Book 3: Chapter 23

Aftermath Clean-up

Night has fallen on the day of Apristos’ invasion and subsequent defeat (being driven back by Halt).

“Blast it! Why!”

A devil was beating up something on top of a mountain located beside the grasslands overlooking the Royal Capital of Alheim.

The worn-out body of the former general of the Alheim Army was lying around beside that devil.

He was none other than Amon, who had formed a pact with the ex-general.

At the moment of their contract, Amon had taken away the ex-general’s soul and possessed his body.

Unfortunately, the former general’s body became useless, and thus he, in his own form, was hitting an unknown object that was preventing his escape. 

“Why can’t I go out!? What’s with this barrier!”

Amon was enclosed in a dome barrier with a radius of approximately 3 meters.

Even with the power of the Devil Amon, it could not be destroyed. No matter how many times Amon attacked, the barrier didn’t budge.

“DAMN!!!”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Originally, by this time, Alheim would have fallen, and the Elves would all be down in the depths of despair and horror.

The resulting enormous amount of negative energy that could have been harvested was supposed to become food for the Evil God, who was Amon’s Master.

All of these were thwarted by just one human.

“That human, Halt, was it. I’ll remember you… I’ll kill you right away as soon as I get out of here!!!”

There was a figure approaching the mumbling Amon.

“Hmmm, so you’ll kill me, huh?”

“!?”

Halt came to check on Amon’s situation.

“Well, that’s why you can’t get out of there. If you can get out, then come and kill me.”

“You bastard! I knew it. This barrier is really your—“

“Right. I knew a devil wouldn’t die so easily. The moment I punched you, I placed a spell on you that will expand into a barrier once you hit something.”

The barrier was a fixed position type, and attacks from the interior were repelled.

When Halt had punched Amon, and the latter crash-landed on the mountain, the barrier had unfolded and enclosed Amon, causing him to become stuck on the spot.

Various obstructive magic spells were interwoven to create a barrier that would prevent Amon’s escape.

Amon couldn’t use magic inside the barrier, so he had no choice but to use his bare hands to tear down the barrier.

“I don’t like killing something that has a human form, but letting you go means some other country might experience misfortune.”

When saying that, Halt raised his hand high above the air.

“Wha, what’s that magical power! Wa, wait, wait! I’ll do anything! I swear, I won’t bring disaster in this world ever again! So, so please, forgive me!”

Amon saw Halt as being more of a devil than himself. It was because of the monstrous amount of magical power being directed to himself. It was the first time he pleaded with such sincerity since he was born.

Unfortunately, Halt swung his arm down.

“Holy Lance!”

The ginormous spear was released, and it pierced through the barrier and Amon.

“D— am—“

Amon’s entire being was completely purified by the [Holy Magic]. The former general’s body also disappeared.

“I defeated a devil for the meantime. If I’m not mistaken… Amon must have ranked 7th among the demons serving under the Evil God. At least, I confirmed that the barrier was also effective against devils.”

Halt mused over the situation on his own.

Halt’s ultimate goal was to get a shot at the Evil God, who had killed him. That’s why he used Amon as a guinea pig to test his current ability. Halt decided not to stay satisfied being in the status quo, but instead continue improving his power in order to defeat the Evil God.

Halt then teleported back to where his wives were waiting for his return.

—

T/N: It’s been a while since I felt bad for an antagonist. Amon was relatively harmless compared to Valf (the pure evil Warlock that was against Ryuushin back at the Steel Forest), and he was very polite when he asked whether the ex-general really wanted to barter his soul… Oh well, Halt needed a guinea pig so… Besides, he’s a 7th rank devil, he must have spread misery throughout the world, so… yeah ;D