Karla Versus the Demon
“Kuh…”
“Clara-sama!”
Hilda and Heidi rushed to Clara’s side as she collapsed to her knees.
Whether it would come to this had been a gamble. In this country, those who could oppose a demon were limited. If it was a Greater Demon, only a handful existed on this continent, and Clara knew of only two.
One of them, the Dragon Slayer girl, was not currently in the Royal Capital. And the other… she knew that the girl feared as the “Thorn Witch” was in the Royal Capital, but even with Clara’s Foresight, the probability was only about fifty percent.
This wasn’t the probability of her appearing and joining the fight against the demon.
Nor was it the probability of her fighting the demon and winning.
It was that with her appearance, Clara and the others’ survival rate, which had been less than ten percent, had finally reached a fifty-fifty chance.
This wasn’t because the demon could no longer kill Clara due to her appearance, but simply because she had no intention of killing Clara yet, that Clara’s chances of dying had merely dropped to half.
Clara, with bloodshot eyes, looked up at that girl as she floated in mid-air, engulfing the demon along with the dying knight in flames, and let a hoarse voice escape into the night.
“Karla Lester…”
Kaka—
The demon, emerging sluggishly from the inferno illuminating the courtyard, looked at the charred corpse of the knight in its arms and made a sorrowful expression.
“—Cruel, human—”
“You’re making a face like a failed doll, aren’t you?”
Karla voiced her honest impression of the voice, which sounded like a beast forcing out human words. At those words, the demon changed the face of the Fifth Order of Knights’ captain, which resembled crumbled clay, into that of an adorable boy. Seeing that familiar face, Karla narrowed her eyes with delight.
“What a nostalgic face… It’s my deceased elder brother.”
BOOM!
“Kyaaah!?”
A shockwave, like compressed air bursting, blew away Clara and the surviving female knights. In that instant, the face of the brother Karla had killed when she was five years old sneered at a seemingly touchable distance.
Kakaka—
“—Digvolt—”
The boy’s mouth spewed black mist, and Karla immediately retaliated with Digvolt.
The moment the demon saw Karla, it recognized her as an “enemy.” Not as prey like Clara and the others, but as an obstacle whose thoroughly tainted, pure soul would hinder its own contract, it decided to eliminate her.
Karla and the demon were repelled by the magical power radiating from each other. The electric shock burned the demon’s boy-like face, and the hem of Karla’s dress turned black and disintegrated.
The demon, for its part, had intended to create the face of a “beloved family member” from Karla’s surface consciousness, but Karla, who had killed that beloved brother, smiled happily without any sense of guilt.
Of her three brothers, who were scum just like her parents, she had killed two. She killed the eldest brother because she wanted to, but she had killed the younger one for no particular reason of note, and that was a regret.
“To be able to kill my dear brother again, I’m so happy.”
Immense magical power gathered in Karla’s hands, and the demon distanced itself from the white light.
“—Holy Flame—”
Three white flames, like intertwining snakes, attacked the demon. The demon, sensing it would be grievously wounded if it took the hit, distanced itself further while neutralizing them with spewed Miasma.
The holy flames and Miasma raged, and the affected plants and outer walls repeatedly rotted and purified, transforming the area into a withered ruin in an instant.
Kaka—
“Fufu…”
The demon and the witch laughed together as if gauging each other’s strength. Neither was serious yet, and as they searched for an opening to make their next move, they heard sounds approaching the inhuman battlefield.
“There it is, the demon!”
“—Karla!!”
The ones who rushed in were the Royal Guard Knights. All were in full gear: purification talismans embedded in their full-body armor, and greatshields and long spears similarly treated for purification. But it wasn’t just them; seeing the person who shouted her name from behind the robed group that appeared with them, Karla beamed with a wide, almost fierce smile.
“It’s coming!”
One of the knights shouted, and the demon pursued Karla as she retreated towards them.
In that instant, Karla lightly dodged the offensive magic unleashed by the Court Magician Division, which seemed intended to engulf her as well, and descended into the group. The demon, unfazed by the offensive magic, also landed, crushing two Magicians beneath it.
“Good day, Father.”
“Karla, you fiend!”
Karla greeted her father, who had subjected her to experiments to make her all-elemental, in a manner befitting a noble lady. Count Lester, the Head Court Magician, shouted with hatred the name of his youngest daughter—who had brutally murdered two of his sons and had now descended seemingly just to harass him.
At that time, Count Lester, while viewing his youngest daughter as dangerous, couldn’t act against her, fearing the damage that would result from trying to dispose of her.
Karla, at that time, though wanting to massacre her father and family, sensed she couldn’t yet defeat her father and had agreed to be his pawn by becoming the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
However, that delicate balance of power had already collapsed.
“Stop it!”
The Royal Guard Knights raised their greatshields and wielded their long spears, blocking the path to stop the demon heading towards Count Lester.
The demon, too, transformed its black, hazy body into that of a giant spider and charged straight ahead, heedless of the spears gouging its body, crushing the knights, talismans, armor and all.
Kakaka—
“Damn it, Lightning—!”
Count Lester, as if ignoring his daughter, unleashed Lightning at the demon, which wore the face of his dead third son. Count Lester was a Rank 5 Magician, and with power exceeding that of the other Court Magicians, who were at best Rank 4, he managed to halt the demon.
