The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Amy, returning from Blade Mountain to the capital, was in shock.

‘A base with Demon Bishops…’

The moment she heard that sound from Blade Mountain, she doubted her ears.

They were planning to raid the Demon Church’s base, but it wasn’t just any base; it was one housing Demon Bishops.

– To think about directly hitting the Bishops…

Even her companion was taken aback by that bold idea.

While they were unyielding against demons, it seemed they hadn’t considered storming into a place where Bishops were hiding.

‘Atlas had easily defeated Belphegor’s Demon Bishop before, though.’

– The Demon Bishops are Demons who have formed direct contracts with Great Demons, so their powers can be limitedly utilized.

Just as Belphegor’s minion used the Power of Domination, the other Bishops could use corresponding powers as well.

If it came down to a one-on-one, the Master would undoubtedly be stronger than the Demon Bishop.

However, no matter how strong the Master was, fighting in a favorable nest for them would be quite burdensome…

Thinking back to when Amy had faced Belphegor’s Demon Bishop during the Hunting Festival, her body still shrank.

Whether it was thanks to her companion or the training she had undergone since childhood, she hadn’t fallen victim to the Power of Domination, but she had been completely lost during the encounter.

There was fear about how the Principal and instructors had to be dealt with, the countless monsters pouring in, and the sudden potential control of team members.

If they had a plan, those who possessed the ability to manipulate a perfectly healthy person with just a flick of a finger were the Demon Bishops.

– There are Great Demons with weaknesses, but many are not.

‘One day, I might have to face a Demon Bishop too.’

– That was based on the assumption that we create a favorable situation and can catch them off-guard. In a way, Belphegor’s Demon Bishop crawling into the Black Forest was a similar scenario.

– No… Now might actually be an opportunity… maybe? The fact that they’re hiding in silence suggests they don’t have the confidence to face the Master head-on…

I see… Typically, at this point, the Master, who sees the Demon Church as serious… the Master who argues for a preemptive strike… the Master who actually knew how to find them… was all absent.

Suddenly, her companion lowered their voice and started mumbling to themselves.

-……………….

‘What’s with them all of a sudden? Say something.’

Then, suddenly, her companion stopped speaking.

After a moment of deep thought, her companion continued.

– I’ve changed my mind. Considering various situations, I’ve concluded that the plan is valid. The important thing is how much Atlas knows about the Demon Bishops.

‘… Is that possible?’

– He easily took down Belphegor’s Demon Bishop without much effort. If we manage well… it could be very possible. We can help.

Convinced by her companion’s words, Amy grabbed Atlas’s wrist.

“What’s wrong?”

“How much do you know about Atlas’s Demon Bishops?”

“Enough to take them down.”

Atlas replied flatly.

Given that he had calmly dealt with the Power of Domination, it was clear he possessed considerable knowledge about the Demon Bishops.

Basic information about each Demon Bishop could be learned easily by working alongside the Church.

“I’ll share everything I know about the Demon Bishop. So let’s make sure we’re well-prepared.”

“Uh… oh? Thank you.”

———————————-

Thank goodness, they had detected strong traces of demons at the designated location set by Circe’s necromancy.

By narrowing down the area quite confidently, they would quickly realize what was there with just a bit of investigation.

‘Good thing it was there; I’d have been embarrassed if it wasn’t.’

If it hadn’t been there after confidently pinpointing it, it would have taken an eternity to find a new suspected location.

With Circe’s necromancy, I and Amy began work immediately upon identifying the approximate locations of the Demon Bishops in Blade Mountain.

With the intention to finish things quickly, my actions were very swift.

I retrieved Casey from the capital after finishing the investigation with the Church Country and used an emergency communication Artifact to contact the church in the area I had mentioned to the Saintess.

Once the Demon Bishops were taken down, it was clear that all the rest would be nothing but rabble, so just a moderate level of suppression would be sufficient.

At that moment, Casey, who was listening to the operation details, tilted her head and said.

“You’re going to catch the Demon Bishops? There’s the Knights’ Headquarters in front, should we bring a few of the idle ones too? I saw they were all peaceful earlier.”

