Chapter 77

Chapter : 77

“How do you know my name? How? How?”

Amadeus’s voice was extremely low, as though he were forcibly grinding it out. He moved his legs toward me.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Amadeus’s steps were heavy. Like an elephant that had only just learned how to walk, he stamped the ground and came forward one step at a time. His legs moved slowly, but his stride was so large that the distance between Amadeus and me shrank in great bounds.

“How? Through whom? No, a mere Demon of this land should have no way of knowing my name. What are you? How did you discover my name? Answer me.”

I sent Jefrin a look. Help me. Stab Amadeus from behind right now.

I matched my rhythm with Jefrin and attacked together. I fired Mana Bullets in quick succession and drew the sword I had prepared at my waist.

BANG—! BANG—!

Amadeus did not even defend himself and endured the Mana Bullets while completely unguarded. Holes opened in his body. Black smoke leaked through them, and as though flesh were being seared by fire, it blazed and filled in the wounds.

Can we win this?

I still could not tell. Looking at the wounds pierced by the Mana Bullets, his regeneration was clearly slow. A wound Agares would have healed instantly filled in sluggishly.

There was no way Amadeus’s recovery was weaker than Agares’s. This was purely because his true name had been exposed.

Hmm. That settled it.

This was doable.

From behind, Jefrin drove his sword into Amadeus’s body. Amadeus ignored that and approached me. His sword collided with mine. Thanks to his true name being known and his Dark Power weakening, the Sword Aura on my blade pushed his sword back.

If I did just a little more, I felt as though I could break it.

I shouted his name several more times in succession, but it had no effect. It seemed using a true name was a one-use thing.

Jefrin kept cutting at Amadeus from behind with all his might. Each time Jefrin swung his sword, black smoke billowed out.

This is dangerous.

More precisely, I was the one in danger. Perhaps because I had touched Amadeus’s reverse scale, he focused on me. I kicked off the ground and ran. When I fled with all my strength, Amadeus chased me. I ran without looking back and fired Mana Bullets.

Perhaps because I did not aim, every single Mana Bullet missed.

When I shouted at Jefrin to try blocking him, he answered that he was trying his best.

We went around and around like that for quite some time, playing tag. Just when I thought I might be caught, Jefrin corrected his foolish judgment. Instead of aiming for Amadeus’s back, he stabbed and slashed at his lower body, lowering Amadeus’s mobility and saving me.

When I looked back, Amadeus was slowly recovering his body. Since he was still in the middle of descending, he seemed weaker than Agares, if anything. If he had been in his original state, even if Jefrin and I had attacked together, he would have beaten us to death with his bare hands.

On top of that, his swordwork was terribly clumsy.

SQUELCH—!

A sword burst out through Amadeus’s throat from behind. It was Jefrin’s sword. From behind, he had driven it into Amadeus’s neck. He did not stop there, but cut halfway through Amadeus’s neck. The bastard’s head dangled.

Even so, seeing him ignore the wound and keep chasing me, it seemed he really did not hate me half-heartedly. Apparently, the fact that I knew his true name bothered him. In that case, I should make it certain.

“Jefrin! That bastard’s true identity is a Devil! A Devil who crossed over from the Demon Realm! If his name is called, his power weakens, so memorize it! That bastard’s name is Amadeus!”

With this, Jefrin and I were in the same position. Jefrin was now marked by Amadeus as a person who required caution as well. Was it because of that? Amadeus turned his body as it was and attacked Jefrin. He kicked off the ground and rushed out, swinging his sword with unskilled hands.

BANG—! BANG—!

I fired Mana Bullets from behind to keep him in check, but Amadeus endured them as though they were nothing.

SWISH—! SWISH—!

Amadeus was faster in stride and in the speed of his sword, but perhaps Jefrin had not trained with shit all this time, because he dodged and blocked well. When their two swords collided, he stepped back with the force of it and moved his feet. Like a gazelle fleeing a lion, he moved irregularly and dragged out time efficiently.

BANG—!

At that moment, I fired a Flame Bullet. The Flame Bullet collided with Amadeus’s back and exploded. Amadeus flew away and rolled across the ground several times.

When I raised my head, my eyes met Jefrin’s. He probably thought the same thing I did.

This is weaker than it looks, is it not?

He was strong and swift. On top of that, no matter how many wounds he received, he regenerated, so in terms of specifications alone, he was hard for the two of us even to look at. But the kid was somewhat stupid.

Perhaps because he had just obtained a new body, he was not used to it, and it seemed to be his first time fighting with a sword.

We circled around Amadeus, each striking once and retreating repeatedly. We cut off his neck several times and punched holes through his stomach. Each time, Amadeus’s recovery speed slowed, and I began to think that just a little more would do it.

We repeated it several more times, stabbing Amadeus and piercing holes through him. It was in the middle of that.

BOOOOM—! BOOOOM—!

Lightning fell from the sky and shot Amadeus down.

It was Ian.

#

The students fleeing from the dining hall looked back to grasp the situation once Agares did not chase them, even as time passed. Lightning fell from the sky with a BOOM. What on earth was going on? They forced themselves to suppress their curiosity, the desire to go back and see the situation.

Inside Agares, whose body had been stolen by Amadeus, Agares was watching the situation outside. Absurdly enough, it was amusing. Holes were being punched through his own body, flesh was splitting apart, and blood dripped down, but watching it made a grin slip out.

