Revenge (3)
Rewinding time for a moment.
To the instant Aria crossed paths with Burrow at a shop on the streets of Lantville.
Ugh······.
Bergopf crossed his arms and let out a dissatisfied groan.
“What’s the matter?”
Leon, standing beside him, asked as if he couldn’t see the problem.
I don’t like this one bit. That I, of all beings, have to hide like some cowardly little rats······.
Leon narrowed his eyes and scolded him.
“Just bear with it. This is your chance to catch the nemesis you’ve been chasing for a hundred years. You can’t even put up with this much?”
You brat. A true swordsman faces his enemy head-on, fair and square.
Leon snorted right in his face.
“Pfft, fair and square? Now I see why you’ve been missing him for a whole century.”
······Shut it.
Left without a retort, Bergopf merely growled once and changed the subject.
Anyway, I naturally assumed I’d be reclaiming your soul a year from now. Never expected you’d use one of Mazias’s thralls to lure him out.
“You’ve never even considered a method like this?”
Bergopf stared at Leon with an incredulous look.
Why would I waste time thinking up some pipe dream? Finding his thralls in Middle Earth is hard enough. Better to go after his subordinates in the Demon Realm than pour effort into that.
“······Fair enough.”
Leon conceded the point.
When he thought about it, the plan only worked because he’d read the original story and already knew what Burrow would do with Mazias.
In the original, Burrow kept luring commoner students into forced contracts with Mazias. Mazias claimed some of their souls on the spot and turned the rest into thralls of his own. Those thralls eventually became corrupted by demonic energy, went berserk, and under his orders prepared a massive spell to blanket the first dormitory and devour every noble student’s soul. Of course, the protagonist Billy crushed the whole scheme—but not before gaining the insight to cut through magic itself during his final clash with Burrow.
That guy’s talent really is insane.
A sudden question occurred to Leon.
“But are you sure you can catch him even though you’re both in spirit form? As you know, the contract only requires me to bring Mazias in front of you······.”
Yes, yes, I know. Just get him in front of me and I’ll take him for certain. Don’t worry.
Bergopf proudly raised his massive black greatsword.
Who do you think I am? Once something is caught on my blade, no existence can escape.
“······Right.”
Leon barely swallowed the retort he wanted to make. Mazias would appear soon enough, and the power of that sword really was exceptional.
This old man’s a bit dense, but he can fight like hell.
If Bergopf had possessed any talent for building a power base, he might even have contended for the seat of a Great Devil.
Rrrrrumble!!
Vibrations began on the other side of the wall.
He’s here. Get ready.
“The second he shows, we go.”
Bergopf and Leon raised their swords in perfect sync, preparing the ambush.
Kwahahahahaha!!!
Be—Bergopf!!!
Mazias’s upper body was skewered on Bergopf’s greatsword. He thrashed in agony, spewing demonic energy in every direction.
“This! What is this!! Lord Mazias!!!”
Purple skin. Hideous veins bulging across his entire body. Two small horns jutting from his head. Burrow, now fully transformed into a demon, screamed in disbelief at the sight before him.
Guh······! How the hell did you know about this place! Burrow! What are you standing around for! Help me already!!!
But the moment Mazias finished speaking—
KWAANG!!
“The hero has arrived!”
One entire wall of the basement collapsed as Leon burst through. Thick blue sword aura already coated his blade.
“Hey, Burrow.”
Leon casually leveled the tip of his sword at him.
“Let the demons fight among themselves. You and I are going to play.”
“Master, shall I help as well?”
“Yeah. They’re in the way—shove those students into a corner and give me a hand.”
“Yes~.”
Aria immediately reinforced her body and flung the sleeping students into a corner one after another. Their casual, husband-and-wife con-artist act left Burrow utterly speechless.
“Leon Crusif······! Aria······!”
He couldn’t begin to grasp how the situation had turned out this way. One thing, however, was crystal clear: the two bastards in front of him had ruined everything.
The side effects of demonic transformation had stripped him of emotional control and reason. A dizzying rage that felt like his brain was on fire swallowed him whole.
“I’ll kill you!!!”
Demonic energy erupted from both his hands, and a barrage of vicious spells shot forth. Each one carried enough force to pierce flesh and tear a body to shreds.
“I’ll block them!”
Bang! Kwaaang! Thud!
Aria instantly spread a wide barrier and caught every attack.
“Nice work!”
