Chapter 24
WHILE MIRA’S forces, consisting of Christina, Garm, and Guardian Ash, fought off three oni, the other two blocked Solomon’s path.
“You’re tougher than I thought.” He grinned as he attacked again. No matter where he struck—neck, arm, torso, head, or anywhere else—it was like hitting steel. Even his beloved holy sword could only scratch their skin. However, the more he swung his sword, the more momentum he gained. “Good… Very good.”
Solomon flashed an evil smile; this was the first time in a long time he’d had enemies worth his best. He took out a third and fourth sword and put them on his back and hip. Before long, he had six swords equipped like an asura.
The oni were strong. Worthy of their reputation, even. Their power and ferocity were no less than that of higher-ranking fiends. Only a handful of people could hope to fight them off in single combat. Yet Solomon faced them head-on and soon began to beat them back. Indeed, after fighting with the Nine Wise Men for so long, his abilities were nearly peerless.
“You can withstand even this? Then how about this one?” Solomon skillfully wielded his six swords as he cornered the two oni. This fighting style took advantage of Elemental Release, a paladin skill that he’d mastered. It heightened and released the power dormant within his swords. That was why paladins synergized so well with special weapons like holy and demonic swords. It gave Solomon unparalleled offense and defense when armed with all six of his holy weapons.
When one of the oni swung its powerful arm, he’d halt its momentum with a water holy sword and then stop it with an earth holy sword’s rock wall. When they tried to use their speed to outwit him, he’d slow them with his ice holy sword, hold them back with his wind holy sword, and then shoot them down with his lightning holy sword. When the oni tried to go on the defensive, his fire holy sword overwhelmed them.
Despite being a paladin, the quintessential tank, Solomon had abandoned shields and formed his own unique fighting style. He was also a true lover of battle, clawing his way to the top with his unusual build.
“Let’s start with one.”
Using the propulsion of wind and fire, Solomon accelerated with explosive speed and stabbed one oni in the chest. The fire holy sword pierced through its skin and burned the struggling oni from within. Soon it was a pile of blowing ash. Right away, the arm of the second oni pierced through its back and reached for Solomon. It was a perfect surprise attack. The oni’s hand rushed toward the paladin at such speed that he’d have no chance to evade.
Yet it never reached him. Just as it was right in front of his face, the hand stopped and began to shake.
“And there’s two,” Solomon said as he raised his lightning holy sword. The oni was already covered in ice.
Solomon’s ice holy sword lay at his feet. The oni had stepped into its icy field and frozen in the blink of an eye. It was totally unable to move. But even so, the oni didn’t give up. Its bloodshot eyes were proof that it would never surrender. Heedless of its inability to move, it tried desperately to kill Solomon.
Solomon’s lightning holy sword began to crackle with electricity that intensified until it became a blinding manifestation of divine judgment. The frozen oni struggled in vain. In its trembling form, one could catch a glimpse of genuine fear.
A flash of light, a roar of thunder—the being before Solomon disappeared without a trace.
“Thanks. It’s been a while since I got to enjoy a real battle.” Solomon turned and surveyed the battlefield, satisfied. “I’d say I’m done over here.”
Of the five oni, Solomon had felled two himself. The other three had just been overwhelmed by Mira and her summons’ teamwork. All that remained were the duke and the Oni Princess.
Or so he’d thought. Unexpectedly, another figure began to move.
It was one of the fallen lesser demons that had been struck by Mira and Luminaria’s relentless assault. They’d thought all but the five that had become oni to be dead, but it seemed at least one was still kicking.
“Whoa. Still alive, huh? Well, one more of you won’t change much.” Solomon strode forward with a holy sword in both hands.
A ray of light shot past him. The dazzling spear struck the newly resurrected oni. With the black mist covering its skin, the spear couldn’t deal much damage. Yet someone sprinted past Solomon, heedless of that fact.
“Leave that one to me!” It was Luminaria. She must’ve been simmering for a while now since she didn’t have any enemies to fight. Now she charged ahead, ready to enter the fray once more.
“Didn’t you hear Kagura? She said magic won’t work.”
The effects of the black mist weakened any magic that struck it. Physical attacks were better, which was why Mira—armed with her special weapon—and Solomon stood on the front lines. But it seemed Luminaria wasn’t satisfied.
“Not quite. She said it won’t work well. Fine by me!” It didn’t nullify magic completely, she pointed out as she slung spells at the oni.
