CH 72

As if he had accomplished his goal, Dietrich did not immediately follow the demon running away, and instead slowly sat on the throne. It was such a bewitching sight that there was no human being better suited on the black demon’s throne more than him. 

Asmodeus growled like a beast and sharpened his nails. Rough wings with scales like that of a crocodile spread out. 

“You might have opened the door, but how the hell are you going to get out when you don’t even have a small sacrifice?”

“Kill him! Asmodeus, I’m telling you to kill him!” 

Asmodeus may have been dumbfounded, but he wasn’t the least bit scared. Because he was confident that no matter how much the little human struggled, he wouldn’t be able to escape the demon’s grasp. 

“First, I’ll kill him.” 

Dietrich gestured with his chin towards Alphonse while sitting under Asmodeus’ grasp. The man smiling triumphantly wearing the crown given by the demon flinched in surprise and trembled. 

“Kill him?”

At Asmodeus’ prodding, Dietrich tilted his handsome face at an angle. Then, he whispered softly. 

“It’s enough to get rid of you.”

Asmodeus was not afraid of the sharp sword aimed at his neck. 

Humans couldn’t get rid of the demons. 

Returning the summoned shadow demon back to the demon realm was the only way to cut off the material power, but the first ruler of Lagrange, who was the contractor of Asmodeus, died without returning his demon. 

“No matter how much you cut me, I will not perish.”

Asmodeus spoke with confidence. Dietrich did not stop and drew a clean path like a bowstring to reach the demon. 

“I told you it’s useless!!”

Asmodeus firmly believed in his permanence, but nevertheless, he flinched at the black ether that pierced his chest. 

‘Still, I didn’t intend to get hit.’

Of course, he thought he had avoided it, but Dietrich’s sword quickly followed his movements and pierced him sharply. To think he would be able to move like that even without a demon, it was deplorable to even think that he had chosen the wrong human to be the grand duke. 

“If I cut you until I die, we’ll know.”

“............”

“Whether you’ll really die or not.”

Facing Dietrich’s cold gaze, Asmodeus stood up from his place thinking he was being disregarded. Alphonse, who was frightened of them and had hidden behind a pillar, raised his voice. 

“That’s right! Get up and fight! Why are you just letting him get away with all this?”

‘That guy?’

If Dietrich had just brought a sacrifice, he would have stepped on that guy and gotten rid of him. Asmodeus frowned and stared at Alphonse. 

It had already been several hundred years since he had picked such incompetent people to become the head. It’s been quite a long time since no true ruler had been found to properly rule Lagrange.

“Do you really have no sacrifice?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

There was no reason to look at the candidate who couldn’t become the Grand Duke for a long time. The demon raised his claws and started scratching the floor. Crack, a pitch-black ether created a sphere along with a dangerous sound that made one’s heart pound. 

“I promise not to reap your soul, at least.”

There was no choice but to confront the power of the demon with the same darkness. 

The moment he faced the essence of the demon who had been governing all his life, Dietrich predicted the end. He turned around and jumped towards Alphonse instead of Asmodeus. 

“Wha--What the! Why me!”

“If you become the Grand Duke, there’s no point in leaving that child behind.”

The boy’s sword quickly cut through the air and aimed for Alphonse. But even faster than that, Asmodeus stretched out his arm. 

“I don’t like it, but I can’t let the only candidate in this generation die.”

Instead of dodging the demon’s attack, Dietrich deeply bent his body in just like that and cut off Alphonse’s leg.

“No, you’ll have to find another candidate -- because Alphonse Lagrange will be buried here with me.”

Hearing his half-brother’s screams, he bent one knee and thrust his sword into the ground to prevent recoil. The breath that rose up the tip of his chin hindered his vision. 

It was around that time when the surging ether shook towards him. 

“No!”

The moment he saw Anissa rushing down the stairs with a shrill scream, Dietrich stood up from his place and swore violently. Behind Anissa who was running towards him quickly like a squirrel was Baal who was wearing an awkward expression.

“What were you doing that you didn’t stop her?”

Dietrich gritted his teeth while glaring at the stupid demon who couldn’t even fulfill his last order properly. Baal looked at Anissa with a look of injustice on his face as if he was not at fault. 

“The princess was very much stronger than I thought.”

“What nonsense are you saying!”

“No, really, oh, look here.”