Leon, who had been sheltering behind the barrier, immediately charged out. No matter how spacious the basement, it was still an enclosed space. Once a mage let a martial artist close the distance, only defeat remained.
To close the gap in a single breath, Leon stepped into the Heavenly Spirit Steps.
Whooosh!
Like an eagle soaring freely through the sky, his light, elegant movements mocked Burrow’s magic and slipped past every spell.
“······!”
“Hi there.”
From Burrow’s perspective, Leon—who had been far away—suddenly popped up right in front of him.
Bang! Krrrrumble! Kwaang!
The spells fired a beat too late slammed into the rear wall.
“Shit—”
Slash!
“U-aaaaaaaargh!!!”
Leon cleanly severed both of Burrow’s hands, which had been condensing demonic energy.
Slash! Thud!
He followed up by cutting off both legs, then jammed his sword into the fallen man’s mouth to silence him.
“U-uuh······!”
“······I was a little tense because he went full demon, but that was nothing.”
Aria looked down at Burrow with mild disappointment.
“Right? Why’s this guy so weak?”
Leon scratched his cheek awkwardly. In the original story Billy had struggled against him, yet this version—still far from fully grown—had been swatted like a summer bug.
Well, Aria and I are pretty strong ourselves.
The duel between Bergopf and Mazias was also reaching its climax.
Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!
······Strictly speaking, it was less a duel and more one-sided violence.
Mazias remained impaled on Bergopf’s sword, completely unable to move. He desperately tried to cast spells to escape, yet something blocked him; he could not properly exert his power.
Once you’re caught on my blade!! No one gets away!!!
Bergopf bellowed at the top of his lungs, tension sky-high. Watching Mazias thrash helplessly, Leon had to admit the claim wasn’t pure bluster.
Die already, Mazias!!!
N-nooooo!!! I can’t die this meaninglessly······!!!
Bergopf twisted the greatsword hard, tearing through Mazias’s body.
Kuuuuuuu!
At the same time Mazias’s form began crumbling like sand. Black energy unraveled from the tips of his limbs and flowed into the embedded greatsword—as if the very existence called Mazias was being annihilated down to the soul.
Guhhhhhh······!!
His spirit form was sucked in like filth swirling down a drain.
Aaaaaaagh······!
With one final, wretched death cry, he was completely absorbed into Bergopf’s sword and vanished. For a being once famed as the Devil of Magic, it was an absurdly hollow end.
Haaaah······.
With a sigh like a middle-aged man who’d just finished a satisfying bowl of soup, Bergopf closed his eyes for a moment and gathered his strength.
“Whew. Is it over?”
Leon, who had been waiting while smoking, asked casually.
It is.
Leon jerked his chin downward.
“If I kill him now, does he stay a demon corpse? A human body would be inconvenient.”
“Uuh! Uuh!”
At the mention of his own death, Burrow’s eyes bulged with bloodshot fury and he thrashed, but Leon simply pressed a boot to his nape and pinned him effortlessly.
Bergopf nodded.
Kill him now and you’ll get a demon corpse.
Thrust!
The instant the words left Bergopf’s mouth, Leon drove his sword home as if he’d been waiting for them. Burrow’s cervical spine severed; he died without even time to feel pain.
They needed a demon corpse so they could pin every event that had occurred here on Burrow. Moreover, Burrow had witnessed their cooperation with Bergopf—he had to be silenced completely.
Roughly done.
Mazias was dead, Burrow was dead; only the cleanup remained. Leon waved a hand at Bergopf in a friendly send-off.
“Business is finished. You can go.”
Hmm······.
Bergopf regarded Leon with a strange look. After a hundred years he had finally slain his mortal enemy, and his mood was excellent.
Take these.
He tossed a small black bead and a luminous cube in front of Leon.
“What are these?”
That black pill is a Demonic Soul Pill. The name’s a bit ominous, but it won’t harm your body, so don’t get suspicious. Absorb it and your pitiful skills might improve a little.
“······Out of nowhere?”
Bergopf endured Leon’s baffled stare and continued.
The other one seems to contain the magical knowledge Mazias accumulated. I have no use for that crap, so give it to your woman over there.
“······???”
“Your woman······.”
You received my talent and still only managed this much. If I see that trash-tier performance next time, be prepared.
Fwoosh!
With those parting words Bergopf vanished as if fleeing.
“······.”
“······.”
An awkward silence filled the room.
“······Was that old man Bergopf a tsundere?”
Leon blinked blankly, glancing back and forth between the two gifts.