63
Chapter 63
Clap.
One clap for Uriel, the lead of the show who delivered a clever twist at the very end.
Clap.
Two claps for Michael, who solved the puzzle with style and added excitement to the show.
Clap.
Three claps for the Lord of angels, who performed a grand miracle and managed to outwit me.
Clap, clap, clap.
Clapping feels good. It's a sign that I've been impressed. With this, I've added another interesting experience to my collection.
Old habits are hard to break. I want to leave the past behind and move toward the future. In my future, there are Saint Maria, Wolf King Aru, and Dame Beatrice.
And now, a high and noble being has just been added to that future.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The red chains pull the angels' bodies tight. The three archangels could probably resist if they truly wanted to, but they are busy. They aren't so idle as to waste time on a matter that has already been settled.
"Demon, engrave this into your bones. Treasure Uriel's life."
"Of course."
"Michael... but is it really okay...? We don't know what that demon might do..."
"Raphael, Uriel must follow that demon. In a chaotic ocean of confusion, she must find the logic and realize the truth. This is the path she chose herself."
"Hmm..."
"Let's go, we have no time."
And so, another stage comes to a close. As the curtain call proceeds, the leads of the show vanish to the other side of the world, bound by the laws of causality.
Now I must tidy up the stage. Cleaning up thoroughly is a basic virtue for any veteran magician. I approached one of those who remained after the leads and supporting cast had exited.
First, Lucifer.
"Did you enjoy yourself, Ancestor?"
"Chaos."
"Geez, why do you keep calling me by that weird name, Chaos or whatever? I told you, I'm Oscar."
"...."
"I don't know why you're hyping up a mere clown so much, but that's not important right now. We have things to do, don't we?"
"What things are you talking about?"
"Come on, you know the promise. You have to nullify the contract with Dame Beatrice."
"Hmm..."
"Why? Don't tell me you're thinking of competing with Uriel in her current state? I mean, it's your choice, Ancestor, but wouldn't that be a bit boring?"
I grabbed the blonde hair of Uriel, who had collapsed on the floor, seemingly devoid of all energy. When I roughly lifted her and shoved her face in front of Lucifer, he frowned.
"That would be a blow to your pride too, wouldn't it, Ancestor?"
"Fine, fine. I'll do as you say. I'll nullify the contract."
Good, that's one person convinced.
Now to wake the other one.
After setting the exhausted Uriel back on the ground, I approached Beatrice.
Before leaving, Raphael, the angel of healing, had infused holy power into Beatrice's wounds. As a result, Beatrice was now in a deep sleep, her body fully restored.
It was a natural result, considering she had not only gripped a sword she hadn't held in ages but had also recklessly expended her energy. But she needs to wake up now.
I grabbed the wrist of Beatrice, who was breathing softly in her sleep, and pulled. Then I shook her a few times.
"Dame Beatrice? You have to wake up. It's time to carry out your first order as my knight."
"...."
She remained silent. Hmm, did I push her a bit too hard?
Still, I have to wake her.
Some might wonder why I'm so obsessed with breaking her contract with Lucifer. It's not as if continuing the contract would be a major problem, so why go to the trouble of summoning an archangel?
But this is a crucial matter. While the power and lifespan Lucifer provides are a great help to Beatrice right now, they will eventually become a hindrance.
Lucifer is strong. But he is not strong enough to stand at the peak of the world.
As long as she receives Lucifer's power, Beatrice can never surpass him, no matter how strong she becomes. She might only ever be his equal.
However, I am different. Four hundred years from now, I can grant Beatrice endless power. I will become even stronger in this life than I was in my previous one, and though it's a goal bordering on the impossible, I will kill that Demon King.
Beatrice is not a talent to be confined within Lucifer's shadow. She will receive my power and stand at the summit of the world. As my knight, I will possess the strongest knight, one that no other lord would envy.
"Dame Beatrice! Please wake up!"
