Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

Astaroth, taken aback by my brazen attitude, lowered her outstretched arm and hung her head.

I wondered what she was doing, but seeing Astaroth’s world-ending expression as she looked at us and Elysier smiling smugly, I decided to let it go.

After all, she had endured a lot while reluctantly playing the role of the Demon King.

“Can I let go now?”

“It’s too soon. Can’t you stay like this a little longer?”

“Well, I don’t mind, but…”

Elysier immediately took advantage of the ambiguous permission and pressed closer. The arm that had been draped over her shoulder naturally slid forward. If his hand moved just a little lower, it would touch her chest.

My left hand, unsure where to go, was wandering when Elysier suddenly took my wrist and placed it on her chest. The thick coat prevented any sensation, but the visual effect was undeniable.

“What are you doing?”

“I understand why Priscilla is so obsessed with your warmth. It’s the first time I’ve felt such warmth since I came here.”

Elysier smiled softly. If she said that, it would be awkward for me to pull away.

“…… What do you mean by traitor, Your Majesty? And why are you so close to that person?”

Astaroth mumbled, her body slack. Elysier chuckled and looked down at the Succubus Queen sprawled on the ground.

“Have your intelligence deteriorated to the point where you can’t understand even this simple statement? It means that she’s the traitor who sided with the humans.”

“Argh… Argh…”

“She is not your superior. She is undeniably human. She has been in the past, is in the present, and will be in the future. You idiots probably won’t understand this concept even if I explain it to you.”

Of course. How could they guess that there was a human from another world possessing the Demon King? Unless we told them, Astaroth would never understand, even if she died and came back to life.

Filled with betrayal, Astaroth’s body trembled as if in a convulsion. Slowly, she raised her head, her pink eyes burning with intense hatred.

“…… When did it start?”

The honorifics towards the Demon King disappeared, and she switched to informal speech, no longer recognizing Elysier as her superior. Elysier retorted with scorn.

“Since the moment he destroyed the forward base you set up in the human world, standing next to me.”

It was true that we had only gotten to know each other properly since then, although we had met earlier when he fought the 6th Legion Commander, suddenly appeared, finished off the Legion Commander instead, and left after spouting meaningless words.

Astaroth started laughing, her laughter low and rapid, as if she couldn’t decide whether she was laughing or crying.

Suddenly, a powerful aura strong enough to blacken the surrounding ground erupted from Astaroth.

“I’ll kill you! Elysier!!!!!”

Her eyes, fixed on us, burned with madness, and her pink hair floated up as if of its own accord.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! Both of you! That bastard, too! I’ll suck every last drop of energy from you and kill you! Don’t think I won’t let the Demon World know if anything happens to me!”

At that moment, the wind blew.

“……”

Astaroth, in the middle of her rant, stopped. Sensing something amiss, her eyes slowly lowered.

Thud! Her horn fell to the ground, having been sliced off.

Simultaneously, the wings on her back were also severed, spraying blood. Astaroth alternated her gaze between the horn and the severed wings that had fallen to the ground, then screamed a beat too late.

“Ahhhhh!”

The voluptuous female body writhed in pain on the ground.

Of course, it was me. I had drawn my sword, Eternity, and sliced off Astaroth’s horn and wings before she could attack.

“Why didn’t you just leave it like that? I’ve already blocked all possible means of communication for her. Watching her despair as she realizes this would have been quite entertaining.”

“I’ll consider it next time.”

In the short time we were talking, Astaroth had already regenerated her horns and wings. However, her body was still in pain, as she continued to touch the severed areas.

I had originally intended to kill her without delay, but since Elysier seemed to want to torment her, I decided to prolong it a bit.

“Why do you think we’re here? The plan failed, you were expelled from the Demon World, and you have no power or influence left. Did we come here to mock an old, powerless Succubus Queen?”

Elysier, who seemed to enjoy mocking Astaroth, chuckled, apparently pleased with the term “old, powerless Succubus Queen.” Astaroth’s expression turned ugly, but it was just an expression. She didn’t act on it.

“You came to kill me, didn’t you? Aren’t you?”

“Yes. I need to uproot the source. Ever since you used Roxanna to spray me with pheromones, we’ve been annoyingly intertwined. I never intended to let you live.”

Although she had already lost her role as a Legion Commander and had almost lost all her power and influence, a Succubus Queen was still a threat. It was best to deal with her here.

“Roxanna… Yeah, Roxanna. When did you find out she was a half-Succubus?”

“From the beginning. Didn’t I tell you? I said the Demon King was a traitor. Did you think I wouldn’t know who was in the Academy?”

In fact, the first time I encountered Roxanna was before I had even met Elysier, and the information about her came from Priscilla, but I changed it slightly because I thought it would make them angrier.

Elysier, understanding my intention, stood beside me, doing her best to maintain a mocking expression. She seemed to be enjoying tormenting Astaroth.

“Yeah… You were deceiving me from the start… It was all planned… And I, like an idiot, didn’t know…”

“It’s too late to regret it now. Anyway, you’re going to die here.”

“Die…? I’m going to die…? Me…? By a pathetic human who can’t even live to be a hundred years old?!”

Astaroth sprang to her feet. Pink and red magic swirled like a vortex, fixed on me with hatred.

Of course, I wasn’t going to just let her gather power. I took the first step, putting weight on my left foot and stretching my right elbow as far back as possible, assuming a stabbing stance with one arm.

I thrust my arm forward.

Slash!

My blade grazed Astaroth’s neck.

The swirling vortex of magic lost its direction and dissipated. The space where the blade had passed temporarily split and then sealed back together, but Astaroth did not. Astaroth, confused, touched her neck.

