Ch.389Retreating NPC. (2)

Looking at the Seven Deadly Sins member Greed trembling before me. Angel… no, Devil Guild Master, a man I quite like who appears to be intoxicated with magi. And behind him, doll-like black figures rising from what looked like oil(?). We couldn’t help but freeze in confusion. Um, what exactly is going on here…?

“N-No way!! That humanoid monster is with Pride too?! Shit!! Why is this happening…!!”

“Huh? Who’s with Pride? You’re not talking about us, are you?”

“Master, not us, just you. That mayor’s eyes haven’t left you once.”

“My brother isn’t a monster though? Right?”

“That’s right. Jack is much stronger and cooler than any monster could ever be.”

“…Sis, I don’t think that’s the important part here.”

“Uh, um… I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Y-y-you crazy woman. Why are you looking for Pride after getting beaten by the Pope? Did your head get filled with holy power or something? And why the sudden ambush when I told you to just come out?! Who’s that old man?!!”

Gorg is a bit cold to me, Ira and Chikuyo are kind to me, Miho has become the voice of reason and seems reliable. Rey… well. Just stay by Ira’s side without overthinking things. And Luxuria, put away your killing intent and stop being annoying.

“Haha, Jack. Don’t tell me you too…”

The Devil man put down his hammer and began brushing off the magi covering his body as he approached me with his killing intent withdrawn. I approached him as well. Though he’s labeled as magi-intoxicated, I can trust this person. More importantly, how did his level surpass 600?

With that small question in mind, I made contact with him, and he brought his face close to my ear and whispered.

“Don’t tell me you’ve seduced a demon too?”

“‘Seduced’ isn’t wrong. I do plan to live with h— Wait, ‘too’?”

I looked at him involuntarily, and he awkwardly gestured toward Avaritia, who was still bleeding from her seven apertures behind us. I gave him a questioning look, thinking, “No way, right?”

“Well, she said she likes me. She’s pretty, and she’s on humanity’s side. Seemed like a good deal, so I made a ‘contract’ with her.”

“…Ah, um. Yes. Well. Congratulations.”

I didn’t ask what kind of contract they made, but seeing the mayor behind us—trembling with hostility toward me while still seeming concerned as Devil and I chatted amicably, all while continuously coughing up blood—I understood. It’s surprising that she’s actually worried about people. But…

“What exactly is happening here? Everyone seems intoxicated by Avaritia’s magi.”

“Oh? You immediately recognized that person as the mayor? Did you already know the mayor was a demon?”

“Ah, that’s…”

I gave a vague answer suggesting I somehow knew because I had a demon by my side too. Devil nodded with that kind, friendly smile he showed before and called Avaritia over to us. Hmm, she really doesn’t want to come.

“…W-why are you calling me? I really…”

“Don’t worry, Atia! This friend is a good one. I made him an adventurer myself, so I can vouch for him.”

“Eh, Atia?”

“Ugh…”

When I tilted my head at what seemed like a nickname, the blood-covered demon turned away embarrassedly. Devil pulled her shoulder and embraced her, which confused me even more. Wow, you’re already using pet names? Wait, why are you still coughing up blood?

“Ah, it’s because I flipped some power upside down and…”

“…Before, when I fought Wrath with you. I’ve been maintaining that for days. Right now, I’m completely drained of magi. I couldn’t even defend against a low-level demon attack, let alone a mid-level one. S-so… please.”

*squeeze*

Saying that, Avaritia—did she just say “please”?—hid behind Devil, clutching his clothes. Did she just use a nickname while hiding behind him?! What exactly is going on here?!!

“Hehe, don’t worry. I’ll protect you no matter what.”

“…I-I believe you.”

As I started grimacing with all my might at what felt like a pink space forming over the oily black surface, I heard a fluttering sound right above my head. Huh?

“Hey! Avaritia, you’ve been playing around in the human world using my appearance? Unbelievable. Who told you to use my form?”

“Ha! Did it harm you that I borrowed your appearance for just a few years when you weren’t even coming here anyway?”

