The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

[The Demon Bishop Belphegor has been defeated. He fought valiantly and met a glorious end. His soul will live on beside the Great Demon Lord.]

Not long after, the Demon Bishops gathered urgently.

Though there were two vacant seats for the defeated Demon Bishop Belphegor and the unconnected Demon Bishop Beelzebub, that wasn’t a big issue.

In truth, it was rare for all the Demon Bishops to gather for a meeting.

It was more common for one or two to miss out.

Even so, it was uncommon to see them all here again like this.

And that meant something urgent was happening.

One of the Bishops had died.

[So, who will be the next to topple the Academy?]

Someone, angered by the idea that one Demon Bishop had fallen yet Satan’s Demon Bishop was still acting high and mighty in the center, spoke up.

[The reason infiltration into the Academy has been easy until now is that it’s an area untouched by the Church Country, thus not well-defended.

This is already our third invasion. No matter how lazy and pig-like the Empire might be, with this amount of banging, they have to move their heavy behinds…

Even though we’ve failed three times already, it will only get harder from here on.

I ask again: What is the reason we must focus so much on the Academy?]

The speaker was the Demon Bishop Leviathan.

He was always irritated by how Satan’s Demon Bishop acted as if he was the leader, but he genuinely believed that attacking the Academy now was foolish.

It was clear that even the most useful, Power of Domination-wielding Demon Bishop Belphegor had failed there, and it would be even tougher moving forward.

[If this is a plan to concentrate all efforts on the Academy and then expand our influence at other vulnerable points, then I would follow it without question.

But attempting a frontal assault, knowing it won’t work, is sheer incompetence.]

[It’s no different from before. I am only conveying Satan’s will.]

Leviathan gritted his teeth.

There it was again—Satan’s will.

[Satan has seen the future. The burning Academy, the Emperor clad in mourning alongside the five pillars; the Empire’s collapse begins with the Academy’s fall. When the Academy’s students are dying and the entire Empire is in despair, that will be the time for revolution.]

[Then, can’t we push that time back a bit?! Now is the time to retreat!]

[The time of the prophecy is this year. We must see it through this year to bring Hell to this world. Satan has made it abundantly clear.]

[But…!! We, the attackers, are in complete disarray! The church faction following Belphegor has lost its Bishop and is on the brink of collapse—who will step up now!!]

Demon Bishops aren’t easy to come by.

As the contract holders of the Great Demon, the Demon Bishops are quite different from regular demons.

Finding a vessel that can accept the Great Demon is tough, and the contract with a Great Demon takes time.

A mere human trying to make a contract would have to offer more from their side due to the significant difference in what each party possesses.

Finding Belphegor’s next contractor is the priority—how can we think about an invasion?

[Ah, are you worried about the Bishop’s disappearance? That’s not an issue…]

Satan’s Demon Bishop said calmly as if that were nothing to be concerned about.

[Do you think I would not have prepared for such a possibility? Come out.]

As he spoke, the empty seat of Belphegor flickered back to life.

[Let’s introduce someone new—yesterday, they became Belphegor’s new contractor.]

[W-What… how…?!]

It had barely been a week since Demon Bishop Belphegor died.

Everyone was shaken by the fact that Belphegor’s new contractor had already appeared.

[Satan has had my back. If you try and do it alone, it’s going to take time; if you help one another, it can be done far more easily.]

No matter how much they helped, it wouldn’t be something that could be resolved in just a day or two.

Clearly, it had been prepared in advance.

[You… You weren’t planning to include us too…?]

It was when the chilling realization of Leviathan’s plan dawned on him.

[Intruder!! Stop them!!!]

There was a ruckus on Belphegor’s side.

It seemed outside noise had mixed into the meeting.

[Satan’s Demon Bishop… it seems we have an intruder. To familiarize myself with Belphegor’s powers, I’ll take care of it shortly.]

[Good… show the divine watchdogs what the Power of Domination is about.]

The newly appointed Demon Bishop of Belphegor reported like some subordinate to Satan’s Demon Bishop and then disappeared.

Though they didn’t vocalize it, everyone seemed to have the same thought.

[Zap!]

[Crack!!!!]

The sounds of struggle echoed from where Belphegor had been.

It sounded like a fierce fight was underway.

But it felt a bit strange.

If the Power of Domination was being used correctly, it shouldn’t be this noisy for so long.