“You’re too much,” Solomon muttered with a sigh. He turned his attention back to the duke.
The oni quickly perceived Luminaria as an enemy. It glowered at her with bloodshot eyes and charged.
“Ooh, very fast,” she chuckled.
The three-meter-tall oni was startlingly powerful. However, Luminaria didn’t falter; she gently pushed her right hand forward.
[Sorcery: Fiery Barrage]
The spell activated, sending out countless bullets of fire. Every one of them closed in on the oni and burst as they struck.
“Ggh… Gaaah…” Caught in the powerful blasts, the oni stopped running. And it didn’t stop there; with every explosion, it slid back another few inches.
“Knew it.” Luminaria smirked to herself. She’d noticed that, though the black mist greatly reduced the effects of spells, that didn’t apply to the spells’ physical aftermath.
The newborn Oni Princess’s power was still incomplete in many ways.
The aftereffects didn’t deal much damage. But Luminaria continued to push the oni back with her hail of bullets. Once it was far enough away, she swung her left arm in a wide arc. Simultaneous use of sorcery was an extremely rare, high-level ability.
The spell, a product of her extreme skill, took perfect form in midair.
[Sorcery: Glacial Mallet]
It was nothing but an enormous hunk of ice—but that only made the destructive power when it fell all the more brutal. The glacier crashed down on the oni, who had no way to evade. This construct of sorcery slipped through a loophole in the black mist, its raw mass physically crushing the oni.
But the oni’s giant form wasn’t just for show. It caught the glacier and slowly began to raise it back up. Lifting a ten-ton iceberg required unthinkable strength. However impressive it was, though, that was as much as the oni could handle. It was in no shape to stop Luminaria’s next attack.
“When odes ring distant in the sky and holy maidens are dyed in blood,
The stars sing a nameless song, the moon performs a nameless dance.
The time for annihilation falls into my hands.
Do not look upon it; death is brought by the light itself.
This is for you, and annihilation is for me.
Take flight and echo through the world, verses of the skies.”
While Luminaria began quietly chanting to herself, Mira and Solomon rushed to get away from her.
“Wait… You’re doing that here?!” Solomon gasped.
“Luminaria, you idiot, what are you thinking?!”
They knew that incantation, and they scrambled away as fast as possible. On the way, they warned Kagura and Wallenstein, who were still in the heat of battle. Their shouts echoed through the air as the spell took form.
[Ancient Sorcery, the Third: Princess of Catastrophe]
Light gathered in Luminaria’s hand, swelled, and became a current that engulfed all before her. That light contained nothing but raw destruction. An eerie noise tore through the space, swelled, and disappeared into nothing. When it was gone, so, too, was the oni—leaving not a single trace.
Harsh winds blew through the space where the light had disappeared. The destructive light had obliterated even the air in its path.
Mira held tight to Guardian Ash to keep her footing, while Solomon stooped low. Kagura and Wallenstein were fortunately far enough away that they could just chuckle watching the others.
“See? How ’bout that?! I got through it!” Luminaria herself was blown back by the raging winds, though she didn’t seem bothered at all.
It didn’t matter if magic didn’t work well against it. Even if it blocked 99 percent of her power, she just needed to use enough power for that last 1 percent to crush her foe. It was a power play that could only be done by a sorcerer—they had the most raw force of all mages. And Luminaria was the pinnacle of sorcerers.
“Good grief… You always go over the top,” Mira sighed.
Luminaria had only gotten away with creating some strong winds because they were in a sealed tomb protected by divine power. If this were any other location, she’d have created a huge cavern or sinkhole out of nothing. It would be outright disastrous.
Luminaria’s full power rivaled Eizenfald’s dragon breath. That was why she was forbidden from using it except in very specific situations.
The sorcerer flipped in midair and landed cleanly on her feet. She examined the floor and walls, unmarred by the destructive light, and grumbled, “Aww, man. Nothing?!” It seemed that was her way of testing her own strength compared to that of gods.
She was still nowhere close. Still, she grinned at her handiwork. Wise Man Luminaria, the Natural Disaster—one mustn’t be fooled by her womanizing nature; she had unworldly and powerful magic worthy of her title. On this day, she’d awoken to a new goal: to have her magic rival even the power of the gods.
***
Thanks to Mira, Solomon, and Luminaria’s efforts, the resurrected oni had all been destroyed. There were no signs of any new ones appearing. Now, the duke and the Oni Princess were really the only ones left.
