Chapter 207. The Road to the Summit (2)
“D-Damn it...!”
Marbas cursed as he sprinted down the corridor.
When the battle first began, the Louvre’s central Sully Wing had been completely flooded.
But at some point, the water had drained away.
The moment Marbas realized that, he immediately fled back inside.
“What the hell are those bastards...?!”
Outside, the Constellations who had suddenly appeared were slaughtering the demons stationed at the Louvre.
He had never imagined Constellations could be that strong.
“That Constellation called Arjuna... what the hell is he?! Why does an arrow cause a massive explosion?!”
When Marbas was struck by the first arrow, he had thought it was merely a somewhat powerful shot.
It had wounded him, but with his regeneration, it was the sort of injury that would heal in less than ten seconds.
The arrows Arjuna fired afterward, however, were completely different.
One seemed to miss, only to explode the moment it struck the ground.
Another came wrapped in flames and transformed the entire surrounding area into a sea of fire.
The attacks completely defied common sense.
“The ones who came through the main gate were strong too... especially those Lancelot and Gawain bastards!”
Among the Knights of the Round Table, the two knights leading the charge, Lancelot and Gawain, were absurdly powerful.
Their strength hardly seemed human.
And perhaps because their swords contained some kind of sacred power, they sliced demons in half with ridiculous ease.
Marbas had let his guard down because they were only A-rank Constellations.
But they didn’t seem particularly weaker than S-rank ones.
“The others weren’t pushovers either... damn it!”
Cursing repeatedly, Marbas continued running.
His subordinates were being massacred outside.
He didn’t care.
Surviving and reporting the situation to the Demon God Assembly was far more important.
“Almost there...!”
Marbas burst into his office.
He hurriedly reached for the item he needed.
Then he sensed someone nearby.
A woman...?
A tall human woman with golden hair stood in front of the office door.
“So you ran here after all, demon.”
“W-Who are you?!”
“I am the A-rank Constellation ‘White-Feathered Knight’... Bradamante, one of Charlemagne’s Twelve Paladins.”
“A-Another Constellation?!”
Marbas felt sick of this already.
“What the hell is happening?! Why are so many Constellations suddenly appearing in the Material Realm?!”
"..."
“Nothing like this has happened in ten years!”
“Once in a while, one or two would appear and interfere with the Material Realm, but never like this!”
“Never a whole group descending at once to attack us!”
Marbas slammed a fist into his office desk.
“We demons won the war against humanity!”
“That is why we gained control of this land!”
“If you’re supposed to protect humans, then take care of the survivors!”
“Why are you suddenly persecuting us?!”
“Are you actually serious?”
The female knight named Bradamante stared at him in disbelief.
“We were human while alive, and even now we are guardians of the humans living in the Material Realm.”
“There is no reason we would ever tolerate you.”
“Ridiculous! You’ve been doing nothing this whole time!”
“If you wanted to protect humanity, you should have started ten years ago!”
“That is... somewhat complicated on our side.”
“What complication?! Explain yourself!”
“Hmm... how should I put it?”
Bradamante frowned in thought.
Marbas used that moment to pull out the item he needed.
“Ah...!”
Bradamante’s eyes widened when she saw the ‘sword’ in Marbas’s hand.
“Is that... Joyeuse?! The sword used by His Majesty Charlemagne...!”
“It was meant to be presented to Lord Bael, but I have no choice!”
This was a holy sword Marbas had obtained recently.
At first, he had thought it was nothing more than an old blade.
Then he discovered it had been sealed by magic.
When the seal was removed, an incredibly powerful sword was revealed.
“H-How does a demon have Joyeuse?! There’s no way you should be able to withstand its sacred power...!”
“Have you never heard of a holy sword becoming a demonic sword?”
“With the proper ritual, it can easily become a weapon for us!”
Marbas raised the sword and growled.
Joyeuse combined with his demonic attribute and began radiating a sinister aura.
“Disappear, human knight!”
“Ghk...!”
Marbas swung once.
A tremendous wave of power erupted.
BOOOOM!
The wall facing the corridor collapsed.
Bradamante was caught in the blast as well.
She wasn’t seriously wounded, but apparently startled by the sheer power, she hurriedly retreated.
“Hehehe... eliminating every Constellation outside might be difficult, but dealing with one of you should be easy enough!”
“Ghk, of all things, His Majesty Charlemagne’s Joyeuse... Ah!”
Bradamante, who had been gritting her teeth, suddenly turned her head and sucked in a breath.
Someone was approaching from the far end of the corridor.
“Who are you?!”
"..."
A man walked toward them.
Unlike the Constellations who had appeared before, he gave no introduction.
Instead, he looked at Bradamante and spoke calmly.
“Bradamante, thanks for keeping Marbas occupied.”
“It was nothing! I’m sorry I haven’t subdued him yet!”
Bradamante hurriedly replied.
“Joyeuse contains a fragment of the blade from the Holy Spear... the spear that pierced the ‘Son of God’!”
“It was made using the same kind of sacred material as Durandal... and it is an extremely high-ranking weapon, so please be careful!”
“The Holy Spear... the Spear of Longinus?”
The man looked seriously at the sword in Marbas’s hand.
“Then I shouldn’t break it.”
“I need to obtain it intact.”
“W-What did you say?”
Before the bewildered Marbas, the man moved both hands.
He drew the sword at his waist with his right hand...
and pulled a pistol from inside his clothes with his left.
“Bradamante, let’s attack together.”
“Don’t shrink back just because it’s Charlemagne’s sword.”
“H-How did you... Ah, understood!”
Seeing the man and Bradamante assume combat stances, Marbas frowned.
“You bastards... you’re underestimating me far too much!”
His lion’s mane bristled as he roared.
“I am Marbas, Governor-General of Hell!”
“I can handle one or two Constellations myself!”
He raised the corrupted Joyeuse and moved with tremendous speed.
“Haaah!”
“Ghk!”
He attacked Bradamante first.
She blocked the blow with her own sword, but the difference in strength forced her backward.
“Weak! Weak!”
Marbas continued attacking.
Neither Bradamante nor the newly arrived man could properly receive his strikes.
They kept retreating.
“Even if you are Constellations, you were originally human!”
“You cannot stand against one of the Seventy-Two Demons!”
“Do you understand, weak humans?!”
“And who was it that got scared of those weak humans and fled here?”
“You bastard...!”
Furious at the provocation, Marbas charged toward the man.
“A third-rate hero who cannot even announce his own name dares speak that way to Marbas?!”
“What, were you upset because I didn’t introduce myself?”
At that instant...
the pistol in the man’s hand fired for the first time.
Marbas had originally intended to simply let the bullet hit him.
A human handgun could never pierce his hide.
“Kaaagh!”
But the bullet from that pistol tore straight through Marbas’s right shoulder.
The wound was also unusually severe.
It wasn’t regenerating properly.
“H-How can a human gun...?!”
“This isn’t a handgun that someone like you gets to dismiss, demon.”
