Chapter 61 - Retribution

"Haaah..."

Rad let out a deep sigh as he looked at Aiden, who had dragged him out. In a way, he almost seemed to be suppressing his anger.

He had more than a few questions to ask, but something else came first.

"...!"

Seeing black demonic energy surge from the body he held by the collar, Aiden grimaced and let go.

"... How did you know I was here?"

"The Empire’s greatest knight and the Holy Kingdom’s second princess are using most of their power to monitor the area. You've got some nerve expecting to slip away unnoticed."

Rad's expression twisted further at the sneering voice, utterly devoid of respect.

It wasn't simply that the man was irritating him. He could feel it in the atmosphere. Before, Aiden had at least shown respect for his 'role' as minister of administration. Now, Rad could feel in his bones that Aiden had no intention of doing even that.

Of course...

"So, what exactly do you intend to do?"

Rad put on his customary genial smile. If Aiden was going to take this approach, it actually opened up quite a few options for him. He no longer needed to keep up the act, wearing the minister's skin.

Black demonic energy poured from his body all at once.

Whatever else might happen, neither side looked inclined to back down easily...

"I'm pretty sure I told you to keep your head down last time."

Unperturbed by the sight, Aiden swept his hair back in irritation.

"The shit you pull is so petty I don't even know where to start anymore. All this, just to drag my fiancée's reputation through the mud?"

"... Hmm."

Rad snorted and set his demonic energy spinning. The black energy spreading around him slowly began to sharpen into weapons.

"Well, I don't care for these childish games myself. But His Highness keeps spouting nonsense about wanting a peaceful outcome for everyone, and not wanting to resort to drastic methods."

He continued with an openly derisive chuckle.

"Thanks to you, though, I think I can stop playing along."

"..."

"You just called me the Puppeteer, didn't you?"

Aiden had unmistakably spoken that exact name.

"I did."

"... How much do you know?"

Aiden had once spoken to him as though he knew his true identity, but even Rad hadn't expected him to pinpoint it so... precisely.

"How do you know that name? And how did you work out that it belongs to me? I have quite a few questions for you."

"Do you?"

"Yes. Ordinarily, respecting our contractors' wishes as much as possible is... a rule of our 'race.'"

The ever-present smile slowly left Rad's face. What showed clearly in his gaze as he watched Aiden was a quiet yet piercing hostility.

"But I must at least hear those answers before I leave. Otherwise, the unease would be unbearable."

After hearing this much, he could no longer consider Aiden merely a dangerous variable. He had to find out exactly what the man knew, and wring every last detail out of him about where he'd obtained that information—

"Unease? From a demon?"

"..."

"You're psychic parasites. You don't even understand sensation."

As Rad's expression froze, Aiden sneered again.

"Your god got sealed away, and now you can't even maintain proper bodies in the physical realm. Who do you think you are, playing human? Know your place."

Rad gave a hollow laugh.

"... I never imagined there were still humans in this age who knew about us."

The first word attached to the name of their race was 'forgotten.'

The forgotten demons. Hundreds of years had passed since Wornil, the God of Devouring, was sealed away by the pantheon and became an Outer God. Everyone had forgotten their existence.

And yet, who was this man to speak of them so glibly?

He knew their shame, and even the nature of their existence.

Perhaps he even knew their goal.

"..."

That thought set alarm bells ringing in his head. It wasn't simply that this human knew his identity. Rad was becoming certain that he would be the greatest obstacle to his race's long-cherished ambition.

In short...

'This man...'

Had to be eliminated here.

No, elimination alone wouldn't suffice.

"I'll have to take your brain apart."

Delivering those words calmly, Rad began walking slowly toward Aiden.

The prince who had contracted with him had demanded the safety of 'all the Empire's subjects.' Directly harming Aiden, who was among them, would impose a tremendous burden on Rad himself. For beings of a demonic nature, a contract meant more than a simple promise.

Even so, eliminating this man now was worth that risk.

The demonic energy pouring from his body grew incomparably denser.

"I'm glad you're arrogant."

He could have brought those monsters, the Lionhearted and Deathwish, with him. Instead, he'd come alone.

Subduing this man one-on-one wouldn't be particularly difficult.

"I could say the same to you."

Even faced with Rad in that state, Aiden replied indifferently.

"What the hell makes you think you can beat me on your own?"

Then he whipped a revolver from inside his coat, and supernatural power settled into it.

Three supernatural powers imbued into a single shot. A round with the terrifying firepower that had shattered even Katya's and the Pontiff's bodies.

He pulled the trigger immediately. The bullet pierced Rad's head at supersonic speed, throwing his body backward.

But...

