I’VE arrived in front of the castle where the Demon Lord resides. Guards are stationed in front of the gates. Likely soldiers under Steel Regulus of the Four Grand Magi.
The Four Grand Magi are in charge of Analia’s military, and each serves a specific role. Julius, the strongest of the Grand Magi, is the commanding officer of the Analian army, the Demon Lord’s armed forces. The soldiers invading Gaea move under Julius’s orders.
Sereniel the Temptress, second strongest Grand Magi, is the executive officer of the Analian army serving directly under Julius. She has the most authority in the military after Julius.
Regulus, the third strongest Grand Magi, is generally responsible for maintaining peace and order in the kingdom. Put in terms from my past life, he’s kind of like a police chief and does not participate in war.
And I, the fourth strongest, am the director of the Centers for Magic Research. I just recently took the position, though.
I wonder who my successor will be. Never mind. I should stop thinking about what will happen after I go through with this. I need to focus on what I’m doing in the here and now.
Mind made up, I activate Analyze in my right eye. Geometric patterns forming complex magic circles spread and converge before my eye, changing the world seen through it to a different color.
The spell has begun analyzing the magic used to defend the castle: Teleportation Resile, Shield Wall, Magic Detect, Intruder Alert… Figures there’d be a ton of defense spells cast on it.
But as luck would have it, Steel Regulus isn’t in the castle today, making this my one and only shot if I’m gonna go through with it. Entering the castle is no problem for me as a Grand Magi, but the inner sanctum where the Demon Lord lives is located deeper than the deepest depths of hell. Not even someone of my authority is allowed into those inner parts of the castle.
Just poking your big toe into this area thoroughly protected by layers of magic will get you detected and apprehended in seconds. I have to temporarily disable the castle’s defenses.
I don’t want to get caught before I see the Demon Lord. I’m definitely going to meet with him. I’m prepared to die, but only after I confirm who—or what—the Demon Lord is. I’m absolutely going to learn the true identity of what I’ve loved all these years.
I touch a blue magic stone about the size of a human head hidden in the tall grass. Six more are set up in a wide circle around the Demon Lord’s castle. Each stone is engraved with the magic circles for Resonance and Delay Magic. It’s what I prepared in advance to sneak into the inner sanctum today.
“Nomoneik nomoneik ein ik… Delay Gate. Answer my request with this blood offering. My wisdom is absolute law.” I chant the spell and drip my blood onto the magic stone, which reacts with a pale glow.
It’s a bit plain, but a large-scale spell should have triggered. I take another look at the castle with Analyze active in my right eye. Delay Magic has covered the castle’s defense spells like a shadow that can’t be seen unless you train your eyes on one point. Now the defenses won’t trigger immediately after I enter the inner sanctum.
I suck at casting intricate spells, so I was on pins and needles worrying if it’d work, but it’s a huge success. Go me! I’m Elle of the Four Grand Magi for a reason!
“After all, I love the Demon Lord the most! And the Demon Lord loves me— Ack! My catchphrase came out again…!”
Succeeding at the kind of magic I tend to royally screw up got me exalting the Demon Lord like I used to… And here I am about to break his law! I’ve got issues… But can you really blame me? I mean, I always said that line whenever I succeeded at difficult or awesome spells. Grr! Leave it to the Demon Lord to land a mental attack on me before I even set foot inside his castle!
Stop, stop. Calm down, me!
A young lady in the height of her youth shouldn’t be loudly worshiping some Demon Lord all alone in the middle of a forest in the dead of night in the first place.
I take several calming breaths before flying to the castle gates. I might be small, but I’m still a Grand Magi; I can walk right through the front gates without anyone questioning me.
I pass through the gates with an unassuming face and head straight to the castle. Everyone I see steps aside to give way to Lady Elle of the Grand Magi, making my advance inside quick and easy.
People become sparser and the air feels heavier, and then I spot a plain-looking door. My destination. Two armed guards are standing in the way.
Only the DemiOracle can go beyond that door. Long story short, that’s the entrance to the magic sanctum.
The guards warily eye me as I strut up to them, but they quickly bow when they recognize I’m a Grand Magi.
“Lady Elle! What troubles bring you to this place?!” one of the guards asks, afraid I come bearing bad news.
I pull a vial from my dress pocket and pop the cork.
“I simply came to reward you both for fulfilling your daily duties.”
“To reward…us?”
I hold out the vial to the guard with a dazed expression.
