133. Why Are You Here?
133. Why Are You Here?
Amy, who had returned to the capital from the Blade Mountains, was in a daze.
'A stronghold where Demon Archbishops are located....'
The moment she heard those words in the Blade Mountains, she couldn't believe her ears.
She had heard they were going to raid a Demon Church stronghold, but it turned out to be not just any stronghold—it was one where Demon Archbishops were present.
-To think of striking the Bishops directly...
At such a bold idea, her Companion clicked her tongue, as expected.
The Companion was reckless when it came to dealing with demons, but it seemed even she hadn't conceived of the idea of assaulting the Bishops' hideout.
'Atlas already easily took down Belphegor's Demon Archbishop once, didn't he?'
-Demon Archbishops are Magically Infected Humans with direct contracts to Great Demons, so they can use their Authorities in limited ways.
Just as Belphegor's Magically Infected Human used the Power of Dominion, other Bishops could also use the Authorities granted by their respective demons.
In a one-on-one fight, a Master was certainly stronger than a Demon Archbishop.
But no matter how much of a Master one might be, fighting them in their advantageous nest would be a heavy burden...
Amy still flinched whenever she recalled the time she faced Belphegor's Demon Archbishop during the Hunting Festival.
Whether it was thanks to her Companion or the training she'd done since childhood, she hadn't succumbed to the Power of Dominion, but she had been in a constant daze the entire time she faced it.
The Headmaster and instructor she had to fight as enemies, the endless waves of Magical Beasts, and the fear that her teammates, who should have had her back, could suddenly be dominated.
Without any countermeasures, a being who could, with a mere snap of their fingers, control a perfectly fine person as they pleased—that was a Demon Archbishop.
-There are Great Demons with weaknesses, but many don't have any. Is it the typical hubris of a Master?
'I told you, the day might come when I have to fight a Demon Archbishop too.'
-That story was based on the assumption that we would create an advantageous situation and expose them. In a way, it was a similar situation when Belphegor's Demon Archbishop crawled into the Black Forest before.
-No... actually... now might be an opportunity... maybe? The fact that they're lying low and running away could mean they still lack the confidence to face a Master head-on...
That was true... Originally, at this point in time, there had been no Master who deemed the Demon Church a serious threat... no Master who advocated for a preemptive strike... no Master who knew the actual means to find them... none at all.
Suddenly, the Companion lowered her voice and began muttering to herself.
-...................
'Why are you suddenly acting like that? Say something, anything.'
Then, abruptly, the Companion's words cut off.
After a moment of deep thought, the Companion continued speaking.
-I've changed my mind. Having considered the various circumstances, the conclusion is that the plan is valid. What matters is how much information Atlas has about the Demon Archbishops.
'...Is it possible?'
-He already took down Belphegor's Demon Archbishop without much effort. If he can handle it well... it's more than possible. We can help him.
Persuaded by the Companion's words, Amy grabbed Atlas's wrist.
"What is it?"
"Atlas, how much do you know about Demon Archbishops?"
"Enough to take them down."
Atlas said it flatly.
Considering how calmly he'd handled the Power of Dominion, it was clear Atlas also possessed considerable knowledge about Demon Archbishops.
After all, basic knowledge about each Demon Archbishop could be obtained as much as you needed by working with the Church.
"I'll tell you everything I know about Demon Archbishops. So let's both prepare thoroughly."
"Uh... uh? Oh, thanks."
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Truly, truly, truly fortunately, Kirke's necromancy had pinpointed a location with traces of a powerful demon.
She had narrowed down the area quite precisely, so a little investigation would reveal it quickly.
'Lucky it's here; I would've been so embarrassed if it wasn't.'
I'd confidently declared it was there, and if it hadn't been, finding the predicted area again would have taken an eternity.
Amy and I, having figured out the Demon Archbishops' approximate location in the Blade Mountains through Kirke's necromancy, immediately got to work.
My actions, fueled by the single will to finish this quickly, were incredibly swift.
I retrieved Casey, whose investigation with the Holy See in the capital had concluded, and used an emergency communication artifact to contact the church in the area I'd mentioned to the Saintess.
Once the Demon Archbishops were dead, the rest would obviously be a disorganized mob, so having just enough forces to subdue them would be sufficient.
At that moment, Casey, who had been listening to the operation's details, tilted her head and spoke.