“Hmm~ Were you that insecure about your own appearance~? Well~ I am quite sexy, aren’t I~♡?”

“Bullshit. With that slutty body, yet still a virgin for 4,000 years.”

“What?! I-I-I won’t be a virgin much longer! This person here is my husband-to-be!!”

“…What? Y-you’re insane. Did you really seduce that human? You?! I-impossible. He wouldn’t even look at me when I transformed… In my prediction, you should have been beaten like a dog when you tried to seduce him…!!”

As the confusing conversation between demons continued, I stared blankly at Devil. Um, could you explain this by yourself? And…

“Well. We should rescue the people around here too. Sorry to ask, but could you call for support from adventurers and guards from other towns? Everyone’s quite weakened.”

Seeing him sit down saying he’d go if he could but he’s too exhausted, I nodded. Well, that shouldn’t be difficult.

I relayed the direction of the adventurers I had detected earlier with my radar to Rey, and Rey ran off with Miho. About 50 people should arrive before sunset today. So.

“Devil sir. You must be tired, but this is urgent, so let me ask again. What exactly happened here?”

I grabbed him as he started yawning like he wanted to sleep right away, and began to hear his story.

*

The Pope’s first attack was an unbelievable ambush that covered the sky. As a result, the upper part of the guild building was blown away, and Devil was thrown outside from his room. Thanks to his level being over 600, he wasn’t injured and could assess the situation. The demon Avaritia was spreading magi from the sky as if protecting the city, while the old Pope was swinging giant swords and hammers made of holy law as if trying to erase the city. Devil said his eyes weren’t that bad nor was he farsighted, but he couldn’t tell who was ally or enemy at that point.

And so he sided with Avaritia, but they couldn’t win. The second attack was blocked by the fallen adventurers (level 300 white adventurers) and himself, but they couldn’t withstand the third attack, which was stronger and larger. So Avaritia borrowed Devil’s abundant vitality to draw up more magi and used all the powers she had spread throughout the city over hundreds of years to escape from the enemy. She took the city’s people into her power domain to evacuate them.

The problem was, since they couldn’t move once they had escaped, they had no choice but to hide until the enemy left. If this became prolonged, everyone preserved in her power would die, making it meaningless. So, like when I had faced the demon of Wrath before, she reversed the effect of her power to keep people from dying.

But even that was temporary. As Avaritia’s strength weakened from the strain of maintaining her reversed power, the people who had been drawn inside eventually fell into magi intoxication like Devil, and are now all weakened. Devil was able to maintain his consciousness and endure until now because he was stronger than the mayor (probably due to his level being higher than Avaritia’s).

“Atia couldn’t see the situation outside. She couldn’t tell if it was safe to release the power or not. Moreover, she said she was too exhausted to activate it again once released, so she was holding out until the people inside reached their absolute limit.”

“So it was such a dangerous situation, and we forced her to release it.”

“Haha! Thanks to that, at least I’m still standing and fine like this! You came to help this city, right? I’m truly indebted to you!”

No, you’re not fine. You’re properly intoxicated. I couldn’t say that till the end, and instead looked at Luxuria and… well, Avaritia, who was being choked by Luxuria and crying for surrender. Hey, hey, she’s going to die, let her go.

“Cough, cough!! Y-you crazy!! A-a woman who calls herself the Seven Deadly Sin of Lust is chasing after a man?! And this monster of all people?!! Have you lost your mind?!”

“Darling, she hasn’t been beaten enough. I think she needs more punishment to come to her senses. Ah, wait, don’t stop me.”

“Stop it. She’s really about to die.”

“Haha! You seem happy to meet your demon friend!!”

“”Where does it look like that?!!””

I couldn’t hide my disbelief and frowned at the mayor who shouted in response to Devil’s words while quickly hiding behind his back. Wow, how did this ep.1 deus ex machina get so fixated on a Ponia adventurer? Is this my fault too? Huh? No, right?

After telling me the situation, Devil fell asleep like he was dying. Just before sunset, the adventurers led by Rey arrived and began asking about the situation with surprised expressions as they looked at us and the surviving people of Aigram, allowing us to rest a bit later.