Taming the Evil Saintess

---

“Why have you come here to fool around?”

“A deal. The promise we spoke of yesterday is still valid.”

Azar expressed his hostility towards the Hell Duke. Last night, while camping, he mulled over his thoughts. Derabilice claimed he could resurrect Azar’s beloved Aria.

However, that was proven to be a blatant lie through the Possessor Elliot. There was no reason to continue the conversation any longer.

“If all you’re going to do is spew nonsense, then my visit is a waste of time.”

Azar clenched his fist and drew a small hand axe from his coat. Although the axe Olmen made was lost after being used as a weapon against Ian, he didn’t lose his throwing axe.

With a gray blade of sword energy wrapped around the hand axe, Azar charged forward. He aimed to swing at the Hell Duke’s head, but his vision was suddenly engulfed in darkness. A thick black shroud surrounded the entire city, revealing a gray landscape devoid of sunlight.

Only then did the time distortion created by the Hell Duke stop, and Barton’s shout echoed.

“Careful… Huh?”

The mercenaries whispered amongst themselves, and Azar’s expression hardened.

Having experienced this once before, he recognized what was happening.

“He’s expanding his territory.”

“Yes. It should have been a bit later, but it seems my subordinates aren’t very competent. Unless they found themselves in an unavoidable situation.”

He spoke as if it were trivial, but Azar couldn’t gauge the amount of magic swirling within this territory.

An ordinary person would quickly succumb to magic poisoning, teetering between life and death, and even Azar wouldn’t last more than a few hours. It needed to be resolved quickly. As Azar decided to raise his axe, the Hell Duke raised his hand.

“Before we fight, let’s discuss the proposal once more.”

“Persistent, aren’t you? I have no intention of falling for your nonsense.”

“Haha. Are you saying that after seeing this?”

Derabilice stomped his foot, and a massive hole opened in the ground, slowly rising.

Out of the hole emerged a woman with snow-white hair and skin, just like her hair.

“Aria…”

Azar, who looked at the woman Aria in disbelief, twisted his face in anger.

With a face full of hostility, he glared at the Hell Duke.

“You bastard, how far are you going to mock me?”

“Isn’t it a reunion with the wife you missed so much? You might as well enjoy it a bit more.”

“Just saying that while using a doll is infuriating.”

As he said, Aria’s body lacked a soul.

“Yes. As you say, this is a mere shell. But as you know, I am the Hell Duke. Bringing back the soul of a long-dead woman is child’s play.”

“….”

“If you don’t like this doll, I can make a more beautiful one…”

Crack!

Derabilice’s eyes widened.

Azar’s axe, enveloped in sword energy, pierced through Aria’s head. The broken remains of her head scattered into magical smoke, no longer able to maintain its form.

“Get lost. I won’t entertain negotiations. The soul of the dead and the body of Aria, which you created, are mere tricks.”

Azar’s resolve was firm.

“It took me years to gather the courage to let Aria go. Do you think years of hardship could change in a single moment of reunion?”

“….”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not naive.”

Upon hearing Azar’s words, Derabilice let out a deep sigh.

If only he had a little more time, could he have persuaded him?

That question was just denied by his words.

“Yes, sometimes there are people like that. Ignorant, bug-like beings that can’t even discern what’s advantageous.”

Humans are weak.

Yet, among them, there are those stubborn enough to stand firm.

Golden Lion Azar de Elbrecht was one of those few.

And the Hell Duke loathed such humans.

“An opening!”

Right now, just like the mercenary charging from behind him.

“Cough!”

The Hell Duke evaded the mercenary Barton’s blade, grabbing his wrist and wrenching the sword from his grasp, plunging it into Barton’s abdomen. The blade sank deep, leaving Barton gasping for breath without even a moan.

“You little pest!”

Azar charged forward, and Derabilice sighed.

This is why humans are both entertaining and troublesome.

“Do you know the source of my alias?”

“Shut up!”

“Yes. You wouldn’t know.”

Derabilice took off the small glasses perched on his nose and tucked them away.

“I’ll show you hell.”

The alias of Hell Duke was not given without reason.

*

Having received a protective barrier from Ophelia, the magic within the current territory could no longer invade her body.

The density of the territory is inversely proportional to its size. In other words, this territory, which covers the entire Cathedral, possesses an endlessly high rank, but the magic density itself is slightly lower than Daniel’s territory.

The reason the territory is so large is likely because the Imperial Knight Order is knocking on the Southern Gate of the Cathedral.

That point was the crucial moment.

“Hmph.”

As the Black Knight Negilus stood up as though he had recovered, a puff of breath escaped through the slits in his helmet.

He let out a pleased laugh, enjoying the abundant magic he felt around him.

“Haha! I am now invincible!”

“Ugh.”

Cecilia frowned at his childish exclamation. However, there was some truth to it. In such high magic density, demons receive a boon to their combat power.

In the current situation where the territory is spread out, the Black Knight Negilus’s strength is incomparable to before. He has likely become two or even three times stronger.

“Cecilia.”

“I’m fine. If I go like before, I should manage.”

“No. I’m not asking you to try; go help Azar.”

At my words, Cecilia’s expression tightened.

“Are you saying Knight Elliot will face that monster alone?”

“Yes. I feel the magic of the Hell Duke from Azar’s side.”

“…Hell Duke.”

Upon hearing the name of a high-ranking member of the Demon King’s Army, her expression hardened.

It was a situation on the brink.

Still, Cecilia hesitated to step away because of the thought of leaving her companion behind.

After all, there is a different kind of knightly integrity.

So, I decided to pick at her nerves a bit.

“I took down that corpse golem all by myself. You’re not in a position to worry about someone weaker than me, are you?”

“…Do I really need to say it like that?”

