The New Gate (LN)

Sparks scattered in the air . Two blades clashed both chipping away at each other .

“You’re not half bad!”

“Thank you so much!”

The battle between Fagall and Namsaar, which started before Luxuria and Avaritia’s, was continuing, in favor of Namsaar – as controlled by Avaritia’s copy .

The room’s interior was almost unrecognizable because of the fighting .

“Why don’t you use your full power? Are you still playing around?”

Either he decided to only use a certain extent of power or something was limiting him . Fagall couldn’t tell by Namsaar’s slight changes in expression, but fully focused on it .

“Defeat me and I’ll tell you . ”

The thrust longsword was redirected by Fagall’s twin swords . Namsaar was superior to Fagall in terms of muscular power, so clashing against him head on was not a smart strategy .

Fagall considered his options . He wanted to stop Avaritia and Luxuria from fighting, but he couldn’t leave Namsaar unchecked . It was especially dangerous if his aim was the king .

There were also other workers and soldiers in the palace . Even if he was at a disadvantage, he couldn’t simply ditch them and run .

“It really doesn’t feel like someone else is controlling you . ”

The swordplay was just like Namsaar’s . Fagall had asked why his opponent didn’t come at him with his full power, but if he had from the start, Fagall’s situation would be in a much worse now .

The longsword, deflected by Fagall’s twin blades, stopped and abruptly changed direction to a horizontal slash .

Fagall jumped in the direction of the slash and put some distance between himself and his opponent .

“That’s a nasty weapon you got there . ”

“We knew that a devil was coming . We had to be prepared this much . ”

A kind of black smoke rose from Namsaar’s longsword, from the part that had clashed against Fagall’s twin swords .

The blades Fagall was equipped with were the twin swords 『Regulus』 . They had anti-devil attributes, of course .

He had received them from Schnee when she had come to the palace to train the soldiers . Without them, the situation would surely be much worse .

“You and that woman too, you’re a pain in the ass with your weapons…”

Namsaar, controlled by Avaritia, was superior in terms of fighting prowess, but Fagall had better weapons .

Fagall thanked Shin mentally and went on the offensive .

The right 『Regulus』 was imbued with lightning, the left 『Regulus』 with flames .

Fagall used a different skill for each sword . It was the first and foremost advantage in using a two-sword fighting style .

Fagall swung the thunder-clad 『Regulus』 first .

Namsaar would recover quickly thanks to the devil’s power, but his movements would at least slow down .

He would either deflect the attack with his longsword or dodge it . So Fagall predicted, but things went differently this time . Namsaar, against all expectations, grabbed 『Regulus』 with his left hand .

“Wow, this sure packs a punch!”

The thunder attack ran across Namsaar’s whole body and slowed down his movements .

The gauntlet covered hand that caught 『Regulus』 emitted a sizzling sound, like water poured over melting iron . The grasp on the blade was still firm, though .

“You, bastard!?”

“It’s too early to stop, man . ”

Fagall’s hesitation was punished by Namsaar’s longsword . The former managed to intercept the slash with his other sword, so he avoided being cut in half .

He couldn’t fully block the longsword with just one of his swords, however: the left 『Regulus』 was blown away and Fagall was shoved against a wall, moaning in pain .

“Looks like it’s time for the coup de grace . You’ve delayed me long enough . ”

“I got to say…I’m honored to be considered so important…”

Fagall wondered why he received such “special treatment”, then thought: at least Sherlene was free to act .

Namsaar’s words, however, made him realize that he was wrong .

“I’ve already dealt with her . You people would be ready to sacrifice few to save many…I can’t stop you like I did with the other guy . Besides, you’re still worth using . ”

Namsaar readied his longsword .

“… . I see, that’s why you’re not concerned with Lady Sherlene then…”

Fagall let out a very faint whisper . The tone of his voice had changed .

In the blink of an eye -a speed that could not be described any other way- Fagall moved .

His twin swords drew two arcs in the air . One deflected Namsaar’s longsword, the other aimed for his neck .

“Sheesh, that was close!”

Namsaar touched the fresh wound . 『Regulus』 had undoubtedly reached his neck .

However, Namsaar didn’t just let himself be attacked . He had twisted his body in order to limit damage to the smallest possible area .

His neck had been sliced up to the carotid, but his magic power quickly stopped the blood loss .

“Never seen such a technique . You didn’t even tell your comrades? You lonely bastard . ”

Fagall’s speed was much higher than before: it was obvious for Namsaar to be wary .

Fagall didn’t answer . He used Namsaar’s wariness to draw a deep breath .

“!!”

