The Butler of the Villainess Has Returned

Chapter 33

The young lady was taken hostage.

Therefore, I had to control my strength.

However, the young lady is no longer here.

There's no need to control my strength anymore.

Yuri closed his eyes.

And he felt it.

The Mana Heart within his body, the six circles, and the aura rippling in his dantian.

Yuri's growth had been slow.

Because he had focused on increasing the purity of his mana, the circles were rarely formed, and he lacked time to train his aura due to learning Ian's skills.

However, there was no other choice.

In his previous life, he had been preoccupied with building a tower, and that tower was poorly constructed.

The eight circles created with low-purity mana reduced the quality of combat and shortened the time he could exert full power.

The same applied to his swordsmanship; it was flashy but lacked power because it only focused on appearance.

However, the tower he had built was tall.

An 8th Circle Great Sage.

At the same time, a Sword Master.

During the time of Thanatos's descent, Yuri had no enemies in the Demon God Cult except for the Archbishop.

They were merely a minor nuisance.

Just like now.

Yuri looked down at his enemy with the eyes of his prime.

"[...Kkeup, Kkeueup...!!]"

Baalphegor writhed.

The forcibly infused mana was suppressing the muscles necessary for vocalization.

To break the Word Spirit imposed upon him, he pushed demonic energy toward the corner of his mouth.

Tteudeuk, Tududuk!

Puh-uhng!

He forced mana to its limit, causing his jaw to explode, then immediately healed it.

At the same time, he drew out demonic energy.

"[What the hell did you do!!]"

The enemy possessed an unknown ability.

What he glimpsed was only a portion of the man's talent and its totality; he hadn't been able to delve deeper.

Baalphegor made a quick judgment.

If he left things as they were and retreated now, it would surely be more difficult to deal with him the next time they met.

However, he couldn't fight either.

From the moment the hostage disappeared, it was as if he had become a completely different person, overwhelming him.

If it were his true body, he could suppress him, but this body was merely that of an ordinary priest.

Even though he had channeled power through an engraving, trash was still trash.

Two choices came to mind.

The first was to sacrifice the body he was using to summon his true self to this place.

The second was to make full use of this body to inflict a fatal wound and achieve mutual destruction.

'[Summoning my true self is dangerous.]'

After all, this was Sion's testing ground.

The situation on the other side must have been understood by now, and reinforcements from the strong ones would soon arrive.

If he used Awakening, he could even contend with the World's Top 10 Strongest, but doing so might provoke the Archbishop's wrath.

'[An Advanced Sword Expert? Perhaps even beyond that.]'

He had skipped several levels in an instant.

If it had been before he released his energy, he could have subdued him quickly and escaped, but now it seemed unlikely he could subdue him that quickly.

Baalphegor made a decision.

'[I'll cripple you.]'

He couldn't allow him to grow any further.

While he could deal with him in this form now, it was certain that in the near future, he would grow to the point where even his true body would struggle against him.

'[One leg.]'

He would tear off just that much, cripple him, and later return to take his body. If he received baptism and could use the power of the Demonic Tribe, restoring one leg would be a trivial matter.

A sinister smile crept across Baalphegor's lips.

"[I'll take just one leg!!]"

Kwaaang!

The demonic energy condensed beneath his feet exploded in an instant. Baalphegor's lower body was torn to shreds, but it was immediately restored by the demonic energy.

That was how powerful the propulsion was.

Sswae-aek!

Unlike with Frey, a greatsword with mass swung toward Yuri's legs.

Despite being a swordsman, the opponent had lost his sword.

Fleeing or summoning a pathetic aura would be all he could do.

However, he didn't evade.

Perhaps mistaking that he still had a sword at his waist, he assumed a stance and stared this way.

Had he given up?

Even as the greatsword was about to sever both of his legs, he didn't flinch.

He simply raised his gaze and looked at the man.

At that moment.

"Moonlight."

A calm whisper was heard.

At the same time, everything turned pure white.

The dazzling, brilliant pure white light softly passed over his wide-open eyes.

And in the next moment.

Kudangtang!

Baalphegor's body, which had been charging in a straight line, collapsed toward the ground.

Light scattered from Yuri's hand.

"It's still more comfortable to rely on my past life."

A fragment of Yuri, who had once been the pinnacle of the continent, was reproduced in the present world.

Seureuk, Seureureuk....

The neatly severed body of the Dullahan melted into a form of black liquid.

The moment its head was severed, it abandoned its possessed body and fled with its true self.

Yuri stopped in place.

He crouched down in front of the black figure and gave it a chilling smile.

"Why bother running away so inconveniently?"

You'll come back soon anyway.

As the opaque barrier began to dissolve, Yuri stood up again.

Because he felt the heat.

The owner of the flame asked sharply.

"Who are you?"

It wasn't just heat.

"...Sion is full of annoying things."

"Are you a freshman by any chance?"

"Demon God Cult? Or the Demonic Tribe!?"

The residual scent of teleportation magic, acrid cigarette smoke, and the killing intent of a predator.

Yuri introduced himself politely.

"I am Full Moon."

Then he scanned them.

'[Two Magic Tower Masters, Kevin, and Ringo.]'

They had come in full force.

Would it have hurt to come a little earlier?

A faint wave of irritation swept over, but that wasn't what mattered right now.

With a sigh, he opened his mouth.

"There will be a raid shortly."

"What?"