“I’ve got you now!” Kagura’s clear superiority had turned her battle with the Oni Princess into an uneven game of tag, and even that was coming to an end. Her Soul Dispatch had allowed her to enclose the Oni Princess in a barrier created by talismans she’d laid down in advance.
“To think, a mere human…!” The Oni Princess glared hatefully at Kagura, but Kagura did not respond to her taunts. Instead, she quietly cast a spell.
[Shikigami Invocation: Seven-Star Withering]
In that moment, the barrier that had held the Oni Princess in became an execution ground. As with the last Oni Princess, Kagura readied her Alabaster Oni-Slayer khakkhara staff. This one was made to be even stronger than the one she’d bent.
The power within the star of Alkaid purified the Oni Princess instantly. The horns on her head tumbled to the ground.
The now-unpossessed Tyriel slowly opened her eyes. “Umm… What’s going on? Am I…?”
“Yeah… You’re okay.” Kagura gently hugged her and breathed a sigh of relief.
After spending so many years guarding these catacombs, she was clearly fatigued. So fatigued, in fact, that she dozed off right there. Since the tomb had only been discovered recently, her recent transformation into an Oni Princess hadn’t hurt her too much. Her sleeping face was truly as peaceful and gentle as an angel’s.
Kagura wrapped the angel in her chihaya robe. Then she stepped away to think for a moment, and beckoned Mira over.
***
The duke had tried to step in to save its Oni Princess, but it was stopped by one of Wallenstein’s barriers. Rage simmered in its eyes. “What manner of beings are you…?”
Wallenstein confronted the duke, filled with the desire to expel the evil from the dark demon. “People who want to save you.” No matter what he said, his genuine desire to help would not reach the demon.
“Enough nonsense!” it roared, brandishing its strength. The duke was clearly wounded, but its power was still beyond that of any common demon. Each blow, loosed like raging waves, had enough power to kill.
However, Wallenstein wouldn’t be beaten. This foe should have been beyond a single Wise Man’s power, but exorcism was especially powerful against demons. He carefully used his barriers to fend off attacks, using alternating white flames of purification and black flames of destruction to fight back.
The duke was now the only remaining enemy. The rest of the group watched the final duel together.
Solomon spoke first. “It was clear at a glance that it was weak, but it’s even worse than I thought.”
“Indeed,” Mira agreed. “Compared to the duke I once fought, it seems two whole ranks lower.”
The divine item it had used to break through the catacombs had clearly taken a toll. With the added damage of the preemptive attack, the duke’s motions were dulled.
Wallenstein alone would be able to handle it without their help at this point. But he had plans for the demon, so trying to help him might only cause more trouble.
“For sure. Since he wants to seal it and all, how about we just leave it to him?” Luminaria said, parking herself down on a random rock.
“Right. Let’s do that,” Kagura replied and walked back to clothe the previously naked Tyriel. Unfortunately, the underwear and other clothes she gave her were all Mira’s.
Angel or no, Kagura insisted that they couldn’t just leave her naked. Since Mira was close to her in height, she would have to provide a change of clothes. With Christina’s help, she got Tyriel dressed while the four watched the fight between Wallenstein and the duke. Based on what they could see of Wallenstein’s strength, he would surely prevail.
However, five minutes passed, and they began to feel that something was off. The fight between Wallenstein the Shadow and the demon duke had turned into an unexpectedly close battle.
Wallenstein’s attacks weren’t as biting as they had been, Mira realized. She cocked her head curiously. “It seems to me that his attacks aren’t quite getting through…”
“Maybe he’s too focused on that sealing stuff?” Solomon guessed. Wallenstein was working to save demons, and this duke was an opportunity to nab it and all of its subordinates at once. Was he perhaps being too cautious?
“Maybe. They say capturing someone alive is three times harder than killing them.” Luminaria misquoted a statistic as she watched over the battle. “Still, he’s holding back, right?”
Once Kagura finished making Tyriel decent, she reminded them what Wallenstein had told them before the battle. “Yeah, it’s weird. Didn’t he say he’d focus on stopping the duke?” Now that she mentioned it, Solomon and Luminaria agreed.
“Then why’s he holding back like this? It feels…off.” Luminaria watched his fighting even closer.
“I wonder why…” Kagura shrugged.
“It’s beyond me,” Mira agreed.
They had fought alongside Wallenstein many times by now. They had to wonder what was going on here. Then Solomon noticed something. “Y’know, that suit… Would it happen to be Residence Noir’s Formal Premium line?” He was referring to Solomon’s clothes, a black suit and white shirt that made him look like some kind of secret agent.
