Chapter 86 - Battle City (6)

Elsea landed lightly in the wrecked shopping mall hall.

"A wicked grimoire with the power to destroy the world!"

She pointed straight at me with an outstretched index finger and spoke in a clear, ringing voice.

"Kim Yo-han, owner of <De Vermis Mysteriis>! Prepare yourself!"

I narrowed my eyes.

She was targeting me, the owner, rather than the grimoire? That was a new approach.

Well, the reason she was targeting me was still connected to <De Vermis Mysteriis>, and the fact that she was an enemy remained the same.

I answered with a furrowed brow.

"Ah, okay."

What concerned me was the glowing book in the hands of the girl who had called herself Elsea.

'...Judging by the energy I'm sensing, it's a grimoire.'

And in response to Elsea's glowing grimoire,

Vwoooom-!

<De Vermis Mysteriis> vibrated violently.

Vwoooom-! Vwoooom-!

'...What's this?'

<De Vermis Mysteriis> had vibrated in reaction to other grimoires many times before.

It would wail even when I just opened a page of <The Lesser Key of Solomon> or the <Baopuzi>.

But this time felt different. It wasn't displeasure; the vibration was more like a danger signal.

The different grimoires held in my and Elsea's hands.

<De Vermis Mysteriis> with its black iron cover, and <The Book of the Angel Raziel> with its beautiful white cover.

The two grimoires reacted as they acknowledged each other.

Vwoooom- Vwoooom-!

[Tainting the golden chalice with your own greed and crying shamelessly... You wretched worm.]

A gentle yet powerful, chilling voice echoed through the shopping mall.

My eyes widened at the voice flowing from the white-covered grimoire.

I was used to grimoires expressing their will, but this was my first time seeing one speak directly.

Though I was briefly startled by the unusual talking grimoire,

I gripped <De Vermis Mysteriis> tightly, let the glowing grimoire's words wash over me,

and observed Elsea and the glowing grimoire again with calm eyes.

".........."

In the end, there was only one thing to do.

Crash- Thud thud-.

"Yo-han! Are you alive!?"

With perfect timing, Lee Mun-ryong, who had been sent flying earlier, entered the mall hall and joined me.

Lee Mun-ryong quickly assessed Elsea, who stood facing me, and asked.

"Who is that?"

"An enemy. Don't let your guard down."

"Who do you think I am?"

He spun his spear and readjusted his grip.

"In this line of work, being wary of old folks, women, and children is common sense!"

This was a world where monsters who looked like children had lived for over a century.

And she was even holding a dangerous-looking glowing book?

Hesitating carelessly would get you killed.

Strike first to win.

Without hesitation, Lee Mun-ryong raised his spear and charged at Elsea.

"Let's go all out to win!"

Faster than that,

at my command, Grizzly swung its arm at Elsea's head.

If she was targeting me simply for money, I could potentially buy her off depending on the situation, but...

If her reason was something as absurd as me being a threat to the world, there was no need for conversation.

Right. If she was an enemy out for my life, there was only one thing to do.

Go all out, show no mercy, and kill.

Grizzly's invisible strike was thrown at full speed.

And then...

[Elsea, I'll borrow your body.]

Along with a gentle voice, wind from something flying past grazed my face, and

KRAKOOOM-!

The shopping mall wall far behind me caved in deeply and shattered.

"Gah... Gaahh...."

Grizzly had been sent flying and slammed into it.

"Wha-."

There had been others like Lee Mun-ryong and Yoannis who blocked Grizzly's attacks head-on.

But that was them desperately blocking with everything they had.

They hadn't overpowered Grizzly through sheer physical ability.

I stared blankly at the being before me with eyes frozen in shock.

The atmosphere of the shopping mall hall shifted.

Where Elsea, the beautiful silver-haired girl, had been standing just moments ago,

".........."

now stood a tall, beautiful, mature woman with silver hair, her fist extended.

A woman with long, straight limbs and a full figure, still radiating the same mystical aura, as if the enigmatic girl had simply grown up.

But the face that had shown a lively spirit now held a cold arrogance.

'...She grew.'

The overwhelming divinity pouring from the grown Elsea made me realize.

Her body had matured to contain the immense power.

