From a Broken Engagement to the Northern Grand Duke's Son-in-Law

Slrrk—!

Lancelot’s spear pierced through the skulls of the Dead Walkers.

Shk—!

Ssst—!

Kai and Roxen’s blades cleaved rotting heads in two.

K-k-k-k-krak—!

And Lea’s Aura flash-froze the remaining corpses where they stood.

Even with their vast numbers, the horde didn’t pose much of a threat.

However…

“The concentration of demonic energy is getting thicker.”

The demonic energy flowing from the fallen zombies was accumulating in the air like a malevolent fog.

For the living, it was poison. The others grimaced, pinching their noses against the acrid stench.

“We should hurry,” Lancelot said, his voice nasal as he fought against the toxic atmosphere.

He might look ridiculous, but he was right. We needed to move quickly.

Continued exposure to demonic energy could trigger Demonization in the others.

But not for me. For me, demonic energy was an elixir.

“Protect me, Sir Lancelot.”

I entrusted my safety to him, released my Aura, and closed my eyes.

I heard someone yelling beside me, demanding to know what I was doing, but I paid them no mind. A common man can never grasp the will of a genius.

His voice was of no concern to me.

With a deep breath, I focused my mind and began to feel the ambient demonic energy swirling around us.

Unlike extracting it from the red jewels, the demonic energy here was widely dispersed, almost as if its purpose was to infect. To absorb this kind of demonic energy, I first needed to broaden the range of my Dark Shift.

The whole first floor is too much. I’ll have to limit the radius to about a hundred meters around me.

Saaaaah…

I fixed the demonic energy in place, creating invisible threads of control. Simultaneously, I created a focal point within my body—a second heart—and began to draw the demonic energy toward it.

Fwooooosh—!

The demonic energy surged toward me like iron filings to a magnet. I caught it, compressing it into a sphere of concentrated energy.

The newly formed sphere began to move on its own, gathering more demonic energy with each pulse. I gradually expanded the absorption range, increasing the radius of my influence.

Finally…

Fwooooosh—!

A massive orb of demonic energy formed inside me, asserting its presence like a second sun burning in my chest.

“What is this?”

I heard gasps of astonishment around me, but I had no time to pay them any mind. 

If I simply maintained this state, my body could rupture and kill me.

With a groan, I focused.

Now, I push the compressed demonic energy into my Aura Heart!

It was like consuming dozens of red jewels at once. If the demonic energy were to detonate now, I would surely die.

But if this succeeds... I can reach mid-level Master!

My eyes bloodshot, I began to manipulate the demonic energy with desperation.

Zap! Zzzzzap!

My Aura Heart began to repel the demonic energy as they came into contact, but I ignored the resistance and forced it in like water through a broken dam.

Seconds crawled past, each heavier than the last.

“Kngh—!”

Black fluid seeped from my pores, and my Aura Heart vibrated violently, causing excruciating pain that threatened to tear me apart from within.

Now for the final step. I just need to use Willbreaker here!

Krrack!

The dregs of demonic energy clinging to my Aura Heart were instantly compressed and vanished like smoke.

Fwaaaaa—!

As if it had never been anything else, the demonic energy transformed into pure Aura and was stored in my Aura Heart.

And just like that, I reached mid-level Master.

“Hoo.”

I let out a long breath and opened my eyes.

Countless eyes were staring at me, every single one filled with utter disbelief.

I blinked at their expressions, suddenly aware of the profound silence that had fallen over the corridor.

“Huh... are all the monsters taken care of?”

“Yes, Captain. You took care of them all.”

I did?

I turned my head, looking around… and then I saw them.

The bodies of the Dead Walkers, drained of all demonic energy, were scattered across the floor like empty husks.

* * *

After we’d dealt with the zombies, my unit surrounded me and subjected me to a serious examination to determine if I was sane.

The reason was simple: no human who absorbed demonic energy should have been fine.

But when they found no signs of Demonization, they could only let out incredulous laughs and shake their heads in bewilderment.

Only then did they let me be, sighing in relief.

“What you all need most,” I said, “is a little more faith in me.”

“After seeing that? We’d be less a Taskforce and more just a pack of fanatics.”

What in the world had I looked like?

Since I hadn’t seen myself, I just shrugged and let the comment slide.

Anyway…

“No more monsters are appearing.” I looked around as I spoke.

With the demonic energy gone, the monsters in the vicinity seemed to have vanished completely.

At this rate, we could head straight for the first basement level.

“Let’s go down.” I rolled my stiff shoulders while giving that order.

Just then…

“Oh? They’re really here?”

“Really here?”

“But... they don’t look like Demonkin? Hmm, should we just kill them?”

“Kill them?”

Two boys appeared, walking slowly toward us.

When one spoke, the smaller one beside him would echo his words. It was as if they were two parts of a single being, sharing thoughts across an invisible connection.

“Are they criminals too?” Lancelot muttered dismissively.

But I knew. I knew they were monsters.

“…Prepare for battle.”

“Eh?”

“Didn’t you hear me?! Prepare for battle!” I cried, thrusting my hand out.

An arrow obeyed my gesture and shot forward, embedding itself in the hand of the boy who had appeared right in front of Lancelot.

Krrack!

