Volume 3 - CH 26

"Everyone please take refuge! Intruder alert! We're under attack by the Evil Cult!"

Imperial guards of the royal palace appeared at the party venue and shouted.

Sounds of weapons clashing and explosions from magic echoed from afar, with the shaking and destruction of the royal palace's walls or corridors creeping closer.

They had already begun to guide the aristocrats to take refuge while the elites of the imperial guards and court mages gathered around the King, Selene, and the other royalties.

"Good grief, they have completely destroyed the big moment of our daughter......"

I resolved internally that I would absolutely not spare these so-called evil cultists.

"How the hell did these rogues get inside?!"

"It seems that they have been led in by the aristocrats invited to the royal palace!"

"Hadn't we already smashed those rogues who infiltrated the aristocrat ranks, how come they're still some left alive?!"

The King gritted his teeth in frustration while Selene looked scared.

Then in the hall appeared three men.

"Oh my, if it isn't Your Majesty. Good day to you."

"Lord Levin! So it was you who helped them get in! Why?! And what the hell is with your appearance!"

The one whom King questioned was a man clad in aristocrat-looking menswear. However his face looked ghastly pale, and something like fish scales was growing on his head.

"Why, you say? We, the House of Marquis Genuise, have been engaged in a power struggle for a long time, aiming for the top. We wanted to become a Duke. More precisely, we want to become the Regent and control this country一一"

"But you see", the aristocratic-looking man stopped there with such preface and flashed a villainous smile.

"I realized. I realized how tiny the position of both the Duke and the Regent is! Thus, I decided I will become the King!"

"Consequently, that's why you led them in. No, that's why pulling this coup."

"Yes! So I decided that with the mighty power of the devil, I will kill the King and will take control of the rest with force!"

"Don't forget, the royalties are mine to take over."

The one who interrupted the man called Lord Levin was an old man with hunched back, withered tree-like legs, and sunken eyes.

The mana of the old man, who was dressed in a black clergyman's attire and wore a creepy gold skull necklace on his neck, felt even more malevolent than his looks.

"The precious blood of royalty! The mana of the great devil will become mine by sacrificing the chaste flesh of the Saint! The days of suffering for these ten years were nothing but a tribulation passed to us by the devils we worshipped! With this, I will have our revenge, oh the sweet joy! And then, by gaining the enormous power of the devil, immortality will be mine!"

It seemed the old man's sanity erosion has already reached the final stage due to the mana of the devil, mixing together the deep-rooted delusion of immortality and his goal of summoning the great devil.

He probably took in the mana of several devils judging from the fact that he has the most mana out of the three.

And the last member wasー一

"Hahahaha! Power! I'm overflowing with power! Come on, you little brats, I will smash and kill you thoroughly for sure this time!"

"You're...... Who?"

"I don't think I'm acquaintance with that guy."

"Okaa-san, that person. That person was there for the promotion exam......"

I looked at the man carefully at the feeble voice of Selene and realized he was the Adventurer that had taken the A-rank promotion test and whose rough and wild manner of talking had left a long-lasting impression.

"«Butcher» Nick?"

"«Flesh Severing» Lock! My humiliating defeat from you was because I lacked power! But now I have become stronger with the mana of the devil given by the geezer!"

True to his words, his body was one size bigger than the last time and his skin had become black as if suntanned.

But, the fact that the method he used was devil possession means一一

"Isn't the risk too high by becoming stronger with a cheap method?"

"Hmph! You're talking about sanity erosion, don't you!? This lord doesn't have such a weakness! Get ready to be killed! Come onnnnnn!"

It was hard to discern if he attacked because of his own desire to take revenge or because of destructive impulses.

"Teto, I'm leaving that muscle brain to you. But一一"

"I know. I will not let him lay even a single finger on Selene!"

Teto pulled her magic sword from the bracelet-turned-magic bag and slashed at the devil-possessed high-rank adventurer Lock

On the side of the King, knights were dealing with the devil marquis. He shouldn't be strong from the beginning but he was fighting with imperial guards on equal terms with the combination of the devil's mana and his high mana capacity as a high-rank aristocrat.

And the last and most dangerous of all, the founder of Evil Cult, the old man was aiming at Selene with a creepy glint in his eyes, so I一一

"一一«Purification»!"

I faced the most dangerous leader old man and used «Purification» with all my might.

Whether it was the mana coiling around cursed equipment or the mana he had gained through devil possession, the whole of his dense mana contained negative factors.

Purifying magic like «Purification» which dismantles and purges the target's evil mana was the most effective countermeasure.

