novelraw Chapter 54 : Ritual (2)
Chapter 54 : Ritual (2)
Ritual (2)
Everyone present could not hide their astonishment.
For Silia and her squad members, it was their first time ever encountering a being called a 'demon'.
Even the dark mages who worshipped demons, as well as their associates, were the same.
It was their first time ever laying eyes on an Great Devil.
Up until now, there had been numerous instances where they opened a rift with the dark mages and pretended to offer sacrifices to demons.
However, this was the first time a demon had actually revealed itself by manifesting through the rift.
At that moment, the demon approached the boy, as if it had been summoned by him.
[The smell of blood... it wafted forth. That abhorrent... smell of blood....]
The demon spoke, then turned its head toward the squad members standing next to Louis and addressed them.
[Ah... you are....]
The demon lowered its head toward the squad members, who were trembling like aspens.
It seemed to find them interesting, as if it was sensing something from them.
[You are... much better talents than I expected. You... make a contract with me....]
With those words, it stretched out its hand composed of bony fingers toward the squad members.
As that grotesque and huge hand reached for them, the squad members tightly shut their eyes.
"Don't touch them. They're my squad members."
Louis grabbed the demon's hand and stopped it.
The demon looked back at Louis and asked,
[You... what are you? Why does... that one's blood flow within you?]
Louis frowned at the demon's sudden question.
"How about introducing yourself before asking about others?"
[...]
The demon paused for a moment, then introduced itself as Louis suggested.
[I am... the 10th Great Devil... Palmon... the entity who governs death. Then, who are you?]
"I'm Louis from the 5th Fortress of the 7th Legion of the Kilvus Empire. That's all the introduction you need."
Louis revealed his identity just as it was.
He had once been the son of a baron, but having lost that status, he couldn't mention it.
[So... are you human?]
"Maybe?"
Palmon stared intently at Louis, tilting its head. For a demon, it seemed surprisingly conversational.
Regardless, nobody around them dared to even move.
Silia, the squad members, and the others—everyone was frozen, and a cold, tense atmosphere filled the space.
Louis himself felt it was only natural, considering the energy emanating from the demon.
In fact, it was remarkable that anyone could maintain their sanity in front of a demon like this.
The truth was, only Louis, who was calmly conversing with the demon, was the abnormal one here.
[There's no way you're human... Look at this....]
From the countless bones stuck all over Palmon's body, several arms elongated outward.
These extended arms grabbed a dark mage and an imperial court soldier each.
Everyone was too panicked by the demon to avoid being caught.
And then—
"Kyaaaaahh!!"
"Gah...!"
The soldiers seized by the arms screamed as their bodies began to rot and disintegrate.
Before long, their entire bodies turned to dust and scattered into the air.
[Why... are you unharmed after touching me?]
A human would die instantly just from being touched, their body rotting and crumbling away.
It was plain to see why Palmon was an Great Devil—it could threaten without even making an effort.
Of course, Louis being unscathed after touching such a creature was also bizarre.
"That's none of your concern. But why did you even bother coming out of the rift when you could just stay put in there?"
[I smelled... that one's blood.]
"That one?"
[But you don't seem to be him... Though you reek of the same abominable odor... Now I'm curious.]
Palmon smiled and extended its hand to Louis.
[Serve under me... like that fool... and spend your whole life serving me.]
"Oh? So you want me to be your puppet forever?"
[Yes....]
"Then what happens to those next to me?"
Palmon answered as if it were obvious.
[Why... I will consume them. Especially these ones... they have good talents, so they're even more tempting.]
"I see."
Louis grabbed Palmon's outstretched hand.
Thinking Louis had accepted the offer, Palmon was about to show a delighted expression—
Until Louis's fist suddenly crashed into its face.
*KWAANG!*
Struck by Louis's punch, Palmon was sent flying, bringing down half the ruin with it.
The whole area shook as if hit by a missile strike, and dust billowed everywhere.
All who witnessed it were left with their mouths agape.
It was a first both for a demon descending to the mortal world and for a 12-year-old kid to punch it flying.
