Class Placement Exam (Part 6)
Let's take a moment to assess the situation more thoroughly.
Thinking it over, things actually weren't as bad as they seemed. At first, I had been at a loss for how to handle the werewolf, but fortunately, Albert took care of it for me the moment he underwent demonization. That made my opposition far simpler to manage.
'To think their scheme was riddled with so many holes...'
It seemed their intention was to pin me down while dealing with Evan, but I could hardly believe they had devised such a sloppy plan. Every move screamed hasty improvisation. No matter how I looked at it, they had moved up their schedule solely because of me.
Originally, Albert's demonization was meant to be a slow burn. As his days at the Academy passed, his festering insecurities and complicated jealousy toward Evan would be amplified by the Demon of Delusion, eventually causing him to go berserk and fall to corruption. What unfolded just now, however, was not that sort of steady transformation. Instead, they had forced a semi-compulsory demonization upon him, exploiting a sudden plunge into despair.
The former is an irreversible corruption rotting from the inside out, but the latter is entirely different. Having only just begun, he had undergone demonization while retaining his human vessel. Those horns jutting from his head were proof of it.
In the game, demons born from rapid conversions could actually be reverted to human form if a priest purified them in time. Albert could definitely be saved.
The problem was Albert's sheer strength.
'Just what caliber of magic stone did they plant in him?'
One glance told me he was easily stronger than the demon I had faced before—certainly not weaker. For an ordinary priest, standing against a monster like this would be nothing short of a death sentence.
Which left the question of Evan...
Part of me wanted to savor this to my heart's content, restore Albert to his senses, and take a nice rest, but with Evan's fate hanging in the balance, indulging myself without restraint wasn't an option. Regrettably, my priority had to be purifying Albert as swiftly as possible and rushing off to rescue Evan.
Reversing the transformation was straightforward enough. All I had to do was drive enough divine power into him that the magic stone couldn't maintain its shape. Ordinary demons, whose very flesh is woven from demonic energy, simply disintegrate upon being struck with that level of holy power. But Albert was different. His human body was still intact. This was entirely doable.
No, the real struggle facing me right now wasn't whether I could revert Albert or not.
'The real question is whether I can endure the sheer ecstasy...'
Could I truly withstand the agonizing bliss of wounds gnawed by that intoxicatingly addictive demonic energy? Even during our last encounter, I had nearly surrendered to the overwhelming sensation, and the miasma radiating from Albert now was incomparably denser. My body was already trembling in anticipation, as if craving the addiction, practically begging to be drenched in that sweet, stinging dark power.
'Am I completely insane...?'
Even by my own standards, I was undeniably a deranged lunatic... But honestly, so what? What I was about to do was save a human life. If I indulged in pure bliss while pretending it was an agonizing ordeal, where was the harm?
Who knows? If God looked down and saw me reveling in adversity, perhaps the Almighty would decide I could handle more and grant me even greater pain. Well, not that the deity was that kind of benevolent figure, seeing as how they handed divine power to someone like me in the first place...
'Wait, or maybe that's not quite right...'
Even a god wasn't entirely omniscient. Back when I had to lure monsters to unlock the Saint class, I always operated under the dead of night so God wouldn't witness my shameless antics. The Demon God might have had an eye on me, but who cared? What mattered most right here and now was the kind of pleasure Albert was about to grant me—and whether I could retain my sanity in the face of it.
'Evan...'
I knew I needed to go save him. My foremost duty was to stand by his side and nurture his growth, ensuring he mastered the singular power capable of felling the Demon King. Looking at it through that lens, with me unable to lend direct support and Evan ambushed by a high-ranking demon just shy of an officer, he was in grave danger. I ought to dash to his aid this very second.
And yet, if anyone had gone to assassinate Evan, it had to be that demon. The only entity capable of pulling off an infiltration without detection was the Demon of Delusion. Which meant there was no immediate cause for panic.
