Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: Hell - 7
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“How dare you bring that repulsive hunk of meat anywhere near here.”
Cecilia’s icy murmur was accompanied by a golden sword beam that sliced the head of the massive demon in half, right before its fist could smash down.
The contents inside spilled out through the severed surface in streams, and the arm it had raised high above its head drooped powerlessly. The enormous body toppled backward, slamming into the castle wall.
The wall shook. The twitching mass of flesh, like a marionette with its strings cut, slowly collapsed down the wall, leaving sticky trails of blood and chunks of meat. The ground beneath the body was dyed dark red with blood.
Even as the giant demon’s body crumbled, other demons nearby were becoming sacrifices to the holy sword.
The holy sword never flashed its light twice at the same foe. With a single motion, heads split open, necks were severed, bodies were bisected. It really drove home the spec gap between Cecilia and the demons.
Dozens of demons met their end under the golden blade, followed by hundreds more.
Meanwhile, I was handling the ones charging at Margarita and me, since she had no means of fighting demons herself.
The demons that had foolishly come at me thinking I was easy prey met their ends in pillars of holy light that stabbed down from the sky. Margarita had been timidly cheering from behind until the area seemed cleared, then she slipped out.
“Anything happen last night besides, well, that? It really looks like she’s venting her anger on the demons.”
Margarita whispered tensely after witnessing the indiscriminate slaughter unfolding in the space that resembled a castle’s training ground. She looked terrified that Cecilia might overhear.
“Who knows? I didn’t sense anything like that.”
Something had happened, but it was far from anything worth telling others about. And if she was venting, it was probably over last night’s events.
I finished clearing the nearby area and watched Cecilia fight from atop the wall. I’d considered helping at first, but given her personality, she’d probably prefer handling them herself.
The holy sword swung upward from below, laying a holy carpet on the ground. Demons that stepped on it jumped as if they’d trodden on Lego bricks. Soon the carpet exploded, burning the demons gold.
Cecilia plunged the holy sword vertically into the ground. Centered on that spot, a golden curtain began to spread across an area nearly covering the entire castle.
Once the curtain was fully deployed, Cecilia pulled the holy sword free and bisected a writhing demon from head to groin.
‘Ugh.’
I recoiled at the sight. It reminded me of when she’d grabbed the emperor barehanded before.
That was one of the emperor boss fight patterns. A self-buff of sorts—vanilla version gave the emperor 10% faster movement speed inside the curtain and no combat fatigue buildup.
Nerfedla mode piled on extras: 30% movement speed increase, constant super armor, combat fatigue not only didn’t build but actively decreased, duration doubled, and range vastly expanded. A change perfectly in line with Nerfedla’s unreasonable reputation.
That unreasonableness held true now. Margarita stared pale-faced at Cecilia, who was butchering demons left and right at visibly accelerated speeds, and muttered.
“……You really have to be that strong to be called the empire’s emperor.”
“Doesn’t His Holiness the Pope rank among the top in the Holy Kingdom purely in terms of martial prowess? Far stronger than any inquisitor or interrogator.”
“True, but His Holiness and Her Imperial Majesty are fundamentally different. When His Holiness is chosen, no matter his prior abilities, the Sun and Moon directly bestow their power. So you could say it’s half thanks to the gods. But the emperor? It’s all her own power, right?”
Truth be told, I didn’t know much about the empire’s emperors myself.
Canon-wise, the founding emperor was an overwhelming powerhouse, and the current one, Cecilia, was equally overwhelming. That much I knew.
Whether the emperors in between were all-powerful or just rode bloodline to the throne was unclear. No documents on it.
—Keeeeeek!
A tearing scream echoed. Cecilia was now indiscriminately massacring the few remaining demons. The ground was littered with corpses.
Half the demons had lost their reason and charged blindly to their deaths; the other half tried climbing the walls to flee and died anyway. That last one was it.
‘So who’s really trapped here…….’
It suddenly reminded me of a game where a green-suited protagonist bashes demons. Back then, it wasn’t the protagonist trapped with demons and hell—it was the demons trapped with him and hell.
No chainsaw for eloquent dialogue or double-barrel shotgun to bestow rightful glory and make lights, but the scene before me felt oddly similar.
Humans weren’t fleeing demons—demons were fleeing humans.
—Rumble……
“Ah, there it comes.”
As the last demon was bisected, the largest gate inside the castle began to open.
The guy about to emerge was the DLC’s second boss after the four-winged demon. Beat him, use the magic circle, head to the next item spot.
