Part Two, Section Three: “The World of Asmodeus”
Chapter Seventy-five (Oswald’s POV)
I once managed to rescue Philia who had been captured by devil Asmodeus possessing Prince Julius. So why did I let go of her hand back then? Just because I was thrown from my horse… how could I have let Philia…? If only I had held on tighter and not let her go then, Philia would never have been trapped in that bizarre world.
I was frustrated by my own powerlessness. I even cursed myself.
I had sworn to never let Philia experience hardship in this country, and to support her so that one day she would come to love Parnacota. Yet this happened.
Why am I so dejected about this?
Was it because Philia was an invaluable asset?
Or because I broke my promise?
No! It’s because Miss Philia is an irreplaceable existence to me!
Seeing her smile brings me joy. Spending time together like that had become the most precious thing to me. Maybe that was just my own selfishness, but at some point, Philia had become everything to me…
It didn’t matter how she felt about me. I had to convey my feelings to her, or I would definitely regret it. For my own sake too, I swear I would rescue her no matter what.
“Your Highness Oswald, I’ve found your spear! Now, with our spear skills, let’s show those devils what we’re made of!”
Philip picked up my dropped spear and brought it to me, readying himself. I learned spear techniques from this man long ago. He was pretty hard on me back then, saying it was "for the day when you want to protect someone". Now I was grateful for it. No use brooding forever over the situation. If I keep feeling down, I won’t be able to face Philia.
“Yeah, you’re right. With this spear, I’ll definitely save Miss Philia this time.”
I took the spear from Philip and gave it a swift swing. This sensation, sticking to my hand, felt better than any spear I had used before. Alright, I won’t make a fool of myself like that again.
“Your Highness Oswald, Mr. Philip, Mr. Klaus says he’s ready!”
“Let’s go!”
Lina, Leonardo, and Himari, all carrying the weapons Philia developed, gathered near Klaus.
Maid Lina, who was trained by her grandfather, the instructor of a self-defense dojo; Leonardo, former vice-commander of the Parnacota Knights. And Himari, who guarded royalty in the kingdom of Murasame since childhood.
Including Philip, they were all reliable and talented people.
“We’re heading to the Interstice Realm where Asmodeus resides. It’s an extremely dangerous place overrun by devils. We might not make it back ali—”
“Mister Klaus! Don’t be so pessimistic! Let’s think only about all of us returning here together!”
“Honestly, you are completely different from the prince of our country, so it throws me off… I understand. Let’s all make it back alive!”
““Yes!””
Raising our fists, we headed for the Interstice where Philia, Elsa, and Mammon were. At Klaus’ word, his familiar Satanakia looked up, shot light from his eyes, and drew a circle in the air. We were sucked into that circle, and before we knew it, we found ourselves in a completely white world.
“So this is the Interstice Realm. I don’t sense any signs of life.”
“There’s no vegetation, and even the rocks and ground are white. This space doesn’t seem like a natural creation at all.”
Leonardo was right. How to put it… it had the feel of something artificial. Like this whole world had a fabricated, fake nature.
"Correct. I’ve heard this world was created by a devil named Satan, who once held absolute power in the Demon Realm, just for amusement. The sun, rocks, the land—everything is fake. It seems Satan got bored halfway through and didn’t add colors.”
"Wow, that’s kind of lazy, isn’t it? I love coloring, so I find joy in adding colors.”
It was an unbelievable scale.
Devils could create worlds on this level?
We humans were on a completely different scale than them.
Klaus told us that Asmodeus hadn’t gotten serious at all yet.
No, no point getting scared. It doesn’t change anything. Don’t let your eyes stray away from the goal…!
"Mister Klaus… do you know where Miss Philia and the others are?”
In this sickeningly white-painted world, making a wrong turn could mean not just missing Philia but getting lost right away. From Elsa’s words, it seemed she had a rough idea of Asmodeus’s whereabouts. Klaus probably knew too, since he didn’t voice any concerns about it.
"I presume they’re heading towards the ‘Castle of Eternal Darkness’ in that direction.”
"The Castle of Eternal Darkness?”
"It’s Asmodeus’ stronghold. Philia, Elsa, and Mammon are probably lying low and waiting for a chance to ambush and defeat him.”
I see, so there was even a castle in a world like this. And Asmodeus resided there. Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to confront such a monster head-on. Philia wouldn’t do something reckless either.
"So they are sharpening their claws to assassinate Asmodeus. I never thought that the discussion about various assassination methods I had with Lady Philia the other day would come in handy…”
"Himari, you shouldn’t take advantage of Lady Philia’s interest in everything. You should steer the conversation towards brighter topics.”
"But Mr. Leonardo, you were the one talking about cooking.”
They all live together happily.
I knew that.
Because Philia talked about everyone with a happy face. Well, except for the times when she talked about the failures of trying to put Leonardo’s advice into practice; she looked a bit sad then.
“Alright, everyone. Please follow me. I’ll be your guide.”
Following Klaus’s instructions, we head towards the Castle of Eternal Darkness. Though he said he was going to be our guide, he most likely ordered Satanakia to arrive near our destination, as just a few minutes later a pitch-black castle showed itself.
I see, all black this time. I might not have an artistic sense, but maybe devils didn’t care about things like that.
“I think they really are in the Castle of Eternal Darkness. I sense their magic powers.”
“Is that so? If they are still safe, that’s a relief.”
Klaus closed his eyes and informed us of Philia, Elsa and Mammon’s magic power from within the castle. Amazing. Even if someone with magic power was far away, he could sense it. Since all of us were people with no magic, we left everything related to magic to Klaus.
“Hmm? Wait a moment. It seems there are more individuals with magic power. They are likely the victims of the ’mysterious disappearances,’ I presume.”
