The Demon Prince goes to the Academy - Chapter 271

Its face contorted as it watched me. It went from smiling in amusement to displeasure.

You recognize Tiamata.

-Kurung!

From the dark wall that blocked the entrance, waves leapt, not blades.

We realized that it wasn’t going full throttle, it was just messing around.

That should convince you.

Dying today. That it was Saviolin Tana.

“Suck!”

-Koo-koo-koo-koo!

You can’t stop a wave with a sword.

She wore no sword.

But she counteracted the darkness that surrounded her with a massive burst of energy from the magical shield that surrounded her body.

-curl!

It was enough to shake the palace to its foundations, and even I, watching it from the sidelines, would have been freaking out, regardless of the situation.

With a simple injection of pure magic, he dispelled the waves of darkness.

Even a superhuman can’t do this to an S+ ranked Grandmaster level monster with horsepower beyond that of a superhuman.

I couldn’t believe that this was the power I was using at my worst.

Darkness swirls around us from all sides. Charlotte is in front of me, blocking our path, but I turn away at the intense sense of discomfort I feel behind me.

The darkness is closing in on me.

While maximizing your physical strength.

Believe.

I’ll never be able to do it as well as Saviolin Tana.

I believe I can do it.

No.

It’s not even about believing.

I have already succeeded.

The second should be easy.

With a feeling of extreme exaltation coursing through my body, I parried the incoming blade of darkness with a thiamatha.

-Quang!

“Boom!”

I could barely contain my admiration for not coughing up blood.

There was so much power in that thing, I thought it would tear my grip.

-Bang! Quack! Quack!

Savior Tana descended the stairs, inch by inch, closer to Charlotte.

Is this fight worth it?

If you approach, she’ll melt into the darkness and disappear, but can you subdue her before she does?

Just because I was able to do it before doesn’t mean I can do it now. Charlotte was focusing her attack on Saviolin Tana rather than me.

I just need to be alive.

I just need to stay out of Tana’s way. The moment I make her pay attention to me, it’s all over.

-shii profit!

-Bam!

“Ugh!”

It is fortunate that Tiamata has a valid response to this darkness. A lesser sword would have been sliced or grazed by this dark blade.

This is not swordplay. I was never taught to fight these things.

But in a fight, you can’t pick your opponent.

You don’t know how, but you have to do it.

I had no choice but to keep an eye on the attacks coming at me and focus on countering them.

-Quack! Quack!

Savior Tana charges at Charlotte with a monstrous ferocity that makes you wonder if this is a human fight.

When waves of darkness wash in, they are repelled with a blast of magic, and blades are scattered with a single sword pressure.

I had no idea what it was capable of when it was at its best.

Savior Tana rushed in on Charlotte at the last minute and tried to grab her.

-Snarl

It would just fade away into the darkness.

“Damn……!”

It appeared twenty paces to Tana’s right.

Around Charlotte, shadows formed like spears.

-Bang, bang, bang!

Once again, she lunges in.

I tried to break through the storm of blades and subdue Charlotte, only to have her vanish into the darkness before I could reach her.

She’s a spear that pierces through anything, but the shield she’s supposed to pierce doesn’t allow her to hit.

If so, you need to be faster. You want to catch it before it dissolves.

However, Xavier Tana, already at full strength, couldn’t get any faster.

To be faster, you need to reach for your sword, not your hand.

Soon, inevitably, you will have to kill Charlotte.

With only the option of subjugation, Saviolin Tana could only see a future where she was killed by the Dark One in a war of attrition.

I was already pushed to my limits just trying to keep the incoming shadow blades at bay.

Xavier can’t help Tana, and if he does, he’ll only endanger her.

“Bam!”

It wasn’t just poor conditioning.

I could see that her right shoulder was stained with blood.

Come to think of it, all this time she’s been wielding a tempesta with her left hand.

He has no use of his right hand, but when the situation becomes urgent, he grabs his sword with both hands and wields it.

You must be right-handed.

If so, you are now a right-handed person using a sword with your left hand only.

Of course, swords are often wielded with both hands, but losing one arm means that your combat power is reduced by half, or even more.

As such, it was clear that Tana, a viola player who also uses her injured right arm, had an open wound that hadn’t been properly treated.

The bloodshot eyes of Akmun Tana stood out.

“Khh…… hhh……. Hehe…… hi. 히힛…….”

Charlotte was smiling.

I was enjoying watching Tana push herself to the limit.

Three times since then.

Tana used her injured right arm to get closer to Charlotte.

