Ch.119Devil – 4

My sudden question brought the sobbing to an abrupt halt. Some even raised their heads to look at me.

Of course, they quickly flattened themselves against the ground again after meeting Serena’s fierce gaze beside me.

I waited a moment to see if anyone would raise their hand, but no answer came.

‘Did I ask the wrong question?’

Well, I suppose if you suddenly ask out of nowhere who’s interested in demons, they’d think you’re insane.

They might even suspect I’m trying to identify heretics to hand over to various religious inquisitions.

Demons were very much considered real entities, often portrayed as adversaries to the gods of various religions.

While each religion depicted demons differently, they generally shared one characteristic: extreme vulnerability to holy power.

Perhaps even more vulnerable than magical beasts.

There were hundreds of variations of stories about demons wreaking havoc only to be purified by a holy maiden using her last bit of holy power, banishing them back to the demon realm.

To end a story with an evil demon being defeated after a fierce battle with a priest or holy maiden, the setting that demons were weak to holy power was absolutely necessary.

If a holy maiden were to simply split a demon’s head in half with a sword, it would emphasize her personal combat prowess rather than the power and holiness of the deity they believed in.

The public might be more excited by a fierce holy maiden smashing an enemy’s head with a mace than by a traditional one purifying demons with holy power, but religions had no choice in the matter.

Demons would scoff at such stories.

It wasn’t entirely untrue that holy power had some effect against demons. However, it didn’t do much beyond that.

Unlike magical beasts, demons didn’t writhe in pain as if burned or dissolve upon contact with holy power.

More precisely, holy power couldn’t properly affect demons who had successfully manifested on earth with proper physical bodies and sacrifices.

For example, like the World Eater who had partially manifested with the vortex in the magic tower basement. In that state, demons took significant damage from holy power, just like other magical beasts.

But when a demon fully manifested on earth, things changed.

A fully manifested demon could no longer be purified. The only solution was to completely destroy its physical body and forcibly expel it.

Holy power? Sure, it would have some effect. But exposure to it wouldn’t make them flinch or melt away.

And the means I had chosen for my suicide this time was precisely such a fully manifested demon.

“Let me change the question. Anyone who wants to become stronger, raise your hand.”

I thought this might tempt some power-hungry individuals, but they all remained flat on the ground, quiet as mice.

“Why? Are you afraid I’ll turn you in to the inquisition? Relax. That’s not going to happen.”

It’s obvious what they do anyway, so why would I bother?

“The first one to answer will have a huge advantage. Everyone except one person is going to die.”

“I’ll do it!”

As soon as I finished speaking, one of them shot his arm up. Beside him were slower ones, frozen with their arms half-raised.

“You’ll do it? Then the rest will die. You come over here, and the rest of you stay where you are. Just don’t try to run away.”

The one who raised his hand first walked over nervously.

The others seemed to be preparing to sneak away. I suppose they figured they’d die either way, so they might as well take their chances.

“Serena.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Break the arms and legs of the rest. I don’t want them running away and causing trouble.”

“I will obey your command.”

At my words, the faces of the remaining thieves turned pale.

Serena raised the World Eater, scabbard and all. Since I ordered her to break rather than cut, she apparently had no intention of drawing the blade.

‘I only said I needed living sacrifices, not that they had to be intact.’

From a distance, I could hear the sound of Serena crushing their arms and legs. Screams and cries erupted continuously.

Some still tried to flee without fully grasping the situation, but they were quickly caught by Serena, who shattered not only their limbs but also their shoulders and pelvises before dragging them back.

Before long, sniffling sobs and pain-filled groans filled the surroundings. The only person with intact limbs looked at this scene with a face drained of color.

“See? You’re a really lucky guy. Right? Your limbs are still attached, and you’re not destined to die like them. This is why people need to be quick on the uptake.”

The thief nodded repeatedly with a terrified expression.

“Do you have any further orders, my lord?”

Serena returned to me and knelt on one knee, having completed her task. I gestured for her to rise and pointed at the World Eater.

“Can I have the World Eater for a moment?”

Serena grasped the World Eater in reverse, offering me the handle. I took it and handed it to the cowering thief beside me.

“Take it.”

“What?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. Take this sword.”

The thief tremblingly grasped the handle of the World Eater.

“See your comrades over there with their limbs shattered? Go between them and draw this sword.”

“P-please spare me…”

“I’m not going to kill you, alright? I asked for volunteers who wanted to live, not die. Shut up and get in there. Unless you want to be dragged there with something broken.”

At my urging, the man grimaced and went among his comrades who were sprawled on the ground moaning with their shattered limbs, clutching the World Eater to his chest.

“Serena.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“If a demon appears, do you think you could defeat it without a sword?”

Serena pondered my question briefly. Then she slowly shook her head.

“I’m not sure, my lord. I would have to try to know.”

There was a reason I asked Serena this seemingly random question.

I didn’t trust the demon residing in the World Eater.

Its intentions were unclear, demanding sacrifices for full manifestation without properly explaining how it would kill me.

I was going along with it for now since I had nothing to lose, but I couldn’t completely dismiss my suspicions.

Nor should I.

“Uh… uh…?”

“Ah, looks like it’s starting.”

The thief who had drawn the World Eater began to panic as he noticed the red energy gradually swirling around the blade, sensing something was wrong.

He frantically tried to throw the sword away, shaking his arm, but the World Eater wouldn’t detach. It was a sign that the demon had already begun to possess his body.