The knight then moved again . A lightning quick technique, lasting a fraction of a second .

If Avaritia wasn’t in control of his body, Namsaar’s head would be rolling on the ground .

“Tch, you’re pretty damn fast now . ”

Namsaar’s defense couldn’t keep up with Fagall’s speed . However, he wasn’t defeated since he avoided lethal wounds and recovered at insane speeds .

Fagall couldn’t inflict lethal wounds, while Namsaar couldn’t keep up with his speed . Their bout continued, with neither able to break the stalemate .

However, the first to reach his limits, was Fagall .

Gradually, the wounds he inflicted on Namsaar were shallower and shallower, fewer and fewer . In the end he stopped, breathing heavily .

“I see, you’ve been using your own lifeforce, reckless fool . ”

Namsaar understood thanks to his own draining abilities . Fagall was attacking one-sidedly, but losing strength in the process .

Fagall had used the support skill 【Overboost】 . It was a skill born from one Shin had used in the past, which provided better boosts than normal support skills, at the cost of one’s HP .

Naturally, if used for a long time it would corner the user before the opponent .

“Too bad you had to fight me . I guess you would have defeated anyone else with that . ”

“…… . . ”

Fagall didn’t answer . He was severely fatigued and had no way to recover .

Namsaar continued talking before his weakened opponent, taunting him to try to do anything .

“Why work so hard? Your hero buddy isn’t coming to save you . You should have turned tail a long ass time ago!”

“Too…bad…I can’t…do that…”

Fagall felt like that was a possibility too, but he bit his lips to seal his weakness inside .

He remembered what his subordinates said when they saw the royal soldiers, under the influence of mental skills .

“If lady Sherlene cannot fight, then I must stand…”

“You? You’re weaker than her . What can you do?”

In terms of stats, Sherlene was superior to Fagall .

Fagall himself was aware that, even if they were lauded as the two heroes, there was a gap in strength between them .

“That’s easy…I…swore an oath . ”

What was that worth, though? If one was weak, they should let the strong handle everything .

That wasn’t the point, though . That was wrong, thought Fagall .

“I have taken upon the sword to protect this country . Even if I am weaker, I am still its hero . I shall stand in the way of those who threaten my country, till I draw my last breath!”

Before finishing the sentence, Fagall activated a skill and attacked .

His HP was already in the red . If he didn’t change strategy, his HP would reach zero in a matter of minutes .

He would either stop right before dying or just die . Fagall never tried before, so he didn’t know if it would work . In any case, he wouldn’t stop . He was ready to bring down his enemy with him .

He could only pray that Shin and the others somehow stopped Avaritia’s main body . That was his only regret .

“OOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!”

Fagall’s roar shook the very air in the room . His slash was even faster, even sharper, s it attacked Namsaar .

“Guess I’ve got to get serious too . ”

Seconds before the slash hit, Avaritia released his power . He had held back in order to keep using Namsaar, but if his enemy was going to self-destruct, he didn’t need to anymore .

Namsaar’s body, with stats already equal to a hero, was further boosted by the devil’s power . Its movements even Fagall, who was consuming his own lifeforce to power himself up .

Fagall’s slashes were all blocked by Namsaar’s longsword, now fully clad in black mist . Not only that, the devil-controlled captain of the guards even aimed to strike a counter .

Fagall wouldn’t have been able to dodge or even defend himself against Namsaar’s new speed if he hadn’t reinforced himself .

“Just give up, you’ll feel much better . ”

“I refuse!!”

As he spoke, Fagall instinctively felt that the next attack would be his last, and focused every last ounce of his strength into it .

“That’s a damn shame . ”

His right blade cut into Namsaar’s left side, while the left one slashed him from the shoulder towards the chest .

He failed to cut him completely, however, because of Namsaar’s resilience and the protection provided by his armor .

The sizzling sound of burning flesh rose from the wounds: 『Regulus』 managed to damage Namsaar’s body, but it was far from being lethal . The body was Namsaar’s, but the recovery speed was Avaritia’s . The wounds would be completely healed soon after the swords were removed .

“………”

Fagall’s hands released his swords . He was not dead, but he did not have the strength to even stand anymore .

Namsaar extended a hand towards the falling Fagall . The latter’s life was almost spent: with the devil’s powers, it would be simple to turn him into a puppet .

“!!!”

Just before he could touch Fagall, Namsaar readied his sword again . The next instant, a spear emitting blinding light flew in from outside the room .

“What the!?”

Namsaar knocked away the spear, but the impact pushed his back to the window .

