The scent of blood hung faintly in the air, and Orsaga's furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
He was in quite a good mood.
For a demon, a peaceful life might be tolerable, but it always lacked a certain... flavor.
The great purge that had swept through the capital today? That was right up his alley—it gave him a rare sense of tranquility.
As for the task they were currently handling, Orsaga couldn't have cared less. Whether or not other demons were managing to force their way into this world made no difference to him. Given his current strength, he wasn't capable of conquering this world anyway. He was like a mouse that had snuck into a granary—sure, he could feast, but that was about it.
So he had no real objection to other demons trying to break through. If they succeeded, fine. If not, well, too bad.
Still, if the chance came up, he wouldn't mind killing a few. Slaying a powerful demon could bring in some serious rewards—no reason to turn down easy profit.
He looked upward, his gaze piercing through the earth and settling on the moon in the night sky. Stretching his limbs, he murmured:
"...I really feel like moving around a bit."
He found himself missing the simple life in the Abyss—the brutal simplicity of "you kill me, I kill you."
A moment later, his figure shimmered and vanished from the basement like a fading mirage.
---
By the time dawn was nearly upon them, both sides had completed their assignments and gathered in front of the royal palace.
The moment they met, saphir opened with a complaint:
"Prince Jaemar, I have to say—this deal really wasn't worth it for the Church. We came here to stop a demonic incursion, not to clean up a dozen cult factions and half a dozen underground organizations. That's way beyond the original scope."
It was clearly a push to get Jaemar to pay a little extra.
But Jaemar simply smiled and waved a hand. "You can't put it like that. The Principality of Mardain did pay, and I saw your Church's personnel. They may be a little tired, but there were hardly any real losses. So really—it just makes sense for the capable to do more."
The subtext: the deal's done. Don't expect another coin from me.
saphir responded with a faint smile and said no more. He understood full well that arguing was pointless.
The man before him had skin just as thick as his own—definitely not someone easy to manipulate.
After silently giving Jaemar a mental rating (unsure whether it was high praise or low insult), saphir turned his gaze to the blood-soaked carriages behind the prince, narrowing his eyes slightly with a grin.
"Looks like it wasn't just us—Your Highness ran into quite a bit of trouble too."
Jaemar shook his head and replied with an easy smile, "What can I say? When I discovered that so many traitors and rebels had wormed their way in, I couldn't sleep easy without wiping them out. To serve as a warning to others, I even had their heads chopped off and piled at the city gate."
saphir frowned slightly. "But they're already dead. Doing something like that, Your Highness, will stir a lot of gossip. It's not exactly... appropriate."
"Minor details. Not worth worrying about," Jaemar replied breezily. "Right now, we need to get ready to enter the palace. Even if this is technically a search, the royal palace still represents the dignity of the Mardain Principality. I hope the bishop can ask his clergy to show some restraint."
"Of course," saphir nodded. "That much, I understand."
Before long, after both parties had rested and reorganized, Jaemar stepped in front of the palace gates and made two hand signals. The heavy doors swung open from within, without a word spoken.
Seeing this, saphir's brow creased slightly:
Looks like Jaemar's already secured control over all the key areas in the kingdom.
"Let's move."
Without waiting for a response, Jaemar spurred his horse forward and took the lead into the palace.
But what Jaemar didn't expect was that the moment he stepped inside, he saw a familiar figure standing not far away, back turned to him.
His expression shifted slightly. Dismounting, he dropped to one knee.
"Mother. It's been a long time."
The woman didn't even turn to look at him.
"I have no son like you."
Her voice was cold and indifferent.
Unfazed, Jaemar said calmly, "There are cultists hiding in the capital. They're plotting something dangerous, and the palace may be at risk. I need to conduct a search. I hope you'll understand."
The woman let out a derisive laugh. "Understand? Hmph. And what does it matter what I say now?"
With that, she turned and walked away—never sparing her son even a glance.
saphir's face remained expressionless, but his mind was racing.
'There's something deep going on here. A mother and son acting like enemies? That's not normal.'
After she left, Jaemar stood up as if nothing had happened. He casually waved to the soldiers and clergy behind him.
"Begin the search. Try not to damage anything."
Only Charles noticed that something was off—the look in Jaemar's eyes was vacant, as though he were remembering something long buried.
Clearly, his heart wasn't as calm as his face.