『Gee, Gyaaaaaaaaaah! My dream of immortalityyyyyyyyy!』

The old man bathed in the max firepower purification light.

I presume he had been using devil possession for many years since the malevolent mana had not only contaminated his mana but also most of his body. So all that was left behind was a tiny pile of ash and a creepy skull necklace after being burnt by purification light.

"Okaa-san...... isn't it too easy?"

"Don't sweat over such things. There's no way a perverted monster old man who aimed for Selene could have been a serious opponent."

From a glance, his mana had crossed the mark of 40,000 units.

He boasted quite a high mana capacity, around 20,000-30,000 units more than the court mage grandpa I had met in the library, and, as a matter of fact, the situation could have taken an unnecessarily dangerous turn had he succeeded in increasing his mana by absorbing the mana of the great devil.

"Wh!? Impossible! That founder-sama!?"

"Oi, Oi, don't tell me that Geezer really kicked the bucket after all that? Hahaha!"

The Devil Marquis was shaken up seeing his boss, the founder, burnt to ashes while that B-rank adventurer continued with his battle against Teto.

"Well, that settled my side, now time to clean up the Devil Marquis quickly."

"Guh...... Come!"

Devil Marquis tried to attack us by producing shadows in the surroundings, dark magic probably, but I wiped those shadows clean by spreading the purifying magic «Purification».

"I will take over the will of Founder-sama! I will summon the great devil! And then, I will become the King!"

It seemed like the dark magic was for blocking our vision as the Devil Marquis, who had picked up the necklace from the ashes of burnt Founder, moved behind Selene and attempted to pierce her body with a hand strike but一一

"Wh!? Gyaaaaaah!?"

"We have prepared enough you see, knowing you lot are trying to lay your hands on our precious daughter."

After consulting with the King beforehand, Selene's dress and accessories were given firm protection using royal-grade, deep blue «Enchant Magic» which has defensive properties. Furthermore, she would have my barrier protecting her immediately after an attack.

Thus, the arm that he had extended to attack was chopped and dropped from my wind blade magic without being able to destroy a single layer of defense.

"You, You bastaaaaaard! Are you going against me, who will be the king of this Kingdom!? I will kill you! I will kill youuuuuuu!"

"Rest assured. You will either die here or be executed for treason. 一一«Purification»!"

He began to groan as if someone was tearing apart his body when I purified the devil's mana he had assimilated into himself. His ghastly pale complexion became slightly better and the mutated fish scales crumble off.

"Let's see, a quick «Appraisal», alright. It seems he is fine now. Capture him please."

"R, Right away!"

I took out the «Appraisal» monocle to check the Devil Marquis' status and confirmed that the demonic possession status or the skill derived from the devil had disappeared.

"Now let's see Teto's side一一"

"Gahhhhhh! Arm! My aaaaarmmm!!"

"You're even weaker than before. Go back and start again!"

The B-rank adventurer might have gained overwhelming firepower with the devil's mana and his unique skill but in exchange, his movement had become monotone.

Teto deftly handled his attacks very well for a while but seeing that he didn't have any noteworthy technique, she immediately chopped off both his arms.

"Yikes...... Something sticky is coming out from the arms."

"Like hell, I'll let it end like this! There's no way this lord will end here!"

I guess it was the devil's mana instead of blood. Pitch black, viscous mana overflowed from his wounds and was about to take form in place of the arms he had lost but一一

"That's the end. 一一«Purification»!"

『Aaaaaaaargh!』

Mana that had materialized in the form of arms vanished along with the possessed devil's mana due to purification which probably brought back his sense of pain since he screamed.

I guess his human senses were somewhat normal since the time frame he had been under demonic possession was much shorter compared to the Devil Marquis or the Founder.

"Soldiers. Secure that person."

Soldiers move to apprehend the Devil Marquis and the now armless Adventurer.

However, no sooner had I heaved a sigh of relief at the end of the attack of the Evil Cult remnants that I sensed a huge amount of mana coming out from the skull necklace the Devil Marquis had picked up.

"Don't move. 一一«Barrier»!"

Sediment like malevolent mana 一 so much so that it could be called miasma at this point 一 overflowed from the skull necklace immediately after I erected a barrier to protect the knights who had rushed out to apprehend them.

"W, what is it?! Stop! Don't get closer to me!"

"Ahhh, my power! My power is rapidly leaving me!"

Then that miasma clung and coiled around the bodies of the Devil Marquis and the Adventurer and began to absorb not only their mana but also life force, and turned them into dry husks of their original selves.

As Teto covered Selene's eyes to hide the scene from her, the King and I strengthened our vigilance again the mana that had begun to take a form.