Chapter 87
At a Certain Manor Held by the Supreme Demon Cult
"Raaagh!"
"W-what the hell is this woman?!—Guhk!"
"Stop her! Someone stop—Gahh!"
"Drop dead, you trash!"
"Lady Aqua?! Lady Aqua, why—Aaaagh!"
"H-help! I’m drowni—gurgle!!"
If "infiltration" could be read as "reverse slaughter," then Yukari-san and Aqua-san were embodying it perfectly, plowing through the Supreme Demon Cult’s followers with unstoppable force. Overkill, frankly. As for what I was doing?
"I-I can’t move my—Gyaaaah!"
"W-why is my sword moving on its—Agh! Stop! Nooo!!"
"What the hell is this black whip?!—Aaaaah!!"
"Yuuka, you’ve really mastered magnetism."
"It’s incredibly versatile."
Using the magnetic properties of my lightning and electricity manipulation, I pinned enemies by their metal armor, puppeteered their weapons into friendly fire, or sliced through them with iron-sand whips. Magnetism had endless applications—reading a certain scientific manga about a certain electromaster had paid off. Knowledge was power. And yes, I had a trump card too. Sharp-eyed folks probably already guessed what it was.
Meanwhile, Lady Cecillia and Lord Minato were infiltrating from another route. They served as our diversion, so we faced little resistance.
At the end of a long hallway stood a door. Normally, caution would be wise—but our faction’s women were anything but delicate. If there were traps, we’d smash through them. Straightforward was best.
"Hyaaaah!"
Yukari-san kicked the door down and charged in. Inside stood a black-haired, androgynously beautiful young man.
"Welcome, 'Guardians.' I am Doubegyos of the 'Seven Stars'—Wha—?!"
His introduction was cut short as Yukari-san punched him clean across the room. Doubegyos-san (tentative) slammed into the wall and went limp.
"You okay there, Doubegyos-san?!
Alive, Doubegyos-san?!
What even was your point, Doubegyos-san?!"
No response. Just a corpse-like heap.
"Doubegyos? I think he was in the demon realm. Or something like him."
"He exists?!"
"Wasn’t he some kind of evil god?"
"Evil god?! Did you just say evil god?! Like, apocalypse-level bad?!"
"If he wakes up, humanity’s doomed, apparently."
"Eeeek?!"
"Harmless to demons, though. So, whatever."
"Whatever?! That’s not how this works!"
Lord Albert, meanwhile, seemed deep in thought. Had he extracted something from the guy’s memories?
"This isn’t Doubegyos—it’s Doube. One of the 'Seven Stars' leaders. Hmm. The name 'Doube,' the organization 'Seven Stars'... These guys might be human. Or former humans."
"Former humans? Why do you think that?"
Was there anything human-like about them?
"'Doube' is one of the stars in the Big Dipper. The demon realm has no such constellation. As former humans, Yuuka and Yukari would know more, no?"
[Breaking News] Former human (me) loses to demon prince in human-world trivia.
...N-no! Lord Albert’s just that well-read!
"...I see. So that’s why you think they’re human. Still, sharp observation."
"Yeah. Stargazing’s a hobby of mine. I know a bit about human-world astronomy too."
Lord Albert looked faintly embarrassed. Right—he’d mentioned his stargazing hobby before. A surprisingly classy pastime.
"Huh? Everyone’s already here?"
"Lady Cecillia! Lord Minato!"
The diversion team had arrived. Their path must’ve connected to ours. Minato was dragging a despondent, frost-covered man behind him.
"Lord Minato? Who’s this?"
"Ah. Says his name’s Merak, of the 'Seven Stars.' Tried ambushing us. We returned the favor."
"Lord Albert, what’s 'Merak'?"
"Another star in the Big Dipper."
"So... five more to go, then?"
"Possibly. No confirmation they’re hostile yet."
"And if they are hostile?"
I already knew the answer, but asked anyway.
"We’ll well-done them."
"Flash-freeze delivery."
"Drowned at the bottom of the sea."
"Devoured to the last bone."
"Crushed thoroughly."
Team Albert was in top form. As for the 'Seven Stars'... well. Good luck.
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