“Casey, are you a genius? Whose daughter are you that you’re so smart??”

Exaggeratingly surprised, I ruffled Casey’s hair, and she shot me a fierce glare.

“… Are you kidding me?”

“Oh, I absolutely couldn’t do that, no way.”

While there were some executives like the ones I saw earlier who couldn’t go on missions and just acted as face cards, I couldn’t use them.

If I had intended to use them, I would have asked them first.

“Why??”

“Just because they’re Expert-level doesn’t mean they’re all great. Most of those guys don’t even know what a Demon Bishop is and could become obstacles after falling victim to their powers.”

“… That makes sense.”

If I took them along and they fell under the Power of Domination or some seductive power, they would just be a burden.

These muscle-bound fools would be better left behind, and it would be more prudent to simply request more holy knights from the Church.

“So what about me? Do I have resistance too?”

“You and Amy haven’t fallen under Belphegor’s Demon Bishop’s domination, right? Everyone just doesn’t realize it; you both have some degree of resistance.”

“Is that so?”

It seemed Casey was able to agree after a bit.

I’m not sure why I have that resistance, but it might be related to the facilities we discovered in the Demon Church.

“Atlas, then let’s get everything we need ready before we head out on the official search.”

.

.

.

Amy actively assisted in preparing to hunt the Demon Bishops.

There were several pieces of information I didn’t know, which seemed like they could be used effectively down the line.

As expected, the depth of knowledge was different from mine, which was somewhat shallow due to just skimming through a novel.

The capital of the Empire has a lot to offer, so upon Amy’s advice about not knowing which Demon Bishops we might encounter, we prepared thoroughly and moved to the designated area to begin our search.

Since the Demon Church’s security barrier reacts nervously to ‘Holy Power,’ we left behind all the holy items we were wearing as we proceeded with our search.

The first place we found was a mountainous area located southeast based on the capital, and the second was a plain that came up after passing two territories from there.

No matter how hidden, it’s fairly easy to identify places where people pass through.

Unless we teleported every single time, signs of people coming and going would remain.

As soon as I pinpointed the location, I snuck in to verify if it was indeed a hideout, then summoned the church’s forces to wait outside the barrier.

The aim of this operation was to attack both locations nearly simultaneously, so Casey and Amy also positioned themselves differently from one another.

Here was the plan.

I would go in and disable the security system and then start taking down the demon worshippers inside, beginning with the most dangerous ones, while Amy or Casey would lead the church reinforcements to clean up the rest.

When sneaking into a place suspected to be a base, the first thing I checked was the symbols present within the facility.

The Demon Church is not a religious group serving a single god like the Church, but rather each serves their own Great Demon.

The Great Demons that dominate Hell each have different symbols.

The Belphegor I caught before had a donkey, Beelzebub had a fly, and Leviathan was associated with a mermaid, as each symbol varied depending on the Great Demon they served.

‘A donkey?’

While investigating the bases, what was shocking was that the most significant traces were found at the location where Belphegor’s Demon Bishop resided.

Not in the past tense, but in the present continuous tense.

The Demon Bishop I had killed hadn’t resurrected or anything; a new Demon Bishop had appeared and taken control of that place.

It hadn’t been long since I killed him, but they had somehow created a new one already.

First, I tidied up that place, entrusted the cleanup to Casey, and then moved on to the next location to repeat the same process.

The other one was the location where Beelzebub’s Demon Bishop, bearing the symbol of a fly, resided.

Fortunately, I had firsthand experience facing Belphegor, and Beelzebub had a more obvious weakness than any other Great Demon.

I was confident I could deal with both of them quickly, so I resolved to take them both down at once.

Thanks to using teleportation, I could strike the next location right after finishing the first, making it a viable plan.

Teleportation is so nice.

Being able to go anywhere without leaving a trace is something the Commander can’t even do.

“… Are we all set?”

“Yeah.”

Having confirmed the locations where the Demon Bishops resided and the types of their powers, Amy and I quickly got prepared for battle.

If the two Demon Bishops fell in an instant, even if the Demon Church was filled with crazy people, they would feel fear.

I hope so.