The ground around the spot where Milia had come crashing down was now a sea of fire. Though the flames were nothing more than a manifestation shaped from internal energy, they radiated scorching heat in every direction like real fire.
“Graaagh!! Sword of the Empire…!!”
And Dantalion, who had been standing right where she landed, had been crushed and burned into a horrific mess. Considering he'd taken Milia's plunge head-on, that was only natural.
“Why the hell are you here, you bitch…!”
His tenacious grip on life clearly hadn't gone anywhere. Even with nothing left below his waist, he crawled across the ground like a bug, grinding his teeth in fury.
Milia, her entire body wreathed in blazing internal energy, looked down at him coldly. Then she casually spoke to Ex.
“You struggled against trash like this? I'm disappointed, Ex. Want me to put you through the Imperial Guard's training regimen?”
“Thank you, but I'll respectfully decline. More importantly, please look behind you. We're still in danger because of those things.”
Ex was pointing at the beetle monsters and demons that had survived the bombardment.
They had faltered at Milia's appearance, but the will to fight still burned in their eyes.
Milia took stock of the remaining enemy forces and snorted.
“Nothing but worthless rabble. I don't even need to step in. The knights and the Imperial Guard can handle them.”
As if to prove her point, the clatter of plate armor and steel boots began echoing from the alleys between the buildings surrounding the area.
They were the knights and Imperial Guards who defended the Empire and the Imperial Family.
There were hundreds of them, as though every available force in the surrounding area had been mobilized.
Their determination to tear the Revolutionary Front out by the roots was almost palpable.
All forces-! Charge-!!
Waaaaaaaaah-!!
At their commander's roar, the army of steel drew its swords.
Amazingly, every single blade was wreathed in an Aura Blade.
‘The knight order and Imperial Guard should all be at least 5-Star…’
Hundreds of 5-Star fighters. It was such an overwhelming concentration of force that it was almost absurd.
They had clearly brought everyone they could spare, leaving behind only the bare minimum needed to defend the Imperial Palace.
Empowered by internal energy, the knights and Imperial Guards surged forward without hesitation and charged straight into the beetle monsters and demons.
Even those that had survived Stella Strike couldn't withstand the Aura Blades of 5-Star warriors.
It wasn't even a battle.
It was one-sided pest control.
“Now you're the only one left. Dantalion Lukenic, leader of the Revolutionary Front.”
After surveying the battlefield, Milia turned and looked down at Dantalion.
“Damn it, damn it…! Why the hell are the Revolutionary Front and the Imperial Family working together!!”
Even while screaming in rage, Dantalion's mind was still desperately searching for a way to escape.
He was stitching his burned-away lower body back together with insects, desperately trying to regenerate.
And once he finally understood what had happened, Dantalion shouted as though throwing one last tantrum.
“Ah, I see…! So there was never any Commoner Hero in the first place? The whole thing was bait to lure out the Revolutionary Front? H, hahaha! You're insane. You're all insane! Using the Hero for something like this… Your Empire and the Imperial Family have completely lost their minds…!”
“Don't flap your mouth like a human when you're nothing but an insect. As the principal instigator of treason against the Empire, you have been sentenced to immediate execution. On top of that, you're a demon, not even human. There is no reason to let you live.”
Milia simply swung her sword once. The instant Dantalion was struck, his body was engulfed in flames formed from internal energy.
“And I'll be carrying out the sentence myself.”
With Dantalion's body being made of insects, the attack was devastating.
“Aaaaaagh-!! Damn you-!!! Don't think this ends here!!! Once the people learn that you've joined forces, they'll rise up in rebellion!!! And when they do, your Empire will be finished too!!!”
“Ex, are you sure this guy's actually a demon? The way he talks, he sounds exactly like a real revolutionary leader.”
“Apparently, he got a little too immersed in the role. Oh, right. Do you know what he told me earlier? He said he doesn't even know what a revolution is.”
“He's even crazier than I thought.”
There was nothing more futile than a villain's final tantrum after his role had already ended.
Pathetic as Dantalion looked now, he was still a demon who had personally killed more than a thousand people over the course of decades.
