Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 515

The Church of the Five Great Gods would not cooperate. Therefore, no attempt would be made to purify the vengeful spirits residing in Ellen’s soul, regardless of whether it was possible or not.

The only option left was regular magic.

Vertus summoned the Imperial Mage Corps. The archmages of the Imperial Mage Corps were also among the ones who knew the truth of the Gate Incident.

He held discussions with the imperial mages, and his expression slowly hardened as he listened to the opinions of the archmages.

“So it’s impossible...?” Vertus said.

“The arcane arts that deal with souls are extremely rare, Your Majesty. The princess previously brought back some books about soul manipulation from the library of the Demon King’s Castle. However, soul manipulation is only a small part of the magic that deals with souls. There isn’t much information on it.”

Soul magic had always been forbidden, and was therefore never properly researched. The research into soul manipulation in an attempt to improve the princess’s condition had only been a small portion of soul magic.

“There exist mages who have studied and understood soul manipulation, but they only have mastery over a very limited number of skills.”

The discussions with the leaders of the Imperial Mage Corps left Vertus in despair. The study and knowledge of soul magic was extremely rare.

Those who reached the level of archmage could perform magic dealing with souls based on their understanding of soul manipulation. However, there were an unimaginable number of vengeful spirits residing within Ellen.

The magic that had been used to transfer the souls from the Demon King’s body to Ellen’s was already considered miraculous. Such magic was the domain only of beings like the Vampire Lords, who had studied magic for countless years.

While the archmages of the imperial family, who were exceptionally talented, did not lag behind in combat power or other practical applications of magic when compared to the Vampire Lords, the amount of time they had spent alive was still vastly different. Therefore, there was an absolute difference in the total amount of knowledge.

Large-scale soul transfer magic, which was possible for the Vampire Lords, was beyond the empire’s capabilities. Even if it were possible, it was doubtful whether anyone could handle the strain.

The priests were not going to cooperate, and there was nothing magic could do.

“...”

Was it a delusion to think that something could be done? Even if he decided just to leave things as they were... Was there never anything that could have been done from the start?

“...”

Vertus wanted to do something. He was trying, because he couldn’t stand by and watch. But was there nothing even an emperor could do for those two?

Vertus could only stare at the round table, stone-faced.

Magic and Divine Power... Were these the only two solutions? Was there truly no other way?

“Perhaps, if there are ancient secrets or mysteries that we do not know, there might be a way... but as of now, we have no solution, Your Majesty...”

“Ancient secrets...?”

“Yes.”

Ancient secrets...

Something came to Vertus’s mind: Sorcery.

There was certainly something called sorcery.

There was someone among his classmates who had demonstrated a talent in that sorcery.

***

No one knew what sorcery was. Although students of great talent were brought to the Temple to study and learn, there was no teacher at the Temple who could teach Dettomorian about the subject he majored in.

Just as the students of the Temple had been drafted into the army, some of the Temple’s teachers were also serving, including the homeroom teachers of the Royal Class. They sometimes escorted students directly onto the battlefield, and while the commanders were in charge of managing the units, the teachers were still responsible for their students.

Two years had passed, and the second-year students of the Royal Class should have been in the fourth year by now. However, since the curriculum at the Temple had been halted, no student had been able to be promoted.

The mage who was currently serving and in charge of those Royal Class second-year students was Ms. Mustang. After Mr. Effenhauser, who was in charge of Class A, sided with the Demon King and died, Ms. Mustang took over all the second-year Royal Class students.

She now stood in front of Vertus.

Vertus was no longer a student, but the emperor. Ms. Mustang stood rigidly before the emperor, answering his questions.

“Sorcery and... spiritualism...?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Th-that’s correct.”

Ms. Mustang stood there rigidly, sweating nervously. It was a rather peculiar situation in which her previous student was now the emperor.

Since Dettomorian was talented in both sorcery and spiritualism, perhaps he would be able to accomplish what countless archmages and the clergy of the Church could not. Of course, it wasn’t a complete certainty, but Vertus was grasping at straws. Just the possibility of it was good enough for Vertus to explore it.