However, after a moment’s hesitation, she reached for her hand, not her sword.

I was able to kill it three times, but it tried to subdue me all three times.

-Quang!

“Boom!”

As such, she was slammed into the wall by the dark blade with her right arm completely destroyed.

-Quack!

She hit a wall, and I could see her incontinence spiderwebbing against the wall she hit, as if she had hit a rock.

“K……!”

-Thump!

She spat up blood and sprawled on the floor.

No way.

It’s dead.

Unknown.

If you’re not already dead, you will be at this rate.

-shhhh!

For the final blow, it hurled its dark spear at Savior Tana.

I.

That.

It has to be stopped.

No.

Block.

-Bam!

My body, responding to my desperation, transcended the limits of the moment and drew back the spear of darkness that had lunged at Savior Tana.

I stepped in front of the fallen woman.

It looks at me with a creepy smile as I stand in its way.

I can’t even tell if I’m being understood or not.

Is it a creature created solely out of malice.

It had only the intention of killing, and there was no dialog, no communication.

Saviolin Tana is unconscious.

Charlotte said that when her powers overwhelm her, she loses her memory.

If so, there’s no reason to hesitate.

From the moment it happened. To a certain extent, I was expecting it.

If there’s one person in the world who can push the strongest person in the world like this, even when they’re at their worst, there’s only one.

The Ancestral Demon, Balie.

Use Sarkhegar’s Ring.

“I ask you as the rightful ruler of Darklands, the rightful ruler of the demon world.”

I, returning to my Valier form, stare at it.

“Thou art, who art.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for.

“hhhhhhhhhhh…….”

It was merely chuckling, a deep, low chuckle, just like the first time.

It’s not the devil.

I fix my Tiamata and stare at it, which is, after all, a mere shard of the demon’s madness.

I didn’t expect much from it, but the Demon Domination ability wouldn’t work either. I don’t know if it’s because my abilities are low, or if it’s because it’s an Archdemon, albeit a dreg, and therefore immune to its effects.

The result is one.

Whether I showed up as Valerie or not, there was no option to avoid the fight.

I’m back to being Reinhardt again.

I didn’t want to fight in Valerie’s form.

Look at it and say.

“If you are not the devil, then you have not recognized your king, and that will be your sin…….”

I fix Tiamata.

“If you’re the devil, you don’t even recognize your own children, so that’s a sin, too.”

“Hmph, hmph. Hmph. Heehee. Heehee.”

Increasingly driven to madness, it prepares for a wave of darkness.

“But what pisses me off the most. is that you’re in Charlotte’s body, shaking the shit out of her.”

-Woof

Tiamata cries.

The bizarre sensation that the sword itself is howling.

“I mean, if you pissed me off with whatever it was, you deserve it.”

A cluster of dark spears rushes toward me.

Tiamata is in bad shape.

Right now, I think it’s possible.

I stretched out my Tiamata, facing the window of darkness that was exploding in.

-Flash!

A blast of light centered on Tiamata filled the Palace of Spring in an instant.

Divine Magic, Sanctuary.

“캬아아아악!”

I succeeded in manifesting the magic that Olivia Ranze had planted in me.

* * *

For some time now, I’ve been doing this.

I share Tiamata with Olivia Ranze. So, I called Olivia up to talk about it.

About Tiamata.

“It’s called Tiamata.

“Yes. Why?

“Honestly, what’s the point?

‘Still, it’s a holy object……. Isn’t that a bit harsh?

“Well, it’s not a god, it’s just a bunch of stuff for a god to make, and I didn’t say that holy things are useless.

“So what’s the point?

“I should say it’s not compatible.

Olivia understood what I was talking about.

‘Hmm……. ‘Yes. Of the holy relics, Tiamata and Alixion have always been used by the Order. Reinhardt, you’re the first to become a champion of Tuan without being a priest of Tuan, aren’t you?’

I mean, I don’t know how to use holy power, but this is a holy power amplifier, what am I supposed to do?

‘But the sword itself is not so good, is it? Of course, it is said that if you harm an innocent life with the Tiamata, you will be judged by Tuan.’

“It’s superstition.

There’s no point in being an innocent bystander to a topic that turns into a dark holy grail in the first place.

‘Well, I know that, but……. What if I told you that the official doctrine of the Tuan Order is superstition?’

‘If it’s not true, it’s superstition. You should know better by now, shouldn’t you?

‘I am me, Reinhardt, but you are so……. You’re relentless…….’

Anyway, that’s the problem.

