Chapter 179: High Society Debuts Are Difficult! (9)

Chapter 179: High Society Debuts Are Difficult! (9)"Trouble."

As I was peeling and eating the meat from a large crab leg in the banquet hall, I felt my hair stand on end from a strange commotion.The source of the disturbance was in the annex building, about 50 meters away from this adults' banquet hall.Clearly, some problem had occurred.Soon, Salome, who had been talking about 'what makes a good wine' among the crowd, slightly furrowed her brow.Then she approached me and asked,

"You felt it too?"

"Yeah."

"Is it Brigitte's doing? That Brigitte, not even showing her face at the banquet hall, what kind of trouble is she causing now?"

It wasn't strange for Salome to suspect that. After all, what had just stirred my feelings was magical power similar to Brigitte's.But there was one difference - it had a bit more of an evil karma.A magician with power similar to Brigitte's but with abundant evil karma—As far as I knew, there was one such person.

"It's Valdes, the Mage of Desolation."

"...What? That monster? Didn't your party kill him?"

Salome was shocked.Valdes, the Magician of Desolation.He was a monster who had driven people to despair with overwhelming firepower on the battlefield where the fate of Pandemonium and humanity was at stake.

I had been keeping his soul well in my shadow, but it was lost on the day of the Great Cataclysm when Nocturne was resurrected.I had been looking for him, not knowing where he went, but to think we'd encounter him in a place like this.Should I step in?As I was thinking that, someone shouted.

"Demon invasion! A demon has invaded the Ordor banquet hall!"

"It's Valdes, the Magician of Desolation! Valdes, the Magician of Desolation has appeared! Quickly, deploy the royal anti-magic soldiers to subdue them!"

"He's appeared in the annex, secure the children's safety as the top priority!"

Who is it?As I slightly furrowed my brow, Salome said,

"It's the Voluntari royal family. They're relatives of the Ordor royal family, royalty from a neighboring country. They're capable people, but... isn't their response too quick?"

Salome was right.Even Salome had confused Valdes's magical power with Brigitte's.Yet they pinpointed the 'target' and 'location' as if they knew this would happen in advance.

And to bring anti-magic soldiers, effective against magicians, all the way to this Ordor royal castle as guards?It was clearly intentional.I don't know what kind of relationship they've developed with Valdes, the Magician of Desolation, but it seemed like there was something that could be called a conspiracy or scheme.

Were they perhaps thinking of using Valdes to overthrow the Ordor royal family?No, no matter what, that couldn't be it.The fact that the Voluntari royal family members also looked surprised was proof of that.This was probably a plan that could be called 'worst-case scenario' even for them.

Swish—At that moment, Salome grabbed my arm.

"Shouldn't we hurry over there too? Our kids are in the annex too."

"There's no rush. We have Molumolu, don't we?"

That's right.There were lots of children in the annex, but there were just as many Molumolu.Molumolu were powerful creatures that could even bind Nocturne for a long time.Although Valdes, the Magician of Desolation, was a tricky opponent, he wasn't tricky enough to break through the Molumolu's defense.

Whoosh— Crackle—Valdes chanted a three-syllable spell.The simple name of that chant was as follows.

—Death's Play.

Death's Play.It was Valdes's specialty, a necromancy technique that spews out a mist of death and then controls those who lose their lives to it like puppets.Valdes had once reigned as death itself on battlefields full of soldiers with this magic.The children gathered in this banquet hall would have no means to resist this death magic.

—Now, dance, children.

At the words of the undead Valdes, who had nothing left but hatred for the living, all the children screamed and tried to run away.But for some reason, the doors of the banquet hall were firmly closed and wouldn't open at all!

—This banquet hall is tightly sealed by my barrier. Using your deaths as sacrifices, I will create a new body and aim for 'transcendence'.

Valdes was, after all, a magician seeking truth, no matter what form he took.Even in this situation, like a true magician, he wanted to attain the truth of 'transcendence'.

'I was lucky.'

When he died serving the Demon King and had his soul stolen by Judas, Valdes had been frustrated. But on the day of the Great Cataclysm when Nocturne was resurrected, he too was resurrected through the shadows.

Because that technique was similar to necromancy, Valdes was able to break the curse controlling him by himself.Although his soul was sealed by the Voluntari royal forces stationed near Frigia as soon as it gained freedom, but still.But in the end, he was resurrected like this again.

'I can only say I'm lucky.'

Although he was only left with a soul, Valdes was extremely pleased.He was now just a few steps away from transcendence.

—Meow

—Grrrr

However, not everything went according to Valdes's plan.Strange creatures were protecting against Valdes's instant death magic.They were oddly shaped furry creatures.

—What are these?

They were truly strange creatures.Even two years ago when Valdes was rampaging across battlefields, such creatures didn't exist.They looked cute, but the power they held was so strong it was rather bizarre.

"Molumolu, use Hydro Pump!"

At that moment, a small girl shouted.It was a girl with black hair.But for some reason, her magical power resembled someone Valdes knew.

"Is she the daughter of Brigitte, the Black Magician?"

Whoosh—A powerful stream of water gushed out from Molumolu.The cutting power of that water pressure was enough to slice through rock.Soon, the children watching this also shouted.

"Boostee! Use Fire Blast!"

"Chikorita! Use Vine Whip!"

