The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 217

The dark blackness cloaked the cave… or rather, the tunnel was no small affair.

It was sizable enough for a rather large carriage laden with goods to pass through without a hitch.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like a forced excavation, but the mere existence of such a thing near the capital was suspect.

I had no clue where it led, but leaving it be wasn’t an option.

After walking for a while, the long passageway finally came into view.

And then… a large square appeared.

“…Shh.”

Sticking close to the exit to minimize exposure, everyone clamped down on their mouths to maintain silence.

Gemma covered her mouth with her hands entirely.

“Isn’t that it?”

“…It’s the Demon Church.”

The cave we traversed was just one of several passages.

The walls of the wide square were riddled with dozens of holes, each likely corresponding to the passageways we had just traversed.

To think there was such a massive tunnel, it was surprising that the North Korean army hadn’t discovered it until now.

‘So, there are dozens more villages like this?’

If there are that many villages that vanished in bizarre ways, I can’t even begin to fathom how many sacrifices had been made.

If the royals found out about this, they would hire hundreds of magicians to tear the land apart.

The fact that such a thing was being prepared right under the Emperor’s nose showed just how cockroach-like these folks were.

“There’s something below.”

At the bottom, I spotted several people in thick robes bustling about.

There was no need to ponder their identities any further.

It was the Demon Church.

“…The missing people must have all been here…”

Upon closer inspection, they weren’t walking on bare ground but rather stepping over something.

They were all corpses.

Not only human corpses but piles of livestock bodies stacked high.

Strangely, though there were corpses piled high like that, there wasn’t a hint of decay rising from below.

Just then, Gemma, who had been keeping her mouth shut, grabbed my arm as if she had discovered something.

“Down there… there’s something.”

“Not people?”

“It’s not people… there’s something strange wriggling below…”

Gemma began to tremble in fear, as if she had found something beneath the square’s floor.

It was not visible to me or Amy.

If it were demonic presence, I should have sensed it sharp and clear, so it must have been something entirely different.

The members of the Demon Church were hard at work crafting something atop the mound of corpses.

It was a ritual that I had never seen before.

If they were trying to summon a Great Demon, we would have noticed it, but that was not the case.

In their center stood a figure wearing a mask that resembled the skull of a dragon, issuing commands.

“The symbol of the Dragon… the pawns of Satan.”

Satan was like the ultimate dark figure in the Academy’s Devil Slayer.

He held the most power and influence inside the Demon Church, and his abilities, while simple, were the strongest.

What Satan and his contractees wield was the ‘Power of Destruction.’

It is the most combat-specialized power capable of annihilating anything below a certain threshold.

What on earth was Satan’s Demon Bishop doing right beneath the capital?

“Grrr!!”

At that moment, a horrifying roar echoed from below.

A few believers were bringing up what looked like a Drake pulling loads, bound in thick chains.

They were tensed up, ready for a fight.

“…Then take care of it. To the capital…”

“…We need more sacrifices…”

More sacrifices, huh?

Are the corpses piled beneath not enough?

I had thought the area near the capital was safe, but now it seemed dark and filled with unknowns.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes, my Bishop.”

The Bishop, clad in a dragon skull mask, began to emanate dark smoke from his body.

It was a common method used by Demon Bishops when moving.

Since there was no need to fight for now, I contemplated letting them go, but suddenly, the Bishop took off his mask.

The face of Satan’s Demon Bishop peeked through the oversized hood of his robe.

“…What?”

My body stiffened as if ice had been lodged in my spine.

For a moment, I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me.


I had just seen something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

‘Did I just see wrong? No, it definitely… definitely was him.’

In an instant, my breath became ragged as I questioned whether what I had seen was real.


My hand instinctively reached for the Squirette’s hilt strapped to my back.

Amy caught onto my sudden shift from a stance of observation to an aggressive posture.

“Uh? Atlas, wait!!”

Amy shouted, trying to stop me in a hurry, but it was too late.

I unsheathed the Squirette and slammed it into the ground, aiming it at the Demon Bishop.

In a heartbeat, the surroundings shifted dramatically.

I swung the Squirette with all my might at the Demon Bishop, who seemed to be disappearing.

– Whooom!!

I felt nothing.

The Satan’s Demon Bishop had already vanished into the black smoke.


All I did was slice through the darkness.

“Ugh… What??”


“Ah?! Intruder!!”

It wasn’t just smoke I sliced through.


The Demon Worshippers and Drake in the same line were caught by my blind sword strike and were cut in half.

Chaos erupted among the cloaked Demon Worshippers as they spotted me, who had suddenly emerged from thin air and killed a few of their own.

They were furious at having lost their target and their hands trembled as they gripped their weapons.

‘Did I really see wrong? No way, there’s no way I could mistake that face… I can’t forget it.’

That face of the Demon Bishop, imprinted in my mind, was undeniably that of a person I knew.

“Eradicate the intruder!!”


“Where did he come from?!”

The Demon Worshippers formed a circle around me, all deep in thought.

They were indeed beings capable of wiping me out with a single sweep of their swords, but my body was frozen.


