CH 96

Demon King Balinos, in Rupert’s body, looked around at his subordinates–Samael’s slave Breiman, the demon Nimas, several black magicians and brainwashed knights, and even private soldiers from families that supported Prince Breiman.

Balinos shook his head. “This isn’t enough.”

“How can it not be with the King? We just need to wipe out all those human bastards!” Nimas, still in Chloe’s body, flattered him with a sad smile on her face. 

“You stupid devil, if you kill all humans, the power to maintain the Demon Realm will also disappear. Preserving the number of humans to a certain extent but fostering fear and hatred is what helps the Pandemonium.” Balinos looked at her pathetically, then said to Breiman, “There must be a reason for using this body to summon me.”

Breiman smiled to himself and answered, “Of course. The Clifford soldiers have comparable skills and weapons to the Imperial Army. Just call them to join us with the Lord’s authority.”

“Good, good. Which one is of higher standing, you or this body?”

“That’s… it’s me. Because I’m a member of the Imperial family.”

“Then, from now on, treat me as you normally would. That won’t arouse suspicion.”

“Do you mind if I do? But it would be better to persuade the Knights of the Clifford family to avoid anyone’s suspicion.” Then Balinos mounted his horse with a sinister grin. “Didn’t you say Erin Spilet was the wife of this body?”

Breiman’s face hardened at his words. 

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“But she… She’s probably a priestess. It’s in conflict with the Demon King, so you have to kill her as soon as you see her.”

“A priestess? Hahaha, that would be more fun. Anyway, from now on, just do what you normally do. I don’t mind.”

“…Okay, Duke Clifford.”

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Certainly, unlike the lesser demon Nimas, the Demon King was no fool. On the contrary, he was smarter and more cunning than most humans. 

Breiman swallowed hard and mounted his horse, then headed for Clifford manor, guiding Balinos.

The ordination ceremonies were over. After the High Priest declared so before the priests, the event ended with a prayer of blessing with them. 

I thought the ordination ceremony was just a ritual, but I could clearly feel the divine power in my body after it. I could now pull it out and use it proficiently at my fingertips.

“Wait a minute, Priestess.”

I was about to return after the ceremony, but the High Priest called and stopped me. Then, he pointed to the paper on the podium. 

“You have to sign here.”

As I read the paper carefully, I realized it was an oath to annul my marriage with Rupert. 

Feeling a bit calm, I grabbed the quill and looked at the paper. “Can I just do it on my own?”

“Yes, because you can’t call the Demon King here and have him sign it. It has already been approved by me and His Majesty, the Emperor.”

Right before signing it, my hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

‘Goodbye, Rupert.’

After blinking my reddening eyes and finally signing, I made a vow to myself.

‘Even so, I’ll definitely save you from the Demon King.’

After that day, I devoted myself to training more. No matter how well I could use my holy power, it would be useless if I couldn’t hit the enemy with my bow. I tried it while walking and running, and I also shot while riding a horse. 

The hit rate was still low, but it was still meaningful to improve day by day.

Then one day, a person came to the temple. His face was tattered, like someone who had barely escaped a battlefield. Damon found him dying and brought him back.

Apparently, the person called my name when he lost consciousness in front of the temple. So when I went to see him, I saw a familiar face.

“Richard…?”

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It was Richard, a loyal knight of the Clifford duchy. When I left the manor, I was worried that I never got to say goodbye to him.

“We’re done with the first aid, but he still hasn’t come to his senses because of the severe pain.”

Richard was seriously injured, but his face was blue as if he had been poisoned. He had yet to call the priest.

I looked at my hands and thought for a moment. I haven’t formally learned it yet, but since I had divine power, wouldn’t I be able to use healing magic to some extent? 

With that thought in mind, I placed my hand on Richard’s chest. Then, with a short prayer, I tried to capture the energy in my body and slowly let it out through my fingertips.

Then a very faint beam of light came out of my hand and penetrated his body. Read this translation novel at Novel Endeavors. Just in time, Priest Antonio, whom I had called in advance, came, and I quickly removed my hand. 

“Why are you stopping? You’re doing well.”

