wrapped in silver mana didn't allow the beast's teeth to invade.
However, even without injury, it wasn’t without its own price.
My strength...
A sense of exhaustion overwhelmed her.
She tried to pull out, but her body didn't listen.
I've exceeded Argentooth's magic-breaking range.
She focused too much on the attack.
She should have paid more attention to defense as well...
Lack of practical experience.
Rei's mistake stemmed from this.
"You brats...!"
The voice flowing from Malebris' mouth was murky and rough.
His original voice was a bizarre echo with barely a trace left.
"My... lifespan... how much...!"
All mages had a trump card.
Malebris was no exception.
A devil's avatar summoned at the cost of lifespan.
A power far surpassing the Touch of Evil that only borrowed part of the power extinguished Rei's silver light.
That was the beginning.
Pak! Papak! Pak!
Hands, feet, and finally, the neck.
Rei's suppression was instantaneous.
And the fate of the rear guard who lost their vanguard was the same.
"You... know you won't die peacefully...! I won't kill you. Right. I can't just kill you quietly... I can't do that..."
He looked half out of his mind.
His voice sounded like it was barely being squeezed out.
But contrary to that, Roman was calm.
Even though Rei, who had been acting as the vanguard, was now incapacitated.
It was Roman, who didn't know him, who was keeping the cardinal principle of being a Devil Sorcerer.
Rei struggled desperately to escape from the hands restraining her, but it was in vain.
The devil's mouth, summoned at a tremendous cost, would never let Rei go.
"It's okay."
What's okay?
Who is he saying this to?
Me?
To me, who wouldn't die anyway, but would just be returned to the slave trader who hired Malebris?
To the guy who was about to suffer a terrible fate at the hands of a fellow Devil Sorcerer?
Despite the terrible future approaching him, he comforted others with a calm demeanor.
In that appearance, Rei overlapped someone she remembered.
You, just who...
Malebris approached Roman with a chilling smile.
As if anticipating an upcoming festival.
Faced with a reality so terribly similar to a scene she had seen before, Rei desperately shouted, "Stop it! I'm the one you're after anyway!!"
Malebris ignored her cry.
His mission was to capture Rei alive.
He didn't need to care about what happened in the process.
Summoning another dark hand to cover Rei's mouth, Malebris looked straight at Roman and said, "I'm going to brand you now."
"...Brand?"
"You don't know. Well, a novice who just made a pact with a low-grade devil wouldn't know."
Malebris smiled an unpleasantly expectant smile, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
As if hoping Roman would feel fear and despair at what was about to happen.
"There are differences in rank among Devils. Just like the world we live in, there are hierarchies and orders among Devils too. Branding forces this onto the pact-bearers as well. Just as a higher-ranking Devil commands a lower-ranking one, it makes their pact-bearers a subordinate too."
"So... Devil power applies a hierarchical relationship according to rank?"
Malebris answered with a sneer.
His finger touched Roman's forehead.
The sharp nail tore the skin, drawing blood.
"You will live as my slave. You'll be a servant and a test subject, and eventually become a sacrifice offered to Devils."
"But I've been thinking."
Roman spoke as if unafraid of Malebris's threats, "Why could my magic bullets so easily negate your magic?"
While the power of magic bullets was strong, even to Roman, who didn't know much about Malebris's magic, it seemed several levels higher.
Yet Roman's magic bullets so easily neutralized the Touch of Evil.
Why?
The answer was what Malebris had said.
The difference in rank.
"It’s as I thought."
It was the answer Seir had already told him.
Before Malebris could retreat, Roman ignited flames of mana all over his body.
Malebris's magic melted away like snow.
As the Touch of Evil restraining Roman disappeared, Roman's freed hand grasped Malebris's wrist.
"Got you."
The flames of mana Roman ignited engulfed Malebris like a wildfire spreading.
"What...!!"
"I’ll gladly accept you’re tuition now."
The black flames burned fiercely.
Malebris tried to escape, but it was already too late.
Foolishly, he had narrowed the distance himself, and the moment he allowed contact, it was too late.
Malebris tried to resist by drawing up his mana, but it was futile.
A pure mana battle, not magic.
The devil he had made a pact with couldn't match Seir's rank.
It collapsed.
The mana.
The magic.
The flesh.
Before the mana was generously poured out by a higher-ranking devil, Malebris' patron devil couldn’t possess its pact-bearer.
The scene was like a burnt offering.
It was a sacrifice that eliminated evil, becoming a living offering itself.
How much of a price must be paid to raise that much mana?
Rei's pupils shook.
Again.
It was like this again.
Even after the hands and beast holding her disappeared, Rei stood there blankly.
At this moment, Rei's consciousness overlaid the past onto the present.
Why do you...
Eventually, as if all the offerings had been received, the flames subsided.
As Roman lets go of his hand, Malebris collapses to the ground like a corpse with no consciousness.
But Roman didn't fall.
Standing straight, he looked at Rei with eyes without a hint of dimness.
Unlike that person.
Unlike Rei's brother.
As if nothing happened, just like usual.
He stood proudly as if announcing he was alive.
Devil Sorcerers paid a price.
And when they have to pay an unbearable price, Devil Sorcerers perish.
Then, how large must Roman's capacity be?
Faced with a reality that shook her common sense to the core, Rei unconsciously asked:
"You, just what are you?"
"What else?"
Roman answered as if it was obvious.
"I'm a Devil Sorcerer."
§
Ugh.
This is really exhausting.
The pact seal feels stiff. I overdid it again.
Tomorrow's interpersonal combat training was ruined.
It really was a brute-force way of fighting.
But it worked out well, so it was fine, right?
[Pact-bearer, that method is not beautiful.]
I'm sorry. I'm a pact-bearer without magic, after all.
[You should learn magic quickly.]
Hmm, well. I should.
She wasn’t going to teach me magic herself, yet she nags at me like this?
It wasn’t as easy as she made it sound.
[...You are irreverent.]
That's unfair.
After all, it was you, or rather, the other Devil Sorcerer, who taught me I could win like this.