Chapter 74 - Best Condition (2)

Solomon's seventy-two demons included beings who had been demons from the start, fallen angels who had rebelled alongside Lucifer and become demons, and gods or spirits of rival faiths that had been branded demons.

Paimon, ninth among Solomon's seventy-two demons. The beautiful one wearing a golden crown, the King of the West of Hell. And...

The King of Flames. He was also the king of the fire spirits.

That was why, the moment Yohan summoned Paimon—on the day that sudden upheaval occurred, when magicians were bewildered by the immense magical reaction in Korea recorded by instruments around the world—one man sensed what the other magicians might have missed.

The heir of the Paracelsian School, which wielded the four elements. A handsome man with soft, long black hair and delicate features.

"...!"

Alphonse felt it.

Although fire was not his primary element, he was a skilled elemental magician, and he recognized it. Someone in Korea had summoned Paimon.

... Unacceptable.

It had already happened, so acceptance hardly entered into it. Still, it rankled.

Some nobody off the streets, who had never even studied the mysteries and knowledge accumulated by a great school, had gotten hold of a decrepit grimoire and become a magician. To wield such powerful mysteries was far above his station.

And now even the headmaster was showing interest in this magician of no pedigree, who had summoned a former spirit king reduced to a demon.

Had Alphonse been headmaster, he would have shown the same interest, since the school's growth was what mattered...

But at present, Alphonse was not the headmaster. He was one of the heirs.

'Von Hohenheim.'

The surname of Paracelsus, founder of the school, and a symbol inherited only by the headmaster, along with Azoth, the enchanted sword that held a sealed demon.

He would be the one to become headmaster and the next von Hohenheim. And the entire process had to be worthy of an elite magician of impeccable pedigree. Not a single blemish was permissible. Certainly not being held back by someone who had been an ordinary mortal rather than a magician from birth.

... And although it was not official, the moment he realized Paimon had been summoned, it became a certainty that the master of <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, commonly called <Lemegeton>, was in Korea.

There was even an absurd rumor circulating among magicians that the man was the master of both <Mysteries of the Worm> and <The Lesser Key of Solomon>.

Regardless of whether the rumor was true, his task remained the same. Kill the street magician with no pedigree, and retrieve the grimoire to enhance the school's standing.

Yes, he had dressed it up in all sorts of fine words. But to put it bluntly, Alphonse was scared shitless of someone who had only just become a magician, and had come to Seoul to kick away the ladder.

And to retrieve a grimoire, a treasure of the magical world, while he was at it.

If someone was inferior to him but seemed useful, he would make them a subordinate. If they looked likely to become more than he could handle, he would stomp them to death in advance.

A truly rational course of action, befitting an elite magician of a magical school.

... And now, having hired Lee Munryong, a martial artist reputed to be quite skilled, and entered Korea illegally by sea, Alphonse had arrived in Seoul.

"..."

Walking the streets after nightfall, he gazed at the forest of gray buildings with narrowed eyes, thinking of <Lemegeton>'s master somewhere out there. Behind him, the sturdy old man, Lee Munryong, spoke.

"Now that we're in Seoul, how about a meal before we get down to business? I like to have a drink with my clients before starting a job."

Alphonse answered coldly without even turning his head at this paltry, meaningless gesture.

"I didn't hire you to make friends. Keep your mouth shut and stand by until I give you an order."

"Hmm..."

Lee Munryong shrugged as though he understood.

"... Then let's get straight to business."

He calmly spoke again at once.

"How do you plan to find the grimoire's master in a place this crowded?"

Alphonse looked slightly displeased, but since the question concerned the job, he let it pass.

"Obviously, I'll trace his magic from the place where his presence was revealed."

He stopped and looked up at the black building—the epicenter from which that powerful magic had spread. The place where Paimon had been summoned. No-entry signs stood here and there to keep people away.

Inferior, low-level magicians would not even know where to begin. But detecting magic was Alphonse's specialty, and with his level of skill, tracing its remnants was... difficult, but possible nonetheless.

First, however...

Lee Munryong took a folded iron spear from the fishing bag on his back and extended it.

"About three of them. Not human... Monsters?"

"I know without you telling me."

Alphonse lifted his robe, took one of the flasks of clear water hanging from his belt, and poured it onto the ground.

"Free-flowing water, take the form I require. Imprison my enemies."

He had not poured water onto the asphalt for no reason. Naturally, this was magic.

BUBBLE, BUBBLE.

The water on the ground bubbled and expanded, multiplying in volume and swelling like a slime. Watery tentacles shot out.

WHOOSH!

"...!?"

They seized the heads of two vampires who had leaped from the dark shadows and charged at the magician, lifting them into the air.

Having identified the watchers, Alphonse raised one eyebrow in puzzlement.

"... Vampires in Korea?"

Then an arrow of ominous green fire flew toward him and plunged into the mass of water.

Water put out fire. Simple common sense.

FWOOSH! BUBBLE, BUBBLE!

Yet that common sense was casually overturned. Alphonse's eyes widened.

"This is—!"

The green flame continued to blaze even underwater, raising the temperature until the mass of water burst.