“Looks like I barely made it . ”

Sherlene caught the deflected spear and prepared to defend Fagall from Namsaar .

“What the, how the hell did you regain your senses?…Ahh, no need to answer, I got it . ”

Looking at Sherlene’s spear was enough to know the answer . The sacred aura emitted by the holy spear 『Guildern』 was clearly felt by those in the room .

Just like Fagall’s 『Regulus』, it wasn’t just a powerful weapon .

“Well, let’s see how long you can last, with that weight on your shoulders and all!”

Sherlene parried Namsaar’s longsword with the hilt of her spear . He was still at full power, so a single blow was enough to force Sherlene to her knees . Fagall’s twin 『Regulus』 swords were still lodged in Namsaar’s shoulder and stomach, but there was no blood .

“You had to dodge that, so the weight would be gone too . Or do you want to finish him off yourself? I can wait that long, go ahead . ”

“You’re a pretty chatty fellow . ”

Sherlene’s expression clearly showed how dire the situation was . She had used a recovery potion on Fagall without being noticed, but maybe because he had pushed his body to the limits with the power-up skill, his limbs couldn’t move yet .

“I didn’t want to kill you off, but I guess I have no choice . ”

Namsaar’s longsword pushed against 『Guildern』 . Even if the spear was a superior weapon, Namsaar’s own stats were higher . The jet black sword was closer and closer to Sherlene’s face .

“In the end you just bought some time . Why did you even attack at that timing?”

“Just say, whatever . ”

The blade and hilt grinded against each other . It was just a matter of time—anyone would say so, but the next moment, they all felt something burst out: it struck Fagall, Sherlene and Namsaar too .

There was no sound, but all of them felt “something” propagated throughout Erkunt .

“What the…? Gah…GHAAAAAHHHH!!!”

When this “something” passed through Fagall and Sherlene and reached Namsaar, the situation completely changed . Namsaar, who was pressuring Sherlene, started screaming in pain .

Fagall, who barely managed to stand back up, saw black mist rising from the wounds his 『Regulus』 had inflicted on Namsaar’s body, leaking at a very high speed .

Soon enough, the black mist formed a sort of black puddle next to Namsaar’s body .

“What in the world . . ?”

“I don’t know . But whatever just passed through our bodies seems to be on our side . ”

Fagall walked next to Sherlene . He was feeling much better all of a sudden . Looking at the progressively disappearing mist, he felt that the devil’s power was fading away .

Namsaar’s armor and longsword were gradually returning to normal too . Soon after, the mist completely disappeared from Namsaar’s body . The 『Regulus』 blades fell on their own, leaving no wounds behind . Namsaar’s body collapsed to the floor, unscathed but powerless .

“WhAt . . DId…yOu…”

The mass of black mist forced out of Namsaar’s body spoke . The two heroes did not know what it was, but readied their weapons nonetheless .

They did not reply . Without a word, Sherlene thrust 『Guildern』and Fagall swung 『Regulus』 .

The shapeless mist reduced in mass after every blow, as if blown away by the wind . The area struck by the weapons disappeared along its surroundings, so it did not take much time until the mist completely vanished .

“Is it…over?”

“Possibly . Sir Namsaar’s body seems to be healed too . This time we’re always getting rescued, aren’t we…”

Sherlene replied to a sigh to Fagall, their nerves finally relaxed .

The threat wasn’t completely gone, but they were confident that the end was near .

◆◆◆◆

The people under the devil’s influence were all freed . Shin received this message just as Luxuria had been swallowed by the 【Lifedrain Sludge】 .

“!!!”

The moment he understood Hilamee’s message, Shin kicked the ground with all his might .

The cocoon had already formed . Though he didn’t know how devils absorbed each other, he had no intention of giving up .

Shin passed by Avaritia with one step and leapt towards Luxuria with the second .

“I hope it’s not too late…haaaAAAAh!!”

『The Ark』 sliced through the cocoon, which put up little to no resistance .

Shin’s momentum made him land behind Luxuria . The following instant, an explosion of light burst behind him .

“What the!?”

Shin got back on his feet, turned around and saw light seeping out of the cocoon . He also saw Avaritia, his arms crossed to protect his body, being pushed back . The light from the cocoon was burning his whole body .

“The cocoon is breaking down?”

Cracks extended all over the cocoon from the gash cut open by Shin .

Dozens of seconds later, the cocoon crumbled . Luxuria’s silhouette, as it was before the fight, was nowhere to be seen .

“That’s…”

Luxuria was there, but in human form . However, she was much different than what Shin remembered .

Luxuria, floating inside white light, was wrapped in white bandages, shining as strongly as the light . A bright halo was even shining behind her .

