Volume 5 - CH 8.1

Chapter 8 – Ilmina and the Satanic Cult

At that time, Ilmina woke up in the basement of the building Haruto and his party were targeting.

“…Where, am I?”

She uttered as if she was trying to remember.

“I remember, Cardinal Alben telling me to wait for him, and then someone came into the room——oh my god!”

Then she noticed the chains wrapped around her hands and feet to restrain her.

Unable to get out of them, she tried to break the chains with magic, but…

“…W-Why, why can’t I use magic?”

Ilmina became puzzled and impatient when she failed to invoke magic.

Whenever she tried to channel magic power, it immediately fizzled out.

But then a certain magic tool came to her mind.

“Is this, an anti-magic chain…?”

The ‘anti-magic chain’ is a tool that interferes with the concentration of magic power of those who touch it, making it impossible to invoke magic.

It’s considered difficult to obtain because it is dangerous depending on how it is used, but there it was, binding Ilmina’s hands and feet.

Even when she tried to get out of it forcefully, the chains only made a clattering sound and did not budge at all.

She managed to get up and check her surroundings, but couldn’t find anything.

Then she suddenly noticed that there was something red written all over the wall.

“…A magic, circle?”

A large magic circle spread across the entire floor of the room, emitting a pale red light.

Finally, she noticed that something was sipping out of her body.

“Is it, sucking my life force and strength out of my body…?”

And then it dawned on her.

What kind of magic circle is this?

In light of the recent turmoil, could this be——

“Devil-summoning* magic circle?  Even so, one of this magnitude must be pretty high in rank, perhaps higher, the highest-ranking devil…?” (TLN: Prev. tld as “Demons”, now changed to “Devils”)

If this were to summon the highest-ranking devil, the holy city won’t remain unscathed. It would even be considered lucky if it got partially destroyed.

To foil this summoning, I need to get out of here. But if I force myself and end up dying in the process, it will only hasten the summoning.

As Ilmina was pondering this, she heard the door open.

She turned her head at the sound and caught a figure dressed in black vestments entering the room.

Ilmina glared at him, thinking that he’s probably the mastermind behind the whole thing.

“I see you’re awake, Lady Saint?”

Although she could not see clearly through the hood, she recognized the voice.

Just recently——no. She heard it just before she fainted.

“Cardinal, Alben…?”

“That’s right, Lady Ilmina.”

Alben took off his hood in front of Ilmina.

Her face was enveloped in deep astonishment.

Alben, whom they had trusted to investigate the series of incidents, turned out to be the ringleader behind them.

“Why! Why are you doing this, Cardinal Alben!”

Alben answered with a sinister smile.

“Why? Because I’m originally a devil worshiper and a member of the cult that is behind the current turmoil, the Satanic Cult.”

“…Please tell me this is some kind of joke, an upright individual like you, a devil worshiper…”

“I have always been one though? Well, to be precise, since I was eighteen years old. Betrayed by the someone I cared about, my parents were killed, and I despised god. Why do I have to suffer such a fate…you know? Well, the one who betrayed me was later killed by a knight anyway.”

“Well…”

Ilmina could not offer any word of comfort.

She had been raised as a saint and felt that anything she said would be meaningless to him who hated god.

“That’s when I started worshiping the devil.”

That was Alben’s past.

“But still, still, god——”

“What, can he help me? Save me? Or bring the dead back to life?”

“Well…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought! A god who can’t be bothered and only observes from his high and mighty seat. If so, wouldn’t you say that the devil, who can fulfill my wishes if I offer him a price, is more deserving of my worship…doesn’t that sound more worthy to be called a god?”

Ilmina couldn’t say anything.

“S-Still…”

“Oh shut the fuck up.  Just keep your little bitchass mouth quiet——okay!”

“Kyaa…C-Cardinal, AlBen?”

Ilmina exhaled and at the same time felt a scorching heat in her abdomen.

Looking down, she saw a knife in Alben’s hand and a fresh wound with blood pouring out.

Ilmina’s blood trickled down to the ground and touched the magic circle——and the moment it did, the magic circle became more radiant.

“Eek! W-Why, why are you…?”

“Hmm. Will this much be enough? There are other sacrifices besides you, but after all, your blood makes the magic circle glow stronger…but hey, don’t you worry. We won’t kill you. Since we’ll be needing you for the next summoning.”

True to his word, Alben intends to keep Ilmina alive so that they can use her blood regularly to summon devils.

Ilmina’s face twitched as she realized this.

But then she heard an explosion from outside the room and felt the building shake.

“What’s going on?! Have they found us already?! That can’t be, it’s way too soon!”

Saying this, Alben rushed out of the room.

“Wait…has help, arrived?”

Ilmina held on to her fading consciousness and wondered who, if anyone, had come to her rescue.

The go-to conclusion would be the Holy Knights, but the sound of the explosion from earlier must have been from a magic of considerable power. No one in the Holy Knights wields such powerful magic…

After thinking about it, a certain individual came to her mind.

The fiance of her friend Princess Iris of the Kingdom of Perdis and the world’s most powerful adventurer——Haruto.

“But, how…come?”

Ilmina tried to figure out why Haruto would come to rescue her, but no answer came to mind.