Chapter 25 – A Former Ally
I said as I entered my room in the dormitory of the military school at night.
“Rena. Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
The silver-haired maid girl who appeared soon after had a somewhat gloomy expression on her face. Well, she has been through a lot since she got here. It’s understandable.
“We didn’t get a chance to talk much last night because of Roka’s birthday celebration. So what was going on when you talked to Charlotte?”
“No, nothing….”
“What? You’re still worried about being seen? It’s a small matter, don’t worry about it.”
“No. Charlotte had declared that Lucifer-sama was a demon. Not only his father, but that girl too…. It’s all my fault.”
“Your stealth technique is advanced enough. In fact, even I can’t even see you in that form when you’ve activated your magic.”
I sat up in bed and beckoned to Rena, who had a melancholy look on her face.
I hug her shoulder as she sits quietly next to me on the right.
“Don’t be downhearted.”
“…… This is no way to honor Giselle, who taught me the technique.”
“No matter how advanced the technique is, to Gisele, it’s like playing house. Next time, you can ask her to teach you an even higher level technique….. Although it will be difficult to learn.
It’s been over ten years since Giselle fell asleep. This time it’s longer than ever. In my past experience, it usually took her a few years to wake up.
After all, it will take a considerable load to learn space magic and time magic.
It’s not unreasonable. They are directly related to the logic of this world and the law of cause and effect. The amount of magic power they consume is enormous, and they can be used equally for all the formulas of the seven major attributes.
In short, it is a bery complex technique with a terribly high degree of difficulty.
Giselle chose to explore those magics for several hundred years.
When she was a child, she was raised by me and many other powerful people.
It was something that she had thoroughly learned how to handle magic, and before she knew it, she had become as powerful as a royal majin.
If she trains for another few hundred years, there will be no one who can match her in history.
She may even reach the realm of the great wizard Diruna, which no one can match in history.
“……Lucifer-sama.”
“What is it?”
“Can you tell me about Satan?” she asked, I’m a little taken aback.
I didn’t expect her to ask me this question out of the blue.
“I know that Lucifer-sama doesn’t want to remember much about Satan, but I’m curious …”
“…… Well, that’s fine. How much did I tell you? That he and I were allies and that he disappeared? …… was that much?”
“Yes. It happened a long time before I was born, didn’t it?
“Yeah. It’s been over 1200 years since I’ve had a real conversation with him. But Satan was a quiet man. Unlike other royalty, he had no direct follower members to rule over, and during peacetime he spent his time training on an island far to the west of Tenebrae.”
“I’ve also heard that he was a majin of destruction and slaughter. Was he a fierce man?”
I decided to reminisce a little about that time. It must have been more than 1,300 years ago.
☆
A series of lightning strikes on an isolated island west of Tenebrae.
A hundred times per second, it falls on the same spot and makes a tremendous roar.
I approached the place, floating through the air.
In an instant, the power of lightning was rapidly emitted, causing a huge electrical discharge all around the area. Those who were not resistant to magic power would be burned to a crisp and disappear just by being nearby.
I’m sure it will.
But to me, it’s nothing more than a shock. I don’t care if I get thousands and thousands of them.
“Satan. Do you hear me?”
“…… What do you want from me?”
Every time the man said a word, a blue electric current would surge all around him.
Hundreds of lightning strikes pierced the isolated island, and the surrounding nature was already burnt to the ground, leaving only a wasteland.
“The royal council will be starting soon. You should be there.”
“That’s funny, it’s not called a consensus. We are not equal. All of us are your puppets.”
I landed on the ground as lightning stroke.
A series of ear-splitting roars depressed me.
I set up a simple tactical barrier around the entire island.
This would prevent lightning strikes and block out any sound from the outside world. Satan felt it and looked indignant.
“Do not interfere. I will not tolerate you.”
“The urge to destroy is uncontrollable, isn’t it? Let’s have a fight first before we discuss it.”
Satan was a deformed man.
