Chapter 7

Episode 7. Balephor

“So, is that bastard dead?”

Inside a luxurious private room, the horned demon who had escaped from the church was bowing deeply before a sharp-eyed man who looked to be in his twenties.

The room was warmly lit, and the table was covered with expensive liquor and side dishes.

Yet despite the cozy atmosphere, the demon felt like he was dying under the man’s questioning.

The man before him could replace someone like him without a second thought.

“I’m sorry. We managed to infiltrate the place, but there was an intruder—”

The demon tried to explain without upsetting him.

But—

Squelch.

“Ghh…!”

The man’s hand pierced straight through the demon’s chest.

“Excuses don’t matter.”

“What matters is that you failed.”

“Cough… P-Please… give me another chance…”

Sssssss—

“AAAAAAARGH!”

Purple poison poured from the hole in his chest.

Starting with the demon’s internal organs, the poison began melting his entire body.

Thud.

With holes appearing all over him, the demon collapsed onto the floor.

“There are no second chances.”

The man pulled his hand from the demon’s chest and licked the blood and poison staining it.

“Now I need a new sacrifice. What should I do?”

—AAAAARGH!

At that moment, a loud commotion came from outside the room.

—Don’t let him through!

—Stop me? You think you can stop me?

—Who the hell are you, you bastard?!

The noise drew closer and closer.

Then—

BOOM!

The door to the private room shattered apart.

Michael stepped through.

“Hey, what the hell is this place? Why is the air so damn filthy?”

Behind Michael, the guards who should have been protecting the entrance were lying unconscious on the floor.

Michael glanced down.

“Huh? That bastard’s already dead?”

The demon he had tracked here through the guidance of the Holy Spirit was already lying on the floor as a corpse.

Michael shrugged.

“Well, whatever.”

“I came here to see you anyway.”

His gaze shifted toward the man.

“Right, Balephor?”

Michael called his name almost affectionately.

But Balephor clenched his teeth.

How the hell did that bastard get here?!

I heard he disappeared more than two hundred and fifty years ago!

Balephor remembered the day he had received information that Michael had not been active for nearly two centuries.

He had even opened a bottle to celebrate.

Unfortunately, the very man he had celebrated disappearing was now standing right in front of him.

“What the hell did you come here for this time, Michael?!”

Michael grinned.

“Why else would I look for you?”

“I thought we could have a little talk.”

“Bullshit! I refuse!”

“Nothing good ever happens when I get involved with you!”

Since long ago, Michael had forced Balephor into doing many things that could barely be called anything other than exploitation.

Assuming this was another similar situation, Balephor firmly refused.

Michael tilted his head.

“Then do you want to die?”

“I could always restart my exorcism work with you as the first target.”

That priest was more vicious than most demons.

He seemed to believe every problem in the world could be solved with violence.

“Wait.”

Suddenly, Balephor remembered something.

Michael had already known about the subordinate Balephor himself had just killed.

And that subordinate had mentioned an intruder.

Those two clues connected inside his head.

Michael raised an eyebrow.

“What? Changed your mind already?”

“…Don’t tell me.”

Balephor’s expression hardened.

“Was that you?”

Michael blinked.

“What was?”

“Don’t play dumb, you bastard!”

“You’re the one who stopped us from taking the remains!”

“Remains?”

Michael thought about it.

“Oh. Something like that, I guess.”

“Before coming here, I beat up some of your guys at a church.”

Michael had practically confessed himself.

Balephor glared at him, grinding his teeth in rage.

“Do you even know what you’ve done?!”

Michael’s expression immediately turned cold.

“I don’t give a damn about that.”

He slowly opened and closed his fists as he approached Balephor.

“Since when did you start baring your teeth at me?”

Every time Michael took one step forward, Balephor took one step back.

Michael cracked his knuckles.

“Guess it’s been so long since we last met that you’ve started missing a beating.”

“Come on. Let’s fix that today.”

Just as Michael began threatening Balephor—

Step, step!

Tap-tap-tap-tap!

A large group of guards in suits rushed in behind Michael.

There seemed to be more than ten of them at a glance.

Every single one stared at Michael with vicious eyes.

“You bastard! Do you have any idea where you are, attacking this place?!”

Vein.

A vein bulged on Michael’s forehead.

Every single guard behind him was possessed by a demon.

And worse—

Their demonization was already complete.

