Chapter 41
Lowly Fiend
The Great Saint’s Eye earned the affection of humans, but conversely, it provoked hatred in demons.
That holy relic had been transplanted into Johan’s left eye.
Any demon who faced Johan was inevitably consumed by hatred.
Just like the boy before him, they became seized by blind hostility.
“...I shall pluck it out cleanly. Please wait just a moment.”
The boy reached his demonic hand toward Johan’s left eye.
The moment he came within reach, a dull impact rang out.
Thwack!
Johan kicked the boy hard in the face, shoving him away.
“Kurgh!”
The boy toppled backward and slammed onto the floor.
Johan sprang to his feet.
He intended to shout and summon the villagers.
“O-O Great End! Please wait!”
The creature immediately corrected its posture and prostrated itself again.
‘...What is this thing?’
Although Johan was bewildered in several ways, he forced his mind to work as quickly as possible.
Judging from the circumstances, the boy had been possessed by a demon. That demon addressed Johan as the Great End and spoke to him with the utmost respect. It was behaving submissively because it knew Johan’s identity.
It had shown aggression toward him, but Johan knew perfectly well that the Great Saint’s Eye was the reason.
After thinking briefly, Johan asked,
“What are you?”
For now, he intended to play the part of an arrogant Apostle, just as he had before Kaiaze—at least until he understood the circumstances and the creature’s objective.
“This vile one has no name. I am merely a being born from the manifested desires of the slash-and-burn farmers who live here.”
In other words, it was a lowly fiend of the lowest rank.
Such creatures naturally came into existence from human emotions such as resentment, desire, and longing. Most vanished before they could survive their time as imps.
They were lowly beings from the moment of their birth.
“So you’re nothing more than a worthless fiend. Did you approach me hoping to pick up a few scraps?”
“S-Scraps? That is far too cruel. I did save you, after all...”
“Calling it a rescue would be an exaggeration, but you must have moved me to this village. That boy could never have done it alone.”
“That is correct. I used every last drop of my demonic energy to pull you here.”
“How pathetic must you be to expend all your strength merely moving me? I find myself deeply curious about your true form.”
The boy lifted his head slightly with an aggrieved expression at Johan’s continued mockery.
The moment their eyes met, he immediately slammed his forehead back against the floor.
He was deliberately avoiding Johan’s gaze to escape the hatred boiling within him.
The demon spoke.
“This vile one may still be no more than an imp, but by participating in your great evil deeds, I shall become an infernal flame that burns heaven and earth.”
“I have a general idea of why you approached me.”
“...I wish to serve the Great End. Please bestow a name upon this vile one.”
Lowly fiends were usually obsessed with names.
A title bestowed by a higher demon or an epithet earned through evil deeds would transform them into unique beings.
For a lowly fiend born by chance and destined to disappear in vain, nothing was more important than establishing its own identity.
Johan asked,
“You keep calling me the Great End. Why?”
“I happened to witness your true form around dawn yesterday. I was beside you when you suddenly transformed into a human as well. It truly is a flawless disguise.”
The creature glanced at Johan before bowing its head again.
“Even now, your disguise is utterly perfect!”
“What an amusing creature.”
As expected, it had already seen Johan in his demonic form.
Its talk of a disguise made it clear that it knew nothing about Johan’s true nature. However, there was no doubt that it regarded the human Johan and the demon Johan as the same being.
“If you keep me by your side, you will have many reasons to laugh!”
“I need a capable subordinate, not a jester.”
“O-One day, I shall become the infernal flame of the Abyss and—”
Johan smirked and cut him off.
“Enough. Stop spouting nonsense and answer my question properly. Why exactly do you believe I am connected to the Great End?”
Simply having seen the demon Johan was insufficient grounds to conclude that he was an Apostle of the Great End.
“I heard the rumors. They say the Great End’s Thirteenth Apostle has been born. A few days before that, a young demon with white horns humiliated Apostle Beris. Until then, it was difficult to find any connection between the two. But after yesterday, everything changed. A supreme being of the Infernal Realm manifested upon this land and granted someone an audience—and you, the one with white horns, were present. Taking all the circumstances into account, you must be the Great End’s Thirteenth Apostle.”
The “supreme being of the Infernal Realm” it mentioned was Kaiaze, the scribe of the Calamity Book.
Without responding, Johan contemplated everything the creature had said.
Silence lingered for some time.
The demon spoke again.
“Please accept this vile one. I shall contribute to your evil deeds.”
Johan looked down at him without expression.
“I find you rather interesting. Despite being a mere lowly fiend, you are capable of thought and possess a decent amount of initiative.”
Through its own reasoning, the creature had concluded that Johan was an Apostle of the Great End.
Nor had it stopped at that conclusion. It had also demonstrated the initiative to take action and obtain what it desired.
Among the foolish lowly fiends that appeared in the original novel, this one was a relatively exceptional specimen.
Some creatures that showed promise like this one eventually grew into archdemons.
At least, that was how things worked according to the original novel’s established lore.
The boy’s body flinched at the sudden praise.
He was delighted.
Johan continued.
“But that is all. I feel nothing toward you beyond mild interest. What could a lowly fiend like you possibly do for me? You would be fortunate not to become a burden.”
“I would not dare ask for a contract of servitude! Please grant me only a chance! I shall serve at your side and prove my worth!”
Johan contemplated the matter briefly.
If he accepted the creature, his motivation would be nothing more than curiosity. Since possessing this body, Johan had never once made a decision merely because something interested him.
Practical benefit and efficiency alone governed his choices.
The lowly fiend before him did not meet those standards.
