720
Chapter 720
CRACKLE!
A security barrier activated in front of Astaroth as he walked toward the principal's office.
Astaroth gestured, and Lami and Luda approached.
After receiving magical power from the two Guardians with infinite mana, Astaroth reached out and manipulated the security barrier.
WHOOSH!
Soon the security barrier's magic circle turned red under his touch and deactivated, opening the way for Astaroth.
"Good, according to plan."
The greatest concern in Astaroth's plan to take over Pannotia was the existence of the Guardians.
If he didn't follow the rules set by the so called migration plan, the Guardians would appear and annihilate him the moment he entered the physical world, so Astaroth needed countermeasures.
Unlike other great demons, Astaroth chose to use the rarely employed method of reincarnation.
When reincarnating into the physical world, most powers remained sealed, forcing one to endure a vulnerable childhood.
While being sealed reduced the chances of detection, if discovered, the probability of annihilation was high.
Astaroth took this risk and chose to reincarnate as a human.
He concealed his identity and enrolled as a student at Pannotia, setting a trap to capture Principal Arina and the Guardians all at once.
One essential condition for this plan was the existence of Guardians with infinite magical power.
The triplet Guardians were irregulars with inexhaustible magic power, enough to open a gate connecting the physical and demon realms even when Karma's sanctions were in effect.
With their infinite magic, even in a reincarnated body, he could draw out the true power of the great demon Astaroth, making him capable of facing Arina and the Guardians.
Astaroth deliberately modified Hades' integrated circuit, leaked it to anti-establishment groups, and spread information to lure the Guardians directly to Pannotia.
If he could capture not only Principal Arina but also the visiting Guardians and make them his slaves, there would be virtually no one left on earth who could stop him.
Astaroth grinned as he walked through the empty academy corridors.
'Using Richmond to track me was a bad move. Thanks to him, all the professors rushed to the dungeon, making my work easier.'
Astaroth easily disabled the security barriers blocking his path and leisurely arrived at the principal's office.
A powerful security barrier was placed on the office door, but it was useless against him.
WHOOSH!
As he extended his hand, a red magic circle appeared on the principal's office door, the security barrier deactivated, and the doors swung wide open.
"Things are going smoothly."
Astaroth smiled and slowly entered the office with Lami and Luda.
Step, step.
Upon entering, he immediately saw the numerous bookshelves filled with books.
And at the desk in front, Arina was seated.
Arina was signing documents, buried under stacks of paperwork as usual.
Astaroth opened his mouth with a sinister smile toward Arina.
"Arina Lubern. Master of Pannotia. At last we meet."
Arina stopped her signing pen.
She slowly raised her head and smiled at the red-haired boy, Astaroth's reincarnation.
"Astaroth."
Arina called his name casually, as if she had been expecting him.
Astaroth furrowed his brow at her calm demeanor.
"Are you trying to bluff? That's not bad either. That's what humans are like."
In response, Arina put down her pen, met Astaroth's eyes, and spoke.
"How amusing that a demon speaks like a philosopher."
Astaroth shook his head at Arina's mockery.
"No, no. This isn't what I expected. I expected you to either beg pathetically for your life, or resist with false bravado until the end. I expected one of those two."
The composed Astaroth raised both hands while glaring at Arina, causing the marks on Lami and Luda's foreheads behind him to glow red.
The infinite magical power of the two flowed into Astaroth.
WHOOSH!
Strange magical circles soon appeared on Astaroth's body, which was engulfed in red light.
BOOM!
The power of the great demon Astaroth himself began to flow, transcending the limitations of his reincarnated body.
Arina's expression remained unchanged as she watched Astaroth.
Astaroth tilted his head and said,
"Have you gone mad with fear? Or perhaps you're counting on the Guardians who visited this place. Tsk, tsk, lowly creatures. Do you think you alone can stop the true power of a great demon?"
WHOOSH!
Astaroth's body began to rise into the air.
Soon, the powerful magical energy flowing from his body gathered and created a giant eyeball behind his back.
After summoning the burning eyeball, Astaroth smiled with satisfaction.
