Ch.355355. Resolution (8)

Clearly, this phenomenon wasn’t happening to Yuria alone.

If someone told Riru Garda to “act more like a woman,” she would make an expression similar to hearing “let’s roast shoe heels for dinner.”

If one had to pick a phrase most distant from her entire life experience, that would probably be it.

“Oh my.”

In that regard.

Having someone in front of her with the exact same appearance saying such things was clearly evoking indescribable emotions in her.

“This is… my first time experiencing this. In all the timelines I’ve been through, nothing like this has happened…”

“You… you…?”

When she spoke with a dumbfounded voice, the person examining their own body in front of her blinked and looked at her.

This was probably what Riru would look like if her body grew properly for a few years.

Anyone would be startled if such a person suddenly appeared before them, but what truly shocked her beyond that was that these mannerisms were somehow familiar—something she had “seen” before.

“You, that… the one floating around me…?”

“Ah. Well, we’ve had much more contact than other demon-vessels, haven’t we?”

“…”

And just like that, she openly admitted it.

As Riru could only gape, the Blue Demon who had gained a body soon frowned slightly with a “hmm” through her nose.

“The demonic energy is—almost completely sealed. With holy power mixed into the main body, it feels almost like a real human.”

“…What?”

“‘Purifying’ the main body to make it half useless, then separating the fragment and merging it back with the main body to render it completely useless… quite clever. This makes you closer to a genuinely sturdy human than a demon.”

“—What are you even—”

“Try using demonic energy. It won’t work, right?”

Though she couldn’t understand a word of what was being said, Riru instinctively followed the other’s instruction because she felt intimidated by the aura emanating from her.

She gave off the impression of a tribal elder that Riru often saw in her childhood.

It was like taking Riru herself and adding much more “experience” and “maturity” to her.

“—?”

And even such impressions were completely swept away by the shock of what happened next.

Indeed, no demonic energy manifested at all.

“W-w-what is this…?”

She stammered those words before she knew it.

She had long understood the hierarchy of demons after handling that power herself.

While she could imagine situations where she might mishandle the power and fail to properly feed it to others, she never imagined being “completely blocked” like this.

Erasing demonic power? What could that possibly mean?

“It’s not erased… since I, the source of the demonic energy you use, have been separated, you’re now just a girl who exercises a lot.”

“…”

“Fragments have the property of transferring to another body to create a vessel when the host dies, you know?”

“…Uh…”

“Since this body has become ‘bland’ with no demonic energy coming out, for me to be a demon again, I’d need to die once… but since this is the main body of a demon whose remains could flip the surrounding world upside down, it doesn’t die easily. This is practically permanent sealing, isn’t it?”

“…”

Information was pouring out so rapidly that she couldn’t understand what was being said.

As Riru listened with spinning eyes, the Blue Demon who was watching her laughed and approached to stretch her cheeks.

If an ordinary person did this to her, their jaw would be immediately dislocated, but somehow she felt strongly that she couldn’t do that to this person.

It was like feeling guilty about using violence against one’s mother…

“You look cute like this. It’s like having a little sister. Though it’s a bit strange to say I’m looking at my past self?”

“…Uh, what…?”

“I’m saying when you grow older, you’ll become like me. A lady, that is.”

“…”

By this point, it wasn’t just her eyes spinning—the entire world seemed to be revolving around her.

She couldn’t understand a word of what was being said…

“D-don’t be ridiculous!”

Fortunately, there was someone nearby who could share the confusion she was experiencing.

Serath’s voice shouting next to her resonated through the thin thread of sanity Riru was barely holding onto.

Apparently, Serath had heard the same thing—that this was their “future” selves.

“…I-I’ll become like this in the future…?”

“Of course. Even now, aren’t you happiest when obeying someone?”

“…”

Though she would normally laugh loudly at Serath clenching her fists and trembling as if unable to refute, right now Riru felt almost relieved.