He was nearly three meters tall, with two magnificent horns protruding from his head, red eyes, and canine teeth that extended like a beast’s.
The long white hair is always spouting purple electricity, and the blue-black flesh is exposed to the outside air.
Its body is swollen with muscles. Two arms, one on each side, sprout from its massive frame.
If I had to describe its appearance, I’d say it looked like an abstract painting of destruction and carnage.
This man, who radiates a tremendous sense of intimidation, is Satan, one of the seven pillars of royalty.
Satan stared at me with a white breath, and then–. In the blink of an eye, he closed the gap and released a piercing hand.
I dared to catch it with one hand. Instantly, a tremendous electric current ran through me, scorching my arm and burning the hem of my clothes in an instant.
“Nice attack. You haven’t lost your edge.”
“Nonsense!”
There was an explosive discharge from Satan’s arm, but I kept catching it.
Seeing that the power of the lightning had weakened, I lifted Satan’s huge body while crushing his large hands, and slammed it into the ground while spinning his body.
When I immediately swung up on my heels and swung down to crush the deformed head, Satan quickly evaded and jumped backwards.
I turned to Satan and showed him my arm, which was no longer burnt, but perfectly restored.
“What’s wrong? You’ll never able to defeat me if you let me regenerate this quickly.”
“You ……!”
Satan raised his right arm to the sky.
The tremendous magic that emanated from the body of the deformed form was released from his palm and created the shape of a certain object.
“Release, ‘Kadesh Segel’!”
“Huh. Relying on divine weapons already? That’s not like you, Satan.”
What manifested from Satan’s hand was a huge battle axe.
The blue-tinged blade is far longer than Satan’s body.
Only the royal of demons can handle it, and it has a destructive power that is out of the ordinary.
It’s clearer what will happen if you swing it around on an isolated island than blue sky….
“Die to ashes!!!”
The battle axe, spun by hand, growled and swung down at me with great speed.
As soon as I leapt to avoid it, the divine weapon hit the ground.
A tremendous destructive force of the blow caused the earth to crack, easily shattering the ground far behind, and the shock wave went over the isolated island, tearing the surface of the sea and heading in the direction of Tenebrae.
….when it arrives, it’s going to be terrible around the coast.
“Geez, what a destructive power. It’s close to Belfe’s serious blow.”
“You too shall manifest your divine weapon. I will carve the essence of my power into your body.”
“I can’t do that. No matter how strong you are, you can’t withstand a blow from that thing. …… Well, to begin with.”
I raised the corner of my mouth.
“I don’t need to use my divine weapon on you, a man possessed by destructive impulses and rampaging around. I will demoralize you with one hand.”
Satan’s rage and intimidation are released.
Expect for a low-ranking majin, at least, I think no one could endure this overwhelming pressure.
Just as I was thinking this, the deformed majin came at me with tremendous speed.
I avoided a blow from the battle axe that was swung with great force by leaping backwards. I avoided all of the subsequent blows, feeling as if I was going to be blown away by the wind pressure.
Not wanting to miss the slightest opportunity, I kicked Satan’s unprotected side with all my might.
Satan’s body was blown away at the same time as the entire body of the giant body creaked, and there was nothing to block it on the island which has now become a wasteland. The majin body hit several times in the far sea as if it was a stone bouncing on the surface of the water, and then disappeared from sight.
The way he feels right now, every bone in his body should have been shattered, but that guy’s regenerative abilities are better than mine.
At this moment already.
Seeing a huge column of water rising from the distant surface of the sea, I became convinced.
Hundreds of lightning bolts struck from above. As I avoided all of them by sensing the landing point of the lightning strike, the lightning strike with magical power gouged the ground tremendously.
This island is no longer viable. It used to be Satan’s favorite place, where he liked to meditate in an empty space.
As I continued to avoid the concentrated lightning strikes, Satan came at me with blue lightning on his body, faster than the speed of sound.
I held back a blow from that divine weapon with one hand.
“……!”