“What? What are you, er…? Premium?” Mira asked him.
Solomon informed her that it was the name of a luxury clothing brand that sold formal suits like the one Wallenstein was wearing. Apparently, their designs were popular even with nobles and royalty due to their simple yet stylish silhouette. Though they weren’t worn to traditional events or ceremonies, they were a common sight at smaller banquets and less formal occasions.
While there were many stores that sold suits, Residence Noir was designer fashion. As far as he could tell, Wallenstein’s suit was one of theirs.
“I’ve seen it here and there in catalogs, but…that thing costs over ten million ducats,” Solomon said.
“Ten million…” Mira was speechless. Spending ten million ducats on a single suit was beyond insanity. She supposed it might make sense if the suit was special in some way. “That’s quite the item he’s wearing. Am I to assume that the suit has some added effects?” It must have had various stat boosts or something.
But Solomon refuted that entirely. “It shouldn’t have anything special, actually—just the usual defenses against blades and magic to protect him from assassinations or ambushes. I don’t think there are any effects that would help fight a duke.”
It seemed Wallenstein’s suit had close to zero added value in terms of defense. The price point was purely for the tailoring, material, and brand value.
“So he’s going toe-to-toe against a duke with no added effects,” Mira said.
“As long as he hasn’t customized it himself, yeah… As far as I can tell, it really is just the default item.”
It was natural for this world’s equipment to come with combat buffs—that’s why Mira had changed into her Wise Man’s robes ahead of time. If one planned to fight a duke, even a weakened one, they’d pull out their best equipment.
It was unlikely for Wallenstein to lose at this rate, but it was true that he was wasting time. Luminaria rolled her eyes. “Well, no wonder he’s having trouble.”
“So, he wasn’t taking a duke seriously at all?” Mira chuckled in exasperation. He looked to be doing just fine, yet he couldn’t quite overcome the demon with his attacks.
“I do get why he doesn’t wear his Wise Man outfit everywhere, since it would expose his identity,” Kagura chimed in. “But he could at least use it for important battles like this.” Kagura’s outfit was made by tailors working with the Isuzu Alliance. Its capabilities rivaled those of her robes.
While replica robes were sold as souvenirs, it wouldn’t take long for someone—especially a former player—to figure out who Wallenstein truly was if he wore the real thing and went wild with his magic. But there were only fellow Wise Men and Solomon here today. Why hold back?
“We’ll have to get him to take this more seriously,” Solomon said.
He’d said he could handle the duke, but at this rate it would take all night. The four called out to him, “Heeey, Wallenstein!”
“Yes? What’s wrong?” he replied, even in the midst of intense battle.
His fellows shouted back that he seemed to be having an awfully hard time. They asked in unison, “Should you be wearing that suit?”
His face grew overcast—the look of a man who didn’t want to dredge up buried memories.
“Though wounded, it’s still a duke,” Mira reminded him. “Why would you hold back?”
“Mira’s right,” Luminaria pressed him. “What idiot doesn’t bring their strongest gear to a fight like this?”
“Wallenstein, change your clothes and finish this properly, would you?” Kagura pleaded.
“Come on,” Solomon urged. “We’ll take over for a while, so go get changed.”
One after another, the group shouted at him. But Wallenstein’s response was unsatisfying; he seemed hesitant.
“This fight is booooring.”
“Yeah! The soldiers are waiting outside, too.”
“It’s late. I’d really like to get Tyriel to bed, y’know…”
“I gotta get to work early in the morning, too.”
They continued to press him. The heckling lasted until Wallenstein finally folded. “Fine. Fine! I’ll change clothes,” he said, resigned. He erected a barrier between himself and the duke and swiftly retreated. After striding past his four companions with a scowl on his face, he retreated into the corridor.
“You dare…make a fool of me?!” cried the demon. Faced with four identical smirks, the outraged duke shattered the barrier with its bare hand. The air shook, and black mana poured from its body. This was a state that former players generally called berserk mode.
“That wasn’t our intent at all.” Solomon stood before the duke and raised two of his swords. Berserk demons attacked ferociously, so the Wise Men behind Solomon set up a defensive perimeter.
Their battle began.
The demon swung a black axe. Solomon’s holy sword and Kagura’s barrier met its attack. Kagura’s barrier weakened the attack, and Solomon’s defense did the rest. Luminaria and Mira took this opportunity to fire off magic, and Christina followed up with her sword, forcing the duke to back down.
