Fated to Be Loved by Villains

“Its force… is a little different from before though?”

Iliya said as Dowd, who was standing next to her, quietly nodded.

There were injuries here and there on his body due to him clearing out all those Spirit Forms on their way here, but he didn’t seem to care much about them.

It was as if this level of injuries weren’t noteworthy compared to what was to come.

“From now on, the real thing is going to start.”

Phase 2, the phase where the Devil’s main body was summoned, was a nightmare for most Sera users. There was a reason for this; To give the players a clear impression of the Devil’s powers.

Now, the column of fire before their eyes wasn’t only spreading Demonic Aura, it was also ‘changing’ its surroundings.

It went beyond only dying the surroundings red.

The scent of sulfur, the scent of burned plants and trees.

Accompanying those, a black aura emanated from the burned objects began to engulf the surroundings.

It changed everything, from the ground to the atmosphere, into ‘something else’.

Into an environment that felt like a completely different world.

“...This is…?”

“Terraforming.”

Dowd said with a sigh.

“A Devil’s mere existence could change its surroundings to look exactly like the Pandemonium.”

Needless to say, it was a ridiculous trait.

If one were to judge it by its ability to kill, the Devil could kill the world just by breathing, since only Spirit Forms were able to survive in a Pandemonium-like environment, as they were originally beings that existed there.

And this was merely a ‘default passive' of those beings called the Devils.

“...”

Fortunately, the scope of this phenomenon wouldn’t extend all across the continent for the moment, since the Devil’s main body had not descended directly yet.

However…

This was enough to call forth the ‘powerful beings’ that were not supposed to exist in the Material Realm.

-!

-!!!

Another Dimension Gate was created nearby.

Except that this one wasn’t on the same level with the ones that were created before.

It had an ‘aura’ that could overwhelm any human who dared to steal a glance at it.

-!!

-!!!

At that moment, a humanoid Demonic Creature walked out of the Gate.

Magic power wrapped around its whole body like an ‘armor’ and it carried a ‘weapon’.

“...A knight?”

Iliya muttered. When Dowd heard that, he let out a chuckle.

He didn’t seem to refute her words.

“You know how Kings are usually accompanied by a single guard at least, right?”

He muttered.

The Devil was also called the King of the Pandemonium.

Which meant, there must have been at least one living being that was drawn to their power.

“It's similar to that.”

To put it simply, that being was a Hell Guard, the Royal Guard of Hell.

One of the most powerful creatures in the Pandemonium.

It seemed similar to the Automaton that the Angels of the Astral Realm used, but its combat power and killing ability were in a completely different level.

“...”

The moment Iliya saw it, she realized…

…I can’t win against that…!

The gap between their power made her feel hopeless.

Thanks to being with Dowd, she had met all kinds of crazy things, but even when considering those things, the being in front of her was…!

“Iliya.”

“Yes?”

Just before Iliya’s mind drifted away, Dowd's low, subdued voice knocked on the rim of her ears.

“I’m repeating myself, but you’re the one who’d need to end this whole thing.”

“...”

“Whatever happens to me, don’t ever look back. You must go till the end. Got it?”

“...”

The fact that he said that…

Meant that this person was going to throw himself into a terrible situation.

“...That thing… How strong is it?”

“...”

Dowd went silent.

As if he could not bring himself to answer her.

“Let’s say that neither of us can defeat it. At least for now.”

He let out a deep sigh.

“Anyway, one of us has to march forward.”

“No way, are you saying that you’re going to deal with it alone?”

“Yes.”

Gritting her teeth, Iliya forcefully spit out her words.

“...Teach.”

This time…

She could say these words with absolute certainty…

“You’re going to die.”

“...”

“...I’m being serious, you’re going to die.”

She could feel it clearly.

This time, he was charging ahead recklessly without any plans.

He was doing it just ‘because he had to’.

Because he had no other choice.

“...But.”

His reply came, accompanied by a bitter smile.

“I have to do it.”

“...”

“Quickly, go ahead. I’ll take care of it here.”

