Devil Slayer Magic (Alpha)

"Fire! We need more goats!" "How many?" "What's the power level of this demon" ".........9001 goats coming up! Draw the circle and begin the ritual! We must summon the powers of the lowest layer of the underworld!""

- The probable origins of this magic according to the author's head canon.

Devil Slayer Magic (滅悪魔法, Metsuaku Mahō) is an Ancient Spell and considered to be one of the eldest forms of spellcasting, said to have existed in the "Dark Era of the Magical World"; a Caster Magic and Lost Magic, it's revealed to be one of the five known forms of Slayer Magic alongside its brethren: God Slayer Magic, Spirit Slayer Magic, and Dragon Slayer Magic — the latter of which is considered to be the most well-known and commonly employed in the modern era. As the name would ever-so-subtly imply, it gives the user the ability to slay Demons — the embodiments of evil, sin, corruption, and negativity, and one of the most feared races to ever grace Earthland with their presence, invoking the power of the elements to their advantage.

Like all other variations of the aforementioned magic, this is considered to be ironic, so much so that it's often dubbed as the "Devil Slayer Curse" (滅悪呪法, Metsuaku Jūhō) — the users relying on the powers of evil to destroy said entities, thus embodying the saying "Destroying a greater evil with a lesser evil"; furthermore, because of the corruptive influence caused by this magic with continual usage, it's classified as a Black Arts form, its origins deriving from the very darkness itself. Interestingly enough, it's also the only variation that makes usage of Magical Barrier Particles, the essence of Demons themselves — further accenting its dark origins. Strangely, it's the only one not publicly outlawed due to its apparent need of it in the modern era because of the mass amount of criminal activity involving Demons themselves, thus serving as a deterrent of sorts.

Users of this magic are popularly known as Devil Slayers (, Debiru Sureiyā; lit. "Demon-Killing Magicians"). Alternatively, they're also referred to as Exorcist Mages (悪魔祓いの魔導士, Akumaharai no Madōshi) because of the process of which a Demon is slain through this magic, being equated to an exorcism itself, though certain religious groups refuse to acknowledge them as such because of their powers being "blasphemous".

Trivia

 * Some elements in this interpretation come from "demon-slaying" based genre, such as Ao no Exorcist, Devil May Cry, Berserk, Claymore, YuYu Hakusho and Inuyasha.
 * The reason the author created his own variation of the canonical Devil Slayer Magic page is because of his own interpretation of Demons, a race that's rather titular to the overall plot in the Heroic Chronicles saga — existing in five of the eight storylines; in addition, it's because of the revelations of the effects of Devil Slayer Magic has on characters as revealed in various chapters in the canonical story, something that easily and ironically classifies it as a form of the Black Arts — the only known magical style capable of producing such effects. Along with the fact that the author has already established some foreground with the magic in some of the various abilities he's produced for free use, this served as a perfect chance to re-work the magic in his own image. It should be noted that such a style is considered to be his most favored, having planned out more Devil Slayers and Devil Slayer styles than any other in his possession.