The Old Dagger (3)
—KRAAAASH!!
A colossal pillar of ice smashed through the carriage roof and erupted skyward. Transparent columns of ice kept swelling as they climbed toward the heavens, growing thicker by the second.
The holy knights reacted in an instant.
"Ambush! It's an ambush!!"
"Form ranks, all of you!"
"It's coming from the carriages!"
They moved with practiced speed, locking into formation even as the rising ice pillars kicked up thick clouds of dust that swallowed their vision.
Yet the demonic aura that rode the air and stabbed at their skin like needles needed no eyes to be felt. Everyone present understood at once that a demon was among them.
"Ugh…! This foul presence… the enemy is a demon! Prepare for anti-demon combat!"
The aura was so dense it made their skin prickle. Cold sweat poured down the holy knights' faces. The creature had not even shown itself, yet its pressure was already far beyond ordinary.
—Scuff. —Scuff.
Light footsteps approached through the dust. Soft, almost delicate steps that clashed violently with the crushing aura they carried.
"Dear gods…"
"Six Gods, why…"
"Ah—aah…!! Why!!"
Gasps and broken cries burst from the ranks. Some knights staggered as if struck by a physical blow.
Through the swirling dust stepped Kenis—blue horns jutting from her temples.
Her golden eyes had turned pitch black. Massive horns crowned both sides of her head. Wicked energy poured from her back in thick, writhing streams. She looked every inch the incarnation of a demon.
"A gathering of maggots, I see."
The demon wearing Kenis's face spoke. A lovely, trembling voice slid out—soft as a serpent's whisper, designed to seduce the mind itself.
"Stay sharp, all of you! Protect your ears with holy power!"
The knights left behind by the commander were hand-picked veterans. They had fought demons until they were sick of them. The moment the voice clawed at their minds, they countered without hesitation.
Unfortunately, their opponent was no ordinary foe.
"Heh. Maggots showing off their little tricks."
The Great Demon gave a thin smile and flicked one arm in a lazy arc. A streak of darkness followed the motion, slicing through the air toward them.
"Shields—up!"
—BOOM!
The darkness slammed into the raised shields. The knights' faces darkened at once.
"The shields…"
A single blocked strike had left the shields badly cracked. Even wrapped in holy power, they had barely held.
The knight temporarily acting as commander steadied the wavering ranks.
"Calm yourselves! There is only one enemy! We are demon hunters! The Six Gods watch over us!!"
"In the name of the Six Gods!"
—Whoosh—
At the temporary commander's shout, fighting spirit flared through the knights. A priest's holy power washed over them, pressing back the demonic aura that saturated the air.
The Great Demon, who had been standing still, looked amused.
"The Six Gods? Did you not worship five?"
It considered for a moment, then gave a short, contemptuous laugh.
"What does it matter? I shall simply kill you and ask your souls."
—Flash.
The Great Demon melted into its own shadow and vanished on the spot.
It's gone! Where—?!
The temporary commander's eyes darted wildly.
"Right here."
"Guh?!"
The Great Demon reappeared in the very center of the formation and whispered. A devastating kick slammed into the temporary commander's side.
—CRACK!
"Gyaaah!"
"How…!"
The temporary commander's body flew sideways and crumpled, completely neutralized by that single, lethal blow.
Swords flashed toward the Great Demon's now-empty back.
"Hyaaah!"
Holy power rippled along the blades, sharpening their edge. The strikes aimed for the blind spot—
—CLANG!
Ice erupted from the ground and intercepted the blades. With a sharp crack the steel began to freeze solid.
"How amusing."
The Great Demon sneered and flicked its fingers.
"Kh—!"
—THUNK!
An ice spike shot up and punched clean through a knight's torso. The Great Demon danced through their ranks like a child at play, toying with them at will.
"Gyaaah!"
"Kh!!"
Even as the priest's holy power blanketed the area, the Great Demon seemed utterly unaffected. At last it reappeared some distance away.
The knights' eyes trembled.
This power was incomparable to any demon they had ever faced. Where in the world had a monster like this come from?
"Mmm… this sword keeps getting in the way."
The holy sword, its blade wrapped in cloth for lack of a proper scabbard, hung across the Great Demon's back. Finding it bothersome, the demon drew the weapon.
—Sizzle—
"Gyaaaaaaah!!"
The instant its hand closed around the holy sword, the Great Demon's palm burst into searing red flame. It screamed in agony and hurled the blade far away.
"What is this hideous holy power?! How can anything like that even—!"
Its hand was covered in burns and blisters, as if it had been thrust into a furnace. The Great Demon looked thoroughly disgusted.
"What a truly vile sword…"
The holy knights swallowed hard. If they could only use that sword…
The Great Demon read the hope in their eyes and smiled unpleasantly.
"Eyes full of hope, I see. Do you truly believe this body is the same as the trash demons you have faced until now?"
"Struggle all you like. Even that sword is useless if it never touches me!"
The knights forced their fighting spirit higher. Even if the thing before them was an absurd monster, they could not retreat from evil.
