Chapter 126

Without waiting for each other, Demona and Hector headed out to the dormitory backyard and prepared for the Holy War.

“Roan, watch too!”

“Yeah, be the witness to our sacred Holy War!”

Roan was also dragged along under the pressure of the two.

‘A witness for a mere casual Holy War…’

Roan, who had intended to go into his private room to start studying early, had a rather sour expression.

Even so, fitting for a dormitory of an imperial school enthusiastic about Holy Wars, a fairly large space was prepared behind Paneroa Hall for duels.

Nevertheless, except during class hours, it was usually packed with students enjoying Holy Wars.

Rumble—

─ H-Hieee! It’s Darc!

─ Oh, shall we call it a day?

At the sight of Roan being dragged out with an ominous expression, one dueling spot cleared out in an instant.

“Eh? A spot suddenly opened up.”

“This is what they call destiny, Heretic boss!”

Demona and Hector, completely unaware of that fact, ran over with broad grins.

─ What, it’s Darc’s gang? Are they having a Holy War?

─ Ugh… What is that severed neck? Can a thing like that even participate in a Holy War?

It couldn’t.

Hearing the words of the passing students, Hector felt extremely sorrowful.

“Don’t worry, Crybaby. Someday, everyone will surely recognize your true value.”

If he defeated the Adamant Beetle here, everyone would surely look at the Purgatory Penitence Beast in a new light!

Hector closed his eyes tightly and recalled what he had learned earlier in the Sacred Strategy class.

The professor of the Sacred Strategy class was Fidel Hersh.

Belonging to the same Hersh family as Theory, he was currently retired but had been a famous professional Holy War duelist.

─ Oh, Pavilto has a Purgatory Penitence Beast. Your heart is truly admirable.

─ Professor! Please tell me a strategy for the Purgatory Penitence Beast to use!

─ …The Purgatory Penitence Beast is a forbidden divine beast, though?

Not this.

─ Mmh. If you absolutely must field it in a casual Holy War… black magic?

─ Black magic in my Holy War is out of the question!

─ …Pavilto, do you think Holy Wars are a joke?

Not this either.

─ There are a few basics in Holy War strategy. One of them is targeting the blind spots. That is usually why attacks begin from behind, from above, or from underground. Of course, since the opponent will have prepared for that, it won’t be easy, right? Creating those openings is precisely what Sacred Strategy is about.

“This is it!”

Hector finally recalled a useful memory and snapped his eyes open.

Demona, who had been lazily picking her nose in the meantime, asked.

“Are you ready now, little brother Hector?”

“Yeah! Let’s begin!”

Hector confidently declared the start.

“Crybaby! Attack from behind! Bite it from behind!”

The Purgatory Penitence Beast moved faithfully according to Hector’s command.

It flew swiftly behind the Adamant Beetle, then took a massive bite with its mouth!

Throughout this, Demona did nothing but quietly watch.

‘Fufufu, I am someone who just returned from taking the Sacred Strategy class. I won’t lose to an idiot like you who doesn’t know the first thing about strategy!’

Hector didn’t doubt his victory for a second, having targeted the blind spot brilliantly.

However.

Crack—

An ominous sound came from the mouth of the Purgatory Penitence Beast as it bit the Adamant Beetle.

And the Purgatory Penitence Beast’s front teeth broke off cleanly.

The students watching the duel whispered among themselves.

─ Look at that. It tried to bite the Adamant Beetle with its mouth.

─ Making it do something like that. Is he an idiot?

“……”

Hector was left speechless.

The professor had clearly said that attacking from the blind spot was a surefire card to win?

“Are you done now?”

As Demona asked this, the Adamant Beetle, which had been standing still, fluttered its outer wings.

Crash—

With just that, the Purgatory Penitence Beast fell away pitifully and rolled on the ground.

“Th-This cheating holy beast!”

Hector screamed belatedly, but the situation was already irreversible.

‘It’s over.’

Roan watched the entire scene with an expression of disbelief.

To think he tried to bite into the shell of the Adamant Beetle—which was hard to pierce even with powerful offensive skills—with mere teeth.

In any case, the Purgatory Penitence Beast was one of the few exceptions allowed to use black magic, so it would have been better to seek victory in that direction.

Of course, Hector’s reputation would hit rock bottom, but then again, there was no reputation left to fall any further anyway.

“Sparky!”

Flash—!

At Demona’s call, the horn of the Adamant Beetle glowed.

…What followed was too gruesome for words.

***

Back in the McGodal Room.

“Roan, Crybaby is so weak, so why is it forbidden?”

Demona seemed genuinely curious about the reason.

Roan explained kindly.

“It doesn’t have to be strong to be a forbidden divine beast. There are various reasons, such as dueling entertainment value, the significance of a holy divine beast, and the threat of extinction. The Purgatory Penitence Beast has to atone for the sins of its past life, and since it uses black magic, there’s no way it would be permitted.”

Roan couldn’t bring himself to point out its appearance, which was the biggest reason.

It was out of concern that he might hurt the kind Purgatory Penitence Beast’s feelings.

“Eh? If it uses black magic, wouldn’t that naturally draw a crowd?”

“……It would indeed become a real ‘Holy War.’”

“Exactly! I’m saying people don’t know what a real Holy War is!”

Evidently, the meaning of a Holy War that Roan and Demona had in mind was quite different.

Roan just decided to drop the subject.

In truth, he didn’t have the luxury to pay attention to Demona right now.

“Waaahhhhh—!!!”

This was because in a corner of the living room, Hector was hugging the bloodied Purgatory Penitence Beast and wailing loud enough to wake the dead.

And he wasn’t even alone now.

Urrrrrr—!!!

True to its nickname Crybaby, the Purgatory Penitence Beast let out a wail that rivaled Hector’s.

