“What… is that?”
The noble soldiers and Temple Knights who witnessed the scene stood dumbfounded.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt, stretching from the depths of the earth to the heavens, struck Crown Prince Elvan, and the aftershock alone incinerated the young nobles.
And Crown Prince Elvan, who had been at the forefront, showing power like a Hero (Yuusha) to defeat Carla, who had been possessed by the demon rampaging in the Royal Capital, was pierced by black Soulthorns, and from the part where his skin peeled off as if cracking, he revealed a grotesque figure.
What is that?
Doesn’t that look just like a “demon”?
“—Everyone!”
At that moment, Elvan’s cracked “face,” which had been exposing its grotesque appearance, let out a voice, striking the ears of the confused humans.
“Attack that demon! That’s an order!”
Only half of Elvan’s peeled-off face remained, and both legs had transformed into grotesque shapes, but the humans were shaken by the “voice” emitted from Elvan’s “face.”
Isn’t that a demon? Were we deceived by the demon and attacked a “human”?
But those who heard Elvan’s “voice” and “saw” Elvan’s figure could only see Elvan, even if it was a demon.
Without knowing that this was the original characteristic of a “Doppelganger,” some of the confused people believed his words, even though they thought it wasn’t Elvan.
“…Ugh, uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Do it! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
A Temple Knight, or perhaps a noble’s private soldier, driven by a terror that surged from within, leaped out.
Demons distort perception and manipulate psychology. Those who leaped out had been standing on the side of “justice” until just now, and they were led by a sense of elation that they were fighting alongside the Crown Prince to defeat the demon as a group mentality, and they tried to defeat Carla without question.
But now, even though they realized “that was wrong,” they were manipulated by the psychology that “if they didn’t obey the Crown Prince here, they would become evil,” and driven by terror, they once again turned their swords towards Carla.
“You’re doing something interesting.”
But that’s only if there’s a wavering heart. Carla, with a spirit far removed from that of a young girl, smiled thinly at the sight of such people, and released Mana as she stood up from the rubble.
“—Lightning Strike (Digvolt)—”
The lightning pulverized the remaining noble corpses, and struck down the approaching knights and soldiers.
“Uoooooooohhhhhhhh!”
However, several Temple Knights, their entire bodies scorched by the lightning, broke through it and approached Carla with tearful faces.
The Temple Knights, who served God, couldn’t admit that they had been deceived by a demon, and they leaped at Carla with their lives on the line, driven by the psychological manipulation that if Carla disappeared, their sins would also disappear, a starting point of regret and guilt.
That tenacity slightly loosened the black Soulthorns, and in that instant, what had been Elvan escaped from the thorns, accumulating a vast amount of Mana in his mouth, which opened so wide it seemed to split to his ears.
“Well done! —Humans.”
The Mana released from his mouth became pure destructive force, attacking Carla, and the Mana turned into flames, burning the area to the ground. Seeing Carla disappear into the flames, those present let out a breath of relief, not with cheers, but with fear.
After all, it was right to obey the Crown Prince’s words. There’s no way that such a demon-like young lady could be human. So surely, it must be wrong that Elvan looks like a demon, they tried to convince themselves.
But—
“What—”
At that moment, the raging flames suddenly attacked Elvan like a snake, burning half of Elvan’s body, which he had dodged in a hurry.
And from within the flames, Carla, holding up the charred corpses of two Temple Knights like shields, transformed only the mouth of the Soulthorns covering her entire body into a bright red crescent moon.
“…Ugh… Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The noble’s private soldiers, who had momentarily returned to their senses at that sight, distorted their faces in terror and fled.
“We… are…”
The Temple Knights with reason, who couldn’t jump out, recognized the truth and knelt down, and the flames surrounding Carla swallowed them up as she took a step forward.
“You bastard! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
What had been Elvan screamed as he danced in the air, and Carla leaped up as if chasing after him.