Despite their usually hostile relationship, in this situation, she felt such a sense of kinship that she could almost cry.

But even that feeling was blown away by the terrifying scene that unfolded next.

As the Blue Demon, who had been examining her body to better understand the situation, turned and met eyes with the Violet Demon, something happened immediately.

Both demons’ eyes widened.

It was like meeting a lifelong friend they never thought they’d see again…

“…Sister?”

“…Little sister?”

Those dazed voices drifted briefly.

Then, without hesitation, the two demons leaped forward, embraced each other tightly, and began rolling around on the floor.

“My goodness! It’s been hundreds of years since I’ve seen your face after ascending as a demon! Have you been well?”

“Sister! Sister-!”

“…”

“…”

Of course.

The faces of Riru and Serath, watching the Blue Demon and Violet Demon squealing and spinning while hugging each other, transformed into expressions resembling those of mortals who had tasted cosmic horror…

“…Um, just asking out of curiosity.”

Riru spoke with a trembling voice.

“When you say you’re our ‘future’ selves… does that mean that later on, me and that damn Furry will become like… this…?”

“What kind of language is that toward your little sister, Riru? She’s so precious and lovely!”

The Blue Demon said while pinching and stretching the cheeks of the Violet Demon who was snuggling up to her with a grin like a pet caught by its owner.

The Violet Demon nodded repeatedly and continued.

“Of course! Of course, of course! Where else could you find people as close as my sister and me!”

“…”

Both Serath and Riru’s faces turned pale simultaneously.

The former even covered her mouth with her hand as if feeling nauseous.

“Why, how did it come to this…?”

“Well, I suppose it was after we shared Darwood Campbell on our wedding night after the joint marriage ceremony—”

Riru grabbed the back of her neck as if about to faint upon hearing that, but there was no further reaction.

Serath was too busy having a similar reaction to respond.

●

“—Isn’t this enough?”

As I removed my hand from the Celestial Seal, the Luminary silently looked at me.

Red, brown, blue, violet, white…

Probably all the demonic vessels nearby were experiencing the same phenomenon.

The phenomenon where they can’t use demonic energy at all because “impurities” have been mixed into the combined demon main body.

The demon’s main body and its uniqueness are still maintained, but the core power, the “demonic energy,” is completely wrapped up inside that body.

“…You used the Celestial Seal as a medium to forcibly ‘inject’ holy power? How did you come up with this method?”

“Because I’m someone who ascended from human to demon. I’ve experimented extensively with what happens when holy power and demonic energy run together.”

I said that while sighing and rubbing my chest.

“—Thanks to that, I figured out fairly accurately how to ‘paralyze’ demonic energy.”

From the very beginning, since I first speculated about the true nature of the Celestial Seal, I’ve been repeatedly measuring precise values.

Truly, this has been the picture I’ve been drawing for a long time.

“…It doesn’t seem like a perfect solution.”

As the Luminary narrowed her eyes and muttered, I readily nodded.

“Of course it’s just a temporary fix. They won’t be able to keep their demonic energy sealed like that forever.”

Which means.

Unless the entity paralyzing their demonic energy disappears…

“—Unless someone kills me, that is.”

“…”

“I just need to stay alive. I’ll keep infusing holy power into the demon’s main body. Then, they can continue living as complete humans.”

Without getting involved in troublesome situations just because they’re demons.

They can live happily with me as complete humans, having children and living peacefully.

“…”

The Luminary, who had been standing quietly listening to this, finally raised her head.

“…That all sounds good. It all sounds good, but.”

“Hmm?”

“There seems to be one person who doesn’t like this arrangement.”

Ah.

That’s right.

“Yes.”

There is indeed one terrifyingly stubborn person who won’t fall for this.

“—Except for just one.”

With those words.

The “gray energy” that hadn’t disappeared despite the pillar of light that had just poured down tore through the surrounding landscape and burst forth.

●