But Charles didn't say anything. He understood the kind of man Jaemar was. If something could shake him this deeply, it wasn't something he would want to talk about.
So he merely stood silently at his side.
---
Not long after, following a thorough sweep, the palace was confirmed secure.
Acting on Jaemar's orders, the group set out for their next target.
saphir reined in his horse as a large structure came into view, his expression suddenly serious.
"I think we've found our target."
"They stopped hiding the moment they sensed us approaching. I guess they knew they couldn't avoid detection and decided to drop the act," Jaemar analyzed coolly. "By monitoring our movements in the capital, they must've pieced together our intentions. So now they're ready to go all in."
'The Colosseum… One of the largest buildings in the capital. It's always overseen by a rotating member of the royal family. If I recall correctly, the current overseer is my uncle, Richard Voss. So the question is—did the Cult of the Profane Convenant use this place as a base because of his negligence… or for another reason?'
After a moment's thought, he stopped bothering with the question.
There was a more immediate problem at hand: the Colosseum had been built not just as an arena, but also as one of the capital's key defensive fortresses. Its outer walls stood nearly thirty-five meters high—far beyond the reach of ordinary people, even with ropes. Only knights had the strength to scale such heights. The gates were forged from ironwood reinforced with steel—resistant to fire, swords, and even battering rams.
Faced with this fortress looming before them, Jaemar didn't even consider using the main entrance.
His eyes flickered. Then he raised his hand and shouted:
"All knights and captain knights—equip your wall-hooks! Prepare to scale the walls! Those below knight rank, switch to bows and arrows! Wrap the arrows in cloth soaked with incendiary oil and fire into the compound!"
Unlike Earth, where sieges required large siege engines, this world's people had supernatural abilities—and thus had developed specialized tools. Wall-hooks were one such device, allowing a person to climb vertical surfaces using all four limbs. But they required great stamina. A single slip could mean falling to your death. And since both hands were occupied, users couldn't carry shields, making them easy targets for defenders. These tools were best used for stealth missions. In a direct assault, they were almost suicidal.
Still, Jaemar didn't believe that a bunch of cultists hiding in the dark could suddenly muster hundreds of defenders. At most, they'd have a few dozen. With support from archers, his side's thousand-plus knights and captain knights could scale the walls by sheer force of numbers. There would be casualties—but within acceptable limits.
As soon as the order was given, soldiers and officers alike began switching gear without hesitation, strapping on their climbing hooks. The Church's Inquisition priests hesitated, turning their eyes toward Saphir.
After a moment's deliberation, Saphir clenched his jaw and gave the order:
"Knights and above—equip wall-hooks and prepare to engage! Those below knight level—switch to bows and cover the ascent!"
He knew that some sacrifices were unavoidable now. If the sacrificial ritual inside the Colosseum were completed, and a demon truly descended into this world, the consequences would be catastrophic.
No matter what his personal ambitions for the Mardain Principality were, as a devout follower of the Church, he could never allow something like that to happen.
As soon as the command was issued, the Inquisition priests followed suit, equipping themselves just like the soldiers of Mardain.
To them, wall-hooks were as standard as sword and shield. Fighting cultists and dark creatures was their daily routine—they were often even more skilled than regular troops.
Once everyone was ready, the archers launched wave after wave of flaming arrows into the Colosseum. Screams soon echoed from inside—clear evidence that they were hitting their mark.
Timing the pause between volleys, Jaemar shouted without hesitation:
"Assault begins—go!"
Over a thousand wall-hook-equipped warriors began scaling the fortress like lizards, racing up the walls.
Cultists tried to fight back, but the suppressing fire from the archers kept most of them pinned down. Only a handful were able to return fire at the climbers.
Even without shields or the ability to retaliate, the attackers pushed through by sheer numbers, enduring casualties but eventually breaking through the defenders' lines.
As more and more of them made it over the wall, Jaemar quickly ordered the archers to stop firing.
With friendly forces on top, continued arrow fire would only risk hitting their own men.
He didn't have to wait long.
With the screech of ironwood scraping against stone, the Colosseum gates were pulled open from within.
Jaemar gave the final order:
"All archers—switch to melee weapons! Kill anyone who resists!"
_____
T/N:
Hello everyone! My Patreon is just $3 — a perfect opportunity to access 20+ advanced chapters and support the translation.
🔗 patreon.com/user?u=79514336
Or simply search Translator-Sama on Patreon.