The Nightmare of Demons
The man who was a nightmare to demons.
'What the hell is all that noise downstairs?'
Count Gidric, a follower of the demons, knew that this gathering marked the final stretch of that person's grand plan. The one who had revealed himself as a member of Pandemonium had promised to transform the continent—starting with this empire—into a world ruled by the corrupt. A world filled with rampant murder, rampant theft, endless lies, and rampant adultery.
Gidric had pledged his loyalty while waiting for that day to come, and now it felt as though the plan was truly nearing its end. But then...
The sound of something shattering and breaking echoed from below. It gave Gidric an ominous feeling.
'What is it?'
Gidric eventually opened the door to his room, intending to go downstairs and check. And at that very moment...
BOOM!
With a tremendous explosion, the door was destroyed, and his loyal subordinate—who also served as the messenger sent by that person—came flying through the wreckage.
"Samuel! What is going on?"
Shivering... Samuel's face was frozen in terror, his entire body trembling violently. His face was a mess of burns, his bones had snapped and torn through his flesh, and several teeth had been knocked out. Who could have beaten a demon into such a wretched state?
"Don't tell me it's Gilbert?"
At Gidric's question, Samuel opened his mouth with a face full of fear.
"N-no! It's not that man, it's some... guh..."
Thud. Thud.
That was when the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs reached them. Samuel stopped mid-sentence and began foaming at the mouth.
'Who on earth could reduce a demon to...'
Watching him, Gidric could hardly believe it. Samuel was a demon. And not just any demon—a mid-tier one at the very least. Even a low-tier demon could handle ten well-trained soldiers. A demon of Samuel's caliber would require an imperial mage division or the Pope's personal paladin order to subdue. Against a high-tier demon, only someone on the level of Duke Gilbert or an entire legion would suffice.
Samuel was a mid-level demon. What's more, that person had personally created additional demons downstairs to deal with Gilbert if he noticed and launched an assault. They were all low-tier, but they could transform into humans and suppress their demonic energy enough that ordinary people wouldn't sense anything amiss.
Yet...
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
The man knocked on the ruined doorframe as if it were still intact and spoke to them with casual ease. The black blood staining his body filled Gidric with an inexplicable sense of dread. Because he could tell that the blood wasn't the man's own—it belonged to the demons.
Gurgle.
The moment Samuel saw the man, his eyes rolled back and he fainted. Gidric stared at the intruder. There was something familiar about him...
"Who are you?"
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Gidric asked the question with feigned composure.
"I am an Inquisitor. I oversee the family affairs division."
The man introduced himself without hesitation, leaving Gidric utterly dumbfounded. What? An Inquisitor?
The ignorant trembled at the mere title, but Gidric knew the truth. They were the Church's foremost interpreters of doctrine—nothing more than scholarly weaklings who could barely hold a pen. And the family affairs division, of all things? Those pathetic creatures could hardly stay alive without paladins to protect them. Wasn't that why they were mockingly called Adultery Investigators? Frail cowards who hid behind paladins and accomplished nothing. What gave a pathetic worm like that the nerve to stand before him?
"So you're just some filthy investigator who sniffs out affairs, huh."
That was why Gidric sneered at him. There was surely a powerful paladin downstairs slaughtering the demons. In that case...
'I just need to kill this Adultery Investigator and escape.'
It was nothing. With the power granted by that person, dealing with a pathetic scholar like this was...
Grab.
"Huh?"
Before he knew it, the man had appeared right in front of him and seized his head. Gidric's eyes widened.
Crack. Crunch.
"Guh..."
"Hmm. A spear of demonic energy? How boring."
The man casually dispersed the spear of demonic energy Gidric had been about to launch and spoke in a disinterested tone.
"Ugh..."
The pain was so intense he couldn't even scream. Gidric couldn't think straight as the man's fingers dug into his skull. The man stared at him coldly for a moment, then glared into empty space and said,
"Well then... if you don't come out, I'll kill this one?"
Who was he talking to? Gidric felt a surge of confusion at the sudden remark. The man waited for a long time before muttering in a disappointed voice.
"To think your choice was to run away... The cost-benefit analysis really doesn't add up."
With a dissatisfied expression, the man looked back at Gidric.
"W-what do you..."
