Chapter 41 - While Handling One, the Other Side…
“Pleasure to meet you. The so-called Heavenly Demon from another world.”
On my way back to the dormitory after stopping by the warehouse where magical tools were stored, Beltane suddenly appeared before me and greeted me with an exaggerated bow.
“…Well, well.”
I glanced around.
I didn’t know what trick he’d pulled, but despite it still being class hours, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
“I didn’t expect you to greet me so openly. Revealing the very title others are trying so hard to conceal.”
“…”
‘System.’
[Remaining Demonic Qi: 12%]
“So, what business do you have with me? Here to avenge Vertus?”
“Haha. You’ve already figured out my true identity, I see. Revenge… revenge isn’t entirely wrong.”
Beltane’s eyes, which should have been red, now glowed with an ominous green light.
“Even if it weren’t for that, we can’t overlook your existence interfering with our plans.”
“…Ha. Right.”
Now that I’m gaining popularity, even the demons are coming after me.
Even after changing my face and hiding my identity, they still managed to track me down, huh?
“…”
I’ll save the complaints for later.
First, I surveyed the surroundings.
There might be no people around, but like with Vertus, the aftermath of battle certainly wouldn’t be limited to just this area.
At worst, the entire academy grounds could get caught up in it.
‘How do I lure this bastard outside the academy…?’
“Worried about the surroundings getting caught up?”
“Sharp.”
“If you wish, we can relocate. There’s a suitable clearing in the northern forest of the academy.”
“And why should I trust you haven’t set up some trap there?”
“By the honor of the Fallen Deity Silvanos, I swear no such thing. Though, if you still can’t bring yourself to trust me… I have no problem dealing with you here.”
He smirked confidently, as if already anticipating my answer.
“…Fine. Lead the way.”
Thud.
Following Silvanos—who flew through the air without wings—I used qinggong to leave the academy grounds.
‘…This feels like one of those scenes.’
Like in shounen manga where the protagonist and villain move to a different location to fight.
The absurd thought made me chuckle inwardly. Before I knew it, Silvanos had reached our destination and landed in the clearing before me.
I followed him into the clearing.
It wasn’t particularly large—just a small space that could fit about a hundred people at most.
“So, shall we start? Or—”
Whoosh—!
Without warning, massive tree roots erupted from beneath my feet.
Crack—!
Not just one. Roots as thick as a human torso burst forth wherever I stepped.
Their sharp ends looked ready to impale me from below the moment I let my guard down.
Dodging the roots with nimble footwork, I closed in on Beltane.
“—Attacking while someone’s talking? Where are your manners? Never watched anime?”
I slashed at Beltane’s head with a knife drawn from my sleeve, but he leaned back just in time to avoid it.
Dodging the green roots sprouting from behind him, I leaped back, and a brief stalemate ensued.
“Anime? And who might that be?”
“Never mind that.”
“By the way, swinging a blade so openly… What if this body gets hurt?”
“Not my problem. Shouldn’t have let his body get stolen. And as long as he doesn’t die, it’s fine, right? Just pour potions or call a healer.”
“How cruel. He’s the blood relative of the master you serve.”
“Parmela would probably celebrate if she heard he died.”
I channeled Demonic Qi into the knife and hurled it at his face.
Ping!
The blade barely grazed his cheek before I recalled it to my hand with Empty Grasp.
“Hmm. Your pure physical abilities seem weaker than Vertus’s. Is this all? I came all the way here playing along with your tune. Show me what you’ve got.”
I wiped Beltane’s blood from his cheek with my finger.
A sticky, metallic liquid.
‘Is this what flows in a human’s body?’
Feeling the unpleasant sensation on my fingertips, Silvanos glared silently at the Heavenly Demon who had dared to throw a blade at him.
Where did this man’s overflowing confidence come from? The belief that he could handle Silvanos just like Vertus?
“…Very well.”
Now it was Silvanos’s turn to draw his weapon.
Gripping the short staff that originally belonged to Beltane, Silvanos swung it like a conductor’s baton.
In an instant, all manner of plants sprouted and covered the ground.
From towering trees to creeping vines.
The denizens of the forest rushed forth at the demon’s command to eliminate the human before them.
Tap-tap—
And the Heavenly Demon dodged them all with light, nimble steps.
Like a monkey leaping through trees, his movements were dexterous—like a dancer’s graceful yet bizarre footwork.
“So your ability is just controlling plants?”
“Hardly.”
The prologue is over. Now begins the main act.
Silvanos drew mana from Beltane’s mana heart and poured it into the circuits.
“Enchant: Fire.”
Reciting the incantation for a fire-attribute enchantment spell from Beltane’s memories,
the red mana wave extending from the staff seeped into the roots of a giant flowering plant.
As the fiery mana traveled up the stem and infused the flower—
Boom!
The fully bloomed flower suddenly clenched shut before spewing a massive fireball at the Heavenly Demon.
“!”
Caught off guard, the Heavenly Demon hastily dodged sideways.
Silvanos had already enchanted other buds with fire mana, and—
Boom! Boom!
The enormous, resplendent flowers had now become automated turrets firing fireballs at the Heavenly Demon.
