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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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A massive barrier slammed down, crushing the city.
The seemingly impenetrable city walls, the towering clock tower, the magnificent church—all were flattened, disappearing beneath the barrier.
When the barrier finally settled, only three remained:
The demon who had conjured it, the Holy Knights capable of cutting through magic, and Johan.
‘A demon? Seriously…?’
Johan quickly dove for cover behind the rubble. The surrounding buildings had been compressed into cubes, and the people in the streets had been transformed into… well, cubes of flesh. Finding a hiding spot was difficult, but fortunately, others were drawing the demon’s attention.
“You vile demon…! You won’t get away with this!”
The Holy Knights, trained to hunt witches, were also a threat to demons. The demon, seeing them, grinned and ascended into the sky.
Holy Knights could imbue their blades with divine power. Blades that could cut through even magic and demons.
But a sword couldn’t cut a bird in flight.
“Coward! Come down!”
“Show yourself!”
The Holy Knights fired crossbows and arrows at the airborne demon, but their projectiles, lacking divine power, couldn’t penetrate its magical defenses.
The demon, soaring through the air, looked down at the struggling Holy Knights and smiled.
[You are mere insects. And I despise insects.]
There was no need to engage them directly. Though physically powerful, far beyond human capabilities, the demon saw no reason to risk injury fighting these holy knights, much like a human wouldn’t fight a wasp, even if stronger than it.
With a flick of its wrist, the demon lifted the compressed buildings and hurled them at the Holy Knights.
The Holy Knights, facing this magical assault, swung their swords, but their blades couldn’t penetrate the super-dense material.
Thud—!
One Holy Knight, his sword deflected, was crushed beneath a building. The others, realizing the futility of their attacks, dove for cover.
[Yes, grovel like the insects you are. A fitting display.]
The buildings continued to rain down. The demon simply watched, waiting for them to be crushed.
Though skilled warriors, the Holy Knights were no match for a demon wielding magic.
Once they were all dead, the demon idly cleaned its fingernails, its interest waning.
[You there.]
“…!!”
Johan, who had been carefully moving between hiding spots, froze, hearing the demon’s voice. He remained silent, wondering if it was a bluff. The demon, pinpointing his location, spoke again.
[How did you survive? Are you a Holy Knight?]
“No… would you let me live if I was?”
[Of course not. The contract was for annihilation.]
The demon, unconcerned with how Johan had survived, conjured another massive barrier and slammed it down, just as it had done upon its arrival.
Johan, seeing the barrier descending towards him, didn’t move. The demon, assuming he had given up, turned away, then suddenly sensed something and whipped around.
[You… what did you just do?]
“Would you let me live if I told you?”
[Hmm—no. I’ll find out myself.]
The demon attacked again. But the magic, the moment it reached Johan, dissipated like melting snow.
The demon, seeing its magic nullified, smiled broadly.
[You’re not a Holy Knight. That method… what are you?]
“A witch’s disciple.”
[Oh, a witch. Yes, that makes sense. Those cursed mutants, wielding their unstable magic.]
Johan, seeing the demon’s interest piqued, asked,
“So, are you going to let me live?”
[No.]
“Then stop wasting time and come at me.”
Johan gestured tauntingly. The demon, taking the bait, attacked him the same way it had attacked the Holy Knights.
Manipulating physical objects with magic. Even if Johan nullified the magic itself, he couldn’t stop the resulting physical phenomena.
A multi-ton building, compressed to several meters in size, hurtled towards him. Johan didn’t try to stop it. He wasn’t a witch; he couldn’t stop a projectile of that mass.
But he could dodge it. Even the highly trained Holy Knights hadn’t been able to, but Johan was beyond human limitations.
‘Come on—’
His vision sharpened, and mana surged through his body, enhancing his reflexes. He dodged the incoming projectiles, then ran towards the pile of dead Holy Knights. He picked up a few swords and threw them at the demon.
