Caleon, the capital of the Deus Theocracy.
Pope Rab had set aside his burdensome affairs of state for the first time in quite a while and was taking a stroll across the land blessed by the goddess Deuslute.
The beautifully maintained garden, lush with greenery, overflowed with a warm, radiant energy that seemed to embrace every living thing upon the earth.
“Your Holiness Rab. You’re in poor health, and yet you insist on taking a walk.”
The attendant following behind Rab spoke with a sigh.
He was a Holy Knight clad in a dignified suit of silver armor.
Rab frowned at his attendant’s words.
“Dallyun, you insolent brat. If anything is ruining my health, it is your constant nagging. Do you truly think a little stroll will send me straight into the goddess’s embrace?”
“You need to consider your age. You’re sixty now. Who knows what might happen?”
“There isn't a specific age in which people enter the goddess’s embrace. Enough of your grumbling. I hear something interesting happened recently. Tell me about that instead.”
Holy Knight Dallyun let out a sigh and began delivering the report Rab wanted.
“A Hero has awakened at Elyon Academy in the Dritania Empire. The verification process confirmed that the individual has indeed awakened the Hero’s power.”
“What? A Hero has awakened for the first time in a hundred years? Hoho, now that is certainly…”
Rab stopped walking and looked up at the sky.
“It would seem the goddess has been rather busy.”
Dallyun waited patiently for Rab to finish gathering his thoughts.
Once Rab resumed walking, he followed and continued his report.
“Furthermore, we summoned the parties involved in the recent attack so that we could establish the full sequence of events. They are expected to arrive at the Holy See sometime today.”
“Yes, yes. A Hero has appeared after a hundred years, and demons have revealed themselves as well. The world is bound to fall into turmoil. At times like these, we must understand every detail. We must discern the goddess’s will correctly. Only then can we usher in paradise.”
“Your words are wise. Ah, one moment…”
Dallyun checked a message that had arrived on his Mana Phone.
He carefully stepped away from Rab before answering the call.
Rab watched him go and quietly clicked his tongue.
“That shameless brat. Grow too dependent on the conveniences of such worldly devices, and divine punishment will strike you down. Now, then… Good heavens!”
“Wah!”
Rab turned forward and started walking again, only to collide with something.
The impact knocked him backward, and he landed hard on his rear.
“Ow, my poor backside…! Who was that?”
“Wah, ah! I’m sowwy!”
The one who had collided with Rab was a tiny girl.
She looked no older than five.
“Ahh… Ahhh…”
The girl fidgeted anxiously when she realized she had knocked Rab over.
She had been wandering through the garden and failed to watch where she was going.
Rab studied her for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter and encouraged her.
“Wahahaha! Little one! You managed to knock me off my feet! You are destined for greatness!”
“Ahhh… Huhhhh?”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Nothing aches?”
“I-I’m all wight!”
As Rab looked the girl over for injuries, Dallyun came running back.
“Your Holiness Rab, what happened?”
“It is nothing serious. I merely discovered an unpolished gem in the garden.”
“Good grief. Please maintain some dignity. The individuals I mentioned earlier have arrived.”
“Is it already time to work? Hmph. Since you love work so much… Fine, why don’t you become Pope instead?”
“Please do not start that again…”
Rab gently supported the girl and helped her to her feet.
The girl now looked at Rab without a trace of fear in her eyes.
“Little one, what is your name?”
“Caneria! That’s me!”
“Oho, I see. Caneria, was it? I shall remember you. Run along now.”
“Goodbye! Yow… Holynesh?”
“Hohoho, yes!”
The girl gave him a clumsy but polite farewell before pattering away.
Rab watched her go with a warm gaze, then turned around.
“Where are the individuals in question?”
“They are waiting in the usual chamber.”
“Let us go.”
The two returned by the way they had come, moving much faster than before.
They crossed the Holy See’s inner courtyard and headed deeper into the complex, their surroundings growing darker as they went.
Before long, they entered a long and labyrinthine secret passage.
Neither of them spoke a single word until they reached their destination.
After a considerable amount of time, they arrived at the deepest and darkest place beneath the Holy See.
It was far too foul and repulsive to exist beneath a land overflowing with peace and light.
The chamber they entered was a brutal torture room.
Strangely, every instrument of torture inside was imbued with the radiance of divine blessings.
