The Devil of Lania was feared all over the continent. He was known as a wicked Necromancer, but also as a being that used sacred, holy magic. In addition, he was the only one who could successfully oppose the Holy Kingdom.
His strength was absolute. His military force was overwhelming. As he had completely destroyed the continent's strongest Holy Knights, there were countless mages who longed to achieve a similar level of power for themselves.
This was especially true because of the fact that the Devil of Lania had mastered Necromancy to a degree that nobody else had before.
One person had led thousands―even tens of thousands of Undead with that power. And as soon as that became known in the continent, the other existing Necromancers had been driven to increase their own power by any means in an attempt to match that strength. The temptation was like a devil's delusion and was far too strong to resist.
As the strongest Necromancer in the continent it was only natural that, because of that reputation, the other Necromancers would try to follow in his footsteps.
At least, that was what Belve thought.
"…"
Lulu zoned out with his mouth closed.
'Devil of Lania? What is he talking about?'
'No matter how I look at him he's just a crazy, old Necromancer. But he's declaring himself to be the Devil of Lania…?'
Belve smiled contentedly seeing Lulu's expression.
'It seems like he's shocked! It must be known to the demons as well just what kind of being the Devil of Lania is!'
"Haha! Are you at a loss for words because you're so shocked? Well, this is only natural. Anyone seeing the Devil that makes everybody shake in fear, in person, would feel like that. Feel honored!"
Lulu was so dumbfounded at what he was seeing that his mind went blank.
Belve, completely ignorant of Lulu's real thoughts, puffed his chest out in pride.
"I'm preparing to strike the Holy Kingdom for my―I mean for your Demon Kingdom so feel honored!"
"…Bullshit."
Belve blinked at Lulu.
Lulu stared back blankly.
…Then he frowned.
The Devil of Lania was a term that was used to refer to Tom―the hero that had saved the Demon Kingdom and the savior of both him and his sister.
Lulu's frown turned into a glare.
'How dare he?! How can this lowly human pretend to be that kind of being! He's really starting to piss me off! I almost want to throw up! He's disgracing the name of an idol and a hero!'
"You said that you are the Devil of Lania? That's bullshit! How dare you bring shame to his name, you lowly human?!"
"… W-what are you talking about? Bringing shame? Me?"
Belve looked shocked.
"I have never brought shame on the Devil of Lania! I haven't! How would I even do that anyway?! He's me!"
"You're delusional! You don't even know what kind of person the Devil of Lania truly is!"
"You're talking as if you know the Devil of Lania."
"Of course I know him!"
Belve's countenance suddenly changed. He wrenched open the cage, grabbed Lulu by his neck, and hurled him down to the ground.
He aimed his staff down at him and glared.
"Really? You've met the Devil of Lania, have you? You're the one talking bullshit! I'm the Devil of Lania!"
Lulu sneered back.
"Ha! Are all human mages these days such fraudsters? Lying to everyone and pretending to be people that they clearly aren't? Like children? Ha! Do you really want to be famous that bad? How desperate can you get―keok!"
The staff pressed down on Lulu's neck.
"… Your voice is nice to listen to but I don't like what it says. I think I want to crush your vocal cords, actually."
Belve narrowed his eyes. He gritted his teeth as he pressed down on Lulu's neck. But Lulu noticed that the man's hands were trembling anxiously.
"… You talk as if you have met the Devil of Lania before. What kind of being is the Devil of Lania you know? Maybe he was the one pretending to be me. Or perhaps…"
Belve closed his mouth and remained silent for a short while. His body shook as if he was enraged.
"Does he have the power to match his claim? I certainly do. There's always a way to test these sorts of things."
Belve looked and gestured toward his crowd of believers. They came forward and gave him a bowl of desert-rose herb.
"Drink this."
"I-I don't want to…"
Belve looked at the village chief and said,
"Oy, Village Chief."
"..Y-yes?"
The village chief looked at Belve blankly.
"I will cure your granddaughter if you feed this guy this."
The village chief's eyes grew wide.
"I-is that true?"
"But only if your granddaughter, there, feeds it to him. What do you think? She can do it, right?"
"…"
The village chief looked down at Fran whom he was holding.
