Chapter 238 – #237 Demon Cerberus

Demon summoning circle.

Originally, I wouldn’t have recognized it either.

However, thanks to the magic circle I saw when I infiltrated Count Batron’s family and at Felhound’s mansion, I was able to deduce that this was a unique magic circle used by demons.

A knight looked over it carefully and exclaimed in surprise.

“This is a magic circle that summons demons!”

“Is that really true?!”

“Yes. In the past, when the imperial family went to Count Batron’s family to investigate due to the summoning of demons, I was also there and was able to see it. There is no doubt about it. This is the formula that demons use.”

Also. My prediction was correct.

I walked to the center of the magic circle and looked closely at the floor. Seeing that, others can also do something… I started looking to see if there were any survivors.

“Is there anyone alive?”

“… Nothing.”

“Not here either.”

Freyr and Riel also began examining the body.

“How do you feel?”

Riel answered softly to the question of Korman, the general manager of the escort.

“It is true that they are Icecrowns. Not all, but about 80% of them are from our country. And judging from the dog tags scattered here and there… It is clear that they are prisoners of war.”

“…”

A heavy silence fell.

It wasn’t just because of death, but the fact that there were no intact bodies made it possible to imagine how painfully the people who lived here must have died.

“I’m sorry.”

One by one, the knights, starting with Koman, bowed their heads to Freyr and Riel.

These are knights. Although they were of different nationalities, they were people who could not tolerate injustice and valued honor. Also, the elites who are called the best among knights.

They were ashamed that such a tragedy had occurred in the empire they served and worked in.

“… Still, I’m glad we were able to find the body. The family must have been waiting endlessly.”

At Freyr’s words, the knights’ heads bowed even further.

For a moment, Freyre, who felt a heavy mood, shook his head and called for attention.

“Then what happens to the Marquis Barnos?”

“We still don’t know if it was Marquis Barnos’s doing. However, considering the fact that he was found in the mansion he was using and the traces of summoning demons, I think he will be executed at least the death penalty.”

Summoning demons is a serious crime.

At the same time as the Count of Batron was destroyed, not only the soldiers but also the employees were all killed. Only the countess and her daughter who were lucky enough to escape to my territory survived.

“It’s the death penalty… Then can we extradite that person from our country and deal with it?”

“I will report on that as soon as I get out of here.”

“Yes, I will wait. I hope it comes true.”

In fact, handing over one’s country’s nobles to a foreign country is strictly prohibited due to security issues, but perhaps this matter will proceed as Freyr wants.

From the Empire’s point of view, this will help strengthen the relationship with Icecrown again and prevent war.

It was a time when some people felt responsible and ashamed for what their fellow nobles had done, and others felt sad over the ruined corpses of their own citizens.

“Cooking. That’s funny. Do you think something like that will actually happen?”

“Who are you?!”

A voice was heard in the air.

A voice like a child. It is full of playfulness, but also feels subtly speculative.

It didn’t seem that difficult to predict the identity of the voice as it contained a deep magical power.

The center of the space twisted and someone slowly appeared there.

“Me?”

A woman about 150 cm tall appeared.

She had her arms crossed proudly, and her chin raised, two horns sprouting from her head, and despite her small frame, she had defined abs and strong limbs.
The woman introduced herself to us with her arms wide open.

“I am Cerberus. I am the descendant of Satyr, the 5th Duke of the Demon World, and the 27th most powerful person in the Demon World.”

“Demon, demon?!”

“Yes. He is a noble being that can never be defeated even if hundreds of you bastards gather together.”

Although her body is small and her appearance is similar to that of a human, she is definitely a demon.
The knights who were investigating the torture chamber quickly gathered together and formed a formation. It was a defense position. It was also a formation that secured an escape route so that they could escape at any time.

Demons are powerful enough to be ranked among the top five among many races. Even ordinary monsters could not easily deal with humans who were running away from them.

“Lord Eren, please take the prince with you and escape. We will buy time.”

“I understand.”

Koman and Eren exchanged looks and nodded. The plan was to first secure the safety of Prince Icecrown, and then call for reinforcements to completely eliminate the demons.

But their plan was immediately in vain.

“Pfft. Do you think I will let you go so easily? You may have come in freely, but not when you leave.”

Red liquid wriggled over the walls on all sides, and the exit we came in disappeared completely.

The knights hit the spot where the exit was with swords, but it was no use. In an instant, the crack healed as quickly as it was cut.

The red blood on the wall began to spread gently into the air. One knight inhaled it and quickly fell off the wall.

“Be careful, it’s poison!”

“What? Poison?!”

People falling far from the wall. However, the poisonous red fog soon covered the entire space.

“… This is a crisis. There is no way out and there is poison in the air.”

There was a look of disappointment on the knights’ faces. They never thought that demons would be encamped at the official residence of Lord Halstenberg.

The demon Cerberus spread his arms, enjoying the expressions on the people’s faces.

