Crack! Shatter!
"Kyaaak!? No! I worked so hard to make it, and it breaks so meaninglessly! And now I don't even have materials to make another!"
The Mana Frequency Blocker trembled violently before finally shattering, drawing a scream from the Duke's Family's second daughter, Starnassila Weller.
But deep down, she knew there was nothing she could do about it.
After all, the brutal battle currently ravaging Terabaon was far beyond what an imperfect Mana Frequency Blocker could withstand.
"...Ha, this is truly unbelievable. I can't believe it even seeing it with my own eyes."
The sheer scale of demonic energy and aura clashing like living waves, filling the sky and earth—no exaggeration there—felt utterly unreal, like stepping into a scene from myth.
"..."
A fierce battle between two high-ranking demons intertwined.
In this dire situation where the Duke's Family teetered on the brink of destruction, she ought to be glad they were fighting each other... but Weller's pale face was thick with despair and resignation.
"Father... why..."
The reason was that her father stood at the very center of that battle.
Starnassila Urtega, pressuring the high-ranking demon Deacon in perfect sync with Cambello, as if they were allies.
His prowess was impressive, of course... but the implications of his actions were unknown and ominous.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
They're putting on quite the spectacular show.
"Phew..."
Watching the battle that would decide the Duke's Family's fate while leisurely sipping my drink stirred up a strange emotion.
Every time beams of light and explosions—like fireworks or a thunderstorm—filled my vision, my mind went blank.
"Pull yourself together, Alzen. You mustn't fall asleep."
"Mm... ugh, was I dozing off?"
"It seemed like your mind wandered for a moment. But that's understandable. You've worked harder than anyone."
"...Mother, even I have enough shame to find that a bit much."
I gave a wry smile at the remark that dismissed the blood, sweat, and tears shed by the knights all day.
Her own husband, Urtega, was fighting like a madman out there right now.
I knew she was soft on family, but I hadn't realized it was to this extent.
"Oh my, to think you could have such thoughts, Alzen. How admirable."
"..."
Is this why Alzen could get away with so much mischief?
In a way, that guy might be a monster shaped by his environment.
Though he's still nine parts at fault himself.
"The fight... whoa. Still going strong."
I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of them darting through the thick demonic energy—east to west, north to south—like spatial jumps at incredible speeds.
"Doesn't look like it'll end easily... Should I just take a nap and wake up later?"
"Alzen. Watch until the end."
I sighed and rubbed my eyes under Pitra's gaze, laced with mild reproach.
"Aigoo. Yes, yes. Of course. It's the battle that decides the Duke's Family's fate, after all."
"...Alzen. Do you know what state your father is in right now?"
"Who knows? I'm not entirely sure myself."
"Is that so? Then... it truly is the will of the gods."
"...??"
I tilted my head at her meaningful words and the way she clasped her hands in prayer.
Was Starnassila Pitra a devotee of the Goddess Church? It wasn't in the setting guide.
...Ah, I see. Spectacles like this would make anyone seek out a god.
The sky and earth drowned in darkness, cleaved and swept by radiant swords of light blazing through it.
If I were an ignorant tenant farmer, I'd be praying desperately at that sight.
Gulp!
"Hoo..."
I downed my drink and lit a cigar, exhaling smoke out the window.
The rising clouds of smoke overlaid the terrifying battle, making it all the more dreamlike.
"Oppa... Is Father okay?"
At that moment, a small hand tugged at my sleeve.
"Hm? Oh, it's Vivian."
She was trembling, on the verge of tears—this situation clearly terrified her.
"...Who knows. Let's watch and see what happens."
Though only thirteen and still before her growth spurt, she was tiny, so I lifted her onto my lap for a better view out the window.
"Wow..."
Her mouth fell open at the dazzling battlefield, tears forgotten.
I chuckled at her simple reaction, popping a piece of cheese into her mouth as my eyes glazed over vacantly.
Then, it hit me—Deacon's 'Soul Gears'.
"...Oh dear. Mother. Do you have Silence magic? Over the entire ducal castle if possible."
"Why so sudden? I don't think so. Not enough mana. It'd be possible with another mage's help, but..."
"I'll call the mages. Get ready. Now."
"...Very well. I'll do that."
I quickly summoned the mages via the communication artifact.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Deacon was anxious, urgent, impatient.
Not because of the two adversaries who could easily kill him.
Crunch...!
His gaze turned to Starnassila Alzen, watching leisurely from afar.
The chances were slim.
He might be fooling himself again.
Or he might be the one deceived.
Yet he couldn't give up.
Resurrection.
Reviving the dead, his beloved.
He had lived for that alone, walked for that alone.
