Chapter 28

“Wh-what’s going on? What’s happening?”

“D*mn it, let’s get out of here first!”

The crowd panics as a whirlwind of magical energy engulfs them.

Finally, as they hurriedly escape the tent, Herez, who had been watching the scene, grimaces in frustration.

“Wh-what is this?!”

It’s only natural to be bewildered.

His goal was to elevate Angela as an idol, recruit believers, and expand his influence.

With just one step left to achieve that goal, the crowd’s disintegration was something he never expected.

“Who dares to do this…! Show yourself!!”

“If that’s what you wish.”

As the mist dissipates.

I, adjusting the butler uniform I wear, politely greet them.

“Pleasure to meet you. You must be Herez, the leader of the Unified Church, correct?”

“Y-you… No, you brat, that power…!”

His attitude shifts from confusion to hostility.

As if he immediately recognized my true nature just by facing me.

“Why is a demon here? Did you come to interfere with our grand plan!?”

“Well, let’s just say that’s the case for now.”

They are a group that will eventually become a fanatical threat to the city.

Since even Jeremiah could be endangered, I believe it’s necessary to uproot that possibility beforehand.

“Then, I have a question for you as well…”

“I have no words to exchange with a demon!! Everyone, unleash the blades of purification upon this demon!!”

As the command is given, a clearer light surges toward me, one after another.

It’s a divine weapon forged from faith.

Its power is no less than a spear of physical force condensed from mana.

“Impatient, aren’t we?”

I deflect the attacks with a knife imbued with magical energy, flaunting my power before them.

Such light cannot drive me away.

To teach them that and shatter their fighting spirit.

“The miracle… it’s not working…!”

My intention seems to hit the mark as no further attacks come.

In this lull, Herez glares at me with tense eyes, grinding his teeth.

“You… You’re no ordinary demon.”

“I don’t claim to be special, but I appreciate your high regard for this humble servant.”

A sly smile forms on my lips.

In that state, I pose a question to him.

“However, it’s quite disappointing that you, the leader, hold such blatant hostility toward me.”

“What nonsense are you spouting…?”

“That angel over there was seduced by the power of a demon like me, wasn’t it?”

Herez’s body trembles slightly.

That alone tells me one thing.

The fact that my pointed remark strikes a sensitive chord with him, to the point of leaving him speechless despite his disdain for demons.

“A noble clergyman pursuing a grand cause, resorting to demonic power to seduce an angel… Quite the picture. Why would you do such a thing?”

Yes, as a noble clergyman, he must be aware that his actions are not entirely righteous.

Intuiting this, I confidently shout out the reason that immediately comes to mind for why he seduced her.

“Surely, you intended to do something indecent to her with that power, right?”

“Wh-what!?”

“Hoho, I understand. She is an incredibly charming individual, so it’s only natural for someone who admires her to want to indulge in such thoughts.”

“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting, you brat!”

“No need to hide it. No matter how noble a clergyman you are, you’re not without desires… As a demon, how could I deny those desires and condemn you?”

“Enough!!”

Unable to contain his anger, Herez hurls a spear of light at me.

I tilt my head to dodge it, and his gaze now carries even deeper contempt.

“Stop spouting such absurdities, you demon brat! How dare you belittle the noble and pure angel with such filthy eyes!?”

“My, my, you seem genuinely angry.”

Judging by his reaction, it seems he never even considered such a thing.

Relieved to get the answer I wanted, a deep sense of relief washes over me.

“Hoho, I’m relieved. At least you don’t view her in that way…”

Yes, at least he doesn’t intend to do anything disgraceful to her.

“But even if the goal is for a grand cause, the means involve suppressing her will and fulfilling your own desires…”

However, that doesn’t give me a reason to respect them and back down.

I grip the knife hidden in my sleeve, pointing it at Herez, and quietly issue a threat.

“I can’t stand by and let you manipulate her any further.”

“You brat, you came here targeting the angel after all!”

Herez, realizing my intentions, erupts in anger.

As the clergymen behind him watch with stiff eyes, he begins to focus energy into his body, amplifying the light.

“Angela is essential for our mission! I won’t let you have your way with her!”

Whoosh! Beams of light shoot out, colliding and exploding in all directions.

The power forged from faith is a massive bundle of energy.

As I deflect the attacks with my knife, Angela’s wings behind him begin to slowly unfold.

As if responding to the clergyman’s will to execute me.

“Angel of the heavens!! Bestow upon us the power to punish this fallen being!!”

-Uwoong!

Light erupts from Angela’s body, enveloping him.

At the end of it, a weapon of light is formed.

A figure befitting the title of a holy warrior, he closes the distance and begins to wield his power.

-Kwaaa!!!

A torrent of light surges toward me like a sword.

Blocking it with just my knife, a numbing sensation overwhelms me, threatening my balance.

