Chapter 1325

“Is going into close combat also a strategy?”

-Why is it going that far...! Ah, no. It is a strategy. You could call it a strategy.

“?”

At the Death Knight's words, the sailors tilted their heads.

Hadn't the knight itself clearly reacted just now as though thinking, 'This is a bit much'?

“First, let's take the fairies and get out of here.”

“Wow, it's beating the hell out of it like a madman! When and where are we ever going to see that persistent demon get beaten like that again?”

“...Hurry up and get out of here!”

“Yes!”

The pirates hurriedly began steering the fast boat out from beneath the storm clouds.

Even in the meantime, Perkuntra did not stop beating the Nukelavi.

Every so often, Perkuntra stopped attacking and tried to regain its senses, but this demon had no such thing as reason. It charged again, only to get beaten again.

'It's not planning to beat that thing until it disappears, is it?'

The Death Knight gave it an uneasy look.

Of course, eliminating one natural disaster of the sea would be a good thing, but their opponent was something that would return no matter how many times it was beaten down.

It could not understand why a great spirit on Perkuntra's level would waste its strength against something like that.

* * *

Get! Lost! I said!

The demon that persistently interrupted the conversation without ever tiring finally caused Perkuntra's anger to explode.

Summoning a chariot made of lightning, Perkuntra charged forward, trampling the demon beneath its wheels.

Lee Han looked on worriedly at the insane amount of mana being consumed.

'Is this really all right?'

It was not Lee Han's mana he was worried about. He was worried about Perkuntra's strength.

No matter how much mana its contractor replenished, wasting its power that violently had to be exhausting...

-Grrrrrrrrrrgh.

The Nukelavi was now almost on the verge of collapse.

At the sight, Saratan, the spirit trapped inside Lee Han's staff, offered some advice.

-Can't you seal that demon?

“What would I even use a demon like that for if I sealed it?”

-Is that so? I thought you needed one for a dark-magic microcosm, but I suppose a demon of that level isn't enough to catch your eye.

Saratan nodded at Lee Han's attitude as though it were nothing worth mentioning.

Then again, this mage knew far too many powerful demons. In Saratan's eyes, a demon of that level was valuable enough to use for a microcosm, but perhaps it was not in the mage's eyes.

“Why are you only telling me that now!”

-?!?

“Perkuntra! Wait! Stop hitting it!”

Lee Han hurriedly pulled a grimoire related to the microcosm Pentagrammaton from his backpack and shouted.

Perkuntra, which had been about to drive its chariot over the demon one more time, brightened slightly when it saw Lee Han take out the grimoire.

A lightning microcosm spell!

“...It's a dark-magic microcosm.”

......

Seeing the shoulders of the great spirit, normally so vigorous and foul-tempered no matter what happened, droop made Lee Han feel even guiltier. He hurried to placate it.

“There is a reason.”

Because you hate the lightning element? Because that skeletal archmage's roots lie in dark magic?

“No. I need that demon. This isn't an opportunity that comes often.”

Lee Han briefly explained the microcosm Pentagrammaton.

This dark-magic microcosm, completed by sealing five demons into its five letters, became more effective the stronger the demons sealed inside it were.

Realizing there was no stopping him now, Perkuntra lamented.

You're only doing favors for dark magic. I want to skewer that damned demon with lightning and hang it in the sky!

“Perkuntra. I promise you. Before this new semester ends, I will definitely learn a lightning microcosm spell. One that you will be satisfied with.”

Unable to keep watching, Lee Han made a promise.

Lee Han was not normally someone who made promises like this. Even when Professor Verdus glanced at him with cute eyes while saying, 'I wish someone would take care of my chores for me,' Lee Han had glared back as though looking at garbage.

But Perkuntra was, for better or worse, a spirit contracted to Lee Han, and a spirit that had helped him for a long time.

Moreover, since it normally did not sulk like this, he had no choice but to give it special treatment.

...Do you really mean that?

“Yes.”

Something that other mages would see and admire?

“No... that's not what microcosms are... You're supposed to inherit the traditions of the sages and receive their help... ...Fine. I understand. I'll try.”

Microcosms were not magic created so that mages who reached the fifth circle could develop brand-new spells for themselves. They were created so that mages could inherit and use what senior mages had already developed.

Finding a decent lightning-element microcosm spell and then modifying it until Perkuntra was satisfied with it?

'...Is that even possible?'

At least he might have a little more free time at Valdrogard. That was his only consolation.

For now, Lee Han prepared the Pentagrammaton sealing ritual. Like a proper student of the dark magic school (though in truth, none of the other students in his year carried things like this around), Lee Han had everything required.

Spring crow feathers, the tongue of a high-ranking demon, salt made in January or November, one drop of a high-ranking demon's blood, one handful of sunstone powder or five handfuls of moonstone powder, one horn of a high-ranking demon...

'Come to think of it, doesn't this require way too many parts from high-ranking demons?'

It was extremely late to be realizing that now, but it almost felt as though an entire high-ranking demon set had been divided up and used.

After placing the reagents at the positions of the magic circle he had drawn in the air, Lee Han burned them in the prescribed order, strengthening the power of the magic.

“Come, Nukelavi! Demon who has lost its name! Further resistance is useless!”

-Ugh... Uuuugh...

The battered Nukelavi slowly began to be dragged out from beneath the storm clouds.

It struggled desperately to resist, but when Perkuntra struck it once, it went limp again.

