Baron slipped into Sieg’s body. From there, he entered the subconscious region of his brain—the realm of the spirit. There, he began to think.
This man is overwhelmingly powerful. He dominated the entire battlefield all by himself; the huge group of monsters I brought with me could barely make a dent in him. With him drawing every single one of their attacks to himself and somehow managing to defend against them all, there was no way we could’ve possibly broken through into Astaroth. As a matter of fact, the difference in power between us was vast enough to make me think that even if I’d sent the entirety of Sorcera’s forces against Sieg, they probably wouldn’t have been able to get past him.
There was no way to match him in hand-to-hand combat. At the rate things were going, Baron’s army would fall. If he could take over Sieg’s body, though, that would change everything. His naive desire to save his comrade would backfire against him—the man’s body simply possessed that much raw power.
If Baron could take over Sieg’s body, bringing about the fall of Astaroth would be simple—and he could finally seize back the Orb of Light as well. Then the world would soon be enveloped in darkness with the second coming of his lord, the Demon King.
The moment he had invaded the realm where Sieg’s spirit resided, the battle had already been over. Even the most skilled individuals were vulnerable when it came to their spirits; they were easily dominated, barely even able to put up a fight. Even King Sodom had been the same.
Baron then attempted to take over Sieg’s spirit. However—
I can’t dominate him...!
No matter how hard Baron tried to dominate Sieg’s body from within, he wasn’t able to control it. His spirit’s defenses were just too strong—there were no openings to exploit.
I’m in danger of being consumed myself...?!
Suddenly, he felt a presence, and he turned around to see Sieg behind him—not his physical body, but most likely an astral form that governed his spirit.
How convenient. If I defeat his astral form, I might be able to wrest the ability to control his body from it.
Such was Baron’s intent. However—
“Wh-What is this intimidating aura...?!”
There was an overwhelming power residing within Sieg’s astral form—so much so that it gave off a sense of beauty, even to Baron. He couldn’t help but find himself captivated.
The moment his heart was stolen by that sight, the battle was already over. Baron’s body was slashed in two, cut through by Sieg’s descending blade. The sense of awe he had felt in that moment, along with the very thread of his life, were both severed together.
With no chance to even let out a death cry, Baron vanished without a trace.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Sieg! Are you okay?!” Seira called out in deep concern.
“He better not’ve gotten swallowed up, dammit...” Spinoza muttered.
I heard my comrades’ voices calling me from the outside. I opened my eyes; Seira, Spinoza, and Fam were all staring at me worriedly. Seeing that, I realized I was back in the real world.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!” Seira seemed relieved. “So...that means you defeated Baron, right?”
“Of course.”
Upon hearing my response, Spinoza cast a suspicious stare at me. “What if you’re just Baron pretendin’ to be Sieg or somethin’?”
“Do you want me to give you exact numbers for how much of your bar tab I’ve paid off so far?”
“Welp, looks like you’re the real deal, huh!”
“You probably need to start reflecting on your life choices, Spinoza... Basically all of them,” Fam quipped.
“Anyway, how did the battle go here?” I asked.
“Take a look!”
At Seira’s request, I looked around and saw the area littered with the corpses of monsters; among those who were still standing, I didn’t see a single monster. Apparently the knights and the guards had fought valiantly for us.
“We managed to take Baron down, too, so I guess this thing’s in the bag for us,” Spinoza said with a grin.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Alma!”
Seira dashed over to where Alma was lying on the ground and lifted her upper body, cradling it. Alma’s eyes were closed, and her expression was serene and calm; at a glance it would be easy to mistake her as having already left the world of the living.
“Baron moved from her body into mine, so her consciousness should be back, at least. She’s bound to wake up before too long,” I said. “The only problem is that her spirit had been taken over. Her mind experienced a huge amount of stress. It could take some time to overcome that.”
“It’s Alma. I know she’ll come back to us,” Seira said. “I believe in her.”
Hearing Seira’s words, the rest of us nodded and voiced our agreement.
Alma was honest to her feelings, gullible, and a bit of a show-off who loved to be praised. However, she performed her job faithfully and had earned the trust of the people of the city.
She also boasted the most amazing physical abilities in the entire Guard Corps.
Having fought with her for so long, all of us knew: Alma wasn’t the type to just up and die in a place like that. She’d definitely wake up for us—with all of her old memories back, as well.