"We're going to capture Demon Archbishops? Then, since the Knight Order headquarters is right there, should I bring a few idle ones along? I saw them earlier; they were all saying how peaceful things were."
"Casey, are you a genius? Whose daughter are you to be this smart??"
I made an exaggerated show of surprise and ruffled Casey's hair wildly, and she glared at me fiercely.
"...Are you messing with me?"
"Oh, that's the one thing you absolutely can't do."
There were some officers who, like that guy earlier calling it peaceful, couldn't even go on business trips and just served as figureheads, but I couldn't use them.
If I'd intended to use them in the first place, I would have asked them first.
"Why??"
"Not everyone who's a top-tier Expert is the same. Most of those guys don't even know what a Demon Archbishop is; they might just get hit by an Authority and become a hindrance."
"...That's true."
If I brought them along for nothing and they instantly fell victim to the Power of Dominion or something like the Power of Seduction, they'd only be a hindrance.
They were all brawn with no brains, so if that was the case, it was better to just get a few more Holy Knights from the Church.
"Then what about me? Do I have resistance too?"
"Neither you nor Amy got dominated by Belphegor's Demon Archbishop. You all just don't realize it, but you have a certain level of resistance."
"Is that so?"
Casey seemed to accept it somehow.
I didn't know why she had resistance, but it might have been related to what we found in the Demon Church's facility.
"Atlas, then let's prepare the essentials before we start the full-scale search."
.
.
.
.
.
.
Amy helped incredibly actively in preparing to hunt the Demon Archbishops.
There were a few pieces of information even I hadn't known, and these seemed like they'd be useful for a long, long time.
As expected, the depth of her knowledge was different from mine, having only skimmed through a novel.
Since the imperial capital had many things available, following Amy's advice, we prepared for any eventuality, since we didn't know which Demon Archbishops we'd encounter, then moved to the designated location and began the search.
The Demon Church's security barriers reacted sensitively to 'Holy Power', so we threw away all the items we were carrying that emitted Holy Power and proceeded with the search.
The first place we found was a mountainous region southeast of the capital; the second was a plain you'd reach by going up past two territories from there.
No matter how well they disguised it, it was manageable to identify locations where people came and went.
Unless they used teleportation for every single movement, traces of people coming and going were bound to remain.
As soon as we located a place, I infiltrated it, confirmed it was indeed the hideout, then summoned the Church forces in that region and ordered them to stand by outside the barrier's range.
Since the goal of this operation was to attack both locations almost simultaneously, Casey and Amy were deployed in separate positions.
The plan was this:
I would go in, disable the security system, and begin slaughtering the demon followers inside starting with the most dangerous ones; then Amy or Casey would lead the Church forces in to clean up the rest.
The very first thing I checked when sneaking into a suspected stronghold to investigate was what symbols were displayed inside the facility.
The Demon Church wasn't a religious organization serving a single god like the Church; each faction believed in their own Great Demon.
The Great Demons who ruled Hell all had different symbols.
Belphegor, whom I'd captured before, was a donkey; Beelzebub was a fly; Leviathan was a mermaid—depending on the Great Demon they worshipped, the symbols hanging inside were different.
'A donkey?'
As I investigated the strongholds, an absurd fact came to light: the place with the most prominent traces was where 'Belphegor's' Demon Archbishop was staying.
Not past tense, but present progressive.
It wasn't that the Demon Archbishop I killed had come back to life; a new Demon Archbishop had appeared and was ruling that place.
They must have created a new one not long after I'd killed the last.
First, I cleared this place out, left Casey to handle the aftermath, then moved on to the next location and repeated the same process.
The remaining one was where 'Beelzebub's' Demon Archbishop, bearing the symbol of the fly, was located.
Fortunately, I'd faced Belphegor before, and Beelzebub had a clearer weakness than any other Great Demon.
Since I had the confidence to swiftly deal with both, I decided to finish both in one go.
It was a feasible plan because I could use Shukuji to instantly assault the next location as soon as I finished one.
This was why Shukuji was so great.
Being able to freely go back and forth to a desired location without leaving any noticeable trace was something even the Director couldn't do.
"...Preparations are complete, then?"
"Yeah."
Amy, who had confirmed the dwelling place of the demon worshippers and the type of Authority at each stronghold, quickly prepared for battle.
Seeing two Demon Archbishops taken down in an instant, even the Demon Church, full of crazy bastards, would feel fear.
I hoped so.