Taming the Evil Saintess

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He cut off his own neck.

If someone were to see this, they’d surely point and say he’s gone mad, but it wasn’t completely without reason.

I was convinced. As long as I didn’t sever my neck entirely, I wouldn’t die.

First of all, I had the Effect of the Mark. The Hero’s Divine Mark allowed me to continue fighting, even with fatal wounds. My blood also played a part. With my recovery ability far exceeding that of a normal human, I could barely survive, even after cutting my neck halfway.

Pah!

The crucial factor was Ophelia.

Her Sanctuary enveloped my body. Unlike the Holy Magic I had used before, her deployed Sanctuary spread divine power unimpeded by the caster’s will. My neck was as good as new. The recovery speed was astonishing.

On the other hand, the Hell Duke was forcibly pulled away from my body. Due to the accumulated damage to his body, his territory vanished, and now there were two of the continent’s greatest warriors here.

It was obvious which side had the advantage.

It was a crazy gamble, but it ultimately paid off.

“Hey….”

Though it succeeded, it seemed Ophelia found it incredibly displeasing.

She clenched her fists tightly, trembling with anger. Tears filled her green eyes, threatening to spill over. Ophelia approached me with a distorted expression and kicked my shins.

“You, you told me to stay still just for this kind of stunt?”

“Ophelia.”

“Shut up. You… damn it, you’re a piece of trash. What would you have done if he hadn’t come out of your body? Were you just planning to cut your neck and die? Don’t you have any thoughts?”

“….”

“If you die, what happens to me? Left alone, without a soul because of the Gears, just to smell your corpse? Planning to make me a widow? Damn you… Are you really thinking of me?”

Ophelia’s anger was justified.

Seeing her in tears filled me with guilt.

But right now, with the battle escalating, I didn’t have time to comfort her. There was only one way to calm her down here.

I slowly raised my body and placed my hands on her shoulders.

“Ophelia.”

“Shut up. I have nothing to say to a piece of shit like you….”

“I like you.”

“….”

In that instant, as if time had stopped, Ophelia’s lips froze. No, her eyes were filled with nothing but utter disbelief.

It was pretty amusing to see someone who had just been cursing turn into a mute.

It must have been a shocking declaration.

Even Cecilia looked astonished.

I patted Ophelia’s shoulders a few times to emphasize my words.

“Let’s talk about the details after this is all over.”

Nod, nod.

Ophelia nodded her head without even being able to ask anything back. I smiled and brushed her hair back, then turned my body.

“First, we need to kill that bastard.”

In the middle of the battlefield, the Hell Duke Derabilice, with a deep wound on his neck, was twisting his face in pain.

“What kind of expression is that? You don’t look as relaxed as usual.”

I mocked him while resting the Holy Sword on my shoulder, and the Hell Duke grimaced.

“You, a mere human… dare to deceive me?”

“The one who got deceived is the problem, right? You do that all the time.”

Pook! Derabilice twisted his body, and a hand axe flew past where he was just standing.

Somehow, Azar, recovering from the effects of possession, glared at Derabilice with fiery eyes.

“Elliot.”

“Did you wake up from your dream?”

“Thanks to you.”

Cecilia, who had been momentarily startled by my sudden confession, gathered her thoughts and stepped forward. Soon after, Albrecht joined us from the nearby passageway. It seemed he had taken care of the Possessor.

Thus, the four of us gathered here were considered the best in both the game and reality.

“Are you ready for cleanup?”

To my question, the Hell Duke Derabilice lowered his fists.

*

Derabilice was among the more remarkable demons.

He excelled not in combat abilities but in political acumen. After the previous Demon King was slain, and during the era of dukes when demons fought amongst themselves, Derabilice expanded his territory through deals and negotiations.

He gathered dozens of demon domains and established a kingdom. By that time, Derabilice was more often called by the title Hell Duke rather than his name.

Eventually, he was offered a chance to become a high-ranking officer in the Demon King’s army from Idmien. There was no reason for him to refuse. He had frequently clashed with the One-Eyed Knight Geldmier, who joined the ranks around the same time, but Geldmier’s position among the officers was indeed substantial.

Thus, it was hard to understand why he found himself facing death in this remote Cathedral.

Was there something he overlooked?

No.

He had heard the Possessors talk about their ‘strategy’ in the game. He had also received information about their strength from the Possessor Oksana. However, their current abilities were on a different level from what he had been told. The deranged self-harm of Hero Elliot, the creation of a territory through the Saintess’s divine power, and the mental fortitude of Golden Lion Azar.

Nothing had gone as he had expected.

Especially, the Saint’s Knights and the demon knights Derabilice had brought with him were swept away by the asymmetric mercenary group brought by the Hero.

“There’s a strong mercenary group in the north.”

“A mercenary group? You mean humans?”

“Yeah. Humans. But they’re those who can hold their own against demon warriors in one-on-one combat and win.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Geldmier. If you have time to dream up such fantasies, how about you deal with that Black Dragon rampaging outside?”

“It’s up to you whether you believe me or not. But I lost my helmet to that mercenary leader, and now I look forward to meeting him again.”

“Why is he wielding that sword?”

“Because Sangwyn is resonating.”

“….”

A conversation I once had with the One-Eyed Knight Geldmier.

The mercenary group’s name I heard back then was definitely….

“Black Eagle.”

“Damn, you finally recognized it, you bastard.”

Even with a knife jammed in his belly, the mercenary Barton smirked, only managing to prevent his insides from spilling out with a single pressure bandage.

