Chapter 253 : Chapter 253
Chapter 253 : Lust Demon, Raziel
***
The 'Aleos Academy' under the Imperial Magic Corps was the Kingdom's greatest talent cultivation center both in name and reality.
Because it was a structure where high-ranking executives of the Magic Corps directly stood at the podium to nurture younger scholars, entering this place itself also meant a solid path to success as an elite was guaranteed.
In particular, the main building of the academy in the form of a lofty spire soaring as if to pierce the clouds was commonly called the 'Magic Tower' by the public and often became an object of awe.
Rustle—
The top floor of the Magic Tower.
Dazzling sunlight poured down like a waterfall through the giant picture windows refreshingly open on both sides.
What filled the spacious interior was that halo of light that seemed to blind the eyes, and the sound of pages turning occasionally ringing out.......
Rustle—
And, there were only two people sitting facing each other far apart.
Rustle—
The academy had one very old tradition.
Only once a year, the valedictorian who achieved the highest grades that year was given the privilege of having a free discussion with a professor of their choice, with their own thesis as the topic.
"......『The Irreversible Consumption of Mana and the Forced Reduction Theory』, is it."
The man sitting in the professor's seat muttered while closing the luxuriously hardcover bound cover.
A peerless genius strongly mentioned as the next Magic Corps Commander, and a noble aristocrat inheriting the bloodline of the Royal Family.
John Langdros Aleos. That is, Gunt.
He opened his mouth while pinching his glabella as if tired.
"For the valedictorian of the academy researching magic to write a thesis stating that the use of mana eats away at the lifespan of the world. Isn't this quite an insolent and audacious topic?"
"Because the truth is sometimes uncomfortable, Professor."
It was quite a bold tone. The undergraduate student who answered like that also had blond hair like Gunt. A languid smile hung around his mouth like a habit.
"The essence of the world is like a scale."
His voice was soft. Gunt slightly leaned his body forward while interlocking his fingers, as if finding it pleasant to listen to.
"When the thesis arises, antithesis is bound to be born."
"Are you saying you'll teach me starting from the basic principles of celestial bodies? You're underestimating me too much."
The undergraduate student laughed lightly.
"If energy is artificially aggregated in one place, on the other opposite side of the world, that exact amount of disorder...... in other words, ruin, is bound to accelerate."
Gunt readily nodded his head and added.
"Because the total amount of the universe is fixed."
"That is correct. So ultimately, magic can be said to be a lump of variables that ruins order and balance, and furthermore, a risk factor that borrows lifespan in advance."
The undergraduate student's argument was based on the so-called 'Karma Theory'. An heretical hypothesis that flowed in from the Empire across the sea and once shook the Kingdom's academic circles.
This bold disciple was using that macroscopic theory—that the consumption of karma (limited to mana in the Kingdom), which destroys the balance of the universe, ultimately brings about the collapse of celestial bodies—as the foundation of his thesis.
"You're not wrong."
Exercising the generosity of an authority figure, Gunt magnanimously conceded a point for now.
Regarding the Karma Theory, the dominant perspective of the Kingdom's academic circles was optimistic. By the standard of the macrocosm, the mana consumed by humans is nothing but dust.
Gunt also stood on that pragmatic position.
"However, if you don't bloom a spark just because fire burns wood, humanity will end up freezing to death in the cold and darkness. In order to maintain civilization and survive, there is such a thing as inevitable consumption."
"My perspective differs from yours on that part, but I won't go out of my way to refute it. Because that is not the core of my thesis."
A strange light lingered around the edges of the undergraduate student's eyes.
"Therefore, what I propose is the 'forced reduction' in the latter half. If you burned firewood, it means a cleaner is needed to gather the remaining ashes and smoke again and send them back to the source of the universe."
For a moment, a shade fell over his handsome face.
"The absolute power to forcibly suck up the mana and supernatural abilities stagnating in the world and annihilate them into nature. I would like to name that the 'Great Demon of Star Absorption'."
Gunt, with his chin resting on his interlocked hands—
Stared silently at his disciple.