It was only a few minutes later that his seat filled again.

[Hoo… I’ve been delayed; it seems the Knights have arrived too?]

The Demon Bishop of Belphegor seemed to have returned, and Satan’s Demon Bishop spoke up.

[Ah… ah, I see how it is now.]

[[[[?!!!!]]]]

But the voice that came through was from someone entirely different.

A distorted, crackling voice resonated throughout the meeting room.

[Looks like we’re meeting for the first time, trash!]

—————————————————-

As soon as I used teleportation, my field of view shifted.

I found myself in front of a powerful protective magic barrier set to trigger alarms that I had observed earlier.

‘Upsh!’

The barrier was powered by strong protective magic, but with a single swipe of my Aura Blade, it shattered.

I disabled it, signaling the outside, and quickly sought out the Demon Bishops residing in this facility.

Even though it was a facility where Demon Bishops stayed, it wasn’t that large due to the nature of their secretive, small-scale gatherings, meaning available movement space was limited.

After killing a few demons that rushed out, the noise began to arise in another direction.

It seemed that forces from Amy and the nearby church teleported in response to the alarm I had triggered.

Picking up the pace, I spotted a figure that resembled a Demon Bishop standing in the center of a magic circle.

Finally, I found him.

“Intruder..?!”

Noticing my entrance, the man clad in thick robes looked back at me.

A mask with large, overlapping eyes was placed on his face.

“Die!!”

I must act first.

Before he could do anything, my white-hot Aura Blade sliced through his torso.

Or at least I thought it did.

‘There’s no satisfaction in that.’

The Aura Blade, set to cleave anything, was merely cutting through empty air.

-WHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

“Hehe… So you’re the Master…!! How dare you invade this place!”

The voice of the Demon Bishop wearing a fly mask echoed from all directions.

The annoying sound irritated my ears.

The source of the noise was the incessant buzzing of countless flies.

His form had transformed into a swarm of thousands, even millions, of flies.

I had aimed to kill him before he could utilize his power, but it appeared he had already done so.

‘The plan to take him down before he could use his power is scrapped!’

With Beelzebul’s power, he could transform his entire body into a mass of insects.

He could emit all sorts of insects, from the normal ones in this world to those from Hell.

Though a demonic power, it dealt no damage to holy energy, proliferating faster than he could die, engulfing everything in his path.

That was the Power of Gluttony that Beelzebub possessed.

“If that’s the case, I should have brought a fly swatter instead of a sword.”

“C-Can you underestimate me just because I’m wearing a fly mask…!! You move just like a mere swordsman!!”

Now that he had used his power, it would be difficult to take him down with just a sword.

No matter how many I could slice through, Beelzebub would multiply faster than I could kill them.

“I’ll devour everything without leaving so much as a bone behind!!!”

The swarm of flies filled the room, closing in from all directions.

The flies, transformed into hellish insects via Beelzebub’s power, were not simple. They could even tear apart animal flesh.

“Ugh, I really hate bugs.”

But this was all part of my expectation.

As the swarm of insects rushed toward me, I lessened my control over the Aura Blade, allowing a single beam of white-hot energy to grow thicker.

It shifted to resemble the superior Aura Blades of top-tier experts.

Though its output was much stronger.

“Gah!”

As I swung the thick Aura Blade, tens of thousands of flies were sucked into the blade’s qi, vanishing as if they were erased.

However, even if it felt like I had slain all the flies in the room with that one strike, they weren’t all dead; they quickly multiplied again.

“Such primitive attacks will not wound this Gluttony power! I’ll watch how long you can keep defending yourself.”

“Seems like I’m in for a long fight.”

As the Demon Bishop Beelzebub remarked, this would clearly be an endless battle.

Just using blades wouldn’t suffice; I ought to rely on what I’d prepared earlier.

“I may not have a fly swatter, but I do have insecticide.”

After wiping out another wave of flies, I fetched an object that I had tucked at my waist.

Though it didn’t seem like anything special at first glance.

The object resembled a small drum, and on its own, it wasn’t a remarkable artifact.

Its function was simply to disperse a solution stored inside in the form of fog.

As soon as I pulled the safety pin, thick green mist erupted from the drum’s end, spreading wide.

“Do you really think some crappy drug can do anything…!!”

