Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Asmodeus Falls
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After the fierce battle with Dershion finally came to an end, I had a moment to take stock of the situation.
But I had to do it with a nagging unease in the back of my mind.
“We... fought for quite a while, didn’t we?”
Roan nodded at my words.
“Over three hours, yeah.”
Before we’d split up to take down each legion commander, we’d agreed that whoever finished first would go reinforce the others.
Yet no one had come to help us this whole time.
There was only one thing that could mean.
‘The fights elsewhere are dragging on too.’
With that uneasy thought, I slowly scanned our surroundings.
The first place we reached was where Valefor and Asion Gail were locked in combat.
“...Insane.”
The sight hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving my jaw on the floor.
Every inch of ground within the range of [Asion Field] was soaked in blood.
The one silver lining—if you could call it that—was that it wasn’t all one color.
Blue blood and red blood mingled together, like some twisted work of art.
Of course, the reality was far from artistic.
“Chairman!”
Everyone except Thompson—me, Roan, Kayla, and Barundel—rushed right up to the edge.
We couldn’t step inside because of [Asion Field], but we wanted to get at least a glimpse of how things were going.
And then.
We witnessed a scene straight out of a movie.
“Whoa...”
“...As expected of the Chairman.”
A single white lion pinned a bull’s head down with its front paw, letting out a mournful roar.
Valefor’s eyes were already glazed over, unfocused.
Grrrrr!
Even drenched in blue and red blood staining its mane, the sight was utterly breathtaking.
In stark contrast, Roan stated matter-of-factly,
“The Lion of Glory has never once shown defeat. This was all but inevitable.”
Having known Asion Gail longer than the rest of us, Roan had apparently seen this coming.
That Asion Gail would triumph over the Legion Commander of Greed.
Either way, one weight lifted off my shoulders.
“Then all that’s left is...”
The Legion Commander of Lust, Asmodeus.
“Let’s go.”
We turned and headed straight there.
They’d moved quite a distance away, likely to avoid the fallout from their battle. It took a good while before we found them.
And.
“...What the hell is this?”
The scene there was shocking too.
In a different way from Asion Gail’s fight.
Fortunately, none of the committee chairmen had died or been seriously injured.
“P-Please, stop this!”
The battlefield was pure chaos.
The culprits? Soldiers who’d originally been on our side.
“Dieee!”
“Vanish...!”
For some reason, they’d been completely brainwashed and were attacking the chairmen.
Over a hundred of them, at that.
The chairmen were stuck, unable to fight back or retreat, floundering helplessly.
And worse.
Kagagang!
“...I’ll kill you.”
Among the brainwashed, there were some with serious power.
That one in particular was making things hell for the chairmen.
And his face looked familiar.
I muttered his name without thinking.
“...Elbert?”
Seventh Knight Division Captain Elbert Tyiran.
He’d been sidelined as an injured soldier, but now he was fighting for Asmodeus.
“L-Look here! Snap out of it, please...”
Elbert’s strength under brainwashing was no joke.
Unlike the others charging in blindly, he wielded his sword with precision, striking and retreating strategically.
As if some shred of reason still lingered.
And.
Drip, drip...
Blood poured from his wounds due to his aggressive movements, but he showed no sign of pain.
That’s what made the injured Elbert even more formidable.
[Hahaha! Watching humans is always such fun, isn’t it? So pathetically stupid. No wonder He favors them.]
Amid it all, Asmodeus cackled wildly, clearly enjoying the show.
Her alluring figure stood smack in the middle of the battlefield without lifting a finger, which only fueled my rage.
“That bitch...”
I couldn’t stand by any longer. I charged straight in.
Of course, my first priority wasn’t joining the fray—it was freeing the brainwashed without harming them.
Pang!
The moment I got close, I detonated a flash bang.
The chairmen, Shuhan, and our other allies had already spotted my approach and signal, hunching down in preparation.
“Arghhh!”
“My eyes—!”
Thanks to that, only the brainwashed were exposed to the flash.
Seizing the moment, I moved in one by one, channeling mana into them.
Sssrrk!
Psssh!
The fresh mark of Asmodeus dissolved under my mana.
I’d mastered this method to the point of boredom.
Hell, I was beyond proficient now.
Without stopping, I slipped behind the next one and sent in mana.
Psssh!
That made two.
Psssh! Psssh! Psssh!
Third, fourth, fifth...
“...Where am I?”
“What was I just doing...?”
The number of freed soldiers grew rapidly.
