Side Story Chapter 118

Side Story Chapter 118

“Mmm...” Lust scratched the back of her head, seemingly stumped. It didn’t take long for her entire lower body to freeze over, chilling her down to her bones. Iceline was indeed one of the best human mages alive.

“Do you not care even if something happens to your son?” Lust asked.

“...Selim isn’t weak.”

“Huh?The source of this content can be connected to n0v3lb!n★

“And my friend matters as much as my child,” Iceline firmly said.

Lust suddenly stiffened when the real Lilith Aphrodite woke up and started to fight back.

“Lilith, you aren’t weak either, so you can hear me, can’t you?” Iceline asked.

“...Shut up.”

“Open your eyes. Don’t get eaten by a fake.”

“Shut your damn hole!” Lust screamed. An immense amount of her demonic power filled the air, breaking cracks in the block of ice that was holding her down. Iceline focused her mana again.

“...Shit!” As Lilith’s struggles intensified, Lust was forced to turn to her last resort. After using this power, Lust would have to rest for at least several months, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that because she was going to lose the body she had struggled so much to acquire.

“Aura of Lust!” Lust shouted.

The demonic power agglomerated around Lust’s chest and then washed over the room.

“Wh-What in the world...?”

“Some sort of light struck me just now.”

“You too? I also—”

The Imperial Knights fell silent, and the paladins they’d taken prisoner clutched their chests, their faces contorted in pain.

“I-It’s demonic power! Demonic power is entering our body!”

“This concentration... is at least a Demon King’s—Gah!”

“It hurts! H-Help meeeeee!”

Demonic and divine powers were diametrically opposed to one another. While the paladins were writhing due to the violent reaction between their powers and the demonic power, the ordinary knights responded differently.

“Huff, huff...”

“I feel hot. It’s like my brain is burning.”

“What’s happening to us?”

The young knights huffed and puffed, their youthful vigor working against them. Their heads whipped around like beasts searching for their prey.

“Pull yourselves together!” Tremblin shouted using mana.

“Aaagh...!”

“Yo-Your Grace.”

“I feel like my brain’s going to explode.”

Tremblin jammed his sword into the ground and roared, “Do not get consumed by your desires! All of you are proud Imperial Knights of the Avalon Empire!”

The Imperial Knights bit lower lips and slowly managed to regain their senses.

“There is no next time. You’ll never be able to get out of here.”

Lust grinned. “Didn’t I tell you that this is already over?”

Seventy percent of her body was already frozen, so she resorted to an extraordinary method to escape the danger—she fell backward. Iceline’s eyes widened.

“It... wouldn’t... be... so... bad to... shatter...”

“No!” Iceline was forced to withdraw her mana that body belonged to someone else.

Lust felt the air was quickly warm and the end of her mouth curled upward.

“Soft-hearted wretch,” she spat, just before the dimensional gate swallowed her.

Iceline collapsed to the ground.

“What... have I done?”

Guilt and self-blame overwhelmed Iceline. A Demon King. No matter what the evil creature started in the future, Iceline was ultimately responsible for allowing it to happen. She might end up regretting the day over and over.

“Urghhhhhh...”

“Yo-Your Majesty, p-please help...”

The people around her were in pain, so Iceline pulled herself together, biting her lip. She may regret it in the future, but now wasn’t the time to sit still.

“Everyone who can move, bring mana stones from the warehouse! And Duke Tremblin, please send an official request for help to the Magic Tower right now!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Tremblin nodded.

There was no better power than divine power to subdue demonic power, but mana, the power of nature, was very effective in its own way. On top of that, the experts in this field were in the Magic Tower.

“...I should stay alert,” Iceline told herself again and again as she approached Selim.

* * *

In the snowy mountains, the monsters, who looked like dots from where Joshua was standing, began to roar at the sky all of a sudden.

-Hah! The monsters are responding to the Evil Sins’ powers. Hehehe.

Some of the highest-ranking demons were summoned by the demons who had settled in this land. On the other hand, many of the monsters here were attracted by the weakening Demon Spirit’s energy. Above all, there were powers in this land that would attract their attention aside from the Demon Spirit.

-I can tell that five out of the Seven Evil Sins’ powers have manifested in the people of this country. The remaining two powers must have manifested in people somewhere else on the continent, but they’ll come to this place. The Evil Sins’ powers have the tendency to attract each other.

The Demon Spirit burst into laughter inside Joshua. The Seven Evil Sins were, as the Demon Spirit had pointed out, one in the beginning,

-Hahahahaha! I assure you that this is the true beginning. When those monsters realize that I’m merely a pie in the sky, they’ll descend the mountain to find the Evil Sins’ powers and turn your land upside down. It won’t take long.

From within his icy prison, Joshua quietly looked down the mountain. Just like the Demon Spirit said, all sorts of monsters littered its slopes. There were foul, rotting ghouls; trolls, the incredibly resilient intermediate-ranking monsters; the big creatures flying in packs were wyverns; the more powerful monsters were dullahans, the true undead; and death knights could occasionally be seen in the crowd.

“Death knights...” Joshua trailed off. He already knew who had summoned those monsters since the demon that had visited Joshua with Carmen von Agnus was of similar rank.

-Hehehe, are you starting to feel nervous? You said some arrogant crap about your children not being weak, but you can’t say that anymore after seeing those monsters with your own eyes, can you?

“Not at all.”

-...What?

Joshua grinned. “Have you forgotten that I have a legion of monsters of my own?”

Joshua could sense that the Demon Spirit was caught off guard.

Joshua had made secret preparations for certain contingencies. Once certain requirements were met, his monsters would fight for this country.