“What’s the matter, Satan? Don’t be so angry, I was just trying to demoralize you with this one hand, but my foot accidentally came out. Forgive me.”
“Guh ……!!!”
I continue to hold back Kadesh Segel’s blade with only the strength of my fingertips.
I watch the majin flailing about, trying to break free from my shackles.
…… He’s usually a quiet and docile guy, but when he’s in this state, he’s not so easy to stop.
I don’t have a choice. I’ll just have to use my power a little more.
I breathed in and said, letting the magic radiate from my entire body.
“Quiet.”
With a word, Satan’s entire body slammed into the ground.
I could see that he was desperately trying to resist, but he wouldn’t even be able to move his fingertips.
“You can’t have a compete with me if you’re swayed by urge to destroy. Stay in that position for a while and cool your head.”
“If you’re swayed by the urge to destroy, you won’t even have a match. You should cool your head in that position for a while.”
“…! Kuh… kuh…”
The sight of his body twitching and struggling was not befitting of a proud majin.
I closed my eyelids, looking up at the sky for a while, unable to bear to look at the scene.
I wondered how much time had passed.
“Lu, Lucifer…..”
“Are you okay now, Satan?”
When I released the magic, the deformed demon slowly raised his body and sat down on the spot.
“What was I doing…?”
“You were just little overexcited.”
“……”
Satan shook his head as he took in the state of the island.
“Again, I’m trapped in a destructive impulse…..”
“The urge to destroy is like a disease to us demons. Yours is the most intense, and once you’re trapped, it’s hard to recover. If you follow your impulses, you will eventually come to your senses, but by then, half the continent may have been wiped out. I couldn’t just let it go.”
The urge to destroy is a nasty thing that makes us forget our ego and just enjoy destruction and killing.
I’m not sure if it’s connatural, but it’s a disease that always possesses and eats away us majins, who pride themselves on being complete organisms. Or perhaps you could call it a curse.
“Lucifer, if you don’t stop me, I’m afraid I’ll make the same mistake again, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry. Anytime you go out of control, I’ll be here to stop you.”
Satan was sitting on his haunches, holding his legs tightly and closing his eyelids.
His deep remorse must have made him do this.
This impulse is the reason why he is called the majin of destruction and killing. He is usually a calm and quiet man, though he can be a little difficult.
“It’s rather helpful that your destructive impulses are easy to understand. It’s most troublesome when someone like Asmo or Levy, who usually seems calm and harmless, turns into a leopard.”
“…… I am ashamed of myself. It’s a shame that I can’t learn anything from it.”
“I am ashamed of myself. It’s a shame that I can’t remember anything because I was just going to let my impulses take over.”
“I also enjoy fighting you, but we should only fight when we are both sane. That way I can see you at your best.”
A majin shows its true value when it is sane rather than when it is controlled by destructive impulses.
If you can’t think of anything but destroying something, you can’t be sure that you’ll be caught off guard by an unexpected opponent.
In a way, the urge to destroy dissipates when you feel defeated in the face of overwhelming power other than your own, as I just did. But that’s not all.
This is not only Satan’s problem, but also the problem of the royals ……, including myself, and the entire demon race.
The problem is that there is no solution in sight.
“This time you’re the one going rampage, but if I ever lose my mind, …… Satan. I’ll ask you to handle it.”
“I’m not strong enough.”
“If we both fought in our right minds, I would be hunted down to the point of death a time or two. The other royals may be able to handle it, but there is no one else who can conquer it alone, except you. I’m counting on you, Satan.”
“…… I understand.”
As I muttered this, the earth suddenly shook.
The entire island seems to be on the verge of collapse due to the recent battle.
“Don’t stay long. As I told you when you were out of your mind, there is a meeting of the royals. You’re going to be there.”
“……. It’s just like your dictatorship.”
“Aside from me, there are only six pillars, and now there are exactly three each of belligerents and moderates. If I don’t bring them together, we may end up fighting needlessly again. Don’t forget that your opinion is also important, my friend.”