I still needed time to gather my thoughts.

“Ugh!!”


– Thud! Ta-thud!


“Ugh!!”


“There’s one behind you!!”

At that moment, Amy pulled out her gun and rushed in to back me up.

With a gap in the encirclement thanks to her, I was finally able to lift my gaze.


First, let’s deal with these guys before I think any further.

I grabbed one of the Demon Worshippers trying to pull away from me and stabbed my sword into his shoulder.

“Gahhh!!!”


“Where’s he gone?”


“W-what?! What are you saying?!”

The Demon Worshipper screamed in agony, writhing in pain.

“Where’s that guy… your Bishop?!”


“I don’t know! No way I’m telling you! You heretic!!!”

The Demon Worshipper, stabbed in the shoulder, resisted, even as blood bubbled up from his mouth.


Though the foaming blood was hidden by his mask, it flowed out from the cracks in the helmet.

– Schlick!


“Gah.”

Anger surged through me, and I raised my sword to behead him.


The Demon Worshipper left behind a miserable last cry as he ended his life.

“Brother?!”


“Y-you—this heretic killed my brother!!!”

All the Demon Worshippers scattered around the square turned their gaze to me.


Yeah, I was planning to do this from the start.


I couldn’t allow them to continue their sacrifices here, I had to take action.


I was going to kill them all, regardless of the reason they were here.

“Who do you think you are to act so brazenly?!”


“I don’t care who you are, just let me use you as a sacrifice!”

As one fell, two Fallen led by a higher-ranking Demon Worshipper rushed out, enveloped in magical energy.


They were barely mid-level Fallen.


With just one swing of the Squirette, they couldn’t even lay a finger on me, their limbs fell apart and they died.


I hadn’t even wrapped the sword in my Aura.

“Fallen… well, aren’t you quite something? Believers, dedicate everything to defend here!!”

As the Fallen fell, the next highest ranking Demon Worshipper shouted in panic.


Hearing his cry, the ordinary believers whipped out their daggers.

“Demon, I dedicate my life to you..!!”

Fifteen people stabbed their own necks with knives.


Blood gushed from their severed arteries but did not spill to the ground— instead, it shot upward as if defying gravity.

“A summoning ritual for the demon…”


“Yeah! It’s too late to regret now!”

A smoothly red-bodied demon descended.

[I am… the high-grade demon Ome… what is it you seek, sacrifices?]

Drakes crawled out of the holes in the walls.

Ome looked down at me arrogantly and spread its wings wrapped in a thin membrane wide open.


Seeing that, I tightened my grip on the Squirette.

A bright spark ignited atop the dark blade, illuminating the surroundings.

“Well then, let’s have at it.”


A brilliant star rose in the previously dark cave.

“I’ll kill everyone here until someone tells me where the Demon Bishop went.”

[You mockingly insolent sacrifice! Cut off their heads and add them to my collection!]

The demon flapped its wings and fired a beam of darkness at me.

.


.


.

[Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!]

The high-grade demon, ‘Ome’ shrieked.


The only source of light in this dim square was the Aura Blade embedded in its chest, shining so bright it illuminated the entire area.

The Aura Blade stuck in Ome’s chest made it scream as if it were being branded, its body twisting in agony.

After consuming the lives of fifteen beings, it had arrogantly descended, but turns out, it was just a bug.

“I have a question, did you come in your true form?”


[What… do you mean?]


“If you came in your true form, you’re about to meet your end soon; nothing to say?”


[Human… there’s no way you can kill me…!]

You can’t kill me?


What a comforting thought.


“Really? Want to place a bet on that?”

The corners of my mouth twisted into a grin.


Even if it hurt for now, that arrogant confidence reeked of nausea.

[Ugh… Aaaaaa!!!]

As I ramped up the output of the Aura Blade, the demon’s shriek intensified.


I had no further business with this creature.


It seemed not to know anything and wasn’t strong, so I twisted the sword once then slashed upwards.

– Schlick!

In an instant, the demon’s head was split in two.

“Gah?! The high-grade demon?!”


“If it goes like this, we’ll lose this place to these heretics!!”


“After all the preparation we’ve done, that can’t happen!! Release it!!”

After killing the high-grade demon, I looked down to see the believers directing the others.

“Are you talking about what’s underground??”


“Yeah!! If this goes on, we’ll be taken away!”

I had no idea what they were doing, but overhearing their conversation made it clear there was someone in charge.


Deciding to kill everyone except that one, I pressed forward.

“What are these idiots whispering about behind my back?”


“Gah??!!”

I immediately moved and swung my sword, cleaving the bodies of the remaining Demon Worshippers.

“D-don’t give it to them…!!”


– Schlick

Leaving behind a villainous last groan, another Demon Worshipper’s life was snuffed out.

– Clank

“Clank…?”


– Rumbling…

The ground trembled.


The massive pile of corpses began to sway, causing a few to tumble down.

Immediately afterward, the ground opened up.

[Kyoooooo!!]

An unidentifiable monster roared from underground.

“What the hell is that?”