Everything else was irrelevant.
Humans, demons, demon gods... worthless if they stood in his way to that goal.
Crunch, cruuunch...!
Thus, Deacon loathed the demon and human obstructing him.
"Don't... interfere...!"
Instinct told him Starnassila Alzen's power and durability were negligible.
From his perspective, no different from a flying mosquito.
In other words, Cambello's curse, the undead horde, or a Sword Master's Aura Blade could snuff out Alzen's life effortlessly.
That mustn't happen.
For his goal, he needed the Elixir.
To get it, he had to kill those two obstacles.
"I said don't interfere...!!"
As Deacon resolved to go all out, a woman's face weeping blood emerged from his chest.
Snow-white eyes, rigid corpse-like skin, jagged teeth... unmistakably a corpse's visage. Yet astonishingly, it twitched like the living and wrenched its mouth open wide.
"...!!"
"Are you serious about this deathmatch, Deacooon?!"
Sensing something dangerous surging from the abyss-like throat, Urtega and Cambello assumed defensive stances.
"Kyyyaaaaaaaah!"
What exploded forth was a horrific shriek unlike any heard before.
Hair standing on end, chills racing down the spine, body drenched in cold sweat—a wretched resonance that cut off blood flow to the extremities.
It was the 'authority' of Deacon's Soul Gears, which held seventy percent of his soul.
True terror began after hearing that shriek.
Grind! Grriiind!
The cry burrowed viciously into body and soul, indiscriminately ripping and tearing everything apart.
That willful, malevolent assault seemed to scream:
'Become like me.'
"..."
A faint change appeared on Urtega's face as he circulated aura inside and out to block the attack.
The corner of his ever-expressionless mouth twitched upward ever so slightly.
"I see. So this is the sensation."
His sword, raised high overhead, gleamed brilliantly.
The next instant.
Slash!
Deacon's body was bisected with absurd ease.
"...!?"
Deacon, split vertically longways, realized his state a beat late and slowly widened his eyes.
No regeneration.
Since turning Sisili into Soul Gears and merging with it, his body straddled the boundary of matter and immateriality, impossible to kill easily. Yet now it was cleaved in both realms simultaneously.
"Auth...ority...?"
It had looked like a simple sword strike, but it concealed profound principles.
An authority absolute in one thing alone: severing.
Death.
Sensing the inescapable end, Deacon looked resentfully to the sky, lips moving.
"Ah... Sisili..."
─Kiyaaaaack!
And that was the end.
With that eerie death wail, Deacon met his impure demise.
For a high-ranking demon who had lived centuries, it was somewhat anticlimactic.
"...Ha, haha! Impressive! Truly impressive! To think it would be to this extent!"
Cambello, who had been dazed, grinned at Urtega with a smile stained by filthy ecstasy.
Intense obsession and greed flickered in his eyes.
"We never needed to call on trash like Deacon from the start! Starnassila Urtega! You alone are enough! Hahaha! I never dreamed my own caution would become shackles holding me back!"
Snap. Pointing at the ducal castle, Cambello raised his voice.
"Go! Starnassila Urtega! With the undead, destroy the Duke's Family you helped build! Bring despair to those pathetic, inferior humans! Thus shall you be reborn a true demon!"
"...Understood."
Urtega, eyes still vacant and face expressionless, lowered his sword and strode forward without hesitation.
Cambello, feeling a chilling thrill and unable to suppress his smile, followed leisurely behind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Deacon's dead.
To die right before the hope he barely found... A life utterly defined by tragedy from start to finish.
"...Looks like the results are coming in soon."
Muttering as Starnassila Urtega appeared alongside Cambello, I felt Vivian in my arms look up anxiously.
"Oppa..."
I stroked the youngest's head while observing Urtega.
For now, he appeared completely ensnared by the curse.
But no matter how I looked at it, it was a sane Urtega who killed Deacon, right?
How was that possible?
Did his mind return temporarily or something?
"Hmm..."
In truth, per the setting, Deacon was an unstable being blending entity and non-entity.
The cause was fusing with Sisili, who became Soul Gears... which gave him insane physical attack nullification and evasion rates.
Even a Sword Master couldn't one-shot such a foe.
But reality said otherwise.
Which means... exactly...
"Ha!"
Laughter burst out unbidden.
"What's wrong, Alzen?"
"Ah~ darn it. I almost fell for it."
"Oppa...?"
"Vivian. Watch closely. From now on, Father will magnificently cut down the enemies and bring peace to the Duke's Family."
"Huh...?"
At my confident words, Vivian's eyes turned to Urtega.
Just then, at Cambello's command, he was forming a colossal Aura Blade reaching to the heavens.