But despite how much he loathed the idea, Daiagias nevertheless left for the front lines. Though he was soft on other races by demon standards, and had no love for battle, there wasn’t a philanthropic bone in his body. Once he set foot on the battlefield, he’d be merciless. He’d moan about having to kill the cute girls, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone, man or woman.
Though he was the demon closest to understanding my feelings, he was still firmly not on my side. That was Third Demon Prince Daiagias. How many lives would he claim in the coming battle? I couldn’t even begin to guess.
Besides, he and I were alike in that way. When it came down to it, when push came to shove, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone.
†††
The basement of Fort Aurora—my Necromancy laboratory—had the gloomy, dim atmosphere of a morgue. My efforts to ventilate the room had fallen short as a heavy scent of mold still clung to the air. Enma’s palace was burrowed far, far deeper in the ground, but didn’t suffer from anything of the like. Maybe the cramped quarters and poor lighting were the real culprits.
“Okay then... Diastero.”
I poured a little magic into the silver pendant sitting on my desk. A dome-shaped barrier immediately expanded from it. This amulet had been given to me by Spinezia and had been infused with the Bloodline Magic of the Sauroe family.
“Hmm...not bad at all. I think you can make use of this,” Ante hummed, observing the flow of magic around the barrier while in her physical form for a change. Recently, she had taken up a very involved role in helping my Necromancy research. Ante’s magic was fundamentally different from the magic of the material world, so using Necromancy was out of the question for her. However, her extreme sensitivity to magic as a devil along with her theoretical knowledge were invaluable assets.
Within the pendant’s Hunting Ground, it was like being underwater—every breath was a struggle, and any attempts to move felt impeded by resistance. The barrier served to block all magical interference within it. Once inside, only the most powerful could use magic.
“This is kind of incredible. So if I was born into the Sauroe family, I could do a little dance and make barriers just like this? These Bloodline Magics get crazier and crazier...”
Apparently, the Sauroe magic could make a barrier with just about any properties the caster wished. The only requirement to activate it was a short ritual involving spinning in a circle. Hunting Ground wasn’t flashy, but it was absurd in both strength and its wide-ranging applicability. Transposition was similarly ridiculous. It was starting to seem like the Bloodline Magics of the great families were all like that.
“The more I learn about the demonic kingdom, the more I hate it...”
“Gotta say, I’m impressed we won any battles against them at all...”
Barbara and Hessel viewed the barrier with amazement. As ghosts, their ability to sense magic had significantly improved, so they could tell how strong the barrier was at a glance.
“Do you think this will be enough to stop Enma’s interference?” Layla asked, eyes shining. Ever since Layla had learned that Claire and I had history, saving Claire had become something of a personal mission for her. Claire’s plight seemed to torment her just as much as it did me.
Recently, she had even started going over my notes from Enma’s lectures, trying to understand Necromancy for herself. Theoretically, light magic should have the same capability as dark magic to perform the spell that opened a gate to the spiritual world, so there was a good chance she’d pick up something useful. As of late, she had been picking the brains of both me and Ante regarding Necromancy. The questions she asked had shown that she already had a better grasp on the subject than any of those amateurs studying it in the Alliance.
“It does seem more effective than I expected. Let’s give it a try.”
I pulled out a small bone, containing a spirit whose name I didn’t know. It was the lowest level of undead, with virtually no sense of self remaining. Pouring dark magic into the bone, I murmured an incantation to construct an artificial kind of “reason” within the ghost’s mind.
“Here goes nothing.” Leaving the bone within the barrier, I opened the gate. “Come forth, Test Subject 45.”
I summoned the spirit...and nothing happened.
“Okay then. At the very least, the lowest level of undead won’t be able to retreat into the spiritual world.” That was a huge step forward. I couldn’t resist smiling at the progress I was already seeing. “Now, can it stop them from self-destructing?”
Before the words completely left my mouth, the bone inside the barrier collapsed into a pile of ash.
I had given the ghost possessing the bone two instructions: If retreat was possible, open a gate to the spiritual world and go into it; if retreat was impossible, break the spell holding your spirit to the material realm.
“So while the barrier prevents the usage of spells, they can still stop a spell,” Ante murmured. This was a bit of a conundrum for me.
“Stopping outside interference is a big step forward, but...”
“If Enma has rigged Claire to self-destruct in the event of her betrayal, there seems to be nothing we can do,” Ante concluded.
“Couldn’t we stop it with Taboo?”
“Perhaps, but...well, we would need to test it first.”
“Good point. What should I say? Self-destruction is Taboo?”
“Even if it works, it would only be a temporary measure,” the devil warned.
“That’s true, but while things are safe, we could extract her soul...”
As Zilbagias prepared another bone, he and Ante engaged in a discussion using a healthy mix of Necromancy jargon, leaving Layla to watch and listen with unease. She had learned the basics of Necromancy, so she had a decent grasp of what they were talking about, but anything she said would only slow the conversation down. Right now, holding her tongue was the smartest choice.
A soft whine accompanied a rubbing sensation on her leg as Liliana made herself known. Liliana must have sensed Layla’s uneasiness and wanted to offer her encouragement.
“Thank you,” Layla said, stroking the high elf’s hair.
Claire was Zilbagias’s...no, Alex’s childhood friend. Layla had crossed paths with her a number of times in Evaloti Castle, such as when Alex went to supply her with magic, when she was in the library quietly reading, and when she sought out information from the other officials. As an undead with no court rank, Claire’s position in the demonic kingdom was especially terrible. It was widely known that she was one of Zilbagias’s favorites, but that didn’t stop high-level devils from looking down on her power. Even the night elves held a strong distaste for Claire, but that wasn’t unique to her. Due to their religious practices surrounding the dead as worshippers of the gods of darkness, the night elves felt that way about all undead.
Ironically, the ones who responded best to her were the hobgoblins, who were in a similarly low position within the demonic kingdom. Perhaps that had helped Claire shed her visceral hatred of all things goblin.
“They get the short end of the stick thanks to their appearance, huh?” Layla had heard her say once.