“Really? I was afraid that something might go wrong.”

“It is a very clean and pure healing technique. You seem to be much better than me.”

“Is this how you do it?”

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“Yeah, just… ” He taught me how to make fine adjustments by changing the position of my hands. “Divine power is not infinite. It would be better to save it when you can.”

According to his advice, my healing definitely reduced the waste of divine power.

After some time had passed, Richard suddenly stood up and gushed blood.

“Cough, cough…!” 

“Towel, bring me a towel!”

Richard, who had been coughing up blood, spat out words urgently, “Madam, cough, the Duke, he took all the soldiers of the territory, cough, cough.“

“You mean the Demon King took the soldiers?”

“D-Demon King? My god… How can it be–cough, cough!”

“Don’t push yourself too hard and talk slowly.”

Damon put Richard back on the bed, and Richard gasped for breath. 

“I didn’t know he was the Demon King. He just suddenly asked for military service without stating his reason, so I opposed it. Seeing that even Prince Breiman was by his side… It looked like he’s trying to betray His Highness, the Crown Prince, cough.”

“Right now, the Demon King is inside Rupert’s body.”

“H-how, how could he…”

“How was it? How did he look?”

Richard looked confused. With shaky eyes, he tried to recall what had happened. 

“He… He looked exactly the same. It was just Duke Rupert himself. The knights in the castle probably didn’t know and followed him.”

Upon hearing this, the faces of everyone in the room hardened.

I immediately told Damon, “Damon, I need to tell His Highness about this. Please go quickly.”

“Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I’ll only be inside the temple. Don’t worry.”

“Then I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

With Damon gone, I focused on the treatment once more, infusing more divine power into Richard’s body. 

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Richard muttered incredulously, “Demon, Demon King…”

He looked astonished. The news that the Demon King had ascended had already spread widely from the temple, but only a few people were aware of who it had ascended on. 

However, if the soldiers wearing the Clifford coat of arms moved, it would be impossible to keep quiet any longer.

I put Richard, who had been moaning in pain, to sleep to recover quickly.

“Please let me know when he wakes up.”

“Yes, Priestess.”

I left the nursing care to another priest and came out.

“Army…”

Since he was with Prince Breiman, I had somewhat expected that they would mobilize an army. However, now that they did it, even if it wasn’t because of black magic, the sacrifice of the soldiers was inevitable.

Prince Breiman’s side had also been working so far, so he would never back down. The casualties might be more significant because of the political fight between humans than one against the devil.

‘Is there anything I can do?’

Defeating the Demon King as quickly as possible was the only thing I could do in the end.

I put on light armor and tied the Bow of Chaos behind my back. It’s a rather large bow, but amazingly, I can barely feel the weight.

“Use it only when absolutely necessary.”

The High Priest made me promise so several times. He mentioned that the Bow of Chaos consumed divine power with each shot.

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

I also got a dagger just in case and hung it from my belt. Just as I was finishing my preparations, I heard footsteps outside.

When I turned around, Enoch and other knights came to pick me up.

“Priestess.”

He addressed me as ‘Priestess,’ not ‘Count.’ However, Enoch’s eyes widened as he looked me up and down. Why?

“Why? Is it because I’m so pretty?”

“Ah, that…”

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He came over, visibly embarrassed. I seemed to have hit the mark.

Enoch suddenly lowered himself without saying a word and straightened the laces of my combat boots. Was it because of this?

However, when I looked at him from above, his ears were stained red. Perhaps my guess was right.

Without realizing it, I placed my hand on his black hair and lightly infused divine power into it. Then Enoch flinched and lifted his head to look up at me.

“Don’t get hurt. Everyone seems to be blessed at least before leaving… Did you get it from someone else besides me?”

“Of course not. Thank you, Priestess.”

After tying the laces of my combat boots, Enoch shook his hands and stood. He, who was much taller than me, looked down at me with a gentle smile, and it felt quite different from before.

“Don’t leave my side even for a second.” Enoch’s long, large hands clasped mine, then led me outside without a moment to panic.

Eyes turned to us, startled by the sudden appearance, and I had to lower my head to hide my blushing face.