His eyes gleamed of their own accord.
‘How frightening could a demon possibly be, no matter how violently it rages? What is it going to do besides kill me?’
He had already died once.
‘And what happens after it kills me? It collects my soul? Makes me a demon’s slave? Do I look like someone who would be frightened by that now?’
Julian understood perfectly well.
In life, unexpected good fortune came only rarely and in tiny portions. Meanwhile, countless things happened to tell you, ‘You thought this was rock bottom? It is not,’ before making your life even more miserable.
He could shout, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ all he wanted, but if he truly became a demon’s slave, an even more wretched future might await him.
‘But I have endured far too much to spend my life fearing every last possibility.’
The filthy temper that had driven him to strike back even while being stabbed had transformed into outright madness.
Blaze.
His golden eyes burned. Julian clenched his fist.
‘I survived being thrown into another world without even a language patch. This time, I have the bloodline, the status, and divine power.’
His instincts told him that if this was not the time to put his foot down, there would never be one.
‘Fuck it. Let’s do this.’
He strode forward.
Theodore and the Liberation Army hurried after him and entered the dilapidated building.
CREEEAK.
The massive entrance doors opened with the groan of rusted hinges.
“…….”
The lobby of the Main Building was completely empty, without a single human figure in sight.
Theodore and the Liberation Army looked around vigilantly, guarding against every direction.
Then it happened.
“H-help me!”
Hurried footsteps accompanied the desperate cry.
Julian whipped his head around.
A middle-aged man was running toward the center of the lobby.
“Please save me!”
Tears and mucus streamed down the man’s face as he ran toward them.
The Liberation Army froze at this unexpected development.
A man was running across the deserted lobby of the Main Building.
Was he a demon?
Was he human?
He appeared human, but there was no way to know for certain.
The tense mages faltered and stepped backward. The mercenaries and holy knights placed their hands upon their weapons.
“Please help me! It was that man! I am a professor at the academy, Ar—!”
As the man desperately shouted, Julian abruptly raised his hand.
“Holy Lightning!”
A bolt of white-hot divine lightning struck the man’s head.
“SQWEEEK!”
The man collapsed with a squeal like a pig being slaughtered.
The Liberation Army stopped dead.
‘W-was that not a human?’
‘Did he not just say that he was a professor?’
The members of the Liberation Army stared in shock at the merciless attack.
Julian paid no attention to them and shouted.
“Grab that bastard! Get that vest off him!”
While everyone else floundered in confusion, Theodore alone moved like lightning.
CRACKLE!
The moment Theodore attempted to remove the vest, sparks resembling static electricity burst from it.
Red lines appeared around the fallen man.
“A m-magic circle?”
The mages cried out in alarm as the magic circle suddenly took shape.
“A vest that activates a magic circle?”
“D-did something like that exist?”
None of them had ever heard of such a device.
As they stared in astonishment, the vest began to hum.
The magic circle grew clearer, emitting an ominous red light.
“What in the world is that?”
“How did they make something like this?”
It was not only the mages who blinked at the unfamiliar sight. The mercenaries and holy knights were equally bewildered.
Julian grew frantic.
‘If you bastards do not understand it, at least get away from it!’
He shouted.
“Everyone, move back! Theodore, cut through the collar of the vest with the Holy Sword!”
“Yes!”
No questions were asked.
Without demanding an explanation, Theodore swung his sword.
CRACKLE!
Sparks erupted from the magic circle as the vest was split in two.
However, the distorted magic circle continued to glow.
‘This is dangerous!’
Julian urgently shouted.
“Throw it as far away as possible!”
Theodore hurled the vest toward the entrance with all his strength.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted in midair.
“Gasp……!”
Everyone watching inhaled sharply.
“Th-the vest exploded?”
An explosive vest.
The Liberation Army stared blankly at this completely unexpected development.
“How could anyone create such a vile object……?”
“As expected of a demon’s wicked scheme!”
“Damn it, we nearly got blown apart with him!”
Theodore took several heavy breaths before quickly turning toward Julian.
“Your Highness, are you unharmed?”
“……Should we not be checking whether you are unharmed first?”
Julian stared at him incredulously.
Theodore had been the one standing closest when he threw the explosive vest.
However, once a holy knight’s overprotective instincts awakened, they showed no sign of subsiding.
“Haa. If only I had two bodies. One could carry out Your Highness’s commands while the other remained at your side.”
“That gave me chills. Never say it again.”
While the prince and his knight checked on one another, several members of the murmuring Liberation Army approached the remains of the exploded vest.
“What in the world……?”
“They constructed it like this?”
Whisper. Whisper.
One of the mages examining the wreckage suddenly raised his head.
He looked toward Julian and asked.
“Your Highness, how did you know that this vest would explode?”
Julian was caught off guard.
“Hmm?”
The others voiced their curiosity as well.
“Indeed. I never imagined that such a dangerous object could exist.”
“Even I have never seen a vest like this, and I specialize in magic devices.”
“A person was wearing it, yet Your Highness recognized the danger the moment you saw him and responded immediately. How did you……?”
Cold sweat ran down Julian’s back under the Liberation Army’s interrogation that was not quite an interrogation.
Their gazes were filled with admiration, calling him extraordinary, which made it even harder to answer.
‘If I say that I learned about it in my previous life, they will brand me as even more insane.’
There was only one universal answer for situations like this.
Julian opened his mouth.
“God.”
“Ohh.”
“As expected!”
What do you mean, ‘as expected’?
‘I did it! Me!’
For some reason, he felt a surge of indignation. Nevertheless, Julian finished solemnly.
“God revealed it to me.”
“Ooooooh!”
