Chapter 031. Glasya Labolas's Trial (1)
The rules themselves were simple.
They just had to prevent the painting from being colored.
In other words, they had to make sure no humans shed blood.
“If the girl wins, then by tonight, paintings covered in blood will spread all over the world. I don't think I need to explain what happens if the opposite side wins, do I?”
Mikael nodded.
If the completed paintings spread around, anyone who saw them would start killing each other, just like what had happened in Florence.
The city would become a lawless hell.
And on top of that, Mikael's soul might end up trapped inside a painting forever.
“So do your best to solve this. Hoo.”
Glasya Labolas blew out a breath.
Yeonhwa and the mirror slowly floated into the air.
Just as they were about to leave through the open window, Mikael shouted.
“Now!”
The trial had already begun.
And wasn't the solution simple?
They just had to stop Yeonhwa from getting outside.
“Okay! Sia!”
At Mikael's signal, Sia began reciting a prayer.
“Anastasia, child of God, calls upon Saint Michael the Archangel. Protect us in our battle against evil, and aid us against the schemes of demons. Intercede for us so that the Lord may command the Devil.”
Holding up her cross, Sia made the sign of the cross.
Then she poured amplified aura into the small crosses Huisong had prepared earlier.
“Amen!”
Whooooosh!
Huge white pillars of light rose around Yeonhwa's house, surrounding the entire building.
The enormous barrier radiated endless divine power.
To priests, it gave off a warm and comforting feeling.
But to demons touching those white pillars, it would feel as scorching as the fires of hell.
Mikael grinned smugly.
“I believe this is what people call getting an easy win, right? Sorry for cheesing it. You don't mind, do you?”
Sia stared at him.
“Where did you even learn to say things like that?”
The slang sounded completely out of place coming from Mikael.
“There were a lot of useful things in the comments.”
He had seemed rather entertained while reading social media comments last time.
Apparently, that was where he'd learned it.
“…Your creativity has really improved, Mikael.”
The demon and Yeonhwa were troubled by the barrier that directly countered them.
Glasya Labolas simply watched the situation with an expressionless face.
“Still… isn't that a little too simple?”
Glasya Labolas laughed as if the barrier meant nothing.
Is he bluffing?
No. He's not the kind of bastard who'd bluff about something like this.
From everything Mikael had seen so far, Glasya Labolas might enjoy playing around, but he wasn't the kind of demon who spoke carelessly.
Clap! Clap!
“Hahaha! Mikael, you started thinking about what I just said, didn't you? Everything you're thinking shows on your face.”
The mosaic figure inside the mirror clapped its hands and laughed loudly.
The laughter continued for a while before gradually dying down.
“Did you really think I wouldn't understand such a pathetic little trick?”
Vwooom!
The moment he finished speaking, a rainbow-colored portal appeared inside the mirror.
“Hoo!”
At the same time, Glasya Labolas blew another breath.
The portal inside the mirror vanished.
Then an identical portal appeared in the middle of the barrier.
“Unnie, what's that…?”
“I don't know. I've never seen anything like it either. It looks like one of those portals from movies or games.”
Sia and Huisong cautiously watched the strange portal they had never seen before.
Seeing their ridiculous reaction, Glasya Labolas almost seemed to pity Mikael.
“You must have it hard, traveling around with people who only carry their eyes around as decorations. Even the Saintess would have been better.”
Since neither Sia nor Huisong knew what the portal was, they couldn't help being cautious.
Mikael nodded.
“Hmm. Can't argue with that.”
He agreed completely that Helena would have been better.
Though comparing idiots like these two to Helena in the first place felt disrespectful.
Still, something else was more important right now.
“You haven't even descended here. So how did you spread your works?”
Unlike the other two, Mikael had already experienced this in Florence, so the portal itself didn't surprise him.
What irritated him was the fact that their carefully prepared barrier had become completely useless.
Glasya Labolas's portals connected one of his works to another.
Using the mirror as the starting point, another one of his works had to exist somewhere in the human world for the connection to work.
The Catholic side should be keeping all his other works under control. So how did he do this?
That meant someone had spread another piece of his work.
And whoever had done it had to be connected to demons.
An ordinary human wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation of the artwork.
Mikael didn't have to wonder for long.
“It's nothing special. I had those who follow me distribute my works. Mikael, you know them very well too, don't you?”
I know them?
Another demon…?
“The demon worshippers.”
Grit.
Mikael's teeth ground together.
A rage he couldn't hide surged from deep inside him.
“Those bastards?”
If demon worshippers were behind it, everything made sense.
If they worshipped Glasya Labolas, it wouldn't be strange for them to resist the temptation of his artwork.
When Sia had first mentioned the demon worshippers, Mikael had been able to treat them like nothing more than an annoying incident.
But hearing that name directly from Glasya Labolas made it feel completely different.
They weren't simply worthless trash causing trouble.
They were people acting from beneath the shadow of a Great Demon.
This time, I'll kill you with my own hands.
You sons of bitches.
The resentment Mikael had carried for 250 years—
The pain of failing to protect Helena during the final battle at Lourdes—
Surged up once again.
“Anyway, do your best. Let's go.”
The demon entered the portal first.
Yeonhwa followed while holding the mirror.
“Yeonhwa!”
Realizing she couldn't simply let Yeonhwa leave, Huisong abandoned the barrier and rushed after her.
The moment Huisong, who had been maintaining the center of the formation, moved away, all the burden of supplying aura to the barrier fell onto Sia.
“W-Wait! Where are you going?! Ughhh!”
Clatter!
The barrier was too much for Sia to maintain alone.
Eventually, she dropped her cross.
Fwoooosh….
The barrier began collapsing.
Leaving it behind, Huisong sprinted toward the portal and reached out to grab Yeonhwa.
But when Yeonhwa saw her, her expression was cold.
“Take your hand away. Stop interfering and disappear. I have to bring Yeonhee unnie back to life!”
“W-What kind of nonsense are you talking about…?”
Bring someone who was already dead back to life?
Was such a thing even possible?
Huisong froze in shock.
Meanwhile, the portal swallowed Yeonhwa as well and closed.
Only the three unwanted guests remained inside the now-empty house.
“Hey! Money Bug! How long are you going to stand there completely out of it?!”
Their easy-win strategy had failed.
Now the real trial was about to begin.
No.
It might have already begun.
“Hey! Hey! Money Bug!”
No matter how many times Mikael shouted, Huisong didn't move an inch.
Eventually, Mikael decided to leave her behind.
He called out to Sia and headed outside.
“Forget it. Braggart! At least you follow me!”
“Who are you calling a braggart?!”
Sia complained about the bizarre nickname, but still quickly followed him.
That brat must have received some kind of offer from Glasya Labolas.
Mikael was already certain that Yeonhwa, the main enemy in this trial, had made some kind of deal with Glasya Labolas.
He didn't know what she'd been promised.
But the moment Yeonhwa went outside, the residents would begin spilling each other's blood.
