Chapter 30: Revolution Era - Harphas
In the deep of night.
Having already warned the servants, the empty hallway echoed with my footsteps as I burst into the room. Inside, a seemingly ordinary man wearing a robe looked up in mild surprise.
"Ah, Duke? What brings you to my room...?"
"Emanuel Sieyes?"
"Yes, that's me. An honor to meet you, Your Grace."
Sieyes bowed before me, feigning innocence and fear.
He had no idea where he had aroused suspicion.
After all, this was a matter beyond his concern or doubt.
"Weren't you in Lumière, serving Archbishop Arno Richelieu?"
"Yes, but how did you know..."
"And you helped him publish 'The Doctrine of Estates', playing a significant role in organizing the revolutionary leadership."
Only then did a wariness appear in Sieyes' eyes.
"Your Grace, there seems to be some misunderstanding. It's true I was briefly employed by Archbishop Richelieu, but I have no ties to those treacherous factions..."
"That's something we'll verify in due course. Given your connection to the revolutionary leaders and your employment in a noble house without disclosure, you can't complain if you're detained, can you?"
Now utterly flustered, Sieyes' was speechless as I took out a pair of shackles.
"These are designed to seal a prisoner's magic. It'll be a temporary sealing, and if proven innocent, you'll be released."
I had worn similar shackles in prison before I stood on the guillotine. Their effectiveness was certain. Even a knight would become no different from a commoner.
If the author is masquerading as an ordinary human through magic, we might see his true form.
"Your Grace, I beg your pardon, but I am a retainer of Countess Aquitaine. Even if this is the Lafayette estate, you have no right to impose such unjust treatment on mere unconfirmed suspicions-"
"Cooperate with Duke Lafayette, Sieyes."
As Sieyes protested vehemently, his gaze suddenly shifted to Christine, who leaned against the door.
"If you are truly innocent, you will be duly compensated for this ordeal."
Christine finished speaking, and I added,
"But if you are not innocent, any treatment of a spy who has infiltrated and hidden their identity is justifiable."
Sieyes, in apparent despair, hung his head.
But the moment I took a step forward, he lifted his head and let out an indescribable shriek.
It sounded like a cooing pigeon, yet also like a human chuckling.
Soon after, an eerie cacophony, like countless pigeons screeching, filled the room.
"Ugh...!"
Christine, in agony, covered her ears just as Sieyes' body swelled as if about to burst.
Immediately, I grabbed Christine by the waist and hurled us both out of the room—
No sooner had we escaped than a loud explosion sounded, and dark fragments, which I later realized were his clothes and human flesh, were flung from the room.
I stood Christine up and quickly drew my sword.
"Thank you."
"He's revealed his true colors."
Then, with a snap, something huge and feathered clutched the door.
Soon, this grotesque entity forced its way through the wall, breaking into the hallway with bizarre noises.
"How dare you, mere humans...!"
Sieyes, or rather, the demon Harphas.
Covered in jet-black feathers, a twisted bird-like figure with three pairs of blood-red eyes spoke in a monstrous voice.
"Identified as an uncertain element, a threat to Abyss Corporation!"
As the giant bird spread its wings, dozens of pairs of blood-red eyes glowed within them.
"Ha, talking about coexistence with humans."
It seemed this was no mere low-level demon, but a high-ranking one.
Instinctively, my grip on the sword tightened.
As the monstrous bird-shaped demon Harphas let out a terrifying scream, dozens of black pigeons clinging to its wings burst into a bizarre chorus, filling the hallway as they took flight.
Seeing the black pigeons, with their blood-red glowing eyes, flying towards me, I shouted urgently.
"Attack!"
Simultaneously, knights hidden in the rooms along the corridor on my command leaped out.
"W-What is that thing!"
"Ah, a monster!"
But the knights were initially too shocked by the sudden development.
Damn, this is bad.
"Duke!"
Nonetheless, Gaston burst out hastily, slicing through the incoming pigeons with his sword.
I shouted to him, the only one who seemed to keep his wits about him.
"Gaston, protect Countess Aquitaine!"
As I yelled, a pigeon flew at me, which I split in two with my sword.
Despite being sliced, the pigeons, formed from dark magic, kept emerging endlessly from Harphas.
"Ah, my eyes! My eyes!"
"This damn bird!"
While the pigeons were pecking at one knight's eyes, another managed to cut them, but they just dispersed into magic as well.
"We'll never end this way! Snap out of it and strike the main body!"
I gripped my sword with both hands and stepped forward.
With a diagonal slash from left to right, then a horizontal sweep, step by step.
As I moved, the pigeons split in two, and their dark magic scattered, blurring my vision.
A vertical slash bisected more pigeons, and as I took another step and readjusted my grip, Harphas flashed his eyes and swung his massive wings.
"Tsk!"
I ducked and dodged, then swung my sword with all my might and magic.
But it didn't reach Harphas.
A magical barrier in front of him deflected my sword, sending me reeling back with the impact.
"Damn..."
I fought off the numbing sensation in my arm and regripped my sword.
A B-grade magician, what a joke!
