Revenge (8)

Even insignificant creatures have a survival instinct.

Edan reflexively twisted his body, avoiding a direct hit.

-Kwaaah!-

“Kheluck, kehk. Ugh, I’m dying.”

“……”

“Oh, so this is how it turns out after I diligently fed, taught, and raised him from a young age.”

Having inhaled a heavy dose of acrid smoke, he leaned against a pillar for a moment, clutching his dizzy head.

Upon briefly checking his condition, it was a sorry sight.

Sporting burns here and there, the stinging was the least of his concerns, for he had consumed a lifetime’s worth of dust in a single day. His limbs gradually began to flail about, defying his mind’s commands.

Not that he fared much better in that regard.

Thanks to the Demon Sovereign’s DDoS attack, his mind was on the verge of a firewall collapse. Seizing the opportunity of Edan’s deep mental scratch from Freugne’s surprise attack, the Demon Sovereign fiercely pounded his consciousness.

“…Ah, now that I think about it.”

As if recalling something, he plunged his hand into his pocket, only to find nothing but a gaping hole.

His thin coat, thoroughly charred and snagged on the factory debris until it tore, had been begging for mercy long ago.

All that remained on his fingers was a faint scent of snacks.

With his attempt at a last-ditch effort thwarted, Edan spat out a mixture of saliva and blood.

And as if adjusting his attire, Edan slipped his hand into his chest before suddenly whipping out his gun.

-Bang!-

Having foreseen the gun’s trajectory, Sif swiftly deflected the bullet with a flame-wrought javelin.

-Chizzt-, deflecting the javelin with a spark of mana, Edan turned his head sharply upon sensing something approaching from the corner of his vision.

Unable to fully regain his balance from the hasty evasion, Edan reached out to fire a spell at Freugne, saying:

“You think I’ll fall for the same trick again…?!”

“Yes, it seems so, Uncle.”

“……”

-Crackle!-

Another momentary hesitation.

And that lapse was all the opening Freugne needed for her surprise electric attack.

Unexpectedly, Edan, who had seemed so formidable, could only let out a small scream as he experienced the sensation of being tased once more.

And then.

“Farewell.”

“Wai-“

-Rumble-

A portion of the factory ceiling collapsed, and Edan fell silent, his life extinguished without even a final scream.

---

There were far too many villains who met their downfall through carelessness.

After decades of planning, expending hundreds of personnel to reach their goal.

“Did I defeat him?”

These would be their final words, uttered in abundance.

However, the Demon Sovereign, who had accumulated and settled karmic debts innumerable times, was different.

Anyone with a modicum of thorough planning would know that a confirmatory kill was a basic virtue to uphold. If he had failed to learn this lesson after repeated experiences, his intelligence would surely be sub-simian.

Sif retrieved a jagged piece of scrap metal from the ground.

Once a component of the factory, it was now heavily rusted yet still sharp. A mere glance at the pipe fragment felt like courting tetanus as it aimed for Edan’s nape.

-Scrape-

With a gentle application of force, the scrap pierced through his neck, meeting slight resistance.

Immediately, a viscous stream of blood flowed forth, forming a small river – a vivid crimson, the strongest evidence that he was not a Demon.

“……”

Sif crouched down for a moment, waiting.

She already knew from Freugne’s memories that he possessed regenerative abilities, though she had never witnessed him actually consuming anything. Just in case, she wanted to confirm.

After some time passed without any signs of healing, she indeed spotted what appeared to be cookie crumbs from Edan’s pockets scattered about.

That seemed sufficient.

The elderly figure who had been observing everything from the upper floor of the factory finally revealed himself.

Descending the stairs that had withstood the ravages of time, he paused briefly in front of Edan’s fallen body, his shoe soles dampened by the pooling liquid.

And after tasting the powdery snack residue, savoring the dust-mingled sweetness, the Demon Sovereign softly muttered:

“…He’s finally dead.”

For the human who could have held Londinium in the palm of his hand and shaken it as he pleased, it was a rather pitiful demise.

