The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 412

All the Great Demons were gathered there, responding to Satan’s call.

Though they were sharing a world called Hell, their bonds weren’t particularly close, but Satan tempted them with the stories they desired most.

He showed them how he would help them fully descend into the human world, a thing they had longed for but deemed impossible for various reasons, starting with Asmodeus’ descent.

[The last piece has come together. In just three days, anyone can fully descend.]

I could tell something was off, but it was undeniable that the main body had descended completely.

To influence the human world, the method was to corrupt a contractor and use them as a medium to descend into this realm.

It was a rather interesting idea.

[The fact that the descent happened is real, so just play along. What do you want?]

[I have no additional desires. Just keep the agreement we made to invade this world, and there won’t be any problems.]

Satan didn’t demand anything from the Great Demons in exchange for their full descent.

The agreement they made long ago to invade the human world was a simple promise to cooperate in attacking humans as much as possible.

Before discovering this world, they had been fighting endlessly in Hell, fighting over territory, so the very idea of cooperation was somewhat miraculous.

In terms of results, Satan had broken the promise.

Despite promising a complete descent, he abruptly cut off the ritual to protect himself as soon as things got dangerous.

[This debt must be repaid.]

[Ugh… At this rate, I’m no different than a fallen human.]

The Great Demons frowned at their imperfectly descended forms.

.

.

.

Satan was confident in his plans.

Having succeeded in an experiment using Asmodeus, he had developed a method to descend the main body of the Great Demons into the world with much less preparation than before.

It was clear that what he had seen was destined to happen.

Since it worked perfectly with everything he prepared as predicted by his foresight, there was no doubt.

Satan was convinced that all fortune flowed toward him.

The other Great Demons were also interested in the full descent, so they decided to follow along, and preparations would be complete in just a little time.

It was somewhat unexpected that Asmodeus lost to the Master after Leviathan, but he knew Master’s were not pushovers.

He realized that during the ongoing ritual, but what could they do about it anyway?

As long as the door created using the artifact found in the ruins of the Snow Country was open, demons would pour out endlessly.

While they might be able to hold back temporarily, in a war of attrition, Satan was sure they would win.

With the Church Country’s capacity, they could only send one unit of knights, but the demons pouring out from the door wouldn’t be easily stopped by that.

After all, Masters are humanity’s protectors.

Unlike Great Demons, who could survive alone, they are social creatures who cannot turn a blind eye to their attacked kin.

He never expected that the crazy Masters would charge in even when their main base was under attack.

‘Then… let’s awaken the Great Demons.’

Satan was taken aback, but he thought it was completely possible.

Fortunately, all the Great Demons except Satan were gathered here.

All were conducting the ritual for a complete descent just like Satan.

Though not all the rituals had been completed yet… if he awakened them now, they would be strong enough to contest with the Masters.

The clash between the Masters and Great Demons began.

As the four Great Demons ruling Hell faced off against the three mightiest Masters of humanity, bright light shone in the dim underground chamber.

‘Is one missing?’

There should have been three Masters here, but only two were present.

“Were you looking for me?”

[Ugh?!]

Satan sensed a sharp killing intent from behind.

There were no signs of a barrier being torn, so how did they get in here?

—————————————-

It was surprising how many Great Demons had diminished, along with the Masters being fewer in number.

There were originally seven entities, but two of them were dead, and one was hiding over there, so almost half were gone.

If they had launched a total offensive, it might have been quite easy.

While it was true that the Masters were at a disadvantage, strangely, we didn’t feel outnumbered at all.

“It’s a bit lacking, but it’s not a big deal, is it?”

“I thought the Great Demons would be amazing, but they’re nothing special!”

In the chaos of battle, my Master appeared as if there were two of him.

He wasn’t moving faster; rather, he had genuinely split into two with skills equal to his own.

I didn’t know the principle, but it was a law set by my Master that allowed him to create a clone with identical abilities.

If a Great Demon faced off against a Master one-on-one, various complex factors would be entangled, but it was obvious that the Great Demon would have a significant advantage once its powers were utilized.

However, most of them couldn’t even use their powers properly.

One of the Great Demons, Belphegor, was said to possess the power of domination over anything, but after facing his Demon Bishop last time, it became clear that he could only dominate beings below a certain level.