“Hey! Since when do plants shoot fire? That’s cheating!”
Ignoring the Heavenly Demon’s outcry, Silvanos continued enchanting the plants with suitable attributes.
Thorned vines crackled with lightning, becoming electric whips; giant trees were imbued with wind, turning each leaf into a flying dagger…
Fire, wind, lightning, ice… Plants infused with every conceivable elemental attribute grew to cover the entire forest, all converging to eliminate a single human.
The scene was a hellish spectacle—both novel and horrifying beyond any existing literary description.
“Hoho. What’s wrong? No more room for leisure?”
With his left hand, Silvanos sent his Corrupted Mana to control the plants’ growth and movement; with his right gripping the staff, he channeled Beltane’s mana to grant them attributes.
This fusion of two techniques was another reason Silvanos had taken over Beltane’s body.
Silvanos’s plant-controlling ability.
Though unparalleled in corrupting the land and seizing human territory, it was relatively weak in direct combat compared to other Fallen Deities.
Beltane’s body compensated for this.
By extracting the magical knowledge embedded in his brain and using it to squeeze mana from his heart, Silvanos could provide the plants with optimal combat enhancements.
This was why demons possessed human bodies.
Not only were they formidable as demons, but they could also utilize the host’s memories and mana.
“How do you like it? This botanical army I’ve specially prepared for you.”
To Silvanos, the Heavenly Demon no longer seemed at ease.
As a demon who could read human emotions better than anyone, he was certain of it.
Gritting his teeth, the Heavenly Demon could only dodge the plants’ attacks—and even that wasn’t perfect, as wounds began to accumulate on his body.
‘But I mustn’t let my guard down.’
This was the being who single-handedly annihilated Vertus.
He surely had more tricks up his sleeve.
Thus, while feigning composure, Silvanos mentally prepared for every possible scenario, ready to shift tactics the moment the Heavenly Demon made his move.
“…Hmm. This should be enough.”
Then, the Heavenly Demon’s quiet declaration reached Silvanos’s ears.
What followed made Silvanos doubt his eyes.
Wings sprouted from the Heavenly Demon’s back.
Covered in black feathers, they were identical to Vertus’s.
He soared to a height beyond the plants’ reach.
Hum—
A wave of black mana emanated from his body, spreading through the plants.
“…! My control—!”
An unpleasant sensation shot through Silvanos’s left hand.
He realized his connection to the plants had been severed.
The once-ferocious plants froze the moment the Heavenly Demon’s mana touched them.
Crack—!
It began with the lightning-infused vines coiling around a nearby giant tree and crushing it.
Then Silvanos’s botanical army descended into chaos, fighting among themselves as if possessed.
Like beings with wills of their own, they tore at each other’s stems and burned each other’s leaves, consumed solely by the desire to annihilate their neighbors.
All Silvanos could do was watch blankly as his forces self-destructed.
“Enough. Stop.”
But just when he thought he couldn’t be more shocked, the plants ceased fighting at the Heavenly Demon’s command.
“—Now, surrender the Corrupted Mana within you to me.”
Floating.
The chaotic mass of plants covering the area—and from them, rising spheres of black mana.
Silvanos could only watch bitterly as the Heavenly Demon absorbed them.
“Now I understand how Vertus was defeated. How could anyone hope to defeat such an… anomalous existence?”
The ensuing battle was one-sided.
Every plant Silvanos summoned had its mana absorbed by the Heavenly Demon, becoming his.
With no plants left to defend him, Silvanos resisted with elemental magic drawn from Beltane’s mana, but—
Thud!
A single, effortless stab from the Heavenly Demon’s knife pierced straight through his stomach.
“Guh…!”
Silvanos felt Beltane’s body dying.
With no choice, his soul would soon leave the body, leaving him defenseless before the Heavenly Demon.
“…Heh.”
Yet Silvanos smiled at the approaching Heavenly Demon.
“Why the smile? Gone mad at death’s door?”
“No. I’m simply delighted that everything is proceeding according to plan.”
“?”
“That just confirmed it. The Fallen Deities cannot defeat you. Even if several were to attack at once, to you, they’d just be more prey to devour.”
“You catch on quick.”
“That’s why I’m happy. Though unintended, my plan has struck at your weakness.”
“Nonsense.”
“If we can’t attack you directly, we’ll target those around you. There’s no more effective way to break humans.”
Despite the blood spilling from his lips, he kept speaking.
“Pitiful humans. No matter how strong they are to stand against demons, they all yield without exception when their precious ones are held hostage. And you, Heavenly Demon, are no different.”
It was almost time. Though his end was here, Alkemis would have finished all preparations by now.
His final role was to declare victory and mock the Heavenly Demon—
“Heavenly Demon, your master Parmela—”
“—You mean how your partner brainwashed Parmela?”
“!? How did you—”
“I have my ways. Anyway, I assigned her a bodyguard too.”
“What the…?”
Parmela, her vision still blurry, stared at the magic automaton that had suddenly appeared to block Professor Plentina.
Plentina’s expression was equally stunned.
“Why is a golem here…?”
‘…I’d rather die.’
The soul of Vertus embedded in the golem’s core sincerely wished for death.