Gidric tried to demand an explanation, but the moment he met the man's glowing green eyes filled with magical power, a chill ran down his spine. How had he not realized it sooner? This man was...
"Jenkinson...! The demon hunter!"
Gidric was overcome with terror. How had he not recognized him? The Inquisitor of the family affairs division. That handsome face. And above all... those green eyes. This man was known as the terror and nightmare of all demons. Thousands of demons had met their end at his hands, including the infamous high-tier demon Amon. He was humanity's greatest demon hunter.
The nightmare of demons.
In that instant, Gidric sensed his own death. And that... was his final thought.
The man drove his fingers even deeper into Gidric's skull and burst his brain.
The man's fingers pierced through bone and flesh, crushing the skull with merciless force. Demonic energy scattered like mist as the brain within was obliterated in an instant.
"Demon hunter, he says..."
I'm an Inquisitor in the family affairs division, you know? I felt a little wronged and voiced my complaint. Of course... the man whose brain had already burst couldn't answer.
"Seriously... these creatures really know how to turn someone's stomach."
Brain matter ran down my arm. I tossed the corpse carelessly to the floor. To be honest, I was aware that I had gained some notoriety among certain demon worshippers. Whenever they encountered me, they would make a fuss about me being a demon hunter or whatever. But from my perspective, it was a truly unfair label.
When investigating emotional matters like adultery, it was inevitable that I would frequently encounter demons who toyed with human emotions. The number of times I had deliberately set out to exorcise demons wasn't actually that high. The ones who specialized in hunting demons were the Exorcists—priests dedicated solely to combating demons. Each of them was a warrior armed with devout faith and powerful holy laws, possessing strength that surpassed an entire unit of ordinary paladins when facing demons.
I was not an Exorcist. I was an Inquisitor who hunted heretics, not a demon-hunting priest. And specifically, an Inquisitor in charge of family matters.
"Aren't you a little late, everyone?"
That was why, when I descended the stairs and saw the paladins who had only just arrived, I spoke with a hint of irritation in my voice. My own work was essentially finished with this incident, but honestly, after dealing with the demon worshipper and the demon myself, I felt like I had taken care of someone else's job without being asked.
Jenkinson Beckett. The sole Inquisitor permitted to operate alone without paladin escorts, by the judgment of Her Excellency Silvestina. The son of Greg Abnaigel, the Guardian Deity of Rucella. A monster who had single-handedly exterminated thousands of demons.
'That man...'
The paladin tensed up completely as he met the gaze of the Inquisitor who seemed to be rebuking them. Priest Jenkinson Beckett. An Inquisitor, and the only special Inquisitor who did not travel with paladin escorts. He had been granted permission for solo action based on Archbishop Silvestina's assessment that he could protect himself without assistance.
More than that... the fact that he was the son of Rucella's Guardian Deity, Greg Abnaigel, and a monster who had already slain thousands of demons alone was so well-known among paladins that there was hardly anyone who didn't recognize him. The rumor that even Archbishop Hermann, who oversaw the Exorcists, had his eye on him was known to everyone within the Church.
That was why the paladin remained inwardly tense as he moved to restrain Orvia, who was still in a daze.
"Thank you for your hard work. We'll take care of the rest..."
But Jenkinson stopped the paladins.
"No. This woman is guilty of adultery, so she falls under my jurisdiction. You may take that demon over there with you."
At Jenkinson's firm response, the paladins could offer no objection. Inquisitors were the Church's foremost interpreters of doctrine. If he had classified her as a heretic guilty of adultery rather than a demon worshipper, then that was the correct judgment.
So when the paladins went upstairs to restrain the demon named Samuel—who Jenkinson had deliberately left alive—Jenkinson approached the still-trembling Orvia with a gentle expression and said,
"Well then, shall we be on our way? Heretic Orvia."
"Y-yes... I-I'm sorry. So... Priest Jenkinson. I understand."
To her, he was merely a priest—nothing more than an ordinary cleric, neither a bishop nor anyone of higher rank. Just an Inquisitor. But after witnessing that absurd display of power, it was impossible for her not to be afraid. The sight of countless demons bursting like balloons had seemed utterly unreal to her.
She rose on her trembling legs and followed him. Terrified of what judgment he might pass on her.