"......It might sound plausible in theory, but in reality, it's nothing more than an impossible sophistry."
Gunt firmly drew a line.
"Forcibly absorbing heterogeneous energy refined by another person? It's impossible with a human body. The moment energies of different wavelengths collide, the body won't be able to endure it and will burst."
"If it were an ordinary human's vessel, that would be the case."
"......What?"
"What if the one swallowing that energy......, was an endless abyss itself capable of chewing up and assimilating all heterogeneous wavelengths?"
The corners of the undergraduate student's mouth drew a faint arc.
"Like a swamp that doesn't become turbid no matter what poison is poured into it, a predator that absorbs all of the opponent's mana and aura and makes it their own. If someone capable of handling such power were to appear, wouldn't he become the most perfect savior of this disordered world?"
In an instant, Gunt felt a thrill flowing down his spine.
Knowledge that overturns the world is sometimes not refined common sense, but is born from such madness-filled ideas.
The undergraduate student's quite twisted passion was enough to make the blood of a scholar from a noble Royal Family bloodline boil.
"......Excellent. It's a dangerous but fascinating idea."
Gunt, while tapping the cover of the thesis with his finger—
'Either a monster or a genius.'
Let out a sigh of praise.
"I will clearly watch over how your impudent theory changes the world in the future."
Once officially joining the Imperial Magic Corps, one uses a new alias for thorough identity management.
Today would be the last time he could call this promising disciple by his true name.
"......Raziel."
The Lust Demon, the man who would soon be called Raven in this era, bowed his head politely.
"Thank you, Professor."
***
SWISH—!
I swung at the same time as drawing my sword. The Heavenly Demon cleaved through the evil spirit's silhouette.
I aimed for both his legs, but there was no sensation sticking to my hand.
'Bastard like a rat.'
As I looked while soothing the emptiness, he had already fled far back before I knew it.
"Haha! I won't fall for it easily this time."
He laughs triumphantly.
I looked around. Bedrock tightly blocking all directions. There is no physically open path.
Come to think of it, the door I entered through is also still closed just as it was.
'Is he saying he can enter and exit as he pleases?'
I suppose. For him to act up like that, there must definitely be something he believes in.
'......Calm down, Bihen.'
How pathetic. For me to get this excited, in other words, means I let my guard down.
'I can't lose him again.'
After sheathing my sword and catching my breath—
I spoke while suppressing my anger.
"Lust Demon. Thanks. You saved me the trouble of going to find you."
The bastard pulled his chin in and licked his lips with his tongue. His languidly open eyes curved wickedly.
"That's what I want to say. Because thanks to you, I can splendidly decorate the finale of my long task."
"Ah. Now that I see you, I know exactly. It was you, right? The perverted bastard who planted the Synchronization Insect in Ramba's body and was digging around behind my back. The leader of Wild Dogs and Sewer Rats must have been you to begin with, too."
The Lust Demon curled his lips into an 'O' shape and pretended to be surprised, before quickly regaining his composure. The bastard tapped his temples and laughed.
"Beggar bastards, you have no idea how useful they are. Because they're stupid and even diligent on top of that. Thanks to them, I was able to sit comfortably and leisurely watch the sight of the world turning."
It was then.
CLAAANG—! CRUNCH!
A rupture sound like something bursting open was heard from behind my back.
I just turned my head and looked.
'......Damn it.'
She seemed to have woken up in the meantime. The thick iron chains that had been binding her four limbs were already ruthlessly torn off and hanging limply on the floor.
"You two seem to get along well?"
The hybrid of Saintess and villainess.
A bluish glint of the eyes like ghost fire shone brightly at the edges of the eyes of her raising her head.
'This is the worst.'
The reason I surprise-attacked the Lust Demon was out of concern for this kind of situation.
Because I don't know what kind of harmony the two bastards will cause.
"Hahahaha!"
My head whipped around again. The Lust Demon bastard was clutching his stomach and laughing while even his shoulders heaved.
"Phantom Demon. Ah, no. Since you haven't even completely awakened yet, it's a bit much to call you that, right? For someone who was whimpering while trapped in the body of a mere insignificant human bitch, your venom from before has returned quite a lot, hasn't it?"