In the center of the torture room, a lone figure knelt with her forehead pressed against the floor.
“Your… Holiness Rab…”
It was Andras, the demon possessing Beatrice’s body.
“I grant you permission to address me by my true name, Andras.”
“Lord… Baal… Everything that went wrong was entirely…”
“That thing’s fault? Pull it up.”
Dallyun seized one of the chains hanging inside the torture chamber and gave it a hard pull.
Something was dragged from the boiling cauldron in the corner of the room.
Its skin had melted away across its entire body, leaving bones exposed, yet it still screamed.
“Gaaaaaaagh-!! Please!! Please give me one chance to clear my disgrace-!!”
“Flauros, flame of unending agony. Are boiling oil and overflowing Holy Water more painful than your own flames?”
“Please!! Please, have mercy!!”
“How noisy. Put it back in.”
“Nooooooo-!!”
Dallyun released the chain.
With a rapid clatter of winding links, Flauros and his screams were dragged back into the boiling cauldron.
As Andras listened to those screams, terror seized her, making her feel as though she were the one being pulled beneath the surface.
Baal gazed coldly down at Andras as she trembled with her forehead against the floor.
“You are fortunate, Andras. The flesh you possess belongs to an Imperial Princess. It would be terribly inconvenient for an Imperial Princess to disappear in these troubled times. Yes, terribly inconvenient indeed.”
“P-Please give me a chance to explain…”
“You mean that nonsense about being deceived by a demon named Berith and having every last Demonization Accelerator stolen from you?”
Baal picked up a long iron spike from among the torture instruments.
Then he pressed its tip into Andras’s left hand, forcing it deeper little by little.
Sssssssssss-!!
“Mmmgh…!”
Without the ring protecting her, a blade imbued with divine power inflicted pain far beyond that of a branding iron.
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“P-Please… If you would only review the circumstances once more…”
“Agares. Explain.”
“Yes, Lord Baal.”
The demon Agares, still wearing Dallyun’s appearance, stepped forward.
He looked down at the trembling Andras and began his explanation.
“According to your testimony, Berith is indeed the 28th-Ranked Demon. However, he is not involved in our grand design. He never has been.”
“But he said it was a surprise inspection…!”
“His epithet is the Demon of Lies. In other words, you were thoroughly deceived. We never created an organization called the Inspectorate, nor have we ever considered creating one.”
It was exactly the answer Andras had expected.
The confirmation made her body tremble with rage even more violently than the pain did.
Agares continued.
“Berith has no intention of participating in our grand design, but neither has he ever shown any interest in obstructing it. Still, this situation is certainly strange. We have been unable to confirm Berith’s recent movements.”
“Th-Then, does that mean…? Ngh…!”
At that moment, Baal pulled the iron spike from her hand and spoke.
“It means there is a possibility that the one you encountered truly was Berith.”
He tossed the iron spike into a corner, then planted his foot on the back of Andras’s head.
“Losing such a vast supply of Demonization Accelerators should have been more than enough reason to fry you in that cauldron of oil and Holy Water. Nevertheless, I will grant you another chance.”
“A-A chance…?”
“The Grand Festival has been moved forward. A considerable number of nobles will gather at the Imperial academy. Not the worthless trash who hunger desperately for power, but genuine nobles of real standing.”
Andras immediately understood what Baal was suggesting.
It was also a reckless plan.
“B-But Lord Baal! After the recent incident, security at the academy will have been reinforced, and the nobles will be on high alert! There is no possible way I can handle this alone!”
“Do you think I am unaware of that? How dare you raise your voice to me?”
Crrrrrrk.
“Aaaaaagh…”
Under the tremendous pressure of Baal’s foot, Andras’s skull slowly began to compress.
Just as the blood vessels in her eyes were about to burst, Baal eased the pressure and spoke again.
“You will receive support.”
“Support… Y-Yes. If I have support, then…”
“I will send Gremory. Conduct yourself accordingly.”
“…!”
At those words, a jealousy surpassing even terror seized Andras’s entire body.
‘That bitch…! Anyone but her…! I won’t lose to someone like her…!’
“Oho, what a wonderful emotion. Powerful emotions summon even greater power. Do you intend to defy my command? Perhaps you might even manage to kill me.”
“…!! N-No! Of course not… I will obey…”
“Good.”
