Or maybe the Gods abandoned him when he fell into the devil’s thrall—who knows.
“It seems you’ve lost a devoted follower,” I said. “Too bad for you.”
“Nonsense. I have no use for those who are unfit to serve me.” He gazed around the room. “In any case, I have the materials for countless more pawns right here.”
“I see,” I gritted out. “So that’s your philosophy, huh?”
I hadn’t liked that archbishop in the slightest, and I’d even wished he’d drop dead—but after seeing him actually get killed right before my eyes, I naturally felt anger welling up inside me.
“In the name of the Gods, I’m going to kill you, Raven!”
I brandished my bible, but the devil just responded with a mocking laugh.
“You’re certainly bold, if nothing else. Is that all part of the act, Miss Hero-Killing Assassin?”
For an instant, my shock spilled out in my demeanor. I quickly charged forward to cover it up, swinging my fist at him.
“It’s all over your face, bride!”
Cion couldn’t see my expression from where she was standing.
“You’re certainly a smooth talker, aren’t you?!” I shouted.
I absolutely couldn’t let this man keep speaking. He clearly had information that I couldn’t afford to let Cion find out. I strengthened myself with a skill, threw in a spell on top of that, and rushed in further to barrage him with blows. My bones broke with each hit, but I immediately healed them with orisons as I kept up the offensive...
“There’s no need to worry, washout. That girl already knows all about it.”
“Wha—?”
His words stopped me in my tracks.
“Idiot.” He stabbed a hand toward my unguarded side—
Cion...knows? About me...?
“Ngh—!”
With my thoughts in chaos, Cion was the one who blocked the demon’s strike. No—she took it for me.
“Cion!”
His sharpened fingertips slipped past Cion’s raised sword and stabbed through her chest. She clutched at herself, coughing up blood as we jumped back to get some distance. Blood was gushing out of the wound and spilling to the ground.
“How truly pitiful you are, O Hero. You sacrifice yourself for the very assassin who plots your demise? You’ve already been thoroughly tamed, haven’t you? Or brainwashed, even? Conditioned to offer yourself up to guard her?”
While the devil addressed us, calm and composed, I gathered up what little aether I could find and focused on healing Cion.
“I’m sorry! This is all my fault!” I said frantically. “If I’d been calmer—”
“It’s... It’s okay, Alicia...” Leaning on her sword like a crutch, Cion stepped away from me on shaky legs to square off against the devil once again. “I know...you can’t go against what the Gods say...”
“How foolish. What can one even call that, if not hopeless naivete?” The devil stared down at us with a cold sneer. His eyes were empty of compassion, of any human sentiment.
“Of course you don’t get it,” Cion said, blood pooling at her feet. “A guy like you wouldn’t understand... The Gods don’t control the bonds we have with each other!”
Cion vanished. In the blink of an eye, she was right behind Raven.
Silent Assassin.
Cion’s skill let her instantly move to her opponent’s blind spot. I’d only gotten a handle on it these past few days, but as I’d watched her fight up close, I’d become certain. It wasn’t some convenient magic trick. It was just a technique—a skill. Over the course of countless battles against enemies more powerful than her, she’d developed and refined it as a means of survival. She couldn’t be seen, heard, smelled—her blade struck from outside the reach of all five senses, impossible to perceive, and it found her enemy’s throat without fail.
It was supposed to be without fail...
“You truly are a fool.”
Raven’s voice came from beside one of the so-called divine soldiers produced by the archbishop’s twisted experiments. Cion’s eyes widened as her sword swung through the empty space where Raven had just been standing... The devil touched his fingers to one of the monstrous bodies, and it wordlessly sprang up as though struck by lightning.
Something was wrong. I felt an awful sensation deep in my gut, and I tried to call out—
“Cio—”
—but my voice was drowned out by an explosive rush of noise.
“Huh...?”
I turned to see Cion’s broken body splayed against a wall.
The monster’s arm, as thick as a tree trunk, was extended in a punch, but...
“No, forget that...”
I hadn’t been able to see it at all.
After fighting the White Wolf and the saint, I’d felt like I understood what demons were, more or less. They were vastly more powerful than humans, and their bodies were far sturdier, but they were still living creatures the same as us. They were still bound by the same laws of nature, I’d thought. I’d been naive.
“Marvelous...” Raven said with a satisfied nod.
He spread his arms wide, sending bolts of mana shooting out all around him. As the divine soldiers opened their eyes one after another, I finally understood what I needed to do.
“Cion— Cion!”
All I could do was pray. All I could do was use the miracles of the Gods to heal Cion’s wounds and keep her life from slipping away.
“It’s no use,” Raven declared, his expression changing not a fraction. “She’s already dead.”
Screw that!
I cast spells to heal her in parallel with my orisons. I needed to get her blood vessels reconnected, her bones reformed, her heart...her heart—
“Do as you please, then. I shall return for you later. I still have a use for you.”
“You—!” I shouted as I glared at his red, charred face. “What— What the hell are you?!”
I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight. I was doing all I could. Healing Cion was my top priority. But at the same time, rage and hatred for this man were flooding through me.
“I am Raven—the man who shall be the Demon Lord.”