In other words, his power didn’t work on the Masters at all.

Belphegor, who had lost to me due to that fact, showed signs of reluctance to fight.

And Beelzebub, who possessed the pesky power of swarming, also hesitated to use his powers.

“Where do you think you’re messing around?!”

[You… human!!]

The instant the fight began, I unleashed a lethal insecticide mist toward the disintegrated Beelzebub, the same way I had previously used it against the Demon Bishop.

Even a Great Demon fundamentally resonates with insects.

Magic with properties that deal considerable damage to insect-like monsters or demons dealt a heavy blow to Beelzebub, who had weak durability due to being swarmed.

Beelzebub, who multiplied infinitely, had the advantage of being able to continue multiplying despite being killed repeatedly, but if his clones couldn’t survive even just one second within the insecticide mist, then that narrative changes.

If it were an open area, he would’ve been invincible, but this was undoubtedly a cave.

No matter how large it was, there was only one entrance, and in a place where ventilation was poor, my released mist could not escape, continually bothering Beelzebub.

In the end, he had no choice but to give up maintaining his power and transform into a massive fly.

Now, the variables were only Mammon and Lucifer, but neither possessed a power capable of overturning the situation.

Lucifer had an enhancement power he could use to convert darkness into strength, while Mammon, as a demon who amplified people’s greed to move as he wished, wouldn’t help directly in a battle.

Manipulative powers won’t work against the Masters.

Ultimately, they were left with no choice but to rely on Lucifer alone to fight.

“I came here thinking it would be more fun, and it turns out to be the right choice! Say your name, demon!!”

[Your hitting feels quite solid, lizard.]

The Dragon Beastman, Hulan, fought evenly against Lucifer, who was cloaked in darkness.

While Lucifer couldn’t use his full strength under the brilliant sunlight, in this dark place, he revealed powerful abilities despite the incomplete descent. However, he couldn’t break through Hulan’s ‘Breath of Fire.’

At first glance, it might appear we had the advantage, but my every nerve was entirely focused on Satan.

‘We can’t give Satan any time.’

Why hasn’t he fled?

Is it that he cannot interrupt the ritual?

Yet the other Great Demons freely abandoned their rituals, suffering little more than a slight reduction in strength.

‘That guy hasn’t lost a thing. He’s throwing the other Great Demons while his own ritual is nearing completion.’

For Satan, there was nothing to lose in that situation.

He could let the other Great Demons defeat the Masters and even if they complained, if he completed his perfect descent alone, he would have an unconditional advantage over the others.

‘I need to figure out a way to deal with that soon.’

What an odd situation to find myself in, fighting while distracted.

As I stared intently at Satan, who was in a meditative posture, I felt a strange sensation swelling within me.

“…I think I can do it?”

“What do you think you can do?”

As I blurted out foolishly while trying to split Beelzebub’s face in half, my Master asked me what I meant, curious.

As I continued looking inward, an inexplicable confidence began to rise within me.

“I can go in there. I think I can enter that…”

“Really? Then stop wasting time and give it a shot!”

Well, since the topic came up, let’s try it out.

My application technique of the law, ‘Folded Space,’ stemmed from a basic question about whether I could fold and leap through the space between Space A and Space B.

Inspired by an SF novel about piercing holes through spacetime, this technique turned out to allow me to move to wherever I desired, except in certain situations.

These specific situations primarily include when it seems like we’re in the same space but are in fact in entirely different dimensions, where I would be unable to find my target even if I tried to move.

How about that?

In attempts like these, having confidence without being misled is always essential.

After firmly believing I would be able to reach it, I took a step forward.

-Whoosh!!

The sensation unique to folded space, akin to the surrounding scenery speeding past, was felt.

I succeeded in leaping over.

But did I arrive properly?

[It’s only a little further… ]

Satan was chanting incantations, completely oblivious to my arrival right behind him.

I did it.

I thought I had escaped to a completely different dimension, but he was foolishly under the impression that he was safe, merely having used strong barriers and space movement prevention spells.

“Were you looking for me?”

[Ugh?!]

There was no time to waste speaking.

Having successfully arrived right in front of Satan, I immediately swung my sword.