Ch.129Chapter 129 – Strange Decisive Battle (3)

“Hmm hmm…”

As I stroll through the park enjoying the refreshing night air, I begin to hear rustling from various spots where the forest undergrowth is thick.

“Dad. Be careful.”

“Rustle…”

“There are large numbers of supernatural creatures positioned ahead.”

The next moment, without fail, a warning comes through the radio.

“Grrrr… Grrr…”

“…I see.”

Looking carefully ahead, I could see things that were clearly not human, their eyes gleaming as they watched me intently.

If I were an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be strange if I were dragged away and became their prey right now.

“I’m going to shoot now, Dad. It’s dangerous to delay any longer.”

“Wait a little longer.”

“B-but…”

“Be a good girl, Moran.”

But for me, this wasn’t much of a problem.

“Yes… because I’m a good girl.”

“That’s right.”

I had a brilliant plan that confidently lured all the supernatural creatures scattered across England to London.

“Hehehe…”

So when I started walking forward with an innocent face as if I knew nothing, the bushes began to tremble quite openly.

“Grrrk…”

As I approached right in front of them, one humanoid creature with particularly bright eyes finally jumped out of the bushes in a bizarre posture.

“………”

And then came the silence.

“Kyaak.”

“Uh… hehe…”

When I let out a dry scream of encouragement toward the creature who was standing there nervously, it finally relaxed its expression and began to smile ominously.

“Adler… do you remember me…?”

“W-well…”

“I’m the girl who confessed to you for the first time in my life and got rejected. Do you really not remember…?”

“Uh…”

At first I was pretending to be flustered for the sake of the plan, but after hearing her story, I started to feel a bit sorry for her.

Of course, it wasn’t me who killed the person I’m possessing, but still, it wouldn’t feel right to exploit someone after hearing such a story.

“Y-you dared to make eye contact with prettier women than me… treating me so coldly just because I had a knife in my hand…”

“Ah.”

I was wrong. She was just one of the common supernatural creatures.

“…I see you have such a story.”

“U-um?”

Although my sympathy instantly vanished, I still approached the hatred-filled creature with a gentle smile, taking one step forward.

“What should I do about how pitiful this is…”

“Ah? Uwa.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

I grabbed what appeared to be the hand of this unidentifiable being—whether female or not—and whispered with a sincere voice, causing the creature to suddenly stutter and stumble over its words.

“W-why are you suddenly being nice…?”

“Pardon?”

“A-aren’t you going to look at me with those insect-like eyes like before…?”

As the creature lowered its head and avoided my gaze, I tilted my head slightly to meet its eyes, and it asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“Insect?”

“……..!”

“You’re just cute, that’s all.”

In reality, the creature before me was merely a flickering black shadow, so I couldn’t even distinguish what it looked like, let alone determine if it was cute.

“Don’t you think so?”

“B-but…”

But what’s important isn’t the actual appearance of the creature in front of me, but saying what it wants to hear.

“I-I… you said I was no good because my chest is small…”

“…These days, I find modest ones appealing too.”

And if I close my eyes tight and mix in a little lie about my preferences.

“R-really…?”

“……..”

“D-do you really like me?”

Things would proceed exactly as I expected.

“…Of course.”

“Swish…”

With that thought, I carefully reached out and gently stroked what I assumed was its head, and the shadow began to look up at me.

“U-um. Then…”

A small voice emerged from her slightly cute-looking mouth that had somehow formed.

“D-da…”

“What did you say?”

Listening closely to that voice, the shadow’s statement came through, still quiet but clearly audible.

“Date me…..”

The creature, emitting a chill so terrible it could wither the weeds beneath my feet, finished speaking and began fidgeting with its fingers with a shy expression.

“…Well, why not.”

When I took its hand and replied cheerfully, the creature stared at me with its mouth hanging open in surprise.

“R-really?”

“Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”

“Really really really?”

The creature grabbed my hand tightly and began jumping up and down with a happy expression.

“T-then… today is our first day…”

“Rustle…!”

At that moment, the sound of bushes shaking began to come from all around.

“”……….””

The supernatural creatures that had been hiding in the bushes observing the situation all revealed themselves at once in response to the sudden change.

“Who are you… to monopolize Adler…?”

“Your chest is… grrrk… s-small…”

“Grrrk, grrrr…”

From fully formed ghosts to those that hadn’t yet taken complete shape, they all began to give cold stares to me and the creature that had first jumped out.