“Don’t worry too much. The only poison it has is that it causes paralysis. If you get out of here, you will be completely cured without needing any treatment. But if you don’t get out, you will face the same consequences as those here.”

“What do you want, demon Cerberus?”

In response to Corman’s question, she smiled brightly.

“It’s nothing. Let’s fight.”

“What?”

“You’re fighting. You’re risking your life. If you defeat me, the barrier here will break. If you want to get out of here, you just have to defeat me before my body becomes paralyzed.”

“There is no lie in those words, right?”

The knights drew their swords.

Cerberus also pulled out a hammer bigger than his body out of thin air.
Hehe. Her mouth drew a wide line at the sight of the knights burning with fighting spirit.

“Come on, come on! Let’s fight, humans! Ahaha!”

Kwaaaaang!

Starting with Eren, the knights shot out toward the demons.

A fight between 12 imperial knights and a demon.

But Cerberus’ face was full of composure. On the contrary, the knights were unable to properly respond to even one of his attacks and were stumbling.

“Kale?”

When she suddenly heard a call, she turned her head to the side and saw Rielle warming up her body while holding a morning star.

“Is Riel also participating?”

“Because it’s for Freyr’s safety.”

She is the strongest here. If she participates in the war, the current war situation will definitely change. But victory is…

“Kale, aren’t you fighting?”

“For now, I plan to monitor the situation.”

“Yes. But we don’t have much time, so please do it as soon as possible.”

Then Riel also joined the battlefield. Clearly, when she intervened in the fight, there was a lot of tension in the fight, which had been one-sided.

“Ahaha! You’re doing something, aren’t you?”

Ranked 27th in the Demon World… How strong is that?

– …

Perez clearly heard my question, but there was no answer.

She was here in Halstenberg and had her occasional strange reactions.
The same goes for maintaining silence at important moments.

‘Unlike before with the impersonator, you can’t come forward with this one?’

– …

Still no answer. But that was enough of an answer.

I set my gaze on the heart of the fight.

The situation did not get any better even though Riel intervened.

It certainly seemed like a close match at first… It was clear that the paralyzing poison floating in the air was affecting the body.

Since demons are mental bodies, only humans are affected by such physical forces.

“Aslan. You’re not going to fight?”

The fight gradually began to fade away. The wounds began to increase little by little on the knights, as well as on Riel’s body.

“Is this all it is? You struggle even harder. That’s right! You fight with me, swinging your weapons with all your might! It’s fun! Ahahaha!”

“Aslan!”

Freyr turned her head to the side and looked at me, ready to fight. In her hand was a fairly familiar weapon.

“What about you?”

“Yes. Yu-jeong gave it to me. He taught me how to take it out, saying it would be useful someday.”

“How?”

Were the two able to communicate?

“When I sleep, we can meet and talk if we want. Anyway, one thing is certain: this will be enough to deal a blow to him.”

Okay. Choi Yoo-jeong’s dagger, which can crush even the sword, will definitely be able to defeat the demons.

But… I stopped Freyr from stepping forward. Freyr looked back at me with an expression of incomprehension.

“Wait.”

“Why?”

“Let’s move when we’re sure.”

Demons are basically born magicians before they are warriors.

This is the space she created.

Having previously experienced how advantageous the subspace created by a fell hound is to its owner, I was now on guard.

5 I know that the forces of the Demon World Dukes are just a group crazy about fighting, but I couldn’t believe that they didn’t mess around in this space.

“Aslan. How long do we have to wait? Riel is in danger.”

“Still wait.”

“But slowly, my body…”

People who slowly become addicted to paralysis. As if to prove it, the knights’ movements slowed down by almost half.

However, the demon guy seemed to want to enjoy this fight more and was slowing down without killing them.

The knights raised their swords to block the demon’s hammer and fell away one by one.

Bang.

“Ugh…”

“Riel!”

However, the limit seemed to be reaching its limit, and even Riel was unable to withstand the demon’s attack and was sent flying straight into the wall.

The fight was already coming to an end.

Koman, who saw this, pulled his body back and shouted.

“This is not going to work. Half of the knights should follow me!”

People heading to the exit with all their might, following the nose.

“Put a sword into the wall and pour all your bets into it to make it explode! If we succeed, at least one person will be able to escape from here to report the situation and request support!”

The knights who understood the meaning of the words put all their bets together with the tips of their swords. The six swords embedded in the wall trembled and radiated bright light.

“Three will explode at the same time. One. Two. Three!”

Coo coo coo.

In an instant, there was a flash of light and the passage split. The space was twisted, and a strange sound rang out.

“Is it a success?!”

But that was all.

The fist-sized gap soon healed. The blow that the six imperial knights poured in with all their might ended in failure.

“Tsk…”

In the end, everyone fell to the floor.

Interestingly, there have been no deaths yet. Maybe… It’s probably being saved to be used as a sacrifice for the magic circle. A living being is more valuable than a dead body.

I was lost in worry.

‘… How will we do it. This is a perfect enemy camp. You should never make a rash move until you are sure what moves the enemy has. Losing one’s life is really just a moment.’

