Side Story Chapter 117

The motionless man was dragged away by his neck, leaving a long trail of blood behind him. The man’s name was Babel von Agnus, the current Duke of Agnus.

“His Grace… was defeated?”

“All of his knights lost to the same man…”

“A monster… He’s a monster…”

The army from Avalon that had crossed the border into the Hubalt Empire completely lost their will to fight when confronted with Bel, the Battle God. They merely watched him walk away carrying Carmen on one shoulder and dragging Babel away with his other hand.

“How boring,” Bel grumbled.

He was surrounded by enemies. Although he had already defeated two hundred enemy knights, as well as their leader, fifty thousand of them were left. Nevertheless, he was unperturbed as he walked through their ranks because he had the confidence to conquer the continent with nothing but his two fists.

“Shouldn’t we stop him? If he kidnaps Duke Agnus like this…”

“Didn’t you see the knights who can use mana getting thrown about with every punch? Who’s supposed to stop him?”

On top of that, Bel exuded an energy that chilled them to the bone, like a true overlord.

“I’m not interested in weaklings,” Bel flatly stated. “Step aside. I don’t want to bother killing all of you, but I’m going to beat anyone who stands in my way.”

The troops trembled. Despite the fact that it was one man versus fifty thousand, the one man had the initiative.

“What are you doing, all of you?” a superior knight of the Red Cross demanded, his teeth gritted. “Pick up your swords. Are you going to just watch your master be taken away?” he growled.

All three hundred surviving knights of house Agnus drew their swords and surrounded Bel.

“…Oh?” Bel quietly exclaimed. He dropped Carmen and Babel’s comatose bodies and grinned. “Are you going to fight me?”

“We are the Knights of the Order of the Red Cross, First Knight Order of the prestigious Duke of Agnus!”

“What? A cross? You sound like paladins—do you believe in a god, by any chance?”

“How dare you mock us!” the knight roared.

Bel’s smile grew. “I think it’s really pathetic when a weakling yells at the top of their lungs.”

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” The senior knight gathered up his aura and threw himself at Bel. Judging from the thickness of his aura, he was at least a high-level B-Class knight, which meant that he was one of the five strongest knights in Agnus’s forces.

The result of his attack wasn’t any different from any of the other knights’ attempts. Bel lightly jabbed the air, compressing it into a deadly shockwave that shot toward the knight.

“…Agh!” The knight slammed back into the ground, groaning in pain. His armor folded like paper.

“I told you to know your place.” Bel shrugged.

“Everyone, attack him together!”

All three hundred Red Cross Knights charged Bel at once.

Once again, Bel casually threw a series of light jabs into the air around him toward his opponents.

Not one of them was able to block Bel’s attacks, nor did they get back up afterward. The battle ended in less than ten seconds.

One of the soldiers swallowed nervously. Although he had heard a lot about the legends of the Emperor of Avalon, who had been missing for over a decade, he was certain that the man named Bel was comparable to him. Who in the world would be able to fight against an army with tens of thousands of soldiers and knights single-handedly?

“This'll suffice as a present for Avalon,” Bel casually remarked. Having wiped out the Red Cross Knights, Bel reached down and picked the two Agnuses again. “See you around.”

Before the remaining troops could respond, Bel vanished.

The army stood frozen for a long time, utterly, suffocatingly silent.

* * *

-Iceline… zin… Rebrecca…!

The animalistic growl in Lilith’s voice made Iceline stiffen.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Li-Lilith…?”

-I can’t recognize… you as a Sanders…

Lilith jerked mid sentence, interrupting her manic mutterings, and suddenly reached up and tore at her hair.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Lilith!” Iceline shouted.

“Don’t come near me!”

Lilith threw out her hand and a wave of black demonic power burst out of it, flinging Iceline away.

“Mother!” Selim shouted. He stormed toward Lilith. “How dare you!”

-…Hmm. Is he Joshua’s son?

Selim thrust his spear at Lilith, but immediately froze solid. Some invisible, external force prevented him from so much as lifting a finger, as if he was stuck in a web.

“What in the world…?”

-This is my ability.

“This is… an ability?”

If that was true, then it was definitely a scary ability. The ability to stop a person with just a thought!