Shake, shake, shake!
Only after I shook her violently did Beatrice finally open her eyes. She looked as though the mere act of waking up was an exhausting struggle.
Then I should get straight to business. I skipped the pleasantries and got to the point.
"Dame Beatrice! Just say one thing, quickly! Say, 'I want to nullify my contract with Lucifer'!"
"My... my Lord? Are you... safe?"
"Hurry!"
"Ah, yes... I want to nullify my contract with Lucifer.... But what happened to Uriel... U-Uriel...?"
It seems her memories of before she passed out were starting to return. I can't let that happen. I need to explain the situation eventually, but breaking the contract is the priority.
"Sleep."
Thud.
I used a sleeping spell to put Beatrice back to sleep. Then I immediately turned toward Lucifer.
"You heard her, right? Please proceed."
"...How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That nullifying a demonic contract only requires verbal consent."
"I heard from Dame Beatrice that you made the contract verbally. Since the contract was made orally, it's only natural that the nullification is also oral."
"You're quite perceptive."
Lucifer spoke with an admiring tone. Should I take that as a compliment? Well, why not.
"Very well. The contract is broken. Now you are free to enter into a contract with Dame Beatrice Constantino."
"Great, just great."
"Anything else to say?"
"Nothing to ask, but could you leave now? I need to clean up the area."
At the mention of cleaning, Lucifer looked around.
Beatrice's home and warehouse had long since been destroyed by Uriel's wrath. Which meant there were debris of various timbers scattered everywhere.
Expanding the view, the corpses of hundreds of monsters lay strewn all over the place.
Since there was nothing left for me to do here, I could simply leave, but such irresponsibility didn't suit me. What if a stench started to rise? I had to organize things, perhaps by burning everything.
Just one thing—it's a shame the bath was destroyed. It was my first bath in a hundred years, and it felt wonderful, but now I won't be able to enjoy it anymore.
"There seems to be quite a lot to clean up. Do you need some help?"
"Oh, are you offering to clean up, Ancestor?"
"You are a descendant, and regardless, you dealt with that troublesome Uriel for me. Thanks to that, I had a fairly interesting experience."
"Ahaha, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Ancestor."
"Of course. Who would have thought that at my age, I'd experience something so heart-pounding that it threatened my life?"
"Then I'll gladly accept your help. With your authority, Ancestor, you can clear all this away in one shot, right?"
"Naturally. This is nothing."
Snap!
Lucifer quickly rubbed his middle finger and thumb together. Simultaneously, the various pieces of trash decorating the surroundings returned to nothingness.
Creating something from nothing is impossible, but returning something to nothing is easy. We call that destruction. As Lucifer unleashed the authority of destruction, the trash vanished into oblivion.
The waste disintegrated into powder and seeped into the air. The dust from the corpses, debris, and timber drifted lightly on the wind and flew far away.
Things became much easier thanks to Lucifer. When I thanked him for saving me the effort, Lucifer vanished after saying he was grateful that I had handled Uriel.
Now I have to try talking with Uriel, but honestly, I have no idea how.
I mean, having Uriel with me wasn't in my plan to begin with! Sure, I'm an apostle of God, but angels are still awkward! I'm a creation of the Demon God, the most corrupt of all gods!
Moreover, my body is exhausted right now. Maybe it's because I caused such a racket. I don't have a shred of energy left.
"Aru, build a campfire."
"Woof? Campfire?"
"Yeah, a campfire. You know how to make one, right?"
"Woof woof. I know. I just gather twigs and rub them together."
"Aww, our Aru is so smart. Alright, do it now. Let's spend the night here."
Fighting monsters, fighting Beatrice, meeting Lucifer, and burning my finger in front of the hot hellfire Uriel emitted... That's right, I can't let my finger get burned.
"Go fetch some cold water, too."
"Woof? Cold water?"
"Ow, it stings... Damn it, why did I act so reckless?"