-PUSHUUUUUUUUU

Compared to the overwhelming swarm of flies, the mist escaped helplessly, but it spread rapidly.

The room soon filled with a green fog.

And the effects showed almost immediately.

“ACK!!!!”

The flies began to scream in agony,

The swarm of flies, writhing and thrashing, started to cluster together and revert to their original form.

“What… what is that…!!!”

White foam oozed out from between the gaps in Beelzebub’s mask.

It looked like he was foaming at the mouth.

He was likely being paralyzed and could barely speak.

It seemed he didn’t even understand why he was being bested.

Normally, the best strategy against a Demon Bishop like Beelzebub, who possessed such powerful powers, was to maintain a strike using holy energy to prevent the multiplication of his swarm, employing a unit of Paladins to focus their attacks on him to hinder his growth.

However, the truth was that the Demon Bishop Beelzebub had a considerable fatal weakness.

Although his Gluttony power suffered no damage from holy energy, it was weak to a specific insecticide mixed with basic pest control magic acquired at a black magic shop in the capital alley.

Since he had never been in a situation to encounter it, he probably didn’t even know his own weakness.

Even the Great Demon Beelzebub likely knew of it but chose not to inform him.

The ‘Hellish Dry Weeds’ that were an ingredient in the pest control were actually a carnivorous plant that grows in Hell.

This plant produces a ‘paralyzing toxin’ which is extremely effective against the insects in Hell; Satan had even used it to defeat Beelzebub in their Hellish power struggle.

Since it was a plant that thrived only in Hell, he probably believed it was out of reach here.

Who could have imagined it would circulate as pocket change in a back alley?

But in the original story, a scholar eventually uncovered this, and Hayden inherited that knowledge to take down Beelzebub.

Beelzebub had lost to a future he had yet to experience.

“I don’t need to dwell on that.”

Even if I caught his weakness, there was no time to relax.

If I let my guard down and he turns into a demon, it could turn troublesome.

I swung the Aura Blade with all my might at the Demon Bishop Beelzebub, who was twitching in paralyzed spasms.

“I’ll send you to keep him company.”

A white line etched out in the dark room, and his head rolled away, separating from his body.

Without the ability to use powers, Beelzebub was nothing but a mere demon.

Quickly finishing off the Demon Bishop Beelzebub, I moved to the base and, just like before, shattered the alarm barrier and contacted those waiting outside to begin the operation.

This time, it ended much faster than Beelzebub’s stronghold.

Outside, I could hear screams and the clash of weapons.

And it sounded like Casey’s telekinetic magic was dazzlingly at work.

“Considering the preparation, this wrapped up rather easily.”

The room I was in was continued to be dark and uncomfortable.

Having to live in such a place turns everyone’s character into that kind of mold; I wondered if they knew that.

On the floor lay the remains of someone who had just been a person, along with a horned mask that had belonged to the Demon Bishop Belphegor I had erased days ago.

Surprisingly, I had thought it would take time for a new contractor to form, yet they were ready so quickly.

With the influence of Belphegor’s new contract, this location had clearly been the most distinct, allowing for a swift find.

‘Foolish intruder, you should kneel before the power of Belphegor!’

Hearing garbage like that, I immediately obliterated them from head to toe.

Though it seemed they were about to cast a power, my attack came first.

Unlike the previous Demon Bishop, this one hadn’t prepared any transfer techniques to inflict damages, and fell in one blow.

“What’s this?”

Relieved that this was resolved quickly, I surveyed the room where the Demon Bishop once stood and found a suspicious magic circle right in the center.

It seemed to still be active, as magic energy was seeping out, leading me to wonder if they were perhaps summoning a demon, so I moved closer but it appeared different.

I could hear a voice coming from within.

‘Say it isn’t so…?’

I’d heard that before.

It was said Demon Bishops would hold meetings using special communication mediums without directly meeting in person.

I braced myself and stepped onto the center, where I felt my senses twist.

Sight and sound transported to another location.

There were many people gathered in that space, but all of them were indistinguishable to me.

Seeing that made it clear what the situation was.

It looked just like the scene of the Demon Bishops’ meetings described in novels.

The shadows, like phantoms, were glaring at me, but none knew I had arrived yet.

“Ah… ah, I see how it works now.”

Remembering their positions, I decided to provoke them.

“Hey, trash! It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”