The singular life of a human was so fleeting. No matter how vigorously one burned through their existence, the destination was the same.

It had been thus for the hero who had slain him previously, and the hero before that. Their names might remain, but they ultimately returned to the soil, were there any exceptions in that vast expanse of time?

But he, who could live countless lives, was different.

And if he disliked such an outcome, it was time to divert his attention from the gradually cooling corpse.

In any case, amidst the ongoing festival, few would have the leisure to take notice of a minor explosion at an abandoned factory.

And even if someone did, he would soon wield the ability to make himself unnoticeable.

Still, if people started gathering upon hearing the commotion, he would have the troublesome task of disposing of the body.

“In the end, you were but a human swayed by emotions.”

In that sense, Edan had been accommodating to readily falter before Freugne’s appearance and meet his demise accordingly.

For all his blustering about fighting back, that very weakness of being overly concerned had been his undoing.

Of course, having been swayed by emotion, his score would have to be docked, but then, there were no scores to award a corpse.

With a twitch of the Demon Sovereign’s bony fingers, Freugne slowly approached and lay before him.

As for Sif… he would keep her alive for now, just in case someone happened to come searching.

After transferring his consciousness, he would need an extra hand to properly dispose of his current empty vessel and Edan’s body as well.

Having postponed her disposal for the time being, the Demon Sovereign closed his eyes.

Chilling crimson mana welled up in tendrils, snaking towards Freugne like tentacles.

---

Edan typically carried candies or snacks in his pockets.

For one, they were tasty, and being dried goods, they were light by default. While consuming large quantities at once would be excessive, they still provided decent caloric value for their weight, making them suitable for replenishment.

The downside of having to periodically replace the contents was mitigated by the fact that he could eat them himself, or simply distribute the leftovers to his subordinate researchers as snacks.

Naturally, with his mind preoccupied by the numerous burns and lacerations he had sustained, the first thought that arose was the urge to chew them up and escape his present agony.

‘No, I should stop this.’

However, if he wasted time indulging in imaginary healing, there was no telling what reckless act the Demon Sovereign might attempt next.

At the very last moment before Sif’s spell struck, Edan had vigorously tugged at his pocket.

His charred coat tore apart effortlessly, and the snacks within tumbled to the ground, promptly crushed underfoot by him and Sif.

To resist as fiercely as possible.

Simultaneously, to stage a situation where defeat was inevitable.

“Krehk, acheeh!”

“……”

While not particularly gifted in acting, the life-or-death circumstance allowed Edan to deliver a convincingly realistic performance.

And even until the moment Freugne approached from behind to deliver the killing blow, the Demon Sovereign remained wholly unsuspecting.

Though his mind had been dominated, he was not entirely pleased with assigning her such a role.

Hence, he had asked earlier if Freugne would remember this situation. Since the moment of mind control could not be recalled, that was at least a silver lining.

-Shhh-

The body that had ceased breathing quietly inhaled.

The pallid, chilling skin regained its vibrant hue.

The convulsing frame gradually rose, a hand pressing against the blood-soaked earth with a squelching sound.

It was a noise that would have alerted him under quieter circumstances, but the Demon Sovereign, focused on other matters, failed to notice.

In Edan’s hand was the very pipe that had impaled his neck moments ago.

With his gun already flung far away, he had no choice but to make do with this.

Stealthily approaching on tiptoes, the squelching footsteps masked by the blood, Edan safely reached the Demon Sovereign’s back.

‘This is likely the real him, not an illusion.’

Edan’s eyes narrowed.

The elderly figure breathed, his shoulders rising and falling, while stray dust settled on his wispy hair.

More than anything, that repulsive mana, and the ominous crimson glow of that spell.

Even before his five senses, his instincts rejected that unsettling presence, which did not seem like an illusion.

‘I understand what he intends to do to Freugne.’

That perverse magic had to end here and now.

Without hesitation, he brought down the raised hand, aiming the jagged pipe at the back of the old man’s neck.