And now, the instincts of the paladin Remedios Custodio were screaming to her.
Jaldabaoth’s evasion was not a coincidence. He put on a show of conceit because he had the strength to back it up. Few human beings could keep up with the battle that was about to take place, and she would need to further enhance herself with magic.
Remedios’s instincts had never failed her at times like these.
“Fall back! All of you fall back! —No, form a cordon! This demon’s strong!”
Saying so, she backed away with her men. Her subordinates retreated further than her, but she could not go too far away. At most, she could move four meters back, at a range where she could take a single step and then cut him down.
Jaldabaoth rounded his shoulders.
“Haaa… what a bullish girl you are. What is it? Could it be you’ve seen something red?”
Remedios ignored the demon’s playful words, and the troops led by Queralt and Calca appeared in her field of vision. Shocked by the sight of Remedios engaged with Jaldabaoth, they made haste.
Jaldabaoth turned to face Calca, exposing his defenseless back to Remedios. However — her instincts told her that Jaldabaoth might just be waiting for her to attack him from behind, and so she froze.
“You two! He’s very strong! If you don’t pull your men back, they’ll only die for nothing!”
The two of them immediately responded to Remedios’s shout, and they were the only ones to step forward.
Remedios kept her distance from Jaldabaoth while circling around him until she stood in front of the two of them.
“Remedios, please don’t push yourself.”
“She’s right, nee-sama. Shouldn’t you take him on with everyone at once?”
Her eyes had not moved from Jaldabaoth even as she listened to their quiet words from behind her. Perhaps he was planning to unleash that wall-breaking power of his; if he made a move, she would dash up and hack him down.
However, Jaldabaoth showed no sign of doing so.
His relaxed attitude made Remedios unhappy.
I must, I have to strike him down!
“So you are Jaldabaoth?”
Jaldabaoth’s shrug in response to Calca’s question only intensified her displeasure. Every little thing that demon did only served to make her mad.
“Indeed. ...Your slave charged right at me without saying a word. What would she have done if it was a case of mistaken identity? Well, it does interest me that there are savages in the Holy Kingdom who are incapable of speech. Ah, just to be sure, may I ask if you are the reigning Holy King?”
“Indeed.”
“There’s no need to tell him your name, Calca-sama.”
Remedios levelled the point of her sword at Jaldabaoth.
“All you need to know is that he’s Jaldabaoth, and all we need to do after that is kill him and send him back to hell. Talking with him is just going to taint your tongue—”
“A-Ah, Remedios. We’re talking…”
Calca’s puzzled words made Remedios tilt her head. Had she said something about this earlier?
Queralt seemed to have a spell from the rear, because a surge of heat blazed up within her body, accompanied by incredible strength. Her attack from just now had been evaded, but now she was confident that she could strike him in this state. At this point, Remedios thought, So that’s it, because talking to him was meant to buy them time.
“—Still, I am magnanimous, so I shall chat with you for a while. Do you have any questions?”
Jaldabaoth pressed at the eye region of his mask, a motion Remedios had seen Calca, Queralt, and her Vice-Captains perform many times in the past.
“...Also, please, prepare yourselves until you are satisfied. The sight of you — who are desperately preparing yourselves to defeat me — being trampled and your lives taken by a power which surpasses even that; truly it is a sight to evoke ever greater despair in those who witness it with their own eyes. —What a wonderful sight it will be.”
“I won’t let that happen!”
“Sorry, Remedios, but could you quiet down for a bit?”
There was a hint of steel in Calca’s voice, and Remedios shut up. It was merely a slight change of tone, but from experience, Remedios knew that Calca was angry.
“Remedios, step back for a bit.”
“But, but if I move back, I won’t be able to cut him down if he does anything weird…”
“Ah, that is fine. I will not attack until we finish speaking, or until you launch an attack of your own.”
“As if we could believe what a demon say—”
“Remedios!”
“—Understood.”
Remedios fell back as ordered, and her sister whispered to her through her helmet.
“Calca-sama is trying to learn more from the opposition. You need to ignore what that demon says and bear with it.”
Muu, Remedios grimaced, her face seemingly saying, I’m not happy with this.
Their opponent was a demon. That being the case, they ought to consider that everything he said was probably a lie. Rushing in and cutting him up would save effort and brain cells. However, impeding her mistress was a betrayal of her loyalty. Thus, she had grit her teeth and endure this.
“Now then, Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth. I have some things to ask you. Why have you come here? If you wish to trample this country, why not move with the demihuman army from the fortress? Or could it be—”
“...Ah, you need say no more. I can imagine what you wish to say. It would seem you are mistaken. The reason I have come here alone is not to parley with you.”
A quiet “I see,” came from Calca, who was standing behind Remedios. She sounded clearly disappointed.
“There are two reasons why I have come here alone. The first is because crushing you by myself will deepen your despair that much more compared to if you were slain in a chaotic battle with the demihuman forces. The other reason is — in order to avoid making the same mistakes as from the Kingdom. I had not expected to meet a warrior there who was as powerful as myself. Therefore, the fact that I have come here alone is to see if there is a being comparable to me.”
“There might be, you know?”
“Of this I am certain — there are none. That is why I have given you all this time. If anyone like that did exist, they would be in this city — by the side of you, the most important person in this nation. Yet, I have not found anyone like that. That includes those snivelling rats hiding themselves away.”
“You bastard! Are you saying we’re weaker than that warrior!?”
Remedios could not pretend she had not heard those words, and they made her forget her forbearance and shout in anger. Calca and her sister’s words were already halfway out of her head, but the order not to cut him down just barely held on.
“That is exactly what I am saying. Did you not hear me? Is that all you wish to know, Holy Queen-sama?”
“While there’s one more thing — Angels, advance!”
Calca’s powerful voice filled the plaza, and the angels in the perimeter and hidden among the priests spread their wings and took flight.
There were five angels who held swords of fire, summoned through third tier spells — Archangel Flames. There were twenty more summoned through second tier spells, Angel Guardians. And then, there was a single angel which Calca had summoned before arriving here — a Principality of Peace.
While she did not remember what powers the angels possessed, she remembered that the Principality of Peace which Calca summoned could use low tier divine spells and could use abilities such as the ability to grant protection from evil, smite evil, and cause mass silence, among others. That was because she had often seen Calca summon it.