As Lee Han gradually dragged the Nukelavi into the seal with magical chains, he was able to vaguely glimpse what had happened to this demon.

* * *

“I was deceived by a mere mortal captain?! This Nukelavi was deceived?! Impossible!”

“Hahaha, demon! I am the one who won our wager. My name is Torgerd. Torgerd! Remember it!”

“No! I will never forgive you! I will chase you to the very end! I will chase you down no matter what!”

* * *

“!”

Lee Han was surprised by the Nukelavi's memories.

That was because he had thought of demons as a race with rather simple and straightforward goals.

Descend into the material world and covet souls.

But a demon like this Nukelavi was quite unusual.

Its defeat in a wager against a mortal captain had been so humiliating that it became completely obsessed with it and eventually lost itself.

Watching it chase ships through rain and wind alike while searching for that mortal captain was astonishing in its own way.

'...Wait. Wasn't Ragesa's father's name Torgerd?'

Lee Han froze.

The name of the mortal captain he had heard in the Nukelavi's memories sounded strangely familiar.

'I didn't hear anything. It's sealed now anyway.'

In the end, it was a good thing.

It meant the people of the Empire who traveled across the sea now had one less thing to worry about.

And all of this was thanks to the great spirit Perkuntra stepping forward without regard for its own well-being.

What are you talking about? That wasn't why. It was because of the microcosm...

“Let's just leave it at that. More importantly, that captain is unbelievable too. How did he manage to trick a demon?”

?

Perkuntra was puzzled.

'Is that really something a mage from House Wardanaz should be saying?'

Wasn't he the kind of mage who would use absolutely anything he could against a demon?

But Perkuntra said nothing. It still had not received its magic yet.

For this great spirit, it was an exceptionally rare display of patience.

* * *

“Professor, you really worked hard! It ended up very different from the original plan, but...!”

Lieutenant Galvag, who had returned to the ship first and was waiting there, spoke with his fierce face covered in a broad smile.

Lee Han quickly made an excuse.

“This great spirit, who bears the titles of Thunder General and Lightning Duke, personally witnessed a vicious demon tormenting citizens of the Empire and declared that it could not simply stand by, insisting that the demon had to be subjugated even at great cost.”

“What a powerful and righteous spirit! As expected of a spirit contracted to you, Professor!”

-?

Listening from beside them, the Death Knight doubted its own ears.

Who was righteous?

'Has he lost his mind?'

But it could not deny what had plainly happened. To the sailors and students, Perkuntra was a righteous spirit that had defeated a demon despite knowing it would exhaust itself.

“I should write this down. That lightning spirit is righteous, and...”

“I should make a note too. It may be useful if I ever encounter it in the spirit realm.”

Deeply inspired and motivated by the greatness of magic, the Valdrogard students diligently took notes.

Although they would run straight back to the theater the moment they got off the ship, during this voyage they might actually read one page of a magic book, perhaps even two if they were truly lucky.

'Should I stop them?'

The Death Knight thought for a moment.

If they later connected to the spirit realm and acted arrogantly toward Perkuntra because they thought it was a righteous spirit...

'No. There is no need.'

Come to think of it, there was no way a Valdrogard mage could ever encounter a great spirit on Perkuntra's level.

The Death Knight chuckled at its own ridiculous imagination.

-You worked hard, Successor. We won't have to see that demon for quite some time.

“Ah. I didn't kill it. I sealed it inside Pentagrammaton. It seemed like the better option.”

-......

The Death Knight was horrified.

Could it be?

-You were aiming for this from the very beginning...!

“No.”

-If that were not the case, there would have been no reason for you to deliberately choose this method...!

“I said I wasn't.”

-Understood. We'll say you weren't.

The look in its eyes did not believe him at all, but Lee Han gave up.

As someone from Einroguard, he knew very well that once people from Einroguard gave you that kind of look, convincing them was impossible.

“Are those the fairies they rescued?”

Lee Han pointed at the seals rolling around on the deck and asked.

“Yes, Professor!”

“Be careful. If you approach them carelessly, you may get hit quite badly.”

“......”

No wonder one of the students had a bruise on their face.

Lee Han took out a bruise potion and applied it to the bruise before looking at the selkies and merfolk.

The merfolk beneath the sea were speaking to the selkies in their own language.

-!

The merfolk flinched when they spotted Lee Han. Since they owed him a debt of gratitude, they did not openly display hostility, but they remained wary.

Seeing them made Lee Han suddenly miss the sirens.

'I miss the sirens. Sirens aren't prejudiced.'

The sirens had treated Lee Han kindly too. One only had to look at his siren friend Parthenope to know that.

The selkies were probably similar to the merfolk. If Lee Han approached them, they would probably be startled and leap away...

Shuffle-

The plump seals approached Lee Han, surrounded him, and began making cries. It looked almost as though they were thanking him.

Lee Han shouted in shock.

“Are they... thanking me? Right now??”

“Why are you surprised, Professor? Of course people should say thank you.”

“Quiet!”

“??”

Lee Han silenced the noisy Valdrogard students. He could not allow them to interrupt a miraculous moment like this.

The merfolk beneath the ship began chattering loudly about something. It was obviously slander.

“You over there, be quiet as well!”

-......

The merfolk looked dissatisfied, but considering who they were dealing with, they obediently closed their mouths.

Lee Han looked at the seal fairies and asked.

“Is there anything you need? A territorial dispute with the merfolk, perhaps, or some other demons you'd like wiped out...”

The flustered seals vigorously shook their heads.