My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World
Chapter 117: Lesser Demon’s Black Pearl

Chapter 117: Lesser Demon’s Black Pearl

While I was in the capital letting the guards know that Romanov was getting closer, the empress introduced me to her younger sister, the princess of the Droman Empire.

She resembled the empress a lot, with the same golden hair and red eyes, but the empress looked much stronger and commanding while the princess seemed more reserved.

Nonetheless, I didn’t have much time for idle chatter, so after I quickly introduced myself to her, I accompanied the imperial guards at the gate.

I could feel Vespera getting closer, which meant that Romanov and his right-hand man were near.

During our wait, I asked the empress if she knew something about Copper, Romanov’s assistant, telling her that he seemed a bit more intelligent than his boss.

The empress wasn’t aware of the man’s identity, but the princess interjected, saying she knew.

The princess, Arabella, had met Romanov’s assistant during the last ball at the capital, which was an event for the nobles to attend and socialize.

She described Copper as a cold man who didn’t talk much, although she attributed his silence to the fact that he was escorting his boss at the party and that he wasn’t there to speak with the others.

All she knew about Copper was that he wasn’t a citizen of the empire, as she heard Romanov bragging to other nobles about how he had gotten the best servant from the ruler of another nation, but he never said which country.

I was getting more suspicious about the assistant, but Romanov’s cart entered through the gates before I could dwell on those thoughts too much.

The man who was commanding the horses was his assistant, Copper, and Romanov was inside his cabin, which had a large crest with his family symbol.

’This guy couldn’t be more obvious, I swear...’ I thought.

As soon as the cart had walked a few meters through the main road, they were surrounded by imperial guards, who ordered the two individuals to get off their carriage.

Copper looked somewhat nervous, with a little drop of sweat coming down his temple, but Romanov was the opposite.

"What’s the meaning of this?" The noble said as he got out of his carriage with a condescending tone.

"You’ve been charged with kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, enslavement, extortion, blackmail, conspiring against the empress, among other charges..." one of the imperial guards said, keeping his spear pointed at them.

The ordeal was catching the attention of the other citizens, who were stopping on the side of the road to watch what was happening.

"That’s preposterous! Do you really think I would do something like that!? I am one of the empress’ most valuable allies!" Romanov exclaimed, making the empress join the conversation.

"Is that right, Rob?" she asked with a commanding tone as her guards made way for her to approach the man.

Romanov gazed up at the empress with fear in his eyes and tried to speak up, but no words came out of his mouth since Lysandra’s presence overpowered him.

At that moment, Copper interjected, standing between Romanov and the empress with both hands raised with innocence.

"Your Highness, this must be a misunderstanding. My Lord has been trying his best to support you in the war against the beasts of Kalusia..." he said.

Gina was standing near me, and I could see how she was visibly angry about the comment that Copper had made since he was insinuating that the beastkins were the ones who started the war and not the devil.

The empress’ expression went from serious to furious as she released a powerful energy from her body that was quite overwhelming, making both Copper and Romanov flinch.

’Wow, Lysandra is actually powerful. I didn’t expect that...’ I thought, realizing that I never even bothered to use my "inspect" spell on her.

Jen, the alchemist I saved from the underground, told me that the empress was the strongest warrior of the empire, but I supposed I had to see it to believe it.

"You dare interrupt my conversation?" she said, gazing at Copper with discontent.

"A servant, not even a citizen of my empire, dares to interject on my verdict?" she continued, making the noble and his assistant gulp with anxiety.

"And what’s more than that... You dare LIE to me!?" she exclaimed, her energy increasing even more.

Ordering the guards to take them into custody, Romanov tried freeing himself from the clutches of the knights but wasn’t strong enough as he was pinned face down on the ground.

On the other hand, Copper managed to release himself momentarily from the guard holding his arms from behind and reached for his pocket.

When I saw that he was pulling out a black pearl, just like the captain of the boat had done previously, I knew what the man was thinking.

"Stop!" I yelled, focusing magic to move towards him, but the amount of guards that surrounded them didn’t allow me to get close fast enough.

*crunch* the assistant bit on the glassy object, releasing demonic energy around his body.

The guards who stood nearby were all launched back as Copper transformed into a lesser demon, looking exactly like the first one we had encountered.

His entire body was covered in black shadows. He had no face, only a large mouth that traveled from one side of his head to the other, showcasing his sharp teeth underneath the unsettling feature.

"Get away from him!" I exclaimed, using air magic to propel myself quickly towards him.

As soon as I reached the demon, I grabbed him by the arms, prompting him to bite my right shoulder.

I heard the empress yelling something along with the princess, but I couldn’t fully listen to them since I used that moment when the monster bit me to teleport us away from the city.

I sent us to the middle of the road on the city’s outskirts, which was the same path they had taken to reach the capital.

It was the safest and closest place I could think of sending us since I didn’t want to waste too much MP by sending us somewhere far.

After we arrived, I used fire magic to cover my body in flames, making the lesser demon drop the bite on my shoulder and retreat a few meters away.

My entire right side was bleeding profusely from my shoulder, which hurt a lot, to be honest.

Nonetheless, I kept my calm and grabbed a healing potion(+) from my void pocket, dousing my shoulder with it and reliving my pain in a few seconds.

I found it interesting that the lesser demon was able to bite through my poncho, even though it had Vespera’s protection enchantments.

While it didn’t fully protect me, it did lessen the depth that his teeth went into my shoulder.

’Without the poncho, he would’ve ripped my entire arm off...’ I thought, thanking Vespera in my head.

Before having to kill another transformed human, I wanted to try different methods to see if it was genuinely impossible to turn them back.

The holy panacea didn’t work on them at all, which was surprising since it was my most powerful potion and could cure the curses of the bandits.

’Maybe this isn’t like a curse or an illness...’ I thought as I avoided the attacks of the monster.

I was using my bo to deflect his offense and knock him back as I kept thinking.

Lesser demons were powerful, much more than an ordinary person, but their attacks were uncoordinated and messy, which was relatively easy to defend against since I had my martial arts skill.

I tried splashing a healing potion on him to see if it would have a different effect, but it did nothing.

I couldn’t even tell if the potion healed him since its shadowy body didn’t show signs of bruises or cuts.

Even when Vespera killed the lesser demon on the ship, all that came out was a shadow that looked like liquid instead of blood, but it disappeared before reaching the ground.

After a few minutes of trying different potions, I concluded that, even if there was a cure for whatever turned them into lesser demons, I didn’t have it.

"Dammit, another one that can’t be saved..." I muttered.

Right at that moment, Vespera appeared from the side and instantly decapitated the demon with her spider legs.

I knew that my companion was watching the fight from the side and wasn’t interrupting since I was trying all these different methods to return the man to his normal state.

However, as soon as my mind had been set on having to end his life, she quickly joined and finished the job before I could do it myself.

Vespera didn’t say this to me, but I could tell she was killing the demons herself so that I wouldn’t feel guilty about doing it. Honestly, I appreciated that she cared for me that much, but I knew that I was going to have to do the same at some point.

After the demon’s body slowly dissipated, all that was left were the clothes that didn’t wholly rip apart from his transformation.