The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

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“Guh!” Cleath grunted as he leaped to the right, narrowly dodging Adolf’s diagonal slash and the fatal would it would have inflicted.

The five warriors of Faltown circled in, with Ryan a step behind.

“Nicely done, Adolf.”

“Thank you!”

“Reid, don’t let your guard down!” Ryan’s sharp command snapped Reid to attention.

“I know… Chieff,” Reid answered in his low, steady voice, never taking his eyes off Cleath.

“Finally, a chance for payback.”

Mana, Reid’s sister and Lina’s older sibling, locked her gaze on Cleath with a piercing intensity.

“It seems he isn’t skilled at fighting against groups,” Reyna noted.

Cleath stiffened at that remark.

“To develop a strategic eye, one must live on the battlefield,” Ryan responded, adding to Reyna’s comment. “Well, it makes sense, assuming that he spent most of his time in the Imperial Capital…”

What enraged Cleath more than Ryan’s critique was Reyna’s simple assessment.

“…Not skilled at group combat, am I?” Cleath growled, turning to glare at Reyna, unconcerned about the opening this created.

At that moment, Ryan realized that Cleath had shifted his focus from Adolf to Reyna.

“Reyna! Fall back!”

“Wha—!?”

The team had their actions planned out when Cleath had targeted Adolf. But when the enemy changed his approach, Ryan alone responded swiftly and effectively.

“Kaaahhh!”

Cleath charged at Reyna, who stood her ground. Ryan threw himself in front of her, shoving her aside just as Cleath’s attack connected.

Ryan’s right arm flew through the air, severed in an instant.

“Gah!”

“”Chief!””

The four remaining warriors roared in unison and launched themselves at Cleath.

Though Cleath managed to subdue Ryan, he couldn’t outmaneuver the fury of the four warriors who followed, leaving him no choice but to retreat under their relentless assault.

Even in his Devil form, Cleath struggled to kill his chosen targets in this chaotic battle. His failure to eliminate Natsu and Adolf brought a flicker of panic to his face.

“Damn it! How long can they keep blocking me!?” He shouted as he landed…

“I was expecting you…”

…Right in front of Haruhana.

“What?” Cleath snarled, confused.

“My former profession… It made me quite attuned to the gaze of men.”

“You knew you were a target and still chose to stand here. Foolish woman!”

“Am I the one who’s been lured here, or was it you? …Let us find out!”

Haruhana’s eyes glittered with an unsettling allure. Even the Devil-transformed Cleath found himself momentarily captivated by her beauty, as if she were a living painting.

“I’ll devour you! I’ll eat you alive!” Cleath’s voice trembled with savage hunger.

But before he could make his move, a group of men converged on the scene, their eyes wide with protective fury.

“You dare threaten Haruhana?”

“Eat her, huh?”

“Not on our watch!”

“The ones who will eat…”

“…Is us!”

“We’ll eat YOU alive!”

A dozen warriors, all seasoned fighters, surrounded Cleath.

The sheer number left him stunned.

“An ambush!? Impossible!”

His eyes locked onto one woman.

Her gaze was seductive, her stance commanding, and her smile… terrifying. Haruhana, the former courtesan knew men’s psychology like the back of her hand, and smiled at him with chilling ease.

“Welcome, Devil. Please, stay a while…”

Cleath felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Realizing he had encountered a different kind of terror than Empress Idïa, he abandoned his plans to target Haruhana and decided to gamble on his final target.

“You’re not getting away!”

“Stop right there!”

“Damn it, get out of my way!” Cleath snarled, fighting off Haruhana’s bodyguards as he turned his gaze toward his last objective.

Nearby, but just out of reach for a sneak attack, stood Tifa – the current Public Morals Enforcer of the Magic University, also known as the Dark Ruler.

Cleath, preparing his final move, targeted her from afar. He leaped, intending to unleash a powerful breath attack.

Tarawo, the King Wolf Garm, who was battling in front of Tifa, sensed the incoming threat first.

“……Hmm!? Heh! Fwahahahahahaha! You think that will work? I shall knock that breath out of the sky with my own!”

“–Hey! Don’t get ahead of yourself!!”

Tifa, always calm and composed, knew the truth: even a King Wolf’s breath couldn’t match Cleath’s attack.

…And so did Tarawo. But in his desperation, Tarawo chose to protect his Master by bluffing his way through.

As Tarawo’s maw opened and magic gathered at his fangs, he thought,

[Tifa… You are strong. I’m in awe of you. But you’re also fragile. Live on, and grow stronger… Stronger than I will ever be!]

At that moment…

“Huh?”

“What…?”

Tifa gasped as she noticed a change in Tarawo, while Tarawo himself tilted his head, confused by the sudden dissipation of his arcane energy.

Tarawo’s time as the King Wolf had run out.

His transformation reversed just as Cleath’s breath attack flew overhead.

“Ow! Hot!”

Cleath grinned, his eyes alight with savage glee.

“You’re through!”

Tifa squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the end as the dark blast of Cleath’s attack bore down on her.

But just before it struck, help arrived.

“……Huh?”

Noticing the sudden absence of light behind her eyelids, Tifa slowly opened her eyes.

“Don’t close your eyes on the battlefield.”

Standing before her was Lylia, the former Holy Warrior, who had deflected Cleath’s breath with a single stroke.

“What!?” Cleath’s voice cracked in disbelief.