Iliya looked at him with shaking eyes.

●

Cecilia the 11th sent Marquis Bogut a sharp glare.

An unusual gesture from her, since usually she’d plaster a gentle smile on her face, but she knew all too well that she did not need to keep up such a pretense around this man.

“...First of all.”

The next words that came out of her mouth drove the point even further.

“You are well aware that it is a lèse majesté for a mere Marquis like you to suddenly visit the Empress’ Residence, no?”

“By the way, Your Imperial Majesty!”

Of course, he did not even pretend to listen to her words properly.

The Empress’ expression had gone terribly sour, but Marquis Bogut continued his words while grinning.

“What do you think?”

They sat face to face, with a table placed in between. On that table, there was a crystal ball, projecting a video.

From the way it looked, it was a live video of the area near the place where the Third Ordeal took place.

“...”

Cecilia the 11th looked at the screen.

The sky, the ground…

Everything was on fire.

Perhaps, if there was an ocean nearby, the fire would also burn it as well, she thought.

The Crimson Night.

The night when the Red Devil went berserk.

The international disaster that this man had pointed out would happen one day.

“Your Imperial Majesty, don’t you think that column of fire...”

As the Empress was lost in her thoughts, Bogut asked.

“Keep going stronger and stronger as time passes?”

“...”

“If we let it be, maybe it’d break the Seraphim’s barrier.”

“...”

“It will go like, the Devil’s Vessel, with three Fragments, going berserk, crushing the barrier, then the Vessel meets up with the Devil’s main body inside the Void Zone… And boom, the world is doomed.”

The way he casually said such a thing as if it was a joke irritated her.

However, he wasn’t wrong at all. This was certainly an unprecedented crisis. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that an apocalypse could happen anytime soon.

If the Devil’s main body and the awakened Vessel met, that would trigger a ‘Devil descent’.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the entire continent ended up getting destroyed if only one out of the seven Devils succeeded in doing so.

“...The Empire has already dispatched some manpower to deal with the situation.”

The Empress said in a stiffened voice.

“They’re among the best we could dispatch, to make sure that the scenario you said would never happ—”

“No.”

Bogut cut off her words.

“That’s useless. A mere waste. You know it well too, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“...”

“In the first place, why do you think the Holy Land chose this place as the location for the ordeal, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“...”

“Because this is their way to express their intention to bury this incident quietly. In such a place where ideally none of their manpower would be wasted. They know no matter what kind of power they exert, all of it will be meaningless when the opponent is a Devil.”

Marquis Bogut continued, not dropping the grin on his face.

“This is an incident where a Devil is going berserk. Everything in the realm of the ‘human’ standard is meaningless against them.”

“...”

“Even the country with the highest authority when it comes to the Conquest of the Devil is treating this incident as such. It’d be a miracle if the manpower of the Empire could do anything at all.”

He was right.

Of course despite him stating the truth clearly, it didn’t quell the Empress’ anger at all.

As she glared at him without saying anything, Bogut continued, still grinning.

“Now, if the Guardians, the group that consists of those who had evolved to their peak form among the humans, it might be possible…”

There was a sly glint in his eyes.

“But, you killed them all with your own hands, didn’t you?”

The Empress bit her lip to the point it almost bled.

“...”

“You were the one who gave them orders through Duke Tristan, driving them all out to quell the Devil incident, to kill themselves in that place, just like that.”

The Empress, who had been staying silent, barely opened her mouth again to speak.

“...I don’t think that has anything to do with what’s happening now.”

“Ah, is that so? Please forgive me.”

The Empress sent Bogut, who had shamelessly agreed to her words, a fierce glare before growling out her next words.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because I thought it’d be good for you to properly see what kind of power it is that you have set your eyes on, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“What?”

“Are you not interested in Dowd Campbell because you’re curious how powerful he could be in relation to the ‘Devils’?”

“...”

“In order to remove the ‘dead blood’ circulating in your body that you inherited from your parents—”

[You.]

Bogut quickly shut his mouth.

