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chapter 09
I opened the door at the end of the hallway. It was the room where I had prepared an extra magic circle.
I immediately locked the door and leaned against it.
My breathing was ragged, and it felt as though my heart would burst. I couldn’t even tell whether it was from tension or excitement.
There’s no time to hesitate.
I threw an entire candle onto the magic circle I had drawn beforehand.
Flames raced along the lines of the circle in an instant.
“Haah…”
Sinking down before the blazing fire, I slowly opened my clenched fist.
“It’s okay.”
This is what I wanted.
I squeezed my eyes shut and thrust my hand into the flames.
The scorching heat swallowed my hand, and the blood of Deyan that had been smeared all over it was instantly consumed by the fire.
“Hngh…!”
I rubbed my blood-soaked palm across the magic circle.
I quickly pulled my hand back after finishing, but there was no avoiding the burn.
My hand still felt as though it were buried in the flames, burning and stinging.
It doesn’t hurt at all.
Hypnotizing myself, I waited for the magic circle to react.
Having accepted a suitable sacrifice, the circle began to shimmer.
“You who desire to claim my soul, answer my wish.”
Tear apart my flesh, draw out my soul, fulfill my deepest desire, and consume it.
I recited the summoning incantation I had repeated countless times.
A rose-colored glow swallowed the flames and slowly floated upward, wavering in the air. Soon, an unknown smoke began to seep out from the magic circle.
Like black ink dropped into water, the smoke spread.
It gradually filled the room like mist rising from a lakeside at dawn.
…Flowers?
A sweet floral fragrance drifted from the black smoke—more intoxicating than any scent I had ever smelled before.
So sweet that it felt as if it might draw me in against my will.
This was completely different from what I had imagined.
What’s happening?
The smoke that had been little more than mist thickened into dark clouds, and those dark clouds slowly gathered into a single shape.
“Step back!”
Deyan, who had stubbornly followed me all this way, burst through the door.
Though seething with murderous intent, he shoved me behind him and desperately tried to erase the magic circle on the floor.
“No!”
I grabbed onto his clothes and clung to him.
“Don’t interfere!”
“Stop doing something so foolish, Your Grace!”
He seized my hand and shouted.
“You aren’t afraid because you’ve never experienced it! You have no idea what kind of price you’ll have to pay or how terrible it will be!”
“What would you know?!”
I snapped back.
My wrist hurt as though it were about to break in his grip, but the throbbing pain in my heart hurt even more.
“What do you know about why I’m doing this? You’ve always been on the side of the strong!”
There was no price left for me to pay.
No—I had already paid it.
After replaying that day over and over in my mind, I finally realized something.
Everything precious to me had remained behind as nothing more than empty shells.
It was my responsibility to fill them again.
“What more is there left for me to lose?!”
I had already lost everything worth losing.
There was nothing left to fear.
All that remained were the things I could do—and the things I had to do.
If I couldn’t reclaim what had been taken from me, then at the very least I could make them pay for it.
Wouldn’t that be less unfair?
“So stop interfering.”
“…”
My eyes had been stinging for a while now.
The emotions I had forcibly suppressed must have finally leaked out.
Deyan’s eyes trembled briefly when he saw that.
Taking advantage of the moment his grip loosened, I shoved him away and stepped before the magic circle.
The black smoke had now taken on the shape of a human.
The part that was presumably the demon’s face turned toward me.
[…Your name?]
“Idir Hubert.”
[What do you desire?]
“Revenge.”
The moment I answered, the demon’s lips curled into a grin.
The crescent-shaped smile, red as if stained with fresh blood, brimmed with amusement.
[Is that so?]
The smoke rippled.
The dense form dissolved into mist again, and then someone stepped out from within it.
[I am Beval.]
The demon had long legs, lean muscles, and a slender silhouette.
And he was beautiful.
His swaying pink hair resembled peach blossoms in full bloom at the end of spring, while his rose-colored eyes carried the freshness of ripe fruit.