Tiamata is a very powerful artifact, but it’s basically for priests and paladins, so in my hands it’s nothing more than a decent knife.

It doesn’t have the divine power of a lament or an alsbringer, but it’s not my bread and butter.

Olivia looked at me blankly, as if to say, “So what?

“I mean, you and I co-own this thing, right?

‘Heh, so it’s like a jointly owned property, which is kind of nice…….’

“……No, why are we talking about that again?

‘No, it’s not co-owned real estate, it’s a soul bond, Reinhardt. You and I are soul mates, aren’t we? Ooh, we’re already……. Ooh, we’re……. You went as far as you could…….’

“Oh, stop it!

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!

“Shut up and listen to me.

‘Cheat. What is it.’

For Olivia Ranze, who seems to have more and more characters, that’s what she wanted.

“Tiamata is a holy power amplifier, so to speak.

“The divine power inherent in it is immense, whether in the form of Tuan or Kier.

“Can’t I just drag that in?

“Hmm?

Olivia shook her head.

“So, you’re saying you can harness the divine power within the sword itself?

“Yes.

‘That’s a creative idea. Perhaps I should join the Tuan Sect first? People would love it. A champion has come to me! And so on.’

“You know it’s not like that.

I cannot use holy power. However, the holy objects I possess can be used by those with divine power to maximize their effectiveness. The Tiamata in my hand is a fine blade, and an even better one against the undead.

In the hands of a Paladin, however, it turns an otherwise humanoid vehicle into a human killing machine.

I want to do a better job of harnessing the power of Tiamata.

So I turned to Olivia Ranze.

“Why don’t you imbue Tiamata with your power, and I can activate it when I need it?

‘umm……. ‘Well, there is such a concept. Like magical tools and artifacts, there are things that are enchanted with divine magic that non-believers can use.’

“Is there such a thing?

“Yeah, but I don’t know if that would work for a holy object, and I’m talking about a very small-scale miracle, not a massive miracle or powerful divine magic.

“This is a unique situation. One object, two owners. Two soul bonds.

I hate to admit it, but at the end of the day, me and Olivia Ranze aren’t souls connected, but we’re using the same object as a medium.

I wanted to know if it was possible for me to have the kind of impact that Olivia had on Tiamata.

‘Hmm. I don’t know. I’ll have to try and figure it out, but why this?

“It can’t hurt to figure out how to make better use of relics, you never know when or where something might come up.

‘Hmmm……. Are you trying to do something bad again?

“No, who said that?

‘You’re right, even if you don’t think about it now, I’ll definitely use it to do something bad to you later.’

Yes.

It was intentional then.

I didn’t mean to write it this way.

When you’re having trouble with the vampires of the Vampire Council, a strong divine power will come in handy.

It was a plan to intimidate the vampires, and I couldn’t tell Olivia my true intentions.

With that intention, I had been training Olivia Ranze to imprint divine magic on the Tiamata and then draw on it myself.

Not surprisingly, it didn’t work out.

I couldn’t do that unless I imprinted a new divine power talent, and a divine power built on faith and prayer is incompatible with who I was before I was a demon. I have to believe in something else when it’s enough to believe in me.

But for now, I was confident that it would work.

Tiamata cries.

That feeling, as if the sword had awakened, convinced me.

You can do it now.

“키아아아악! 캬악!”

-Currrrrr!

I tightened my grip on Tiamata, watching the light of the Sanctuary and the darkness of the demon’s remnants writhing and clashing violently.

Holy Sword Tiamata.

It is responding to my will and exuding divine power.

I was watching the white letters glow in Tiamata’s milky sword.

“I will purify the world with my anger.

It’s a sudden realization.

Anger.

Tiamata reacts with anger.

My anger at that piece of dross that dared to try to consume Charlotte’s soul. I was drawing on the power of Tiamata.

-Kurung! Kuroeung! kurung!

It spread its hands in agony and pushed toward me.

“Cr……gh!”

-Woof!

It’s just the intangible force of light and the intangible force of darkness colliding.

But it and I seemed to be in a power struggle, pushing and shoving each other.

As it pushed me away, I was forced to take a step back, as if pushed by a repulsive force.

-Currrrr!

Light and darkness collide, creating a roar. Light and darkness collide, pushing each other out of the way.

The strongest sword for undead only.

But the light emanating from Tiamata.

That in itself was a solid countermeasure against a being that moved through the darkness and used it to attack.

The colliding beams of light were clearly immobilizing it.