Burning my finger just to look cool. There must be no fool in the world greater than I.
"There's no river nearby. No streams either."
"What? Is that true?"
"Woof woof, I checked while I was running around."
"Sigh... Heaven isn't helping me. Then again, even if I were Heaven, I probably wouldn't help a guy like myself."
"Whine... Are you hurt? Show me."
"Aru, you must have missed it earlier. Look at this. My scorched finger."
When I held out my blackened middle and index fingers, Aru's eyes widened. She looked quite shocked.
"W-Woof...! What if you're seriously hurt...! You said you wouldn't do anything dangerous...!"
"I don't know either. What can I do if it just happened this way?"
"Whine... There's no water nearby... C-can I lick it instead...?"
"You'll lick my finger? Hmm..."
Come to think of it, dogs and wolves often lick wounded areas with their tongues. I don't know if saliva actually helps with burns, though.
"Do whatever you want. Licking it won't cure everything anyway. If it gets bad, I'll just cut the finger off and regenerate it."
"Woof woof, okay. I'll lick it while I start the fire."
Aru disappeared into the forest, saying she would look for twigs. After about forty seconds, Aru returned with a few thin branches and six thick logs of wood in her mouth.
Every single piece was well-dried. Seeing her find and bring back dry wood so quickly made me realize once again how incredible Aru's agility is.
If Aru ran at full speed, I'd never be able to catch up to her. She truly takes after the Wolf King. It's proof that I'm raising Aru well.
"Woof, wait just a bit."
Aru set down the branches from her mouth and arbitrarily pulled my right hand into her maw. Then, placing a large log on the ground and putting small twigs on top, she began to rub them together.
The way she struggled to perform two tasks at once was absolutely adorable.
Even if I used fire magic once, there would be no reason for Aru to struggle to make a fire herself, but I didn't because a mischievous impulse took over.
"Woof woof... lick... don't be in pain..."
Looking back, Aru was willing to accept death for my sake earlier. To save me, she stood against three archangels. Without caring for her own life.
"Silly girl."
"Woof woof, anything else you want to say?"
"Once you're finished with that, I'll give you some meat. You completed your mission well, so eat your fill."
"Woof woof."
Lick.
Rub rub rub.
Watching Aru rub the twigs with her paws while licking my fingers with her tongue made my heart soften.
Yes, let's rest for a bit. Since Beatrice and Uriel aren't seriously injured, they'll recover on their own if I just let them sleep.
The monsters in this area have also completely disappeared.
I already used my chance to communicate with the Saint at dawn, so communication is impossible today. I have to wait until tomorrow.
"Yaaaawn... I'm sleepy, Aru."
"Sleepy? Then sleep. You told me before that I should sleep when I'm sleepy."
"Right... I'm going to close my eyes... there's meat in the sleeping bag, so eat some if you're hungry."
"Woof woof, no. Give it to me yourself."
"Then eat it in the morning..."
And so, I closed my eyes.
*****
I didn't wake up until morning. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Aru, who had placed me on her thigh.
Beatrice and Uriel had still not awakened. Before they woke up, I first initiated communication with the Saint.
I wanted to discuss how to handle Uriel. Since the Saint is wise, she would probably provide some kind of answer.
With that thought, the moment I cast Tell Magic on the rosary.
[Jo-Joker? Is that you, Joker? A-Are you alright? Were you not hurt by Beatrice Constantino?]
The Saint answered immediately, as if she had been waiting for me to cast the communication magic. Her voice was quite agitated.
Unlike the Saint I knew, who was always extremely calm and quiet.
"Uh, I'm fine. I'm perfectly okay."
[Thank goodness...! Really, truly thank goodness! B-b-but why... why are you late...? H-how? O-or perhaps my sense of time is broken? I didn't know and thought something had happened to you... or maybe you were tired of communicating with me...]
She was rambling to a point that felt excessive.