Not even a trace of the grotesque fangs I had expected showed behind his thin lips.
Had it not been for his low voice, I wouldn’t even have been able to tell his gender.
He was that captivating.
The demon lightly touched my chin with a finger and leaned in close.
His black fingers held no warmth.
[The demon you summoned.]
He was close enough for our breaths to mingle.
Yet I couldn’t hear him breathing.
Perhaps I had stopped breathing too.
From the moment he touched me, my body had frozen and all thought had ceased.
[Idir, let me ask you something.]
“…”
[Whose blood was it—the blood you offered me as a sacrifice?]
His eyes narrowed slightly.
My throat tightened.
No words came out.
Like a lamb standing before an overwhelming predator, all I could do was hold my breath and keep from looking away.
So this is… a demon.
He was far more beautiful than I had imagined.
And far more dangerous.
[Answer me.]
No—
He only seemed that way.
[Answer what?]
Until an irritated voice suddenly interrupted.
I hurriedly lowered my head.
A burst of dazzling light exploded from my chest.
[What…?!]
The source was the angel statue necklace hanging around my neck.
It shook violently and floated halfway into the air.
[Get away from the human girl, filthy demon.]
[Aagh!]
The demon recoiled, covering his eyes with both hands as though in pain.
[You little—!]
Grinding his teeth, he glared at me as if he wanted to tear me apart.
[Why are you carrying that while summoning a demon?!]
[What else?]
The angel statue answered.
[Faith.]
…No, it wasn’t.
I nearly refuted it on instinct.
Think about it.
How could someone trying to summon a demon possibly be acting out of faith?
[Bullshit!]
The demon immediately pointed out the same thing.
[She came looking for me because she doesn’t have a shred of faith!]
[Hmph! What nonsense. She brought me along precisely because her faith overflows.]
The angel statue snorted openly and floated even higher.
[She wanted me to eliminate you.]
[Are your ears blocked? Didn’t you hear her making a wish to me?]
A demon arguing with an angel statue.
I had caused this situation myself, but I was still speechless.
The angel statue, once nothing more than an ornament, stretched and expanded in every direction, rapidly taking on a human form.
[Humans are weak and foolish. They occasionally make mistakes. That is simply their nature.]
[And your job is to drag those fools to Hell.]
[No. Before that, we give them one chance. That is the purpose of our existence.]
The angel’s shining hair unfurled through the air like strands of silver.
Beneath that radiant light, blue eyes as clear as the sky swept across the room solemnly.
[I am Sariel. The one who saves humans from the path of sin.]
His gaze landed on Deyan, and a frown creased his brow.
His already masculine features sharpened further, giving him the presence of a stern high judge.
He elegantly flicked a finger as though conducting an orchestra.
A sharp tearing sound rang out.
“Urgh!”
Before anyone could react, Deyan was hurled into the wall.
Massive nails had pierced both of his shoulders.
Faced with the completely unexpected scene, I could only gape like an idiot.
“What is… this…?”
[We’ll discuss it later, Idir. For now…]
The angel turned toward the demon.
He opened the book tucked beneath his arm and drew out an enormous greatsword from within its pages.
[Let’s dispose of this piece of trash first.]
At the vicious insult, the demon raised a middle finger.
[Go ■■■ yourself, you ■■-faced ■■■■. Angels are insufferable no matter where they go.]
An endless stream of devastating profanity poured from his mouth.
I had heard that angels and demons were natural enemies, but I hadn’t expected it to manifest in such a vulgar way.
[This is your final warning, pigeon. Leave. Unless you want to die.]
The demon cracked his knuckles loudly.
[Try and make me. When have demons ever defeated the Heavenly Host?]
[You little—! That’s only because you bastards always gang up on us!]
[I alone am enough for the likes of you.]
[Fine. Let’s see about that. If you die, go cry to your precious father.]
The demon spat those words and vanished.
At the same moment, the angel raised his sword overhead.
KRAAAASH—!
In an instant, the demon appeared above him and smashed the enormous sword apart as though it were made of candy.