It should be pushed out and overwritten.

You need to surround them with light and subdue them.

It’s not a power I planted to use here, but I had to use it now.

Guided by the light from my sword, I took a step toward the dark entity that was desperately trying to push me away.

When you take a step forward with all your might, it takes a step back.

Drive them into a wall, bind them with light, and stun them.

-Kurung! kurung! Kwalung!

The fierce flurry of light and darkness was like fire and lightning.

The darkness recedes a little as I walk.

You can swallow the light of a magic lamp, but not the light of divine power.

-Crack!

I screamed at the top of my lungs as if the world was falling apart.

“Give me Charlotte!”

“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

It let out a pained scream every time I walked by.

It’s definitely having an impact.

I don’t know if the answer lies in divine power or light, but it’s suffering.

“캬아아아악! 캭!”

With an inhuman scream, the darkness surrounded and tried to consume the sphere of light that had spread around me.

-Koo-koo-koo! Kukukukuk!

The power of Olivia Ranze.

This was further amplified by a mediator called thiamatha.

Not only were they fending off the dark attacks of the mysterious entity, but they were also doing a good job of dispelling the darkness in the area.

Light is sporadic.

The light emanating from the sword, beyond the sanctuary, intertwined with the darkness like a serpent, burning it, and burning it away.

It was a grotesque shape of white and black flames.

It was an unbelievable mess, with beasts of light and beasts of darkness intertwining.

“Ugh!”

But the darkness wasn’t going away anytime soon.

It was as if the embodied darkness was pushing the embodied light away, and in turn, pushing me away from holding it.

It was a bizarre sensation, as if Tiamata itself had been hit by the repulsive force of a powerful magnet.

-Kyaaaaaaaaah!

It screamed and reached for me, as if trying to push me away with all its might, and I was pushing my arms through it, trying to get in somehow.

It’s exhausting.

-Currrrrrr!

We’re not there yet.

-Woof!

And my opponent was stronger than me.

I’m getting pushed out.

Now that I was being pushed back, I had to focus all my energy on not going backwards instead of forwards.

“Salt…… disease……. I don’t want to be on crutches again……!”

Strengthen the hand holding Tiamata.

Add.

I add all the power I have.

We’re already stretched to the limit, but we have to squeeze it out somehow.

I don’t have the confidence to not cough up blood.

Trusting that you won’t cough up blood.

Hoping to reach it, and bring Charlotte back.

do.

Enchantment.

With his physical and magical enhancements at full strength, he tries to push back the darkness.

You have to move forward.

-Kurung!

An intensely uplifting feeling, like every cell in your body is waking up from the ends.

-Woof!

With the protection of Olivia Ranze, planted in Tiamata, as well as divine magic, strengthening my flesh.

-puddup. Puddle!

With intense strength training that makes every muscle in your body, every muscle fiber, scream beyond its limits.

I.

Believe.

I, for one, will take a step.

-Thump!

Even as he took a step forward, a boom rang out that shook the entire palace.

I could feel my muscle fibers firing and repairing in real time, my magic circuits burning, even as the divine power granted by Olivia Ranze strengthened my body to keep it from collapsing.

There are more than thirty steps to take.

It’s not hard.

You walk away, and that’s it.

It couldn’t be easier.

It’s just that the steps are a little heavier.

-Thump!

Twenty-nine steps to go.

-Currrr!

In the raging battle of darkness and light, there is little power that truly comes from me.

With the exception of magical enhancements and superpowers, all powers are borrowed.

No, even that is not my power; it is borrowed power.

There is one thing I can do.

To take a step through the pain of a body that feels like it’s about to break.

Getting through the pain.

Staying sane.

Taking a step.

To keep walking that walk.

That’s all there is to it.

I borrowed everything.

Mine has nothing.

All of them, borrowed properties.

I, who wield borrowed and unfair power, must be at least as vicious.

“Ewww……! Ewww!”

“Hmph, hmph! Heeheehee! Heeheeheehee!”

I didn’t know if I was going crazy or terrified, but the black thing was screaming at me.

Keep believing.

I don’t fall down.

I, take a step.

If we take that one step, now twenty-eight steps.

I can make it through tonight.

You don’t know what will happen later, but you can save Charlotte today.

If tomorrow is also at risk.

You can save it for tomorrow.

And then tomorrow, the day after, three days, four days, and beyond.

You’ll just have to get through each day.

To Charlotte, the child whose life I saved, beyond survival…….

More than that.

I’ll let life happen.

I’ll present it to you.

