Desire Breeds Hatred: Purgatory
Purgatory—the realm where the souls of the dead, unworthy of immediate entry into heaven, are said to be cleansed of their sins through the torment of flames. That purgatory now blazed to life in Rowen's hands.
If only it could wash away sins like true purgatory. Rowen had no intention of forgiving the Muron standing before him. You should've just kept your mouth shut. Then the pain might've been less.
The golems that had assaulted the Pentagon. He'd admitted it himself—he'd created them. Words he never should have uttered in front of Rowen.
Here, of all places, where Rowen hated magitech more than anyone, despised Arkanthia, and above all...
"Avenge my father..." That was what he had to do. And yet this bastard had gone and revealed it himself.
Rowen laughed without smiling. One of the unknown targets of Arkanthia's vengeance stood right before him. Was it joy? Or rage boiling up? Whatever it was, Rowen charged at Muron alongside Arahan, nothing more.
"What magnificent momentum!"
Muron swung his arm once more. No incantation. The rune fragments embedded in his body forcibly bypassed the need for chants, defied the natural order, ignored mana circuit calculations. They simply extracted the pre-programmed spells as desired. That was the first stage of magitech.
That's why it's so terrifying. Because there were those who misused that power properly. In the past, the Arkanthian continent had once faced annihilation. And now their descendants were trying to repeat history. Like a Möbius strip, looping endlessly.
"Can you produce output like this? No! Impossible. Not even for the blood of Valenos!"
"Shut your yapping."
"I agree, Young Master. Above all, I despise that filth. Something about him feels... off."
Arahan swung her sword in a graceful arc. The razor-sharp blade trailed a haze of sword aura laced with gold. The seductive hue adorned the surroundings. At the same time, the pillars erected here and there were sliced into perfect cubic blocks.
"Don't dodge—take the sword already. You playing around?"
"...Who do you take me for, an idiot?"
"Who else but you? You need to get diced up quick so Young Master can be satisfied."
Muron, blocking Arahan's strike with a chantless energy shield, couldn't hide his astonishment. Triple casting. A barrier layered with the same spell three times over. And this woman before him had shattered it effortlessly—
"What the hell are you?"
"A servant of the Valenos family."
"...No mere servant."
And then.
"Don't play around without me."
Crunch! The sensation of countless teeth tearing into every inch of his body. Rowen's purgatory flames ravaged Muron's entire form. Azure fire engulfed him. It burned hot. Yet it was freezing cold, like frostbite. He could almost grasp what it meant to lose all sensation in his body.
Leaving Muron behind, Arahan turned her gaze to Rowen. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. Her eyes cast downward, a hint of anxiety as if her confidence had waned. Was Arahan angry at him too?
"Young Master."
"What."
"...I don't play with men other than you."
"...Huh?"
Guess not.
"I-I only need you, Young Master! So please don't say things like that..."
"...What did I even say?"
"You clearly said that mongrel and I were..."
Whoa.
"That's not what I meant."
"Then... you don't doubt me, Young Master?"
"No need to."
Above all.
"You ever play around with anyone besides me?"
"...There's Miss Karin."
"That was more like sparring where she just wildly swings at you. Karin always did that. Said you hit back too hard."
"No. She enjoyed it! And didn't you train at the same intensity, Young Master?"
Rowen remembered. After sparring with Arahan in Snowfall, Karin would come back utterly exhausted. So he couldn't agree with Arahan.
"Sure she did. And that's only possible with me because Karin's still a kid. Sure, I'm an 'amazing' genius who started lessons at ten, but still."
"Ugh..."
Her face reddened further, and he found it a bit cute. Was it because he knew her feelings? Seeing himself pretend not to notice made his heart stir uneasily.
Then he felt the flames flicker. Flames always flicker, but the intensity here was beyond ordinary.
Rowen and Arahan surged forward. Rowen conjured Stardust; Arahan traced her arc. Yet the bastard didn't die. He revived the instant death should have claimed him.
"Young Master. First time I've seen a lunatic whose head regrows after being severed."
"...No way."
Muron laughed maniacally. The Valenos before him didn't know his true power. He knew only that magitech was in play, not what lurked within him. The power that had elevated Arkanthia to superpower status through magitech.
"The immense power 'those ones' bestowed upon us!"
Ecstasy.
"Hahahahahaha! Behold! This sensation! This power! This beautiful crimson light that defies even death!"
"That bastard..."
Rowen's brow twitched. Immense regenerative power. In his past life, only one being possessed such strength.
"Demon!"
The fool had contracted with a demon. Rowen was certain. It had seemed odd. For something capable of generating vast energy, the magitech's output was weak. If he called himself a grand magus, his mana should exceed that of an unritualized Valenos bloodkin. Even Rowen, with only half Valenos blood, had less mana quantity. Even that idiot Cain had more than him. Of course, Rowen had grown strong building on his past life's memories.
Whatever the case, the bastard was channeling both magitech and mana into suppressing the demon's power. When Rowen's high-tier magic overwhelmed it, his true nature emerged.
Rowen recalled it.
'The immense power those ones bestowed!' He'd said it clearly. To share demon power meant at least a mid-tier demon. If human, it implied the existence of demonkin.