The sight of Amadeus, the bastard who had stolen his body, being made a fool of was quite funny. Jefrin and Raphael coordinated their rhythm, surrounded Amadeus, and attacked together. It worked well.

And then the mage appeared. Even Agares, who was not good at remembering people’s faces, knew that bastard well. The one who had struck him with lightning before. It was Ian.

Perhaps dropping lightning was that bastard’s specialty. At his gestures, lightning fell from the sky again and again with a BOOM.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Amadeus screamed each time he was struck by lightning. He opened his mouth so wide it seemed the corners might tear, and black smoke rose from his throat.

Ian dropped lightning like a machine. BOOM. Aaaaaagh. BOOM. Aaaaaagh.

As Agares watched Amadeus groan in pain like that, the pain reached Agares himself as well.

Ahh.

Amadeus is running away.

Only after being struck by lightning several more times did Agares regain his senses.

“Have you come to your senses? Is your body all right?”

“It stings a little.”

“Haa.... I am glad you regained your body.”

Raphael insisted to Agares that he had to break the contract immediately. Agares accepted, and they decided that he would be struck by lightning right there.

Ian’s eyes turned red and began emitting light. He was preparing a large-scale spell. Mana was sucked toward Ian.

Seeing that, Agares took a deep breath and said,

“Hit me well. So I do not die. And so there are no serious aftereffects.”

“I will try to make sure you do not die. If you think you are going to die, raise your hand.”

Agares seemed to finish preparing himself and closed both eyes. Then white lightning struck down from the gray clouds. A white flash flickered and thunder roared.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Lightning fell without rest and targeted Agares.

Black smoke poured from Agares’s entire body. His skin died and came back to life again and again. Agares endured with his lips bitten tight, as though he considered screaming to be losing. He flopped like a fish pierced by a harpoon.

Like that, Ian scorched Agares for a long while and broke Amadeus’s influence.

When the final bolt of lightning struck, the burn marks on Agares’s body no longer healed. Red marks resembling winter tree branches remained on his skin.

Agares collapsed onto the ground as he was and gasped for breath. Looking up at the sky, he spoke.

“Haa.... Is it finally over?”

Raphael clapped inwardly.

Wow. He endured that.

Raphael had never been struck by lightning, so he did not know in detail, but he knew at least that it had to hurt tremendously. Yet Agares had endured lightning strike after lightning strike without rest until the end. This incident had occurred because of his poor judgment, but his patience alone was worthy of respect.

Perhaps the remaining current in his body tingled, because Agares trembled.

“You worked hard. I think you should go find a priest immediately.”

Agares rose to his feet with his legs trembling.

“Yes, I should. You worked hard to stop me as well. Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

Agares spoke toward Ian.

“Mage, I will say thank you to you as well, for now.”

Then he left. His steps were slow. Now, he had lost all his power.

He had moved from one end to the other, far away from the original. Raphael watched Agares’s retreating back and wondered whether he should be happy about this. For the initial goal, at least, this was an incident favorable to his survival.

Since Agares had lost his power, it seemed unlikely to happen, but even if he did somehow end up with Bishot, he would lack the power to kill Raphael. In addition to Kartea, Raphael had erased one more name.

But for Raphael, it was also a little disappointing. He had been rather close to Agares. He could call him a friend. If something happened to Raphael, Agares might have stepped forward without hesitation. So the fact that he had lost his power left a bitter taste in Raphael’s mouth.

As he watched the back of Agares’s head, Jefrin, who stood beside him, spoke.

“Why did you help me?”

Raphael had known Jefrin would ask this. He had come this far while thinking about how to answer, but he had not found a proper answer. So he spoke honestly.

“I know, right? I guess it is because I am stupid.”

It was possible he would regret this decision later. He should have judged it more calmly. But because the situation had been urgent, his body had moved first according to where his heart led.

Jefrin nodded.

“Yes, that is true. If you had left me as I was, if you had not shouted that Devil’s true name, I might have died. It was only a few days ago that I said I might attack you with my life on the line....”

“Exactly.”

“First, thank you. I survived because you helped me.”

“If you are grateful, repay me. Later.”

“Yes, if I can, I certainly will.”

After sending Jefrin away, only Ian remained. He was standing blankly, looking at me. I had received his help again this time. He seemed to think it meant nothing in particular, but if this was a debt, then it was a debt.

“Do you remember the food I mentioned before?”

“The fried food?”

“Yes. Let us go eat it now.”

Ian nodded.

---

Raphael took Ian back and fried the chicken. Thanks to checking the fire temperature several times before going to stop Agares, it turned out crispy and did not burn. He chose beer as the drink. Raphael held the chicken and beer out to Ian.

“This is my first time drinking alcohol.”

It was information Raphael knew because he had read the original. He ate fried chicken with Ian while drinking beer. The taste was quite good.

Because it was underseasoned, it could not compare to the taste of a franchise, but it was at a level where he could stubbornly insist it was fried chicken.

“Is this the end?”

“Hmm... that does feel a little lacking.”

It felt like being a fraud to settle everything with just one chicken.

The time and cost put into frying chicken were too small.

“Then tell me whenever you feel like eating it sometimes. I will make it for you each time.”

“Okay.”

The two of them stopped talking and only tore into the chicken. It was then. Someone knocked on the dorm room door a couple of times.

“Are you inside?”

It was Bishot’s voice.