While Baal was making excuses, Anissa passed by Dietrich and approached the black sphere. In her hand, she held tightly Vassago’s jewelry which he had left behind some time ago. 

“Anissa!”

“What!”

The audacity. Anissa lost her temper and fiercely raised her eyes just as Dietrich shouted in panic. 

Even so, she didn’t look that scary due to the lowered corner of her eyes making her look docile, but Dietrich was stunned at Anissa’s first -- perfectly done -- rebellion that his mouth went ajar.

“What! Say something if you call me!”

“Right now, you! Where do you think you are? Go back! Are you out of your mind?!”

“Then why did you come in? You didn’t even tell me you could only live if you sacrificed me!”

She countered his question with another without losing a word. 

Anissa stretched her hand out to the core of the ether without waiting for Dietrich, who hesitated to answer. 

“Purgatio.” [Latin: purification, cleansing, purging]

The pure white aura blooming from Anissa’s fingertips began to permeate as if wrapping around Asmodeus’ ether. 

It wasn’t enough to purify everything, but for Asmodeus, who had not met anyone who went against him for a thousand years, the moment when the aura was being purified felt absolutely terrible. 

“Who are you! What are you doing right now?!”

The bewildered demon quickly stretched out his long arm to catch Anissa.

Kwang!

However, what caught the tip of the demon’s black claws was not the fragile flesh of a human child, but a sword of a darker color. 

“Don’t touch her.”

Dietrich moved forward and covered Anissa behind him. He had different energy around him compared to his previous one, who had seemed to have given up halfway. 

Asmodeus laughed in disbelief and corrected his posture. 

“Didn’t you say you don’t have anything precious?”

“I just said I have nothing to offer you.”

Together with his answer, Dietrich quickly drew his sword and climbed up on Asmodeus’ arm as it was. Swish, whoosh -- a sharp sword pierced his earhole along with the sound of cutting the wind. 

“Uwaak!”

Even though he wouldn’t die, it didn’t mean he couldn’t feel pain, Asmodeus struggled strongly and bowed his back. It was because he had let his guard down thinking his opponent was only a human boy. 

“Purify him! Hurry!”

As Asmodues’ mind began to waver, his ether also began to waver together. Anissa didn’t miss the chance and strongly focused on the sphere trying her best to restrain it. 

Once again, Dietrich’s sword struck Asmodeus’ neck with an accurate trajectory. 

“I won’t let you off anymore.”

Asmodeus gripped the sword stuck on his neck with his hand, ground his teeth, and hit Dietrich with the back of his hand. It was like the dry touch of a human swatting a fly, but its power could not be disregarded. 

He stepped back, throwing away the broken sword. 

“I don’t know where you came rolling in, but what an arrogant child! I can’t believe you’re interfering with the sacred ritual of Lagrange!” 

“Shut up, you ugly goat!”

“What—what do you mean goat!”

Asmodeus distorted his face at Anissa’s last words and pulled Dietrich’s sword out of his neck. Black blood gushed out and dripped to the floor. 

“You sure like this sacred ritual of Lagrange, don’t you! You control kids who know nothing and do as you please! You use them! Just to use them again as a sacrifice!”

The louder Anissa’s voice became, the more the size of Asmodeus’s core decreased. Feeling a sense of crisis, Asmodeus took a big step forward. 

Kwang!

Dietrich rushed to stop Asmodeus, but the demon flew through the air sending the boy away with a rough kick. 

The aura emanating from the demon’s flapping wings was full of sticky and nauseating smell that tormented Anissa but the child never let go of the sphere in her hand. 

Rose-colored eyes that shone like the morning star met the demon’s eyes without avoiding it. 

Asmodeus inevitably ground his teeth and let out more power to separate Anissa from the sphere. 

“Let go! You can’t change the history of this family!”

“I don’t want to! Don’t talk to me, you bizarre goat!”

“It means that Lagrange has lost its light to us!”

“So, what about it?!”

Anissa snorted at the demon’s words and laughed — as if it was none of her business that the people in Lagrange lost their light to the demons. 

“Dietrich didn’t do anything wrong to you. Do you even know how well he treated Baal? Do you even know how sweet and kind person he is?!”

“…..”

“Sometimes, he could be mean, but kids can make mistakes, you ugly goat or lizard, whatever you are!”

Anissa breathed heavily as if she had lost all her strength after her last words. 

Taking advantage of such a critical moment, Asmodeus used it as an opportunity to lift up the girl and threw her away.