"Oh, I know. You wield multiple supernatural powers. Imbuing a weapon multiplies their power, doesn't it?"

The words came out as though nothing had happened.

Rad approached with a sneer. He didn't even stop moving, as if having his head blown apart meant nothing.

Generally, imbuing a weapon with supernatural power roughly doubled its firepower.

Aiden, however, wielded several supernatural powers simultaneously.

2 × 2 × 2 was 8. Eight times the power of an ordinary supernatural ability. That was why a mere bullet from a small-caliber weapon like a revolver had enough force to astound the Lionhearted.

And yet, even after taking such a hit...

"... Did you think that would be enough to subdue a demon? Even I, the youngest of our race, am centuries old."

As Rad finished speaking with his head still shattered, demonic energy poured endlessly out around him, like a tidal wave.

The writhing demonic energy began to take on a definite shape.

Like hardened black tar moving and clumping together. Like soot clinging to the bottom of a sewer.

The power was repulsive, loathsome, enough to make one retch just looking at it. It soon formed spikes blacker than the curtain of night.

"I already know that's the strongest attack you can muster. You would be better off quietly preparing to die—"

"Are you an idiot?"

"...?"

"Why do you think I said things I didn't have to? Talking about demons would obviously only make you lot more wary."

"What are you talking about?"

It was simple. He'd done it because he was confident.

"You asked how much I knew earlier, so here's your answer. There are two things I know for certain."

One was that merely dealing physical damage to demons, psychic parasites, was meaningless. That wasn't their 'true body' in the first place.

The other was...

"It's a different story if I hit you when you've exposed your 'true body,' like you have now."

Of course, the Puppeteer was particularly devious even among demons, and would have several of these mimetic bodies. Even so, striking its true body with overwhelming force, with everything he had, could inflict meaningful damage.

"... So..."

Rad answered with a hollow laugh.

"You deliberately provoked me so you could inflict meaningful damage?"

What an absurd bluff.

Hadn't the man just seen Rad shrug off his trump card with his own eyes?

For all their restrictions, demons were fundamentally a particularly powerful race, befitting their long lives.

His grasp on reality was rather severely distor—

"Seriously, are you an idiot?"

Aiden tilted his head to one side.

"Your information is way, way out of date."

With those words, 'different supernatural powers' spilled from Aiden's body in an instant.

"People can find new applications for things, you know."

Supernatural power gathered in the revolver again, just as it had for the attack he'd fired at Rad moments ago.

But the 'types' of power being imbued were different.

First came Guardian’s Flame, a blend of pure-white energy and The First Vow.

Second came Brilliant Radiance, a blend of Savior’s Vow and pure-white energy.

Third came Purifier, a blend of The First Vow and Savior’s Vow.

It was simple arithmetic.

Combining and imbuing three powers, each consisting of 'one type,' gave 2 × 2 × 2.

Eightfold power.

But combining and imbuing three powers that had already been amplified by blending 'two types' each...

Roughly speaking, that made 4 × 4 × 4.

In other words, sixty-four times the power of an ordinary supernatural ability.

"..."

The blood drained from Rad's face. Even he could see that the powers combining within Aiden's gun were forming something.

Something...

Utterly outrageous was taking shape there.

His movements grew frantic. He immediately pulled together all the demonic energy he'd gathered and formed a barrier before him.

"... You goddamn—!"

However fast a demon might be, he couldn't move faster than a supersonic bullet. Better to block it and wait for another opportunity.

At that level of power, he could somehow survive if heaven smiled upon him. The odds were abysmal, but he had to take them—!

"That's why I asked you earlier."

But Aiden was already adding another card, one that would shatter even those abysmal odds.

-System Message

▶ Activating ‘Skill: Divinity Manipulation: Detonation.’

A skill that instantly doubled the power of divinity, usable once per day.

Even Aiden wasn't sure exactly how it would interact with this combination.

But at the very least, it would double it.

Double the power that had already been amplified sixty-fourfold.

In other words, 128 times the power of an ordinary supernatural ability.

"..."

Power so intense that merely looking at it seemed enough to sear his eyes gathered in the revolver. The gun hadn't even fired, yet brilliant flashes of light were already pounding Rad's curtain of demonic energy.

The attack hadn't even come.

The mere 'spillover' from the gathering power was tearing his demonic energy apart.

"..."

Rad's face went utterly blank.

Beyond conscious thought, his instincts understood.

He could never beat this man. Not in this life or the next.

Only one word came to mind.

"You fucking monster..."

"Get some sleep until Act 1 is over. Stop being such a nuisance."

Then a blinding flash, as though it would blast away the entire night sky, became the last sight Rad's consciousness registered.