B-8, Dettomorian...

“He’s not at the garrison?”

“Y-yes, that’s correct!”

Many students who had not majored in combat were also serving, like Adelia with her talent in magical crafting and Cristina with her talent in alchemy.

Even Lanian Sesor, with his musical talent, was serving in the garrison to boost morale. However, Dettomorian, with his talent in sorcery, was not serving. That meant he was back in the capital.

Of course, not every student at the Temple was required or obligated to serve in this war. There was no need to forcefully drag along those who were not helpful in combat or offered no other support to the combatants.

“He served in the initial advance and was eager to, but... the other students and soldiers were uneasy...”

“Uneasy?”

“U-uh y-yes...”

Ms. Mustang hesitantly began to explain the situation to Vertus, her former student who now held the position of supreme authority.

As she continued, Vertus felt himself growing more shocked.

Dettomorian did not participate in combat. He did not have skills that were directly helpful in battle and would mutter incomprehensible words all day. Moreover, once the army had set up camp, he would shut himself in a tent and not come out. Moreover, he kept asking for bizarre things. He requested live chickens, bones, and even any kind of rodent, either field mice or house mice.

He muttered incomprehensible incantations with an eerie expression, and when someone peeked inside his tent, they saw him bowing to a grotesque idol made of intertwined bones, lighting candles, and dancing—doing bizarre things.

It was undeniably ominous, and since he was performing what seemed like a pagan summoning ritual every day, the soldiers around him were uneasy, and strange rumors inevitably spread.

Rumors of a Temple student who seemed possessed by a demon were always bound to circulate.

“What exactly was he trying to do?” Vertus asked.

“Well... I asked him several times as his homeroom teacher, but he said he didn’t know the exact effects either... So, when I asked him to stop because it made people uneasy, he said it was all he could do and he couldn’t just sit still... So, after internal discussions—”

“I see. So that’s what happened,” Vertus interjected.

No one knew the specific reason for Dettomorian’s mutterings and rituals, but he was undoubtedly performing eerie rituals with live sacrifices, and doing other bizarre things.

The effects of his rituals were unknown, but they certainly had a poor effect on morale, and morale was critical for the army. Of course, given the enormous size of the army, Dettomorian’s actions alone couldn’t significantly impact the entire army’s morale, but he was certainly having a negative effect on those around him.

After a meeting among the Temple teachers, they decided to send Dettomorian back to the Temple on a supply transport.

Ms. Mustang was still sweating nervously. Vertus and Sabioleen Tana couldn’t help but look perplexed by her explanation.

“Do you think it will be alright, Dame Tana?”

Charlotte knew a little about Dettomorian since they had been in the same class, but Vertus knew almost nothing about what kind of person Dettomorian actually was.

A person who followed the army around, performing bizarre pagan rituals, couldn’t possibly be sane.

Even though all other paths forward were blocked, was it right to entrust humanity’s hope to the unknown rituals of an unknown person? Both Tana and Vertus found it hard to make a decision.

***

Wobble!

“Ugh!”

“Ellen...? Are you okay?”

Ellen had just finished a meal in the garrison tent when suddenly clutched her head and bent over, causing Heinrich von Schwartz to grow concerned.

“Yeah, I-I’m okay...” Ellen said, raising a hand to wave away his worry as she bent over and caught her breath.

“Aren’t you supposed to deploy tomorrow? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“... I’m okay...”

Heinrich clicked his tongue as he looked at Ellen, who was in a serious condition. “No, you don’t look okay at all. I’ll take your place in tomorrow’s operation. You should take a rest. Even you might die at this rate.”

“...”

Heinrich von Schwartz was a pyrokinetic, and had grown strong enough to be deployed in large-scale extermination operations. Therefore, Heinrich was a significant asset among the Temple students, and was strong enough to participate in special operations alongside Ellen.

As a result, Heinrich and Ellen had carried out many operations together over the past two years.

Ellen wanted to say she was okay and that she was ready to go, but Heinrich was already walking away, and she could only watch his retreating figure. It did not feel like her head was splitting. In fact, it felt like her soul was breaking apart.