Cecilia furrowed her brow.

She pressed on.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“…Yes.”

“No, I do know you don’t completely trust me, but in combat, you trust me, right?”

“…Isn’t it embarrassing to say that about yourself?”

“What of it, it’s the truth.”

A moment passed as our gazes met, and Cecilia capitulated first. She sighed, as if resigned, and then she sheathed her sword and stepped back a few paces. Since she still seemed hesitant, I waved my hand.

“Don’t worry, go help Azar.”

“I’m not worried.”

In the end, looking somewhat sulky, Cecilia dashed away into the distance.

As I turned my eyes towards the Black Knight Negilus.

“Thanks for waiting. Shall we continue what we were doing?”

“Haha, foolish hero. You think to challenge me alone?”

Negilus patiently waited until our conversation was over, grinning wickedly as he raised his sword.

“You’ll deeply regret that choice!”

“Enough with the noise.”

I tossed aside my gloves.

Of course, according to his words, I couldn’t defeat Negilus within the territory.

Not with conventional methods.

And frankly, I wasn’t one to fit neatly into such categories.

I activated my Mark.

At the same time, Negilus swung his sword at me, and I countered with the Holy Sword.

Clang!

A sound like a bell echoed.

The sword was repulsed, but it was Negilus who staggered. He glared at me in disbelief.

“So, you’re GelDMier’s disciple?”

I leapt at the staggered Negilus, planting my sword into his chest plate.

Even using all my strength to crush it only resulted in bending it, but now his armor split like paper. His bare skin was exposed.

“That punk’s sword was on a completely different level from what you’re swinging.”

GelDMier.

The duel with him was still fresh in my mind.

He was likely the only person I would ever meet who made me feel like I was up against a wall.

“He wasn’t just strong; he had a sharp killing intent. A fearsome will honed solely to kill his opponents.”

I raised the Holy Sword high. Negilus attempted to block my attack with his rune-inscribed sword, but with a single strike, I shattered his great sword.

“You lack that killing intent.”

I continued my attack.

As I withdrew my Holy Sword, I infused it with a stronger blade of energy. The sword, enhanced by the effect of the Mark, burned like a lighthouse in the dark.

“I do have it.”

And just as I had done to the corpse golem, I dismantled Negilus.

*

Ophelia cast a divine barrier over all nearby mercenaries and allies. Given that she had placed it on nearly twenty humans, just that alone was exhausting.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t afford to fall over easily. Gasping for breath, Ophelia assessed the battlefield. Emily was frowning, continuing her magical bombardment, while Erwin was in the air, drawing his bowstring.

Albrecht was currently engaged in battle with the Possessor, while the horde of Demon Knights was being dealt with by the mercenaries.

In other words….

“I have nothing to do.”

Ophelia frowned.

Of course, one could argue that she had done her part just by providing the protective barrier for her many companions.

“Kraaaah!”

The Black Knight Negilus screamed. Elliot’s sword had torn into his heart.

Seeing Elliot perform so valiantly indeed ignited frustration within her.

“…I don’t want to lose.”

Ophelia mumbled with a sullen expression.

In truth, it was less about not wanting to lose and more about her desire to be of help to Elliot.

Regardless, Elliot had personally come to resolve the incident at the Cathedral. Most of Elliot’s decisions were for Ophelia, herself, and he wasn’t so oblivious not to realize that his sacrifices stemmed from a feeling of concern for her.

“You dishonest fool…”

Above all, the Cathedral, where Ophelia currently stood, felt like her hometown.

A place filled with painful memories, with trauma she wished to forget, yet she couldn’t bring herself to hate it.

After all, it was the very place where she had met Elliot. There was no way she could hate it.

Moreover, even if Ophelia despised the Pope and his followers, she couldn’t extend that hatred to the Cathedral itself.

The inhabitants there, and the somewhat lacking but good-hearted clergy like Archbishop Belwin and Yurede, were included.

Ophelia had a nasty personality, yet she wasn’t a bad person.

That’s why she wanted to protect it.

The Cathedral.
The people there.

“Filthy Demon King’s army.”

Ophelia muttered, glaring at the territory enveloping her in darkness.

At the same time, she realized something. The territory that Possessor Daniel and Lieutenant Petinus had expanded was small enough that it hadn’t crossed her mind, but the territory the Hell Duke had expanded was significantly larger and seemed to possess great control as well.

“Hmm.”

Which meant that there was room to interfere.

However, she knew that ordinary magic could not interfere with magic.

The only opposite of magic is divine power.

And Ophelia was confident that she could use divine power at its best.

“Let’s do this.”

With that determination, Ophelia spread her divine power.

She began to tear through the magic that enveloped her. A searing pain comparable to that of being torn apart flooded her senses.

But it was fine. Regardless of the intensity, it was akin to the pain she experienced in the Punishment Room. Taking deep breaths, Ophelia wiped the blood flowing from her nose and clasped her hands in prayer.

Gathering the divine power she had torn apart into dozens or even hundreds of pieces. It was like a puzzle, akin to building a sandcastle. With that, Ophelia created a space made of divine power.

Though the size wasn’t great, she was opening another realm within the territory spread by Derabilice.

Ophelia wasn’t entirely confident, but as she watched the hemispherical golden area surround her, she realized her miracle had undoubtedly succeeded.

This is…

“A Sanctuary.”

Yes. That’s what to call it.

The sanctuary Ophelia created became impermeable to any magic, and the unreasonable laws of the territory couldn’t seep through. An invincible fortress had been completed.

“Haha.”

With blood trickling from her mouth, Ophelia laughed.

Indeed, I am a genius.

Praising herself like that, Ophelia reached her hand out toward the direction where the strongest magic was felt and declared.

“Let there be light.”

And thus, there was light.