Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Saintess and Demon
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Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Stella's left hand pounded the floor with mechanical regularity, like the grand overture of some infernal orchestra beginning.
Blood splattered everywhere, and from that blood, grotesque beasts poured forth from the sky, taking on beastly shapes.
It was a scene perfectly suited to the tale of wicked sinners escaping the fires of hell.
Pindenai swung her axe at them even more aggressively.
"This is never gonna end!"
Pindenai split the head of a charging beast. Her axe was already soaked in blood, dyed red.
Suddenly, the blood on the axe blade took on the shape of a beast again and bared its fangs at Pindenai.
A rush of black blades.
My magic quickly pierced the beast clinging to Pindenai's axe, and she whistled as she swung the axe grandly through the air.
Splash!
She wiped off the blood, but the situation remained dangerous. The more they cut down the oncoming beasts, the more blood stained everything, and that blood summoned beasts at point-blank range.
"What kind of crazy bastard is this?!"
[Think of it as fighting a blood sorcerer! Pass this idiot maid over to me!]
The Black Necromancer, who had urgently created a protective barrier, blocked the leaping blood itself.
It was indeed similar to the combat style of blood sorcerers, who handled blood among black mages.
The problem was that neither I nor Pindenai...
"Think of it as fighting a blood sorcerer."
"What? There's no way I've ever fought those mosquito bastards!"
Just as necromancers were rare, blood sorcerers were so scarce that neither of us had ever faced one.
The Black Necromancer seemed to have some experience, but it didn't help much.
Even if their fighting styles were similar to black mages, this was an archdemon on a level several times superior.
Monsters that only appeared near the ending of the Retry game.
Beings on a throne in a whole different league, ones even Aria, just entering her second playthrough, couldn't beat alone.
[Belica is one of the lesser-known archdemons. You never know what might happen next!]
Meaning more attacks could come at any moment. I nodded calmly while blocking the beasts made of blood pouring down.
But of course, they were all liquid.
The more we cut them down, the more they spread, soaking the floor.
Another pool of blood formed.
Then, from behind, a wave of blood crashed into my entire body.
Focused on defending the front, my rear was inevitably exposed to the surprise attack.
"......!"
"Master!"
[Deus!]
My lack of combat experience showed itself like this.
In an instant, my whole body was drenched in blood, and I felt something bulging out from my skin.
Beasts made of blood protruded from every inch of my skin, ready to emerge.
A dangerous moment where they almost tore into me.
Splash!
Suddenly, water poured down like a waterfall from above, washing away the blood from my body and soaking my hair flat.
"A-are you okay?!"
The abbess's magic from behind.
Though they couldn't wield holy power, the nuns had a basic proficiency in magic.
I slicked back my drenched hair and expressed my gratitude before honestly asking for help.
"I need support. Have the nuns behind help too."
"Y-yes, understood!"
With the abbess at the lead, the five nuns began using mana.
As expected of saintess candidates, they all had considerable magical aptitude.
"Use water-based magic. As much as possible, push the blood away."
"Oh, Goddess Yustia."
"Lord Raizer, please grant salvation to the saintess."
"Sob, how did she fall so far..."
"Goddess Demeter, please bestow forgiveness and mercy upon Saintess Stella."
The nuns shed tears watching the saintess, but I clicked my tongue at the sight.
"Don't spout nonsense."
I wouldn't let them drag her before the gods' judgment recklessly.
Not mere gods.
I wouldn't let them point fingers at this woman, condemn her, understand her, forgive her, or save her.
"That's not their place. Stop the useless talk and cast your spells."
Was it the anger in my voice? The nuns clamped their mouths shut and began casting.
With five more mages added, the situation became much easier.
The nuns' magic pushed back the blood, naturally forming a line, and Pindenai rampaged at its center.
Now there was no need to worry about blood staining her axe or clothes. The nuns' magic washed it away immediately, so she could fight grinning ear to ear, thoroughly soaked.
"It's like fighting in the rain!"
As the situation gradually improved, Pindenai giggled happily, but the Black Necromancer lowered her stance, tensing up.
[How about using the Holy Grail now?]
The Black Necromancer had been nagging about the Holy Grail. But her words were certainly reasonable.
[She hasn't even used a tenth of her power yet. The archdemons I know... we couldn't hold them off with this many people even for a moment.]
"......"
[I don't know why she's still letting us live, but this moment of carelessness is our chance.]
"She's not letting us live."
Beyond the Black Necromancer, I locked eyes with Stella, who was still watching us.
Just meeting the demon's eyes made my breath catch, as if heavy air was pressing down.
"She just can't do more than this."
The Black Necromancer didn't understand, but I ignored her and pulled out a gem from my pocket.
The Spirit Stone, Remegaton.
The moment they saw it, the nuns gasped in horror, and Stella gave a quiet smile.