Elsea's lips parted, and a beautiful voice rang out, warm yet commanding.

It was Elsea, but it wasn't Elsea's voice.

"It seems I was underestimated."

At those words, the mercenaries and wizards gathered in the mall trembled.

"Ah, aaaahhh-."

Some screamed and fled from the overwhelming divinity, while others fell to their knees in prayer.

When an angel speaks to a human,

'Fear not.'

The meaning of those words, conversely, is that they are beings so terrifying that merely seeing them inspires fear.

The angel Raziel, having crossed over from the grimoire into Elsea, spoke.

"To think you'd send just one beast against me, without even magical support."

Among the fleeing crowd, Yoannis urgently commanded the vampires.

"Everyone run! Retreat!"

Chairman Kim, his body restored through regeneration, approached and said,

"What about <De Vermis Mysteriis>!? We might lose it!"

"Even if a True Ancestor elder showed up, it wouldn't matter against that!"

One of three grimoires once owned by the Vatican's wizard hunter, Priest John.

A grimoire personally created by the angel Raziel for Adam, the human shaped by God.

After Adam ate the forbidden fruit and was cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam himself never became its master, but...

Since Raziel had created it, the two were still directly connected.

...Even so, to summon himself through a physical body.

During the Second World War,

the wizard hunter had massacred the Nazi Vampire unit under Yoannis's command, so Yoannis knew well the power of <The Book of the Angel Raziel>.

But this was his first time seeing it not just drawing on the grimoire's power, but possessing the body with the angel's true self.

It was as if children were fighting on a playground and a veteran UFC fighter jumped in, putting them in headlocks and punching them in the solar plexus.

"The festival is over. That thing can't be fought one-on-one."

Yoannis said as he fled with Mia.

"It's a raid boss that requires top-tier fighters each taking a role and pulling more than their own weight to even stand a chance."

In the current wizarding world, the number of wizards who could defeat that girl called Elsea could be counted on one hand. ...Or maybe there were none.

"Ugh...."

Chairman Kim looked at the battered, exhausted Yo-han with reluctant eyes, then retreated for the time being.

And then,

"Yo-han! That one's dangerous!"

Lee Mun-ryong, who had been bravely charging with his spear raised, made a natural U-turn and fled.

"Plan G! Every man for himself! See you alive!"

Dash-!

"There's no such plan! Get back here, you fuck!"

I was so dumbfounded that I screamed at the top of my lungs, veins bulging in my neck.

But fighting something that had swatted Grizzly away in one blow was certainly dangerous.

Just as I tried to move my legs to flee as well,

"-!?"

My vision swayed and my body staggered.

'...This is!'

The backlash from forcibly drawing on the grimoire's mana to cast Earth Elemental Magic had taken its toll on my body.

Though even without this, I probably would have failed to escape.

Elsea had closed the distance in an instant, standing before me, and a fist came flying toward me.

KABOOM-.

The punch struck my heart, and with a sensation of something breaking, I was sent flying and slammed into a wall.

"-!?"

Grizzly was out of commission. I had lost consciousness.

Raziel approached to finish things, but a single grimoire blocked Raziel's path.

Since King Solomon, who had created both <The Key of Solomon> and <The Lesser Key of Solomon>, had once been the master of <The Book of the Angel Raziel>, the two had a connection. A direct junior, so to speak.

Raziel's brow furrowed.

"So you've been keeping company with that worm."

Even as I lay unconscious, Raziel glared at <De Vermis Mysteriis> still clutched in my hand.

"You didn't even come when I asked you to help Priest John alongside <The Key of Solomon>... You're always the problem. Why can't you behave properly like <The Key of Solomon>?"

Under the torrent of nagging from this elder relative, <The Lesser Key of Solomon> flapped its pages indifferently.

Fwee- Flap- Flap-.

Raziel's eyes widened at the defiant words.

"Ha! What did you say!? That men who act nice while worrying about what others think are boring!? That the very effort of trying to be good is what makes someone admirable!? That it's impressive!?"

An opening! Now was the chance.

<The Lesser Key of Solomon> and the <Baopuzi> sharpened their edges and flew in.

Thwack- Thud.