“Ah, this is a bit troublesome…”

And now was the perfect timing.

“It’s a bit awkward to date multiple people, you see.”

The moment those words ended, silence fell.

“…I want to look at only one person for my entire life.”

The moment I finished speaking with a dejected expression and my hands behind my back in that silence.

“Gooooooo…”

The creatures, now glaring fiercely at each other instead of me, began to gather power from all directions, emitting a terrifying chill.

“W-wait…”

“”………..””

“I was the one who confessed to Adler first…”

As the creature beside me stepped forward with a bewildered expression in that ominous situation.

“KWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG!!!”

With a deafening roar, the creatures all rushed forward at once and began fighting, entangled with each other.

“…As planned.”

Yes, I knew it would end up like this.

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[What are you doing?]

Adler was quietly tiptoeing away from the scene of the largest supernatural battle in history, where creatures from all over England had gathered and begun fighting.

“It’s been a while, Miss System.”

[Don’t call me Miss System.]

“…Then, Sister System?”

[Could you stop flirting with a mere data fragment like me?]

He greeted the system that appeared before him with a welcoming smile.

“Hehe…”

[Anyway, did you really just seduce hatred-filled supernatural creatures to make them fight each other?]

“I’m cute enough to be used as a trophy, after all.”

[Sigh.]

As he happily wagged his tail and scratched his head, the system output a message in a deflated font that seemed to be sighing.

“…Now that I’ve realized my identity as a Demon, it’s about time I started acquiring supernatural creatures.”

Looking at the system, Adler scratched his head and then began to mutter with a playful smile.

“If there are too many, they can’t be controlled, so I’ll reduce their numbers to just enough to count on two hands, and then I’ll dominate and control the remaining creatures. As a Demon, I can do at least that much.”

[And then?]

“…After that, I’ll have to subjugate named creatures like Gil the Reaper or Arsène Lupin. By the time I succeed in acquiring and dominating all supernatural creatures.”

At that moment, Adler’s eyes became serious.

“I’ll be defeated by Sharlotte.”

“………”

“And then, if I fake my death and use the return ticket…”

[I sort of understand your plan, but I have one question.]

As he slightly trailed off, the system floating in front of Adler’s eyes seized the opportunity to ask a question.

[What if a creature that survives that battle becomes too powerful and comes after you? What will you do then?]

“Come on, that won’t happen.”

Adler shook his head with a chuckle.

“They’re all just undeveloped seeds of supernatural phenomena. Maybe in the final episode a few years from now, but right now, they’re obviously just going to destroy each other by tearing into one another.”

[I’ve never seen one of your plans succeed.]

“That’s true. That’s why, just in case, I’ve also contacted non-supernatural beings.”

He shrugged as he looked toward the alley outside the park, which contained all his past connections.

“As long as those people over there are keeping a close eye on each other, there won’t be any problems with my safety…”

“…Found you.”

But at that very moment, a familiar voice came from beyond the park’s walkway.

“Hup.”

Hearing that voice, Adler immediately covered his mouth with his hand and lowered his posture.

“…I saw you hiding.”

But that chilling voice that made his whole body tingle pierced his ears.

[What’s wrong?]

“Tremble tremble tremble…”

[Didn’t you call all the supernatural creatures in England?]

As the system tilted its semi-transparent window side to side in confusion, Adler, who was trembling, began to mutter in a small voice.

“…I called everyone except just one woman.”

“…Heh.”

Gil the Reaper, who had come looking for him with the Royal Knights in her capacity as a princess, was looking down at Adler with a spine-chilling smile.

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“Crack, crack…”

Meanwhile, at the battlefield where all sorts of supernatural creatures were entangled.

“Haa, haa…”

While the creatures were destroying each other, stabbing one another every few seconds, there was one being at the center displaying surprising skill as it slaughtered the other creatures.

“Even when I was in the fan club, I never got one…”

It was none other than the creature that had just received a confession from Adler.

“…A confession, I finally got one.”

It was the vengeful spirit of Helen Stoner, the true culprit behind the “Speckled Band” case from a few months ago, who was ultimately killed by Professor Moriarty to silence her after the case ended.

“Gooooo…”

It was at that moment that the surrounding creatures began to be sucked into her all at once.