I couldn’t comprehend how this mere group of thirty mercenaries could confront the numerous elite demons he had painstakingly selected.

But being possessed by the Hero’s body, I could understand now.

“You’re the leader of that mercenary group Geldmier has been waiting for.”

“Noticing that is quite the insight, you idiot.”

The Holy Sword flew.

The enhanced physical abilities granted by the Hero’s Divine Mark far surpassed Derabilice’s strength brought forth by drawing out magic.

Bam! I raised my cloak to block it, but the solid blade penetrated through my cloak’s magic, leaving a deep cut on my chest. Above all, the half-severed neck was the real issue. Even if I tried to recover by using magic, I could not afford it due to the aftermath of the territory I had just used.

I was too caught up in defending against the incoming ambush to use magic freely.

More importantly, there was the issue of the divine power area created by the Saintess.

Now that the territory has vanished, it continued to suppress the outflow of magic. It was like putting a huge lid on a boiling pot, even covering it with a rock. For someone who relied primarily on magic, it was an absolutely dire situation where I couldn’t utilize most of my strength.

Bang!

Even though Derabilice’s suit was a high-performance artifact in itself, it was no different than paper in the face of the continent’s greatest warriors.

Golden Lion, Sword Saint, Ice Warrior. And lastly, the Hero too.

Even one would be a tricky opponent, and there were four of them. Moreover, the Saintess was pouring divine power from behind.

The odds were heavily against him.

That fact was evident to everyone present.

“Hero.”

“What?”

“The Possessors said my third phase is commonly called ‘Desperation.’”

As I tried hard to recall the term I had heard from them, Elliot nodded.

“That’s right. In a failed territory, you go wild and ungracefully die while expelling magic.”

“….”

Information from another world often contains things that I wish I hadn’t known.

I still couldn’t grasp the Demon King’s intentions.

I thought he had called forth the foreign spirits to kill the Opponent Hero, but had another troublesome Hero emerged instead?

Thus, Derabilice concluded that the Demon King must have another grand plan in mind.

“Is that so?”

“Why? Want to get desperate?”

“…no, I have no intention of doing that.”

The Hell Duke raised both hands.

To witness the Demon King’s plan, it was crucial to survive until the end.

Elliot scoffed.

“Are you surrendering now?”

“Regrettable, but I am not surrendering. I’m merely resolving to move forward once more.”

For a moment, while I diverted my gaze, Derabilice manifested the mark on his palm.

A sinister red light enveloped the surroundings.

“Elliot! Hey! That!”

The mark bestowed by the Demon King wasn’t exclusive to Possessors, and the Hell Duke, who dedicated his life to the Demon King, had branded himself.

It was a precaution for an unavoidable situation.

His entire body was enveloped in black orbs.

Hearing the Saintess’s shout, Hero Elliot swung his sword but only managed to sever one of Derabilice’s arms.

Soon, the only things left were the glasses he had discarded and the numerous artifacts stuck to the severed arm.

“Damn it, I missed?”

Ophelia, having confidently anticipated victory, spouted curses at her disappointment.

*

“Ugh, huah.”

The toll of using the mark was immense.

Just moving to this remote forest outside the Cathedral drained most of the magic from my body.

Blood dripped from my mouth while dark magic seeped out. The image reflected in the pond was that of a pitiful soldier. I had lost an arm, and the internal damage was significant. It wasn’t just a physical problem. Having escaped alone after losing dozens of knights and three lieutenants, there was no way it could be more disgraceful than this.

I took a moment to catch my breath.

The judgment was swift.

“Staying alive is enough.”

For someone like the proud Derabilice, it was not what he would usually say, but he seriously thought so.

Of course, he had no intention of returning to the Demon King’s castle.

If he returned in disgrace after such a pitiful defeat, he wouldn’t want to know what Idmien and Geldmier would have to say. Especially Geldmier might drag him down and promote his subordinate as a new officer in the Demon King’s army.

First, he thought to seize a city near the Imperial territory and gather troops again to prepare for a comeback.

But….

“….”

“What a coincidence, meeting you here.”

Across the pond, a woman with blonde hair was looking at Derabilice as if she had been waiting.

The power emanating from her wasn’t particularly impressive.

However, Derabilice, weakened to the point he could hardly guarantee victory against human warriors, twisted his face in question.

“Who are you?”

“The one who has been waiting for you.”

“…what?”

“I need you for my research. Mainly as a test subject, though.”

So this human woman dares to use a high-ranking officer of the Demon King’s army as a lab rat?

She was clearly getting too bold.

She had to be a magician.

There’s no more foolish race than human magicians.

Just as Derabilice scoffed and was about to swing his fist, he felt discomfort.

“…you’re a Possessor.”

It wasn’t directed at the woman.

It was a comment aimed at the man standing behind her, almost invisible.

He recognized his face.

“The Possessor Morgan. I heard you had been captured by the Imperial Palace.”

He attempted to seize the treasures of the Imperial Palace under Idmien’s orders but was caught and imprisoned.

That was all the standing Derabilice had in mind.

But Morgan let out a deep sigh, saying, “You remember me well. I was captured by the Imperial Palace.”

“…then.”

“And now I’m just a dog for the Imperial Palace. Like you, I want to go home.”

“What?”

Derabilice narrowed his eyes.

“Anyway, you’ll have to cooperate. This is a deal. One that you’d like.”

The woman, Princess Adelheit, smiled sweetly.