"I'll do it! Let go of me!"
Fran tried to squirm out of the village chief's grip, but she was drowsy, and her face was smeared with madness. Her gaze was fixated on the bowl of desert-rose herb.
"…Are you… really going to give us an antidote?"
"I will if your granddaughter feeds him the drug."
Lulu gritted his teeth.
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was absolutely vile and filthy. Belve was using others to do his dirty work because he couldn't be bothered to do it himself. On top of that, he was using children.
The village chief didn't hesitate.
"F-Fran…"
Fran looked up at the village chief.
The village chief's voice was shaking. It felt to him like he was forcing his granddaughter to commit a grave sin.
"T-this guy… if you feed him the tea of grace… you can drink it as well."
"Really…?"
"Yes."
The village chief nodded.
The necromancers in front of them were like devils. But they had never broken a promise before.
The fact that the village chief was safe was evidence of this. In Fran's case, she only drank the drug accidentally.
If what they said was true, they could fix Fran.
"Okay then…!"
Fran took the bowl of desert-rose herb. Fran looked at it absent-mindedly and tried to drink it but the village chief stopped her.
"Hurry! Feed the kid! I will let you drink it after that!"
"…I can't drink it?"
"Hurry!"
Fran held out the bowl of desert-rose herb to Lulu as the village chief shouted.
"Drink it!"
Lulu glared at Fran.
"Liar! You said that you were going to let me run away! But how can you push me into a trap like this?!"
"It wasn't a lie."
The fire from the torch was crackling. Fran was reflected in the red blazing firelight and she spoke with a smile. Her eyes were blank and hollow.
"I will let you run away from this life! I will send you to heaven where God is!"
Fran shoved the bowl into Lulu's mouth and force-fed him the contents.
"Kueeeeeeek! Cough! Cough!"
Lulu coughed and tried to spit out as much of it as he could.
His head suddenly went fuzzy and a feeling that he could only describe as his blood flowing backward overcame him. Everything turned white and his body shivered. Lulu's expression slackened because of the feeling.
"Ah…aah…"
Belve smiled down at Lulu.
"It seems like the drug works quickly for demons."
"… You're out of your mind," an unfamiliar voice suddenly called out from behind him.
Belve turned to take a look.
The believers were startled and stepped back.
A lightly armored priest in white was slowly approaching. But behind him were not Holy Knights or priests―as one might expect―but Undead Zombies instead.
"… What in the world?"
Belve stiffened in shock.
He recognized immediately that this group of Undead Zombies were the same ones that Belve's student had taken away. But now they appeared to be under the control of this priest in front of him. Taking a closer look, he also noticed that his student was among them well.
The wrinkly old man was holding his staff up and his body was contorted unnaturally. He had been murdered and had become an Undead.
"M-Mr. Tom…!"
Lulu mumbled deliriously as he looked up at Tom with a faintly visible smile.
"And here I thought you were a priest. But, you two are partners. Ha! You're bold, aren't you? A Necromancer posing as a priest… How did you defeat my student? You seem much too young for that."
Belve made a confused expression.
No matter how he looked at the priest in front of him he looked like he was in his twenties. Even though necromancy could be mastered in a short time and could give you incredible power, it was hard to remain young after mastering it.
It came with a lot of side effects. You aged quickly and your skin wrinkled, for one. And that couldn't be stopped. So it made no sense to him how this priest could look so young.
"You've managed to retain your youth… Is there really a method…?" Belve trailed off.
"I see. Seeing how you're with a demi-human it seems like you gained some sort of special power! There are many rumors about the Moon Rabbits… Perhaps there's some truth behind them after all!"
Belve's eyes were filled with greed. He sounded thrilled.
"Oy! Explain to me the principle behind your necromancy! Then I will forgive your rudeness and I will accept you as my student―"
Belve was cut off due to being mauled by zombies.
An Undead jumped on him, but the other necromancers hurriedly intervened. They performed defensive magic and formed a barrier blocking off the rest of them.
The group of zombies writhed and struggled against the barrier but couldn't get through it. However, the barrier had come too late to stop the first one from pouncing.
This Undead, Belve recognized as his former student. It was doing everything in its power to try and kill him.