Master’s Smile

C120 – Alchemist’s Objective

“W-What in the world…?”

Neena looked up at “what used to be Lintz” and muttered in dismay.

Until a moment ago, Lintz was not much taller than she was and was an average looking human.

But now, he had undergone a dramatic change.

His physique had grown to a height that rivals Neena’s estate.

Furthermore, it was not only the size of his body that had changed.

The color of his skin had transformed into dark, and protuberance jutted out from every part of his body and became gigantic spines.

His bulky body would not allow blades nor magic to cut through so easily.

Furthermore, his face had also transformed from a full on greedly look into an ogre-like one.

His eyes were dyed red, and his mouth revealed huge fangs.

Truly, if one had to describe him in just one word, it would be….

“…a demon.”

Ritter muttered as she looked up at Lintz with a grim expression.

And it was not only a description of his appearance, but rather, it was a fact.

“IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!!!”

Wissen bursted into laughter, seemingly enjoying from the bottom of his heart.

That might be a given. He was able to conduct the experiment exactly as he had planned, and even succeeded.

“Wissen! You! What did you make my brother drink!?”

“Ihihihihihi!!! Can’t you tell by looking at it~…?”

Neena’s question was met with his laughter.

“It’s demon drug, you see~”

“D-Demon drug…you said?”

“Yes. As the name implies, it’s a potion that transforms the body of the person who ingests it into that of a demon~! Well, it had never been tried before, so it was 50-50 on whether it would work or not, but…looks like it was a great success~!!”

Neena was at a loss for words.

Demons are powerful beings that are the counterpart of angels.

She had never heard of a drug that could transform a human into such a being.

Seeing the look on her face, Wissen decided to explain it from the beginning.

“Originally, I’ve been doing research on demons for a long time~ Though, I didn’t have the funds or the facilities at first, so it was an extremely trivial thing~…. But thanks to the prince becoming my patron, I was able to make a lot of progress~!”

Wissen, who had been explaining joyfully up to that point, suddenly lowered the tension and continued.

“However~…, regretfully, an alchemist of my caliber could only create low-ranked demons. Then, when my research was at a standstill~….”

Soon after, Wissen turned his eyes to Ritter.

“I met you, Ritter-san~!!”

“……?”

Ritter tilted her head, wondering what she had done.

Even though the demon scared her, she was not afraid of Wissen at all.

“It occurred to me when I saw you possessed a demon~! I can’t create medium or high-ranked demons with my…no, the power of mankind! Therefore, I can just let someone possess a low-ranked one and let it grow into a powerful demon!! Isn’t that what you do, Ritter-san?”

“…….”

Ritter said nothing back to his words.

That’s because he was “almost” correct.

Though, she didn’t exactly know if it was correct or not, nor was she interested in it.

She just recalled that her method of possessing a demon was similar.

“Thank you very much, Ritter-san. Thanks to you, I have finally succeeded in creating a demon!!”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHH…!!!”

Lintz roared in response to Wissen’s words.

His voice was no longer that of a human, and completely transformed into a demon.

“Neena-sama!!”

“W-What the hell is that thing…!?”

Two knights rushed to the scene.

They had swept away almost all the monsters, so they must have rushed out of concern for Neena’s wellbeing.

They looked up at Lintz, who had become a huge demon, and were astonished.

“Hmmm~, the prince has succeeded in becoming a demon, but his performance has not yet been verified~ So, why don’t we test it with them~? Ihihihihi!”

“ーーー!? D-Don’t come!!”

Neena opened her eyes wide and hurriedly warned the two knights, but Wissen was quicker to give Lintz an order.

“OOOOOOOOOOHH…!!”

Lintz lifted his arm and swung it down heavily.

Merely with that, it slammed into the ground, causing a tremendous impact and gale.

“Guh…!?!”

Neena covered her face with her arms to protect it from the flying debris.

And when the wind finally died down and she opened her eyes, the two knights who had rushed to her were now lying on the ground.

Lintz had simply swung his arm.

But with that, he easily knocked down the sturdy knights.

He could never have done such a thing when he was human, but now that he had become a demon, he could easily do so.

“Ihihihihihi!! As expected, just moving your body is already a threat when you’re this big~! I didn’t think that would be enough to make them unable to move so…, the princess will have to confirm the rest, won’t she~?”

“Damn…!!!”

Neena readied her sword with all her might, but it was still too weak of a stance in front of Lintz, who had become a gigantic demon.

Just with his arm mowing her down, Neena’s sword would most likely break and her body would be blown away.

Nevertheless, she did not run away.

For the sake of the knights who had fallen and could not escape.

And above all, to put an end to Lintz, who had turned into a demon.

“OOOOOOOOOOHHH…!!”

Lintz’s arm swung down at Neena.

She tried to catch it, but there was no way she would be able to do so unscathed.

Knowing this, she gritted her teeth and braced herself for the impact….

“Ei!”

“Ritter!!”

And the dependable knight punched Lintz’s arm away.