BANG!

As droplets pattered down like rain, someone stroked Alphonse's hair from behind.

"Greek fire can't be put out with water. It's made that way."

"Did you grow it out to use as a magical ingredient?"

"...!?"

"Lovely. And such a pretty face, too."

Before Alphonse could retaliate, a firm arm slipped swiftly around his shoulders.

"Any interest in cross-dressing, or in a rich, kind vampire gentleman?"

Ioannis, the blond, blue-eyed vampire, taunted Alphonse in a low, gentle whisper against his ear.

"Oh, and don't bother saying, 'But I'm a man!'"

His blue eyes curved in a smile.

"Nothing gets me more excited than that."

Alphonse's face stiffened. He was completely pinned. He did not even have time to unstopper a flask.

And then...

"That's enough. Get off him."

Lee Munryong's spearpoint was aimed at Ioannis's throat.

"..."

Ioannis released Alphonse and stepped back several paces.

"Well, I was only joking. My type is someone cuter and prettier, someone who brings out my protective instincts."

He had never been serious; he had only said those things to tease him. And if he had truly intended to kill them, he would have targeted Lee Munryong first. In his estimation, this one was more dangerous.

Ioannis and Lee Munryong exchanged looks.

Alphonse checked his readiness, moved away from Ioannis, and glared at him.

"... Ioannis the alchemist, head of clan Madas."

"Hmm, how nice of you not to call me a Nazi vampire. What a good junior you are."

Ioannis smiled.

No vampire other than himself could face Shin Doryong, director of the Bureau of Anomalous Phenomena Countermeasures, so he had come in person to conduct a belated investigation of the building the Special Response Section had been watching.

And he had obtained some unexpected information.

'... An heir of the Paracelsian School.'

A fairly decent hunting dog had arrived.

If the fellow had come all the way to Korea, he was naturally after the grimoire, too... But even if their aims overlapped, there was no need to fight right now.

He did not need to help him, but there was no need to obstruct him either. They needed to corner the master of <Mysteries of the Worm>. Killing Alphonse now would only help the grimoire's master.

So Ioannis offered a little advice.

"I imagine you've come to detect the magic, but don't linger too long. The Korean bureau's people might show up."

Then he gathered his subordinate vampires and left.

Making his calculations, Lee Munryong spoke to Alphonse.

"If he's the opponent, I'll need more money. That footwork, concealing his presence as he approached without a sound..."

His eyes narrowed.

"A monster learning human martial arts, too. That's cheating."

"..."

Ioannis was not his target, so Alphonse had no desire for a pointless fight either. In any case, he was not obeying Ioannis's advice, but Korea also had a bureau that dealt with magicians and uncanny incidents. Nothing good would come of lingering here.

So Alphonse did what he had intended to do from the start. He recited a spell and poured the liquid from a flask onto the ground.

Water, the most versatile of the four elements. Spread broadly enough, it flowed into even the tiniest cracks in stone.

Contracting with the four elemental spirits and employing them as servants was no easy feat. Though he had not managed to contract with undines, Alphonse was still highly skilled among magicians who wielded water.

Having read the building's immense magic, the stream flowed along the flat asphalt. It advanced, detecting the magic that had departed this place.

When that powerful magic had erupted, only Yohan and Sua had left the building alive. Time had passed, but the search was straightforward. It simply had to follow the pull of the overwhelmingly powerful magic (Yohan).

Except...

Watching the slowly advancing stream, Lee Munryong asked,

"Can't this thing go any faster?"

"..."

Alphonse kept his mouth shut and ignored the ordinary man's perspective, incapable of understanding the aesthetics of magic.

* * *

On the deserted street outside the secret workshop, Yohan emerged after finishing his magical studies and stretched.

"Ahh..."

Tomorrow was finally Tuesday. I could use [The Sixth Pentacle of Mars], the spell that protected me from fatal wounds, again.

There was no telling what might happen next. Defensive magic was essential.

Then I took a step.

SPLASH.

At the sound, I looked down.

'Water?'

It had not rained, and nobody had washed the street, yet a stream of water ran along the road. A long stream... This was not normal.

I turned my head to follow it and met the eyes of two people who were obviously strange: a foreigner with long black hair and an old man carrying a spear.

Alphonse, too, saw Yohan in his white coat.

"That's him. Kill him."

"What if he's just a civilian who happened to be nearby?"

Alphonse shot Lee Munryong a look that told him not to waste time.

"What does it matter?"

"Ha! Fair enough."

I immediately summoned <Mysteries of the Worm> into my hand and gripped it. They might just be a couple of weirdos, but I would not dismiss even the slightest possibility of a threat to my life.

And judging by the atmosphere, they were clearly from that hidden world. Even if they weren't, an old man carrying a spear in the middle of the street was dangerous enough.

'He's out of his mind.'

I summoned Grizzly.

There was no exchange of trivial remarks like "Who are you?" "Why are you attacking me?" or "Hand over the grimoire."

The moment our eyes met, the fight began.

A battle between magicians, with civilian safety and lives tossed aside.

Battle City had begun.