Ex would have liked to make him suffer far worse than this, but killing him quickly and making sure he was gone was the safer choice.
“I… will return… you vermin…”
And with that, Dantalion crumbled into ash amid the flames.
A fitting end for a demon.
“Then I suppose I should deal with the rest.”
Milia's gaze shifted toward Roxwell and the members of the downtown branch. They were members of the Revolutionary Front as well, so her eyes were anything but friendly.
Ex hurriedly stepped forward.
“These people were only being used. I went there myself and checked. They haven't done anything bad enough to deserve execution. Killing them would be far too harsh.”
“Ex, move. That's not for you to decide. And when did I ever say I was going to execute them? I'd appreciate it if you stopped treating me like some kind of executioner.”
‘You draw your sword at the drop of a hat, though.’
Radiating fierce pressure, Milia walked toward Roxwell and the other members.
Roxwell stepped forward as well, meeting her pressure head-on.
“That presence… I see. So you're the Sword of the Revolution I fought back then.”
“Enough with that ridiculous nickname. I have a name. It's Roxwell.”
“His Highness Imperial Prince Darius is granting you one final mercy. Surrender. We will show you as much leniency as circumstances allow.”
Fortunately, it seemed Darius had spoken to her about this beforehand.
Ex was relieved that the situation hadn't immediately turned into another explosive confrontation.
Whatever else happened, Roxwell was still his master.
“…Fine. We surrender.”
Roxwell let out a faint sigh and lowered his sword.
The other members exchanged uncertain looks before lowering their weapons as well.
Now that they knew their revolution had been nothing more than a demon's scheme, they no longer had any reason to keep resisting.
“Hey, commoner-!!”
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from somewhere nearby.
Ex turned around and saw two familiar faces hurrying toward him from a distance with quick, short steps.
“Lady Lola, Miss Circe. Why are you here…”
“What the hell have you been doing without me this time, you stupid commoner!”
“Oof!”
Lola's tiny fist buried itself in his solar plexus.
It didn't actually hurt, but Ex pretended it did.
Lola repeatedly thumped her knuckles against his chest as she continued.
“Just try going off and doing something without me again! You saw what happened today, didn't you? You would've been in serious trouble without me! I saved your life! That's a debt you couldn't repay even if you spent the rest of your life trying!”
“So that really was your magic, Lady Lola.”
“Of course it was! And you need to thank Circe too! We only managed to break that grand magic because of her! She reverse-engineered the grand magic from outside and kept interfering with it, weakening it over and over!”
“…Hmph.”
At Lola's words, Circe conspicuously folded her arms and raised her chin.
Reverse-engineering a grand magic and interfering with it from the outside was no easy feat. She truly lived up to the title of Reincarnated Sage.
‘Then why do those two seem about the same mental age right now?’
Maybe spending so much time around Lola had rubbed off on Circe.
Ex let out a long sigh of relief.
There was only one reason the two of them were making such a fuss.
“I'm sorry for worrying you. I thought this situation was simply too dangerous. I got so worried about dragging you into it that I didn't discuss any of this with either of you.”
If someone thought of you as a companion, being shut out and ignored like that was bound to hurt.
Ex had done exactly that to them, so it was only natural that they were angry.
Even so, they'd still come running to save him the moment he was in danger.
He couldn't have been more grateful.
“I'm sorry, Miss Circe, Lady Lola. Next time, no matter what happens, I'll make sure to discuss it with both of you first.”
Once he apologized sincerely, some of Lola and Circe's anger finally eased.
Lola smiled in satisfaction and nodded,
while Circe let out a quiet sigh and relaxed her frown.
Then Circe's gaze suddenly sharpened and moved past Ex.
“Rosaria, Diana. Why are you two here?”
There was nothing friendly about Circe's stare.
That was only natural. She had already drawn a clear line between herself and that party once before.
And even aside from that, it was painfully obvious the two of them had caused some kind of trouble.
“Diana, do something…”
“Rosaria, you explain it…”
Only then did Rosaria and Diana seem to fully realize what they'd done, and both of them clamped their mouths shut.
Watching them nudge each other back and forth, each desperately trying to make the other take the fall, made Circe's concern all too obvious.