“Using such underhanded tactics, Cleath? How pathetic.”

“Lylia!? Impossible!”

Cleath’s shock was justified.

He had summoned enough Devils to match the forces of the Resistance.

Yet, he had seen no sign of the Resistance on the battlefield. Cleath had initially questioned this but dismissed it, assuming they were operating elsewhere.

Even if the Resistance were here, Cleath would have been able to deal with them, just as he had been able to hold his own against the adventurers so far despite his disadvantage.

If Lylia had been on the battlefield from the beginning, he might have been able to counter her, too. But her arrival as a reinforcement disrupted his entire plan, rendering his attacks useless.

This was, in essence, a counterattack – Lylia’s own ambush.

And it wasn’t just Lylia – she began drawing a Spell Circle in the air, summoning her Familiar… the Heavenly Beast, Weldhun the Crimson King Ox.

“…All right, Weldhun, it’s your turn!”

The moment the massive creature materialized, Weldhun unleashed his own devastating breath attack toward Cleath.

“KAAAHHH!”

“Tch!”

Cleath threw a spell forward and accelerated downward, narrowly dodging the attack.

“Heh… FWAHAHAHA! Not bad! Not bad at all!”

Tarawo, now restored to his original form, looked up at Weldhun towering above him.

Despite the difference in their sizes, his attitude was as haughty as a Heavenly Beast.

“Yeah, sure, you’re pretty good too.”

Weldhun, possessing a magnanimous spirit, accepted Tarawo’s acknowledgment with grace.

“Save the chit-chat for later, Weldhun!”

“You got it, Lylia! Let’s…”

“”…KILL THEM ALL!””

In an instant, the tide of battle shifted.

With Lylia and Weldhun’s arrival, several of the lesser Devils began to falter.

Their faltering proved decisive, as Warren’s plan — relocating the Imperial Capital’s residents to T’oued — neared its conclusion. As Lina, Hornel, Jeanne, and Viola joined the fray, the number of lesser Devils quickly dwindled.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

As the battle began to settle and the tide turned decisively… Ryan lay sprawled on the ground, waiting for aid.

“I’ll be fine… Master Tūs will patch me up. It’s not fatal,” Ryan, ever the proud warrior, tried to reassure himself as he awaited the Philosopher’s arrival.

Beside him, Reyna cradled his severed arm, tears streaming down her face.

“Please don’t die! You can’t die! You are the only one I want to marry, so…!”

Her words, so desperate and raw, would have drawn laughs from any of their companions. Any except Reyna herself and Ryan.

Ryan stared at her, wide-eyed, frozen in shock.

“Wha… what did I just say? I mean… huh!?”

Reyna suddenly realized the weight of her own declaration.

Laughter echoed from the distance, carrying the voices of Betty, Bruce, Reid, and Mana.

That was how clear it had become that this battle was nearing its end.

Cleath, trembling with anger, glared at the battlefield.

“Gather around me!”

The lesser Devils, though battered and bruised, obeyed his command, rushing to take positions near him. Many had suffered grave injuries, and even more had been vanquished.

“Make yourselves useful for once… you worthless scum…!”

The lesser Devils grumbled under their breath, but none dared defy their summoner, knowing he could erase them with a thought.

Resentfully, they kept their eyes fixed on the battlefield.

Cleath leaped backward, beginning to trace a teleportation circle.

Facing the lesser Devils, Tūs completed Ryan’s healing process and barked an order,

“All right, you lot, get up front!”

He sent the five Heavenly Beasts and his Familiar, Bull, forward.

Lina and Hornel moved in sync with Tūs.

“”Familiars to the front!””

Baladd, Maïga, Shiny, and others took positions beside the Heavenly Beasts, while the mages began drawing their Spell Circles.

The final clash between the Devils and the humans culminated in a battle of breath attacks.

“”KAAAAAAHHHHHH!!””

When the mages added their attack spells to the mix, the outcome became clear. The lesser Devils, already dwindled in number, stood no chance. Though both sides had exhausted much of their strength, the disparity in power sealed the Devils’ fate.

The lesser Devils were overwhelmed by the concentrated firepower.

Cleath, understanding his inevitable defeat, had ordered them to stall for time.

He continued to glare at the battlefield as he began to vanish within the Teleportation Spell Circle.

“Damn you all… damn, damn, damn, damn, damn you all!!”

The only image burning in Cleath’s eyes as he disappeared was that of Warren, the Black Emperor — the architect of this battle.

Warren stood atop the outer wall of Eddo’s southern gate, pushing his glasses up with a cold smile.

“You really shouldn’t underestimate humanity.”

“…!!”

Cleath’s fury reached its peak at Warren’s dismissive tone. But before he could do anything, his body began to teleport away to Regalia, the Imperial Capital.

“…It seems Lucifer has already left, too. Miss Irene, time to raise a victory cry.”

“Ugh, like anyone here needs that to boost morale now…”

“Consider it a formality.”

“Fine…”

Irene sighed, understanding that it was better to follow tradition than to ignore it.

“WE HAVE WON!”

“”YEAHHHHHH!!””

Yet, despite the victory, many couldn’t fully rejoice.

As Irene raised her fist high in triumph, her thoughts, like those of Lina, Fuyu, Tifa, and Haruhana, turned to the lone figure far behind the lines — the solitary fool who had expended all his arcane energy.

This had all transpired while Asley dueled Lucifer, the Devil King.