Elvan swung his arm, which had already turned into a black mist, and the shockwave of Mana mowed down the roofs of nearby noble houses.
“—Rock Blast—”
Carla’s Rank 5 Earth Magic countered it, and several rocks, their trajectories shifted, crushed the noble house behind Elvan.
The two flew through the sky of the Royal Capital, spreading the ravages of war in vain. The powerful Mana clashing in the night sky blew away many houses, and people fled in confusion.
Carla’s Magic struck Elvan, and Elvan’s Mana struck Carla. But there’s no way to be unharmed in this exchange. Elvan aside, Carla, with her low HP, should be on the verge of death if she took even one hit.
“Aha…”
Even so, Carla didn’t fall. While spitting blood from the mouth of her white face, which had released the black Soulthorns, she was clashing head-on.
In Magic battles, the one with more Mana wins, and if the Mana Capacity is the same, the one with higher skill wins.
Even with the infinite Mana of the Soulthorn, the output of a human soul is fixed, and with the demon’s Mana and Carla’s skill, the two seemed evenly matched at first glance, but even so, the fragile Carla should have been at a disadvantage.
Then, why is Carla fighting head-on?
The fleeing people watched the scene with fear and despair, staring at the battle between “Crown Prince Elvan and the Thorn Witch.” They were confused, unable to change their perception of why the grotesque figure looked like the Crown Prince.
But, in the midst of the clashes, that perception was gradually collapsing.
Carla’s Magic destroyed the body that had been Elvan, and the moment the last remaining cracked Elvan’s “face” peeled off, the people opened their eyes as if awakened from a Dream.
“…Ah… It’s a demon! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
[Faceless Devil] [Race: Greater Demon] [Difficulty Rank 6]
[Mana Capacity: 3420/4185]
[Overall Combat Strength: 3838/4603] 300down
The people were overwhelmed by the terror of the Greater Demon they were seeing for the first time, and they fled, regardless of whether it was a collapsing house or in the middle of the flames, spreading the damage, and Carla chuckled thinly at the sight.
Carla’s goal was to make the people feel guilty. To that end, she showed them her fighting figure without hiding her appearance. Anyone who thought Carla was evil even once in this battle would never be able to doubt her again.
With this, neither the Holy Church nor the forces trying to remove Carla from being the Crown Princess would be able to interfere. Because the people with guilt would become their enemies.
‘…You…!’
The demon, who had been deceiving humans and increasing its power through a simple contract by being invited by humans, lost its power when its true identity was exposed to humans.
Even so, the demon couldn’t retreat. Retreating once, and then retreating a second time to a human it had sworn to kill, could weaken its very existence.
The Faceless Devil distorted its face, trying to create a new “face.”
In Magic battles, the one with more power wins, and if the Mana Capacity is the same, the one with higher skill wins… but that premise has just collapsed.
Black clouds covered the moon floating in the night sky, and with the clouds swirling in the sky behind her, Carla pointed her finger at the Faceless Devil.
[Carla Leicester (Countess’s Daughter)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 5]
[Mana Capacity: 218/630] 40Up [HP: 3/48] 4down
[Strength: 7 (9)] [Endurance: 3 (4)] [Agility: 14 (18)] [Dexterity: 10] [Martial Arts Lv.3]
[Light Magic Lv.4] [Dark Magic Lv.4] [Water Magic Lv.5] 1Up [Fire Magic Lv.5]
[Wind Magic Lv.5] 1Up [Earth Magic Lv.5] 1Up [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.5]
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.5] [Intimidation Lv.5] [Detection Lv.2]
[Abnormal Resistance Lv.2] [Poison Resistance Lv.3]
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 1827 (Special Combat Strength: 5239)] 116Up
[Divine Protection (Gift): Soulthorn Exchange/Life Time]
“—Thunderstorm—”
‘――――――――――――!?’
The Lightning, now unleashed with all its might, poured down from the heavens like rain, and the Faceless Devil, struck along with the surrounding townscape, screamed.