Pushing the boundaries of implication.

Pushing the boundaries of belief.

I dispel the darkness that casts a shadow where spring should be.

Let’s put back what belongs here.

You love flowers.

I’ll get it back.

Like the one that once saved you.

Again.

Despite.

And the next one after that. To be continued.

“Ugh, ah, ah, ah!”

-Thump!

One step.

-Thump!

Two steps.

-Woof!

Three steps at a time.

-Woody!

-Kyaaak! Kyaaak! Kyaaak!

Ignoring the pain of bones breaking and being put back together.

If you believe you feel, you will feel.

If you believe you don’t feel something, you don’t feel it.

Self-implication (自己暗示).

We’re about to go beyond even that.

The blood from his eyes obscured his vision.

Still, they don’t close their eyes.

-Woof!

Taking the next step, I look from the bloodshot vision straight ahead, toward something whose expression is growing increasingly frightened.

Toward the Demon’s Remnant.

But at the same time, toward it, which is Charlotte.

Walk away.

-Woof!

-Currrrrrr!

Taking the steps I had broken through once, again and again, I was able to bring the being within my grasp.

“Kaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Its abysmal black hair flailed wildly in the light, and its slit red pupils glowed with awe and terror.

It’s right around the corner.

It can’t escape. Just as it was finding it hard to bear, I was finding it hard to bear.

In a moment of semi-elasticity that feels like my entire body is exposed to a flesh-tearing gale, I reach out and grab it by the throat.

The nails on his right hand, clutching the nape of Charlotte’s neck, were broken and the bones twisted.

-Currrr!

“K……. ugh……! ugh……!”

Self-implication is a force that only works for you.

If you believe it, you become it.

You need to go beyond that.

I’m not the only one.

We need to make sure others do too.

“Go away……!”

“Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh! Heehee! Heeeeeew!”

I don’t believe in my power to apply it to others.

must be declared.

It’s not something that happens because you believe in it.

The power to make it happen because you say it will.

I want.

Because I want it, I will have it.

“Disappear from Charlotte’s body!”

[The rank of self-suggestion increases].

[Reached Rank A in Self-Suggestion].

[Derived Ability Occurrence].

[Awakening of the Verbal Spirit].

-Flash!

I mean.

Moved the world.

* * *

In the dark.

A night in the rain.

-currrrr

In the darkness, Charlotte realized she was being held by someone.

“Uh huh……. Nu, who…….”

“…… is up.”

She couldn’t see it clearly, but Charlotte knew it was Reinhardt’s voice.

“Rhine……hard? Rhinehard?”

“……Yes.”

He could tell by the crack in her voice that something was wrong: why hadn’t she gone back, why was she here, in the halls of the palace, and not in her bedroom?

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Charlotte could see.

A fallen chandelier, a palace in disarray as if something had gone on a rampage.

And.

You’re so badly injured, you’re surprised to be alive.

I saw Reinhardt’s face.

Reinhardt was using his lap as a pillow to lay Charlotte down, even though she was hurting so badly that it felt strange to be awake.

Although the circumstances are unknown.

I’m not sure why it didn’t work.

Charlotte vaguely realizes.

“Did I……. hurt you……?”

Eventually, he lost his temper again, was possessed by a strange force, and injured Reinhardt.

I don’t know anyone else who would do this.

In despair and guilt, Charlotte is about to burst into tears.

-sigh

“No.”

Reinhardt, his hands so badly wounded that you could see the bones in them, ran a hand through his hair, trembling.

“It’s not that you hurt me…….”

Reinhard runs a hand through his hair and looks down.

“I saved you…….”

Charlotte couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Just so you know…….”

It was true that I had hurt him, but Reinhardt said that only to remind me of something more important.

“Moo, what’s going on. Reinhard, what’s going on……. Something happened.”

I would have liked to have gotten an explanation of what was going on, but Reinhardt was in no condition to do so.

“The flowers……. I’m sorry I threw them away.”

Reinhardt was completely wrong.

That’s just algebra.

He’s hurt, and he’s suddenly apologizing for saving his life, not looking for gratitude.

“When you receive something like……. In that situation, if you get something that means something like……. that. Because it might be the last gift I get from you……. and I hate that…….”

Think of me.

Flowers that make sense.

Reinhardt, for one, knew it.

I knew the flowers were a parting gift.

“So……. I ditched…….”

To reject Charlotte’s insistent goodbye.

Reinhardt had thrown the flower away.

With those last words, Reinhardt fell unconscious.