“Whoa!” The boy blinked in surprise, then returned to his spot as if he’d simply teleported.

“You’re pretty strong, big man.”

He looked nothing more than a playful child, but the demonic energy he gave off rivaled the Fear Marquis. Slightly weaker, maybe.

But back then, I had Enoxia. She wasn’t here this time.

Which meant things were worse.

He’s at least on the level of one of the Twelve Nobles.

I maintained my tense posture and spoke with measured urgency. “Lea and I will take them on. The rest of you, provide support from the rear. And Hans.”

“Yes, sir!” Hans cried out, startled.

Being called upon by me in the middle of combat, he probably thought he’d done something wrong.

Normally, I would have smiled and reassured him, but there was no time for that now.

“Start making a poison. We need one that can dissolve demonic energy to win this.”

Hans’s eyes widened at the order to create a toxin that had never existed before.

“Wh-what do you mean?!”

“I’ll tell you about its properties. Ask me anything you need to, even while we’re fighting. Speak freely.”

I summoned my Aura and shouted, “Do you understand?!”

Boom!

A second arrow blocked the boy’s attack again.

“Aw, too bad.”

He grinned and retreated from Hans with fluid grace.

Simultaneously, the other boy twisted his body, his hand shooting out toward Lancelot.

“Bang.”

KABOOM!

A storm of demonic energy erupted from the boy’s hand like a miniature hurricane. 

Lancelot and Lea twisted their bodies to deflect it, but shards of demonic energy scattered like shrapnel, melting the floor where they landed with hissing acid.

“You little son of a—!” Lancelot snarled, charging the boy.

WHOOM!

His spear shot forward in a straight line, piercing the boy’s body with deadly precision.

But it was no use.

Krrk... krrr-kkk...!

The boy regenerated his body and pulled free from Lancelot’s spear as if the wound had never existed.

“Wow... this is Mithril, isn’t it? No wonder it hurt.”

“…Holy shit.” Lancelot bit his lip. He tried to use his Aura to suppress the flow of demonic energy, but—

“Ahahahaha!”

The boy laughed and leaped right over it. He soared through the air as if running on invisible steps, twisted mid-flight, and lashed out with his hand.

Crack—!

A sickening snap echoed through the hall as Lancelot’s shoulder gave way.

He was flung backward like a ragdoll.

“Gah!”

As Lancelot grunted in pain, Kai and Roxen charged forward to fill the gap.

A technique named for its power to slay the heavens themselves—an art so audacious it verged on blasphemy.

And now, it began to bloom in Kai’s hands, his daggers moving like extensions of divine wrath.

The sudden shift in atmosphere made one of the Demonkin boy’s eyes sparkle with delight.

“Wow... A human pulled this off? So fascinating!”

“Fascinating.”

The boys laughed, blocking Kai’s daggers with their arms.

Shk—!

Their limbs were severed clean—but they only laughed harder, demonic energy erupting from them like black flame.

Krrk. Krrr-kkk.

Their arms regenerated instantly, growing back even larger than before.

“Ta-da!”

The boys flourished their arms as if showing off a party trick.

But not for long.

A spear of blue Aura shot toward the boys, blazing with crystalline light.

Shwaaak!

One of the boys swung his hand, and a black curtain swallowed the spear like a hungry void.

“Oh? So close.”

The boy’s lips curled into a playful smile that was utterly out of place in the deadly confrontation.

“Roxen! Left flank!”

“On it.” Roxen charged, striking at the boy’s blind spot.

At the same time, Kai threw a dagger from the rear.

“Hiyah!” The other boy pressed the back of Roxen’s neck.

Crack!

Roxen was slammed into the floor with bone-jarring force.

“There are two of us, too. Remember that.”

The boys’ power wasn’t simply their demonic energy or their combat skills.

Connection.

They were two separate beings, yet they were one. Like a single entity with a divided consciousness, sharing perception and thought across space itself.

“I think they’re a single entity,” Lea said, her eyes narrowed as she gripped her sword. “We might have to take them down at the same time.”

“…That would be impossible with this team,” I said.

“We’ll have to try. While we wait for the poison Hans is making.”

Lea’s eyes flickered to Hans. I did the same.

For a fleeting moment, I saw Hans frowning, his lips moving in silent calculation.

“Captain! Demonic energy—what’s its structure?”

“Structure?”

“I mean its effects and side effects when ingested!”

Ah, that was simple.

“Convulsions and an awakening effect. Demonic energy tends to cling near the heart, feeding on life force.”

I passed on what I knew to Hans. He bit his lip, already trying to devise a solution.

“Then what if I, no. If I do this here...! Dammit!”

Anyone else might have failed, but Hans would surely create a poison to dissolve demonic energy. He had his past studies, and more importantly, he had a talent for pharmacology that bordered on genius.

“We’ll hold them off in the meantime.”

I returned focus to the Demonkin boys, reading my arrows.

Fwooooosh—!

The arrows transformed, taking on the forms of a saber-toothed tiger and a serpent-dragon, their ethereal bodies crackling with divine energy.

“I’ll provide cover, Lea,” I muttered.

I unleashed my divine beasts on the Demonkin.

Shraaak!

The second battle in Lovan Tree Prison had begun.