"Deputy-commander."
"..."
"Hey! Elder Sister!"
"Huh?"
Silia, who had completely lost her senses, finally snapped back at Louis's call.
She jolted as if from a jumpscare, and only then was able to recognize Louis properly.
"Louis...."
"Do you understand what's happening right now?"
"..."
Louis helped not only Silia but also the other squad members pull themselves together.
Only after their fright did they manage to speak.
"Young master... What was that monster just now?"
"Is that the demon from the stories?"
In total terror, they stammered. Having witnessed a demon firsthand, they simply couldn't believe their eyes.
"He just said he'd consume us, didn't he? Does that mean we have to fight him?"
Pram asked in a trembling voice, and Louis reassured her.
"There's no need for that. You have your own opponents to deal with."
Meanwhile, the dark mages around were also starting to come to their senses.
Watching all this, Garce and Alber recovered as well.
Just as Alber was beginning to wonder if this all was a dream, Garce composed himself first.
"Lord Alber, please move as far away as possible and continue receiving treatment. In a way, Palmon's direct descent might be an opportunity for us."
Garce pointed his sword toward Louis.
"First, we take out the obstacles."
As soon as he showed his killing intent, an ominous energy surged from the direction of the collapsed ruin.
[You refuse, then....]
But there was a reason Palmon was an Great Devil.
Sweeping aside the rubble, Palmon glared sharply at Louis.
[Then... I will kill you.]
Palmon strode toward Louis, summoning a massive spear of bone into its hand while crimson light blazed from its skull-like face.
He also stretched out numerous bony hands, aiming to seize Louis.
Everything the hands touched immediately withered and decayed. This included soldiers and dark mages alike.
Louis swept aside a hand reaching for his squad members with his fist.
When Palmon slammed a giant scythe into the ground, Louis sensed something and shoved his squad members to the side.
That instant, lightning crashed down from the sky—centered on Louis, but also striking all over the ruin.
Just a glancing blow from the lightning was enough to vaporize a soldier without a trace.
Fending off both the lightning and the bony hands, Louis thought to himself:
Fighting Palmon, who was unleashing wide-area attacks while also protecting the squad members, was truly difficult.
On top of that, he now had to deal with that knight Garce as well.
In order to fight one, he'd have to neglect the other.
At that moment, Silia shouted to Louis.
"Louis! Leave that knight to me! You deal with the demon!"
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
After all, Garce was the knight who had cut off Louis's arm. Being part of the royal guard was no empty boast.
What's more, there were still dark mages and imperial court soldiers around—there were plenty of adversaries.
"Don't worry about that. I've got these guys with me, too."
Three intelligence squad members were cutting down the imperial court soldiers and dark mages.
Since their lives didn't matter, it was fine to leave them to deal with large numbers.
"Then I'm counting on you. And you guys—"
Trusting Silia, Louis glanced at his squad members as he moved toward Palmon.
"You're still young. So use that fact to your advantage."
Although they wanted to ask what he meant, it was already too late.
Louis had already launched a shoulder strike at Palmon, and the two of them tumbled down the slope.
"Your opponent is me."
When Silia stepped forward confidently, Garce scoffed at her.
"You?"
Just as he had sensed earlier, Silia was weaker than he was, so he only found her ridiculous.
And wasn't this the same girl who'd called him trash a moment ago?
What a fearless woman.
"So, the Crown Prince's warning about monsters appearing in the ruin—all lies, huh?"
"Yeah! It was all just an excuse to lure you here."
Garce pointed to the other fortress soldiers still lying on the ground;
Some had perished in Palmon's attack, but he didn't care.
"Though I didn't expect Palmon to descend himself, our goal of reclaiming the sacrifices remains unchanged. I have a mountain of questions, but I'll deal with you all first!"
"So your younger brother... Did he participate in this as well?"
Garce replied as if it were obvious.
"Of course. My only family, like me, received great favor from his Highness the Crown Prince."
"Family, huh...."
Silia sighed and made a bitter face.
"How pathetic. That family of yours just kept on repeating this kind of trash."