The Great Demon simply watched them with the mild interest of someone observing insects.
"All units, attack!! For the Six Gods!!"
"Hyaaaaah!!"
As one, the holy knights charged the Great Demon. They threw themselves forward, ready to die, racing straight toward death.
—Huff! —Huff!
Friga and Commander David tore through the forest like mad. Twigs raked their faces and branches clawed at their vision, yet only one thought filled their minds: hurry.
Shit, shit, shit! Kenis!
Friga drove her feet harder into the earth, pouring on more speed. Even the holy knights trailing behind were beginning to gasp for breath when—
— "Gyaaaaah!"
— "Don't stop! Keep pressing!"
Screams and battle cries echoed from ahead. The clash of steel, the death rattle of men.
A bad sign.
Friga yanked her axe free and vaulted toward the main road that had just come into view.
—Tap!
"Kenis!"
She landed lightly and swept her gaze left and right, taking in the scene at once.
Ice spikes jutted everywhere. Blood soaked the ground. Holy knights lay scattered and broken. And Kenis sat atop a wrecked carriage, enormous horns crowning her head.
"You little bastard…"
The haft of Friga's axe creaked under her grip.
"You—what the hell are you?"
The Great Demon's black pupils split vertically into slits and raked Friga from head to toe.
"…You carry an axe that feels just as unpleasant as that sword."
"What the hell is this bastard saying?! Hey, you! What did you do to Kenis?!"
The Great Demon ignored Friga's shout completely. Its serpent eyes remained fixed on the axe.
"An unpleasant axe… I shall have to be careful."
"What keeps coming out of that mouth?!"
Unable to contain her rage any longer, Friga gripped her axe and prepared to leap—only for the commander to seize her arm.
"My lady! You must not!"
"What? What are you talking about right now?!"
"…This is no ordinary demon."
The commander's eyes swept the surroundings with heavy weight. The knights he had left behind were veterans who had hunted demons until they were sick of the work. No common demon could have reduced them to this state so effortlessly.
"A Great Demon… It is without doubt a Great Demon, the kind that exists only in ancient records."
Great Demons appeared solely in the oldest tomes—rulers who divided Hell into four domains and reigned over them. Kings of demons…
Why has a Great Demon that existed only in ancient records returned now…!
The commander forced his trembling hands still. Hearing the words, the Great Demon laughed with pure delight—Kenis's innocent face twisted into that smile.
"I had grown rather bored, cooped up in Hell all this time."
"That bastard… it stole Kenis's body?"
"It would seem so. Possession, or some similar method…"
Friga, the commander, and the remaining holy knights tightened their grips on their weapons and glared at the Great Demon.
A suffocating standoff stretched between them and the Great Demon that wore Kenis's body. For a long moment the air itself felt taut as a bowstring—until Friga snapped it by charging.
"Hyaaah!"
Her axe carved a vicious arc, leaving only a blurred afterimage. The strike was clean and free of waste—
"I feel a yawn coming on."
"You little—!"
In a blink the Great Demon slipped into the shadow on the ground and mocked her. Friga's axe swung again in pure fury, but—
—CLANG!
A razor-sharp ice spike shot up and caught the blade. Thick ice began crawling up the axe, freezing it solid.
"Tch."
Friga clicked her tongue and leapt back a good distance. Prolonged contact would let the ice claim any weapon. Ordinary steel would freeze in an instant.
"What a piece of trash. Commander, you said you read about this in some book. Know anything?"
"Power over shadow and ice… I believe I know. That creature is 'Umbra,' the Third Great Demon of Hell."
"Heh. So the name is still remembered."
The Great Demon Umbra rose smoothly from the shadows.
"I should give you a gift."
Umbra gestured from below to above.
—BOOM!
At the gesture, massive ice pillars erupted from the earth. Thick columns of ice kept punching through the ground one after another.
—KRAAASH! —CRASH!
"Fall back! Everyone fall back!"
The commander hastily pulled the knights away. The ice pillars rose without end, chasing them like serpents from every direction.
"Th-this is…"
"…We're screwed."
Friga's face went blank. Ice pillars surrounded them on all sides, overlapping into a massive wall that sealed them inside like a prison.
—CLANG!
"Argh!"
Friga's axe left only a shallow scratch on a pillar before bouncing off. Even the mysterious runes on the haft failed to react.
The commander's expression darkened. Completely trapped. At this rate they would be toyed with at the Great Demon's leisure.
"Draw your swords, all of you! We must break through this ice and get out!"
The holy knights drew their blades as one and swung at the pillars.
—CLANG!
Leaning against the wrecked carriage, Umbra gazed at the ice-pillar prison it had made.
"I wonder if you like my gift."
Suddenly its black pupils split into serpent slits and fixed on one direction.
"Hmm?"
Far off, a cloud of dust was rising and racing toward the carriages. Umbra watched it and smiled wide.
"A welcome guest is coming."
The Great Demon laughed with a serpent's silky delight and began preparing to receive its visitor.