Evileye took a pen and paper from the reading desk on the side of the room and began sketching a portrait with flowing motions. But what she ended up with, no matter how kindly one viewed it, was no better than a child’s scribbling. Remedios was saying, “No, he was m—” when one of the twins grabbed the picture and ripped it in half before anyone could stop her.
“Why you— What do you think you’re doing?!”
Evileye was furious, but the other twin took the opportunity to grab the pen, move it rapidly over a new piece of paper, and thrust the finished portrait out. “Mm…nnnngh…” came a frustrated groan from beneath the caster’s mask. To be blunt, the new drawing was incomparably better.
Yes, the outfit was difficult to describe in words. It comprised unfamiliar garments from some foreign land. And that weird mask. When Remedios saw the picture, she clenched her first and said, “That’s the guy,” like a snarling beast.
Seeing that response, Evileye seemed to compose herself; she quit chewing out the thief and turned back to Remedios.
“Then that’s one thing we know for sure. It’s the same man—er, demon. Well, if there were a whole bunch of them popping up all over, that would be a problem, so I suppose we should consider this a blessing. Okay, so—”
Then Evileye explained what had happened in the kingdom, and Neia frowned inwardly as she listened.
She was prepared to confirm the extent of Jaldabaoth’s strength. And the existence of a demon army filled with powerful, scaly demons was something she had known about already, so that was no surprise.
But the news that there were five maids who could hold their own against the Blue Roses in a fight deepened her despair.
I don’t recall any reports of maid demons in the Sacred Kingdom. Does Jaldabaoth keep them up his sleeve as a last resort? So there’s more to come…?
“What have you estimated his difficult rating as?”
The Blue Roses exchanged glances at Gustav’s question. It was their representative, Evileye, who answered. “First, let me say this: The number I’m about to give you is only a guess. Keep in mind that he could be higher or lower. That demon seems to be around two hundred.”
“Two hundred…” It was Gustav who practically choked the words out.
Neia nearly gasped herself, but she just barely managed to hold it back. Along the wall, some of the knights had failed, exclaiming in the same way Gustav had. Remedios was the only one who maintained her calm completely. Her expression didn’t so much as twitch.
Neia seemed to remember that 100 was the highest a human could hope to defeat.
“Two hundred—so how strong does that make him, specifically?” Remedios asked frankly, and Evileye wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“Something at difficulty two hundred has never appeared in the human world before, but, well, an old dragon is around one hundred.”
“An old dragon…? I’ve never fought one of those… I suppose it’s about the same as the guardian god of the sea?”
The guardian god of the sea was a sea dragon who lived in the water.
Its arms, legs, and wings had atrophied, and instead it had a long tail. It certainly looked more like a dragon than a sea serpent, and it was as or more intelligent than humans. The gentle creature often protected people’s boats if they presented offerings.
Neia had been lucky enough to see it once, albeit from a distance, with her family on a trip to Limun.
Its neck stretched up out of the water with enough majesty to be worthy of the epithet guardian god. She couldn’t believe a human could defeat it.
“Commander Custodio, comparing it to defeating the guardian god of the sea is a bit… If there were any fishermen here, they wouldn’t be very happy. But anyhow, Jaldabaoth is twice as strong as an old dragon…”
“Right. He’s more powerful than the evil spirits the Thirteen Heroes defeated. Anytime he shows up in the human world, a catastrophe is guaranteed; multiple countries will fall into ruin. That’s the kind of strength we’re talking about.”
“But you said when Jaldabaoth was on his rampage in the Kingdom, Sir Momon of Raven Black drove him off. Does that mean he’s equally powerful?” Gustav took a breath. “Or did he have a special item that was able to repel the demon?”
Evileye’s attitude changed.
Naturally, Neia couldn’t see her expression beneath the mask, but from the way she was moving, it seemed like she might have been blushing.
“It didn’t seem like he was using an item. But he was just so gallant! During Sir Momon and Jaldabaoth’s sword fight, I was battling the demon’s underlings, so I wasn’t able to watch the entire time, but what I managed to see was absolutely astounding. It’s just the kind of fight you would expect from a hero of heroes, the bravest of the brave.”
“I-is that right?” That was all Gustav could manage to say, edging away as Evileye leaned forward during her passionate explanation.
“It is! Truly, it was amazing. Sir Momon fought Jaldabaoth while protecting me, after all.”
“He fought Jaldabaoth—that monster—head-on? Really?”
“What are you getting at? I saw it with my own two eyes. Are you saying I’m lying?” Evileye’s voice took on a severe tone when she shot that back at Remedios.
Gustav hurriedly intervened before the atmosphere got any tenser. “Uh, no, she just thought that if perhaps Raven Black took advantage of some weak point, then maybe we would have a chance, too. Apologies that she wasn’t clear.”
“No, I apologize for the childish attitude Evileye is taking with you,” Lakyus responded.
Neia wondered if it was really all right for them to gloss over the tension while almost pretending the two in question weren’t even present.
“Hmph… If Jaldabaoth had a weak point, and if Sir Momon used it to win, I highly doubt a demon that powerful would leave such an opening unchanged.”
“That’s true… I suppose Jaldabaoth could compensate with
