Siruntel Demonic Realm (3)
The void warped.
Flash!
With a burst of multicolored mana, a beautiful girl with violet hair and violet eyes appeared.
"······."
Celia landed and calmly surveyed her surroundings.
A dark, damp forest steeped in a gloomy atmosphere. The sun hanging in the sky seemed to turn its face away, as if refusing to look upon this place alone. The crawling, insect-like sensation prickling over her skin was unmistakably demonic energy.
A Demonic Realm.
Having accompanied her father or brothers on Demonic Realm cleansing operations more than once, Celia recognized the place at once.
With demonic energy this thick, this is practically the heart of it.
A Demonic Realm was a perilous place teeming with every kind of demonic beast. Celia instinctively reached out to grip her spear.
"······?"
Or rather—she tried to.
The cold touch of the shaft that should have settled into her hand never came.
"What······!?"
Even as dimensions and space twisted around her, Celia had kept her composure. This time, however, even she felt a deep, jarring shock.
Whether she slept, ate, or bathed—her beloved spear, Livgium, had always remained right at her side. And yet, for some reason, it had vanished from her waist without a trace.
"······."
A dense emptiness and sense of loss washed over her. It felt as if one of her arms had been torn away. As if a lifelong friend had simply disappeared. For a warrior to be without a weapon—for a spearwoman to be without her spear—that was what it meant.
······This was bad.
Like a tiger missing its fangs. Or an eagle stripped of its wings. Being unarmed meant she had no means of protecting herself in this Demonic Realm. Quiet anxiety began to lift its head in Celia's heart.
—Kieeeeeeek!
—Kyaaaaaaak!
From far off came the cries of demonic beasts.
"······Leon."
Without meaning to, Celia spoke the name of the friend she had seen just before arriving here. Though no sound reached her, he had clearly been shouting at the sight of her alone.
Yes. The other cadets had each been with their own classes. She alone had been by herself. No wonder Leon had looked so horrified.
"Maybe······ no. That's a bit much."
Celia shook her head, brushing away the thought that had briefly surfaced. Leon coming to save her? That was far too hopeful. In the heart of a Demonic Realm, going out of his way to search for her when he didn't even know where she was? Even as friends, expecting him to take that kind of risk for her sake was far too optimistic. They had known each other for barely a month. Their friendship was nowhere near deep enough that either would stake a life on it.
Everyone's barely managing to keep themselves alive as it is. What am I thinking.
Celia cleanly swept away the weak notion that someone might come to help. What she could rely on was her own body—and what still remained at her side······.
"Selfia."
Her contracted intermediate wind spirit, Selfia.
Whoosh.
But unlike usual, when she would lend the force of a gale, the wind that rose now was little more than a gentle breeze.
"······."
Selfia's form had shrunk to less than half its size. The dense demonic energy of the Demonic Realm was smothering the spirit's power. For Celia, who fought with both spear and spirit, one was sealed away and the other was less than half usable. By any measure, the situation handed to her was grim.
Someone else might have simply sat down and whined. She was the sort who acted first rather than waste time complaining or lamenting.
Tap-tap!
Celia moved her feet and began to run. The demonic beasts were closing in.
In the original story, Class A had fallen to the south, Class B to the east, Class J to the west, and Class G to the north.
That was why Leon was pushing steadily north—cutting down the countless demonic beasts that barred his path.
"Kyaaaaaaak!!!"
Whoosh!
He ducked low, slipping under a tail that swept long overhead.
Papapak!
With Heavenly Spirit Steps he dodged the spines shooting toward him, then climbed straight up the creature's massive body. Jaws gaped to tear into his side. He twisted clear and drove his blade, thick with sword energy, deep into flesh.
Kwadudududuk!
The sensation of piercing meat and severing the spine at the nape of the neck ran up through his hand. And so the demonic beast called a Helizard died in a mere thirty seconds.
