Chapter 35 - A Devious Side

'Damn—'

The Demon that had torn off its own head collapsed, spraying blood everywhere. Gilberton hastily raised his aura to block it. Where the blood touched his steel armor, the metal rapidly corroded, leaving holes all over it.

'Tom will give me an earful for this.'

Muttering a curse, Gilberton assessed the situation. The person he had been talking to, believing him to be Galahad until just now, had been a Demon. Exposed by Adrianna, it had torn off its own head and sprayed them with blood. Had they not reacted quickly, they could have suffered serious losses.

Anything capable of deceiving Gilberton and all the knights had to be at least a high-ranking Demon.

'Why is there a high-ranking Demon on the outskirts—?'

The higher a Demon's rank, the harder it was to encounter one. They tended to stay deep within the Demon Realm. A high-ranking Demon was not something one encountered on its mere outskirts.

Yet one had appeared as soon as they entered. And a Demon with mental abilities, the most troublesome kind, at that.

'It even targeted the commander.'

More baffling still was that the Demon had targeted Galahad rather than Adrianna. Demons always went after Adrianna. That was why she always took the lead.

This was the first time one had not targeted her.

"It was after Commander Galahad."

"Ah..."

Adrianna's normally expressionless face crumpled. The cracks in her composure kept widening.

'This is dangerous—'

The smoke that had receded engulfed them again. So thick they could not see a thing ahead, it made even breathing painful.

Yes, this was the Demon Realm. The vile, dreadful sensation Galahad had allowed them to forget crept over them once more.

Adrianna brought forth a mass of white aura. It stretched out like wings, clearing the smoke around them for about three paces. Even that was impressive, but perhaps because of Galahad, it felt like very little.

"Lady Adrianna, you must calm down."

"..."

Racked with guilt, Adrianna bit her lip so hard it split and bled.

"Look for a trail."

Having given the order, she expanded her aura further. Her body trembled. She was clearly pushing herself too hard.

"You're far too agitated right now. Our commander isn't someone who goes down easily."

Gilberton spoke while struggling to suppress his own anxiety.

"They took him instead of killing him. They clearly have something else in mind."

"... Something else?"

At Adrianna's question, Gilberton scratched his head.

"There's something over here!"

One of the knights shouted. Turning, Gilberton saw a small clump in the ash scattered over the ground. He lay flat to examine it. It looked as though Demon blood had dripped there.

"Someone seems to have dripped Demon blood here. It's Commander Galahad."

To pull a trick like this against a high-ranking Demon... He really was not a man who went down easily.

"We pursue immediately. Stay close."

Adrianna swept her white aura violently outward. White lines filled the space around them, dispersing the encroaching smoke. It was an absurd display of martial prowess. Beneath the smoke, the trail continued.

She ran without looking back. Gilberton unleashed his aura and stayed right behind her, with the other knights following.

Just then, a demon-beast burst out of the smoke. Adrianna swung her sword without hesitation. The enormous creature came apart without even getting a chance to scream.

She did not break stride as she dispatched it.

'Whoever you are, you're in serious trouble.'

Watching the seemingly furious Adrianna, Gilberton muttered under his breath.

Still, he was every bit as anxious. Galahad was Galahad, but this was the Demon Realm. And he had been abducted by a high-ranking Demon.

He was unquestionably in danger.

'Just hold on a little longer. We're coming.'

Gilberton brought forth still more aura.

How long had they been running?

"The blood trail ends here."

The trail had stopped. Galahad must have run out of blood in his canteen.

"Wait just a moment!"

Gilberton caught Adrianna as she tried to hurry onward. She turned toward him, her eyes intensely agitated. To think she would react this strongly... Swallowing bitter saliva, he spoke.

"The commander will send us a signal. I know he will."

"... It's a high-ranking Demon. If it has mental abilities, even Commander Galahad is in danger."

Adrianna's answer was perfectly sound. Yet somehow, Gilberton could not imagine Galahad simply letting himself be beaten.

"He will send us a signal."

Gilberton looked her in the eye as he spoke.

* * *

"Have you anything to drink?"

The Demon's eyes widened at the unexpected request.

"To drink?"

"There's so much dust here that my throat feels scratchy. Have you anything to drink?"

Galahad casually checked the canteen at his waist. It was empty. He had punctured it the instant he sensed something amiss. Calculating from the amount it had held and the size of the hole...

'We've come rather far.'

He ran his fingers along the seam. The blood there had clotted a little. Unlike human blood, Demon blood clotted somewhat slowly. An exact calculation was difficult, but he arrived at a rough estimate.

'At this distance...'

Muttering quietly, Galahad took another canteen from inside his clothes. It was the one Adrianna had given him.

The Demon sniffed.

"That's Demon blood, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Would you like some?"

"No. Drinking something so inferior would only spoil my palate."

She seemed entirely unconcerned that he was drinking the blood of her own kind. There was something missing in her.

"I mainly eat humans. I prefer males who haven't fully grown yet. Refined tastes, wouldn't you say?"

