Veiss sighed exasperatedly. “What a load of crap. What the hell kind of God gets himself killed by a little girl, huh?”
“He—!” Raven started, emotion surging into his voice. “My Lord was too kind, too merciful!”
He swung his tail, tossing Cion away. Veiss rushed to catch her, but he couldn’t stop her momentum. Master and pupil toppled to the ground together.
“I shall not repeat his mistakes. I shall not let my Lord’s death be in vain.” Raven stood there, calm and regal, as he made his proclamation. “I shall become a new Demon Lord, a new God, and I shall remake this world. I shall build a utopia where the weak are forever free from torment, where the strong do not exist, where all conflict is ended...”
The devil offered me his hand.
“If you spoke truthfully that you would join me at my side, then I shall accept you, my sister. If you claim to be a bride of the Gods, then surely you will gladly become the bride of the Demon Lord, a God incarnate.”
“I suppose that’s true...”
The master I served would change—that was all. I wouldn’t have any agency, but I hadn’t had any before either. And if Raven was telling the truth, then maybe I wouldn’t have to kill anyone anymore. My head felt heavy from exhaustion. If he held the answers I’d been seeking all this time, then I wanted to cling to him...but what was this feeling? This strange unease, like being smothered to death by sweetness—
“Ah. Yup, there it is.” I reached up to grab the threads of mana sparking at my temples, crushing them in my grip. “Just another pervert trying to rewrite people’s thoughts, huh?” I gritted out angrily.
If the Horny Slut hadn’t come crawling into my bed night after night, I might’ve gotten turned into a sex slave on the spot just now.
“I’ll have to step on her later as a thank-you...” I muttered to myself.
“You imagine that merely because you are my Lord’s child—” Raven paused. “No. Precisely because you are his child, I suppose... It seems I must reevaluate you.”
I could feel something shifting in Raven’s calm gaze as he stared at me.
“You don’t want to kill me—you look more like someone thinking about training a rowdy dog.”
“Do not misunderstand. All I desire is the blood running within you, that the lineage of the First might be preserved. Know that you yourself hold no value whatsoever.”
“Oh, yikes—so you’d make me give birth to a child, then say I’d served my purpose and dispose of me...that sort of deal? You’re not even a pervert, you’re just total scum. Would you like to die now?”
“Go ahead and kill me if you can, slave of the Gods.”
The devil was totally unguarded as he advanced toward me. Was it confidence or carelessness? It didn’t matter. All I could do now was—
Suddenly, a figure leaped in between me and Raven.
“Cion!”
I called out urgently to her, but Raven barely paid her any attention at all.
“Out of my way.”
With a single sweeping blow, he effortlessly sent her tumbling to the ground. But she gritted her teeth and got back on her feet, brandishing my knife in one hand. Her other arm was hanging limply at her side, and even her center of balance was shaky.
“Please, stop! You’re going to die!”
My warnings didn’t reach her ears, though. Behind her long bangs, Cion had the eyes of a ghost as she stepped closer to Raven. There was no plan—she just swung her blade. Raven didn’t even bother to block it; it bounced off his hide and went flying through the air.
“Utterly pathetic.”
The gap in strength was overwhelming. All that remained was silence—and the bitter scent of defeat.
Raven stared down at me.
“What are you doing?”
This must’ve been what it felt like to have your body move faster than you could think. Operating on instinct rather than logic, I’d rushed in to shield Cion, spreading my arms wide.
“Harm me any further, and you will pay the price. I am still a bride of the Gods—and those who molest others’ brides will meet with divine punishment.”
“If I tear off one of your limbs, will that mouth of yours finally shut up?” Raven reached out a long arm, and his fingers brushed my cheek. “What can your false Gods do to save you?”
You’re right. There aren’t any Gods. Praying won’t bring any miracles.
So I’d need to find help elsewhere.
“Salamanrius, you dumbass!”
A massive bolt of lightning dyed the world white, lancing down to pierce through the devil. He groaned in pain and confusion as his eyes rolled back. That same instant—
“All of it!”
—I marshaled all my remaining mana and aether, stacking all my spells, skills, and orisons on top of one another and sending a punch into Raven’s abdomen.
“Spit it all out, right now!!!”
I heard the sound of bones shattering in my right leg as I stepped forward—in my fist as I landed the blow. I grunted in pain, but I definitely felt something shatter inside Raven as well.
“Alicia!”
Right as Cion called out to me, I rolled backward to dodge a swipe of Raven’s tail.
All around us, more bolts of lightning were stabbing into the earth like the wrath of the Gods, shooting through rampaging divine soldiers and terrified devil-touched one after another.
We’re turning the tables.
“How...?” There was rage in Raven’s eyes. “How can this be?!”
He leaped up, trying to flap his wings to carry him to safety, but a nearly dead Veiss came charging in to slash at him.
“Don’t try and run, asshole!” Veiss gritted out.
“You wretched waste of life!”
Veiss swung his greatsword one-armed to carve into Raven’s wing, but the devil caught him in his right hand, and the two of them went plummeting to the ground together.
“Master!”
Cion picked up the sword and tried to run over to them, but a sweeping strike flashed across her path to cut her off. The devil had lashed out with his tail, sending Veiss flying away. He smashed through buildings, catching a divine soldier in the wreckage, then vanished amid the smoke.
“All of you obnoxious, meddling pests!” Raven groaned. “Why must you irritate me so?!”
His body was covered in burns from the lightning strike, and he’d lost one of his wings. As he worked to heal his wounds, skin bubbling and seething, he glared up at Spirit Mountain.
“Damn that priest!”
For the first time, the devil and I were in total agreement.