Chapter 32
"Your Reverence, could you help draw everyone's attention for a moment?" I asked.
"Oh, that's what a light priest is best at these days," came the reply. "And just call me Luolan."
"Ciprins," I replied solemnly.
"Too long, too long... Isn't your name Xipei?" With that, Luolan cut the connection.
Suddenly, a tremendous gasp went up from the crowd, startling me so badly I nearly activated Absolute Protection. I wasn't overreacting, either, because the security officer and guards were so frightened they drew their guns. I glanced back and saw a glowing humanoid figure slowly descending from the sky. Not only was he sparkling, but white petals were drifting down all around him. Amid the light, Luolan descended from the sky with a holy expression and a gentle smile. He held a long, elegant scepter and wore the white ceremonial robes of a light priest. With the grand spectacle of him floating down from the heavens on top of that (he was actually singing a hymn as he floated), he was instantly met with wild cheers and a flurry of photos.
Luolan landed in the middle of the square and waved and smiled at everyone around him at an unhurried pace.
...Light priests really did know how to draw attention.
While everyone's eyes were drawn to the priest who had suddenly appeared, I quickly cast a teleportation spell. The next moment, I appeared on a rooftop high up on the building, with a clear view of the cyborgs bustling about. Looking down at the group of sneaky cyborgs, I immediately activated Shadow Dance without pausing.
Dark shadows swiftly rose, but this group of cyborgs turned out to be elites, and none of them were caught by Shadow Dance outright. I couldn't help frowning—this was my first time controlling the shadows of more than a dozen people at once, so perhaps my control wasn't very good either. If Mel were here, he should have been able to snap at least a few necks.
They turned at once. Several cyborgs ran along the side of the building in defiance of gravity and lunged at me, high-frequency electric blades extending from their arms—they had clearly recognized me as a mage.
Of course, I was wearing such a proper mage's robe. If mercenaries like these couldn't even recognize me as a mage, they'd lose everything they had.
Close combat was indeed bad for a mage, but they had to get close first, didn't they?
I snapped my fingers quite conspicuously, and sure enough, the cyborg charging at me froze for a moment. At the same time, Absolute Protection enclosed the object I suspected was an explosive. That put my mind a little more at ease. If it went off by accident, Mel was still inside. I'd brought him lots of gifts today, but those gifts definitely didn't include steel bars and concrete blown to smithereens.
The next second, I appeared in the air ten meters away. The high-altitude currents mussed my carefully combed hair yet again. After several more relocations, the cyborgs still couldn't get close to me, while the lightning I cast blasted their limbs numb. Their electric blades had also been struck by so much lightning that they all overloaded and exploded, leaving every one of their arms trailing black smoke.
...Anyone who didn't know better would have thought I was barbecuing cyborgs!
Suddenly, two of the cyborgs stopped paying attention to me and jumped straight down the building. What was he going to do, take hostages?
The place they were falling toward was indeed packed with a cheering, jubilant crowd. I noticed that electric blades had extended from this cyborg's feet too-
My attention fixed on their feet, I spotted a small component with a flashing indicator light. Was that an antigravity device? A bolt of lightning knocked out one cyborg's antigravity device. Sure enough, he plunged headfirst and had to reach back with both hands and grip the wall tightly to keep from falling to his death. The other had already dodged and continued downward-
I stared at him, and his descent slowed infinitely in my eyes. I knew the silver light of burning mental power must have appeared in my pupils once again. I could clearly see every detail of the cyborg, even every circuit in his mechanical prosthetics, the bright red blood flowing through his human parts, and the nanobots moving through that blood-
Good.
I raised my hand, and with that motion, the blood in the cyborg's body suddenly flew out like a ribbon of red silk. I precisely gathered every drop. The next second, I came out of my focused state and turned around. Shadows clung to the cyborgs still determinedly lunging at me, following their every move. I froze the blood I'd drawn into ice spikes and fired them at the cyborgs. At the same time, I didn't forget to cast Feather Fall on the falling corpse-
He was floating down more slowly than a feather now, so there shouldn't be a problem. If anyone still got hit by him, they really needed to get their eyes checked.
But my heart suddenly skipped a beat. I'd just entered a state of focused spellcasting, and I'd forgotten I was above the Capitol!
Ah! There was still time to cast an Invisibility Spell on that corpse...
"Aaaah! Look! That's-"
"So many shadows?!"
In an instant, I heard the screams and the sounds of cameras clicking below, and despair set in.
...Too late.
I looked mournfully at the cyborgs caught in the dark shadows before me... It was all because of this bunch of money-grubbing desperadoes. I'd come here to quietly wait for Mel, but now look what had happened. I had to run for it. I'd used dangerous Black Magic to draw someone's blood right in front of the media, so I was going to end up on the wanted list! From now on, countless heroes would come after me one wave after another, and one slip would turn me into a hero's trophy, some demon king successfully overthrown in a history textbook...
Sigh... My library!
It looked like I'd have to tell Mel not to live in the capital. I'd made him go to all that trouble over the house for nothing. Maybe we could flee to elven territory and hide out for a while? Hmm, that might not be bad either. It was peaceful and quiet, and the elves' nature magic was well worth studying. That dense forest was also a beautiful land full of legends.
Most importantly, the Elven Sanctuary didn't have any politicians!
The point was, I wasn't a lonely, high-profile demon king. Mel would be with me, and I could keep studying magic anyway. Ha, then it was fine.
And just like that, I stopped being nervous.
Thinking lazily, I waved my hand and had the shadows snap the cyborgs' necks and limbs, then tossed them straight down. Only as I threw them did I notice there were quite a few children below. I'd better be careful, then. Instead of just throwing them down, I'd cast Feather Fall on them all first.
Honestly, a bunch of corpses floating down through the shower of flowers created by a light priest made for a hilarious sight! I should use an image-recording spell to capture it and send it to Mel-
"That's the Evil Shadow Manipulator, right? Wow, is the archmage protecting us?"
"Aaaah, he's so handsome!"
"Look, that's Archmage Mephistopheles!"
"Ah... I'm going to faint. The way Lord Mephistopheles fights is so captivating... He's so cool!"
"Did anyone bring binoculars? I can't see!!!"
"..."
Huh?
I heard a chorus of cheers.
Hahahahahaha—I couldn't help bursting into laughter. That's right, Mel and I looked so much alike! Mel, you were amazing! Now I didn't have to think about how to escape, and no heroes would come bother us.
Mel, I love you so much, Mel!
Still laughing, I checked my spatial ring. Oh, I ought to prepare even more gifts for Mel... But it didn't look like I had anything more valuable. We were about to live together, so I could give Mel everything I had!
I wondered what those politicians were going to do next, and whether they'd bother Mel. I put up with the Five-Star old man every day, so I really understood better than anyone. I wondered when Mel would have the tower ready. As for me, I had nothing to pack; I could just go straight there. My books and notes were all in my spatial ring, and it didn't matter whether I took the rest.
I wondered what kind of tower Mel would design. No, I wasn't going to peek. I had to hold back and let the surprise be revealed at the very end.
Sigh... I didn't want to wait another minute. I was so excited.
Chapter 32
Huh? Was there no end to this?
Could these cyborgs split themselves or something? After I flew a little higher, I discovered there was somehow another group sneaking around in the block behind the building.
Where had so many of them come from!
...No, no, no, don't get angry. I couldn't throw out any overly spectacular spells. I was Mel right now. Although Mel was already a black mage who'd been exposed by the media, it would still be very bad if I made the scene too age-restricted. It would affect Mel's approval rating. Mel might not care, but our Mel was so outstanding, how could I let his reputation suffer?