“So, um… the thing is…”
In the end, Rosaria tearfully explained everything that had happened.
“You two, seriously…!”
Circe's sharp scolding came crashing down on both of them.
After hearing about the Doomsday Scenario from Ex, she immediately understood just how catastrophically dangerous their mistake had been.
Regardless of the fact that she'd left the Reincarnated Hero Party, this was something she had to give them a piece of her mind about.
‘Well, as long as no one died, that was what mattered…’
Then someone suddenly came to mind.
‘Bella, what exactly were you trying to do?’
Bella, the demon who had received a name from Ex.
She had succeeded in carrying out a perfect ambush, only to be killed almost immediately afterward.
Since she was a demon, she probably hadn't truly died and had simply been returned to Hell.
But that meant she would have to endure the horrific life of Upper Hell all over again.
Having a name might have made her a little stronger.
But a little extra strength wasn't enough to make life in Upper Hell easy.
‘Did she even properly received a name from me in the first place?’
He had felt the same kind of bond between souls that he'd experienced during Divine Power Manifestation.
That bond was still there even now.
Why something like that had happened to someone who could manifest divine power was still a mystery.
If there was one explanation that seemed even remotely plausible,
it was that Bella had reacted to his Demonic Power.
Demonic Power was, after all, the power of demons.
‘That was something I will have to investigate later too.’
Ex looked toward the bloodstain Bella had left behind.
Only now did he realize something.
The Soul Trap Ring wasn't there.
For some reason, he had a feeling they might meet again someday.
—
Far away from the open lot in the city where all the commotion had taken place.
A tiny insect no larger than a finger crawled through the darkness.
「Damn it, damn it, damn it…! The Revolutionary Front and the Imperial Family joined forces…! I never saw that coming…!」
Amazingly, that tiny insect was Dantalion's true body.
The desperate spectacle he'd shown Milia had been nothing more than a diversion, meant to draw everyone's attention while his true body escaped.
This form was the very reason Dantalion was capable of Descent.
His true body was an absurdly tiny insect, so all he needed was an equally tiny opening to Hell in order to cross between realms.
After that, he only had to parasitize a suitable human body and slowly accumulate power until he could unleash the strength he'd possessed in Hell.
That was the secret behind the power that had placed Ex and the others in such danger.
「But I still survived…! Now all I have to do is take over a suitable human body… Once I gather my strength again, I can slowly, little by little, eat away at the Empire from within…!」
The tenacity of a demon who had spent decades slaughtering thousands of people knew no end. That very persistence was what had allowed him to become a high-ranking demon.
Caution, tenacity, and exceptional cunning. Dantalion was a demon who possessed every weapon necessary for survival.
In truth, if Lola and Circe, as well as Rosaria and Diana, hadn't been there this time, Ex and Roxwell would undoubtedly have died.
「And if it hadn't been for that damned demon from Upper Hell…!」
But at that very moment, the fact that Dantalion was a descended demon became the worst possible thing for him.
“You mean me?”
A voice from the shadows answered Dantalion's muttering.
Dantalion felt goosebumps rise along a back he didn't even have.
He had no power left right now.
If someone attacked him in this state, he would certainly die.
He couldn't allow himself to be sent back to Hell so pathetically after everything he'd done to escape.
「Who are you!! I am Dantalion, the 71st-Ranked Demon! Show yourself at once, kneel before my rank, and pay your respects!」
His name and reputation were the only weapons he had left.
He didn't know who the other party was, but there was a high chance they were a demon.
If they were a low-ranking demon, he could force them to cooperate.
「Show yourself at once!!」
“Do you know how Nameless Demons survive?”
But whoever was hiding there simply continued saying whatever they wanted.
“Nameless Demons instinctively seek out powerful demons. If a powerful demon gives them a name, their own power grows stronger in turn. In exchange, they swear their loyalty.”
「Y, you want a name? Fine, I'll give you one! Now show yourself! I can give you whatever name you want…!」
“But if you latch onto a demon who's only somewhat strong… you'll spend the rest of your existence suffering. Maybe you'll become nothing but a toy. Maybe you'll be recycled forever as a disposable soldier. Once that happens, there's only one way out.”
