Chapter 14

13. How to Understand Diemonica

“Heretic…xx… cut! The path···xxx··· ···sheep!!”

The young man who dramatically fell from the second-floor window executed a stylish landing and immediately shouted something upon standing up. Of course, there was no way the guards, who were quite a distance away, could hear him clearly.

Despite falling from a two-story building while wearing armor, his movements were incredibly agile. The guards cautiously kept an eye on him.

“Did he just roll three and a half times after falling from the second floor?”

“I heard assassins are almost as big as ogres?”

“Me too. I heard they just smash through the front. What about me?”

As the guards began to murmur, a noble who seemed to be the squad leader shouted from atop his horse.

“Quiet! Quiet! Stop it! Raise your spears! Don’t let him escape!”

“Did you hear what he just said?”

“···It doesn’t matter! The interrogation will be conducted at the main office! Where’s the assault team?”

“It’s been a while since the 1st team went in, but no one has come out yet!”

“Useless! It doesn’t matter. The assassin who killed the captain is right in front of us!”

The noble shouted, drawing his command sword and pointing at the man. The man slowly rose to his feet, loosening his wrists. From within his robe, the young man’s eyes gleamed.

-Sssshhhh!!

The young man’s arm drew a rough arc. Soon, something shot out from his fingertips. A flash of light connected the young man to the noble-

-Wheeeeeee!!

The sudden shock caused the noble’s horse to rear up in surprise. The noble, who had been on the horse, fell without a word—not even a scream.

“C-Captain?”

“My lord?”

-Thud.

“Eeeeeeek!!!!”

A dagger was embedded in the noble’s head! As the guards recoiled in shock, a man in a robe slowly approached from afar.

“Rise, demon.”

“A, a demon!!”

“No, not me. I’m an Inquisition Officer!”

-Crunch…

As the young man spoke, the noble’s corpse twitched. Soon, the sound of the captain’s skin melting and bones crumbling could be heard. The guards turned pale and stepped back.

-Oh? Faceless?

‘He’s quite big.’

The noble’s body completely turned into mush, and a shapeless monster with ashen, decaying skin slowly rose. A foul stench of sulfur and rotting flesh emanated from it.

“It’s a monsteeeeer!!!!!!!!”

“Aaaaaah!!!!!!”

“Call the prieeeeest!!!!!!!”

The guards threw down their weapons and scattered in all directions. Faceless, the scout of Hell. A demon with near-perfect mimicry abilities and the power to absorb the knowledge of those it devours.

-If Faceless infiltrated as a noble…

‘It means the city’s administrative office is completely corrupt. Well, that’s just great.’

-Swish

Fernandez drew the greatsword strapped to his back. The weight felt reassuring. Faceless slowly crawled toward Fernandez with glowing eyes.

[Stay still. I’ll make it quick.]

“Thanks for the warm words!”

-Whoosh!!

Fernandez swung his greatsword at the creature’s head. Its body turned into a slimy substance, and the blade passed through it weakly.

As Fernandez momentarily lost his balance from the missed swing, Faceless seized the opportunity and lunged at him.

Faceless’s slimy flesh clung to Fernandez’s back. The flesh seeped through the gaps in his clothes and began to stick to his skin.

-Sssss…

Faceless’s flesh began to melt Fernandez’s skin. Faceless chuckled.

[Your flesh… is mine!]

“Gotcha.”

-Fwip!

In an instant, Fernandez’s hand plunged into Faceless’s flesh.

-Crunch.

[Grrrrrr??!!!]

“These formless things are always such a pain.”

In Fernandez’s grip was a small, black, glowing stone pulled from within Faceless’s flesh.

Faceless’s body trembled violently. As Fernandez tightened his grip, cracks began to form in the creature’s core.

[Grrrrr!!!!]

-Crack!

‘I don’t know why they’re so confident when they’re non-combatants.’

-Demons are usually confident around this time. They haven’t been on the surface much, so they haven’t been defeated often.

‘Ugh, disgusting.’

The sensation of Faceless’s flesh sliding off was horrifying. Fernandez shivered as he peeled off the chunks of flesh. His melted skin began to regenerate rapidly.

-The administrative office is the enemy. The army will be here soon.

‘Politics in civilized society isn’t our business.’

Enmagika and Heretica would handle the cleanup. Diemonica’s duty was solely the extermination of demons and the destruction of heresy… Fernandez smiled as he walked toward the alley.

*

The essence of a dungeon lies in its traps, monsters, and atmosphere. Actually, the latter is more important. Fernandez felt a bit disappointed as he destroyed the underground sewer.

Was it because his expectations were too high? Maybe he overestimated Dreadrizerd. The atmosphere was good, but there were no monsters, and the traps were at the level of petty thieves. Even…

‘There’s no puzzle!’

A dungeon created by a dark mage or a heretical cult should have puzzles. A test of wisdom that denies entry without the right solution! Isn’t that the core of a dungeon?

Thus, it was easily bypassed by simply destroying springs or undermining the foundation. If anything, this dungeon was D-grade!

“Dreadrizerd wasn’t supposed to be this shabby…”

-At this time, they’re just a small faction.

“Oh, right?”

Well, they were…


The real turning point for proper growth was actually after failing and fleeing from the city of Gloridaine. Taking over the city’s administrative office might have been the best they could do at their level.

‘Honestly, even that much is pretty impressive.’