Solomon on the front line, Luminaria as their main firepower, Kagura on support, Mira as a guerrilla attacker. Their formation drove the enemy back with ease—no duke could hope to break through it.
They bought time for Wallenstein, giving him the opportunity to change. A few minutes later, the man of the hour returned. By that time, the duke was nearly dead.
“I’ll finish this quickly,” Wallenstein murmured. He leapt over his friends and attacked the duke, heedless of its berserk status.
His new outfit was a robe as dark as night, and all of his body was covered in jet-black cloth, save for his eyes. That was the true form of Wallenstein the Shadow: a black mummy, basically.
The Wise Man’s Robe (Exorcist), made perfectly to his specifications, was the culmination of everything a middle schooler might find “cool.” As someone who’d graduated from those dark times, it was a relic of his unwanted past. Still, one couldn’t argue with its effectiveness. It stabilized his overly powerful spells, allowing them to harmonize rather than interfere with each other.
“Woo! This is what we’ve been waiting for! Wallenstein the Shadow!” Luminaria catcalled.
Much like dreams, one eventually had to wake up from the dark depths of middle school. For Wallenstein, this awakening had happened long ago, which was why his friends took this opportunity to hoot and holler at him now. They recalled how the usually timid Wallenstein had always been so lively when he wore that getup.
“That’s it! Superb! This is the Wallenstein the Shadow we know!”
“Woo, go! You’re too cool, Wallenstein!”
“This is the man you were born to be!”
Their battle progressed quickly to a climax, and soon Mira and her friends witnessed a scene like the one that had once been the source of his title: the Shadow.
White flames of purification filled the chamber. Wallenstein flitted to and fro, shooting black flames of annihilation all over the place. This sight, like a shadow shifting and changing form, was emblematic of Wallenstein’s fighting style.
Amid the sounds of his friend’s cheers—or jeers—Wallenstein fought fiercely. He flawlessly drew out the special traits of his field of magic to overcome the duke-level demon.
The demon, however, did not take this new attack lying down. Its power raged yet greater, creating a swirling black mass of energy.
This was the most powerful technique usable by demons, available only to a handful of those with noble titles: Everlasting Erasure.
“Now’s your chance!”
“Go, Wallenstein!”
“If you don’t finish it now, you’re not a real man!”
“That’s gotta be it. That has to be the finisher.”
The duke’s attack was one that could force-dismiss even Eizenfald in one strike, blowing away all kinds of protection with ease. Pure annihilation. If it struck, it would be catastrophic—it was the attack this party was most wary of.
However, the exorcist Wallenstein was a different story.
“Phoenix! Phoenix!” the onlookers chanted in unison. No, perhaps it was too wild to call cheering; it was more like a fanatical incantation.
Though Wallenstein was reluctant to validate the peanut gallery, he knew this really was the best way to deal with the attack. He grudgingly thrust his right hand forward, prompting even louder cheers from his audience.
Their excitement was like kids at a festival, with a hint of childishness. But perhaps because of this, Wallenstein’s state of mind shifted. Memories of the days when they were all together bubbled to the surface. Memories of friends who’d played along with all of his silliness.
“Destroy demons, snuff out evil, seize victory! Blaze, flames of exorcism!” Wallenstein roared, voice filled with equal parts nostalgia and shame. He grinned defiantly under his dark mask. Cloaked in white fire, he charged into the swirling black mass. His audience applauded; the Wallenstein of the old days had returned.
“Burn for all eternity!”
A fissure ran through the black. Wallenstein leapt out with his cloak of blazing white, shooting black and white flames from both palms as he charged the duke. He’d pierced through the demon’s most powerful attack—the demon had no way of stopping him.
White and black blazes spread wildly, engulfing the enemy like the wings of a phoenix. Truly a spectacle worthy of the Shadow.
***
When the flames faded, there lay the duke demon, tied up with the black cord used to restrain demons.
“Wallenstein really is incredibly strong.”
Once upon a time, Mira had defeated three dukes solo. But that had only been possible due to enormous amounts of time and money spent preparing. Wallenstein could do the same thing on the fly; that was ironclad proof of just how powerful exorcism was against demonkind.
Solomon, Luminaria, and Kagura all showered praises on him as they eyed the restrained duke. Wallenstein glared back at them, but it wasn’t long before his eyes softened into a smile.
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