Dantalion knew exactly what she was talking about.
Receiving a name from the wrong demon could condemn someone to an eternity of suffering.
The only way to escape that suffering was to kill their master.
Normally, such a thing was impossible. A named demon was almost always weaker than the master who had named them.
But there was one method that offered the fastest possible path to greater strength.
「Kin Devouring…」
A pair of violet eyes appeared within the darkness.
The figure slowly stepped out of the shadows and revealed herself.
Her short hair was such a deep shade of purple that it was almost black, and her eyes were cool and subdued.
Two shadow daggers rested in her hands.
A Soul Trap Ring gleamed on the index finger of her right hand.
Dantalion knew exactly who she was.
「Y, you…! You traitor…! But how? You definitely died! You should have been returned to Hell…!」
It was Bella's true form, the demon who had received a name from Ex.
As though granting him one final mercy, Bella explained.
“A named demon revives beside their Lord. Luckily for me, my Lord is a descended demon. I'm a special-type demon who can manipulate my presence, so the moment I revived, I hid myself. My Lord is hiding his identity too, after all.”
Dantalion couldn't understand what Bella was telling him.
There had been another high-ranking descended demon there besides him?
Or had Bella already been a named demon from the very beginning?
Of course, Bella had no intention of helping Dantalion understand.
“One thing's certain. As long as my Lord doesn't go to Hell… I won't have any reason to go back there either.”
Shnk-!
Bella drove her dagger straight down into Dantalion's body.
「Gaaaaagh-!! What are you trying to do!!」
“Honestly, I wasn't sure either. A demon that can use divine power? Does that even make sense? But my instincts just wouldn't shut up. They kept screaming at me that I needed to receive a name from the demon right in front of me. I checked just to be sure, and sure enough, he had demonic power.”
「Kin Devouring is taboo!! Do you think the other demons will let you get away with this!! Do you want to suffer an eternity of punishment!!」
“I've been betrayed every single time until now. I'm willing to swear loyalty to any demon who actually keeps his promises. But someone like you, who treats promises like garbage? You deserve to be eaten. And if I can, I need to get stronger for our Lord too.”
「No-!!! Anything but Kin Devouring, please!!!」
Crunch-!!
Bella's sharp teeth tore into Dantalion's body, shredding the tiny insect to pieces.
His soft flesh offered no resistance whatsoever as it disappeared down Bella's throat.
“Ugh, maybe it's because you're a bug, but you taste freaking awful.”
There was a reason Kin Devouring was considered taboo among demons.
Because demons could never truly die, being devoured meant suffering eternally while slowly losing one's reason and having one's power stolen away.
The demon who did the devouring gained tremendous power.
But if they couldn't control that power, they would become a monster.
That was how the monstrous demons of Upper Hell had fallen so far.
Once a demon became a monster, it turned into a creature that did nothing but eat for all eternity.
Demons could not die, so they remained trapped in that state forever. Worse, once their reason was gone, Kin Devouring could no longer make them stronger.
For a demon, there was hardly a more horrific fate.
“But I can control it.”
Bella felt power flooding into her.
The vast, uncontrollable power she'd stolen from Dantalion surged through her as though seeking revenge, trying to drive away her sanity and consume her reason.
But Bella endured.
She stared at the Soul Trap Ring her Lord had given her, still resting on the index finger of her right hand, and hardened her resolve, her will, and her desires.
Before long, the violent power submitted completely to Bella's control.
“Phew… Even weakened, the 71st-Ranked Demon is still a little hard to handle.”
Bella shuddered with exhilaration at the overwhelming strength coursing through her entire body.
With this power, anything was possible.
She was certain of it.
“…Maybe I'll go see my Lord.”
And while she was on her way, she could look around for any other descended demons.
She still had plenty of room to indulge in Kin Devouring.
If she became stronger, she could stay beside her Lord forever.
And if possible, she wanted to get rid of the humans hanging around him too.
“Those humans looked pretty strong, so I'd better get stronger too.”
Bella hummed cheerfully as she walked through the dark alley.
Her hands were clasped behind her back, one hand carefully caressing the ring on her finger.
A new variable had been born, one Ex could never have imagined.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won't get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt