Chapter 20:
The Demon Lord Shouldn’t Be At This Much Of A Disadvantage!!: What do you mean the descendants of the Heroes are overpowered due to nepotism?
Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 60
Emerging from the seemingly endless void as his armor resurrected him, Geist heaved a weary sigh as he awaited Lylia’s arrival. “She gets extra pissy if I try to leave or hide.” He thought aloud, sitting up and crossing his legs.
“Use: Micro.”
The blonde woman’s voice came without a flash of light to announce her presence, and in an instant, the world around him became much bigger. However, not nearly as big as it usually appeared after she would shrink him. As he turned to the source of the voice, Geist saw Lylia look not like a skyscraper looming ominously over him, but as an absurdly tall woman three to four times bigger than himself.
She had been sitting on what was left of a wall, but had gotten up and strode over to him, her arms crossed under her impressive bosom, and scowled at him. “Well, at least you can be trained to not make things more difficult. Still, I am not sure if I appreciate the term ‘pissy’.” She said, reeling back her foot and kicking him.
The force of the strike sent the miniaturized greater demon flying back a bit. Though he knew he was incapable of feeling much other than the tingling sensation from contact with Divine Artifacts, her kick felt even less impactful than the force behind it would suggest.
König Geistdunkelrustung [Legendary] | Race: Greater Demon | Level: 20
Hit Points: 628/628 | Mana: 355/555 | Stamina: 157/157
No damage? From a kick that strong? He thought, seeing that his Hit Points hadn’t changed.
“Even reduced to a quarter of your size, you are still that ridiculously sturdy?” Lylia asked, clicking her tongue in a decidedly un-Saintessly manner as she went back to the destroyed wall she had been waiting patiently on and sat back down. “My kick should have been four times stronger, though I will admit that physical force is not my forte.”
“Really? Because I don’t see you casting more spells than Micro that often.” Geist said, picking himself up.
“What other spell is more efficient than shrinking you to a fraction of your size and amplifying any damage you take a hundred-fold?” She replied dismissively. “Size-manipulation magic is seen as the pinnacle of offensive and defensive magic, since it decides the damage you’d deal by the same amount. Before I collect your Mana Crystal, I wanted to have a little discussion with you. Speaking down to a bug can be quite tiresome, so enjoy being toddler-sized while you can.” Smirking as she silently mocked his appearance, she motioned for him to sit on the ground before her with her eyes. “I assume Essa’s already told you I know about how you two flagrantly ignored my warnings and have been speaking to one another, yes?”
Adverting his gaze, much like a child being scolded by their parent, Geist nodded as he sat down. I thought she’d be even more angry at me and come up with some creative way to torture me. He thought, dreading this inevitable interaction for the past couple days since Inessa told him they were busted.
“And you truly are from the same world as Essa? You aren’t just pretending to manipulate her, are you?” Her glare intensified as she asked; she was looking for any hint that he was being dishonest.
“Well, I can’t say for sure the idea of parallel worlds doesn’t exist… but it would appear so, yes.” However, whether the blonde would believe it or not, Geist had no reason to lie or hide anything. Her actually talking to me wasn’t something I even considered. “Don’t you trust Inessa to be able to tell if I were making stuff up like that? Or do you think I’m crafty and clever enough to deceive her about her own world?”
The blonde’s visible eye twitched at the implications of his statement, but she couldn’t deny that her suspicions revealed her lack of trust in the brunette. “Fine. I suppose I will also have to accept that you were summoned to our world, though through Nacht’s machinations and not the Goddess Lini’s.”
“I mean… can a being really just appear out of thin air like that?” Geist asked, hoping that her mood to converse would allow him to learn a bit more about Facide.
“Typically, Dark Magic needs something to Corrupt to create a Corrupted. But greater demons are an exception to that. They can spawn from concentrated Dark Magic, evolve from a lesser demon, or… Hold on, why am I telling you all this?” She said, catching herself as she slipped into her role of enlightening and warning the ignorant of the dangers of Dark Magic Corruption. “I any case, I had more reason to believe you were of this world than another. That does not change the fact that I must collect your Mana Crystal. However… Your existence presents a unique perspective on this world.”
So, I won’t get to decide the direction the conversation goes, but she’ll still have to explain things I don’t understand if she wants my opinions on them. Nodding, Geist had little choice but to humor her. He could stay silent, but that wouldn’t be productive, and this was the least antagonistic he had ever seen her treat him. “Oh, I have ‘perspectives’ alright. But what seems to be bothering you, in particular?”
“D-Don’t get any weird ideas about this. I simply do not want to burden Essa with these… darker, intrusive thoughts I have been having recently.” She said, huffing. “...No, not just recently. Throughout my life, there has never been a place for me in society. I have been an outcast, ostracized, and treated like my very existence has been a burden. No matter how hard I try, society, my Brothers and Sisters in faith, my neighbors, even my own parents, refuse to accept me. The first time I had ever been embraced, truly embraced, was when the former Saintess saved me. She saw me not as a burden or threat, but as a lost child desperately trying to live, even if I had to resort to… impure methods.”