Indeed, the power of an angel is fatal to a demon’s nature.

“…You are a righteous person.”

-Creak!

After a struggle, I push him back and throw the knife.

He blocks all the attacks, closing the distance again and launching a fierce assault.

With the brightest light wrapped around him, with the most upright movements.

“As bright as this light, you must have believed the path you tread is right. Given that you can even wield the power of an angel, your faith must have reached the heavens.”

Feeling such power head-on, I could tell.

This man has a more devout faith than anyone I’ve ever met.

With such a clear mind, he never doubted the path he walked, making him more susceptible to madness than anyone.

“With such an upright heart, why didn’t you try to persuade her? Why resort to the evil methods you despise, choosing to suppress her mind…?”

As the obsession that fuels his madness grows stronger, the light pushing me back intensifies.

Enduring the output with my body, I cautiously let slip my speculation.

“Are you afraid? That the being you believe in might deny the path you walk?”

He wouldn’t want to face it. The heavenly being that forms the foundation of his faith denying his path.

If such a thing were to happen, his faith would crumble, so he must have tried to eliminate the possibility of her not agreeing from the start.

I thought so, but…

“You brat…”

Even though his ugly side was laid bare.

The light emanating from his body didn’t fade; instead, it burned even more fiercely.

“What do you know, spouting such nonsense! How can a being like you understand the noble path we walk!?”

As if proving the nobility of his heart, the light seeping from his body was as bright as ever.

A sword filled with that light swings down at me.

A strike with weight incomparable to before, symbolizing the responsibility he bears.

“In a world where there are as many truths as there are people, these truths clash without unifying, so this world is always filled with absurdity!!”

My limbs tremble dangerously as I block the sword.

I feel the vessel containing my existence crumbling under his immense divine power and will.

“But, the beings of heaven would love even such a world.”

Because his faith is so vast.

Because it’s too heavy for this vessel, maintained in the mortal world, to endure.

“Born from righteousness, they would seek to love even the contradictions and filth born from righteousness. If they cannot suppress that love, this world will forever be filled with chaos!”

He boldly asserts, wielding such power.

A justice as weighty as the sword formed from his heart.

“So, I will hate in their stead, for they cannot hate this world. I will bear the responsibility they cannot, and I alone will bear it!”

Unable to withstand the power, my knife shatters, and his sword pierces my body.

With the brightest light of purification, as if to annihilate the impure being.

-Crumble!!!

My body finally begins to disintegrate.

Only dust remains in the spot where I stood, and he triumphantly raises his holy sword, declaring victory.

“If I must be tainted for the sake of true good, then I will gladly be tainted. If those we serve would love even this contradiction-ridden world, then I will achieve what they could not and pursue true righteousness!!”

“For a unified world! For a unified righteousness where no contradictions exist!!!”

The believers cheer in unison with Herez.

In what could be called a classic moment of good triumphing over evil, I watch leisurely, inwardly marveling.

I thought he was just a madman, but who knew he could push this far.

Yes, I must admit.

Even if he becomes a fanatic in the future, his beginnings were with an upright heart.

Though his path will surely be filled with chaos, the end might bring a result everyone can accept.

“…A commendable mindset.”

But as a demon, do I have any obligation to follow such a righteous outcome?

Let’s end this charade. I begin to reconstruct my shattered body, rebuilding the vessel.

“Wh-what is this voice!? I definitely defeated you… Ugh!!”

A hand reconstructs before Herez and grabs his throat.

As confusion spreads across the believers’ faces.

I adjust the collar of my gradually reforming butler uniform and flash him a sly smile.

“Your resolve to be tainted in place of the heavenly beings who cannot hate the world… Even I, a demon, must pay my respects.”

This can’t end here.

After all, the body constructed in this world is merely a vessel to contain my existence.

If the vessel is destroyed, I can simply reconstruct it. To truly eliminate me, one must destroy the medium that allows me to exist in this world.

“But… justice and order are not necessarily the same.”

Still, I only played along to understand Herez’s goals and character.

Having learned that he walks a path diametrically opposed to mine, I have no intention of indulging his ‘hero play’ any further.

“You are one who would even accept chaos for the sake of good… Though you may be righteous in your path, you cannot be said to pursue order.”

Yes, no matter how noble, no matter how righteous.

What matters to me is that he is someone who would even wage war for his own justice, and that poses a clear threat to the peaceful daily life I seek.

“Thus, I cannot respect you. I am one who seeks order in evil, not the chaotic good created by a dictator.”

With a gesture filled with hostility, I hurl him away with a thud!

Leaving the unconscious Herez behind, I approach the angel who has been watching all this with dazed eyes and quietly say.

“I will take her with me.”

Hoping that she, who has escaped the fate of the Calamity God, will become my ally.