Chapter 916: The Goddess Eris Descends
"I already said I paid! Your head is just too stupid!"
"So that's how it is!"
Alda kicked Max in a fit of rage, not even bothering to curse further before quickly turning to flee.
Max was merely a lesser demon who definitely couldn't hold off the Demon King. He needed to find the teleportation mage he kept at his residence and leave this place immediately!
"Hey! Who slept with you?!"
Meanwhile, Darkness glared furiously at the Demon King.
In the past, she would have lamented not being ravaged by the Demon King, but now she felt nothing but indignant fury at being slandered.
"Huh? Didn't we just sleep together last night?"
"Who slept with you last night!"
Darkness grew even angrier.
The person who slept with me last night was clearly someone else—the person I love!
"I still remember how excited someone was last night, shamelessly begging 'Be rougher!'"
"How do you know that?!"
Darkness was startled, staring at him with disbelief.
"No, wait... you couldn't be...?!"
Like sparks flashing deep in her mind, an incredible suspicion emerged. Trembling, she pointed at the Demon King, her utterly flustered expression betraying her inner turmoil.
"Look out!"
But as her gaze shifted, she suddenly cried out in warning.
"Crack!"
He didn't need her warning—the Demon King had already sensed the anomaly.
In the blink of an eye, he turned, a pitch-black greatsword materializing in his hands, and cleanly bisected the incoming dark magical beam!
"They're fighting! They've started fighting!"
"Run! Run slow and you're dead!"
The church instantly became more chaotic than a marketplace.
Max smiled without malice, yet he effortlessly gathered a heavyweight curse capable of reducing someone to ashes instantly. His innocent expression while throwing the curse resembled someone playing dodgeball.
"Hah, an Archduke of Hell, and this is all you've got."
The Demon King easily severed the curse, letting out a contemptuous chuckle.
"You're amazing! Is that a divine artifact?"
Max didn't seem bothered at all, instead clapping his hands cheerfully.
"Megumin, why are you backing away? Weren't you brave earlier?"
"Was I? No way! I definitely didn't retreat just because he's an Archduke of Hell!"
The Demon King scanned the church.
In the vast hall, only Kazuma and Megumin remained hiding outside the door, wearing expressions of "mortals suffering when gods fight" yet unable to resist staying to watch the spectacle.
"Never mind. Your opponent isn't me. I need to chase that fat pig."
Seeing that Alda had already disappeared, the Demon King put away his divine artifact and rushed toward the back door.
"Don't think you can... Huh?"
Max started to pursue but suddenly paused in surprise.
"Vwoom—!"
Abruptly, dazzling light descended from the heavens!
The light was so sacred it seemed led by a deity itself, falling upon people as if it could heal all ailments, stunning everyone present.
Within the light, a holy figure materialized.
"G-g-g-g-g-g...?!"
Darkness nearly died of fright.
The girl who appeared before her had short silver-white hair and delicate features that naturally evoked a deep sense of reliance. Her violet dress was elegant and dignified.
Her appearance was identical to the goddess statue enshrined in the Eris Church!
"Sacred Highness Exorcism!"
The girl, carved from the same mold as the goddess, immediately unleashed pure white flames upon appearing, striking the unprepared Maxwell with a fierce expression.
The white flames carried intense sacred attributes, making them the highest tier of exorcism magic!
"Gyaaaaaaaaah——!!!"
Hit by the demon-specific exorcism magic, Maxwell was engulfed in flames, letting out agonizing screams.
Almost instinctively, he activated his reality-warping power, instantly erasing the sacred white flames around him.
"This power... is it divine?"
The intense pain contorted his face, leaving charred marks all over his body as if severely burned. Without another word, he turned and fled toward the back door.
"Maxwell, don't even think about escaping!"
In an instant, another pillar of light descended from the sky.
An unknown war god wielding a divine sword blocked Maxwell's path, glaring coldly as he swung his blade horizontally.
"Don't block me! Have you forgotten? We're friends!"
"Friends?"
Maxwell suddenly froze, and with a single sweep of the sword, his chest was torn open.
"You're not my friend!"
"Sorry, I forgot to turn off friendly fire just now. Let me strike you one more time! Don't worry, it won't hurt you!"
The unknown war god flashed a villainous smile, speaking to him with feigned kindness.
"Really?"
Maxwell immediately rose cheerfully.
Only to have the other's sword pierce his heart.
"You..."
"Oops, my aim slipped. Actually, you're under a curse left by the enemy. I'm helping you—let me try again!"
"Is that so? Ah!"
"Huh? Missed again? Could I have fallen for the enemy's trap too? Stay still, let me have another go..."
"Urk!"
Within just two minutes, Maxwell had repeated the cycle of being deceived, slashed, deceived again, and slashed again seven or eight times. As if completely gullible, he easily believed the unknown war god's words each time, only to end up bleeding profusely on the spot.
In a short time, he had already expended nearly ten lives, his blood dyeing the ground crimson.
Even Eris couldn't help but cover her eyes.
Although there was no need for chivalry against demons, the relentless deception was too much for the goddess's sense of shame to bear.
Indeed.
This was precisely why she had summoned a companion from the celestial realm.
"Still at it?"
By the time the Demon King returned carrying a despairing Alderp, the unknown war god was still enthusiastically hacking away at Maxwell.
"Wow, how pitiful."
The Demon King looked at the Grand Duke of Hell shattered into countless pieces on the ground, unable to help but feel sympathy.
"How did a Grand Duke of Hell end up being intellectually disabled?"
Exactly.
Maxwell was intellectually disabled. Though born with immensely powerful authority, he was a demon with impaired intelligence.
Because of this, he was often deceived and exploited.
"G-Grand Duke of Hell?"
Ardap stared blankly at Max in the distance.
"What? Don't you know?"
The Demon King lowered his head, looking at him with confusion.
"That's right. If you had known he was the Archduke of Hell, Maxwell, you wouldn't have had him block me to buy time for your escape—you'd have ordered him to kill me instead. You didn't even know who your own demon really was. In terms of idiocy, you're no less impressive!"
Ardap's face turned ashen.
An Archduke of Hell! An Archduke of Hell! The very Archduke of Hell who compelled a deity to descend personally to deal with him!