“…Looks like you’ve been having quite a lot of fun while I was gone.”

Just as he had seen at the church, demons entered humans through their desires.

They offered sweet temptations and gradually stole control of their bodies.

Once a demon took control, it altered the host’s body into a form better suited to itself.

And once a person reached the very end of their desire, they completely surrendered ownership of their body.

That was demonization.

Looking at them, they’re already beyond saving.

Balephor—or rather, one of the 72 Demons—possessed the ability to forcibly implant demons into humans.

Once someone had completely transformed into a demon, there was no way to return them to normal.

Not that I know whether they’re even worth saving in the first place…

Even if Michael saved them, they were the kind of people who would probably betray him later anyway.

But something kept bothering him.

—Don’t hate people too much.

Helena’s final words occasionally interfered with him.

This time, it can’t be helped.

Michael silently made an excuse to Helena.

That eased the burden in his heart, at least a little.

One demon mistook Michael’s silence for hesitation.

“Looks like you’re thinking about running away.”

“Don’t even dream about it.”

Michael ignored the warning and looked directly at Balephor.

“Balephor.”

Michael called his name in a low voice.

Balephor instinctively raised his head at the sound.

Then Michael spoke.

“Today, everyone here dies except you.”

As if those words were a signal—

The demons’ eyes turned yellow.

Their fangs became sharper.

Their skin grew rough and dark.

“Grrrrrrrr…”

They released the growls of wild beasts as their bodies fully transformed into demonic forms.

They surrounded Michael threateningly.

Even then, Michael never looked away from Balephor.

“Got it?”

Gulp.

Balephor swallowed.

Before he could answer, Michael extended one hand.

“Ignícŭlus [Igniculus].”

It was a technique Balephor knew very well.

One of Michael’s main techniques.

White flames erupted from Michael’s fingertips.

The flames expanded rapidly, spreading throughout the entire room.

“What are you waiting for?! Get him!”

“Keeeeeh! Die!”

Sensing danger from the scattered flames of purification, the demons rushed toward Michael.

Michael’s eyes sharpened.

With a burst of strength, the white flames wrapped around his arm.

“You’d better prepare to close this place down for the day.”

RUMBLE—!

The first demon tore through the upper half of his suit and swung a fist down at Michael with enough force to crush him instantly.

CRACK!

Michael caught the demon’s fist with one hand.

The white flames crawled from Michael’s arm onto the demon.

“AAAAARGH!”

White fire spread across the demon’s entire body.

It rolled across the floor, screaming in agony.

But it didn’t last long.

Soon, nothing remained but ash.

Michael looked at the others.

“Next.”

After seeing what happened, the remaining demons hesitated instead of attacking.

But they didn’t run.

Instead, they kept glancing toward Balephor.

Michael pointed at him.

“Don’t tell me you idiots are actually counting on him?”

The demons immediately shouted.

“Lord Balephor! Show him the power of the 72 Demons!”

“He’s just one priest! Melt him with your poison, Lord Balephor!”

Just as the demons said, Balephor occupied one of the seventy-two seats.

He had been chosen by one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

That technically made him a Great Demon, one who commanded other demons.

However—

None of those qualifications had anything to do with Balephor’s own intentions or efforts.

He does seem stronger than before.

But even now, he’s only around the level of a mid-ranking demon.

The Balephor Michael remembered had a rather unusual origin.

He had started as a demonic beast before becoming a lower-ranking demon.

Then, through sheer luck, he had caught the eye of Greed, whose desire to collect things was extremely strong.

That was how he had been chosen.

Because of that, Balephor was weak compared to other Great Demons.

His faction was small as well.

The demons he keeps around are exactly what I expected, too.

He only keeps demons weak enough for him to control.

While Michael was finishing his assessment, Balephor nervously bit his fingernail.

Those bastards… Are they seriously trying to screw me over like this?

He had two choices.

On one side was the admiration and respect of his fellow demons.

On the other side was the suicidal task of fighting Michael.

Balephor had to choose.

And his choice was—

“You worthless pieces of trash! You’re lower than demonic beasts!”

Balephor roared at the demons.

Then he pointed at Michael.

“If you want me to act, then prove yourselves first!”

“If you come crying to me because you can’t even kill one measly priest, I’ll kill you myself!”

The world of demons was ruled by survival of the strongest.

The prey had no choice but to submit absolutely to the predator.