Of course, Asmodeus wasn’t just sitting idle.
[You... you’re really starting to piss me off.]
The moment her eyes flashed crimson.
“Not on my watch!”
The pointy-hat chairman hurled water-attuned mana, halting Asmodeus.
Splaash!
“You dare touch our student? Over my dead body!”
[Damn human...!]
Roooar!
Drenched in water, Asmodeus summoned her demonic energy, face twisted in fury.
It was the same demonic energy, but it felt different from anything we’d faced before.
Refined and seductive.
Less threatening, more like it could ensnare you in an instant.
She was someone we had to handle with a different kind of caution than Dershion or Valefor.
“Buy me some time!”
I shouted to the chairmen, and they all nodded.
That secured us a window. Now I could focus purely on breaking the brainwashing.
Of course, there was a priority order even in that.
I turned my gaze to the one I wanted to free first.
Kclang! Clang! Clang-clang!
There, Elbert and Shuhan clashed swords with ferocious intensity.
“...This is a knight division captain!”
Shuhan was getting pushed back a bit, naturally.
No matter his talent, Shuhan was young, while Elbert was seasoned.
Shuhan’s natural gifts couldn’t quite bridge decades of experience.
“Barundel! Kayla!”
“Got it!”
They got the signal instantly and joined Shuhan.
And they weren’t alone.
Knights under Roan and Elbert, plus the royal guard.
Everyone piled on to restrain just Elbert.
With the royal guard involved—not to mention the others—Elbert couldn’t do much.
“We held off killing him since you said you could break the brainwashing... Nearly took him out.”
One of the royal guards pinning Elbert’s face to the dirt grumbled.
They were elites on par with the chairmen, no doubt.
“Good thing we weren’t too late.”
I brushed off his comment and got straight to work.
Sssrrk.
Mana flowed into Elbert’s body.
Maybe because he was a knight captain, the demonic mark felt thicker than in regular soldiers.
But it was still just a matter of seconds.
In the end, his mark scattered like the rest.
Psssh!
Only then.
“Ugh...!”
Elbert, who’d been thrashing to get up, finally went limp with a pained groan.
A pool of red blood formed where he lay against the ground.
I spoke urgently.
“It’s done. We need to treat his wounds now.”
“...Already?”
“Hurry!”
Elbert’s condition looked dire.
He’d already been in rough shape, barely able to move, and then he’d fought like a maniac.
“Still with us?”
Barundel swiftly laid Elbert flat and checked his consciousness.
“...Here... ahh.”
Fortunately, he was still aware.
Quick on the uptake as ever, Elbert seemed to grasp the situation.
“Hold on just a bit.”
Rrrrip!
Barundel tore his inner shirt and wrapped Elbert’s torso.
Blood immediately soaked through the fabric.
“Wounds look pretty bad. We’ll need to get him back to the medical tent for proper treatment...”
“Yeah, please. Barundel.”
“You got it.”
Barundel nodded grimly, then hoisted Elbert up.
He was one of our key fighters, but bailing now made sense.
“Be back soon.”
Tadadak!
Barundel sprinted off at full speed.
Watching him vanish in seconds, I figured Elbert would be fine.
A veteran demon hunter like Barundel surely knew basic field medicine.
Anyway.
“Looks like we’ve cleared the worst of it.”
Elbert, our biggest obstacle, was free.
Now just the remaining soldiers.
And on top of that.
“We’ll take down that legion commander.”
The royal guard merged with the chairmen.
The precarious situation had stabilized nicely.
“Kayla, help subdue the soldiers.”
“Okay.”
Of course, we couldn’t let our guard down yet.
There were still over ninety brainwashed soldiers left.
We got right back to it, moving fast.
Psssh! Psssh!
How much time passed?
“...That’s the last one.”
Kayla scanned around and confirmed it.
And by then.
[Argh! Get off me!]
Things on Asmodeus’s end had settled too.
She’d been desperately keeping her distance, but now she staggered, visibly drained.
Then suddenly.
[You... you’re the problem!]
She whipped her head toward me, face contorted in rage.
Our eyes locked dead-on.
It wasn’t a normal gaze.
Chiiiing.
Crimson light burst from her eyes.
Instinct told me that’s what got Elbert—and staring too long would turn me into him.
But.
Before the brainwashing could take hold, the royal guard closed in and swung at her neck.
Slash!
The razor-sharp blade, infused with aura, severed Asmodeus’s head.
Thud thud... rollll...
It tumbled pathetically across the ground.