How powerful is this damned demon's magic?
"How dare a human, mimicking demon magic, defy me!"
Harphas let out a monstrous scream and charged at me, while I desperately fended off the pigeons attacking me.
"Damn it, how do we defeat this monster?"
Should I have brought Eris along?
Was it a mistake to think that bringing a princess into a potentially dangerous demon suppression was a bad idea?
"Arghhh!"
It was too late for regrets.
I blocked Harphas' massive wing with my sword, gathering magic, but was still pushed back, struggling with the numbness in my arm.
"Yahh—cough!"
"Pathetic humans!"
Harphas, without even looking, knocked a charging knight away with his wing and glared at me with murderous intent.
I can't do this alone.
I made my decision quickly.
"Christine! We need to get out of here and find Eris—"
As I turned and shouted, Christine was already aiming her pistols at Harphas.
Facing such a monster, it's admirable that she wasn't scared, but what could she possibly do with a pistol!
Then, unexpectedly, Christine's pistol fired, and to everyone's surprise, the magical barrier surrounding Harphas shattered.
"Ah, no—cough! Aaaargh!"
The bullet, tearing through the magical barrier, burrowed into Harphas' wing, emitting a white light and beginning to burn the demon's wing.
Could it be?
"This was my trump card. Even a high-and-mighty demon's no match for the power of money. It's a consecrated bullet, imported directly from the Holy Church."
"You bitch!"
"Ha! Even demons, who play with money, can be defeated by it!"
Laughing at the irony, I charged at the howling Harphas.
"How dare you, mere humans!"
Harphas swung his wings furiously, but now weakened, they were effortlessly sliced by my magic-infused sword.
"Aaargh!"
Unlike the pigeons, blue blood spurted from the severed wings. So their blood really is blue?
Despite his screams, Harphas swung his other burning wing, but Gaston, protecting Christine, leaped out and cut it off.
The relentless onslaught of pigeons seemed to falter.
"Hyaaah!"
Seizing the moment, Gaston and I rushed in, plunging our swords into Harphas' torso. He screamed and fell backward.
While Gaston pinned the thrashing Harphas with his sword, I quickly grabbed the shackles from the corridor floor and pinned Harphas' legs to the ground with a stab.
Amidst his terrible screams, I fastened the shackles around the ankles of the giant bird now pinned to the floor.
"Ah, aah—aaaargh!"
Harphas wailed, and the monstrous, twisted bird-like figure began to shrink.
The pigeons that filled the corridor and screamed bizarrely fell to the floor, turning into black smoke.
After a moment of heavy breathing from the exhausted knights, Harphas, now in his demon form with horns and missing arms, lay bleeding from the chest and uttered a single, faint word.
"Fuck."
I looked down at his ghastly form, furrowing my brow slightly.
"Is he going to die from this?"
"Well, those would be fatal wounds for a human, but I'm not sure about demons. He seems to be stable for now."
Christine, now barefoot and with her hair disheveled, having apparently kicked off her shoes, came over and remarked, prompting me to shift my gaze and give an order.
"There are injured. Go and fetch Eris... and some maids to assist Countess Aquitaine."
"Yes, right away!"
"Hehe, Hehe Hehehehe..."
As the knight ran off on my command, Harphas, lying dazed on the floor, suddenly burst into laughter.
What's with him, has he lost his mind?
"Do you realize what you've done? Nobodies from a failed kingdom opposing Abyss Corporation - what an innovative way to commit suicide!"
"I don't understand what you're saying. Countess Aquitaine, do we have any employees of Abyss Corporation here?"
"Well, we do have one baseless spy who refused to cooperate with the lord's orders and caused a commotion before being captured."
As Christine and I exchanged remarks, Harphas gnashed his teeth.
"Abyss Corporation won't sit idly by once they learn of this!"
"Well, that might be true if we went around bragging about capturing an Abyss Corporation spy. But from what I know of demons, they would rather cut off a foolish spy caught doing nefarious deeds in human territories and admitting affiliation, rather than spoiling their business over one mistake."
Hearing my words, Harphas' face hardened.
It was just a guess, but his reaction seems to confirm it.
These demons, always assuming they're in control, are surprisingly sloppy when faced with unexpected situations.
I pulled my sword out from where it had pinned Harphas' leg to the ground.
"Aaaargh!"
As Harphas screamed and more blue blood spurted out, I couldn't help but smirk.
"Firstly, you should worry about your own predicament, demon. From now on, we 'savage' human will have the pleasure of experimenting with your noble demon body, making you spill everything in that head of yours. Honestly, I'm quite curious about how effective human torture techniques will be on a demon."
"Just don't be too rough, Duke. Ideally, we should keep him alive so we can sell him for a good price to the Holy Church. Considering I used an expensive consecrated bullet to help you, I trust you'll make up for it."
Christine's face was so earnest as she said this that I had to suppress a laugh before responding.
"Ah, of course. It would be a shame if he died so unluckily. Let's consult some literature before the interrogation."
Harphas, listening to our seemingly amicable exchange, trembled with rage and spat out a comment.
"You... humans are even worse than demons..."
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