“AAAAGH!”

With the thief’s scream, red vine-like tendrils burst through the back of his hand. They were identical to the tendrils that had pierced my hand in the magic tower.

The difference was that this thief had no means to shake off the tendrils consuming his arm.

The tendrils split into four branches, each burrowing into the thief’s forearm. His palm was already completely covered by something red, and the tendrils soon climbed up his forearm.

“T-take this off! Save me! SAVE MEEE!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t die. For a demon to possess a human, the sacrifice must remain alive.”

The red energy intensified. With a twitch, the bodies of the other thieves lying around suddenly stiffened with small convulsions.

“But the rest will die.”

“GUURK?”

“KUHP, UECK?!”

“GUAAAK!”

The thieves with shattered limbs screamed in various ways. After momentarily stiffening, their bodies began to thrash wildly.

Then, blood was extracted from every orifice in their faces.

The thieves could no longer even scream. The equivalent of one human’s worth of fluid emerged through all the facial orifices and gathered toward the World Eater.

The red tendrils that had been burrowing into the forearm had now consumed the shoulder, chest, waist, and even the neck.

All the extracted blood was sucked into the red jewel. The red light emanating from the jewel intensified.

The bodies of the humans, drained of all blood, withered and twisted like desiccated mummies. As I had said, everyone except that one was destined to die.

The screams from the thief holding the World Eater suddenly stopped. He hung his head low.

“Hey, is it over?”

“…”

“I know you’ve completely taken over his body, so answer me. I asked if it’s over.”

Only after my second prompt did a slow response come.

“Yes.”

It was a voice completely devoid of inflection, exactly matching the voice from the vortex I had heard in the magic tower.

“Well, that’s good. Now, I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain. I’ve provided the sacrifices and prepared for your manifestation. It’s your turn to keep your promise. So what’s this method you mentioned for killing me?”

“I will consume your body.”

“…What?”

“I will consume your body.”

“I heard you the first time, so don’t repeat yourself. I asked again because what you said is absurd.”

I forcibly maintained my composure, suppressing the urge to twist my eyes and mouth in anger. One wrong move and I might start hurling curses.

“That’s your method for killing me? Consuming my body?”

“Yes. I desire your life force. If I consume your body, I will have it, and you will die. A simple exchange.”

“Simple exchange my ass. More like a shitty deal. Did you think I lacked even that basic knowledge?”

“Human knowledge is inferior. It cannot compare to demonic knowledge. I have lived far longer than you.”

“Bullshit.”

I cut off the demon’s words.

‘Consume my body?’

In short, it was utter nonsense. I had already confirmed that even when the demon tried to possess me through the World Eater, my super-regeneration ability forcibly restored me.

And as I told the thief holding the World Eater, a human possessed by a demon cannot die until the demon leaves.

With complete control stolen by the demon, one must remain fully conscious, feeling everything while being manipulated like a puppet until the demon is purified or the body is destroyed.

In other words, while the demon controls the body, all pain is borne by the human who provided that body.

Essentially, this demon didn’t want to kill me—it wanted my super-regeneration ability.

That wasn’t the death I wanted.

I’m not even sure if that could be called death at all.

“What happens to my consciousness if you consume me? Am I supposed to be locked away deep inside, watching you control my body as you please? Are you playing games with me?”

“Death has many meanings, mortal. This is the death I speak of.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. I clearly stated before that I wanted not a conceptual death, but a physical and mental death as commonly understood in human society.”

“You did not specify that this time. That previous deal ended then.”

It all came down to wordplay. Like kicking someone after being told not to punch them.

I never fully trusted it from the beginning, but I didn’t expect such a blatant backstab.

I thought it would lie more cleverly.

Whatever the case, Serena was fully prepared to fight the demon, having sensed its treachery. She had drawn her spare sword, infusing it with mana as she faced off against the demon.

“I’ll ask again. Is that really your answer?”

“Yes.”

Fine, so you’re going to be like that till the end.

“Serena.”

“Shall I cut it down?”

“That won’t be enough. Completely destroy it. The demon and the World Eater it possesses, all of it.”

“As you command.”

Serena pointed her drawn sword at the demon. The thief, now completely covered in red tendrils—or rather, the demon possessing him—raised the World Eater.

The next moment, Serena’s sword melted into a liquid.

“…!”

Serena stared in shock at the metal dripping from her palm. So now that it’s fully manifested, it’s starting to use abilities like this.

“It looks like it’s determined to fight, so ordinary swords won’t work. That’s why I asked earlier if you could handle it barehanded. I was considering the worst-case scenario, and here we are.”

“If my lord commands it, I will show you what I can do.”

Serena lightly clenched her fist.

Despite what I said earlier, I had no intention whatsoever of ordering Serena to fight that demon barehanded.

Why would I make her fight without a sword? I’m not some pervert who gets excited watching Serena suffer.

I opened the bag hanging at my waist and held out something to Serena.

“Take this, Serena.”

Confusion flickered across Serena’s face as she looked at my outstretched hand. Perhaps wondering if I was joking, she glanced back and forth between my face and my palm.

Of course, my palm appeared completely empty.

Her confusion was understandable. I told her to take something, but was holding out an empty hand.

Noticing my utterly serious expression, Serena’s confusion didn’t last long. Her hand reached out with a determined look on her face.

And she grasped something in my palm.