This is a lesson learned on the battlefield.

Even if you are careful in enemy territory, it is close to impossible for our troops to win.

But the fight has already been lost. There wasn’t even an experimental group that could be watched anymore.

All I hope for now is that even if I kill him, this space won’t disappear.

“Ah… Slan…”

I took the dagger in Freyr’s hand and stood up.

Cerberus looked at me in surprise.

“Oh. I guess the demon world’s poison doesn’t work for you?”

“Well, as expected…”

“The… Hero… Inside…”

The knights also opened their eyes wide and had expressions full of trust.

Is this an effect gained from becoming a demigod? Or is it an additional effect obtained from making a physical contract with a demon?

You never know. Instead of giving any answer, I walked towards the exit, stabbed the dagger, and then pulled it out.

Kwiik-

… The appearance of space being distorted is unusual.

‘First, the escape route was secured. If so.’

I turned from the wall and stared at the demon.

I don’t know how he judged me, but he spread his arms wide and shouted loudly, as if he was bragging.

“Ahaha. It’s no use. If you want to break the barrier here, the saint you’re so proud of will have to appear and even the God of Light will be able to do it. This is a barrier created by Felhound, the first Duke of Demon World!”

Hmm?

“The first Demon Duke created this barrier himself?”

“Yes. He found me working hard here and gave me something personally!”

… Okay. Is that so?

The tension is relieved and laughter comes out.

“So this isn’t a barrier you created?”

“Yes!”

“Ha… Hey, you should say that quickly.”

I was thinking seriously for no reason.

I sighed in relief and waved my hands in the air. The sleeping magic I sent in response put the fallen people to sleep.

The little demon tilts its head at that sight.

“What? Why are you suddenly putting the same side to sleep… Huh?”

However, the doubts only lasted for a moment, and soon an expression of disbelief appeared on Cerberus’ face.

The cheek began to tremble.

“Now, just sleep. You, you… How? There is magic in your body…?”

Smile. Have you finally noticed it?

But. Even when we met the Beres impersonator at Count Batron’s house, we couldn’t notice each other’s presence until we came face to face.

It was not even possible to know who the owner of the demonic energy was until the true body was revealed.

But what I have inside is a strong man who is ranked among the top five in the demon world.

“No way. Such deep darkness. Such goosebumps and madness!”

I slowly approach the trembling demon pointing at me. He wears various strengthening magics and puts a smile on his face.

Cerberus hesitated and took a step back at my action.

“Huh, how can a human being have such abyss-like demonic power! How could it be!”

The guy screamed. The guy who was ranked 27th in rank was so scared that he screamed like a baby bird.

Instead of answering, I kicked the ground and went forward. My unique divine power rose from the dagger and passed through its body.

“Aaaaah!”

“Ah. Of course. One shot doesn’t work.”

Each god deals different amounts of damage depending on their level of affection for each other. The Elyos and Demons hated each other and were extremely strong, but that was the reason why they did not suffer much damage due to their natural attributes.

And such compatibility affects each family member.

To put it simply, it meant that I couldn’t fatally wound him with a single sword, perhaps because of my special affection for the demon that I had built up by going around with Beres and having sex with Sarah.

Moreover, as the strongest mental entity, it did not die in one hit even with Yujeong’s special dagger.

“Ugh. You…! Remember my face clearly! See you later!”

“Hmm? Are they running away? They are crazy about fighting if they can handle the 5 Demon World Dukes. I thought they would keep fighting, right?”

“You have to survive to fight at least one more time, Babu!”

Then the guy lunges into the air.

Cerberus’ body disappears from the head.

Demons are experts who specialize in space movement and manipulation. The intention is probably to escape from this place through spatial movement.

But I leisurely watched it.

“Huh? Why?”

Cerberus, which entered the air, appears again in the air. The guy’s eyes were perplexed, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Why… Why escape…”

“Didn’t you say it with your own mouth a little while ago?”

“Huh?”

“If you want to escape from this place, at least a god must appear. That means you can’t escape this place either.”

“Well, that can’t be possible! I can get out!”

Of course, it would be normal if you could get out.

The moment the fellhound’s name came out of his mouth a little while ago, I remembered. And I was convinced.

-You really helped me a lot this time. It wouldn’t be right to remain silent in such a situation.

-What are you trying to do?

-I plan to save you a bit of work.

Felhound is very grateful to me for Freyr’s work, and there is no way he would do anything that would harm me.

Also…

-The first Demon Duke created this barrier himself?

-Okay. He found me working hard here and gave me something personally!

This is a stage made for me, not for that demon guy.

“No way! This can’t be happening!”

As he failed to escape again and again, Cerberus’ face became pale. As I grabbed her head and approached her screaming, I unleashed her divine power onto her sword.

“That doesn’t make sense. So you’re saying your power is as strong as that of the God of Light?”

“Go, don’t come closer! If this happens… It’s going to be a disaster!”

Feeling that there was nowhere else to run, she screamed and ran towards me.