In truth, there was little point in deliberating over this at all. Since he didn’t even know whether the “demon” Johan was alive, it was difficult to decide what to do with the fiend.
If the demon Johan was dead, then even if Johan wanted to accept the fiend, he wouldn’t be able to.
Johan spoke.
“I still don’t know your value. Let me ask you one final question.”
“A-Ask me anything.”
“What condition was my true body in?”
“By condition, what precisely do you mean...?”
“As you know, I suffered a fatal injury—one severe enough that it wouldn’t have been strange for me to perish immediately. I must devote myself to recuperation for the time being, but since I have yet to examine the wound myself, I cannot make an accurate diagnosis. You, however, saw it. Tell me what you observed.”
The demon searched its memory before answering.
“An enormous spear was embedded in the joint of your wing. Divinity continuously poured from it, yet it failed to burn away your magnificent flesh. Your skin regenerated without end, while your demonic energy devoured the divinity. I sensed unfathomable vitality within you. A mere weapon of the gods could never bring the Great End to an end.”
Johan found that strange.
His body had never possessed such regenerative power.
In the original novel, the ability to restore one’s body was categorized as an Authority. If he possessed such a power, Johan himself should have known about it.
As he puzzled over the matter, the events of the previous day suddenly flashed through his mind.
“...Could it be?”
When he absorbed the Calamity Book into his body, crimson words had appeared before his eyes.
It was the same phenomenon that had occurred when he evolved after sacrificing Betra.
The awakening of new Authorities.
Because of the urgency of the situation, he hadn’t been able to examine them properly, but one of the newly awakened Authorities must have been related to regeneration.
‘Perhaps all that suffering was worthwhile after all.’
He was now an Apostle not merely in name but also in power.
Viewed simply, it was a situation worth celebrating.
In this world, power was synonymous with survival.
Yet Johan couldn’t feel entirely pleased.
Too many things still bothered him.
If everything the lowly fiend said was true, then the demon Johan was still alive. In that case, why did Johan remain human even at night?
Logically, he should have transformed into a demon and faced the consequences.
Should he leave witnesses alive or not?
He had escaped that choice this time, but a similar dilemma could arise again at any moment.
What choice would he make then?
Johan still hadn’t found an answer.
A suffocating pressure weighed upon him.
Noticing Johan’s mood, the fiend firmly closed his mouth.
A brief silence passed.
The loud clatter of horses’ hooves shattered it.
A sudden commotion erupted outside the door.
“Everyone, come outside!”
“Gather in the center of the village! Not one person is to remain behind!”
The fiend began trembling in fear, urgency filling his expression.
“It appears to be the Church!”
Johan nodded.
“It was about time they arrived. They’re later than I expected.”
This village was located within the sacred containment formation.
Naturally, it fell within the Church’s search area.
Now that the encirclement had tightened this far, an ordinary demon was as good as dead.
Johan, however, remained calm.
The fiend spoke with visible bewilderment.
“A-Are you not going to hide?”
“There is no need.”
The creature’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Is this where your great evil deed shall begin?! Will you slaughter every last one of those detestable wretches and usher in the prelude to the End?!”
“You truly are a noisy creature. Stop talking nonsense and worry about saving yourself. For the record, I have no intention of helping you.”
“B-But...!”
The creature looked deeply wounded.
Johan continued.
“Their arrival was entirely predictable. If you failed to anticipate it, that is unfortunate. Your life ends here.”
Unless it had prepared an escape route in advance, there was no way a mere lowly fiend could survive the present situation.
The creature immediately began feeling around the floor of the hut.
“Foolish though this vile one may be, I prepared a way out.”
It dug through a pile of straw and uncovered a small plank.
Johan watched with interest.
“I shall return to see you soon. Please take care of yourself.”
The creature pushed the plank aside, revealing a tiny hole.
It was only slightly larger than an adult man’s fist.
Johan was puzzled.
No matter how small the boy was, he wasn’t nearly small enough to fit through that hole.
Even a newborn infant would have been unable to pass through it.
His doubts soon disappeared.
Something tiny popped out of the boy’s body.
It was a minuscule imp.
Its small, oval body had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but no visible neck or head. The limbs extending from its body were comparatively long.
The dark crimson hairs covering its entire body resembled tiny embers.
As befitted a demon born from the desires of slash-and-burn farmers, it possessed an innate affinity for fire.
Johan burst out laughing.
“You look even more insignificant than I expected.”
“O-One day, I shall become the infernal flame of the Abyss and—”
“But you are thorough. In that form, you should be able to pass through the hole.”
The lowly fiend would be able to escape the village through the opening.
The creature had indeed found a way to survive.
The situation outside remained urgent, but Johan only found it more interesting.
“Everyone, get out here!”
“Anyone who refuses to comply will be executed in the name of the Grand Holy Knights!”
The imp waddled toward the hole and stopped in front of it.
“When next we meet, I shall have grown stronger! Please do not forget this vile one!”
Just as the creature was about to throw itself into the hole, Johan spoke.
“You said you wanted to become my retainer?”
The imp spun around to look at Johan, though it still avoided meeting his gaze.
“It is my lifelong wish!”
Johan smirked.
“Very well. I shall give you a chance. If you survive this as well, I will accept you as my retainer.”
“Survive? What do you—?”
Before the creature could finish, Johan firmly seized its tiny body.
The imp merely blinked, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Johan immediately threw open the hut’s door.
Countless gazes turned toward him simultaneously.
The banner of the Grand Holy Knights fluttered amid pure white divine power.
“N-No... You can’t possibly—!”
“I can, and I will. Show me your worth.”
Johan casually tossed the imp into their midst.
“I promise I’ll keep my word.”
The imp’s expression turned to one of absolute horror.