"The Eye of the Destruction God. One of the weapons of the arrogant savior who was once the master of Babel."
GUGUGUGUGU!
As if his words were a signal, flames of destruction blazed up from the Eye of the Destruction God.
It seemed ready to burn not only Arina but the entire principal's office.
Astaroth looked at Arina and said,
"Arina Lubern, I'll give you one chance. Submit to me. Then I will use you importantly."
Standing before Astaroth with the terrifyingly blazing Eye of the Destruction God, Arina opened her mouth without changing her expression.
"I'll also give you a chance, demon. Leave that body right now and return to the demon realm. Then I'll spare you from complete annihilation."
At Arina's words, Astaroth burst into maniacal laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The powerful magical energy mixed in his laughter shook the entire principal's office.
Astaroth suddenly stopped laughing and glared at Arina.
"I'm tired of tolerating the arrogant bluff of an impudent human."
As he raised his hand, the red light in the Eye of the Destruction God rippled as if about to explode.
"I'll burn your entire body, then extract your soul to make you a lich. Making a 9th Circle mage into a lich should be somewhat useful."
It was just as the narrow eyed Astaroth shot the Destruction God's flames toward Arina.
KWADDDDD!
Suddenly, a massive bone wall rose up in front of the Eye of the Destruction God he had summoned.
The destructive flames spewed by the Eye of the Destruction God were blocked by the solid bone wall and couldn't reach Arina.
Astaroth looked to the side in confusion.
"What is this?"
Surprisingly, Richmond was standing there.
Seeing Richmond, who should have been in the dungeon, appear here, Astaroth clenched his teeth.
"What have you done?!"
Once again, he raised his magical power and shot red lightning toward Arina.
PAJIIIIZZZZ!
Powerful red lightning struck down toward Arina's head.
Then white lightning sprung up from Arina's body, neutralizing Astaroth's lightning.
"Such a lowly creature!"
When he tried to draw up magical power again in anger, he suddenly sensed something strange.
TSUTSUTSUSU!
The seals engraved on Lami and Luda's foreheads gradually faded, and his connection with them was severed.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Astaroth looked at Arina in confusion, but it wasn't her magic.
Realizing this, he turned his head and glared at Richmond.
Richmond was wearing 'The Crown Made from the Cursed King's Skull' on his head and holding 'The Staff of Evil God Ajitahaka' in his hand.
He had used the power of the crown and staff to cut off Astaroth's power controlling Lami and Luda.
Astaroth, who never thought that an earthly necromancer could cancel the power of a great demon like himself, shouted at him with an expression of disbelief.
"Y-you... dare to interfere?!"
Richmond backed away cautiously at Astaroth's imposing manner and said.
"Well, I guess so...? If I just let you be, I'd get fired from the academy, you know?"
Unable to contain his rising anger at this unexpected problem, Astaroth raged.
“You… You insignificant worm! How?!”
Arina's judgment about Richmond was accurate.
He had first considered why Astaroth's reincarnation had come to Pannotia.
And his conclusion was 'Infinite Magical Power.'
It was because demons could immediately exert their original power once they got hold of their guardians with infinite magical power.
It was obvious that the plan for the combat battle for the entire school and the dungeon battle was to create an opportunity to approach the triplets in such a chaotic situation.
During preparations, Richmond had sorted out students who seemed to be approaching the guardians, placing Lara, one of the guardians, in the dungeon, and Lami and Luda at the academy.
This was to observe who would approach these triplets.
At first, he thought they would approach Lara during the confusion in the dungeon, but instead, they targeted Lami and Luda who were stationed at the academy.
Knowing this, Richmond immediately entrusted the situation room to Vane and closed the dungeon.
Thanks to this, Richmond was able to lure Astaroth to the principal's office without arousing his suspicion.
Arina smiled at Astaroth.
"You'll pay the price for targeting Pannotia, demon."
As she snapped her fingers, magical barrier formations rose from all around the principal's office.
WOOOOOONG!
As the demon binding grand barrier formation unfolded, Astaroth stepped back in terror.
'I need to get out of here.'.’
If caught here, his very soul might be annihilated.