“A magic potion to cure your fatigue.”
“A magic potion? But…opening the lid to a magic potion here…will trigger…the magic alert system…”
The two guards inhale the sleep spell cast on the liquid in the vial and pass out.
“Sorry, boys. Things have gone surprisingly quick and smooth so far. Is Analia gonna be okay with such flimsy defenses? Almost feel like I need to have a talk with Steel Regulus,” I mutter, staring down at the peacefully sleeping guards.
Well, I guess the defenses cast on the outside would stop most people when it comes down to it. Those are some mighty powerful spells. Delaying their effects was possible because I’m me, but that’s not something just any Joe Schmoe can do.
After all, I love the Demon Lord the most! And— AHEM! I really gotta stop saying that.
I quell my speeding heart and place a hand on the doorknob. The door creaks open.
The Demon Lord…is up ahead.
But apparently not right here, because a set of dark spiraling stairs leading underground is all that’s on the other side of the door. It’d be too easy if the Demon Lord was sitting right there when you open the door.
I’m careful to take one steep step at a time. After descending several hundred steps, the stairs disappear into a long passageway. It’s too dark to see well, but I can make out a door at the end. Surely, beyond that door, is the Demon Lord—
“What are you doing here?”
My heart jumps in my throat; my shoulders jerk skyward.
Someone found out I was trying to sneak into the magic sanctum?! I didn’t sense anyone, but someone is definitely standing behind me now…
I can’t undo having been seen. I have to take them out. Though I don’t look the part, I am one of the Four Grand Magi. I’ve got nothing against them, but I need to immobilize the person for a bit.
I turn around and come face-to-face with utter despair. Who wouldn’t? Because before me is—
“J-Julius…?!”
Julius. The strongest sorcerer in Analia. The strongest Grand Magi.
Why is Julius here?! What do I do? What can I do?!
I was planning on immobilizing anyone who saw me, like the villainess that I am, but I’m not so dumb as to think I could do a thing to Julius. What’s he doing here? Did I screw up and get discovered infiltrating the castle?! By Julius of all people?!
Calm down, me. There should still be a way out of this. Should I come up with a feasible excuse to get through the moment? Like, I could say I was patrolling the area because I sensed an intruder… Would that get me through?
No, it’s not good enough. If he looks into it, he’ll be able to trace Delay Magic to me.
Most of all, even in the unlikely event that I get past Julius with a random reason…I won’t get a second chance. After pulling this stunt today, there will never come another day I can see the Demon Lord.
Sweat coats my hands.
“I asked what you are doing here,” Julius repeats because I’m staring at him in silence. His voice is deeper than when he spoke to me at that dinner. His commanding, icy visage is veiled, making it impossible to tell what he’s thinking.
“Um...there’s an…intruder further in…,” I answer as sweat drenches the back of my neck.
Suspicion draws Julius’s brows together. “An intruder? You’re the only one I sense down here.”
Yeah, I knew this excuse wouldn’t work on him. Well, crap. What now? What option do I have? I’ve come this far; do I just go all-in and fight my way out?
Not even Julius will escape my most powerful Fire Bomb unscathed.
Okay! I’m gonna teach Julius, the future disgrace of the Grand Magi who falls in love with the enemy nation’s saint, a lesson with my heavy-damage-dealing magic…!
Yeah, no, I can’t. Casting a wide-area attack in this narrow passageway will destroy the entire castle, killing me in the process.
That said, my loss is as good as sealed if I fight Julius without using my über-special skills! I’m terrible with intricate, small-scale magic, and this guy is the strongest sorcerer for a reason.
Frankly, the magic pouring off Julius in waves makes it plain as day that he’s not someone I can win against when I’m already at a field disadvantage. I can’t stop sweating.
But I can’t give up now. I’ve come too far.
“…Please, let me pass. I want to see the Demon Lord no matter what,” I implore.
Julius’s eyebrow twitches.
I can’t beat him. And since I don’t stand a chance against him, persuasion is my only weapon. Everyone I brought to my manor from Gaea has told me cuteness always wins the day, and Julius is my fiancé in name, so he might just overlook what I’m doing…
With that in mind, I play the cute card by looking up at him from under my fluttering lashes. Julius’s stony expression remains just as nebulous.
Er, yeah, I shouldn’t have expected that to work… This is the guy who’s going to call me the disgrace of the Four Grand Magi upon my deathbed!