Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The blurred-out system message for the large, egg-shaped man was revealed as well.

⟬Demon Realm Rank ■■■ [Count Orshe■■■■■■■■■]⟭

⟬Demon Realm Rank 16738, [Count Orshe’s Gentleman Substitute]⟭

⟬The Scale that Judges Souls beats their chest in frustration, grumbling at how long it took you to realize this.⟭

⟬The Advocate of Confidentiality remarks that if The Voice that Shapes the World hadn’t given them a hint, they never would’ve found out.⟭

Now unbridled by the mask he had been wearing before, Rodrigo’s true presence as the S-class boss was overwhelming. Ephael and Hestio were forced to their knees from just the pressure alone. Only Tesilid, being the protagonist, and myself, under the system’s protection, remained unscathed.

Rodrigo’s face became flushed as he observed me. “I’m really starting to take a liking to you, even outside the fact that you’re my flower pot. You’re the first to make me feel so thrilled!”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Miss Ailette, let me make you another offer. Won’t you stay here with me? I shall give you the position of countess, here in this manor!”

“What?”

Are we jumping straight into romantic fantasy now?

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World swears at that imbecile and calls him a pedophile.⟭

Oblivious to what was going on, Rodrigo laid out his plan in earnest. “Don’t worry about opposition from my family. I’m not even part of the main family line, so they won’t care who I get married to. Once you get a transfusion from one of the vampires, you can become a full-fledged resident of the demon realm. So in other words, starting today you’ll be Countess Ailette Orshe! How does that sound?”

“Hmm, give me a second. Let me think about it. But just so I have everything straight, this is a marriage proposal, right? Where’s my gift? Maybe a ring or something.”

“Ah, a ring! Wait right here! Let me see... I know I put a ring here somewhere...”

Tesilid looked back at me furiously.

I whispered, “I’m just buying us some time. Here, drink this with your friends.” I handed him a few potion flasks.

Tesilid took the potions and did as he was told in silence. Hestio and Ephael groaned pitifully as they took the potions.

“Our wounds aren’t the problem here,” Hestio explained. “We can’t fight. Not against something like that.”

“Yeah, plan A is a bust,” Ephael agreed, his eyes glinting with a frosty, detached light. “I guess we have no choice but to proceed with plan B.”

⟬The Advocate of Confidentiality tenses up in anticipation that the events will proceed as they did in the original story.⟭

As it is told in the original novel, Hestio gets killed by the egg-shaped gentleman. Afterward, Ephael kills all of the other children, including himself, to allow Tesilid to escape the dungeon by himself. Ephael took it upon himself to carry out the necessary evil of sacrificing everyone else in order to save the strongest stigma bearer.

I was still mulling over the outrageous plot of the original story when I noticed Ephael giving me a sad smile.

“Sorry, Ailette. This will be painless. I’ll see you in heaven.”

“Yeah, no. Just go to sleep.”

“What? No, wait...why do I feel so slee—”

Flop!

“Ephael? Ah suddenly...I feel drowsy...too...”

Thump!

I had successfully put Ephael and Hestio to sleep. Drugging them wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I couldn’t afford to let those from the religious order discover my identity.

⟬The Advocate of Confidentiality is disappointed that the plot has strayed from the original story.⟭

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World says they hate purists like The Advocate of Confidentiality.⟭

Tesilid looks back at me in surprise. “Wasn’t this a healing potion?”

“No, it was a sleeping potion.”

“What?”

“I brought it along when I left home because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep because of the time difference. Didn’t think I’d be using it here. Thankfully, I was able to stop plan B. Thanks, Tez.”

He seemed to be in so much shock that I had put his own teammates to sleep that he didn’t even notice I’d called him by a nickname. Well, that’s that.

“But Tez, why aren’t you asleep?”

“I thought it was a healing potion, so I gave it to those two...”

“Ah, is that so? Well, I guess we have no choice.” Ugh, altruism could be so inconvenient at times. I suppose we have no choice but to fight together. I patted Tesilid on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re going to go with Plan C. It’s the ace up my sleeve.”

“Plan C?” he repeated.

“You’ll be up front, I’ll hang out back. End of strategy. Let’s go!”

“Wait, what?!”

“Go!”

“Yes, ma’am.” He kicked off toward Rodrigo. Befitting a future holy knight, he was great at taking orders to sacrifice himself.

Rodrigo finally looked up from rummaging around his desk for a ring. “Hm? Why is the silver-haired brat charging me? How ridiculous!” He lifted up his gentleman’s cane and was about to expel his demonic powers when something interrupted him.

“Divine Advent!”

The same phenomenon from before played out. My feet were lifted up off the ground while my hair was imbued with a silvery glow, fluttering behind me like wings.

Whoosh!

The Dead Man’s Flower atop my head crumbled like dust, unable to withstand the potent divine power.