"Is that your choice?"
Stella's voice overlapped with the demon's.
"But can you stop me with that? There are a few graveyards around here, but what can a bunch of dead humans do?"
Her voice sounded like mockery or concern. I asked with doubt.
"Are you Stella? Or Belica?"
"......"
She didn't answer my question directly. Even the smile she'd been holding faded calmly.
"I see."
But she must know that alone was already a hint for me.
As I poured mana into Remegaton, the black gem began emitting an ominous light in all directions.
A vast halo of light poured toward the dark sky.
"The Spirit Stone is an item the demon gave to a child who wished to see her mother again."
The spread light quickly gathered, condensing into a single point.
And that point touched the graveyard near the convent where we'd been moments ago.
Crack!
Something in the graveyard began dragging toward us. It resisted, as if resentful of being awakened or fearful of the battle ahead.
It fought against the compulsion from me and Remegaton.
But in the end, Remegaton was an archdemon's legacy.
It had no choice but to come under my command.
"It means the original owner of this stone was a demon."
A necromancer's strength generally comes from the evil spirits they command. Thus, necromancers always seek out powerful, deeply resentful evil spirits.
And.
By that logic, the soul I was about to command now was one any necromancer on the continent would covet.
[Kraaaah!]
A sinister scream erupted from afar. It was in pain, but it was clearly being pulled here.
[Kk, eeeek!]
It screeched like bat wings flapping, annoyingly, but right now, it was welcome.
Severed horns and tail.
Burned black, almost indistinguishable from a shadow.
Yet it radiated intense resentment and malice.
Mist-like screams and agony spread from its entire body.
The greater demon, now in soul form and slumped, knelt and glared at me.
It was the demon Stella had summoned with two other nuns and killed immediately.
[Incredible!]
The Black Necromancer, seeing it, clapped sincerely in admiration.
[No necromancer has ever commanded a demon before! Even with Remegaton's power, this is truly amazing!]
Traveling with me to witness the pinnacle of necromancy, she couldn't help but be excited by this use beyond her understanding.
I understood, but now wasn't the time to marvel.
Black iron chains extended from my hand, wrapping around the greater demon's limbs.
Like a puppeteer's strings, I began manipulating the demon.
Honestly, even learning from the Black Necromancer, I never thought I'd forcibly inflict pain on a soul to control it.
Until now, I'd only awakened them, converted my mana to magic for them, and let them move on their own.
But.
"You're different."
How many people had it killed? Screams flowed from the demon's soul like mist.
The demon that carried human screams and pain as trophies couldn't escape their resentment even in death.
Caught in the necromancer's chains, the demon's soul bowed to me amid the tightening pain.
I kicked its face, turning it toward Stella.
"Go fight. Until your soul dissipates."
Crunch.
[Kraaaah!]
Gripping the chains tighter, it writhed in agony and flew toward Stella.
"You're even consoling the demon's soul?"
"I'm just using it."
But Stella's expression still brimmed with leisure.
After all, a demon she'd already killed once.
Dealing with a weakened greater demon now would be easy for her.
But it would buy some time.
"Pindenai, take the nuns to the carriage."
"What? Run away?"
Pindenai pouted, frowning. It wasn't dissatisfaction from defeat or fleeing with tail between legs.
She'd run more than fought in Resistance activities.
What mattered was what came after.
"What happens if we run? Iluania could get dragged in if we're not careful?"
I didn't want to involve her in the fight either.
"We can win."
At my words, Pindenai turned without another word and shouted to the nuns.
"Follow me, you bitches! I'll show you paradise!"
She spouted all sorts of nonsense, but it snapped the nuns out of their daze from the demon battle.
She clearly had experience handling people in crises.
She hoisted a trembling, fallen nun onto her shoulder and led the abbess and nuns to the carriage.
Boom!
Naturally, the greater demon was pushed back. It rolled to my feet after taking a hit from Stella's left hand.
I infused more mana into the chains, inflicting pain on the one about to pass out.
[Kieeeek!]
Ignoring it as it snapped awake, I glared at Stella.
"Running won't help. You'll all die in the end."
Crack!
Cracks formed on her black legs. They swelled grotesquely like balloons.
Soon.
Crack!
Eight massive spider legs burst forth. Roughly the size of her left hand.
That seemed to be Archdemon Belica's true form.
The amalgam of Saintess Stella and Archdemon Belica was grotesquely hideous, no matter how kindly one tried to describe it.
With legs grown larger, her body towered, forcing us to look up.
[C-can we really win this?]
The Black Necromancer's trembling voice beside me only heightened the tension.
I yanked the chains harder to restrain the greater demon and answered.
"We have to win."
It wasn't a question of whether we could.
It was a fight we must win.
Because she'd given too much happiness to people.
For her, who'd lived solely in tragedy.