I’d debated the final boss but figured bringing the pope later would be better, so skip it. Priority one: get out fast.
“…….”
Cecilia had planted the holy sword vertically in the ground, arms crossed under her chest, eyes fixed on the emerging new demon as the gate opened. The tip of her leather boot tapped irritably at the floor.
The gate fully opened. A massive demon strode in majestically. Easily twice my height.
A pair of horns protruded from its head—the very symbol of a demon—and its body was covered in scales like armor plating. Even over the scales, the bulging muscles were obvious.
The demon glanced at us atop the wall with its blood-red eyes, then dismissed us and focused solely on Cecilia.
‘Same as in the game.’
Canon-wise, this guy loved battle itself. He submitted to the current demon king only after getting utterly wrecked challenging him.
Its spawn condition was ‘eliminate all demons in this castle.’ Protagonist slaughters its minions, piquing its interest.
Conveniently for players, once spawned, it stuck around even if you died mid-fight. No need to clear the castle every time.
“This the one you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
As I answered Cecilia’s question, a shield sprouted from the demon’s left arm.
Literally. Scales erupted from its wrist to elbow, forming a massive shield big enough to cover its entire body. At the top was a carved demon head facing forward with mouth agape. It slammed the bottom into the ground with a thud, pounding it with its other hand.
A massive roar followed. I just frowned, but Margarita beside me clamped her ears and shrank back.
Cecilia impassively aimed the holy sword, her expression unchanged.
“If you’ve words for me, speak them, Delta. I shall hear them personally.”
“When the demon carving on the shield’s eyes glow, strike it. That’ll shatter the shield easily.”
The second boss of the Demons’ Sanctuary DLC, colloquially the ‘Gladiator Demon,’ was tough because it blocked most attacks with its shield.
Unless it was a super armor attack, any weapon hitting the shield got 100% deflected, stiffening the player and opening them to counter.
It got a lot of flak for being cheap. ‘A battle-lover fighting like that? Bullshit,’ they’d say.
But there was a counter. Attack when the carving’s eyes glowed, and the shield would crack and eventually shatter.
Shield gone, it’d go groggy, give free hits, then phase 2 where its aggression ramped up, living up to the gladiator name.
Possible to win without breaking it, but it dragged into a marathon—not recommended.
“Understood. Get to it.”
Cecilia leaped forward after her curt reply. In midair, she inverted her grip so the blade pointed down, then plunged at the demon full force.
The demon raised its left-arm shield to block. Holy sword met shield first, followed by her leather boot stomping it. Clang! A circular shockwave burst out.
Even the shield couldn’t fully absorb it—the demon staggered, one knee buckling.
‘……It works like that.’
Honestly, pretty surprised.
Cecilia kept one-sidedly dominating it as I headed inside the castle. Its emergence meant no demons left.
Cecilia glanced at me going in, then resumed hammering the shield. Margarita trailed after me instead, her yellow bikini-clad breasts bouncing with each step.
“Why the castle?”
“Her Majesty will win anyway, so I’m activating the magic circle ahead of time.”
Margarita nodded. Neither of us doubted Cecilia’s victory.
“How far down?”
I nudged the ladder right ahead with my foot instead of answering. Margarita peered down and flinched.
“……Jeez. Super deep.”
“This barely counts. You’d pass out at their king’s castle.”
That place, the demon king’s residence, was palace-sized. Lots of collapsed or blocked paths, so few accessible areas.
If the full palace scale applied, that entry statue alone would’ve spiked blood pressure.
“You’re not dragging me to see it, right?”
“Of course not. We need out ASAP too.”
—ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!
A massive roar suddenly erupted outside. Unlike before, it dragged on forever.
‘What? Phase 2 already?’
That was the gladiator demon’s phase 2 roar. Barely inside, and already phase 2? Baffling.
“Looks like she’s halfway done. Let’s hurry.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. Already.”
We descended the ladder to the basement. I slid down holding the side; Margarita couldn’t, so she stepped rung by rung.
Each step made her elastic ass jiggle and hips sway side to side. Bonus view. I averted my eyes and stood before the altar door.
‘Cecilia sees this, she’ll flip again.’
A place for demons to offer humans to higher demons, after all. Demon king statue too—plenty for Cecilia to hate.
I figured activate the altar and bail, so I flung the door open.
“……Huh?”
I froze in place, letting out a weird noise.
Where the demon king statue should’ve been was one carved with a dragon’s head.
The World-Devouring One’s head.