Book Eater

Chapter 359: Lust’s Apocalypse (3)

――――――――――!!

Theo’s fire fist hit the ground, causing the air to cavitate. At the same time, the wind moved faster than sound and clashed with the vacuum. It wasn’t something that a human’s physical abilities could cope with, and Theo was knocked away by the clash of magic. Who would be able to tell that this fearful confrontation was just a probing blow?

The power and speed are greater than those of a sword master, while the durability is dragon level.

It was an absurd combination that forced Theo to take a step back. The wind demon’s movements were like Veronica’s, yet the addition of the wind made it very unpredictable. It was hard to grasp the rhythm, so a frontal confrontation was stupid.

Kkuok.

However, Theo raised his fists and faced it head-on.

Fairy Dance’s Direct Transmission. Hand Counterattack Technique. Left Palm Lone Peak.

He read the timing and held up his left hand toward the wind demon, deflecting the shockwave that was coming at him. However, despite hitting an empty space, the shockwave still ended up shattering rocks dozens of meters away. It was a fearsome power that couldn’t be ignored.

Gotcha.

Theo didn’t shrink back. It was impossible to escape from the range of the wind demon. Instead, he aimed for the monster’s body with his burning red left hand. Theo wasn’t trying to beat it with his fists. Martial arts might be a part of him, but Theodore Miller was a magician in the end.

Blaze Chain.

A chain of flames appeared around Theo. The flames of Muspelheim created flames that were thicker than the main mast of a ship. This was the true ability of the second phase of Forced Harmonization. Beyond integrating magic with the body, it was the power to manipulate completed magic like it was his own body.

『 What, a human can control flames...? 』

The flames passed through a vacuum, but they didn’t wink out. Muspelheim’s flames didn’t rely on combustion. The wind demon instinctively avoided the flames in panic. Normal flames would have been countered with a vacuum or blown away with wind. However, the wind demon’s instincts were screaming that it had to avoid these flames at all costs.

Kuooooh!

It used the wind to push its body in the opposite direction in order to escape the chains coming from every direction. The flames lashed its skin as it dodged the cage of chains, but that was a cheap price to pay. Of course, Theo had no intention of ending it with this much.

“Do you think I will let you escape so easily?”

His flames might not care about vacuums, but they could just as easily combust themselves to create propulsion. Theo used the red flames to accelerate toward the wind demon at terrifying speed. It was even more barbaric than Veronica’s usage of her flames in flight.

Theo read the path of the wind demon’s flight, and reached out with his right hand.

Firefly. Chain Bomber.

Something similar to small bugs flew out of his burning fingertips right into the path of the wind demon. The fireflies seemed to twinkle before flashing bright yellow.

Ku kwa kwa kwang!?

The contrast between their cute appearance and the power of the explosion they unleashed was like the difference between the sky and the earth. The clouds split from the rising pressure, and the ground melted into lava. After all, Muspelheim’s fire was several times hotter than ordinary flames.

『 Y-You! You, youuuuuu―! 』

The wind demon staggered out of the fiery hell. Its scaly and leather body had been charred and scorched into unrecognizable shape. However, it hadn’t lost its strength. Theo increased his evaluation of the wind demon by two notches.

“I’ll admit that you are quite tough.”

Theo looked at the wind demon and laughed coldly. It had survived an attack that Theo thought was a killing blow. However, that was all.

『 H-Human! A lowly human is looking down on me! 』

The wind demon grew furious at Theo, who couldn’t hide his derision. Although the wind demon might not be able to win, it couldn’t endure this derision. There wasn’t a single piece of its human self left, but the upper species simply couldn’t bear this humiliation. The descendant of the extinct wind demon clan was ready to run wild. If it used up all its vitality to control the wind, it would be able to crush this cheeky human.

『 Look! Feel awe! I am the last of the great wind gods! 』

If all the winds were gathered together, wouldn’t this area be devastated?

『... What? 』

The wind demon’s summoning didn’t work. The wind demon looked down at the enemy with a puzzled expression. It didn’t feel like something had happened to itself, so it felt the problem must be due to the enemy. Unfortunately, the wind demon had guessed right.

Theo grinned cheekily, “What, did you think you were the only one who could call the wind?”

That’s right. Theo didn’t normally use it all that much, but his body contained the divinity of the wind god, Aiolos. Now that Theo had become transcendent, it was simplicity itself to awaken the divinity and wrest control of the wind away from the wind demon. The reason he hadn’t used this method right from the beginning was to test stage two of Forced Harmonization.

“Well, thanks for letting me play. I was able to loosen up my body.”

The wind demon was getting the feeling that it had just been toyed with.

『... You, are you really human? 』

“Yes, just like you were once.”