"You stubbornly came all the way here, Lust Demon. Seeing you panting like a wild dog with its tail on fire, it seems things got a bit tangled up?"
I alternately looked at the two evil spirits exchanging words one by one. I was in a position caught in the middle out of the blue.
'Are the two bastards on bad terms?'
No matter how I look at it, it's not an atmosphere where they'd stand in solidarity with each other. It's a welcome thing for me, but I maintained an expressionless face for now.
"Yeah. A lot of things happened while you bitch were taking it easy like that."
The Lust Demon quickly threw his gaze at me. The hatred toward me was briefly revealed over his face pretending to be full of composure.
"I won't talk long. At this rate, both you and I will amicably be annihilated by this bastard. Before that happens, obediently crawl into me. If I'm a complete entity, it will be more than enough to deal with that bastard."
I was about to subtly step back, as if telling the two bastards to keep fighting among themselves without minding me. My footsteps faltered.
'Complete entity?'
At that time, a coquettish laugh was heard from the side.
The Phantom Demon was rolling a bluish-white sphere the size of a fist back and forth over her body. She was full of a wicked smile.
"I won't give it to you even if I die."
Seeing her retort while mixing in coquettish gestures, this side also had quite a bit of composure.
That aside, my eyes narrow. That bluish-white light....... It looks familiar.
I quickly remembered.
'The power that made the Knight of Embers retreat.'
I suspected it would be the Phantom Demon's ability. But what if that is also a type of magic?
Whether the two bastards combine or tear each other apart, no matter how much they throw a fit, don't I have no chance of winning?
......The problem is Nebria again.
'It's something to welcome with both hands if they bite and fight among themselves, but if the Phantom Demon is defeated, Nebria dies too.'
The contemplation was not long. After making my decision and turning toward the Lust Demon—
The bastard twisted the corners of his mouth as if he knew I'd do that.
"It would be best not to do anything hasty? Bihen Benkou."
"Well, it's not like I'm doing this because I feel like it either. If that woman dies, it becomes more of a headache. So it seems I have to take care of you first anyway."
The Lust Demon snorted as if it was ridiculous.
"Outer Ones cannot kill each other."
I feel like I heard similar words from Hugin right before his death. As I groped through my hazy memories, the Lust Demon immediately continued speaking.
"The reason the Knight of Embers couldn't do anything to the Saintess and powerlessly retreated is because that bastard is also an Outer One like us."
It was hard to hide my surprised expression. To think the Knight of Embers was an Outer One.
"So it's the same for me as well. I cannot annihilate the Phantom Demon, but I can absorb her instead."
The bastard pulled his chin in. His pupils, slit vertically like a serpent's, shone.
"Then Nebria lives. In other words, I can separate the Saintess and the villainess."
"......!"
"You, you were hesitating because you couldn't do anything about that guy. Like this, isn't it quite a decent condition for you too?"
My head turned on its own.
The Phantom Demon looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.
"Ah, how resentful. If I had just a little more time, this body would have been completely mine. Now it seems I have to give it to someone else."
"......Is that all for your will?"
"Well? Hmm, should I shed a tear or something?"
I returned my gaze to its original position.
The Lust Demon was snickering with a sly face. Perhaps satisfied with the situation rolling according to his will, he looked ready to even clap.
"You thought well, Bihen Benkou. You surprisingly have a side that communicates well."
Step, step.
I slowly moved my steps toward the Lust Demon. To think things could roll like this.
Finally, it was the moment my shoulder crossed paths with the bastard's.
"Your and my long-standing feelings will come after taking care of that bitch."
"......."
"What I said last time, you remember? Zisair—"
GRAB—!
Before his words finished, I instantly gripped the bastard's neck. The bastard's mug flushed crimson as if it would burst.
"Keu, heuk! W-What, are you...... Kegh!"
His urgent hands frantically struck down on my forearm. Completely unbothered, I shoved my face right in front of the struggling bastard's nose.
"Absorbing, how do you do that?"