Before he encountered Corne,
After his duel with Agera ended, Adelio heard from [Jonne] about the Phantom invasion. He released Agera from [Subordination] and immediately flew to the white castle ruled by [Blanc].
"That..."
By the time the outline of the castle began to appear faintly in the distance, he could already tell at a glance that far more invaders had poured in than he had expected. Phantoms packed the castle so densely it was almost buried beneath them.
Swallowing back a grim breath at the revolting sight, Adelio forced down his rising impatience and wrapped his entire body in magic power.
*
"Damn it! They're not even demons like us, so why are they this persistent?!"
"If you have time to complain, kill one more. With the leaders absent, this is our chance."
The battlefield where Moss and Cien were fighting had become utter chaos.
Demons and Phantoms.
Neither side gave a single step, and because both forces kept clashing without pause, the deadlock refused to break.
The demons threw themselves into a bloody life-and-death struggle, saying they'd just revive later anyway, while the Phantoms, with so little self-awareness that they were practically tools, kept accepting that fight without thought.
"...Tch, I know that already. Fine, I'll do it!"
Wooooong...!
Shouting back at Cien, Moss began absorbing several of his own clones, the ones that had been opening gaps across the battlefield.
Crk... crack...
As he did, Moss's body grew, if only slightly. No, it might be more accurate to say he became closer to his original form.
After all, the state he reached after absorbing all his clones and growing stronger was his true form.
"...I really hate doing this... but this time, I've got no choice."
Moss's voice, too, had become a little more mature.
Right after that, he summoned [Loop Annulus], a vicious Legend-grade weapon bristling with countless chakrams.
Normally, Moss's full power meant using [Arts] on top of that, but the backlash would be too severe. On a large battlefield like this, with enemies everywhere, he couldn't afford to use it.
Even output on this level would bring a fierce backlash later.
"Now just die already!!"
But for now, this was enough.
A [Duke], second only to a [King] and a [Grand Duke].
In present-day hell, aside from Adelio, the one closest to the [Primordial Demons] was Moss.
Kugugugugung!!!
Then countless chakrams fell onto the battlefield like a swarm of stars racing across the sky, carving through the Phantoms as they swept through the field.
Each time a white disc flashed, filthy Phantom blood sprayed across the battlefield, and the demons followed in the discs' wake, bombarding the enemy with magic.
...Grrrik?!
But the Phantoms' suffering did not end there.
'Dwargo's First Secret Art, Rock Emperor.'
Kuuuuung!!!
Suddenly, rocks of sword force erupted from the ground and pierced deep through their torsos like spikes.
There were easily hundreds of those sword-formed rocks, even by a rough count. And every single strike, as if possessed of will, targeted only the Phantoms with perfect precision.
"!? This is—!"
"Sir Hairo's magic power...?"
Moss and Cien were startled by the sudden attack, but only for a moment. Feeling the deeply familiar magic power within those sword strikes, they raised their eyes into the air.
The two demons, who had served [Blanc] together until a few years ago, immediately realized who the owner of that attack was.
And in the place they looked, as if proving their guess correct, he was there.
"Trusted subordinate, Scribe."
Their former comrade, the one they had called Hairo.
*
"Hairo, how are you here...?"
Shocked by Adelio's appearance, something he had never imagined, Moss asked with his already large eyes opened even wider.
"Sorry, trusted subordinate. I'll explain later. Where is Lady Blanc right now?"
But Adelio could not afford to savor the feeling of reunion. It was still too soon.
A reunion held in a place where she was absent could not be called a true reunion.
He had to go find her, the one who was nowhere in sight.
If she was not here, then that meant something even more urgent than this battlefield was happening elsewhere.
"! Lady [Blanc] is currently fighting two members of the [Seven Angels of Origin] in the skies above the castle. We'll deal with the remaining Phantoms here and follow after, so please go to Lady [Blanc] first, Sir Hairo."
Cien answered in Moss's place, since Moss was still too stunned to speak properly, then quickly judged the situation and made his request to Adelio.
'I don't know how he came back... but right now, the only variable that can help Lady [Blanc] is Sir Hairo.'
He believed that Hairo—Adelio—was the greatest variable in this situation.
After seeing the overwhelming swordsmanship Adelio had just unleashed, Cien instinctively sensed that Adelio had stepped into a realm far beyond both himself and Moss.
Because Adelio carried a force of will he had never even felt from that old swordsman who served [Jonne].
So no matter how much stronger they became, Cien believed that those like himself, who could not escape the limits of an [Arch Demon], would be less useful than Adelio, who had entered a new realm entirely, against the [Seven Angels of Origin].
"Understood."
Adelio was well aware of that himself, so the moment he answered, he flew straight toward the castle.
Praying that the situation had not already become the worst possible one.
*
And now.
Having reached the present moment, Adelio was overcome by anger for the first time in a long while, since [Walpurgis].
Because of one of the leaders of the invaders, the sworn enemies of demonkind.
"Why are you keeping your mouth shut? I told you to say that again."
A cold voice steeped in boiling emotion.
Stronger even than the fury he had felt when fighting Venenum—no, it was more accurate to call it hatred—clung to Adelio's voice.
The source of that emotion needed no explanation. His master had been insulted.
And so—
"Has one of the [Seven Angels of Origin] gotten scared?"
—thinking that he would make him pay for it, Adelio drew his sword.
The wall called the [Seven Angels of Origin] was still far too high for him.
Even so, he chose to challenge it.
Trusting only in the paradoxical possibility that belonged to him alone.
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