Chapter 8: The Four Grand Magi of the Demon Lord’s Army
I don’t believe my eyes. Our village was just invaded by the remaining two Grand Magi of the Demon Lord’s Army. The names I muttered reach Saint Aela’s group sitting at the table and make them nervous.
“Sereniel the Temptress? Isn’t that the Demon Lord Army’s second in command?!” Golem guesses and rushes over to look out the window. He groans when he confirms it’s her. “I’ve seen her on the battlefield before. That’s Sereniel all right!”
Yes, as he said, that’s Sereniel standing in the center of the village. Regulus is there with her. There’s also some hunched weakling wearing round glasses I don’t know. Wait. I might’ve seen him somewhere before… Hmm. Can’t remember.
But why are Sereniel and Regulus here?
What did they come for? To get us? How did they find this village…?
“Hoo-hoo! I figured it out! You villains! You set us up! Aela! You can’t believe these evil generals! They gathered these villagers here to kill us!”
I whirl toward that shrill voice. Fairy Lylish is glaring at us with her arms crossed and cheeks puffed out.
Huh? She’s casting doubt on me and Julius?
Julius places himself between me and Saint Aela’s group as if they are now a possible threat. I poke my head out from behind his broad back.
“Wh-Why are you jumping to conclusions?!” I shout. “We aren’t involved with them! I have no idea why those two came here, either…!”
“Hmph! Save your blatant lies for the deaf and blind! The proof is in all four of you Grand Magi showing up at the same time!”
Lylish’s accusations are actively turning the rest of Aela’s group against us.
“That can’t be true! They haven’t done anything evil!” Aela argues on our behalf, but it does nothing to erase her party’s grim scowls.
“…Our discussion was a trap?” Prince Guido asks Julius.
“Didn’t you hear me?! I said we don’t know what’s going on!” I insist. “Come on, Julius, tell them! These guys are doubting us— Whoa, Julius?”
What kind of face is that to make? Julius is assessing Saint Aela’s group with hatred like I’ve never seen before roaring to life in his stormy blue eyes. Chills scrape down my spine. That’s how much rage is billowing off him.
“You were in cahoots with Analia?! How dare you give away our location…!” Julius growls, infuriated. I sense wind magic surging through him.
Julius, the calmest and strongest sorcerer, is so angry his magic is going out of control?
“J-Julius. Calm down…,” I urge, reaching for his arm, but his rampaging magic pressure prevents my hand from reaching him.
“I’ll kill you all…!” he swears in a deadly voice. The frigid magic pouring off him unleashes on the room with the explosive power of a tornado.
The pressure is so great it’d whip me into the air if I didn’t brace myself with magic. Many of Chef's special dishes are ripped into the whirlwind along with the tablecloth.
Julius! You know better than to waste food! If he can do that to Meide’s awesome food, he’s seriously gonna annihilate Aela’s group, too!
I get why he doubts them, but they aren’t bad people. They can’t die now.
I look at Aela’s group barely holding their ground against the tornado-turned-blizzard and shout, “Run! NOW!”
One look at this scene and it’s easy to see that Aela’s group isn’t strong enough to stand up to Julius yet. Even in the manga, they never defeated him since he joined their side before it mattered.
One of Aela’s group flies into the overwhelming pressure straight at Julius.
The fairy Lylish.
She’s so light and dainty like a flower, the raging winds look like they’ll tear her wing from wing. But magic pressure seems to have less effect on fairies.
Unable to push through Julius’s blizzard, Lylish flies in front of Aela and spreads out her arms. “Aela! I’ll handle things here! Run away with the others!” she orders, glaring at Julius.
“B-But I can’t leave you!” Aela objects, but Lylish shakes her head without looking back, her eyes locked on the enemy.
“You can’t stay. You’re the saint I picked. I can’t let you get killed. Guido! Golem! Hurry up and drag Aela away!” she begs of the others.
Indecision wavers in Guido’s tormented eyes as he looks from Aela’s face to Julius’s. “Forgive me, Lylish… Gaea needs Aela. I can’t allow her to die here.” He scoops Aela into his arms and runs to the door.
“Wait, Prince Guido! Lylish is still there! Lylish will—Lylish will!” Aela screams, but he still reaches for the door with her locked in his firm grip.
“I won’t let you!”
Julius holds out his right hand. From it, something pyrokinetic spawns and fires toward Saint Aela and Guido, but before it hits them, Lylish forms a barrier and stops it.
“Are you deaf? I’m your opponent!” Lylish taunts with a grin.
Ooh, Lylish is so cool! Was she always meant to be such a cool character? I’m pretty sure in the manga she was more of a support character meant to be the series’s mascot.
The way she blocked Julius’s attack falls more in line with the big-sister archetype than the cute-mascot type. Then again, her barrier was more of a faulty last-minute defense, leaving her hands scorched black.
Will she be able to survive another hit…?
Bah! This isn’t the time for me to be sitting around watching like some sort of bystander. I’m not reading a manga here! I’ve gotta stop Julius! Even if he scares me!
“Julius! Calm down and think this through! Why are you so angry all of a sudden?!” I shout, but he’s too furious to notice as he activates several magic circles at the same time.
Several dozen Light Bullets generated by his magic hover around Julius.
Not even Lylish can block that many!
“Why aren’t you calming down like I’m asking you to?! I-Ice Gate!”
Desperate to protect Aela and the others from Julius’s spell, I do a quick cast.
Although the thick wall of ice successfully prevents Julius’s bullets from flaying Lylish, it doesn’t mean I’ve gotten any better at controlling more delicate spells like this. And it’s even worse when I’m under so much pressure; I can’t stop the output! The ice spreads from the floor, freezing over the furniture and crawling up the walls.
Brrr! It’s cold.
Golem yelps and pulls his hand back from the doorknob. “Ow! What the magic hell?! The door is frozen shut! She locked us in!” he roars.
Oh dear. My attempt to help them escape trapped them… Really gotta work on my rescue skills.
“Elle, you froze the room…to tell me to cool my head?”
Yay! Julius interpreted my magic slipup in a helpful way! Better yet, when he looks at me, his eyes aren’t full of just hatred, but emotional turmoil. I’m so relieved he’s no longer the frightening Julius controlled by his own anger.
“Because you won’t listen to me! Do I have to freeze a room for you to chill out?!”
“But they’re in league with the Demon Lord,” Julius says in a low voice, his glacial eyes narrowing on Aela.
Her group is watching us with the same level of confusion.
“Th-They can’t be. I mean, she’s Saint Aela?”
“Then what other explanation is there for Analia’s Grand Magi to come when they’re here?! How was our location leaked? This village is protected by my magic. And yet they were able to teleport right into the center of those defenses! That can only be possible if a Demon Lord spy is with them!”
“That’s…a possibility I can’t deny, but— Crap, Julius! Sereniel and Regulus are already here! Now’s not the time for a debate—”
Julius pulls me to his chest while I’m still talking.
What?! Wh-Why is he suddenly hugging me?!
The answer comes in a powerful shockwave that cleaves through the area I was standing.
I’m in one piece thanks to Julius’s Shield, but the room, along with the furniture, walls, and the thick layer of ice, is shredded into tiny pieces and blown away.
The whole room, including the ceiling, is ripped off its foundation, revealing the blue sky above. I glance down the hill to where Regulus has one fist thrust in our direction and Sereniel’s crimson lips are curled in a pert smile.