Volume 3, Chapter 2-2 – The Dignity of a Master

In the very center of the training arena stood a crooked wooden sign.

A line of extremely provocative words had been painted across it:

——‘Human slave here. Demons are all trash mobs. Come fight me if you disagree. (Non-mealtimes only)’

This was practically grinding Lilith School’s dignity into the dirt.

Even if the human who had set up this challenge ring was the private property of the legitimate Valentine heir, and even if there was no glory whatsoever in defeating a slave, a demon’s pride would never allow a human to act this arrogantly.

And so, challengers kept coming without end.

And so, the stretcher teams were worked off their feet as well.

Boom!

Dust and smoke billowed.

An upper-year succubus student flew backward like a kite with its string cut and slammed heavily into the railing around the spectator stands.

The training arena fell completely silent.

Standing in the center of the ring was a petite girl.

She wore a black-and-white maid outfit whose lace trim had long since been covered in dust. The skirt was torn, revealing her bandage-wrapped calves beneath it.

Around her neck was still the black collar that symbolized her status as a slave.

The collar, which had never once been removed, seemed to symbolize some obscure kind of dependence.

Yet no one present dared mock the human slave standing in the ring.

Not only because she was the sole slave of the current legitimate Valentine heir, but also because golden light was radiating from her chest, pulsing like a beating heart.

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heartbeat sounded like a war drum.

Lainia lowered her eyes and opened her palm.

Power.

An endless stream of power was being pumped from her heart into every limb and bone in her body.

A month ago, she had still been a pathetic slave who washed dishes in the cafeteria until she fainted and could only rely on brute force to desperately hold out against the Blackthorn Guard.

But things were different now.

It was as though even the Lord had been moved by her devotion and fighting spirit, granting her power from the heavens to guide her toward the path of truth.

Ever since that skirmish when she had knocked down several Blackthorn Guards who were poor at direct combat, only to immediately be beaten flat by the Blackthorn Guard Captain, she had awakened from sleep to find her heart protected by Holy Light.

Now, her heart beat violently and ceaselessly.

Nourished by Holy Light, the blood flowing through her body was fervent and obedient, moving slowly yet irresistibly, without end.

And it was all thanks to the uninterrupted supply provided by Stella’s meal card, the meal card belonging to the Lord’s great enemy.

The mountains of high-calorie Abyssal ingredients piled up in the cafeteria had all been transformed into enough strength for her to punch through a steel plate, along with a self-healing ability far beyond that of an ordinary person.

The Heart of Holy Light was, without question, a gift from the Lord.

The Lord had bestowed this gift specifically to sharpen her, a blunt blade, into a sword capable of severing the head of the Queen of Eternal Night.

Lainia listened to the sound of blood rushing through her body and felt an unreasonable vitality roaring inside her heart, declaring that it would seize the entirety of spring for itself.

Lainia raised her eyes and swept her gaze over the surrounding succubus students, whose faces were filled with wariness and indignation.

She would be the spark that burned the entire world to ashes, the hammer that shattered the chains of bondage.

But for now…

While the great demon of sin known as Stella Valentine was still asleep, she had to temper herself as far as she possibly could.

Although she still did not dare attack Stella directly, that did not stop her from beating up the little demons around her.

Reаd οn ΚаtRеαdiոɡСαfe

Lainia felt that the current her could kill ten of her former self with one punch.

No, maybe twenty.

As long as Stella was not around, she was invincible.

“Next.”

Lainia shook the sweat from her wrist.

No one dared step forward anymore.

The demon just now had already been the thirteenth one carried away.

Among them had even been two flame demon hybrids famous for their powerful physiques.

The human maid in the ring was practically a dragon wearing human skin. No one knew what kind of potent drug she had taken, but she could fight absurdly well.

Her movements had none of the elaborate windup of magic.

Only pure physical strikes.

Fast, accurate, ruthless. Like a tireless pile driver.

Even when she was injured, she healed in an instant, as though she had a Saintess accessory attached to her body that was constantly casting healing spells.

“Where is everyone?”

Lainia stepped forward, and the stone slab beneath her feet cracked under the strain.

Her eyes were like those of a young wolf walking alone through the darkness, unruly yet restrained and enduring, making people feel that the moment an opportunity appeared, she would bare her sharpest claws and fangs and strike a fatal blow.

“Are the elites of Lilith School only this good?”

“You can’t even beat a human slave who only knows how to wash dishes. What right do you have to call yourselves the rulers of the Abyss?”

The exhilaration of trampling evil beneath her feet sent Lainia into a frenzy of excitement. Lost in that joy, she stopped thinking about anything else.

