CHAPTER 40: FINAL STRUGGLE [1]

Weakened by the shocking sight, I let go of his neck.

’He have changed.’

His face changed right before my eyes—into a completely different person.

Transformation-type magic?

No, it wasn’t at that level. He didn’t even utter a starter word. It wasn’t even a silent chant.

Because I couldn’t feel any mana at all.

’Demonic energy...’

What I felt for a moment was none other than demonic energy. And he knew my identity.

What these meant...

"... Are you of the 72nd Order?"

He smiled. His eyes, shining like blood-stained jewels, were quite annoying.

"That’s right. I am also a church member chosen by God."

"Is that your original appearance?"

"Are you curious?"

The Eden I knew came back again.

"Captain."

Only then did I notice the snake pattern in his eyes.

’Stigmata!’

He was also an apostle chosen by Andromalius.

He had been watching me with the same power as mine, hiding what he had seen until now.

There was no need to hide it anymore since it had already been revealed.

I looked at Eden with blatant hostility.

"Why did you reveal your identity only now? If you had decided to do so, you would have had plenty of opportunities. If we had joined forces earlier, we could have created a better situation than this."

Although he was said to be a member of the religious order, my doubts still remained.

No, rather, they were amplified. It’s hard for me to say this as a black magician, but black magicians as a group are not trustworthy in the first place.

Fanatics.

That means they’re lunatics who would easily commit any atrocity for the sake of the god they serve.

And I couldn’t figure out what that guy was really thinking.

"Don’t be so guarded. Don’t I have various circumstances as well? My top priority is the safety and revival of the church. I know that you are an apostle of the Demon God of Lust and Fury, and that you were chosen by the god I serve, but I needed to personally verify it. Now was the best time to reveal my identity since the eyes had disappeared."

"So what are the results of that verification?"

"Well, in the long run, I think there will be more benefits than losses. Shouldn’t we use all the tools we can to achieve the greater good? Even if it means joining hands with the devil. Ha ha ha! Just kidding, kidding! I completely understand that the capitan is suspicious of me. It was the same for me, too. It’s true that I received Andromalius’ blessing, but isn’t the leader an apostle of the Demon God of Lust and Rage? I’d like to stay here and clear up all the misunderstandings, but we don’t have much time for a leisurely conversation."

There were still many things I wanted to ask, but as he said, we weren’t in a position to talk leisurely.

"I understand. The rest of the story will be told once we get out of here. For now... this is a temporary alliance. Let me tell you in advance, I don’t trust you. If you do anything stupid, I’ll kill you first."

Eden answered with a grin.

"Yes, leader. That’s enough."

I didn’t think much of it because I knew the smile was fake.

"If you’re a black magician, you’ve probably heard of evil."

"Yes. This is my first time seeing it in person. As befits the name ’disaster,’ just encountering it gives me chills."

I deliberately emphasized certain words.

"But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand why evil appeared at this time. It’s as if someone intentionally created this situation."

But there was no change in his expression. He just kept staring at me with that usual smile.

"That’s right. Who on earth could have done this?"

"... That will be revealed soon."

"I suppose so. Isn’t this the best academy in the empire? Ha ha ha! Still, shouldn’t we start moving? It still seems to be in the early stages of awakening, but if we delay any longer..."

Eden’s expression slowly began to harden as he spoke.

"... I was going to tell you that it might become irreversible, but it seems it’s already too late."

It was the first time I had seen such a nervous face on him. I turned my head to where his gaze stopped.

An ominous figure was walking through the grass.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of my rapidly beating heart echoed in my ears.

Compared to before, it looked more human, but its presence was overwhelmingly stronger.

Hair dyed gray, a grotesquely torn mouth, and a pair of wings spread wide behind its back.

The black feathered wings reminded me of a crow.

Its head tilted as it made strange sounds, and its red-stained pupils turned toward me.

A concentrated murderous intent filled with hatred radiated from it. The person who once hated and rejected black magicians more than anyone else had now become a monster, corrupted by demonic energy.

It was a truly contradictory sight.

"... Pagan?"

A sound like fingernails scratching glass pierced my ears. Just hearing it made every hair on my body stand on end.

’... She’s got wings. Could it be she reached stage three in such a short period of time?’

Now, I didn’t even have the strength left to swear.

In the first place, the idea that freshmen would encounter Evil during an entrance exam was nonsense.

Even if things went wrong, this was far beyond what could be expected. It was like asking a beginner who just started a game to defeat a hidden boss with impossibly low odds.

From the moment I intervened and changed the fate of Abel Croy and Karl Damian, unpredictable events had been happening one after another.

I knew it was absurd and unreasonable, but I thought this too might have happened because of me—so there was nothing I could do.

’Can I face that monster?’

The question now was whether I could deal with that monster.

Even though I had signed a formal contract with Asmodeus and become an apostle, there were clear limits to the power I could use.

Fortunately, I had superior sensitivity to magical energy compared to ordinary black magicians, but that didn’t mean erosion wouldn’t occur.

After all, I had made a direct contract with a god.

No matter how long I endured, using divine power directly put an immense strain on both body and mind.

There were no visible symptoms yet, but if I overused that power, I might die before finding Remegeton—or worse, become Evil myself.

’Whether it’s porridge or rice, I have to survive first.’

Fortunately—or unfortunately—thanks to Eden, there were no immediate restrictions on using black magic.

However, the opponent was Evil, the very embodiment of corruption.

Naturally, she was vulnerable to sex magic but had considerable resistance to black magic.

Completely immune to curse types, and almost immune to everything else.

And both Eden and I were black magicians.