Though the sound was strange due to its missing front teeth, since it was a divine beast, they would soon grow back.

In any case, it was also true that it made the noise even more unpleasant to listen to.

Roan frowned deeply.

‘Now, as if the owner wasn’t enough, the divine beast has joined him in a pair…!’

Listening to those sounds continuously grated on his nerves so much he felt like they were getting gouged out.

Just then, the eyes of the Purgatory Penitence Beast—specifically, the cross where its eyes should be—looked at Roan.

Urr—…

The crying naturally subsided.

Slide—

The Purgatory Penitence Beast slipped out of Hector’s embrace and quietly walked into his private room.

It possessed the quick wits of a former black mage.

“Crybaby! Are you leaving me too now?!”

At that, Hector began to weep even more sorrowfully.

Just as Roan was about to step in, unable to take it anymore.

Knock, knock, knock—

An angry knocking sound echoed from outside.

Demona made a fuss.

“Hey, fanatic! The next room came because of you!”

Roan tilted his head.

Although it was a bit loud, the dormitory was equipped with Harden’s soundproofing holy magic.

Since it would be troublesome if noises from experiments or practices leaked to neighboring rooms.

If it were Roan, he would have broken down the dormitory door by now to deal with it.

‘At any rate, the soundproofing surely wouldn’t have been breached.’

Roan opened the door, tilting his head.

“Be quiet! Are you the only ones using this dormitory?!”

“……”

It seemed Harden’s soundproofing holy magic had indeed been breached.

Roan looked up at the massive figure practically blocking the doorway and spoke.

“Is that Galland?”

“D-Darc?!”

Galland, Trian’s right-hand man and possessor of a physique no smaller than Hector’s.

He flinched, not having expected Roan to come out, but soon spoke with resolve, thinking he shouldn’t back down.

“Th… That’s right! Even if it is your room, Darc, I absolutely cannot tolerate this. Isn’t this the evening hours when everyone should be resting?!”

It was the confidence of knowing that justification was on his side.

‘Since it has come to this, I should suppress him here!’

Galland thought that whether Roan got angry or apologized, it would be his victory.

But.

“Whew. I agree.”

He hadn’t expected the notorious Roan to admit it so readily.

In Galland’s mind, Roan was close to the image of a bloodless, tearless Great Demon King.

“……What?”

When Galland asked in confusion, Roan looked at him a bit strangely.

“I said I agree. It is too noisy.”

“Y-Yes. That’s exactly what I mean.”

“It’s also awkward to keep the door open… would you like to step inside for a moment?”

Roan said this, opening the path into the room.

‘I should take this opportunity to clear any bad blood with Trian’s gang.’

Just as Jennifer’s heart had softened at his sincere apology (?) last time, wouldn’t Galland also be easy to talk to once the misunderstandings were cleared?

Besides, to Roan who had lived in South Korea, noise between floors was definitely something to apologize for.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Roan’s words, Galland’s eyes trembled slightly.

‘I-Is it a trap?’

An ordinary student might expect some gift as an apology, but the opponent was the Great Demon King Roan.

If he followed heedlessly and was found paralyzed in front of the dormitory tomorrow morning…

However, because he couldn’t back down here either, Galland quietly followed Roan inside for now.

He was extremely tense, ready to fight at any moment.

“Waaahhh—!!! Crybaby!”

Once inside the McGodal Room, the crying was even more spectacles.

Galland had no idea how to react upon seeing Hector, who was of similar build to him, crying like a child.

‘Does that bastard have no sense of shame?’

Galland didn’t know that Hector and Demona had thrown away their sense of shame long ago.

But Hector’s crying stopped right there.

“Ugh— Kwek!”

Hector let out a short scream and collapsed sideways, trembling violently.

Naturally, the cause was Roan’s curse magic.

Realizing it was Roan’s doing, Galland shuddered.

‘They said he is merciless even to his allies…!’

He had heard the anecdote about Jennifer in the Friendship Experience Center, but since he hadn’t seen it in person back then, this was even more shocking.

“Keo-heok… Ro… an…”

Hector stretched out a hand toward Roan while trembling.

That sight looked so much like a member desperately begging a mob boss for forgiveness that Galland was slightly terrified.

But Roan went even further.

It seemed holy power emerged once more from Roan’s hand, and then.

“Keo-heu-heok…”

Hector writhed even more in agony.

Overlapping a cruel Chastisement Spell not just once, but twice!

Galland was astonished, unable to even let out a sound.

A deed like this was only possible for someone of a black mage’s caliber.

…Galland had accidentally hit the nail on the head.

At any rate, Roan spoke in a voice that had finally regained its tranquility.

“It seems these fellows have developed a resistance to the Chastisement Spell lately. I must research it further.”

Talking about his friend like some pest that had developed resistance to pesticides!

‘My goodness…!’

Galland became too afraid to even meet Roan’s eyes.

Only then did he feel he understood the reason Roan had let him into the room.

It wasn’t some shallow trap; it was to break his spirit fundamentally.

Could Hector’s crying like this have been a ploy to lure him in the first place?

If that was truly the case, it meant Roan possessed a depth of scheming that far surpassed the student level.

‘Had Trian been standing against a monster like this…?’

Contrary to Roan’s intentions (?), Galland’s loyalty toward Trian deepened even further.

“Will this suffice? Or do you need a bit more compensation?”

Galland’s breath caught at the sight of Roan using a Chastisement Spell on his friend and casually calling it ‘compensation.’

He shook his head hesitantly.

“N-Now that it is quiet, it’s fine. I will go.”

“Thanks. I will make sure this doesn’t happen next time.”

“Ah, no… A person can cry a little, can’t they?”

Galland tried to leave the room with quick steps.

Just then, Roan called out to him in a low voice.

“Galland.”