Whoosh— Crack—The Molumolu unleashed powerful attacks.It sounded like child's play, but it was quite effective, making it difficult for Valdes's soul to maintain the physical form it had barely materialized.

'To deal with the children, I have no choice but to divert the magic invested in the barrier. But Brigitte is outside the barrier. If I don't focus on maintaining the barrier even a little, Brigitte will break through and enter.'

It was a difficult situation in many ways.However, luck was smiling on Valdes too.

—...What?

Valdes felt the crisis of even his soul being annihilated.At this moment, he gave up on life and transcendence.All he wanted to do was give despair to as many people as possible.

The fingertips of Valdes, filled with pure malice, pointed towards the hunter who seemed defenseless against magic.And he fired a death beam.

—Die!!!

Zzzzing— Whoosh—The beam of death flew at high speed, overheating the air, and hit something.Not the hunter, but the body of some demon.

"Cough... Sister..."

Astarosa, who had taken the beam instead of Cariote, coughed up blood as her chest was pierced.Seeing this, Valdes sneered.

—Stupid woman. Once you become a demon, you can't return to being human. To think you'd die without even knowing that. Huhah, hahahahaha─!

Valdes felt good.Wasn't it a great achievement to kill one more life just before dying?It was then.

Rustle—

The space-time in front of Valdes seemed to distort, and a terrifying man appeared.Although Valdes was a soul on the verge of annihilation, he felt his breath stop when his eyes met that man's.

"Valdes, you're more tenacious than I thought. You shall go to the 'Abyss Land'."

Judas grabbed Valdes's burning, annihilating soul with his hand.Then he put it into his own shadow.'Abyss Land'.Valdes, who had often heard legends about that space called hell, was horrified because he knew well what would happen if his soul fell there.

—Ra-rather just kill me! Uwaaaaaaaagh!

Roar—

Soon, pitch-black hands emerged from Judas's shadow and dragged Valdes's soul into the deep abyss.That was the end of it.No, it wasn't over yet.

"...Si...Sister..."

Astarosa was dying, spewing blood.Her heart had been pierced.If she were an ordinary person, she would have already breathed her last, but Astarosa was still alive because she had become a demon with tenacious vitality.

"You fool. Even if you hadn't taken the hit for me, I could have avoided it easily!"

Cariote scolded her younger sister.Yet, she desperately tried to cover the hole in Astarosa's body with her palm.Of course, it was futile.

"Sister, I'm sorry... Back then..."

"Idiot, don't talk. You can still live. You have the sacred jewel from the Saint, right? We can use it to save people! It can heal injuries!"

Astarosa had the Saint's jewel.In the original timeline, when Cariote was severely wounded in the abdomen by the Demon King's attack, Astarosa would have used the power of that jewel to heal Cariote.Of course, in this timeline, the grown-up Cecily came and healed Cariote, so there was no opportunity to use the jewel.Therefore, there should still be enough 'miraculous' power stored in the jewel to save a person.However, Astarosa shook her head.

"I'm not human... I can't receive the miracle of healing..."

That's right.Astarosa was a demon.Because she was consumed by evil karma, the power of holy light was poison to her.Soon, Cariote burst into tears.

"I'm sorry. It's all because of my stubbornness... If only I had been a little stronger... If only I had protected you from the demons back then..."

It was the moment when the shell that had been tightly wrapping Cariote's heart cracked.Astarosa, Dina, felt both regretful and happy at the reconciliation with her sister.She thought she could now close her eyes peacefully.Of course, that didn't happen.

Slash—

Judas cut his wrist with his own nails and spilled blood.It was unusually black blood.It touched Astarosa's wound and cleanly healed the affected area.While the holy power of light was poison to the demon Astarosa, Judas's blood, born from sacrificing Nocturne, contained extremely evil karma, and it gave Astarosa new strength.

"...What? I'm not dead!"

Astarosa shouted.Not only did Astarosa not die, but her tail grew longer and the horns on her forehead grew magnificently like a deer's.It was clearly not a normal state.

"I'm overflowing with power instead!"

"......"

Cariote felt a bit embarrassed about crying so much just moments ago, but she didn't mind. Cariote now hugged Astarosa tightly.Just like Cecily, Naru, and Hina hugging each other.Sisters were a good thing.

"Has it been resolved well?"

The children kept looking towards the annex with worried hearts.It was fortunate that Molumolu had protected the children, or it could have been a disaster.

Rustle—Neva also looked at the Molumolu in her hand.Molumolu was a powerful being, so it didn't perish from Valdes's attack, but in the end, it had shrunk to smaller than Neva's palm.It looked so small, pitiful, and pathetic.

—Meow

But Molumolu spun around on Neva's palm or rubbed its soft body against her hand. It was quite ticklish, but Neva felt more like crying than laughing.

"......"

Princess Neva's expression hardened as if she had made some decision.She soon slowly approached Naru.While Cecily and Hina were wary, saying things like "What business do you have?" or "Naughty child," Naru instead took a step towards Neva and asked.

"What is it?"

"I want you... to teach me how to make Molumolu bigger..."

Bow—Neva bowed her head to Naru.It was extremely embarrassing to have to bow to Naru, whom she had considered her rival, and who had even been rude to her first, but she had no choice.

"I lost..."

Neva finally admitted defeat.It was the first defeat she had ever acknowledged in her life.