"The attackers are expected to be the Bishop of Greed and his Demon God's Cultists."

Tania furrowed her brow.

"Are you a Demon God's Cultist too?"

"If I were, I would have hidden the fact about the raid, wouldn't I?"

"Who knows? You might just be pretending to help us while scheming something."

They prepared for combat.

Full Moon.

He was the leader of the secret society, Moonlight.

Moonlight first revealed itself three years ago and had since been stirring up the empire.

They were indiscriminately murdering random people, and a special wanted order had been issued for them recently.

Though most of their targets were members of the Demon God Cult, there were plenty of others as well.

A heinous group of murderers with immense power, sparing no one.

That was the evaluation of Moonlight spread among the public.

Tania La Campanella glanced at her companions and exchanged looks.

Then she drew upon her mana.

"Surrender."

Regardless of what had happened, she intended to subdue Full Moon and interrogate him.

Yuri smirked.

It seemed that, as always, they didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.

He was angry.

In his previous life, Moonlight had provided countless pieces of information to various Magic Towers and strong individuals.

The location of the Demon God Cult, their factions, the reasons they needed to be stopped—everything they had discovered was shared.

Yet they stood by.

They stood by for a long time.

Even as the world approached destruction, they schemed for profit.

Yuri regretted it.

He regretted the moments he had trusted their humanity and leaned on them, even sending polite letters.

'I should've just caused a scene.'

If he had taken their profits to grow Moonlight, killed those selfish humans, and used those gains to help the righteous...

A better outcome could have been achieved.

Of course, the people before him were exceptions.

The Red Magic Tower Master was foolish but kind. She openly supported Moonlight to the point of suffering losses.

The Blue Magic Tower Master, who secretly admired her, followed her will and helped eradicate the Demon God Cult.

Kevin and Ringo sacrificed themselves to protect students from numerous nobles.

That made him even angrier.

Even if they turned over a new leaf in the future, their ignorance now was undeniable.

Yuri voiced his inner thoughts.

"Idiotic bastards."

"What did you just say, you bastard!?"

Bang!

A single fireball exploded.

It was an attack meant as a threat.

Tania created dozens of identical spheres and moved them above Yuri's head.

"Say that again."

"While you were dawdling, what do you think would've happened if I hadn't stopped Baalphegor?"

"We could've handled it ourselves."

"If you couldn't, then you're truly idiots. What I'm saying is, how many students do you think would've died?"

They remained silent.

"Because the demonic energy was faint, or because you couldn't sense it, you would've been late to respond. That's why you're only arriving now, playing catch-up."

Tania was furious.

So much so that it reminded him of the saying that a mage's personality aligns with their primary attribute.

Her anger ate away at her reason.

That was why, no matter how smart someone was, they could sometimes say something outrageous.

And so, Tania said something outrageous.

"You couldn't protect everyone either!!"

"...Tania."

"If you're so great, you should've saved them all!! Two students died because of you!!"

"Tania!!"

The moment she heard the Blue Magic Tower Master's shout, she realized. Those words not only admitted their incompetence but also burdened him with guilt.

"...You're right. It's all my fault."

However, Yuri acknowledged it.

"I lost the two of them because of my incompetence."

Because it was the truth.

If the enemy hadn't been Baalphegor but someone else, the young lady might have died.

Even after losing twice, he had grown complacent, comforted by the fact that he had regained them.

So he would become stronger.

To ensure that he would never lose his loved ones again, no matter what.

That was why Yuri asked again.

"While an incompetent person like me was protecting this place, where were you, and what were you doing?"

No one could answer.

"If you had been here instead of me, could no one have died?"

Silence continued.

"Oh, so I'm not needed then?"

Finishing his words, Yuri shifted his gaze. The liquefied Dullahan was twitching. It was a sign that the raid was about to begin.

They say seeing is believing.

Soon, the Demon God Cult would reveal themselves, so it seemed like a good idea to let them experience it firsthand.

Yuri quietly drew upon his mana.

"Do well without me."

Using Dusk, he created distance. Then, in an instant, he disappeared.

At a time when only uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

Gulp, gulp!

The melted body of the Dullahan began to take on an oval shape, forming a purple gate.

"[Damn, damn it!!]"

With a scream that seemed to crush their ears, an enormous amount of demonic energy poured out of the gate.

"[Moonlight, you damnable bastards!! How dare you take all the talents I've gathered!!]"

What appeared was a giant.

Kevin tensed.

Five pairs of horns had sprouted, and its wings resembled those of a massive bat, reduced to just a skeleton.

It exuded demonic energy comparable to when they had faced three Demonic Counts.

But that wasn't all.

Demon God's Cultists in dark red robes continued to pour out.

Crunch!

Baalphegor randomly grabbed one, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed.

"S-save...."

Crack!

Crunch!

A living human was chewed whole in its mouth, producing an unpleasant bursting sound.

Gulp.

The moment the giant's throat moved, its previously injured body was completely healed.

"[...No, rather, this is an opportunity.]"

Swoosh.

The four people made eye contact with the giant.

Creak!

The giant laughed, revealing what seemed to be hundreds of sharp teeth.

"[I will take away all your talents.]"

And in the next moment.

Rip!

The mouths of all the Demon God Cultists that followed opened wide, just like the giant's mouth.

Baalphegor extended his hand.

"[Covet it all.]"

Everyone scattered simultaneously.

On this island, divided into the Five Zones, there were still about eight hundred students remaining.