"What?"
"He's not just missing, he's dead for sure. Probably for the best."
Angered by her taunts, Garce wrapped his sword in aura.
The sharp sword energy on his blade was clearly on a higher level than hers, but Silia didn't care.
"And don't act like you're the only victim. Do you think you're the only one who misses their sibling desperately?"
Silia also covered her sword with aura, though it wasn't as dense as Garce's.
Such things didn't matter to her.
Before her was trash venting unearned resentment.
****
Having tumbled off a cliff with Palmon, Louis smashed his head onto the ground.
It was a drop of well over 150 meters, yet Louis's head didn't get a scratch.
[You... reject... my kindness....]
Palmon, head stuck in the dirt as well, spoke in a broken tone.
[I'm displeased.]
Whipping his bony scythe, a raging blast of wind surged out.
A horizontal whirlwind roared toward Louis, powerful enough to slice swathes of forest clean out of sight.
But Louis dodged-nimbly and lunged at Palmon.
Louis was just about to throw another punch, but Palmon smirked.
At the same time, a massive discharge burst from Palmon's body.
When Louis's fist touched Palmon's bone, he was electrocuted.
"Kh!"
Electric shocks didn't work on Louis, who had become accustomed to torture spells.
But that only meant he had built up resistance; if it exceeded his limit, even Louis would be hurt.
While Louis was momentarily paralyzed in midair, Palmon swung his giant scythe.
Taking a direct hit, Louis was pinned deep into the ground.
With a roar, a huge fissure ripped open the forest.
From within the split earth, countless grotesque arms—seemingly torn from corpses—poured forth.
Everything those arms touched rotted away and died.
In an instant, the entire forest withered, and the whole mountain was stained a gloomy color.
Louis, crawling out of the fissure, was covered in wounds.
Just getting hit by the scythe, he felt several bones break.
Though he quickly recovered, the real problem came next.
"He's disgustingly strong."
This was power exceeding the higher-rank monsters he'd faced in the demon realm.
He no longer had the leisure to hold back.
Though there was a risk of losing his sanity, he was in a fully sponsored(?) state.
As Louis unleashed his strength, scales began to cover his body.
His pupils turned vertical, horns sprouted from his head, and beast fur grew over the scales.
The change was a compact version of his first transformation into a monster.
Transformed, Louis leapt toward Palmon.
This was the same strength with which he'd torn apart a Gigant Vulture, a higher-rank monster.
Louis was confident that this much would give him a fighting chance.
"Guh!"
But then, Palmon's crimson eyes turned blue, and as Louis sprang, he was suddenly slammed down into the earth.
Power that distorted gravity pressed Louis into the ground from the blue light in Palmon's gaze.
"Damn it!"
[Die.]
Just as with the Elite Lizard he had killed, Louis, even half-transformed into a monster, couldn't escape.
In that moment, all the rotting hands that had devastated the mountain began to converge in one spot.
At last, they fused into a gigantic hand of bone and crashed down toward Louis.
He couldn't dodge the palm descending like Buddha's hand.
As it slammed the ground, it not only devastated the surroundings but also corroded deep underground.
The ground was finally eaten away into dust, creating a crater like a meteorite had fallen.
The pit was big enough to swallow a mountain.
Still, the giant bony palm didn't stop disintegrating everything.
Within that pit, nothing could exist.
*KUGUGUNG!─*
It happened then.
A crack split the giant bony hand that had decayed everything in its grasp.
As another tremor shook the air, Palmon gasped in shock.
[This can't be...!]
With a powerful quake, the massive hand was utterly destroyed.
As splinters of bone scattered through the air, something appeared at the center.
It was a hand that could rot away anything. There was no way that brat could survive.
As expected, the kid was nowhere to be seen—but now, instead, a giant being stood in his place.
Palmon's blue eyes narrowed upon seeing it.
Before him stood a monster that looked like a fusion of a dragon and a wolf.
"Hurry up and come."
The monster spoke fluently, as if it were human.
"I don't have a lot of time in this form, you know."