He was someone who knew very well how to tread around someone’s line.

Just like he did now.

If ‘scales’ began to form on the Empress’ body, her eyes were split like reptiles, and dense Magic Power began to come out near her body…

Then it meant provoking her further wouldn’t be a good idea.

[I suggest you watch your mouth if you want to live long. There’sa limit to what I could tolerate.]

With just the pressure that was contained in her voice, Bogut's body was squashed flat. She did not exert any Magic Power—this was a natural reaction from his body since they were simply on a different ‘level’ from each other.

The air trembled, all the glasses in the surroundings cracked. Even the ground cracked, every fragile thing around them was all crushed.

What made this sight ridiculous was the fact that this all happened due to her ‘Sign’.

Dragonblood.

She had the exceptional majesty of a ‘ruler’ mixed in her Sign.

The most dignified among the living creatures in the Material Realm. The origin of all magic power.

“...I’m sorry. Please think of it as a slip of the tongue.”

As he replied obediently, the Empress only glared at him as she took back her aura.

She could sense that at the very least, he wasn’t playing around this time.

“Anyways.”

The Empress looked at Bogut, who was already grinning again as soon as she withdrew her aura, with a dumbfounded look.

She even came to wonder what this person's tendons were made of.

“Since the situation is like this, we can’t help but leave it to this man to stop the Devil from descending.”

Following his words, the screen changed.

It now showed a woman with orange hair and a man, covered in wounds, running next to her.

“...”

The Empress’ eyes widened.

Because she recognized those faces.

“The Hero Candidate, Iliya Krisanax. And the forever popular guy among the Devils, Dowd Campbell. A nice combination, don’t you think?”

His flippant voice fell onto the Empress’ deaf ears as she tried to examine the video in detail.

If nothing else, there was one thing that caught her eye.

“...His body.”

She muttered in a low, subdued voice.

It was obvious that Dowd’s body wasn’t in a good condition.

She couldn’t even describe his body with the word ‘injured’, because it seemed like his whole body was being ‘corroded’ instead.

“...”

And in front of him…

Stood an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. Even though she was watching through the video, she could clearly feel its intimidating presence.

“That’s a Hell Guard… Jeez, I guess it makes sense that something like this would come out since a Devil is about to descend.”

“...Are you familiar with that creature?”

“Not really. I just know what it's called.”

Bogut continued with a grin.

“Everyone who has seen this creature has mostly died, so there aren’t many records of it. I assume that there must have been a Hero or two back then who died fighting that thing, though the record about that would’ve been lost to time.”

“...”

For some reason, he was talking about a lost record as if he had ‘seen it himself’.

As the Empress let out a dumbfounded sigh, Bogut nonchalantly continued.

“In any case, this is a crisis for sure. There aren’t many humans who could stay sane under the influence of the Demonic Aura that once created the ‘Crimson Night’, so he can’t even expect any kind of reinforcements at the moment.”

“...”

The Empress bit her lip again.

“...At this rate, he’ll die. There’s no way he’s able to fight against such a powerful enemy while in such a state.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Weren’t you the one who said that nobody could help him? There’s a very little chance of him surviving—!”

“He’s not someone who’d die easily.”

Marquis Bogut replied in an indifferent tone.

As if dismissing the Empress’ concern.

“Chancellor Sullivan, the annoying masked woman—everyone is strangely worried about him dying. That’s not something to be worried about, they should worry about something else instead.”

“...What do you mean?”

“I'm saying that although the majority of cases in which this world is doomed are under that man's control, there's a lot of possibilities for what ‘shape’ it will take.”

“...”

One thing about this man was that sometimes he’d say some things that only he knew, as if he was trying to show off.

An extremely annoying trait for someone to have for sure.

That was what the Empress felt as she glared at him.

“Anyway, in my opinion…”

Again, the Marquis continued in a nonchalant tone, as if he did not care about what she thought.

“He won’t die. At least in this ‘case’, he won’t.”

In truth…

The thing that was shown in the crystal ball…

Was completely different from what the Empress was worrying about.

***

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