They were lightly swatted down by Raziel's palm and tumbled to the ground.

<The Lesser Key of Solomon> was a grimoire for subjugating demons, not for fighting angels.

Flap....

Bao....

Still, they had bought some time.

<De Vermis Mysteriis> vibrated with a vwoooom- and tried to wake me, while sending mana to Grizzly.

"Gah- Gaahh-."

Grizzly pulled its head from the wall with its battered body, crying out to wake its master.

"Gaahh-."

‧

‧

‧

"Gaahh- Gyaaahhh!"

Grizzly's cry pierced through my hazy hearing.

".........."

Slumped against the wall, I snapped my bleary eyes open and came to my senses.

"Haah-."

Thanks to the defensive spell [Sixth Pentacle of Mars], which prevented fatal wounds, I hadn't died.

But it seemed I had blacked out for a brief moment.

"......!?"

I jerked my head to the side.

KRABOOM-!

Elsea's foot, extended toward where my head had been, embedded itself in the wall.

'Elsea, huh....'

I looked up at the being standing before me, who was Elsea yet not Elsea.

"You're-"

"In this state, call me Raziel."

Raziel stomped down beside my face, looking down at me with a sneer.

"You chose such a wicked grimoire, and look where it got you."

I didn't quite understand what he meant by that, but...

"...True, it's not exactly a proper grimoire. Doesn't have proper magic either."

I spoke through narrowed eyes, pain spreading through my body.

"But I've never once regretted picking this thing up."

...Lately Soo-ah had been calling often, but

back when my phone's message alert never went off, this thing used to vibrate frequently instead. And living with Grizzly had also... honestly, become something I kind of liked.

I gripped <De Vermis Mysteriis> with my weakened hand.

"What matters is that this thing is my grimoire. If anyone's going to hit it, it'll be me."

I stared straight up at Raziel and glared.

"I don't appreciate others doing it."

...I had intended to buy time for my body to recover by engaging in conversation. But thanks to my personality, I just ended up saying whatever I wanted.

Having never owned anything as a child, my possessiveness ran deep.

Once something came into my hands, I wouldn't let go.

"And there's something I learned after becoming a wizard. Magic isn't convenient."

Since it had come to this, I said it all.

I gazed at the absurd divinity before my eyes.

"How much trouble and how steep a price are you paying to maintain that state?"

"-!"

Raziel's glowing blue eyes hardened.

Crack- Crunch-.

The foot planted beside my face pressed down harder, sending fractures through the wall.

Raziel lifted the foot and looked down at me with twisted lips.

"...For a beaten dog, you sure talk big."

"Woof woof... Grrr... Yap yap...."

I chuckled lightly and mocked him in a tired voice.

"If you want, I can lick you like a dog too. Spare my life?"

I looked up and stuck my tongue out slightly.

Raziel's face flushed red with humiliation.

"You, you vulgar-!"

Raziel threw a punch, and

Fwadadadadada-!

A flock of pure white doves surged into the shopping mall hall.

Raziel's extended fist was caught by someone else's white palm.

THOOM-.

A red ponytail fluttered before my eyes.

"Hmm~ That's a cute offer. Does it apply to me too?"

"You are-?"

I was caught off guard by the completely unexpected arrival.

"Forgetting the face of the woman who climbed on top of you and pinned you down."

A beautiful girl with a red ponytail in a school uniform straight out of a dating sim academy.

"What a bad boy."

Student Council President Gremory spoke with a bewitching smile at the corners of her lips.

The 56th of Solomon's 72 demons.

At the appearance of the Duchess of Hell, Gremory, Raziel's brow furrowed in fury.

"......!"

The archangel and the demon clashed.

KRABOOOOM-!

The shockwave of their power shook the entire shopping mall building, and dust fell from the ceiling.

And while the two exchanged blows,

"Hii, hieee- Ma, Master's been hit, gnome!"

"Carry him and run, gnome!"

"Shaaaat! I'll buy time, gnome! Gnome Fist Technique! Protect Master, gnome!"

The gnomes hoisted the collapsed Yo-han and, heave-ho! Heave-ho! Made their escape!

Both Raziel and Gremory were momentarily caught off guard.

"Huh?"

"Oh?"