She reveled in her victory, in surpassing every demon, in the glory of her success, in what she believed to be the most perfect and sweetest victory imaginable.

At the end of all ascetic hardship, at the end of all humiliation, Lainia imagined and foresaw another kind of joy, a pure and mysterious angelic joy, the joy her soul had long yearned for, the joy of breaking free from bondage.

It felt like a violin melody that was both piercing and gentle, and also like a blaze that would burn her heart to ashes.

‘How simple.’

‘Demons, the Abyss, all of it amounted to nothing before absolute faith.’

Lainia even began to have an illusion.

Even if the so-called Valentine heir were standing in front of her right now, she could defeat her with a single punch.

‘Mm…’

‘Could she really?’

Alright, she did not quite dare believe that.

But Lainia still buried that doubt deep within her heart, using it to show respect for her unquestioned faith. She had no doubt whatsoever about the Lord’s trial.

“Hmph, hmph…” Lainia proudly puffed out her chest. “As long as Stella Darkfallen isn’t here, I’m invincible!”

She raised her fist and roared toward the empty entrance of the ring.

“Who else? Who else?!”

The response was a series of footsteps.

Click, click, click.

Lainia heard the regular and elegant sound of leather shoes striking the tiled floor.

Just like their owner…

Unique, unmistakable, impossible to confuse with anyone else.

Rеaⅾ οո KαtRеαdiոɡСαfе

“What about me?”

The girl spoke softly.

Her voice was a little sweet, sweet enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

Lainia froze, not daring to move.

She instinctively looked back.

Lainia saw Stella standing very close behind her.

She was especially beautiful today as well. Her long silver-and-crimson hair was tied high into a ponytail with a purple bow hair tie. Her bangs were pinned back with a hair clip, revealing her smooth forehead. She wore the familiar pitch-black school uniform, and the buttons at her collar were still fastened with meticulous neatness.

In that instant, Lainia felt as though she were standing at the edge of a beautiful, deep pool, her heart fluttering slightly as ripples spread across it again and again.

“Stella… M-Master…”

Lainia stammered for quite a while without managing to say anything coherent.

“You… woke up?”

Lainia bit her lower lip.

Her knees trembled slightly beneath her skirt, wanting to bend in humiliation and kneel, but she forcibly straightened her back.

She could not kneel.

If she knelt here, then the tens of thousands of dishes she had washed would all have been for nothing, and the daily training that amounted to torture, day after day and night after night, would have become meaningless.

She had finally been granted power by the Lord. She had finally been able to trample those arrogant succubi beneath her feet. Now that she had encountered a true great enemy, how could she show even the slightest bit of cowardice?

Lainia’s fingers tightened around the hilt of her greatsword.

A greatsword was like a person’s second spine.

No matter how destitute she became, no matter what kind of mire she found herself trapped in, as long as her fingers tightened around the hilt, scorching blood and vigor would force their way out from between the cracks in her bones. It could support her broken shell and keep it charging forward until it rotted, until it turned to ash.

There was no need to worry about what came after death either.

The scratches left on the blade when she swung the greatsword and smashed apart bones wrapped in armor, the chips left along its edge when it cleaved through helmets while chopping off heads, those glorious feats, those vile and disgraceful deeds, all of them were carved into the sword.

That was what a greatsword was.

It saved the trouble of both gravestone and prayer.

Stella stared at the maid in the center of the ring, bristling like an angry stray cat, and felt a headache coming on.

She had to drag this troublemaker Lainia down before the higher demon from the Samael family arrived, and while she was at it, tear down that extremely provocative challenge ring.

After all, if some real accident happened, the one who would ultimately have to pay the compensation was obviously her, the Master.

“Lainia,” Stella sighed helplessly. “Come down and go back with me before this gets completely out of hand.”

As for how she would settle accounts with Lainia once they got back, that was something to deal with behind closed doors.

Lainia raised her greatsword, its pitch-black tip pointing straight at Stella’s forehead.

Those words just now had undoubtedly been an attempt to persuade her to surrender.

It was like the future Queen of Eternal Night delivering a haughty final ultimatum to a humble hero.

Stella was clearly demanding that she put down her weapon, put the shackles and chains back on, and obediently return to being her human slave without a shred of dignity.

“I can go back…”

“But you have to defeat me first.”

Lainia tilted her head and gestured with her chin toward the crooked wooden sign standing in the center of the training arena.

“The rules are written very clearly, ‘Human slave here. Demons are all trash mobs. Come fight me if you disagree.’ Unless you knock me down, this challenge ring is absolutely not coming down!”

Stella blinked.