“… I guess I don’t have a choice.”
Then Satan and I left from the crumbling island and returned to Tenebrae.
☆
When I finished talking about those days, I added the last part.
“My predecessor, Lucifer, had also been a great admirer of Satan’s power, and had used his destructive impulses in warfare to create indiscriminate destruction and carnage, which he enjoyed watching. The original Satan, though powerful, was not a man who liked to kill in vain.”
“I didn’t know he was such a person. I’m sorry, but I thought he was more crazy than that. And I wondered why such a person was so close to Lucifer.”
“What I have just told you is only one example. He was the one who was most frequently caught up in the urge to destroy among the royals, and there was no shortage of anecdotes about him. I couldn’t help but laugh when he destroyed Zenan’s airborne mobile fortress.”
It’s been a long time coming.
It doesn’t feel like it’s been over a thousand years at all.
“He didn’t show his emotions very well, and he wasn’t very good at talking. But when he calmed down, he would often share a drink with me. I enjoyed talking to Satan, though. ……
“Such a person has just disappeared.”
“Yes. Without warning. ……. He was quiet, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who just disappeared without a word. I thought of many reasons, but in the end nothing came to mind. I looked for him with all my might, but I could not find him. I wonder where he is now.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but is it possible that he’s already dead?”
“I don’t think that’s the case with him. He’s a man who literally won’t die no matter how many times I kill him. Even if I were to kill him directly, I would have to fight him for tens or hundreds of days, or even years, before I could finish him off. That’s because he has such a strong body. Well, that’s true not only for Satan, but also for all of the royals. …… But, Rena. Why did you suddenly ask me about Satan?”
“Yes, about that…. actually, when I spoke to Lady Charlotte..”
As I listened to what Lena had to say, I was – stunned – that I can’t understand it at all.
“Wait, what kind of joke is that, Rena?”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”
“No, that’s not right. Did she really say that to you?”
“Yes. I’m not familiar with the situation, so I’m not sure what’s going on. ……”
Charlotte told her about Satan?
Why? That’s not right.
Even if the girl had unusual or divine powers, there was no way she could have known about Satan.
“Impossible. There’s no way Charlotte could have known that.”
“Well, technically, Charlotte’s mother, ……, I believe her name was Nastasya, didn’t she? It is said that she told the story of Satan as an old tale.
“Nastasya …… the wife of a great hero who says she was murdered by someone?”
That’s ridiculous.
If it wasn’t Rena who was saying this, I must have thought it was a joke and didn’t take it well.
But my beloved wife is not the kind of woman who would make such a joke.
“Who is that woman really?”
“Lucifer-sama? Why are you so concerned about this?”
“The rest of the world has no knowledge of Satan’s disappearance. Even we demons could not have predicted his sudden disappearance, and it is inconceivable that anyone would have informed the rest of the world about it.”
Twelve hundred years ago, there were frequent battles between Tenebrae and other countries.
But there must have been no one who could have informed them of Satan.
No, even if they were, how long do you think it’s been since they were there?
There is not much written about us demons in the literature.
When I had time, I looked into the library in Mildiana, but there were no books that detailed anything about the demon race.
There is no way that a human being who was alive until recently could have known that ……. Of course, it is a far-fetched idea that Satan killed Nastasya, as Charlotte had said. But that was not the issue.
Why does her mother know about Satan? Why does a mere human being know something that even a historian could not possibly know?
… This is likely to be one of the reasons why we need to know the inside of the empire again.
It’s hard to believe, but if Nastasya knew, it wouldn’t be strange for someone else to know it.
Currently, the only suspects are General Duras and whoever is working for him. It’s worth looking into.
But now is not the right time.
If we contact General Duras again, we might even find ourselves getting into unnecessary trouble.
Then we’ll talk soon.
The attack on the temple that is currently underway. It must be quick to get this resolved first.
I must take the opportunity to talk to that general again. I focused my attention on thinking about my future actions.