Theo didn’t say anything more. There was no need, and he didn’t want to talk to a monster that wasn’t human. A huge fiery palm appeared behind the wind demon.

『――――――――――――!!!?』

The wind demon screamed as it fought to break out, but Theo’s fiery hand closed around it and didn’t let up until it was dead. It was burned by Muspelheim’s flames and crushed by the high pressure. Even a yokai wouldn’t be able to escape from the formidable technique that Theo had devised on the fly to eliminate the possibility that the wind demon could run away using the wind.

It took a few moments for the screams to fade away.

“Is it dead?”

The fire fist opened up, and a handful of gray ash scattered with the wind. It was the futile end of the idiot who had tried to fight Theo. Theo let go of Forced Harmonization and went over the battle again.

It was nothing for me. Veronica would struggle for a while before catching the pattern. The same goes for Aquilo.

Theo had been experimenting, but the wind demon had been quite strong. Its physical ability had reached the level of a swordmaster, and it could cast magic equivalent to the 7th Circle. However, it had lacked practical experience and hadn’t known how to cover for its weaknesses.

Orta, Sylvia, Randolph, and Titania might have a hard time if they hadn’t known its identity.

“Tsk, things are becoming more troublesome. These guys might come out to interfere if I use space transfer, and I can’t kill them all...”

The wind demon was easy to take down, but there were still more other upper species. What if there was a monster whose strength was comparable to a transcendent? It was more efficient to fly with lightning than to risk space movement.

“It is a bit less than eight hundred kilometers in the southeast... I’ve moved quite far. Perhaps those who can interfere with space movement are rare.”

Theo checked the position of Tsuchimikado Castle and shot through the air. After becoming a transcendent, the duration of becoming lightning wasn’t as burdensome as it had been before. If he stayed out of combat, he could probably last for a full day? It was difficult to think of a means better than Lightning when it came to merely moving at high speed.

Pajijik.?

Theo turned to lightning and crossed the sky.

***

The most secretive place in Tsuchimikado Castle, Japan, was a shrine which contained intact records from ancient times.

A woman stood quietly in front of Seimei’s tablet.

“... What an unusual day.”

The white and red robes, which was different from the uniform of the onmyōji, this woman wore proved that she was a miko, or shrine maiden. She had been born as a human, but lived as a vessel of the gods. The mikos lived like dandelions for the sake of their mission. The 13th miko, Suzuka, was such a person.

She rose slowly from her seat without disturbing her skirt and looked at the divine artifacts next to her: a great tachi which seemed to be around a meter and a half in length; a stone mirror which didn’t shine even though it was wiped smooth every day; and eight jewels which were sewn on a string like a necklace.

These were the great artifacts that had never found a master after Seimei’s death. The three sacred artifacts from legend couldn’t be owned by the unqualified, and couldn’t even be touched by the evil. She had lost count of the number of swordsmen and shamans that had been burned to ashes by the artifacts.

“Why?”

Suzuka tucked her jet black hair behind her ear and looked at the three artifacts with strange eyes. She couldn’t tell from the outset, but she quickly realized something. Even Suzuka, who had inherited the role of the miko, couldn’t touch the artifacts except to clean them, but she had just noticed that the surfaces of the artifacts were now slightly trembling.

“May the great Seimei reveal the way,” she prayed with reverently raised palms.

It was a prayer that never had any meaning. Yet this time, a voice responded to her prayer.

[Oh, you are the current miko?]

“――――.”

[I don’t know whose descendant you are. Still, it is nice that you haven’t forgotten your origins. You pass.]

The voice that Suzuka thought was a hallucination continued speaking.

[Young miko, the man who will be the owner of the three artifacts will soon come to you. Give him my legacy and guide him to the great yokai sealed in Mount Inunaki.]

Suzuka stammered, “... S-Seimei?”

[Are you still surprised? You are a bit dull.]

The voice was different from what Suzuka had imagined, but there was an undeniable weight to it. Abe no Seimei was a great hero who had established Japan’s foundations and calmed the continent of monsters into a place for humans to live. There were no records of him in other kingdoms, but in Japan, his name was equivalent to a god’s.

Was this truly the voice of Abe no Seimei? The confused Suzuka couldn’t answer.

[If you are uncertain, call me in front of him. You should know what to do as a miko?]

“Ah, yes! I know, Founder!”

[Good. I‘ll see you soon, kid.]

As Seimei’s voice faded away, Suzuka seemed to lose her soul. She had heard the voice of Founder Seimei, and the owner of the three artifacts would soon appear... Suzuka was a miko, but anyone would think she was crazy if she said this to them. However, she didn’t have much time to settle down.

“M-Miko! It is serious! Miko Suzu―!”

The urgent voices coming from outside the shrine were getting closer.