‘A spar?’

Rеаԁ on KαtRеαԁiոɡCαfе

Lainia was technically her subordinate, after all. If they were somewhere private, Stella would have agreed without hesitation.

But…

Stella looked around.

The spectator stands were already packed so tightly that not even water could squeeze through.

In the stands on the left, several injured students who were still lying on stretchers and had yet to be carried away struggled to prop themselves up.

“Fight her! Valentine! Teach that slave of yours who doesn’t know her place a lesson!”

“Show her who the real Master is!”

In a place like this?

At a time like this?

With so many eyes watching?

Better not.

“Three.”

Without giving her any room to argue, Lainia began counting down. Her sword stance was taut like a bowstring drawn to its limit.

“Wait…”

“Two!”

Before Stella could speak, Lainia continued counting.

“…”

Stella had no idea what to say.

Had Lainia gotten completely carried away from fighting?

She refused to go back no matter what and absolutely had to fight Stella. Was Lainia not only a cleric, but also a part-time berserker?

But as a Saintess, Stella was actually not very good at close-quarters, fist-to-flesh combat.

Pale Sacred Remains was an excellent absolute defense skill, but not only did it have a blind spot beneath her feet, the Pale Lord’s reputation was also far too well-known. Using it recklessly in public could very easily bring trouble down on her head.

She could hardly ask Professor Katerina to follow behind her through all Seven Watches casting Obliviate on everyone, could she?

The dark cursecraft Bone Joy, Heart Dance was usable, but only if she actually hit her opponent.

As for bloodflame…

If she roasted Lainia to a crisp, who was going to wash her clothes?

As for Mia’s essence…

Although it had given her some new physiological changes after she woke up, such as changing her hair color and even making her inexplicably lay an egg, Stella had absolutely no idea what practical combat value this power had besides qualifying her to become a succubus mother.

“One!”

In the instant Stella hesitated, Lainia had already reached the final number.

There was no running start.

The stone tiles beneath her feet exploded apart, and Lainia’s figure stretched into a blurry gray streak.

The pressure of the wind arrived a step ahead of the blade, blowing Stella’s bangs into disarray.

Like an arrow released from a bowstring, Lainia had actually erupted with speed comparable to that of a mid-level demon.

‘So fast!’

‘In just over a month, she has already tempered her body to this extent!?’

Stella had no time to use Bone Joy, Heart Dance. She could not summon Pale Sacred Remains in front of this many people, nor could she use the power of Sanctity.

But…

Rеaԁ оn KαtReаԁinɡСαfе

A certain sensation, like a latent memory that had lain dormant for a very long time, was suddenly awakened by some trigger at a moment she had never anticipated.

It was a reaction more natural than breathing, an instinct that taught her how to embrace the darkness and how to synchronize her heartbeat with the shadows.

Boom!

The enormous sword did not come down edge-first. Instead, Lainia turned the blade sideways and smashed it solidly toward Stella like a massive door panel.

The blunt impact produced by sheer weight was often more destructive than a slash.

The ground trembled, and a vast cloud of dust surged into the air, completely swallowing both of their figures.

Lainia panted heavily, both hands tingling slightly from the recoil.

It hit.

The solid sensation told her that her attack had indeed struck something tangible.

Ecstasy surged through her heart.

Her ascetic training had paid off. The trial bestowed upon her by the Lord had finally shown hope of being completed.

That arrogant succubus of original sin had ultimately fallen beneath the iron hammer of justice.

‘I won!’

The floating dust slowly scattered in the wind.

The smile at the corner of Lainia’s lips froze.

Stella was still standing exactly where she had been.

Forget falling down, she had not even taken a single step backward.

Something…

Something had blocked her greatsword.

Lainia followed the length of the blade with her gaze, and her pupils abruptly contracted.

It was a shadow.

Lainia saw Stella’s shadow rise from beneath her feet like some kind of living tar.

It formed a pitch-black barrier in front of Stella, effortlessly catching the greatsword’s crushing blow.

More terrifying still, countless scarlet eyes slowly opened across the dark shadow.

They varied in size, and some were accompanied by gaping mouths packed full of razor-sharp teeth.

All of their eyeballs turned in unison before ultimately focusing on Lainia’s pale face.

Lainia found herself drowning in fear as the dark undercurrent in the depths of her soul once again surged over her like a tide.

Something deep within her consciousness that had been desperately holding firm softened like wax.

“Next…”

Stella poked her head out from behind the shadow barrier.

She tilted her head and smiled with innocent sweetness.

“It’s my turn now, right?”

Translator Note

After blood manipulation, now shadow manipulation, huh…