Julian smiled emptily at the cheering Liberation Army as he recalled the past.
It was a vest that he and his fellow assistants had developed in his previous life.
During the freezing winter, the overworked assistants had nowhere to return to and slept curled up in the laboratory. They had created the vest for warmth in a desperate attempt to survive.
However, because they used inexpensive magic stones, it repeatedly caught fire and exploded, forcing them to discard it.
‘One of the junior assistants who worked with me died after the vest caught fire while he was sleeping in the corner of the laboratory.’
Julian ground his teeth as he remembered the junior who had died so long ago.
What had that bastard Arthur Blanco said at the time?
He had promised to dispose of every vest.
He had said that no one else could be allowed to inflict such serious damage upon the research team, as the dead assistant had.
Then he had ordered them to divide the burned research materials among themselves and restore them.
Julian could still clearly remember Arthur speaking with his professor friends.
‘At least the damage was relatively minor.’
‘Imagine if the experimental equipment had burned…….’
‘Young people these days have no understanding of safety.’
‘So the vest he promised to dispose of was turned into an explosive vest instead.’
Now that Julian thought about it, the monsters had been the same.
-We were selected for the Central Magic Society’s Regular Publication Grant! Mr. Choi, let us create the [Latest Edition Monster Compendium]!
Despite being a professor of summoning magic, that lunatic had boasted that he would publish ‘a compendium covering not only monsters encountered naturally but also every monster capable of being summoned.’
That was how he had secured funding for monster research.
‘Then he forced me to do all the work.’
Arthur had threatened him, claiming that because the grant money had been spent on departmental dinners, Choi was an accomplice.
He said that if Choi tried to withdraw from the project, the Central Magic Society would issue him a formal warning and the academy would dismiss him. Then no Magic Tower or school would ever accept him.
Arthur had also falsely promised that he would list Choi as a coauthor this time.
‘Coauthor, my ass.’
Not a single character of his name had appeared in the compendium.
Not a single character of his name had appeared in the compendium.
Even though Choi had been the one who fought the monsters, suffered injuries, endured venomous stings, dodged acid, and identified their weaknesses.
‘Haa…….’
Every memory that surfaced only made him angrier.
Julian pressed firmly against his burning eyelids and glared ahead.
Arthur Blanco.
The professor who had lured him in, deceived him, and wrung him dry.
The bastard who had ultimately driven a knife into his student’s stomach to steal his research was lying on the floor, twitching.
“…….”
Why that bastard was still alive.
What had resulted from the summoning back then.
None of that mattered at this moment.
‘I am going to beat him senseless.’
With his eyes blazing, Julian strode toward him.
“Theodore, hold him tightly.”
“……Your Highness? Forgive me, but your eyes look rather wild.”
“They do not. I am perfectly calm.”
Despite his words, his golden irises were burning.
Arthur Blanco, who had been lying at Theodore’s feet, hurriedly began crawling backward.
“Eek! P-please spare me……!”
“Why?”
The young prince asked.
Arthur Blanco trembled at the sight of him, like a demon wearing the face of an angel.
“Were you not bait sent running toward us to kill us? You are clearly a follower of the demons.”
“N-no! The demons threatened me! I could not endure their threats, so I had no choice……!”
Arthur Blanco desperately rattled off excuses, but his voice gradually diminished.
The atmosphere of the Liberation Army surrounding him was turning cold.
“He said he was a professor. Is this how the professors of Arpad Academy treat the people who came to rescue them?”
“If His Highness had not acted quickly, all of us would have been blown to pieces.”
“To think I nearly tried to rescue a bastard like him because I thought he was human…….”
Arthur Blanco screamed desperately.
“D-do you think I wanted to be blown apart? The demon captured me and forced me to wear it! I had no choice! Please spare me!”
At that moment, a beautiful voice that did not sound human drifted down from above.
“I knew this would happen.”
The professor’s face turned yellow as he looked up.
“L-Lord Paimon!”
“!”
Julian, Theodore, and the Liberation Army all turned their heads simultaneously.
A beautiful demon stood atop the staircase, looking down upon them.
***
The demon Paimon regarded the professor and the Liberation Army as though they were insignificant creatures.
It was hardly surprising to see Arthur Blanco barking like a dog that had rolled onto its back in submission.
Despite being merely a professor at the academy, he had fawned over Paimon and volunteered to assist him, claiming that no other human knew the academy as well as he did.
‘He was as useful as he claimed.’
However, Paimon had recently grown irritated by Arthur’s increasing arrogance, as though he had become a true confidant.
Now that he was also suspected of communicating with the invaders, there was no reason to keep him alive.
Paimon had intended to detonate him, throw the intruders into confusion, and savor them one by one while listening to their screams……
‘I did not expect a human to recognize the trap.’
Paimon clicked his tongue inwardly and spoke.
“Do the new students not care for their welcome ceremony? An entrance ceremony is hardly complete without music and fireworks.”
“You vile demon.”
Theodore, Deputy Commander of the Order of Holy Knights, growled.
“Is the music you speak of the screams of humans, and are your fireworks the red flesh of those blown apart?”
“Do you object to my tastes?”
The demon languidly tilted his head and smiled.
Seeing the seemingly powerful holy knight grind his teeth improved his mood somewhat.
Yes.
The game had only just begun.
Paimon continued leisurely.
“I suppose that particular firework may not have suited your tastes. There are others, so do enjoy the entrance ceremony.”
The demon lightly snapped his fingers.
CLATTER.
SCRAPE.
The sound of heavy metal objects scraping and striking the marble floor came from the darkness.
The Liberation Army stared tensely into the shadows.