– Kirhas was so impactful that even the Demdrizard guys might have gotten some attention.

“Well, Kirhas was a big deal, after all.”

Kirhas Hearttaker. The greatest warlord among the beastmen of the Temple of the Gods, a major noble who built the largest faction.

The Great War happened in her later years, but even then, the [Kirhas Heartsickers] she personally led were a legion that could rival any knight order.

If she were to grow in a proper environment? She would have developed into a force capable of delaying the apocalypse by several years.

“Looking forward to it.”

But Faijashi said nothing. Lately, there had been frequent moments when Fernandez and Faijashi’s ways of thinking diverged.

Did they take all his madness? Or was it because he lacked a physical body? It was hard to pinpoint the cause, but it wasn’t an immediate concern.

“Well, this tedious sewer is finally coming to an end, huh?”

– Structurally, it seems so.

Assuming they had traveled almost in a straight line, they were now right in front of the central sewer of the slave market.

If Demdrizard’s influence didn’t span the entire city, they should have emerged by now.

‘This must be the place they wanted to hide, even building a dungeon for it.’

And it was highly likely to be a demon summoning altar.

Fernandez laughed as he looked at the crudely carved stone gate resembling a demon with crocodile-like features. To add some atmosphere, they had embedded red glass into the statue’s eyes.

“Bingo.”

Now, the Inquisition Officer enters. Fernandez chuckled inwardly.

*

– Screeeech…

The stone gate groaned as it was pushed open. Fernandez’s arm muscles bulged as he forced the heavy stone gate open.

“Wh-what the hell?!”

“What were the guards even doing?!”

“Damn it, damn it! An Inquisition Officer?!”

Fernandez pinched his nose at the stench of blood and looked at the men shouting. Suspicious men in black robes stared at him, holding blood-stained obsidian daggers.

“Well, well. Demdrizard~ When did you figure out my identity?”

“Damn it!”

– Swoosh!

As one man swung his dagger, droplets of blood transformed into a red serpent. The snake lunged at Fernandez in an instant.

– Crunch!

Fernandez swung his fist, smashing the snake and shaking it off.

“You punched [Kaletush’s Red Serpent]?!”

The men stared at Fernandez in shock. He laughed, cracking his knuckles.

“Now I get why the Diemonica guys fought like this in their past lives.”

“Eek! Sadarkelisa! Grant me power!”

– Swoosh!!

As the man screamed and swung his sword, a red crocodile leaped from the pool of blood on the floor and lunged at Fernandez. Fernandez drew his two-handed sword and struck the crocodile’s head.

– Thud!

“Too easy. I might get addicted.”

“Eeeek!!! You monster!!!”

As Fernandez chuckled and approached, the men frantically stabbed a corpse on the altar with their daggers.

“Ah, ah, stop right there. Tearing that apart won’t bring out anything significant.”

“Buy us some time!”

“Yes, Bishop!”

At the man’s command, two other heretics gripped their daggers tightly and charged at Fernandez. Fernandez’s eyes twitched. How dare they?

“A mage trying to brawl? How dare you?”

Fernandez’s fist swung at the first man’s head. Or rather, it tried to. The man caught Fernandez’s fist mid-air!

“Oh?”

In the brief moment of surprise, the other man leaped and swung his fist at Fernandez. His robe slipped, revealing his face.

“Huh???”

The man had the face of a lizard. Yellow eyes flashed, and his muscular frame was visible through the wide robe.

“Die!!!!”

– Crash!

“Eh?!”

The man’s large, scaly fist struck Fernandez’s jaw. Fernandez staggered, his head reeling from the impact.

‘These guys, did they implant demons into their bodies??’

How do they plan to handle the aftermath…? Demons aren’t benevolent neighbors who just lend power. A demon implanted in the body slowly consumes the flesh, destroys the host’s mind, and then laughs. The soul will melt into the sixth realm, becoming the lowest minion.

Even a desperate demon summoner wouldn’t do this. Fernandez was more shocked by their ignorance than by the fact that they were ‘brawling’ mages.

They had signed the worst possible contract with a demon.

“Ah, poor things…”

Fernandez kicked the half-demon holding his arm.

– Bang!

“Ugh!”

As the men backed off and began to circle him, Fernandez slowly raised his two-handed sword.

“I’ll make you repent while your soul is still closer to human.”

“Swoosh!!!”

The demon summoner screamed with a serpent-like voice and charged. Fernandez slightly crouched and swung his two-handed sword horizontally. Red blood splattered everywhere.

“Faijashi. I think I understand the Diemonica guys now.”

– Ah, well.

“When you’re strong, your mind gets comfortable!”

Perhaps the Diemonica of the Inquisition Office became too strong, making their minds too comfortable? Fernandez smirked and took a stance with his greatsword.

He felt a powerful divinity pulsing through his veins. It seeped into his muscles and tendons, generating an explosive output that defied his size.

The weight of the two-handed sword swayed at the end of his arm. In that brief moment, he saw the half-lizard demon summoner opening its mouth toward him.

The man’s thigh muscles tensed, springing forward like a slow-motion scene. Time seemed compressed, and Fernandez felt almost ecstatic.

A sensation entirely different from the pleasure of reaching the secrets of magic. The extreme tension and muscle fatigue, dopamine and endorphins hitting his crown… he savored it.

– Slash!

He swung his sword again at the demon summoner charging on all fours.

– Crash!

And flesh flew.

*