The Demon curled her lips upward. There was pride in her claim to refined tastes.

It was a grisly subject, but Galahad was not particularly surprised. Demons were notorious for eating humans. That was why the Imperial-Demon War had left so many casualties but so few bodies. The Demons had eaten them all.

Demons and humans could not coexist.

'That exalted person, hmm... '

Galahad realized why things had turned out this way. There had been nothing wrong with the plan. Adrianna had seemed a little excited, but the plan to test his ability only on the Demon Realm's outskirts was reasonable. It was probably true that intermediate-ranking Demons were what normally appeared there.

The problem was that this so-called exalted person had stationed a high-ranking Demon there in advance.

'A surprisingly good intelligence network.'

Just as Galahad discreetly began to compress his mana—

"Oh, don't do that."

The Demon glanced upward, then pointed at him.

All five fingers on his right hand bent backward.

CRACK!

A hideous sound accompanied a surge of excruciating pain. A groan escaped him involuntarily. His mouth fell open, spilling the blood he had been drinking, mixed with some of his own. The mana had twisted at the instant he compressed it, wrenching his insides into knots.

Galahad narrowed his eyes and assessed the situation.

'She bent them the instant I compressed the mana... '

The Demon seemed to have noticed because of her sensitivity to mana. The mana concentration here was so high that even the dense mana supplied by the Egg of agony had to be compressed once before he could cast a spell.

But if the Demon was sensitive to mana, he could not compress it. In other words, he could not use magic. It was as good as having his hands tied.

His opponent was a powerful Demon—powerful enough to spirit him safely away from a group of knights that included Gilberton.

'This isn't good.'

Galahad muttered, shaking his dangling right hand.

There was one odd thing, though.

'She didn't react earlier, did she?'

She had done nothing when he first lit his cigarette. Yet now she had reacted. The difference between the two was...

'Ah, she reacts according to the mana concentration.'

He discreetly compressed his mana just a little, and she did not react. She seemed to respond instinctively when the mana became dense enough to harm her.

'Enough mana to light a fire, then... '

Galahad narrowed his eyes. Her lack of reaction meant that such a spell could not affect her. But attacking was not the only use for magic.

What he needed was precisely that minute concentration she would not care about.

Galahad began counting the time in his head. There was still a little longer to go.

"Where were we?"

The Demon asked as though nothing had happened. Shameless creature.

"We were discussing my compensation."

Galahad forced the corners of his mouth upward as he answered.

Her eyes flicked up and back down. It lasted only an instant.

"Ah, compensation. You will be allowed to meet that exalted person."

The Demon spoke proudly. Judging by her reaction, meeting this person seemed a considerable reward to her.

"You keep referring to this exalted person. Who exactly is it?"

Galahad asked, struggling to suppress the pain.

"Hmm? Oh. You don't know?"

The Demon bobbed her head, almost as if she were deliberately taunting him.

"Someone of very high standing. Far beyond the reach of a lowly human."

Her expression vanished as she spoke.

'Someone of high standing.'

Galahad murmured quietly. Her refusal to give a precise answer was a little strange, but this was clearly an upper-echelon Demon.

'Very high standing... '

If this Demon really was as exalted as she claimed, it would be no ordinary upper-echelon Demon. It would be a suitable source of information on the Demon King. It might even be the Demon King itself.

This was the first lead he had found on the Demon King. He had to seize it.

The problem was the condition attached.

'Assassinating the Emperor... '

This was not the first time he had been asked to kill the Emperor.

Galahad reminded himself that they had come to him. Twice, at that, and quite politely by Demon standards. There was no need to accept immediately.

"Why do you want to kill the Emperor? He's an old man who hardly does anything."

"Because he doesn't do anything."

The Demon narrowed only one eye. Something about the expression felt incongruous.

He wanted to ask more, but her finger was pointing at him, as though to say that was enough.

'They want to kill him because he does nothing... '

A peculiar statement. Did his inactivity actually hinder the Demons? What did they want the Emperor to do?

Galahad's mind raced.

Then the Demon's finger pointed at his throat. A trace of irritation showed on her face.

"Are you going to refuse?"

It was an unmistakable threat. She had bent his fingers backward without warning. Having that same creature aim at his throat was considerably menacing.

However...

"Stop bluffing. You can't kill me, can you?"

Galahad clicked his tongue and put his cigarette back between his lips.

"... How did you know?"

So he had been right. Her question drew a quiet laugh from him.

"That exalted person is interested in me, isn't that right? If killing me were the intention, you would have done it from the start. Why go to all this trouble?"

He felt he was beginning to understand these creatures called Demons.

"Oh, you're as clever as the rumors say."

"I hear that all the time."

"That's right. You have attracted interest."

"Why? Simply because I'm competent?"

The Demon's eyes shifted slightly upward. The same behavior as before.

'A habit? No, she looks up whenever she has difficulty answering. In that case... '

Repeated behavior was a clue. Galahad did not miss it.

'Now, this is rather interesting.'

