Chapter 56, Omen (4)
“Took you long enough? You make it sound like you were waiting for me.”
Raum, lounging on the throne as if he were lying down, gave a long yawn.
“Yaaawn. That's right. Someone told me that if I went after Valefor, Mikael would come running out.”
Mikael raised an eyebrow.
That meant someone had deliberately ordered Raum to invade Valefor's pub in order to draw Mikael out.
However, there was someone who reacted even more strongly than Mikael.
“Squeeeak!!”
Valefor exploded in anger when he heard that.
The thought that his pub had been destroyed because of Raum and whoever had ordered him made his blood boil.
“Huh? You were here? I couldn't feel any presence from you.”
“Squeak!! You sneaky bastard! You attacked me when I had no power, squeak?!”
Raum grinned mockingly.
“You should get your facts straight. You never had any power in the first place.”
“W, What the hell are you talking about, squeak?”
Hit right where it hurt, Valefor stammered.
“I've always thought it was strange. The others kept saying you could stand against Mikael, or that you could hide your demonic energy, or whatever. But from what I saw, Mikael was just showing mercy to some worthless insect. Everyone kept praising you, so I decided to ignore it, but then such a perfect opportunity showed up.”
Disgust slowly filled Raum's face as he looked at Valefor.
“So I poked at you a little, and Mikael came right out. Hey, was it fun enjoying power all this time while hiding behind Mikael? You're even weaker than a demonic beast.”
“...S, Squeak!”
Valefor could only tremble.
There was nothing he could properly deny.
He had really been caught this time. If he couldn't come up with a convincing explanation, he might even have trouble when he returned to Hell.
“Heh. Thinking about it like that, you're a bigger swindler than I am. You've got talent. Why don't you become the Demon of Deception instead? I'm getting tired of the title anyway.”
Hisssss!
Jeomrye arched her back and bared her teeth after sensing something from Raum, but before she could do anything,
“L, Let's fight properly then, squeak!”
Valefor tried to escape the situation by shouting something far beyond his ability.
Raum's lips twisted into a wicked smile after Valefor took the bait.
He sprang to his feet.
“Thanks for saying you want to fight me properly! This is a Ranking Battle. I kept provoking you because I thought you'd eventually challenge me first, and you walked right into it. Hehehe.”
The laziness vanished from Raum the moment he left the throne.
Now, only the nature of a swindler remained.
A Ranking Battle.
It was a contest created for demons who worshiped strength above everything else. It was also a chance for weaker Great Demons or high ranked demons to challenge the authority of a Great Demon.
The rules were simple.
Anything was allowed, as long as you defeated your opponent.
“What?! A Ranking Battle?! Who approved... Wait, don't tell me, squeak?!”
However, the defender had a total of three rights to refuse.
Valefor, who had never been challenged because of his false reputation, still had those rights remaining.
The problem was that the words he had just spoken might have counted as accepting the challenge.
“I was getting annoyed because the higher ups kept telling me to wait for an answer. Thanks for giving me such a clear response!”
As soon as Raum finished speaking, a symbol representing each demon appeared on both his and Valefor's wrists.
“Shit. I'm screwed, squeak...”
If the Ranking Battle continued and Valefor lost, he would lose everything he had built up until now.
Worse, he could be branded a traitor and completely annihilated.
Valefor, tricked by Raum's specialty, the distortion of language through wordplay, began sweating and quickly turned his head.
“...Squeeeak?”
Valefor stared at Mikael with sparkling eyes.
He had already planned to ask Mikael to fight Raum in his place, but he had never expected a Ranking Battle to become involved.
Has he completely thrown away his conscience?
The expression on Valefor's face clearly screamed, Do it for me.
He had no strength, yet his pride was enormous, and somehow he had managed to cause an even bigger mess.
Mikael sighed and lowered Claw Avulsion at an angle.
“Well, I already said I'd do it.”
Mikael had promised to reclaim the pub from Raum.
Defeating Raum would solve that problem too.
“But the Ranking Battle wasn't part of our deal. You know what that means, right?”
Mikael deliberately emphasized every word at the end.
This was extra work that had never been part of the agreement.
Naturally, extra payment was required.
“O, Of course, squeak!”
Valefor nodded again and again.
He decided not to think about what would happen later.
If Mikael abandoned him here, he really was finished.
“Hehehe. Interesting. Very interesting. So you're my opponent? Then I should clear these things away first.”
With Mikael stepping forward as his opponent, Raum flicked his hand.
Snap, snap, snap!
Invisible threads of demonic energy extending from Raum's fingertips were severed.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Every person inside the room collapsed at once.
Then, distortions like whirlpools appeared where each person fell, sucking them away.
Mikael frowned at the sight.
Why did he move them?
Those people were definitely alive.
He didn't know what they were going to be used as sacrifices for, but against Mikael, using them as human shields would have been much easier.
The fact that Raum had hidden them instead meant that whoever would receive those sacrifices was at least a Great Demon.
Don't tell me...
Before Mikael could finish that thought, Raum, who had finished cleaning up, spoke again.
“Good, all the expendable pieces are gone! Mikael, there's something I'd like to tell you. How about it? Want to hear?”
“No need.”
Mikael ignored Raum's sly expression.
Rather than risk being confused by Raum's distortion of language like Valefor had been, it would be better to attack first and shut him up.
“We're not exactly friends who sit around having pleasant conversations. This should be enough. ignícŭlus [Igniculus].”
Mikael filled Claw Avulsion with white flame and swung it at Raum.
A crescent shaped wave of white fire flew toward him.
BOOOOM!
“Caw! Caw!”
The white flame struck the throne where Raum had been sitting and exploded.
The crows resting there frantically flapped their wings.
Ssssh.
Mikael opened and closed his hand.
He had definitely felt his attack connect, yet his target had disappeared.
Did he escape using distortion?
Spatial Distortion.
It was one of Raum's main abilities.
Similar to a portal, it allowed him to connect any location within a designated area.
However, it was far faster than a portal and only allowed objects chosen by Raum to pass through.