As she spoke of her past to contextualize their conversation, Lylia’s voice lost the edge of disdain and superiority she used towards him. She wasn’t pitying herself, looking for sympathy, or even validation, though there was no way someone could speak of such intimately personal traumas neutrally. Her voice was cold and hollow, speaking of her mistreatment, warm and gentle, talking about the former Saintess, and a paradoxical mix of pride and shame alluding to her past actions. She did what she needed to survive.
Touching the right side of her forehead, concealed by her long bangs, her expression softened for a moment, but then she continued. “As a child, I hated this world. I saw nothing redeemable about the people, the society, and cursed the Goddess for allowing me to be born. But Aud– the former Saintess taught me to love myself and appreciate my life. She used to say I did not have to love the people who brought me into this world, but to love the world that allowed me to live. She was my savior, my light… until she died.”
Geist listened patiently and intently, waiting for her to prompt him to respond.
“But she chose me to continue in her place. To save and guide those who are and were lost, like I was. I was to be the light for someone else. Wearing the Divine Artifacts that she once wore, it felt like she was not gone completely. It was as if she was with me, watching over me, and guiding me.” She continued, a melancholic smile on her face. “And after nearly a decade of being Facide’s Saintess, of granting salvation and protecting the people by preventing the Demon Monach from bringing about an age of strife and suffering, I can say with my chest held high,” her smile instantly darkening into an intense scowl of loathing and embitterment, “that I still hate this miserable world and all its inhabitants with every fiber of my being.”
The absolute disgust and resentment that twisted her face made her no less beautiful, but sent a chill down Geist’s spine. It wasn’t an expression that she even used against him, yet the conviction with which she spoke could not be forced or disingenuous. All the experiences that Lylia had lived through and formed her into the person she was had reinforced this truth that she claimed.
“I tried so hard to deny it. To be better than it. But I can no longer turn a blind eye to how I have always been shunned from society, or met with polite, placating smiles. How the common people take my acts of kindness and sacrifice for granted. How my Brothers and Sisters in worship of the Goddess Lini view me with jealousy and disdain. Being viewed with suspicion and distrust, and blamed for things that are not my fault.” As she continued to rant and vent about all the injustices she had suffered through and continues to endure, she didn’t raise her voice. Her voice was dripping with venom and was devoid of anything positive, but it was eerily even and calm. “The only thing that’s different from when I was a child is that I know the Goddess Lini gave up on us a long, long time ago, and I understand why she would. And if I, as a Pure, harbored such thoughts towards my own people, how could I trust a Corrupted like you would be any better?”
“Then what keeps you going? Why continue to be the Saintess?” Geist asked almost immediately. Even without all the context, just hearing how unappreciated she was would be enough to make a normal person abdicate the position. “Because of Inessa, or the former Saintess?”
“Pretty much. And, well, something happened recently that made me question whether I should be the Saintess or not.” She replied, shrugging. “My connection to my Divine Artifacts has not wavered or diminished, but should someone with thoughts like mine even be the Saintess? If you were in my position– No. If neither Essa nor myself were around to stop you, what would you do?”
“Well, I’m neither you nor do I have a grudge against the people of this world in particular. Though I can’t exactly bring myself to say I like them either, hearing all the things you and Inessa say about how you’re treated.” Geist began, considering his words carefully this time. “If nothing else, putting aside your grievances with the people who benefit from your actions is praiseworthy. As far as I’m concerned, you both deserve the power and responsibility that comes with your positions. And if I had to guess, I would say your Divine Artifacts agree with me, since they continue to work for you. If they can only function for a chosen person, then that they still function for you means that, whatever you do with them, your Goddess tacitly approves of your actions.”
Her eye widening at the revelation, Lylia covered her mouth as she contemplated the validity of his words. “There have been unsanctified Saints and Saintesses in the past. So, was that really deemed justifiable in the Goddess Lini’s eyes? After all, they were still…” Trailing off, not finishing her thought, her eye, gleaming with a radiant, holy gleam, focused on him again. “You did not answer my question. I asked what you would do if you had the freedom to exercise your power as you see fit.”
“Right, right… Well, I can’t really say if I would have the integrity to protect the masses like you and Inessa do. But if I weren’t contained here…” Even without a visible mouth, the wicked smile on his visored face was plain to see as he chuckled darkly. “I might give the people what they want.”
Not expecting such an answer, Lylia’s curiosity was piqued. “What they want?”
“They think the Champion and Saintess are unnecessary, right? That your Divine Artifacts are responsible for the decline in magic, and if they were to go away, everything would be better. Then, I would, if possible, give them exactly what they want and destroy the Divine Artifacts. That way, they wouldn’t be able to complain about you and Inessa ‘monopolizing’ the magic. Then, maybe kidnap you and Inessa so they would have to defend themselves for a change.” He said, his tone deep and intimidating, but his tone light and mischievous. “And who knows, without the Divine Artifacts, Lini might give the Pure revival magic again. And maybe I could locate those Divine Seals to regain my full power.”
“Now that sounds like the sort of blasphemous, evil thing a Demon Monarch would say.” The blonde said, condemning such an idea, yet unable to suppress the gleeful smile on her face. “But if you laid a hand on Inessa, I would…”
Finding it easier to speak with the weakened Demon Monarch than most of the people she knew, Lylia continued to have a conversation very unbecoming of a holy woman until it was time for her to return.
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