Galahad stole a glance upward. Ash obscured the ceiling so thoroughly that he could barely see it.

How thick might it be? He discreetly flicked his left hand. A Mana Arrow shot upward.

THUNK!

A heavy sound. He flicked again.

THUNK!

He had a rough idea of its thickness now.

'This should work.'

Coughing softly, he flicked his hand. This time it was a spark. The Demon did not seem to notice. Or perhaps she simply did not care.

'Fool.'

Galahad clicked his tongue softly.

"You don't need to know the reason, do you?"

"Very well. The Emperor, then... Understood."

"Really?"

The Demon's eyes widened. She seemed not to have expected him to actually accept. She lowered her finger.

"But the Emperor is a fanatically cautious man. From the imperial knights to the latest magical devices... His security budget exceeds that of the entire Intelligence Bureau."

"You know quite a bit. Have you tried to kill the Emperor?"

"Something similar happened. At any rate, I'm saying it won't be easy."

She was a perceptive Demon. Galahad coughed softly and shook his head.

"Ah, I see. So you can't do it? That's not what the rumors say. According to them, you could kill even the Emperor."

"Rumors tend to grow in the telling. But my circumstances aren't what they were at the Intelligence Bureau, are they? I have no sources of information and no support."

"Ah, support..."

The Demon's eyes turned upward again. Galahad's lips curved.

"There will be support beyond anything you could imagine."

"You underestimate my imagination."

Instead of answering, the Demon merely smiled. Only one corner of her mouth rose, making the expression rather grotesque. It looked contrived.

"I need specifics to make a plan. Do you think the Emperor is some random fucking dog?"

"Some random... Pardon?"

"I'm asking you to tell me precisely what support I can expect. This is terribly slapdash."

Her eyes shifted up again. Now he was certain.

He needed to join hands with that exalted person, but he did not like the current arrangement. He intended to reshape it.

"F-first, would you like to receive the seal?"

"Seal?"

"Yes, the seal."

She showed him her palm. On it was a scar that looked like a burn: a large eye. He had never seen the design before.

"Very well."

The Egg of agony trembled faintly.

'Calm down. I only intend to see what it is for now.'

The Egg shook more violently, as though insisting that it alone was enough. It even bit his heart.

'Have a little more faith in me.'

The Egg of agony briefly stopped.

The Demon approached. Absurdly, she was dressed like a human, in loose clothes like those of an ordinary village woman.

Her face, however, was unreal. She was a rare beauty, but her unblinking eyes lent her a chilling eeriness.

"This will hurt a little."

The woman moved her hand toward Galahad's forehead.

"How am I supposed to go about with a seal branded on my forehead?"

"Where, then?"

"Put it on my chest."

Galahad unbuttoned his shirt.

"You have a lot of scars."

"Growth rings."

"...?"

"Do hurry up."

The Demon's eyes widened at his urging. A human impatient to receive the seal...

Her hand touched his chest. It was as cold as ice, with the chill of a corpse.

Then a sharp pain rose from his chest, rather like being stabbed with a knife.

"Y-you... What are you?!"

The Demon's hand jerked upward. The seal on her palm glowed red. For the first time, emotion appeared on her face: horror.

"How—"

The woman cried out in a horrified voice.

"So I can't have two."

Galahad clicked his tongue softly. At the implication, the woman's face twisted.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Never mind. In any case, tell your superior I understand. I'm inclined to consider the offer favorably, but the terms are sorely lacking. Even the promised support is vague..."

At Galahad's cool gaze, the woman bit her lip.

"You don't seem to understand your situation—"

"Would you shut your mouth? I'm not finished. No, I suppose there's no need for you to pass anything on."

Galahad pointed upward and flicked his fingers.

The woman narrowed her eyes. Was he acting so relaxed just to use that paltry spell?

"An exalted person, was it? You certainly think highly of yourself. At any rate, bring me detailed terms next time. As you now know, I already have one."

Insolent... The tension left the woman's face. Her expression vanished, like a doll's.

"How did you know?"

"Your eyes turn upward every time you have difficulty answering. How could I not? If that were... Ah, here she is."

As the woman sneered and prepared to unleash her authority—

The wall beside them was sliced clean away.

Through the opening appeared a goddess in white.

The Demon's severed head flew into the air. It was far too effortless an end for a high-ranking Demon. That was how monstrous Adrianna was, he supposed.

Galahad caught the airborne head.

"Bring better terms next time."

At his whisper, the woman's eyes curved into smiling crescents.

"Are you all right?!"

Adrianna stood before him, her face deeply troubled. The guilt on it was unmistakable.

This plainly had not been her mistake. Galahad was simply too popular.

Then, as she reached out to him, she froze. Her already large eyes widened further, their pupils trembling.

Following her gaze downward, Galahad clicked his tongue softly. His shirt was wide open. His body, densely marked with scars, was not something to show other people.

With a bitter smile, he closed his shirt.

"You have a rather devious side to you."

Adrianna's eyes widened once more.