The desperate Astaroth abandoned his reincarnated body and rose into the air as a spirit.
WOOOOOONG!
The grand barrier activated, focusing on Astaroth's reincarnated body.
PAJIIIIZZZZ!
Light gathered and seized the red-haired physical body.
Meanwhile, Astaroth's spirit tried to escape the principal's office immediately.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Richmond swung Ajitahaka's staff to capture Astaroth's spirit.
For a moment, it seemed like he had caught him, but Astaroth, being a great demon, was no ordinary being.
The physical body caught in the grand barrier removed its outer garment, revealing a bomb modified as a weapon of mass destruction hidden inside.
Soon the physical body tried to detonate the bomb as commanded by Astaroth's spirit.
Arina hurriedly extended her hand and activated a spell.
WOOOOOOONG!
A massive light flashed and enveloped the magical bomb's explosion, neutralizing its impact.
Richmond, who was behind, also drew up the energy from the crown and staff to neutralize the explosion and summoned magic to protect the student who had been possessed by Astaroth's soul for over a decade.
WOOOOOOONG!
As the massive forces of light and darkness subdued the explosion, the red-haired boy collapsed limply to the floor.
"Roy!"
Richmond immediately ran over to check the student's condition.
Fortunately, there were no visible external injuries.
"Uhhh..."
Soon Roy, Astaroth's vessel and a 4th-year student in the magic class, slowly opened his eyes.
He was startled to see Richmond and the principal.
"Wh-where am I... Did I faint again?"
Roy often showed symptoms of narcolepsy due to Astaroth's parasitic presence.
Arina approached without a specific answer and examined Roy's condition before summoning light.
WOOOONG!
As the healing light settled in his body, Roy's complexion quickly returned to normal and his breathing stabilized.
After confirming this, Arina looked at Richmond and said.
"I'll take care of things here, so Professor Richmond, please go after him."
Richmond nodded and immediately got up.
Then he drew upon the power of the crown to chase after Astaroth's escaped spirit.
Just as he was running out, Richmond felt a familiar vibration from a distance.
"This energy, could it be...?"
Richmond's speed increased as he propelled his body forward.
* * *
—KUUUUGH!
Astaroth's spirit quickly escaped from the principal's office.
He needed to flee to the hideout he had secretly created in the academy's basement to recover his strength.
But he could feel Richmond pursuing him from behind.
'At this rate, I'll be caught by him.'
Then something caught Astaroth's senses.
—Infinite magical power?
Surprisingly, he detected that someone other than the triplet guardians possessed infinite magical power.
—Still young and not properly aware of their power. I can definitely take over that body.
If he could seize the body of someone with infinite magical power, he could quickly regain his strength.
Astaroth's spirit rapidly flew toward where he sensed the infinite magical power.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!
Soon he saw a child looking around the academy grounds.
As Astaroth had anticipated, it was a youngster who didn't yet know how to properly handle their power.
—A blessing in disguise!
Just as he gleamed with excitement and rushed to claim the child's body, a sword strike flew toward Astaroth's spirit.
Though he knew an attack was coming, Astaroth ignored the sword strike and tried to take over the child's body.
But at that moment, the seemingly ordinary sword strike transformed into a brilliant five-colored light.
—Th-this!
Astaroth screamed in disbelief at the light that began to burn his soul.
—Im-impossible! The G-God Slayer has retur...!
With a final scream, the great demon Astaroth's soul turned to ashes and scattered.
TSUTSUTSUSU!
Noah, who had been looking around the Pannotia grounds, opened his eyes wide and asked when Rio suddenly swung his sword.
"Lord Rio, why did you do that?"
"There was a rather large fly. Don't worry, I caught it."
Rio, who answered kindly, raised his head and looked ahead.
He could see his long-missed old comrades running toward him.
"M-Master! Master!"
A man with a pale impression was running at the front, streaming tears and snot.
Rio smiled at Noah and said.
"Noah, come here. I have quite a few people to introduce you to."
The legendary God Slayer finally escaped from the bonds of fate and reached a peaceful sanctuary.
Having become completely free as he had long desired, he finished his long journey with a bright smile toward his precious comrades running toward him.