What if I was wrong, you ask? Well, I had no clue where Evan was, and leaving Albert unpurified wasn't an option anyway. By the time I could track Evan down, I'd already be late. Besides, if I tried running off without purifying Albert, he'd just chase me down and butcher me repeatedly. Ignoring him wasn't on the table. In that case, wouldn't it be far better to enjoy this feast to the fullest before heading over?
'This time, I'll play around for a bit and then activate the necklace.'
Last time, there were too many watching eyes to use it, but no one was watching right now. I could savor this as long as I liked, trigger the necklace to snap him back to normal, and go search for Evan. It wouldn't be too late.
Finding Evan in this vast rainforest was next to impossible anyway. And frankly, though I kept telling myself I needed to locate him, truth be told, I wasn't particularly worried.
'I believe in you.'
It felt a bit like my mind was already slipping toward euphoria, making excuses, but I genuinely believed that Evan had the grit to grow formidable.
As I mentioned, the chances of the Skeleton showing up here were essentially zero, meaning the one hunting Evan would be its henchman—the black mist known as the Demon of Delusion. Unfortunately for that demon, Evan had Estelle by his side—the Holy Sword who knew demons inside and out to a sickening degree. He wouldn't be brought down so easily.
Furthermore, if the Demon of Delusion was behind all of this, even if it targeted Evan directly, it lacked physical lethality and would resort to psychological torture. And Evan wasn't called the Hero for nothing. A mental assault of that degree was something he could brush aside with pride. After all, if a Hero couldn't even overcome a hurdle like that, slaying the Demon King would be out of the question.
Rather than a gamble, consider this a test to prove whether Evan is truly worthy of my unconditional backing. If he can't weather this storm, then no matter how many stepping stones I lay out for him, he will never grow—he'll merely shatter. It was merely a test to see if he was a blade destined to crumble to dust, or one that might bend, perhaps even snap, yet forge itself anew.
The only slight hitch was that I had put him through something that must have been excruciatingly traumatic...
'Not my problem, though.'
If he was the kind of man to collapse over that, he was never going to defeat the Demon King anyway. Floundering in a manufactured despair meant he had zero hope against the Demon King—the very embodiment of true despair. And if Evan really couldn't push past an ordeal of this level... well, then I'd just let myself die in peace. There was nothing more I could do.
So rather than fretting over uncertain futures and impossible worries, playing around with Albert before rescuing him was far more important. I can groom Evan anytime, but getting pummeled by demonic magic with reckless abandon isn't an opportunity that comes around every day!
My eyes had already rolled back halfway as I braced myself to face Albert. Come on, Albert! Hit me! Truth be told, just one strike is enough to send me to heaven!
Bang!
The instant that cheer echoed in my thoughts, the air cracked with a violent sonic boom, and an agonizing shock ripped through my lower torso. A gaping hole opened clean through my upper body, as though it had been blasted away.
"Kh... haah..."
Even if demonic energy fueled the strike, it had shattered my flesh purely in the form of a spell. No lingering miasma invaded my bloodstream. Free of any foreign energy to hinder the healing, my flesh seamlessly knitted together, restoring itself to pristine condition in an instant.
'In... insane...'
Getting pummeled in close-quarters combat was one thing, but taking magic head-on was entirely another... Even back in the Demonic Realm, all the damage I endured had been purely physical bludgeoning. Never once had I been blasted by magic. No matter how fierce the beasts of the Demonic Realm were, none possessed the intellect to cast spells.
And while the demon I encountered last time appeared capable of magic, nearly all its attacks had been delivered through physical brawn. I had been quietly yearning to take a proper spell to the face, and this was absolute perfection. It was nothing more than a rudimentary wind spell that detonated pressurized air, yet the sheer rush of bliss crashing over me outstripped the sensation of having my stomach pierced by a giant hand. My vision nearly whited out in rapture.
Albert's eyes flared crimson as he watched me remain standing without a flinch, completely unfazed by an injury that would have dropped any ordinary creature dead on the spot.
Catching his glare, I wore an expression of pure, breathless ecstasy, envisioning the delightful future that awaited us.
Ah... hit me harder, please...
Only then would the look on his face be truly exquisite once he came back to his senses.