The demon, which had been smiling confidently, its expression faltered as one of the swords pierced through its magical barrier and lodged itself in its chest.
[Human, human—I’ll kill you—!]
More insulted than injured, the demon, enraged at being wounded by a mere human, unleashed its magic.
The already compressed earth beneath them compressed further, and Johan, sensing the shift, realized something had changed.
“Hey, come get me if you can.”
[What?]
He activated Marguerite’s teleportation scroll and vanished.
The demon, seeing Johan disappear, followed the lingering traces of his mana.
[A witch’s disciple, you say?]
Crack—!
The demon compressed the entire city into a small sphere, then flew towards the source of the mana signature.
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“Master—!!”
Back at the cabin, Johan frantically called for Evangeline. Hearing his panicked voice, she rushed out of the living room, where she had been resting, and Johan, throwing himself into her arms, recounted his harrowing experience.
“…So… you’re saying… a demon appeared in the city and tried to kill you?”
“Yes! He threatened to… violate me… tear me apart… I managed to escape, but he said he would hunt me down…”
He hadn’t actually said those things, but Johan exaggerated the demon’s actions for dramatic effect. He didn’t mention the destruction of the city, or the countless deaths.
Witches didn’t care about such things. To them, he was what mattered.
His safety, his well-being, that was their priority.
“So, that’s what happened. A demon… heh…”
His plan worked. Evangeline let out a strange, chilling laugh. Johan looked at her with feigned concern.
“Master, it’s dangerous!”
“Don’t worry. Your master is the strongest. —And I’m not alone, am I?”
Evangeline glanced around. The other four witches, having overheard his story, were preparing for battle.
Seeing their eager expressions, Johan lowered his head and smiled.
‘Just as planned.’
He no longer feared the demon. He pitied it.
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The witches, having secured Johan’s safety, gathered to discuss the situation.
“A demon… do those things even exist?”
“Are you saying Johan is lying to us?”
“I’m just saying… I’ve never seen one.”
The other witches nodded, agreeing with Hecaterina’s skepticism. They had lived for hundreds of years, and if they had never encountered a demon, it was reasonable to question their existence.
Like dinosaurs, their existence might be documented, but if one suddenly appeared, how many would believe it? The witches considered the possibility that Johan had been mistaken.
“Regina.”
“—The city he was in… has indeed been destroyed.”
“So… a demon really does exist?”
“Whether it was a demon or a witch, he definitely encountered something powerful enough to destroy a city.”
The witches exchanged worried glances. Only Evangeline possessed that level of destructive power.
Of course, the others were powerful in their own right, but they each had their specialties.
And if this demon was capable of destroying a city, it would be a formidable foe.
“Hecaterina.”
“…What?”
“Drink this.”
Evangeline handed Hecaterina a potion. Hecaterina, recognizing it, grinned.
“Are you sure? I could betray you.”
“You can’t betray us anymore. Who would suspect a witch who looks at Johan with such… lustful eyes every morning?”
“…Bitch.”
Hecaterina downed the potion. The magic binding her dissipated, and her power returned.
Normally, she would have immediately killed them all and fled, but she didn’t.
Evangeline, seeing Hecaterina’s subdued demeanor, smiled and explained her plan.
“We need to find a way to intercept the demon… while protecting Johan…”
And so, the witches waited, for hours, for days, for the demon to arrive. Their curses returned.
But the demon never came.
As if it had never existed.
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[To think… I would be defeated so easily…]
“You should know better than to rely on such outdated magic. Don’t you think?”
“…Mm.”
The demon groveled before two witches.
Identical twins, except for their hair length and breast size. They kicked the demon’s head and returned to their base.
“I wonder… when will a man worthy of our affections appear…?”
“…Mm.”
“Is that all you can say? ‘Mm’? Why do you always give one-word answers!?”
“……Mm.”
“You little—!”
The demon, watching the two witches bicker, returned to Hell.
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That was anticlimactic.