Either way, bad news for Rowen. It meant Arkanthia's puppet masters were demons.
Rowen blocked the charging Arahan.
"Young Master?"
"Hold. Don't get close right now."
"...Pardon?"
"It's demon power. Humans infused with demonic energy turn into demonkin."
"I've read in ancient texts. Humans who become demonkin gain immense power. But they become monsters, forsaking their humanity."
Spot on. They discarded humanity, becoming beasts driven by slaughter and desire. Demons that fed on desire often contracted with mages—the pursuit of knowledge was mages' greatest craving. That's why Muron seemed so pathetic.
His skin had turned a deep crimson. His hair whitened, massive horns sprouting from the back, curving over his forehead. A triangular tail writhed grotesquely.
"You can't turn that back, can you?"
"No. I know."
"And you still made the contract? With a demon?"
"Demon? Heh. You call them demons? Far from it. They're angels come to save us! Sure, they used the name 'demon cult.' But I don't believe it."
Muron spat the words like a machine gun, his face alight with madness. Arahan frowned at his bizarrely writhing tongue and mouth, while Rowen felt his hatred surge anew.
"They're just hiding their true names to avoid exposure! Demon? I won't stomach such blasphemy."
"Angels my ass. I know demons better than you."
"Brat who hasn't even seen blood talks big!"
"Pot calling the kettle black."
A crimson beam of destruction. Magitech amplified by demonic energy, boasting double the density. The straight shot blasted from Muron's mouth. His jaw split downward grotesquely, tongue flicking over jagged teeth.
"Pity. If I'd eliminated you two, this Magic Tower would be ours. Of course, Rowen—you're coming with us."
"...Why do you lot crave Valenos so badly?"
"What a late question. To study your peculiar mana potency! They say they have their eyes on your bloodline?"
"Hah."
Rowen knew there was no point talking further. With Yuria and Arahan attacking, he'd die in seconds.
...But not now. He felt like being stubborn.
"Yuria, Arahan. From now on, don't help me."
"Hee hee, spouting nonsense again~"
"...Don't speak rudely to my Young Master. Or I'll kill you flat."
As their eyes locked in a glare, Rowen sighed at the childishness.
"...Please."
"Is it because that filth killed your master?"
"More like he provided the cause that got him killed."
"Same difference. Young Master, I don't like beating around the bush."
"I know. So shut up and stay put. You get it. What killed him was my father."
"My employer and master too."
"Please, Arahan! I'm begging. I'll kill him."
He'd intended to from the start.
"I'll make him die in as much agony as possible."
"Hee hee. As you command."
Rowen slowly drew his Ice Blade. Ice enveloped his arms with a crackling sound. Frost gradually intensified, granting the attribute to Rowen himself.
"Oh? Finally coming at me?"
"Shut up."
Rowen aimed his sword at Muron. Perhaps because the bastard wore a demon's form, it felt a bit easier to face. Dealing with demons was simpler for him than humans.
"Hey."
Azure ice sword aura surged forth. Countless ice weapons materialized behind Rowen, forming a mandala.
"You're done."
He'd met them nine years prior. They approached him, a lowly mage from Arkanthia.
You crave power, don't you?
Join us.
We'll teach you ancient technology.
Do you desire ecstatic might?
We'll make you ruler of this continent.
Who torments you? We'll grant the strength to crush them.
It scared him a little then. Their appearance matched the demons from ancient tomes, and they called themselves the demon cult.
...But.
What do you think?
Feel the power surging?
That's yours now.
Of course, hide that form. Your magic should suffice for disguise.
Technology from a forgotten age. Use it to claim this continent.
Exhilaration. His heart pounded, power swelled. Above all, vast knowledge! The past memories they bestowed shone with brilliant light. He knew then—they weren't demons. Angels come to save him and the continent. Messengers of god!
This era lacked a hero. Thus, god's messengers selected one themselves. That was Muron's faith.
Nine years passed. Arkanthia truly bent to his will. With this technology, he could conquer all continents. Then he'd build a nation for them.
So he thought.
Magitech amplified and imprinted any energy—mana or demonic alike. One day, curiosity struck: What if magitech enhanced the North's king's unique mana?
...But the North's king was too strong. So he built golems! They warned caution, but he couldn't resist. Synthesizing this mystery meant all power within reach. Thus, he targeted the obstructive Pentagon.
For years, he slowly cut off the North's supplies, blocked their news of Arkanthia. Other continents too. Soon after, he sent the successfully synthesized golems. Test models, but their destructiveness was proven. They killed Kadan. Stronger than expected. So he planned to use the children as test subjects, bolstering Arkanthia's might and offering results to them.
What glory! Others might call it madness, but to him, it was the realm of a prophet.
"Yes. The realm of a prophet."
Muron, once a lowly mage, had seized demonic power to become a demonkin. One of the puppet masters controlling Arkanthia's leadership, a prophet to those he revered!
Muron wagged his tail, crimson demonic energy rippling.
"Now, let the hunt begin."
For them. For Arkanthia. Above all.
"For my desires!"
With a mad cackle, Rowen and Muron clashed.