Selim gasped. Lilith seemed to teleport right in front of him, close enough for him to feel her hot breath on his skin. Lilith scanned him up and down appraisingly.

-He’s definitely handsome.

“…Gah!” Selim immediately tried to attack again, but a surge of desire muddled his mind—the desire to bed, claim, and take this woman as his own. She was so beautiful that the age difference didn’t seem to matter.

‘Why am I having such thoughts…?’ Selim wondered.

-You’re dying to sleep with me, aren’t you?

“…What?”

-You can sleep with me. I think it’ll be okay with you.

Lilith spread her arms out wide.

The one who was controlling Lilth’s body now was actually the power of Lust. For the past several years, Lust had been battling Lilith to take over her body because it was beautiful and strong. Even if Lust scoured the entire continent, it would be difficult to locate someone with a body that suited Lust like Lilith’s did.

-Come. Come with me.

Veins bulged on Selim’s forehead. Although he was desperately fighting against his desires, it wasn’t easy. Selim had no way of knowing it right now, but the Demon King of Lust was one of the most proficient beings in all of the realms in the field of mind manipulation.

-…Hmm?

As Lust was licking her lips lasciviously, a stinging sensation on her back made her tilt her head in confusion. Lust instinctively abandoned Selim and threw herself into the air.

Just in time—an explosion ripped through the air right where Lust had been. An attack by Duke Tremblin; had Tremblin just launched his strike normally, Selim could have been caught in the crossfire, so Tremblin had detonated his aura at the last moment. His title of Sword Emperor was truly not an exaggeration.

Lust could feel sharp attacks coming from all directions, forcing her back to the ground with a frown on her face. However, Tremblin was now right in front of her.

“You annoying old man!” Lust shrieked.

“…I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but I still can’t believe it. Is that the side effect of the Evil Sin’s power?”

Lilith was no longer growling like an animal; she spoke in her original voice, which indicated that she was merging with Lust more and more over time.

“Hmph, a dying old man isn’t my type, so would you get lost, please?” Lust snapped.

“You’re truly wicked to bewitch people’s minds like this with just your voice.”

“Huh, you noticed?”

“Do you think that’s all? I can clearly see your true self, too.” Tremblin’s eyes shone brilliantly. He was using a Level-2 mana optical enhancement technique, which gave him the power to see through people and objects’ true nature. “Your real form is a succubus? I can see why you would want the Sword Ghost’s body.”

“…It looks like I can’t spare you, old man.” Lust let her hostility show. Those who had transcended all their desires were most annoying to deal with. “Well, it won’t be long until you die from natural causes, so I highly doubt you could even get it on properly.”

“Hahaha! Judging from your real face, I don’t think I would have been tempted by you even if I was young.”

“Do you have a death wish, old man?!” Lust screamed.

“I’ll kill you with one strike.” Tremblin quietly raised his sword, one hand behind his back.

Even during that moment, Selim was struggling to escape from the invisible force binding his body.

“…Bummer. If the Martial God isn’t around right now, I was okay with his child.” Lust pondered for a moment, and then raised her arms and retreated.

Of course, there was a good reason why Lust tried to seduce Selim. Her other ability was to enslave the people whom she had slept with. No matter who it was, all she had to do was drag them into her bed. In the Demon Realm, she had used this to build the Lust Legion, which included some of the highest-ranking demons.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Tremblin shouted.

“Old man, don’t even think about following me. You can see that, can’t you?”

Tremblin looked where Lust was pointing. There stood Selim, who was soaked in sweat.

“Your Highness…!”

“It’s much easier to deal with virgins. He probably needs your help unless you want to see the First Prince of Avalon turning into a sex-obsessed mania—”

Lilith felt a bone-deep cold entrap her feet.

“What…?” Lust lowered her head and found her feet encased in ice.

It was obvious who had done it.

“Duke Tremblin, please help out Selim,” Iceline said.

“Your Majesty…?”

“I’ll deal with this witch,” Iceline coldly stated, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Vivid traces of blood could still be seen around her mouth, but her mana was ferocious and focused. Iceline Sanders, the former seat of Ice of the Magic Tower, burned with the desire to kill.