NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Mother's Strength
Bleeding and poisoned, Ryushi’s consciousness was hazy and uncertain.
Barely, his hearing alone continued to function normally.
Hearing that voice resonating in his eardrums, Ryushi softly smiled in relief.
It seemed she had arrived in time. The figure in his blurred vision was someone Ryushi knew very well. The only difference from usual was the intense murderous intent and magical power she emitted, so palpable that even in his dazed state, he could feel it.
Demon Queen Astaroth was, at that moment, more enraged than ever.
Ironically, Ryushi’s consciousness was slightly awakened by Astaroth’s murderous aura.
His instinct to survive intensely stirred his body.
“Mo… Mother…?”
Astaroth’s face, now clear in his vision, had no trace of a mother’s visage.
Her gaze towards the adventurers was colder and more terrifying than any beast or demon.
She looked at them like livestock to be slaughtered for food.
“…Do you understand what you’ve done?” Astaroth asked them coldly.
“Ah, her tone was different.”
“Is this my mother…?”
Shocked, Ryushi watched Astaroth glare sharply at Genos and the others.
“You insignificant lower beings… Pay for your foolishness and shallowness with your deaths.”
It was a declaration of death.
No mercy or compassion. Even Ryushi inadvertently let out a short scream from the overwhelming fear. An ordinary person would not be able to stand before her, possibly even dying from sheer terror.
In a sense, the faint-hearted female magician was lucky only to faint.
Was it fortune or misfortune? Ryushi wondered briefly.
Being left alive might be more terrifying. After all, they were demons. The pain and despair one would suffer, realizing that death would have been a kinder fate, were unimaginable.
“I’d run or kill myself in this situation…”
Sometimes, death can be the greatest salvation.
“Don’t underestimate us, Demon Queen Astaroth! We, the ‘Twilight Brigade’—”
The sound of crushing flesh and breaking bones was unbearably unpleasant.
The fountain-like spray of bright blood was ironically beautiful.
Genos’s companions’ heads exploded instantly. Astaroth’s doing. Ryushi couldn’t even see what she did.
What did Mother do? Ryushi was engulfed in confusion and shock.
She must have used magic, something even a non-scholar could guess.
But Astaroth did nothing. She stretched out her clean hand, without any power being released.
She took multiple lives simultaneously with just a gesture.
Ryushi was as astonished by this fact as Genos was.
“What… What did you do to them!?”
Astaroth still needs to answer. She stretched out her right hand again.
Genos leaped forward with a scream, more of a desperate cry than a strategic attack. His swordsmanship, devoid of finesse, stood no chance against the Demon Queen. Astaroth easily deflected his blade using only her nails, looking utterly bored. Ryushi couldn’t help but be astounded by the sheer difference in their abilities.
“Still alive, boy?”
“A… Amon…”
“Hmm… You seem poisoned. This level of poison doesn’t affect us demons much, but for you, it’s serious. Drink this. It has detoxifying and healing properties.”
“Another nasty-looking liquid…”
Ryushi reluctantly eyed the venomous-looking green liquid in the small bottle. He had no choice; the poison was spreading, and he was close to death. As expected, the taste was far from pleasant.
Drinking Amon’s blood would be better than this crap. The medicine’s effect was significant, giving Ryushi enough strength to sit up.
He looked again at Astaroth and the others. The situation was still overwhelmingly in Astaroth’s favor. Genos, who Ryushi thought was strong, now seemed like a small animal.
“Why is Mother so…?”
“That is Lady Astaroth’s power. Rarely used, but in this case, it’s understandable. They provoked her wrath…”
“…She was that strong?”
“Damn it… Why can’t I defeat you?! I’ve killed so many demons!”
“Foolish. Believing you’re strong just because you’ve defeated weaker opponents… It’s pathetic.”
“Aaaah!”
The dry sound of metal hitting the ground and the death throes were drowned out in emptiness.
Ryushi involuntarily looked away from the brutal scene.
In an instant, as Astaroth clenched her hand into a fist, Genos’s right arm was crushed.
The mixture of flesh and bone, the spray of blood, was sheer cruelty. It was too much for Ryushi, a human.
“Please… just kill me…” Genos whispered weakly, but Astaroth had no mercy. She wiped the blood off her cheek with a look of intense, calm fury.
“You fought a duel with my beloved son. When in danger, you called for your comrades… Humans are indeed a low and vile species.”
“That’s… not…”
“In any case, you must atone for injuring my son. So… die in peace.”
A demon casually picked up Genos.
“Stop! Please!”
Genos knew what was coming next.
His handsome face twisted in a plea for life, becoming grotesque with tears, snot, and blood.
The “Twilight Brigade” was annihilated that day.
The only survivor, upon waking, was immediately faced with this hellish scene.
A scream turned quickly into a death rattle.
Everything ended.
Having witnessed Astaroth’s overwhelming power, Ryushi lost consciousness like a puppet with its strings cut.