Ellen stood there, taking several deep breaths. Her vision blurred and cleared repeatedly. It wasn’t the first time she felt like she would lose consciousness amidst the words echoing in her mind.

“Haa... Haa...”

Those who didn’t know the details only thought Ellen was exhausted from overwork. Everyone she passed by asked if she was okay, and Ellen barely managed to answer their questions.

Heinrich would take Ellen’s place in the operation that she was supposed to be deployed on. She knew how much Heinrich’s abilities had improved compared to before, and she wasn’t worried about that.

She was desperately trying to maintain her consciousness while battling the strange sensation that her identity was slowly being erased.

She knew she would disappear eventually, but she didn’t want to disappear yet. She wanted to hold on as long as she could.

Whether it would happen that day, the day after, or the week after, she didn’t know. But she wanted to endure as long as she could.

—Oh, Ellen...?

In the distance, through her blurred vision, she saw someone approaching. Although she couldn’t see clearly, Ellen knew it was Cliffman.

A-5, Cliffman. Talent: Combat.

And...

“...”

As if her blurred mind was hindering her thoughts, Ellen couldn’t think of anything beyond Cliffman’s name, number, and talent. She couldn’t remember what role Cliffman was currently playing or what he was doing. Nothing came to mind.

Suddenly, Ellen’s vision turned pitch black.

It was a very brief moment. It was just a short flicker, as though she were blinking her eyes.

“... Ugh!”

Ellen regained her senses, feeling like she had just been pulled out from a deep body of water.

“Haah, haah... Haah...”

Ellen was dazed. It felt like she had just closed her eyes momentarily and opened them again, but her surroundings had changed drastically, leaving her dazed and confused.

“Are you conscious?”

“Ellen...”

Just a moment ago, she had been in the camp, but now, Ellen saw a solid ceiling above her. It should have been a tent, but it wasn’t. She was inside a building.

“Wh-where... am I...?”

She was not in a tent within the camp, but was staring up at a familiar ceiling.

Just a moment ago, Cliffman had been approaching her. But now, Emperor Vertus and Sabioleen Tana were both beside her, and Ellen herself was lying in a bed.

“Why am I... at the Temple...?”

It felt like she had made time skip forward suddenly just by closing her eyes and opening them.

Ellen recognized the ceiling above her. She was in the recovery room of the Royal Class dormitory of the Temple.

She had only closed her eyes and opened them, but it seemed she had been unconscious for quite some time.

Ellen stared blankly at the recovery room ceiling, her eyes wide.

“Why... why am I... here...?”

Vertus and Tana could only look at her sympathetically.

***

Ellen learned from Vertus that she had been unconscious for about four hours.

Ellen had fainted in front of Cliffman, and was moved to the main tent in the army camp, where Vertus and Sabioleen Tana took custody of her and transported her back to the capital via mass teleportation.

Although her mind felt heavy, like waterlogged cotton, her body was fine, and Ellen soon managed to get herself up off the bed.

She was in the recovery room of the Royal Class dormitory. Ellen and Reinhart often found themselves in this place. There were times when each of them had lain there, and times when they had come to receive healing from the attending priest.

Now, though, with most students and teachers serving in the army, the Royal Class dormitory recovery room—and indeed the entire dormitory—was almost empty.

Of course, the non-combat personnel who remained behind were still in the dormitory, along with a skeleton crew to maintain it. The Royal Class dormitory, with most of its students gone, retained its splendor, but exuded a feeling of desolation.

It was spacious, but the emptiness of the vast area made it feel hollow and desolate. Though the two places were distinctly different, the Royal Class dormitory now shared a similarly gloomy ambiance with the ancient castle of Epiacs. The mere absence of people was enough to create this effect.

That strange and chilly sensation momentarily washed over Ellen.

“But... Why did you bring me here?” Ellen asked.

It was shocking enough that time had suddenly skipped forward just by closing her eyes, but she was also curious as to why she had been brought back to the dormitory.

“We came to meet B-8, Dettomorian.”

Dettomorian. Talent: Sorcery.

Ellen had some idea of what Vertus was thinking.

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