““…!?””
Well, that makes sense. According to Philia, Asmodeus’s goal was the resurrection of Great Saint Fiana, who saved the continent from a crisis with her immense magic power four hundred years ago. And the “mysterious disappearances” were conducted to gather the necessary magic power for her resurrection. In that case, it was only natural for Asmodeus to keep the captured individuals in his lair.
"Mister Klaus, let’s hurry! I’m sure Miss Philia and the rest are doing their best to free the captured individuals!”
“W-Wait, Your Highness Oswald! We need to enter more quietly; it’s dangerous!”
We rushed into the "Castle of Eternal Darkness." Most likely, Philia, Elsa, and Mammon weren’t idly waiting. They must be urgently moving to rescue the victims.
“Strange. Since it’s a castle, I thought there’d be more guards and stuff.”
We were able to enter the castle much more easily than we had anticipated. While security in Parnacota was good, there were still many soldiers stationed at the castle gate to be vigilant against intruders. However, there wasn’t a single such guard here. Even a reckless guy like me felt that Asmodeus should have a bit more security awareness.
“Devils are originally like this. They have absolute confidence in their own power, and setting up guards or traps is something they mock as what only weaklings would do.”
Klaus gave us a lecture on the thought processes of devils.
Well, if that’s the case, there’s no need to be so sneaky. Devils seem pretty careless.
"But, didn’t Asmodeus take Lady Philia’s mother hostage back then?!”
"Taking hostages is clearly the method of a weakling.”
"Since Asmodeus said he wanted to capture Ms. Philia unharmed, he probably chose the method requiring the least effort.”
Hmm, capture Miss Philia unharmed huh. So he was holding back even while rampaging so much?
Taking a hostage… Apparently, Asmodeus had the ability to read memories, and through that, it came to light that Hildegarde was Philia’s mother. It seemed only Mia, who was adopted by Hildegarde, knew this fact, and Philia was unaware of it until then.
There must be various reasons. Hildegarde, who was Philia’s teacher, seemed to have imposed rigorous training on her. Perhaps it was also out of love.
I don’t know Philia’s true feelings upon learning this long-concealed truth, but judging by her voice back then, she seemed to have accepted it and was thinking positively. However, she did have a clumsy side. While I shouldn’t meddle, I want to help her in that too.
“Hmm… what’s with these dolls!?”
"Wow, there’s so many lined up.”
"Such doll-making technique was popular around 200 years ago. Each doll is well-crafted.”
In the corridor, numerous dolls were lined up in a row. Each doll portrayed a silver-haired woman wearing a pale robe. It was as if…
“They look like Lady Philia!”
As Philip said, the dolls resembled Lady Philia.
But why make so many dolls? Does it relate to devils’ nature too?
““…””
“W-What is it? Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know anything. Please don’t have strange expectations that I know everything about devils.”
Well, if even Mister Klaus doesn’t know, then it can’t be helped.
However, despite saying devils didn’t set up guards, there was a large hole in the corridor, and signs of a fight could be seen.
The floor looked pretty sturdy, so I couldn’t just relax thinking Philia fought here…
"—!? A tremendous magic power has suddenly appeared in that direction. No doubt it’s Asmodeus. I also sense Senior Elsa and the others’ power in the same location.”
"Then we really gotta hurry. Everyone, let’s go!”
Upon hearing that Philia’s group and Asmodeus had started their battle, we once again started running.
Miss Philia, we’re coming…!
“Great Saint! Abandon them! The Adenauers are criminals destined for the death penalty! You are a far too great person to serve as their substitute!”
“Oh, interesting suggestion, exorcist. By all means, feel free to do it.”
“Ah, is that so? Then pardon me for taking you up on the offer—”
“Wait, please!”
When we arrived, there was some kind of dispute involving hostages behind a broken door. It seems Philia’s foster parents, the Adenauer couple, were being held hostage, and Philia was being pressured to surrender.
"We can’t recklessly charge in. What should we do?”
"We could just jump out and fight.”
"But if the hostages are killed, we couldn’t face Lady Philia.”
"Yet our objective is to save our master…”
True, if the only concern was Philia’s safety, then charging in here might be the right decision. However, if that led to taking away her smile, I…
Hmm? Did Miss Philia just glance this way for an instant?
Did she notice us nearby?
She was willing to surrender in exchange for freeing the hostages, but she seemed to be expecting us to make a move.
“Mister Klaus, how does one pull out a soul?”
“Huh? Well, you reach your hand near the heart and use special magic powers to pull it from within…”
“So, Asmodeus will definitely reach out to Miss Philia, right?”
There was a moment when any creature became vulnerable—it was the moment they try to capture their prey. I had heard devils were prone to carelessness. So when Asmodeus tries to rip out Philia’s soul, I would jump out and land a devastating blow.
“Miss Philia believes we’ll come help her. It will be a fleeting chance. Everyone, get ready.”
I instructed everyone to charge out the moment Asmodeus reached for Philia.
It’s a split-second opening. Don’t miss it…!
“It’s alright, Elsa. I always believed in him.”
Asmodeus’ hand reached for Philia’s heart.
We charged at full power to punish the vile devil trying to touch our saint!
“Uoooooh! I won’t let you lay a hand on Miss Philia!”
“Wha—!?”
I severed Asmodeus’ arm and pulled Philia into my embrace, distancing us from him. I thought it went well, but in an instant that bastard regenerated his severed arm and extended it at me.
“Cheeky humans! You are getting in my way!”
“I’ll never let go of Miss Philia again!”
“Guh…!”
I dodged the approaching arm, kicking it away to gain more distance. I instinctively tensed my arms. I wouldn’t let someone important to me be taken away again. I would definitely return to the Surface with Philia. I would bring her back.
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