『――Gaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!』
But even so, the Faceless Devil, having escaped the electrifying sky without being destroyed, fled in a certain direction.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Carla once again pointed her fingertip at its back. However, upon seeing what was in that direction, Carla realized its intention and quietly lowered her hand.
There was no hesitation in incinerating that “insect.” Even so, Carla believed that role was not hers, and she laughed gleefully, blood trickling from her mouth.
“…I’ll leave it for you. Fufu.”
Carla muttered those words to the only girl she acknowledged, then quietly turned her back.
The more hands tormenting the kingdom, the better.
To create the ultimate stage for a deadly battle with the girl someday—
“That would be more enjoyable, wouldn’t it?”
『――――』
The Faceless Devil had been weakened by betraying its oath. However, in the place the Faceless Devil was heading, the last resort to overturn that remained.
The devil’s pseudo-Contract Holder, Nasanitaru—that human, mediated by the Dungeon’s Spirit, was not a master even as a Contract Holder. It was merely acting in accordance with his wishes in order to strip away his entire soul.
Even though he was an existence lying in the Temple, having already had his blood, lifespan, hope, and dreams scraped away by three Greater Demons, leaving only a sliver of life and soul, the devil’s power should return if it devoured him.
However, in front of that Temple under construction, the Faceless Devil saw those who shouldn’t have been there.
“Get readyyyyyyy!!”
Prince Amor, clad in armor, raised his voice loudly, and the elite of the Second Knight Order, Amor’s faction, readied their anti-demon spears.
Two spaces beside him, Elvan, with a pale face and no vigor, distorted his face, and the “Saint,” smiling as if sandwiched between the two, lowered her raised hand.
“Divine judgment upon the devil!”
Along with that voice, attack Magic was unleashed from the priests who had been solidifying in front of her, striking the Faceless Devil, who had stopped moving as if frozen for a moment, and in the next instant, it was pierced by the knights’ spears using Magic Stones of light.
The Faceless Devil, an aged individual, had no intention of losing to about a hundred humans, even if it couldn’t win now.
However, its body, which should have been moving for that purpose, stiffened, and the Faceless Devil, turning its gaze there, saw the “white-haired maid” behind the Saint, the girl called Saint, grinning, and knew this was a trap.
『――You――』
At that moment, the attack Magic unleashed again pierced the Faceless Devil.
Devils are not comrades, even if they are of the same race. All existences other than themselves are “Bait,” and that devil, having obtained a new Contract Holder, betrayed the agreement in order to monopolize Nasanitaru’s soul, and to use the Faceless Devil as Bait.
――Kaka――
The Faceless Devil laughed as if mocking itself at the end, and disappeared into black dust.
Confirming that, Amor turned to look back at the two, and Saint Licia, nodding quietly, took the hand of Elvan, who remained pale, and stepped forward in front of everyone.
“The devil has been destroyed! Victory’s blessing to Elvan-sama!”
Cheers rose from the priests and the Knight Order at those words, and voices praising the Saint and the Crown Prince echoed in the Royal Capital at night.
“Now, El-sama, please respond to everyone. As the next ‘King.'”
“…Ah, yes.”
Elvan nodded at Licia’s words, and raised his hand with a strained smile to respond.
Since when did it become like this?
What went wrong?
Was this kind of scene what I was seeking?
What are these people, who enthusiastically support me, who am swept away without being able to do anything, and who cannot grow, seeking?
The one who passed through Elvan’s head, trapped in such thoughts, was not the girl in front of him, whose hand he had taken seeking healing and salvation, but the red-haired girl who had always looked at him sadly.
I made it feel strange myself.
I feel like something is missing, so I’ll add a supplement.
The Faceless Devil’s thought guidance has increased in scope due to the involvement of Nightmares. Because of that, the confusion has become greater than at the castle.
Next time, let’s talk about Elvan and Clara soon…