Had other knights seen it, they would have wept and given a seal's applause at such clean work. But there was no time to bask. Leon was already running before the Helizard's bulk even hit the ground.
Thirty minutes since leaving the spawn point. In a Demonic Realm where every minute and second was dangerous, there was no time to waste.
Spirits can't use their power properly here either, from what I know.
Spirit power was vulnerable to demonic energy. An upper-rank spirit might be different—but the one she had contracted was an intermediate wind spirit. Which meant Celia was essentially bare-handed. No different from walking onto a battlefield without a single gun or blade.
Hiding quietly in some corner until rescue arrived wasn't an option either. Demonic beasts could smell humans with uncanny precision and would come running. Ultimately she would have no choice but to keep fleeing, shaking off the tightening pursuit. Stamina, endurance, reflexes, judgment—all of it would be demanded to the extreme.
Still, as an Expert-rank warrior she should hold out to some degree······.
Leon figured even that would last an hour or two at most—and that estimate only because Celia ranked fifth among the first-years, one of the strongest. He had to hurry.
"······!"
A sharp presence cut into his fully opened senses. Leon rolled sideways at once.
Shwaaaaak!
Claws burst from the earth and raked through the spot where he had stood. Weeds and dirt caught on them crumbled to powder and scattered.
"Grrrrr······!"
With a disappointed growl, a demonic beast slowly crawled up from underground.
"······."
Leon watched it as he lit his cigarette. His mouth, cigarette dangling, split wide into a deep, wild grin.
"Come at me, you bastard."
Jecheon Sword Style, First Form: Yeomyeong.
Flash—!
Valcansus had been lounging on his throne.
"······!"
He suddenly bolted upright. His left eye flickered without rest, reviewing the records sent by the Demon Eye Soldiers.
"Ha, haha, hahahahaha!"
Having found a completely unexpected face, he burst into laughter from sheer delight. Hair black as the sky of the Demon Realm. Eyes red as if blood had been poured into them. And the sword in his hand, radiating an unusual, ominous edge.
"This damn bastard. What the hell is he doing here?"
Valcansus's expression was half rage and half joy. In the western region of the Empire, a Demonic Realm had opened in an area called Siruntel—and at its very heart, Leon was advancing alone, cutting down demonic beasts. Discovering him was a truly unexpected windfall.
Originally, the western Empire was a region Valcansus paid not the slightest attention to. Still, since a Demonic Realm had opened naturally for the first time in a while, he had sent his minions on a reconnaissance just in case. And Leon had walked right into it. Valcansus felt great relief at having found him without missing him.
"······Lucky."
That human was the one who had enabled Bergopf to catch Mazias. That was actually no easy feat. Finding Mazias's subordinate, who kept his identity tightly concealed. Waiting until that subordinate summoned Mazias to Middle Earth. Then even summoning Bergopf to that very spot—it required going through highly difficult stages. Just summoning a devil was something a young boy would find hard to pull off. Especially a high-ranking devil like Bergopf.
Moreover, it was certain the bastard was not Bergopf's contracted servant. So then—why had he gone through such troublesome and complicated efforts? Valcansus couldn't begin to guess.
"What are you scheming this time······!"
And now that same bastard had suddenly appeared in the Siruntel Demonic Realm on the opposite side of the country? In the center, alone, with nothing but a single sword? Just thinking about the reason made Valcansus's rage boil over. He had no idea what kind of sinister plot the bastard was hatching.
······If Valcansus had continued his reconnaissance just a little longer, he would have been able to confirm that other academy cadets were there as well. But the moment he saw Leon rampaging in the center, rage consumed his brain, and all caution and judgment vanished completely.
In the end, instead of uselessly turning over a mind that barely worked, Valcansus chose the most certain method.
"Just die."
Scheme or plot, whatever it was—if you eliminate the one creating it, none of that matters.
"Kill him."
His command, quietly transmitted across the vast distance. Valcansus's hunting dogs set out to carry out that order.
Toward the Siruntel Demonic Realm.