Baal removed his foot from Andras’s head.
Then, as though his business there had concluded, he immediately turned toward the torture chamber’s exit.
Andras remained prostrate behind him, trembling without pause.
Baal had nearly stepped outside when he stopped and called to Agares.
“Ah, one more thing, Agares.”
“Yes, Lord Baal.”
“Throw that child into the Blood Furnace. She possessed a rather useful amount of Magic Power. Throw in her blood relatives as well.”
“When you say ‘that child,’ whom do you mean?”
Baal, still wearing the face of Pope Rab, smiled brightly with all the benevolence expected of a kindly pontiff.
“The little girl named Caneria whom we met earlier.”
***
「Andras, why did you remain silent after suffering such humiliation? Just what kind of demon is that man…?」
“Shut up. A worthless human has no right to speak to me.”
Andras was riding in a carriage on her way back to the academy.
She was already sick of hearing Beatrice’s reproaches the instant she put the ring back on, but she had no other choice.
“More importantly, why haven’t you lost your mind like all the other souls?”
「It is the power of faith.」
“Damned bitch…”
The Soul Trap Ring could imprison souls whose minds had already collapsed, but it possessed no function that allowed its wearer to torture those souls.
As a result, Andras had been forced to endure Beatrice’s relentless lectures for the past several years.
Today was no different.
「You should enter the goddess’s embrace as well. The goddess Deuslute loves all beings in creation equally.」
“Even demons? What a load of sanctimonious garbage…”
「It is better to live with dignity than to endure a life of humiliation. According to the doctrine…」
“Fuck, why didn’t anyone give this thing a mute function…!”
Andras groaned and clapped her hands over her ears, though it did nothing to silence the voice inside her.
As she nursed her rage, she began plotting her next move.
“I’ll make them submit. Every last one of them…! But how? That useless bastard Flauros is finished. I need someone who can become my hands and feet immediately… But who would help me…? Someone who can quickly become a demon…”
At that moment, someone came to Andras’s mind.
Rumors had spread throughout the academy about a certain individual who continued his hellish training even during the temporary closure.
“He seemed completely obsessed with gaining strength… And from what I heard, he’ll be expelled unless he reaches first place in the Academic Ranking… He’d probably sell his soul if it meant becoming stronger…”
「Who are you talking about?」
“His name was… Ex, wasn’t it?”
「…!」
Beatrice tensed.
She did not react so recklessly as to gasp in horror.
Unfortunately, her opponent was Andras.
Andras remembered that Beatrice had shown an interest in Ex.
“…Aha, that’s right. Ex was the human you were interested in. I’d forgotten all about that.”
「Who is Ex? I’ve never heard that name before.」
“Too late, damned Imperial Princess.”
「Ngh…」
Andras took out the only Soul Trap Ring she had left.
It was the ring she had once intended to give to Ex but never found the chance to deliver.
“Berith must have been behind the Ring Circle being exposed too…”
The Academy Guard had raided the Ring Circle, the primary source through which she obtained these artifacts.
As a result, this was the only ring she had left.
“I’ll use this to corrupt his soul and have a demon possess him.”
The ring contained a curse that corrupted the wearer’s soul.
The moment Ex put it on, it would all be over.
Afterward, she only needed to hand him a Demon Summoning Scroll and manipulate him into using it.
Then she could subjugate the demon that possessed him and turn it into her servant.
“I can’t believe this is my last card… Still, this will be enough. With this, I can deal with ‘that bitch,’ that bastard Con Artist, and all those Archdemon vermin…”
A twisted smile spread across Andras’s face.
Beatrice’s heart tightened as she watched her.
‘Ex, please find a way through this crisis. All I can do for you now is pray.’
***
『Synopsis – Beatrice de Dritania’s Viewpoint
「…After suffering such humiliation, Andras needed a demon who could serve as her hands and feet. After considering who she should sacrifice, she decided to turn Ex into a demon. She believed that if she transformed the human Beatrice cared about into a demon, she would be able to force Beatrice into submission as well. Beatrice could do nothing but pray.」』
“Hah, now that’s funny. She’s going to turn me into a demon? I’m already a demon.”
Ex snorted as he read the Synopsis.
“I can see right through you, idiot.”
Unfortunately for Andras, Ex had already read her entire plan.
This was Ex’s first cheat.
–TL Notes–
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