“Huh…? What, what is it…?”

Those were her last words.

A red line appeared on her neck, and her head, still not understanding the situation, rolled to the ground. It was the same fate as Roxanna, whom she had created with such dedication.

I used a healing spell on my aching shoulder. The green light covered my right shoulder, and the pain eased slightly.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Elysier, who had been admiring me with a look of awe, suddenly turned serious.

“What?”

“I was going to say that even though she was supposed to be a Legion Commander of the demons, she died too easily. But…”

Elysier stroked my right shoulder, which had been healed, with a concerned expression. Her fingers slowly brushed over my clothes.

“It seems that seeing you like this, she didn’t die easily after all. You’ve been through a lot, my dear.”

I explained my thoughts to her, but Elysier was stubborn.

“You even used a healing spell.”

“I would have healed in 10 minutes anyway?”

“It would take 10 minutes. Change your perspective.”

Elysier continued to stroke my shoulder, doing as she pleased. I ignored her and turned to the headless corpse. A reddish liquid was gushing from the severed neck.

“Is she definitely dead?”

“Burn it and see. If it burns to ashes, she’s dead, and if there’s any reaction, she’s alive, isn’t she?”

I brought a large flame down on the body, and the fire purified the headless body and the severed head with light and heat. Elysier smiled with relief.

“Finally, that bitch is gone. She was the most vicious of the Legion Commanders. If it weren’t for that strange force that compelled their actions, I would have spat at her several times.”

If we’re talking about viciousness, shouldn’t Maker or Elder Lich be ranked higher? But since Elysier said so, I believed her.

“It’s a shame, though. I forgot to tell her that after she died, I would find the Succubus who would be chosen as the new Queen.”

“Nika?”

“I’m not seriously considering making her the new Queen, so don’t worry. I just thought that saying so would make her angrier. She’s the one who’s crazy about power, refusing succession, and living alone for over a thousand years, isn’t she?”

“…… You’ve been through a lot, huh?”

Her tone was very harsh. She seemed determined to torment Astaroth as much as possible.

“Indeed.”

Elysier curled her lips up. I wondered what she had been through as the Demon King, but it didn’t seem like something I could casually ask about, so I decided to leave it as an unknown.

“What about the Succubi who remained in the Demon World?”

“They’re all in custody. Astaroth not only defied my orders and fled but is also suspected of treason. Some of those who served as her right-hand women are being interrogated by the Legion Commanders, but it’s taking a long time.”

It didn’t take long for the body to burn down to ashes. Elysier created a storm with her magic sword and scattered the remaining ashes. Shee then asked:

“What do you plan to do now?”

“We need to take care of the aftermath of the Church incident, visit Nika, wait for Laura to wake up, and tell the kids that I’m fine… There’s a lot to do. After all the cleanup is done, I’ll teach them the healing magic. That was the deal, after all.”

I sighed inwardly.

“Honestly, I don’t think they’ll only use it for good… What can I do? I can’t break my promise now that I’m here.”

Perhaps they’ll even use it for human experimentation.

I’ll mention that I’d rather they didn’t use it for that purpose, but whether they’ll listen to me is questionable, considering they tore out their own hearts to receive the healing magic first.

As I was pondering how to control these madmen,

Vrrrrrrrrrr…

“Ah.”

The communication device vibrated. The Sword Saint had given it to me, saying that I might need it if I had to stop by somewhere. I signaled to Elysier, who seamlessly blended into the background.

“Yes, Sword Saint. What’s the matter?”

“I received news that Laura has woken up.”

“Really?”

I had been out of it for half a day, so I thought something was wrong, but thankfully, she had woken up. This relieved me.

“However, it will take some time before we can meet face-to-face. She’s locked herself in and doesn’t seem to want to come out. I don’t know why, but perhaps she needs some time.”

I still didn’t know what was written in that notebook or what she had seen.

“…… I understand. Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

“Can you come back as soon as possible? I don’t want to decide the Crown Prince’s treatment without the child present, but I also don’t want to leave her locked up like this.”

I replied that I understood, and the communication ended.

From the moment I first met her, the Sword Saint seemed to detest Igor. It wasn’t just his actions that she disliked; she seemed to dislike the person himself.

“I guess I should go.”

“I understand. You have a lot to take care of, so it can’t be helped.”

Elysier made an unavoidable expression.

“I will also return to the Demon World. I will officially announce Astaroth’s death.”

“Do that.”

As Elysier was about to leave, she stopped and pulled me into an embrace. Our cheeks brushed against each other as our heights were almost equal.

“As expected.”

Kuuuk, the arm around my neck tightened.

“I understand Priscilla’s feelings now.”

.

.

.

“Hmm… One shot and she’s dead. Stupid Astaroth.”

After Mira and Elysier left for their respective worlds, someone else arrived at the spot where Astaroth’s body had been. The area was already indistinguishable from the surrounding environment.

However, the person who came here accurately distinguished it.

“You stupid bastard, thinking that everything went your way because you were so great. Who do you think helped you so that things worked out so well?”

The unknown person, while verbally abusing Astaroth, reached out to the spot where the ashes had been. Black energy began to seep from their fingertips.

“Well, it’s more fun this way… I’ll give you another chance. Don’t disappoint me this time?”

The black energy seeped into the ashes, and an immense amount of magic flowed into them.

“Now, they thought you were dead, but you’re coming back to challenge them again… Hmm… What did they call it…?”

A giggle came from what was presumably the mouth.

“Yes. ‘Phase 2,’ wasn’t it?”