“What?! My fiancée, what’s happening to your body?!”

“Ailette...?”

Both Rodrigo and Tesilid stopped their battle to look back at me. The first thing I did was put up a barrier around Ephael and Hestio.

“Omnipotence. Siege Barrier.”

⟬«System» Ultimate Skill [Siege Barrier] Lv.20 (+10) activated.⟭

I wasn’t sure why, but my skill level was higher than before. The barrier’s shape was much larger and grander than during my previous fight as well. The tall, majestic form was like that of...

“A castle wall?”

It was just as Tesilid said. A grand siege warfare-class barrier revealed itself. A silver castle formed behind me as well. Rodrigo yelled in horror.

“This presence! That skill! I-it can’t be! Are you the one who defeated Ardiman?!”

“Looks like news travels fast around the demon realm. Yup, you got it right. That was me.” No further conversation was needed. I pointed at Rodrigo with my finger. “Omnipotence. Divine Retribution! Omnipotence. Divine Retribution! Omnipotence. Divine Retribution! Die, you perverted demon!”

“Aaaack!”

The torrent of lighting showering down from the ceiling pummeled Rodrigo. I’d been able to defeat A-class Ardiman in one go with this sequence, but S-class Rodrigo was still kicking after three hits to the face.

He staggered to his feet. “Ah, I can’t believe it. My fiancée was a saint.”

“Can you cut it out with that fiancée crap?”

“Did you approach me and woo me, all just to betray me like this? How dare you lure me with your charms and wiles?! You did this so that you could humiliate me with the shame of falling in love with a saint! You’ve made me a corrupted demon!”

“You’re way off, creep.”

“I won’t forgive you for this! How dare you make a mockery of a demon’s innocence?! I won’t forgive you!”

Rodrigo discharged a potent amount of demonic energy and rushed straight at me. I needed to tie him down somehow.

“Omnipotence. Bind him.”

Some activation words could be replaced by just saying commands.

⟬«System» Advanced Skill [Crown of Thorns] Lv.39 (+10) activated.⟭

Thorny branches rapidly wrapped around Rodrigo’s feet. A shriveled-up, leafless bush extended its thorny branches from beneath Rodrigo. The branches wound their way up Rodrigo’s body and circled around his head. The swift coronation of thorns encased him and prevented him from moving. I hit him with an onslaught of attacks.

“Gah!”

Rodrigo frantically lashed out in a fit of rage before he finally managed to rip himself free of the thorns, which were stained crimson and dripping with his blood. He closed the distance between us in an instant, charging forward as I was still catching my breath.

“You stole my love, so now I shall steal your heart, my dear fiancée!”

His cane, imbued with demonic energy, streaked forward with the intent to pierce my chest. I let out a short gasp and then shouted with the effort of my counterattack.

“Yet again you refuse me!”

The Siege Barrier I put up in the nick of time completely blocked out Rodrigo’s attack, but I was at a loss. What do I do now? This is too close. I needed to withdraw my barrier to attack, but there was no way I could let down my guard with him this close.

⟬The Scale that Judges Souls teases you, saying that both your stamina and athletic skills are F-class and that close combat is way out of your league.⟭

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World flares up, saying that only they could make fun of their follower.⟭

Things weren’t going to end well for me if I dragged this out. I needed to shake him off and get some distance. Thankfully, things sort of worked out on their own.

“You silver-haired whelp! This is between me and my fiancée! Don’t butt in!”

Oh, that’s right. We had a tank in here with us all along!

Tesilid had managed to divert Rodrigo’s attention to himself.

“Get behind me and attack!”

“Got it!”

I was able to redirect all my focus to casting skills. As I prepared to launch another attack, I noticed Tesilid was struggling to keep up against his opponent.

“This should do it, right? Omnipotence. Divine Hymn.”

⟬«System» Intermediate Skill [Divine Hymn] Lv.15 (+10) activated.⟭

Tesilid’s movement drastically changed after receiving the buff.

“Wait, seriously? This is a blessing? This is on a totally different level!”

“Graaaah! Stigma bearer! How dare you?!”

Rodrigo was now charred beyond recognition by my thunderbolts. He roared in anger and frustration as he made one last desperate effort. It was time to wrap things up.

I reactivated the binding skill. This time, I made sure the thorny vines completely encased Rodrigo, almost like a large birdcage. He wasn’t able to escape this time.

“How does it feel now that the predator has become the prey?”

“I-it can’t end like this. I, the great Rodrigo Orshe, can’t be snuffed out by some puny little brats!”

“Unrepentant until the bitter end, I see.” I pointed at Rodrigo with my finger and drew a forceful line downward. “Omnipotence. Holy Purge.”

⟬«System» Ultimate Skill [Holy Purge] Lv.15 (+10) activated.⟭