The shining halo was projecting a kind of pattern, as tall as Luxuria was . There were 4 of such patterns on her right and 4 on her left, looking just like wings .

“Is that really…Luxuria?”

The moment she appeared, a wave-like “something” expanded in the surroundings . It passed through Shin’s body, but he didn’t feel anything .

The only one affected seemed to be Avaritia .

“GWAAAAAHHHHHH!?!”

Avaritia’s whole body distorted and contorted . He had to be in indescribable pain .

“Who knew something like this could happen…”

Pale blue and white light shone from Luxuria’s hands, the same color as her wings . She shot repeatedly spears of light, which stabbed Avaritia’s body, still in the throes of pain, opening large holes in it .

“Y . . yoU…thAt’s…”

“Do you even need to ask? Any devil could tell . I was really surprised too, though . ”

“A deVIl…tuRnIng inTo an AngEl…? GivE…me . . a…fUc…”

Avaritia’s body then vanished into smoke . What remained was just the 『Drop of Avaritia』, proof of his defeat .

Shin was confused by the sudden development, and Luxuria looked at him, chuckling .

“Oh my, did I scare you?”

Luxuria descended next to Shin and asked him a question, cocking her head to the side .

“I’ve just never seen or heard anything like this . To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing . ”

Before disappearing, Avaritia mentioned the word “angel” . Seeing that she had defeated a devil, it was fair to think that she would be an ally .

However, Shin -despite his vast knowledge of THE NEW GATE’s bestiary- had never seen an angel . The game’s producers had hinted at their existence, but no player ever reported encountering one .

Angels were often depicted as the counterparts of devils . Just like devils, however, they were categorized as monsters . As long as they were monsters, there was the chance that they would antagonize humanity .

“I understand where you’re coming from, but I have no idea why this happened . But I do understand that I’ve turned into an angel, and still have my memories as a devil . I remember you all too, of course . ”

“So angels really existed…”

“I suppose they were a transformation of Deadly Sin devils . I kind of felt it after transforming, but it looks like I’m the protector of “Love” now . ”

“The virtue opposite to the deadly sin, I guess? I heard that they aren’t officially established as opposites though…anyway, there’s no need to probe deeper into that right now, I suppose . ”

Shin tried recalling what he had read when researching about the deadly sin devils, but did not remember much in detail .

“Whoa, I almost forgot . Now that Avaritia’s defeated, I have to go into town . The summoned monsters are going wild . ”

“No need to worry, that’s already taken care of . ”

“… . what?”

Shin was about to leave to go help Schnee, but Luxuria stopped him . According to her, the first wave of energy thing she released – 【Saint Wave】 – erased both the magic circles influenced by devil power and the monsters they summoned .

Shin checked the map and confirmed that the presences of monsters across town were indeed nowhere to be seen .

“Amazing…and I thought that we had still a lot to do . ”

“It only work against devils and their influence . Though, I could only do this thanks to you . If you didn’t cut open the cocoon, I think I would have been assimilated by Avaritia . ”

“If you have to thank someone, thank Hilamee . They freed all the hostages, that’s why I could act . ”

Shin was forced to do nothing while Luxuria was suffering Avaritia’s attacks, so he felt guilty instead .

“Don’t say that . I could do my best because you were there . ”

Before transforming in devil form, Luxuria had sent a message to Shin, telling him to not do anything until the hostages were freed, even if she were to lose .

She had asked Avaritia if he would withdraw after absorbing her for the same reason . She had fought while considering her assimilation a viable option .

“Even if I lost, Avaritia would be defeated by you . Thanks to this experience, it would be possible to prepare countermeasures against hostages in the future . That’s why my sacrifice wouldn’t have been in vain…after I realized that, I felt a weight off my chest . ”

“You…”

Shin was about to say that she shouldn’t even think about things like that, but Luxuria smiled and put a finger on his lips .

“I’m free to choose who to be grateful to, so you don’t need to concern yourself with anything . Isn’t there anything you’d like me to do, instead? I’m not a devil anymore, so you can entrust your whole self to me, you know? Incidentally, I’m not wearing anything at the moment, up here or down there…so I’m a bit chilly, I would love to be warmed up, honestly . ”

“Hey! Tell the truth, you’re still half a devil, aren’t you? Or maybe you’re an angel, but the angel of lust…”

Luxuria’s words quickly took a turn for the “romantic” after she mentioned Shin entrusting himself to her, causing Shin to sigh in disbelief .

Stopping Luxuria from removing her belt, he was relieved that at least one major threat was over .