And apparently, Balephor’s authority as a predator still worked.

The demons looked startled, but slowly began approaching Michael again.

“Become the sacrifice that earns us Lord Balephor’s recognition.”

“Grrrr… You die here.”

Balephor had successfully given them motivation.

This was the best solution he had come up with.

If I don’t personally step forward, Michael won’t hit me first.

And I just showed my authority, so my subordinates won’t doubt me either.

Balephor tried his best to make a sinister demonic expression.

Michael immediately saw through him.

A laugh escaped his mouth.

“Look at you, scheming like a little bastard.”

“I’ll deal with you later.”

With those words, Michael launched himself toward the demons.

“If we kill this bastard, we might earn a place in the legion!”

“If we all attack together, we can do something! Get him!”

Perhaps Balephor had done something to them.

Their eyes gradually turned red as madness filled them.

They charged straight toward Michael.

But before any of them could reach him—

Snap!

Michael snapped his fingers.

It was a technique that allowed his white flames to move freely along unpredictable paths.

“Libértas [Libertas].”

At that moment—

The white flames he had scattered throughout the room suddenly surged forward.

They pierced straight into the demons.

WHOOSH!

“Ghh… Ugh…”

The demons desperately tried to gather their strength to resist the white flames.

But everything happened too quickly.

They couldn’t even scream properly.

One after another, they collapsed into piles of ash.

“L-Lord… Bale… phor…”

A few of them didn’t turn to ash immediately.

Instead, their bodies slowly crumbled apart in excruciating pain.

Michael clicked his tongue when he saw the result.

His firepower was weaker than he had expected.

“Back in the day, there wouldn’t even have been ash left.”

“Tch.”

Then he stretched his shoulders.

“Still, I feel a little lighter now.”

It felt as though the burden Helena’s words had placed on his heart had finally disappeared.

Feeling refreshed, Michael looked around.

Only small embers remained inside the room.

Not a single demon following Balephor was left alive.

Michael slowly turned his head toward Balephor.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“Everyone except you dies.”

Then he began walking toward him.

“Now it’s your turn.”

Balephor had been staring blankly in shock.

For a brief moment, the Michael standing before him overlapped with the Michael from the distant past.

Michael grinned.

“You know you need a beating, right?”

Those words.

Balephor had heard them before.

Fear flooded his face.

He hurriedly put his index finger and thumb into his mouth.

Fweeeeeet!

Realizing that he had no chance of winning in a fight, Balephor let out a loud whistle.

Immediately, sounds began approaching from every direction.

From the ventilation ducts.

From the bathroom drains.

From gaps beneath the door.

From every passage with even the smallest hole—

Rats flooded into the room.

Squeak! Squeak!

As though possessed, the rats threw themselves at Michael, baring their teeth.

The moment they created an opening—

Balephor transformed into a rat and launched himself toward a mirror.

Michael’s eyes narrowed.

“And where exactly do you think you’re going?”

WHOOSH!

As though he had been waiting for this exact move, Michael swung the flames filled with Ahura around himself.

The rats were thrown away.

At the same time, every mirror inside the room was engulfed in white fire.

Michael sighed.

“That again?”

“How do you manage to do the exact same thing every single time?”

Balephor possessed an annoying ability that allowed him to travel from one mirror to another nearby mirror.

Because of that, he always kept many mirrors around himself so he would have an escape route.

Unfortunately for him—

This time, he had chosen the wrong opponent.

Panicking, Balephor hurriedly tried to bury himself among the other rats.

But there was one problem.

He was noticeably larger than the others.

Michael spotted him immediately.

Grab.

Michael caught Balephor by the tail.

Then a tiny white flame appeared on his index finger.

Balephor dangled helplessly upside down.

He twisted and struggled desperately, trying to move away from the flame.

But once Michael had caught him—

There was no escape.

“Change back.”

Michael brought the flame slightly closer.

“There’s nothing else to show me, is there?”

The other rats had already fled from Michael.

Only the captured Balephor remained.

Crash!

Michael released his grip.

Balephor transformed back into human form in midair and slammed headfirst into the floor.

“Keh! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Michael grabbed Balephor by the hair.

Ahura gathered around his hand.

“Does a priest need a reason to kill a demon?”

Michael pulled him closer.

Then smiled.

“For now, just take your beating.”

And with that—

Balephor’s screams echoed throughout the V.F pub.