“Now!”
Seizing that momentary opening, the Royal Guard Knights and Magicians launched an all-out attack. Numerous spears gouged the demon’s body, and fire and wind magic blew away parts of its hazy form, but—
Kaka—
The demon, even as its body was gouged, twisted the boy’s face into a sneer and extended two legs to ensnare a knight and a Magician.
“—Hih—”
The demon smiled as if to incite terror, and with the boy’s face, it bit and crushed the heads of the knight and Magician, who were trembling in fear.
Even a demon would take damage from such an onslaught. Even if it was minor damage, continuous hits should have certainly chipped away at its existence. However, the demon deliberately didn’t avoid the attacks, instead replenishing itself by devouring human “fear” on the spot.
Even among denizens of the same spiritual plane, this was the difference from “spirits,” which are premised on creation; “demons” were predators from the moment of their existence.
“You monster!”
At this sight, Count Lester began to form a full-power Fireball in his hand. But—
“…Wha—”
The demon changed its stone-like mask again, and seeing that face, Count Lester’s hand, about to unleash the spell, stopped. It was the face of his eldest son, the first one Karla had killed. He held no more emotion for his son than for a dead pawn, but stopping his hand for a moment made him hesitate to fire the Fireball.
Level 5 offensive magic was mostly area-of-effect, and Count Lester, due to his position, couldn’t bring himself to unleash it knowing it would engulf many knights and subordinates.
Kaka—
The demon sneered with the eldest son’s face as if mocking him, using the knight and Magician—whose heads had been crushed and were now convulsing—as shields, while it widened the still innocent-looking boy’s mouth like a snake’s.
“This is bad!”
Seeing a large amount of Miasma filling the demon’s mouth, Count Lester tried to dispel his Fireball and retreat before it could be spewed, but a slender white hand grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Oh my, you mustn’t do that, Father.”
“Karla!?”
Count Lester’s eyes widened at his daughter, who smiled as if admonishing a family member making a mistake.
Just how much strength was in this slender arm? Even when Count Lester put his strength into it, it didn’t budge. As the demon spewed out pitch-black Miasma, Karla, still smiling, slammed the Fireball her father had created—along with her father’s arm—into the Miasma.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
“Gaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”
Several knights and Magicians in the vicinity were engulfed by the raging Miasma and flames. Count Lester, having lost an arm and letting out a beast-like scream, rolled on the ground, still wreathed in fire and Miasma.
“――【Soul Thorn】――”
From within that Miasma and explosive inferno, Karla, her entire body seamlessly covered in black thorns, stepped out and crushed the charred remains of her father’s arm in her hand.
“Aha♪”
【Karla Lester】【Race: Human♀】【Rank 5】
【Mana Value: ∞/590】【Stamina Value: 24/52】
【Total Combat Power: 1711 (Special Combat Power: 4906)】
【Divine Protection (Gift): Soul Thorn Exchange/Life Time】
At her bizarre, Monster-like appearance and immense magical power, the demon, whose eyes had been momentarily blinded by the magical explosion, warily leaped back, but Karla’s magic was unleashed an instant faster.
“――【Thunderstorm】――”
With the activation of the level 7 【Thunderstorm】, dark clouds instantly gathered in the starry sky, and numerous bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens, piercing the demon.
Because she had localized it rather than casting it over a wide area, damage to the castle was suppressed, but even so, a dozen or so knights and Magicians present were caught in the attack.
The demon, caught off guard, took the full brunt of it and tried to create more distance, but Karla, seizing that moment, leaped in, her thorn-covered fist smashing into the face of the brother she had previously killed.
CRACK!
The demon, struck in the face, retreated to the top of a castle spire and glared sharply at Karla from behind its cracked stone mask.
“…………Kill…………”
“Fufu, very well. I’ll be sure to〝devour〟you too.”
Hearing Karla’s declaration, the demon vanished into the night’s darkness.
As the surviving knights held their breath in fear, wondering if it had truly retreated, Karla confirmed the demon’s presence had completely disappeared. Just then, a faint voice reached her ears.
“…………You〝demon〟…”
“You’ve〝mistaken me for someone else〟, Otou-sama. I’m so glad you’re alive.”
Seeing her father, who had lost an arm and whose entire body was horrifically burned—though the flames had somewhat offset the damage—Karla dispelled only the thorns on her face and smiled.
That smile looked like a daughter genuinely happy for her father’s safety, but the situation was far too bizarre. If the old butler who cared for her had seen it, he would probably have interpreted her feelings thus…
It was as if she were glad he was alive… because she wanted to kill him with her own hands.
“Well then, please recuperate, Otou-sama. Fufu.”
As even the survivors and the near-death Count Lester watched her leave in stunned silence, Karla, her dress burned away, her magically enhanced physique covered only by black thorns and unreservedly exposed, departed with composure.
“Gofu…”
When she reached a place where no one was around, Karla coughed up blood as if choking. Donning a cloak she retrieved from her 【Shadow Storage】, she narrowed her eyes as if smiling.
“I can become stronger again… Right, Aria?”
No conclusion to the battle! Instead, Otou-sama ended up battered…
With this, two demons now have a fateful connection with Aria and Karla.
The remaining one is…
Next time, Aria will begin to move to subjugate the demons.